Aya Sakura: The Unsung Hero For The Spirit

Pro Wrestling has really brought many emotions in me over the past 16 years of watching it. There are many ways that wrestling made me have a good feeling like:

Credit: STARDOM

• Being fascinated as a child seeing human beings do extraordinary things.
• The dynamic of heroes and villains that can be affective especially with grey areas.
• Getting older and expanding your horizons along with appreciating the shows when you were young. 
• Veterans who prove to be the best and keep up with every generations.
• Or Rookies who start off with nothing to becoming the best of their craft as you were there to see every part of their development.

That is what makes pro wrestling a beautiful self expression to follow. And I don't think that changes anytime soon. However, there is another part of wrestling that speaks to this and that is Unsung Heroes. People who you didn't know you needed until you see them in action. This is something I would definitely associate with the topic of today's blog, Aya Sakura.

My Unsung Hero

Aya Sakura has slowly been rising as one of my favourite wrestlers over the past few years. She debuted in the STARDOM Rookie class of 2023 alongside HANAKO, Ranna Yagami, Sayaka Kurara and Victoria Yuzuki. She also did karate which... *sign* of course she did. (No offense to anyone who does karate. I just have a bit of depressing memory of it.) 

Her story of entering pro wrestling is probably the most bewildering story I've seen in a long time. Long story short, she dreamed about entering the Entertainment Industry and had stumbled upon an audition for the Runaway Wrestler. This film depicted the life of one of my favourite wrestlers of all time, Mayu Iwatani. Long story short, she auditioned for the role of Mayu Iwatani, only to realize that it was audition to Pro Wrestler alongside HANAKO (who I'll mention later). 

I am not one to talk especially on how I was able to procure my currently job as an Intern. The only question I have is how does that even happen? Like I don't think I have heard a story about a wrestler who joined the industry by accident. 

My Appreciation For Her Efforts

I would usually format this as I would normally do the wrestler focused blogs. This will be more of a conversational blog or session than anything else. Anyway, the first time I felt a spark for Aya Sakura was her match with Sayaka Kurara as Sakurara against Rice Or Bread (HANAKO & Waka Tsukiyama) for the NEW BLOOD Tag Team Titles. 

I remember the build as I still have a video on my phone of HANAKO calling her a 30 year old Hag, which is kind of ironic given HANAKO's tag team partner is Waka Tsukiyama. This bout is one of my favourite women's tag team bouts in quite a long. I really felt a spark for Aya Sakura here, and I felt the same for HANAKO too. I don't know about the JP side, but I'm probably one of the only few people who like HANAKO as a wrestler (from what I have seen).

What really made me a big fan of hers was when she faced Maki Itoh at Supreme Fight for the Kawaii Of Kawaii Championship. This match was really, really good and Sakura put on a great performance in contrast to Maki Itoh's unorthodox style she developed in DDT (Dramatic Dream Team) and TJPW (Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling) and somehow from GCW (Game Charger Wrestling). I will say that Aya Sakura developed an angry personality throughout the build and now has a more eccentric element added to her personality which was shown in the Cinderella Tournament press conference.

The final time that Aya Sakura was able to challenge for the Future Of Stardom Championship against Ranna Yagami was an emotional one. Yagami would capture the title by defeating HANAKO on the final night of the Cinderella Tournament. Sakura made a promise with HANAKO to face each other for the title, but it didn't happened. This fight was a great match from both with Yagami overcoming the High Kick Angel and proving that she is the Future Of Stardom. Sakura not saying anything and just leaving after the bell makes the impact of loss more evident.

I wouldn't be able to complete this if I hadn't mentioned her matches with HANAKO. I already mentioned their tag title match earlier, but I want to bring up their match from April 5th in Osaka. This fight was a nice blend of their respective wrestling styles. HANAKO got the win with the JP Coaster and it was back to the drawing board for Sakura.

The last match I want to touch on is from the pre-show of STARDOM's most highest attended event ever at All Star Grand Queendom. She faced Kikyo Furusawa to kick off the Pre-Show. They both had a brillant back and forth wrestling match. 10 minutes of testing each other's wills and ended with Aya Sakura pinning Kikyo Furusawa with a German Suplex to get the win. Sakura is great, Furusawa is great and this match was really good on all levels. (Also that DTC blog is coming out soon so stay steady.)

Post: This blog is more of a spur of a moment type deal than the rest. I have tried to be organized with this, but came to the realization that I try to hard a lot of the time instead of just keeping the important parts. You know, like I remember an important date or blogs I prepared and let my mind do the rest of the side stories. I hope you all enjoy this and I'll see you next time. SAYONARA.

Kind Regards,

ZERO (or Archer)