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| I wouldn't want to cross this woman Photo Credit: Youji Kawauchi/Dirty Dirty Sheets |
Admittedly, I'm not the biggest expert on every participant in JoshiMania, so I reached out to people who did know a few things about the other competitors. One such missive that I got back was from none other than John Hyperion of the Dirty Dirty Sheets. Obviously, he knows a lot about most of the competitors, including Mio Shirai, whom he is profiling in this guest blog. Soak it in, because the man knows his Joshi.
This weekend’s JoshiMania presents multiple current main eventers and certified Joshi legends to a very fortunate American audience. One woman who has not reached that status yet, but is well on her way, is the beautiful and violent Mio Shirai.
The average Joshi with only four years of experience is still finding herself and languishing at the bottom of the cards. However in her short time in the sport, Mio has already become one of its most interesting and talked about personalities.
For most of her career, Mio teamed with her younger sister Io as the bad girl Shirai Sisters team. They dressed like evil prep school bullies, broke the rules wantonly, and did everything but smoke cigs on the way to the ring (they left that to Mayumi Ozaki).
Io developed as the high-flyer of the team while Mio focused on a kick heavy martial-arts style. As freelancers they took their team to numerous promotions and even wrestled, under masks, in Mexico. However, it was when the sisters joined up with former rival Kana that their careers began to move to the next level.
As Triple Tails, Mio and Io joined Kana in being eminently fashionable iconoclasts of the Joshi scene. They remained independent, putting on their own productions and branching out into men's companies. Most notably they attempted a hostile takeover of SMASH, at one point threatening to cut off the testicles of SMASH promoter TAJIRI, if they weren't too small to find.
Eventually, Io left Triple Tails in order to join the STARDOM promotion while Mio and Kana remained together as Triple Tails.S. The “S” stands for sadistic, due to the joy Mio feels in inflicting punishment on others.
Besides her javelin-like right cross, skull-crushing axe kicks, and an inescapable figure four neck choke, Mio also has a fondness for barbed wire and Saw-esque torture scenarios. None of her many admirers find this discouraging, and she often spends her time ringside insulting those who profess their love for her.
When fellow freelance wrestler Takuya Kito became infatuated with Mio earlier this year, she not only rebuffed his advances but faced him in a hardcore match. The delusional Kito brought a marriage contract with him to the fight. Mio made him bleed, choked him out, and covered the paper in his blood.
That is Mio Shirai. Kana said it best in our second interview with her, “Mio’s character is very strong. Her presence is incomparable among Japanese wrestlers. Above all she is a sadistic, beautiful woman. People who get insulted by her display an expression of ecstasy.”
This is your only warning: If you are attending JoshiMania and happen to, as most do, develop a certain fondness for this sensual and psychotic woman, be careful and make sure she doesn't have any sharp objects in-hand.
