Karate Girl (wrestler)

Syuri

Syuri
Syuri in March 2011.
Ring name(s)	KG Syuri
Billed height	1.64 m (5 ft 4 ⁄2 in)
Billed weight	51 kg (110 lb)
Born	February 8, 1989 Ebina, Kanagawa(age 22)
Trained by	Akira Nogami Akira Shoji Hajime Ohara Yoshihiro Tajiri
Debut	October 26, 2008

Syuri Kondo (近藤朱里 Kondo Syuri, born February 8, 1989) is a Japanese professional wrestler, shoot boxer and kickboxer, better known simply as Syuri (朱里) (sometimes transliterated as Shuri). She is currently working for Smash and is also known for her time in the promotion's predecessor, Hustle, where she worked as KG (Karate Girl).

Early life

Kondo was born to a Japanese father and a Filipino mother on February 8, 1989, in Ebina, Kanagawa. She started practising karate in primary school, winning numerous titles, and also excelled in track and field sports in junior high school and tennis in high school. After graduation, she worked as a model for fashion magazines and as a movie extra, before passing an audition held by professional wrestling promotion Hustle.

Professional wrestling career

Hustle (2008–2009)

On October 26, 2008, Kondo made her professional wrestling debut for Hustle in a match, where she, working under the ring name KG (short for Karate Girl), teamed with HG and RG to defeat Big C, Onigumo and Piranha Monster. KG quickly joined Tajiri's Hustle Union Army stable and started an intergender rivalry with Rey Ohara. Kondo remained with the promotion until it ceased its operations in late 2009.

Smash (2009–present)

In December 2009, former Hustle performers Akira Shoji and Tajiri held a press conference announcing the formation of a new promotion, Smash. In addition to the two, former storyline rivals Kondo and Hajime Ohara were also present at the press conference and were named as part of the new promotion's roster. While in Hustle Kondo had wrestled almost exclusively against male wrestlers as a novelty due to the lack of other female wrestlers in the promotion, in Smash she was poised to become a more serious joshi wrestler. Kondo, now working under the ring name Syuri, made her Smash debut on March 26, 2010, at the promotion's first ever event, losing to Meiko Satomura. On April 23 at Smash.2, she teamed with Hajime Ohara in another loss to the team of Lin Bairon and Kushida, dropping the pinfall to Bairon. On May 29 at Smash.3, Syuri suffered her third straight loss in the promotion, when she, Akira Shoji and Yusuke Kodama were defeated by Kim Nan Pun, Lin Bairon and Mentallo in a six person tag team match. After the match, Syuri had a heated confrontation, leading to a backstage brawl, with Kana, who was sitting in the audience, having earlier announced her arrival to Smash. This led to the main event of Smash.4 on June 25, where Syuri defeated Kana in a fourteen minute long match, ending her losing streak and picking up the biggest win of her career. However, Kana came back at Smash.5 on July 24, defeating Syuri via submission in a rematch in just three minutes.

For the next several events, Syuri wrestled against female workers from other independent promotions, who were looking for regular spots on the Smash roster. On September 24 at Smash.8, Syuri was defeated in a hardcore match by freelancer Kaoru, after which Kana entered the ring, pushed Kaoru away and helped Syuri backstage. On November 22 at Smash.10, Syuri and Kana teamed together to defeat Ice Ribbon's Emi Sakura and JWP's Kaori Yoneyama in a tag team match. As a result, Syuri was granted a shot at Yoneyama's JWP Openweight Championship on December 24 in the main event of Happening Eve, but was unsuccessful in her attempt to win her first title. On January 29, 2011, at Smash.12, Syuri faced the debuting former WWE wrestler Serena in a losing effort. Syuri's streak of big matches and her growing popularity among fans, eventually led to fellow Smash Sekigun member Lin Bairon growing jealous of her, turning heel and leaving the group to start a rivalry with her. This was followed by Bairon picking up back-to-back tag team victories over Syuri at Smash.13 and Live in Osaka, leading to a singles match on February 25 at Smash.14, where Syuri was victorious. At Smash.15, Syuri teamed with Tajiri and Sabu to defeat Bairon, Gabriel Antonick and Michael Kovac in a six person intergender hardcore match.

On March 21, 2011, Syuri made her debut for Ice Ribbon in a losing effort against Hikaru Shida. The match eventually led to a partnership between the two and, after defeating Chii Tomiya and Makoto on April 16, Syuri and Shida went on to unsuccessfully challenge Emi Sakura and Ray for the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship on May 5. The partnership also carried over to Smash, where Syuri and Shida defeated Io and Mio Shirai in a tag team match on May 3 at Smash.17. On June 9 at Smash.18, Syuri avenged her Ice Ribbon loss by defeating Shida in the first round of a tournament to determine the inaugural Smash Diva Champion. On August 11 at Smash.20, Syuri was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Kana, who would go on to become the inaugural champion. On October 28 at Smash.22, Syuri failed to earn a shot at the Smash Diva Championship, when she was defeated in a four-way elimination number one contender's match by Tomoka Nakagawa. Also at Smash.22, Lin Bairon made her return to Smash, after a four month break during which she worked under her masked Ray alias, reigniting her rivalry with Syuri. On November 24 at Smash.23, Syuri defeated Bairon in a hardcore match, after which the two made peace with each other.

Shoot boxing

On December 11, 2009, Kondo made her shoot boxing debut for the Jewels promotion at Jewels 6th Ring, defeating Asako via unanimous decision. At the end of the year, the promotion named her the Rookie of the Year. In her second match on February 13, 2010, Kondo picked up another unanimous decision victory, this time over Fuka Kakimoto. On November 11, 2011, it was announced that Kondo would be making her kickboxing debut for the Krush promotion on January 9, 2012. On December 15, Mitsuhori Miyako was named Kondo's opponent at the event.

Shoot boxing record
2 Fights, 2 Wins, 0 Losses, 0 Draws

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

References

External links

• Smash profile (Japanese)
• Hustle profile (Japanese)
• Syuri on Twitter (Japanese)
• Official blog (Japanese)

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