10 Things You Need To Know About WWE's New Signing Kairi Hojo
Get to know the latest member of WWE's Women's Revolution.
WWE made a number of unprecedented signings last year, from AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura to the dozens of wrestlers brought-in for the revived Cruiserweight division. The company has rarely been so aggressive in acquiring fresh talent, and given their ongoing global expansion, it's unlikely they'll be slowing down anytime soon.
With a women's tournament reportedly set for later in the year, fans can expect WWE to add a number of fresh faces to the talent pool over the coming months. Kimber Lee and Heidi Lovelace have already started work at the Performance Center, and after initially negotiating with the company last year, Kairi Hojo signed a three-year deal with WWE last week.
Hojo wrestles primarily for Stardom in Japan, where she is considered one of the company's biggest stars. The current Wonder of Stardom Champion is expected to depart the company in April, leaving a gaping hole at the top of Stardom's card, but boosting NXT's roster as one of only a few women's wrestlers who can legitimately match Asuka in the ring.
Despite all this, Hojo is a relative unknown to Western viewers. Her American exposure has been extremely limited thus far, but if her career continues on its current trajectory, she'll be a huge favourite among WWE fans in no time. Why not brush up on some facts about her to impress your friends when she finally arrives?
10. Her Unique Sports Background
WWE are used to signing athletes from a diverse array of backgrounds, and you’ll find former Olympic wrestlers, NFL players, martial artists, and models across the company’s talent pool these days. WWE’s signing policy has shifted towards acquiring those with significant independent wrestling experience in recent years, but they’ve rarely cast such a wide net, and will try to create a star from almost anyone.
Despite this diversity, Kairi Hojo’s athletic background is completely unique among WWE’s roster. She had no combat sports experience prior to taking-up wrestling, and instead focused on yachting. Competing close to a world championship level, Hojo harboured ambitions of making it to the Olympics, and found great success in national competitions throughout her college career.
Hojo also played a lot of volleyball during this period, though her dedication to both sports waned after graduating from Hosei University. Volleyball and yachting don’t exactly sound like sports with a vast amount of transferable wrestling skills, but evidently put Hojo on a good footing ahead of her joshi career. Furthermore, her yachting background rather lazily led to her first major gimmick...