September 23, 2026 // The Four-Year Promise to Get Beat Down.
Hello everyone!
The Shinjuku FACE show just wrapped up, and I’m currently swaying in the passenger seat of Kato-san’s car on my way home.
The final Shinjuku FACE! During tear-down, when it truly hit me that I wouldn’t be able to wrestle here anymore, I accidentally let slip how lonely I felt. It was so close to ACB, the location itself was thrilling, and it was a venue I absolutely loved.
For that final Shinjuku FACE, I had my very first singles match against VENY. If you read this column or watch the Senjo Tamashii channel, you probably already know this, but I originally started out as a massive fan of VENY. (And I still absolutely adore her.) To quote a blog post I wrote a little while back, I first discovered VENY through FloÜrish, the tag team she formed with Hana Kimura. Since I’ve always been on the short and stubby side, I profoundly admired this tag team—they had such long limbs and were draped in absolute elegance. They possessed so many things I simply didn’t have.
The first time I met VENY in person was at the Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling Sun Plaza Hall show in 2021. Leading up to that day, I had personally been saved by her in so many ways, so it was a day I had truly longed for. Looking back, VENY was the reason I started going to see Sendai Girls shows in the first place, so the very first catalyst for me becoming a wrestler here might actually be VENY.
When I told VENY I had decided to become a pro wrestler, she said to me, “When we meet in the ring, I’m going to beat the crap out of you.” Normally, wouldn’t someone say, “I’ll be waiting for you in the ring,” or something like that? Instead, it was “I’m going to beat the crap out of you.” I felt that was such a profoundly VENY thing to say. Sure enough, during our first encounter in a tag match a year ago, I got completely pummeled. But I always felt that fighting her in a singles match would be the genuine, true opportunity to get my ass kicked.
Recently, we’ve been given the chance to team up, and with a singles match getting booked at this exact timing, a flood of different emotions swelled up inside me. A match I thought was still so far down the line was happening right now, making a promise from four years ago a reality.
Since I primarily watched men’s professional wrestling growing up, Hana-san and VENY were the only two female wrestlers I ever idolized. That is exactly why I hold such special feelings for both of them. With Hana-san, all I can do now is show her my growth once a year at her memorial match. But with VENY, I can team with her, and sometimes, I can fight her. VENY is the only person I can physically crash these feelings into. That’s exactly why I absolutely refuse to waste this current moment where I’m being given so many opportunities, and why I want to leave a tangible result behind, no matter what it takes.
Today on the microphone, VENY said to me, “We finally meet.” VENY is someone whose strict, terrifying aura translates directly into her pro wrestling, so I was completely taken aback—I never expected such gentle words on the mic. In every single word she spoke, I found the reason why I have to work even harder from here on out. She is still so far ahead of me; today, I felt it in my bones that it will take a very long time before I am worthy to stand beside her, and even longer before I can surpass her standing in the opposite corner. But when she hugged me at the end… ‘Fan YUNA’ slipped out, and I ended up crying.
The fact that we got to wrestle on the specific date of September 23rd, the fact that we share the exact same debut anniversary, the fact that we’re both from Miyagi Prefecture—I refuse to let these just be mere coincidences. I am going to work harder and harder. I haven’t been able to say it to her directly yet, but I really want to go out to eat with her. I’m going to constantly hover next to VENY so that we can somehow get featured on Senjo Tamashii together. I still can’t even hold a candle to VENY, but I look forward to giving it my all moving forward.
See you next week.
This Week’s Track:
HERO COMPLEX / Remember
Translation & Cultural Notes
- Shinjuku FACE: A legendary combat sports and professional wrestling venue in Tokyo’s Kabukicho district. YUNA’s column references its final show, marking an emotional end of an era for many wrestlers and fans.
- Kato-san: Likely a reference to a Sendai Girls staff member or referee driving the promotion’s talent transport.
- ACB: Shinjuku ACB Hall, a historic live music venue and punk rock club located very close to Shinjuku FACE.
- VENY & FloÜrish: VENY (who also competes under the name ASUKA) is one of the most prominent transgender female professional wrestlers in Japan. FloÜrish was the highly popular, glamorous tag team formed by VENY and the late Hana Kimura.
- Senjo Tamashii (仙女魂): Literally translating to “Sendai Girls Spirit,” this refers to Sendai Girls’ official YouTube channel and online programming.
- Chinchikurin (ちんちくりん): A mildly self-deprecating Japanese slang term meaning short, puny, or stubby. YUNA uses this to contrast her own stature against the tall, model-like physiques of VENY and Kimura.
- Bokoboko ni suru (ボコボコにする): To beat someone to a pulp, or beat them black and blue. While senior wrestlers (senpai) often offer polite, formal encouragement to aspiring rookies (e.g., “I look forward to facing you in the ring”), VENY’s blunt, aggressive promise to “beat the crap out of” YUNA is highlighted as a uniquely “VENY” display of affection, respect, and tough love.
- Shared Traits (Miyagi & Debut Anniversary): In the closing paragraph, YUNA notes deeply personal synchronicities with VENY: they were both born in Miyagi Prefecture, and they remarkably share the exact same debut month and day of August 9 (VENY debuting in 2015, and YUNA in 2023).