Actor

1989-02-08 · Ebina, Japan · Female

1 series in the catalog

Syuri Kondo (近藤 朱里, Kondō Shuri; born February 8, 1989), mononymously known as Syuri (朱里, Shuri), is a Japanese professional wrestler, shoot boxer, kickboxer and mixed martial artist. She is currently signed with World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she is the leader of God's Eye and is a champion in New Japan Pro Wrestling as the current IWGP Women's Champion in her second reign. She is a former NJPW Strong Women's Champion and World of Stardom Champion.

Syuri started her professional wrestling career in Hustle, where she performed under the ring name KG (Karate Girl). Syuri later worked for Hustle's two follow-up promotions; Smash, where she was the final Smash Diva Champion, and Wrestling New Classic (WNC), where she was a two-time WNC Women's Champion. After WNC folded in June 2014, Syuri remained affiliated with its sister promotion Reina Joshi Puroresu until March 2016, becoming a one-time Reina World Women's Champion and a one-time Reina World Tag Team Champion. Syuri also worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) through their working relationship with Reina, where she is a former CMLL World Women's Champion and CMLL-Reina International Champion. Syuri debuted in Stardom in 2013 and is a former one-time World of Stardom Champion, one-time SWA World Champion and one-time Goddesses of Stardom Champion. Syuri is also the winner of the 2021 5 Star Grand Prix.

Coming from a karate background, Syuri made her shoot boxing debut in 2009 in Krush as a kickboxer. Over the following six years, Syuri amassed a record of 13 wins and one loss, while also becoming the inaugural Krush Women's Flyweight Champion in March 2014. In April 2016, Syuri transitioned to mixed martial arts by joining Pancrase, where she was the inaugural Strawweight Queen of Pancrase. In September 2017, Syuri made her Ultimate Fighting Championship debut.

Early life

Kondo was born to a Filipino mother and a Japanese father in Ebina, Kanagawa. She started practicing karate in primary school, winning numerous titles, and also excelled in track and field sports in junior high school and tennis in high school. After graduation, she worked as a model for fashion magazines and as a movie extra, before passing an audition held by professional wrestling promotion Hustle.

Professional wrestling career

Hustle (2008–2009)

On October 26, 2008, Syuri made her professional wrestling debut for Hustle in a match where she, working under the ring name KG (short for Karate Girl), teamed with HG and RG to defeat Big C, Onigumo and Piranha Monster. Syuri joined Tajiri's Hustle Union Army stable, formed a tag team with stablemate Banzai Chie, and started an intergender rivalry with Rey Ohara. Syuri remained with the promotion until it ceased its operations in late 2009.

Smash (2010–2012)

When the Smash was formed in December 2009, Syuri was named as a part of the new roster. While in Hustle, Syuri had wrestled almost exclusively against male wrestlers as a novelty due to the lack of other female wrestlers in the promotion. But in Smash, Syuri was poised to become a more serious female wrestler. Syuri, now working under the ring name Syuri, made her Smash debut at the promotion's inaugural event on March 26, 2010, losing to Meiko Satomura. Following a match on May 29, Syuri had a heated confrontation and backstage brawl with Kana, who announced her arrival to Smash earlier and was sitting in the audience. This led to the main event of Smash's June 25 show, where Syuri defeated Kana in a fourteen-minute-long match, ending a three-match losing streak. However, Kana defeated Syuri in a rematch on July 24 in just three minutes via submission.

For the next several events, Syuri wrestled against female workers from other independent promotions, who were looking for regular spots on the Smash roster. On September 24, Syuri was defeated in a hardcore match by freelancer Kaoru, after which Kana entered the ring, pushed Kaoru away, and helped Syuri backstage. On November 22, Syuri and Kana teamed together to defeat Ice Ribbon's Emi Sakura and JWP Joshi Puroresu's Kaori Yoneyama. As a result, Syuri was granted a shot at Yoneyama's JWP Openweight Championship at Happening Eve on December 24, but Syuri was unsuccessful in her attempt to win what would have been her first title. Syuri's streak of big matches and her growing popularity among fans eventually led to fellow Smash Seikigun member Lin Byron growing jealous of her, turning heel, and leaving the group to start a rivalry with Syuri. This was followed by Byron picking up back-to-back tag team victories over Syuri on January 29 and 30, leading to a singles match on February 25, where Syuri was victorious.

On March 21, 2011, Syuri made her debut for Ice Ribbon, losing to Hikaru Shida. The match eventually led to a partnership between Syuri and Shida. After defeating Chii Tomiya and Makoto on April 16, Syuri and Shida went on to unsuccessfully challenge Emi Sakura and Ray for the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship on May 5. The partnership also carried over to Smash, where Syuri and Shida defeated Io Shirai and Mio Shirai on May 3. On May 14, Syuri, Tajiri and Hajime Ohara, traveled to Mexico to represent Smash at Toryumon's DragonMania VI event. Syuri teamed with Lluvia and Marcela to defeat La Comandante, Dalys la Caribeña and Mima Shimoda in a six-woman tag team match. Upon returning to Japan, Syuri avenged her Ice Ribbon loss by defeating Hikaru Shida on June 9 in the first round of a tournament to determine the inaugural Smash Diva Champion. On August 11, Syuri was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Kana, who would go on to become the inaugural champion. On October 28, Lin Byron made her return to Smash after a four-month break, and reignited her rivalry with Syuri. On November 24, Syuri defeated Byron in a hardcore match, after which the two made peace with each other. On February 10, Smash announced that the promotion would be folding after its March 14 event, after which Syuri would become a free agent. On February 19, Syuri defeated Kana to win the Smash Diva Championship for the first time, after which the two longtime rivals hugged and made peace with each other. In Syuri's final Smash appearance on March 14, she teamed with Mentallo in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Kana and Último Dragón. After the match, Syuri officially retired the Smash Diva Championship.

Wrestling New Classic and Reina (2012–2016)

On April 5, 2012, Tajiri announced the formation of Wrestling New Classic (WNC), and named Syuri as part of the promotion's roster. At WNC's first event on April 26, Syuri teamed with Makoto in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Kana and Mio Shirai. On May 12, Syuri returned to Mexico to take part in Toryumon Mexico's DragonMania VII event, where she was defeated by Kana. On May 24 at WNC's second event, Starting Over, Syuri teamed with Kana in a Tag Team Match, where they defeated Makoto & Riho. Three days later at Go! Go! West: Hiroshima, Syuri worked the main event for the first time in WNC, when she, Akira & Dave Finlay defeated Kana, Mikey Whipwreck & Tajiri in a Six-Person Tag Team Match. From May 29 to June 24, Syuri took part in Pro Wrestling Wave's 2012 Catch the Wave tournament, where she wrestled in a round-robin block made up of members of the White Tails stable. After a victory over Mio Shirai, a loss against Kana, and draws against Shuu Shibutani and Ayumi Kurihara, Syuri finished at four points and failed to advance to the semifinals of the tournament. Back in WNC, Syuri started portraying a villainous character, first announcing that she was tired of having to wrestle the same opponents all the time, and then after veteran freelancer Ayako Hamada was revealed as her next opponent, by claiming that she had never even heard of her. Syuri also began sympathizing with Akira, who had recently turned on Tajiri, feeling disgruntled by the supposed changes that had taken place…