Hana Kimura


Hana Kimura was a Japanese female professional wrestler, who wrestled for the women's professional wrestling promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom. She was a second-generation wrestler whose mother is a former professional wrestler, Kyoko Kimura. She was also a cast member on the Fuji Television and Netflix reality television series which is the fifth installment of the Terrace House franchise.
Following a series of suicidal tweets addressing online criticism directed at her from Terrace House viewers, she was found dead by suicide in her apartment in Tokyo on May 23, 2020. The release of new Terrace House episodes was suspended as a result of Kimura's death, and Fuji TV later cancelled the season.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Prior to her professional wrestling career, Kimura won the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship one time on August 21, 2005, at a live event in Tokyo, then lost the title to her mother Kyoko.
In the 2010s, Kimura was trained at Wrestle-1's Professional Wrestling University.

Wrestle-1 (2016–2019)

After graduating the Wrestle-1 training academy, she debuted for promotion on March 30, 2016, against her classmate, Reika Saiki, in a losing effort. The pair wrestled against each other many times throughout 2016 in Wrestle-1.
On August 7, 2016, Kimura wrestled against her mother in a match. On September 18, 2016, Kimura captured her first title, the JWP Junior Championship, by defeating Yako Fujigasaki in a tournament final. Around this time, Kimura also began appearing in World Wonder Ring Stardom. On October 2, 2016, Kimura teamed with her mother and Kagetsu to capture the Artist of Stardom Championship. The team vacated the titles on January 3, 2017, when Kimura was injured. One week prior, Kimura also lost her JWP Junior Championship on December 28, 2016, to Yako Fujigasaki. Kimura eventually became a member of Stardom's heel stable, Oedo Tai. On January 22, 2017, her mother retired. In Kyoko's retirement show, Kimura defeated her mother in a singles match and on the same show, the two teamed in a trios match in a winning effort.
During 2017, Kimura split her time between Wrestle-1, Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling and Stardom while being a contracted performer for Wrestle-1. On June 21, 2017, at Stardom's Galaxy Stars 2017 event, Kimura teamed with her fellow Oedo Tai member, Kagetsu, to win the Goddess of Stardom Championship by defeating Team Jungle of Hiroyo Matsumoto and Jungle Kyona. The team held the titles for nearly a year, successfully defending against teams such as Jungle Kyona and HZK, Io Shirai and Viper, Jungle Kyona and Natsuko Tora, HZK and Momo Watanabe, Mayu Iwatani and Tam Nakano. The team was defeated by Mayu Iwatani and Saki Kashima in 2018.
Kimura officially became a Wrestle-1 roster member on January 9, 2018. She made an international tour in early 2018, competing for Ring of Honor,, and various promotions in Mexico. Kimura left Oedo Tai on September 24, after she attacked Kagetsu.
On March 21, 2019, Kimura announced she was leaving Wrestle-1.

World Wonder Ring Stardom (2019–2020)

She officially joined Stardom on March 25, 2019. On April 6, Kimura, along with Stella Grey and Sumie Sakai wrestled Jenny Rose and Oedo Tai in a dark match at Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s G1 Supercard. On April 14, at the 2019 Stardom draft, Hana was named leader of the International Army faction. The faction was renamed, "Tokyo Cyber Squad", on April 21. On May 16, Kimura, along with her stablemates Jungle Kyona and Konami won the Artist of Stardom Championship after defeating Mayu Iwatani, Saki Kashima, and Tam Nakano.
On January 4, 2020, Kimura, along with Giulia wrestled Mayu Iwatani and Arisa Hoshiki in a dark match at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 14. It was the first women's match at the Tokyo Dome since 2002. Kimura had her final match on March 24 at Stardom's Cinderella Tournament 2020, wrestling Mayu Iwatani in the first round to a draw.
During her Stardom career, she won the Artist of Stardom Championship twice and the Goddess of Stardom championship once, while also winning the 2019 5★Star GP tournament and Stardom Fighting Spirit Award.

Acting career

Kimura joined Terrace House in September 2019, appearing on the show until her death. One episode filmed in early January showed Kimura involved in a verbal conflict with her housemate, Kai Edward Kobayashi, for damaging her wrestling attire. After the episode aired in March, her actions drew criticism, name calling and abuse from social media users, sending her into depression.

Personal life

Kimura was a daughter of Kyoko Kimura who is also a professional wrestler. Before she was one year old, she was separated from her father. While the identity of her biological father is not publicly known, Kimura had mentioned in interviews that he is an Indonesian national and because of this, she was referred to as Indonesian-Japanese. She was bullied as a child because of her mixed ethnic heritage.

Death

On May 23, 2020, Kimura died at age 22.
Early that morning, Kimura posted self-harm images on Twitter and Instagram while sharing some of the hate comments she received.

Legacy and tributes

During the day of Kimura's death, the world of professional wrestling went around the world, several companies such as New Japan Pro-Wrestling, National Wrestling Alliance, Ring of Honor, All Elite Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, among other companies sent their condolences. During the Double or Nothing pay-per-view event, AEW paid tribute to Kimura and Shad Gaspard.
On the May 27 episode of NXT, NXT superstar Io Shirai and Mauro Ranallo paid tribute to Hana with the following phrase: "Hana was one of the most talented female wrestlers in the world, and I was looking forward to watching her grow to see how far she could go,” Io began. "I will always remember her smile that would brighten up any room she walked into. It is so important that we all love and treat each other with respect.” On May 29, Sasha Banks was wearing new ring gear when she got to the ring, but when she removed her jacket she was wearing a black armband that said "HANA" in white letters.
On June 21, Stardom had its first event after the COVID-19 pandemic, paying tribute to Kimura before its event and all the wrestlers went out to the area surrounding the ring and kept a minute of silence, while ringing a bell 10 times.

Championships and accomplishments