Jaguar Yokota

Rimi Yokota (横田 利美, Yokota Rimi) (born July 25, 1961) is a Japanese professional wrestler and later wrestling trainer, who wrestled under the name Jaguar Yokota (ジャガー横田). She is widely considered one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time, and, during her heyday in the early 1980s, was considered one of the best wrestlers in the world, irrespective of gender.

Jaguar Yokota
Yokota in January 2016
Born (1961-07-25) July 25, 1961
Tokyo, Japan
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Jaguar Yokota
Rimi Yokota
Monster Y
Jaguar Y
Billed height5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)[1]
Trained byAll Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
DebutJune 28, 1977 (against Mayumi Takahashi)

Career

Yokota was born on July 25, 1961 in Tokyo, Japan. She spent the majority of her career as a headliner for the All Japan Women's promotion (AJW). It was highlighted by two title runs as the WWWA World Single Champion.

All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling (1977-1986)

Having been inspired to join AJW by 1970s stars, the Beauty Pair (Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda),[2] Yokota debuted on June 28, 1977 in Tokyo at the age of 15, against Mayumi Takahashi. She won her first belt on January 4, 1980, when she became the AJW Junior Champion. Later that year, she won the WWWA World Tag Team Championship with Ayumi Hori, on December 17, having also become the first AJW Champion with a victory over Nancy Kumi two days earlier. On February 25, 1981 she achieved her greatest success to that point, defeating her original inspiration, Jackie Sato, for the WWWA World Single Championship. She was 19 years old at the time of her first title reign.

She lost her first world championship to La Galactica on May 7, 1983 in a mask vs. hair match, then won it back a month later. During her second world title run, she had very notable feuds with Devil Masami and Lioness Asuka (of the Crush Gals), but had to vacate the championship in 1985 due to a shoulder injury.

Retirement (1986-1995)

After her early retirement in 1986 (she was 24), she became a trainer for AJW. Notable students of hers include Manami Toyota, Toshiyo Yamada, Megumi Kudo, Kyoko Inoue, and Takako Inoue.

On November 20, 1994 Yokota returned from retirement to wrestle at Big Egg Wrestling Universe. She teamed with Bison Kimura and went to a 10 minute time limit draw against Lioness Asuka and Yumi Ogura. According to Yokota, this inspired her to return to wrestling full-time.[3]

Jd' (1995-1998)

In 1995 she came out of retirement to form her promotion Jd', and wrestled as its top star until 1998, when she retired for a second time.

Retirement (1998-2004)

Yokota stayed retired from 1998 to 2004, as she started to have a family.

Freelance (2004-present)

Yokota was married in August 2004 to the lead vocalist for the obscure but seminal 1980s Hokkaido based hardcore band "Tranquilizer". She has since returned to professional wrestling as a freelancer, including a stint as part of the Monster faction in Hustle as Jaguar Y.

Championships and accomplishments
  • AWF World Women's Championship (1 time)
  • TWF World Women's Championship] (1 time)
  • TWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Yuko Kosugi
  • World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana
  • WWWD World Elizabeth Championship (2 times, current)[5][6]
  • WWWD World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sareee[7]
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

References
  1. "The 50 Greatest Women Wrestlers of All-Time". Pro Wrestling Illustrated Presents: The Women of Wrestling. Kappa Publishing. 1 (1): 12. 1996.
  2. Molinaro, John F.: Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time, page 166, Winding Stair Press, 2002.
  3. "Jaguar Yokota Interview". amyaction.com. Archived from the original on September 11, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  4. "All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Hall of Fame". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
  5. 10/10(月・祝)ステラボール大会 試合結果. World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana (in Japanese). 2016-10-10. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  6. 8/30 新木場大会~試合結果~. World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana (in Japanese). 2020-08-31.
  7. 12/23(火・祝)川崎大会 試合結果. World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana (in Japanese). 2014-12-24. Retrieved 2014-12-23.

Sources
  • Molinaro, John F. Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time, Winding Stair Press, 2002, page 166.
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