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Manami Toyota

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Manami Toyota is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. She is widely considered one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time. Much of her career was spent with All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling, known as AJW. She was famous for her incredible speed and flashy moves. Her talent was so high that people compared her to the best male wrestlers in the world. She is also the only woman to compete in 13 matches given a 5-star rating by the Wrestling Observer.

Professional wrestling requires immense physical skill and coordination. Toyota used fast tags and double-team moves to win matches. She was known for high-energy performances that kept audiences engaged. One of her most famous bouts was against her rival, Kyoko Inoue. This match lasted for a full 60-minute time limit and ended in a draw. It featured high-risk moves like German suplexes off the top rope. Because of its intensity, it was voted Match of the Year in 1995.

Toyota's career began when she was only 16 years old. She made her debut on August 5, 1987, against Sachiko Nakamura. Her big break occurred on May 6, 1989, at the Yokohama Arena. Teaming with Mima Shimoda as the Tokyo Sweethearts, she defeated Etsuko Mita and Toshiyo Yamada. This match featured dramatic near falls and fast-paced action. The performance helped Toyota become a star that fans wanted to watch.

Throughout her career, Toyota formed many famous partnerships. While she worked with Mima Shimoda, her greatest chemistry was with Toshiyo Yamada. Initially, the two were rivals who wrestled many times between 1989 and 1991. They eventually became a highly successful tag team. In 1992, they won the UWA Women's World Tag Team Championship. They also won the WWWA World Tag Team Championship by defeating Jungle Jack. Their rivalry even included a dramatic hair vs. hair match in August 1992.

Toyota achieved significant success in singles competition as well. She won her first AJW Championship on November 18, 1989, by defeating Mika Takahashi. She also held the All Pacific Championship and the IWA Singles Championship. Most notably, she became the 39th WWWA World Single Champion on March 26, 1995. She defeated the powerful Aja Kong to reach this summit. Toyota would go on to become a two-time WWWA World Single Champion.

In the later years of her career, Toyota expanded her reach. She worked with the GAEA Japan group from 2002 to 2004. She also traveled to the United States to wrestle for the Chikara promotion. In 2010, she made her American debut in Baltimore, Maryland. She defeated Daizee Haze in her first match on American soil. During the 2011 King of Trios tournament, she teamed with Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush. She was also honored with the Diva Dirt Legacy Award for her career.

After thirty years in the ring, Toyota retired on November 3, 2017. Her retirement event in Japan featured several one-minute time limit matches. She won 12 of these matches, drew 29, and lost 10. Her final match was against her successor, Tsukasa Fujimoto. Toyota won the first bout using the Japanese Ocean Queen Bee Bomb. However, a third match was held to end her career. In that final encounter, Fujimoto won using Toyota's own signature move, the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex.

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File:Manami Toyota during Night 2 of CHIKARA's King of Trios at Asylum Arena.jpg
Manami Toyota during Night 2 of CHIKARA's...
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