Oz Academy (OZアカデミー, OZ Akademī) is a Japanese joshi puroresu or women's professional wrestling promotion founded by Mayumi Ozaki. The promotion's full official name is Oz Academy Women's Professional Wrestling (OZアカデミー女子プロレス, OZ Akademī Joshi Puroresu).[1] In addition to the contracted members of the roster, Oz Academy has also employed some of the top freelancers in all of joshi puroresu, including Ayumi Kurihara, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Manami Toyota and Tomoka Nakagawa. The promotion has a television deal with Gaora.[2]

Oz Academy
AcronymOz
FoundedJune 21, 1998[1]
StyleJoshi puroresu
Hardcore wrestling
HeadquartersShinjuku, Tokyo[1]
Founder(s)Mayumi Ozaki[1]
Websiteoz-academy.com

History edit

 
Oz Academy founder Mayumi Ozaki

While working in the Gaea Japan promotion in mid-90s, Ozaki formed the villainous Oz Academy stable with Chikayo Nagashima, Rieko Amano and Sugar Sato, eventually opening a training school under the same name.[3] Oz Academy eventually started promoting sporadic independent events, featuring members of the stable and Ozaki's trainees, with the first event held on June 21, 1998.[1] Following the folding of Gaea Japan in 2005, Ozaki turned Oz Academy into a full promotion with a full schedule of approximately one to two events per month, while also recruiting veteran wrestlers Aja Kong, Dynamite Kansai and Sonoko Kato to serve as the backbone of the promotion.[1][4][5] Oz Academy remained without championships for nearly nine years, before introducing the Oz Academy Openweight Championship in March 2007 and the Oz Academy Tag Team Championship in July 2008.[6][7]

Mayumi Ozaki has always been a focal point of Oz Academy events and storylines, with different variations of her original Oz Academy stable trying to dominate and keep themselves on top of the promotion. The stable has gone under many different names, including D-Fix,[8] Ozaki-gun,[9] Ozaki-gundan,[10] and currently, Seikigun.[11] At the end of each year, Oz Academy allows its fans to vote on different awards, including MVP of the Year, Singles Match of the Year and Tag Team Match of the Year, which are then presented to the winners at the "Best Wizard" award ceremony.[12] Oz Academy is based in Shinjuku, Tokyo and holds most of its events in Shinjuku Face.[1][4] The promotion itself considers the formation of the stable in 1996 as its starting point and celebrated its 20th anniversary on November 13, 2016.[13]

Roster edit

Wrestlers edit

 
Maya Yukihi
 
Hiroyo Matsumoto
 
Rina Yamashita
Ring name Real name Unit Notes
Aja Kong[14] Erika Shishido Beast Friend
Akino[15] Mika Akino Mission K4 Oz Academy Pioneer 3-Way Champion
Hiroyo Matsumoto[16] Unknown Beast Friend Freelancer
Itsuki Aoki[17] Aika Aoki Unaffiliated
Chihiro Hashimoto Chihiro Hashimoto Unaffiliated Freelancer
Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling
Jaguar Yokota Rimi Yokota Unaffiliated Freelancer
Oz Academy Tag Team Champion
Kakeru Sekiguchi[18] Unknown Mission K4 Actwres girl'Z
Kaori Yoneyama[19] Kaori Yoneyama Beast Friend Freelancer
Owner of YMZ Pro Wrestling
Kaho Kobayashi[20] Kaho Kobayashi Mission K4 Freelancer
Maya Yukihi[21] Unknown Seiki-gun Freelancer
Mayumi Ozaki[22] Mayumi Ozaki Seiki-gun Owner
Oz Academy Tag Team Champion
Mio Momono Mio Momono Unaffiliated Freelancer
Oz Academy Openweight Champion
Ram Kaicho Ram Kaicho Unaffiliated
Rina Yamashita[23] Unknown Unaffiliated Freelancer
Sakura Hirota[24] Unknown Unaffiliated Pro Wrestling Wave
Saori Anou[25] Unknown Seiki-gun Freelancer
Sonoko Kato[26] Sonoko Kato Mission K4
Tsubasa Kuragaki[27] Yasuko Kuragaki Unaffiliated Freelancer
Yumi Ohka[28] Yumiko Abe Seiki-gun Pro Wrestling Wave
Yuu[29] Unknown Beast Friend Freelancer

Non-wrestlers edit

Ring name Real name Notes
Mio Unknown[30] Referee
Police Unknown[31] Manager of Seikigun
Ring Ana Nakamura Hiroyuki Nakamura[32] Ring announcer
Sayuri Kokushō Sayuri Koda Occasional manager of Seikigun
Sachiko Ito Sachiko Ito[33] Referee

