Top Japanese Wrestling Prospect Heading To AEW?
The Tokyo Sports' Rookie of the Year and rising TJPW star may soon land on American shores.
Top joshi prospect Yuki Arai has been tipped for a United States excursion - with All Elite Wrestling a likely base.
Tokyo Sports reported earlier this week that Arai's home promotion, TJPW, had decided to send her overseas, doing so after Yuki had requested "warrior training" after being eliminated from the company's Tokyo Princess Cup tournament.
TJPW spokesperson Tetsuya Koda commented:-
"Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki, Maki Ito, Shoko Nakajima and others have appeared in various organizations in the United States and the United Kingdom, including AEW. Arai can also practice overseas. I think it would be nice to do it."
Yamashita will challenge for Thunder Rosa's AEW Women's World Title on next week's Dynamite, having earned that shot by defeating Rosa in Japan recently.
Arai, meanwhile, was named Rookie of the Year 2021 by Tokyo Sports in December. She became a regular with TJPW last May, teaming with Miu Watanabe in a defeat to Arisu Endo and Maki Itoh, and has since emerged amongst the company's most exciting up-and-comers.
Dave Meltzer reports in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Arai is expected to work AEW shows and independent dates while in the US. Japanese wrestling promotions regularly send performers in her situation abroad to pick up experience and develop new skills, which appears to be the case here.
Arai's compatriot, Konosuke Takeshita, is currently in the midst of a year-long AEW excursion from his home company, DDT. DDT and TJPW share ownership in CyberFight Inc.