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Shino Sakamoto

In almost every respect, the stories of Shino Sakamoto and Arcadia Naruse are inexorably intertwined, their parallel destinies tethered to the bitter end. To start, both learned to love professional wrestling through their fathers. For Sakamoto, professional wrestling was always a “family business,” as her father had gained prominence throughout the 80s and 90s as Bulldozer Sakamoto, a Strong Style specialist par excellence. Sakamoto learned the fundamentals from her father at an early age, although the frenzied, high-octane style she’d later adopt was a significant departure from the more grounded technique of her father. Naruse, meanwhile, first fell in love with the sport at the tender age of six, watching and rewatching her father’s VHS bootleg of the now-legendary 1994 NJPW Super J Cup match against Wild Pegasus and The Great Sasuke. From that moment on, Naruse decided to dedicate herself to becoming a professional wrestler, even adopting the “Pegasus” monicker for herself when she first entered into training. Equally explosive and athletic in the ring, Naruse and Sakamoto soon found themselves taken up as Miho Imagawa’s earliest proteges, the fledgling students of what would later become known as the EDEN-1 Dojo. Naruse and Sakamoto started off as the bitterest rivals, but eventually bonded through endless sparring and training and became close friends. The two would eventually find their greatest triumph through the formation of the Kusarigama Girls, a formidable tag team that roared across multiple promotions and picked up a slew of championship belts. Together, the two of them were unstoppable.

But their partnership flickered out before it ever had a chance to set the world ablaze. Naruse, overcome with jealousy and disgust for what she perceived as her partner’s “privileged second generation attitude,” split from Sakamoto shortly before the formation of EDEN-1. Her accusations were vague and still somewhat mysterious, but the implications remained quite clear: Sakamoto had the world handed to her on a silver platter while Naruse had to struggle and strive for everything. Sakamoto was aghast at her former partner’s sudden churlishness, despite doing everything in her power to bring Naruse back into the fold. This split came at an inopportune time for both women, as two wrestlers once known as tag team specialists were now rivals once again. In the wake of this break-up, Naruse formed The Furies, a faction of “wrestling outsiders” dedicated to overthrowing the status quo of EDEN-1 and women’s wrestling in general. Sakamoto, meanwhile, became the lieutenant of Miho Imagawa’s Celestial Holy Army, itself an extension of the EDEN-1 Dojo and the so-called establishment her former partner wanted to dismantle. Needless to say, the two of them are destined to battle again — but who will reign supreme?