Notable alumni edit

Ring name Real name Notes
Alex Lee Irena Janjic
Aoi Kizuki Aoi Kizuki
Ayumi Kurihara Ayumi Kurihara[34] Retired on August 4, 2013
Carlos Amano Rieko Amano[35] Retired on August 17, 2014
Cherry Unknown
Chikayo Nagashima Chikayo Nagashima[36] Resigned on August 23, 2015
Devil Masami Masami Yoshida[37] Retired on December 30, 2008
Dynamite Kansai Chieko Suzuki[38] Retired on December 11, 2016[39]
Kurumi Hiragi Kurumi
Hiren Yurie Kaneko[40] Retired on November 8, 2011
Kaori Nakayama Kaori Nakayama[41] Retired on October 23, 2002
Kaoru Kaoru Maeda[42]
Kaoru Ito Kaoru Ito
Manami Toyota Manami Toyota[43] Retired on November 3, 2017.[44][45]
Mika Nishio Mika Nishio[46] Retired from wrestling in April 2006, continued working as a manager until March 20, 2016, when she retired due to pregnancy[47][48]
Nao Komatsu Nao Komatsu[49] Injured on December 9, 2012
Ran Yu-Yu Tomoko Miyaguchi[50] Retired on December 9, 2012
Rie Rie Nakamura
Sakura Hirota Sakura Hirota
Sugar Sato Toshie Sato[51] Retired on June 26, 2005
Takako Inoue Takako Inoue[52]
Tomoka Nakagawa Tomoka Nakagawa[53] Retired on December 4, 2014

Notable guests edit

Championships edit

Championship Current champion(s) Reign Date won Days held Location Notes
Oz Academy Openweight Championship   Mio Momono 1 January 7, 2024 106+ Tokyo, Japan Defeated Akino at OZ Academy The Wizard Of OZ 2024.
Oz Academy Tag Team Championship  
 
Age 115
(Jaguar Yokota and Mayumi Ozaki)
1
(1, 7)
April 23, 2023 365+ Tokyo, Japan Defeated Ryo Mizunami and Sonoko Kato at OZ Academy Battle Big Bonus In Korakuen 2023.
Oz Academy Pioneer 3-Way Championship   Akino 2 December 30, 2023 114+ Tokyo, Japan Defeated Itsuki Aoki and Ram Kaicho at OZ Academy Pray For Me'.

Oz Academy Pioneer 3-Way Championship edit

Oz Academy Pioneer 3-Way Championship
Details
PromotionOz Academy
Date establishedApril 3, 2022
Current champion(s)Akino
Date wonDecember 30, 2023
Statistics
First champion(s)Mask Do Hanahana
Most reignsKaori Yoneyama
(2 times)
Longest reignMomoka Hanazono
(189 days)
Shortest reignKaori Yoneyama
(28 days)
Oldest championAkino
(50 years, 67 days)
Youngest championMomoka Hanazono
(22 years, 333 days)
Heaviest championAkino
(65 kg (143 lb))
Lightest championMomoka Hanazono
(50 kg (110 lb))

The Oz Academy Pioneer Championship (OZアカデミー認定パイオニア3WAY選手権王座, Ozu Akademī Nintei Paionia Surīwei Ōza) is a women's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by Oz Academy. The main characteristic of the title is that it can only be contested in three-way matches. There have been a total of seven reigns shared between five different champions. The current champion is Akino who is in her second reign.[54]

Title history edit

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Defenses Number of successful defenses
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days Defenses
1 Mask Do Hanahana April 3, 2022 Battle Big Bonus In Korakuen Tokyo, Japan 1 119 0 Hanahana defeated Kaori Yoneyama and Yumi Ohka in a three-way match to become the inaugural champion. [55]
2 Akino July 31, 2022 Battle Big Bonus In Nagoya Nagoya, Japan 1 49 0 This was a three-way match also involving Momoka Hanazono. [56]
3 Kaori Yoneyama September 18, 2022 Bad Moon Rising At Osaka Osaka, Japan 1 28 0 This was a three-way match also involving Tsubasa Kuragaki. [57]
4 Momoka Hanazono October 16, 2022 Battle Big Bonus In Okinawa Naha, Japan 1 189 2 This was a three-way match also involving Mask Do Hanahana. [58]
5 Kaori Yoneyama April 23, 2023 OZ Academy Battle Big Bonus In Korakuen Tokyo, Japan 2 98 0 This was a three-way match also involving Kohaku. [59]
6 Itsuki Aoki July 30, 2023 OZ Academy Battle Big Bonus In Nagoya Nagoya, Japan 1 153 2 This was a three-way match also involving Kakeru. [60]
7 Akino December 30, 2023 OZ Academy Pray For Me Tokyo, Japan 2 114+ 0 This was a three-way match also involving Ram Kaicho. [61]

Combined reigns edit

As of April 22, 2024.

Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns
Combined
defenses
Combined
days
1 Momoka Hanazono 1 2 189
2 Akino 2 0 163+
3 Itsuki Aoki 1 2 153
4 Kaori Yoneyama 2 0 126
5 Mask Do Hanahana 1 0 119

References edit

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  2. ^ "Ozアカデミー 女子プロレス". Gaora (in Japanese). Retrieved June 7, 2015.
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  5. ^ アジャコング選手の電撃入団につきまして. Oz Academy (in Japanese). November 1, 2006. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
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External links edit