Asuka (wrestler, born 1998)

Veny (stylized in all caps, born October 27, 1998), formerly known as Asuka (朱崇花),[2] is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for being with other wrestling promotions such as Pro Wrestling Wave and Seadlinnng.[3] She is the first known transgender wrestler from Japan, having made her debut in 2015.

Not to be confused with Asuka (wrestler).
Asuka
Asuka in August 2023
Born (1998-10-27) October 27, 1998
Yokohama, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
  • Veny
  • Asuka
Billed height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Billed weight67 kg (148 lb)[1]
Trained byAyako Hamada[1]
DebutAugust 9, 2015[1]

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2015–present)

Asuka participated in a 50-person gauntlet match at OZ Academy/Manami Toyota Produce Manami Toyota 30th Anniversary, Manami Toyota's retirement show produced by Oz Academy on November 3, 2017, where she was the 19th person to get eliminated.[4] She participated at ZERO1 Dream Series: Sozo no Jin, an event promoted by Pro Wrestling Zero1 on March 4, 2018, where she teamed up with Takuya Sugawara to unsuccessfully challenge Masamune and Sugi for the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship.[5] At Grow Together! 2021, an event promoted by Seadlinnng from March 17, Asuka defeated Rina Yamashita to win the vacant Beyond the Sea Single Championship.[6] At ZERO1 20th Anniversary Series: Believe 'Z' Road from February 7, Asuka unsuccessfully challenged El Lindaman for both Zero1 World Junior Heavyweight Championship and Zero1 International Junior Heavyweight Championship.[7] Asuka participated at WRESTLE-1 Tour 2019 W-Impact, an event produced by Wrestle-1 on February 13, where she teamed up with Hana Kimura as FloÜrish to defeat Kaori Yoneyama and Miyuki Takase.[8]

DDT Pro-Wrestling (2019–2020)

At Sweet Dreams 2019 on January 27, she won the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship competing in a 8-man battle royal also involving Chinsuke Nakamura, Kazuki Hirata, Kazusada Higuchi, Keisuke Okuda, Kikutaro, Toru Owashi and Yuki Iino.[9] At the Ganbare☆Pro-Wrestling event Cliffhanger 2021 on February 21, Asuka teamed up with Hagane Shinno and Shinichiro Tominaga to defeat Dreams Haru True (Keisuke Ishii, Kouki Iwasaki and Harukaze) for the GWC 6-Man Tag Team Championship.[10] At Heaven's Door 2020 on August 22, Asuka defeated Hagane Shinno to win the Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship.[11]

Pro Wrestling Wave (2015–present)

Asuka made her debut as a professional wrestler in Pro Wrestling Wave on August 9, 2015 in a losing effort to Yuu Yamagata.[12] She participated in the Catch the Wave tournament in 2016, competing in the Mandarin Orange block against Dash Chisako, Yuki Miyazaki and Hibiscus Mii, finishing with two points.[13] Asuka competed at the Hana Kimura Produce HANA on August 7, 2016, where she teamed with Masato Inaba and Super Delfin to defeat Abdullah Kobayashi, Hayate and Kyoko Kimura in a six-person tag team match.[14] Asuka participated in the Catch The Wave 2018 Tournament, competing in the Crazy Block against Rina Yamashita, Nagisa Nozaki, Ryo Mizunami, Yumi Ohka and Miyuki Takase, finishing with a total of three points, and receiving a technique award due to competing while injured.[15] Asuka won the Wave Single Championship at WAVE Anivarsario WAVE 2018 on August 19, where she defeated Takumi Iroha.[16]

On July 17, 2023, Asuka won the annual Catch the Wave tournament.[17] She announced days later that she would be permanently changing her ring name to Veny.[18]

All Elite Wrestling (2021)

On February 3, 2021, at Beach Break, she was announced as a participant in the AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator Tournament under the ring name Veny (stylized in all capital letters).[19][20] She lost to Emi Sakura in the first round which aired on February 15.[21] On February 28, 2021, she teamed up with Maki Itoh and Emi Sakura in a losing effort to Hikaru Shida, Mei Suruga and Rin Kadokura in a six-person tag team match.[22]

Personal life

Veny is the first known transgender professional wrestler from Japan. Firstly she came out as gay to her father at the age of 16 and later dropped out of high school to pursue a professional wrestling career.[23] Veny has been referred to with both she/her and they/them gender pronouns.

