Hikari Noa was a girl with a dream. A dream of blood and scars.

Under a cloud of phosphor, atop glass shards, with a full heart and sliced skin, that dream come to life at Shin-Kiba 1st RING.

When Noa debuted for Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling as part of the idol group UpUpGirls, one would have no idea that she adored deathmatches, that she admired the man of a million scars Jun Kasai, that she sought to produce art from her pain. She was a singing, dancing girl in a ponytail and sparkly blue outfit. The real Noa was hidden under layers of pop princess.

In a 2021 interview with Spice (translated by Joshi Puro Translations), Hikari talked of her longstanding love for the hardcore side of wrestling.

“I’ve loved deathmatches ever since I was little,” she said. “I like seeing blood get spilled, and I got to see it in person.”

Going on, she talked about regularly traveling to see Big Japan Pro Wrestling and how she wanted to emulate the man known as Crazy Monkey. “I’ve always admired Jun Kasai who has a back full of scars and I want to have a back like that.”

But Noa didn’t exactly walk into a wrestling company where that desire would be easy to fulfill.

TJPW is idol wrestling. It’s comedy wrestling. It’s wrestling in a pool. It’s histrionic tears when you lose a match. It’s not deathmatch wrestling.

As Noa’s look grew edgier, complete with metal studs and a baseball bat, she and TJPW felt more and more like a mismatch. She was a metal singer fronting a J-pop group.  She was a BJW disciple stuck in a kawaii cartoon.

Her love of the deathmatch style became common knowledge, but it seemed unlikely she’d get to experience that love under the TJPW umbrella.

The annual Inspiration shows, though, are all about fulfilling dreams. This is where Pom Harajuku got to face famed comedy wrestler Kuishinbo Kamen, and where in 2021, Noa got to work a hardcore match against Rina Yamashita. This was just a taste of Noa’s dream where the violence was tame, the blood left unspilled.

Two years later, the dream would be realized in full when TJPW booked her against Sawyer Wreck, an American known mostly for her deathmatch work with GCW.

In May of 2023, Noa vs. Wreck headlined the Inspiration show in Tokyo. This time, Hikari would have a chance to get her hands far dirtier as this was a Fluorescent Light Tubes Deathmatch.

Sawyer Wreck is nearly twice Noa’s height. Her lanky limbs and 5’10” frame make her look like a different species than most of the TJPW roster. Her monstrous presence elevated the already eerier atmosphere of this bout.

Light tubes lined two sides of the ring, walls of glass that promised pain. Steel chairs lie stacked in the corner.

And on that ominous stage, Noa’s grin was wider than the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge.  

Once the action began, the size disparity was a central part of this story. Wreck flung Noa around. She absorbed the former International Princess champion’s blows and responded with clubbing shots. It was bear versus fox.

Hikari Noa, however, was resilient, rugged, spunky. She tried to outmaneuver her opponent with quick wrestling holds and her trusty dropkick.

But the inevitable happened. Wreck overpowered her, flinging her into the tubes. There was an explosion of white dust and the sound of breaking glass. And then it happened again.

Noa was slow and staggered but the fight in her did not dissipate. This match was all about Noa’s heart against Wreck’s immensity. The underdog versus the sadistic predator.  

To even the odds, Noa introduced a steel chair to the mix, but that was soon used against her. Wreck slammed her down onto a stack of chairs before punching a light tube onto Hikari’s face.

We slowly saw cuts form on Noa’s back, her ribs, under her arm. Her skin was a map of her suffering. Blood slowly painted over the pale.  

She looked to chop down the giant with everything in reach, but everything was a struggle. Hikari could not lift her on the first try. Her offense was ineffective. Meanwhile, Hikari got headbutted, clotheslined, steamrolled.

And through it all, Hikari showed fight. Heart. Passion. This is among the most compelling action she’s been a part of. She was clearly motivated and focused, giving and taking full advantage of this opportunity she’d been so hungry for all this time.

Her resilience frustrated the howling Wreck. When everyday offense wasn’t enough to keep our hero down, the big bruiser tore off every remaining light tube and made a pile of shards and debris with them in the center of the ring. Wreck chokeslammed her onto this altar of violence to end the match.

Even though Hikari was battered, her back speckled with blood, and she was left crawling on the rubble of their war, Wreck wasn’t a gloating conqueror. The beast instead shows respect. She lifted Hikari’s arm in the air.

They have both won.

Wreck won the match. Hikari won by way of living her dream.

Hikari cried as she bowed to the crowd. Her joy and pride were obvious, beaming through the arena.

She has bled for them. She bears the scars she sought. She has become the wrestler she long dreamed to be. The ill-fitting princess skin is shed at her feet.

Hikari has since parted from TJPW, “graduating” after a long, unexplained absence. It’s unclear whether she intends to continue wrestling.

If she finds a new home where she can be more herself and more often wrestle this style she loves, then good for her. But if she’s done with this crazy business, she can walk away knowing she realized her vision, wearing those scars she wanted, her heart bore for all to see, her blood left as an offering.