Miyu Yamashita (山下実優, Yamashita Miyū, born March 17, 1995) is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling. Yamashita was trained by DDT Pro Wrestling's Kyohei Mikami, and made her debut in August 2013 as one of the first members of DDT's all female Tokyo Joshi Pro sister promotion.
Yamashita was pushed as the top star of Tokyo Joshi Pro, and became the first ever Princess of Princess Champion on January 4, 2016.[2] Yamashita has gone on to hold the title for a combined total of 1,239 days over the course of four title reigns, both records, and has come to be recognized as the promotion's ace.
Professional wrestling career
Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (2013–present)
Yamashita trained in Kyokushin and mixed martial arts from a young age and originally had hopes of being an idol, and took part in many auditions for idol groups, though she struggled to get anywhere. She was eventually introduced to professional wrestler Kyohei Mikami, who asked if she would be interested in training to join Dramatic Dream Team's new sister promotion, Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW). Yamashita accepted the offer and moved to Tokyo at age 17 to begin training under Mikami shortly after.[3] In TJP's early years, it was a small promotion that mainly ran shows alongside live music and other live performances. Despite being a small promotion, Yamashita was still being pushed as the future top star of the promotion, and when TJP finally started to run their own full shows, Yamashita took her position at the top of the card. She became known for her strong kicks and karate based offence, earning the nickname "Pink Striker".
On January 4, 2016, at TJP's biggest show to date, Yamashita defeated longtime rival Shoko Nakajima to become the first ever Tokyo Princess of Princess Champion.[2] She held the title until September when she was defeated by Yuu.[4] In August 2017, she received her first singles match against Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling's Meiko Satomura, but was defeated.[5] On January 4, 2018, Yamashita got one more chance to win back the Tokyo Princess of Princess Championship, and defeated Reika Saiki to win the championship for a second time.[6] Yamashita retained the title throughout 2018, defeating the likes of Yuna Manase, Veda Scott, Priscilla Kelly, Yuu, Maho Kurone and Rika Tatsumi. On January 4, 2019, she defeated Maki Ito to mark one year as champion, the longest in the titles history.[7] At WWNLive Mercury Rising 2019, Yamashita defeated Allysin Kay in a title vs title match to win the Shine Championship.[8] On May 4, 2021, Yamashita defeated Rika Tatsumi to claim the Princess of Princess Championship for a third time.[9] On November 13, Yamashita became the 14th Pro Wrestling EVE Champion, defeating Alex Windsor for the Pro-Wrestling: EVE Championship on show 2 of WrestleQueendom 5 in London England.[10]
On August 13, 2023, Yamashita won the Tokyo Princess Cup after defeating Yuki Kamifuku in the finals.[11] On October 9, at Wrestle Princess IV, Yamashita defeated Mizuki to win the Princess of Princess Championship for the fourth time.[12] On March 31, 2024, at Grand Princess '24, Yamashita dropped the title to Miu Watanabe, ending her fourth reign at 174 days.[13]
Impact Wrestling / Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2023–present)
On April 25, 2024 (which was taped on April 21), Yamashita made her return to TNA, confronting Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace after it was announced her match next week will be for the title.[16] On the following week's TNA iMPACT! (which was also taped on April 21), Yamashita fought Grace in a losing effort.[17]