Championships and accomplishments
Asuka is a former one-time Sendai Girls World Champion
and a Independent World Junior Heavyweight Champion

References
  1. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "ASUKA". Cagematch. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  2. Sutter, Robbie (16 June 2020). "#PrideMonth ASUKA/VENY, the Genderless Artist". Last Word on Sports. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  3. Saalbach, Axel. "ASUKA/General Information". wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  4. The Wrestling Revolution (November 3, 2017). "Manami Toyota Retired Last Night". thewrestlingrevolution.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  5. Caveman Hero (March 16, 2018). "ZERO1 Dream Series ~ Sozo No Jin (3.4) - Review 12". aminoapps.com. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  6. Iversen, Stuart (March 18, 2021). "SEAdLINNNG Grow Together! (17/3/21) Review". ramblingsaboutwrestling.com. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  7. Daly, Wayne (February 7, 2021). "ZERO1 Results: 20th Anniversary Series ~ Believe'z' Road – Tokyo, Japan (2/7)". wrestling-news.net. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  8. TJ Folk (February 27, 2019). "WRESTLE-1 TOUR 2019 W-IMPACT (FEBRUARY 13) RESULTS & REVIEW". voicesofwrestling.com. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  9. Daly, Wayne (January 28, 2019). "DDT Results: Sweet Dreams! 2019 – Tokyo, Japan (1/27)". wrestling-news.net. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  10. DDT Pro-Wrestling (February 21, 2021). "DDT ProWrestling" クリフハンガー2021. ddtpro.com (in Japanese). Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  11. Captain Lou (August 29, 2020). "Captain Lou's Review: Ganbare Pro Heaven's Door 2020 (8/22/2020)". happywrestlingland.com. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  12. Da Taigerman (August 11, 2015). "RISULTATI: WAVE HAPPY ANNIVERSARY WAVE.8 EAST 09/08/2015". zonawrestling.net (in Italian). Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  13. "Catch The Wave 2016: Matches". Cagematch. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  14. Kevin (August 21, 2016). "Hana Kimura Produce "HANA" on 8/7/16 Review". joshicity.com. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  15. "Catch the WAVE 2018～波女決勝戦～飯田美花引退「ごちそうさまでした！」". Pro Wrestling Wave (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 21, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  16. Pro Wrestling Wave (August 19, 2018). "Anivarsario Wave 2018". pro-w-wave.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 12, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  17. 『CATCH THE WAVE 2023～決勝戦～』. Pro Wrestling Wave (in Japanese). July 17, 2023. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  18. VENY [@asuka10272140] (September 3, 2023). "The name Asuka ended yesterday. Now only VENY" (Tweet). Retrieved October 4, 2023 – via Twitter.
  19. All Elite Wrestling [@AEW] (February 3, 2021). "This February the #AEW Women's World Championship eliminator tournament begins! Here are your participants in this competition" (Tweet). Retrieved February 3, 2021 – via Twitter.
  20. 朱崇花 VENY [@asuka10272140] (February 4, 2021). "VENY will finally start. #AEW" (Tweet). Retrieved February 16, 2021 – via Twitter.
  21. Powell, Jason (February 15, 2021). "2/15 AEW Women's Championship Eliminator tournament results: Powell's live review of Yuka Sakazaki vs. Mei Suruga, Veny vs. Emi Sakura, Maki Itoh vs. Ryo Mizunami, and Aja Kong vs. Rin Kadokura in first round matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  22. Boone, Matt (March 1, 2021). "AEW On Bleacher Report Results (2/28/2021): Women's World Championship Eliminator Tournament". ewrestling.com. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  23. Stephanie (2017-12-27). "Transgender Japanese wrestler shares her story". Diva Dirt. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  24. "Independent World Junior Heavyweight Title (Japan)". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  25. "Ironman Heavymetalweight Title (Japan)". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  26. "Ultimate Party 2019～DDTグループ大集合！～". DDT Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). November 3, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  27. "KO-D (King Of DDT) Tag Team Title". wrestling-titles.com. October 25, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  28. Dilta, Abhishek (September 16, 2022). "PWI 500 2022 List Rankings Full List Male And Female Wrestlers". thesportsgrail.com. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  29. Ross, Patrick (October 19, 2023). "Full 2023 PWI Women's 250 list revealed". aiptcomics.com. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  30. "Regina Di WAVE Championship". cagematch.net. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  31. "Catch the WAVE 2018～波女決勝戦～飯田美花引退「ごちそうさまでした！」". Pro Wrestling Wave (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 21, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  32. "SEAdLINNNG Grow Together!". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  33. Seadlinnng (May 26, 2021). 2021年5月26日（水）※開催時間変更となりました「SEAdLINNNG～SHINKIBA NIGHT!～」. seadlinnng.com. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  34. Kreikenbohm, Philip (December 4, 2022). "Sendai Girls Big Show In Osaka". cagematch.net. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  35. Richards, Alex (August 30, 2020). "#AndNEW: ASUKA/Veny Wins Diana Championship". Last Word on Pro Wrestling. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
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