WWE Signs Meiko Satomura For NXT UK

Meiko Satomura finally signs with WWE to serve as wrestler/coach for NXT UK.

by Andrew Pollard
Meiko Satomura
WWE.com

In a fantastic coup, WWE has reportedly signed up Meiko Satomura to be a part of the company’s NXT UK brand.

Nikkan Sports and the Wrestling Observer were the first to report this news, with the Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling mainstay to serve as a player/coach of sorts for NXT UK. The belief is that Satomura will continue in her role as Sendai’s president, and she’ll also continue to wrestle for the promotion.

Satomura has previous with WWE, of course, having reached the semi-finals of the 2018 Mae Young Classic, where she was defeated by eventual winner Toni Storm. The hugely talented veteran has also served as a guest coach at the WWE Performance Center.

Advertisement

Last week saw NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray proclaim how – after successfully defeating Jinny – she wanted to face “the best in the world”. While many presumed that this was KLR calling out NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai, it could well be that Ray was referring to Meiko Satomura with her words.

Rumours of Satomura signing with WWE rumbled on throughout the second half of last year, and November threw up stories that NXT UK could be where the former PROGRESS Wrestling Women’s Champion would lad – and now, that appears to indeed be the case.

Advertisement
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.