After over 1,000 matches and over seven and a half calendar years as a champion, it’s over. Meiko Satomura’s storied career officially closed in 2025. 

It’s still a surreal statement for me to type. Satomura has long been a pillar of the joshi world, from her days with GAEA to her formation of Sendai Girls. She’s fought key battles in the history of STARDOM and TJPW and made title history in WWE as the longest reigning NXT UK women’s champ and DDT as the first and only woman to win the KO-D Openweight Championship. It’s been a blessing to watch her kick ass for so long. 

But The Final Boss called it a career at age 45, last competing at a Sendai Girls show named after her in Korakuen Hall at the end of April. 

Leading up to that emotional, important sendoff, Satomura marched down a retirement road that featured bouts against old rivals like Aja Kong and Chihiro Hashimoto as well as clashes against today’s stars like Unagi Sayaka and Saori Anou. Which of these matches were the most entertaining and memorable? Read on to see where I ranked the best of these showdowns from the past year.

Honorable Mentions:

Meiko Satomura vs. Yuki Arai, TJPW – Grand Princess (3/16/25)

Meiko Satomura vs. Takumi Iroha, Marvelous (4/10/25)

7. DASH Chisako vs. Meiko Satomura, Sendai Girls – BIG SHOW in Sendai (12/8/24) 

The Queen stomped into Sendai in search of her crown. Satomura, the inaugural Sendai Girls World champ, looked to reclaim that title against a woman in Chisako who she mentored and trained, a rival with whom she shares a long history. DASH had never beaten Meiko in singles action ever, but now she was the champion poised to push the old lion out of the pride.

The stakes and the backstory strengthened this match. It felt powerful, pivotal. 

The action itself was solid with Chisako’s brawling pairing well with Satomura’s technical skill. We got a big table spot and some hard-hitting scrapping. 

This never hit what could have been its highest gear, though. Satomura’s triumphant return lacked the drama of her better en-route-to-retirement bouts. 

6. Unagi Sayaka vs. Meiko Satomura, Freelance – Unagi Sayaka Produce One Match Event The Lord is Crazy (2/16/25) 

The most fun Satomura gave us on her retirement road. During a stretch of super serious fights, this meeting with the charismatic Unagi was a refreshing change of pace.

Sayaka, the creative promoter that she is, cooked up an event that featured only one match, this singles showdown between legend and freelancer extraordinaire. 

The two wrestlers really had the Korakuen crowd going with a mix of sillier spots and slugfest action. We got a rubber band to Meiko’s eye and the classic “smashing someone’s head into the Korakuen Hall west and east signs” spot.
The classic is rich with drama and desperation, one where Satomura left with a bloody nose and more respect for the colorful character that is The Eel.

Chances are, this will get talked about less than a lot of Satomura’s final showdowns, but it deserves love, too. A quality addition to the retirement tour.  

5. Meiko Satomura & Sareee vs. Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu, Freelance – Fortune Dream 10 (4/16/25)

Rugged. Raw. Intense. This tag match was a straightforward clash with lots of compelling action.

Satomura teamed with her trainee-turned-megastar against one of the best tag teams in joshi. The star power and skill here made it a standout. 

As much as Satomura and Hashimoto have the most history against each other, it was Meiko’s clashes with Yuu that were the true highlight. They were especially savage against each other, their chemistry jumping off the screen.  

The match’s energy sags a touch in the middle but picks up plenty at the end. Great pacing. Big bombs everywhere. Impressive action all around. 

More folks need to seek out this lesser-known contest.

4. Chihiro Hashimoto & Aja Kong vs Meiko Satomura & Manami, Sendai Girls – Meiko Satomura THE FINAL (4/29/25)

The casting for Satomura’s ride off into the sunset was perfect. She faced her two greatest rivals, both the woman she warred with in GAEA in some of her best work and the star she helped ascend to the sky in Hashimoto. And having the emerging Manami tag alongside her helped make this point toward the future just as it celebrated Meiko’s exit. 

The strength of this match is its emotional resonance. Knowing this was it for Meiko made every near-fall more powerful, every frenzied comeback more dramatic. 

I do think this is overrated, however, because of it being her last match. The bell-to-bell stuff just doesn’t measure up to her top performances. It’s a simple match that succeeds in what it’s trying to do, but blame Saori Anou and Sareee for this not climbing higher on the list. 

3. Meiko Satomura vs. Saori Anou, Sendai Girls – BIG SHOW in Niigata (11/9/24)

A match that boasted a big-fight feel and ample amounts of intensity from the opening bell on.

Satomura’s attack was crisp and calculated. It’s a joy to watch the artist go to work with such skill and malice. Anou’s selling amplified everything, her glazed eyes and crumpling legs playing up how much of a beast Meiko is.

Saori stepped up to the moment, earning all the post-match praise her famed opponent had for her. When she wasn’t suffering the sting of Satomura’s measured kicks, she was torturing the legend with painful holds. The match felt even and important and featured a compelling, dramatic final stretch where Meiko had to keep dishing out her best shots to finally finish the job. 

An underrated entry on Satomura’s road to retirement. 

2. Meiko Satomura vs. Sareee, Freelance – Sareee-ISM Chapter VI (1/23/25)  

Two of the best strikers going all out on each other. Two caged animals clawing any flesh within reach. Damn, this kicked ass.

 Sareee and Satomura were both relentless on offense. The thigh kicks and headbutts. The ferocity. It all worked.

It’s a match packed with action and intensity, one powered by a simple story. Sareee debuted against Meiko some 14 years ago and has since risen to the top of the joshi scene. Here, she is ready to prove that she is now The End Boss, but Satomura will not go down, the warrior still with plenty of fight.   

Only a similar story with a championship in the mix tops it on this list. 

1. Meiko Satomura vs. Chihiro Hashimoto, Sendai Girls – The Top of Joshi Wrestling (3/19/25)

Satomura has long brought out Hashimoto’s best, both as a trainer and booker but as an in-ring rival, as well. Each time they collide, it’s a significant battle with superb chemistry.

That was true again here inside Yoyogi National Gymnasium. 

Meiko and Big Hash’s grappling was great entertainment, tense and ferocious. Then they ratcheted up the aggression, scoring near-falls in this war for supremacy. Hashimoto had to hit Satomura with her absolute best to take down the Yokozuna and take back the Sendai Girls World Championship. A tremendous title bout that is poised to end in my year-end top 10.

Seeing this banger and Satomura’s efforts against Sareee and Saori Anou makes it even harder to say goodbye to Meiko. She’s not some old, limping legend who lives on name alone. She can still go at a high level. 

She’s decided to retire before she’s lost too many steps and her aura fades. So, we are left with these final gems to savor as we celebrate everything she gave us in the ring.

Thank you, Satomura. We are blessed to have seen all the hellfire you wrought for all these years.