8 Wrestlers Who Purposefully Sabotaged Matches
2. Yoshiko (Stardom, 2015)
We go back to the Land of the Rising Sun for an entry which is quite possibly the worst, most blatant violation of wrestling etiquette I think I have ever seen. This sabotage was so brutal and so unnecessary and it is really hard to watch. While some of the examples of sabotages in this article are bizarre, perhaps even comical to a degree, this one of simply deplorable.
The incident concerns Yoshiko and Act Yasukawa, who were competing in a match for Yoshiko's World of Stardom Title. According to reports, there were issues between the two competitors before the match, with Yoshiko apparently growing jealous of Yasukawa's growing popularity and didn't want to drop the title to her.
To prevent this, she viciously attacked Yasukawa right from the opening bell, laying into her with some sickeningly stiff shots to the face. Act had previous issues with her eyes and had at one point been hospitalised due to having Grave's Disease. It is believed that Yoshiko was targeting them in an attempt to legitimately end her career.
The referee had to intervene and, when they were eventually pulled apart, the severity of the damage done was immediately evident on Yasukawa's face: it was bloody, swollen and disfigured.
Astonishingly, the match continued and was typically one-sided, with Yoshiko dominating her smaller opponent and laying in yet more stiff shots. Eventually, the match was stopped when veteran wrestler Kyoko Kimura (situated at ringside) threw in the towel. Even after the match was called off, the two women still tried to fight one another but, thankfully, they were restrained.
The result of this heinous encounter was fractured cheek, nasal and orbital bones for Yasukawa, which required surgery and a month in hospital to recover from. Although she tried to make a comeback later in the year, she was forced to retire due to the lingering effects of this match, told she would never regain the sight in her eyes.
Yoshiko was suspended immediately and then forced to retire but, incredibly, made her in-ring comeback in January of this year.
How anyone could hire her after this farce is beyond me. It was the most blatant violation of trust ever witnessed in a pro wrestling ring and completely unforgivable.