There’s no one quite like Yuki Kamifuku and that was true from her first day on the job.
Who else would use “Old McDonald” as their entrance music? Who else could get so much out of big boots and eye pokes? Who else has her level of swagger?
Kamifuku has always had her own style. That’s true for her fashion sense, her trash talk, and her offense. We could see that early on, as a young, bright-eyed prospect sauntered onto the scene.
She showed us who she was right away and only built upon that big personality.
Kamiyu would go onto be one of the more notable characters in TJPW. She was a Tokyo Princess Cup finalist, a tag team champ, a Max Heart tourney winner and the fifth woman to claim the International Princess Championship. And now, The Casual Beauty is calling it quits at the end of the year.
As we lament seeing her leave the TJPW stage, it’s an opportune time to reflect on how her journey began nine years ago. What was a rookie Kamifuku like? How much has she changed over the years?
Let’s try to answer those questions with a look at some of the key matches of her first year as a wrestler. We begin with her debut in August of 2017.
Yuki Kamifuku & Yuna Manase vs. Mizuki & Nonoko
- TJPW Brand New Wrestling (Aug. 26, 2017)
In her first match, Kamifuku gave us a good glimpse of who she’d come to be.
The long, lean rookie strutted out in a cowboy hat and heart-shaped sunglasses. She danced for the cameras and struck a pose under the streamers flying over her. Her big, bubbly personality was laid out in front of us right away.
She began the tag bout by taking a lot of punishment with both Mizuki and Nonoko beating up on her. Mizuki outwrestled her on the mat. Nonoko smashed her body into Kamiyu’s, playing up her “I have big boobs and I know how to use them” gimmick.
Kamifuku’s best offense came at first via trash talk as she roasted Mizuki in English in the corner. Her cocky, dismissive attitude stood out, even if her ring work didn’t yet. Kamifuku hit less-than-emphatic kicks, wasn’t very quick in the ring, and showed her greenness overall.
We did, though, get to see her lean on her boots as her go-to weapon and throw in an eye poke for good measure. This was an unrefined and unfinished version of Kamifuku, but plenty of her personality was already on display.
Yuki Kamifuku vs. Miya Yamashita
- TJPW Yokohama De Bakon (Sept. 16, 2017)
Kamifuku came out to a jazzed-up version of “Old McDonald” to face TJPW’s top star in singles action.
For this being only her third match, Kamiyu handled herself pretty well mixing it up with Yamashita on the mat. Her strikes weren’t as sharp as they’d become in the future, but she came hard with her words instead. After The Pink Striker clocked her, Kamifuku went into mean girl mode, talking down to her and telling her not to touch her hair.
A lot of the bout consisted of Yamashita taking it to Kamifuku. The Casual Beauty showed heart in getting up after every big kick, ever-sassy, ever-defiant. Even so, Yamashita was able to dispatch of the rookie without much trouble.
Kamifuku looked decent in this big spot against The Ace. Her storytelling skills were already strong while her overall wrestling ability were still developing.
Yuki Kamifuku vs. Yuu (DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship)
- TJPW Smile YES Yokohama (October 14, 2017)
What a set of contrasting styles. Kamifuku bounced up the ring with a grin; Yuu marched focused into battle. Kamiyu hesitated to hit the defending champ with forearms while Yuu blasted Yuki off her feet with a single blow.
The crowd laughed at Kamifuku’s antics as the lanky young star cowered in the ropes or admonished Yuu for touching her hair. There was a playfulness to Kamiyu’s approach. She seemed to be increasingly comfortable leaning into her schtick.
Her kicks landed more squarely. Her attitude popped more onscreen.
Much like the Yamashita match, she took a good amount of punishment and showed off some promise along the way. Yuu defeated Kamifuku handily, but we were seeing a rookie find herself. With less than 10 matches on her resume, the Kamifuku we’ve come to know and love was already emerging.
Yuki Kamifuku vs. Shoko Nakajima
- TJPW Smile YES Shin-Kiba (Nov. 3, 2017)
Another big test awaited Kamifuku. In addition to losing to Yamashita and Yuu, she fell to the creepy Maho Kurone and lost in tag action to the likes of Mizuki and Rika Tatsumi. Next up, a showdown with the then TJPW tag champion Shoko Nakajima, one she didn’t seem to be taking seriously.
Kamifuku mocked Nakajima’s height before the bell. She grinned in the early going. She poked the heck out of Shoko’s eyes. Kamiyu was embracing her full menace potential.
The result was the same: a veteran trouncing the rookie in convincing fashion. But again, we were seeing more and more of who Kamiyu was. This was her best showing to date with some comedy mixed in, her playing off her personality, and looking increasingly comfortable between the ropes.
Yuki Kamifuku & Hyper Misao, Rika Tatsumi vs. Marika Kobashi, Nodoka One-san & Yuu
- Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling ‘18 (Jan. 4, 2018)
Maybe it was her stepping up to the scale of this show or maybe she’d grown as a performer, but everything felt bigger from Kamifuku in this match. Her mischievousness. Her aggression. Her personality.
Even with Rika and Misao at her side, Kamiyu was the star of this silly circus of a bout. She swung on Yuu, belittled Nodoka, and moved around the ring with a glowing confidence.
The diva in Kamiyu was stepping out into the spotlight.
Yuki Kamifuku vs. Mizuki
- TJPW Let’s Go! Go! If You Go! When You Go! If You Get Lost You Just Go To Nerima! (Feb. 3, 2018)
This match in Tokyo’s Nerima Coconeri Hall isn’t a standout match in the traditional sense, but it was a window into where Kamifuku stood with TJPW and who her character was becoming.
Mizuki was way ahead of her in the ring. We saw that as they traded wristlocks and Kamiyu could not match her in crispness or nimbleness. No matter. Yuki had other weapons. She tried to distract Mizuki, complimenting and cajoling her. In one of the funner moments of the match, she called Mizuki a “little bitch” and The Popping Sugar Rabbit smiled and shook her head, saying she didn’t understand.
Kamifuku, though, didn’t need to be Mizuki or Yamashita or Nakajima. She was not the athlete or the technician but instead the charmer. The long-legged conwoman.
This time out, her techniques didn’t work. Mizuki bested Kamiyu in just over five minutes. The result was a reminder of her place as a rookie, that she was more of a personality than a major player. For now. She wouldn’t win her first singles bout until October of that year against Raku.
Yuki Kamifuku vs. Maki Itoh
- TJPW Princess Cup (June 17, 2018)
During the 5th annual Princess Cup, Kamifuku was busy in non-tournament contests, losing to Azusa Christie and Reika Saiki to kick off June before she faced Maki Itoh.
This was a showcase of the role Kamifuku was slotted to play, one she grew increasingly adept at: the comedy and charisma part of the show. Much like Itoh at this point in her career.
In this clash, they spent a good chunk of the match going back and forth with each other on the microphone and even singing a duet before things unraveled. Even after they put the mics away, Kamiyu did plenty of talking as she begged Itoh off and said something harsh enough to make The Fired Idol cry.
There was a fun a bit where they kept slipping out between their opponent’s legs and going for mounted punches only to have the other wrestler slip out and do the same over and over.
The end result was a silly match where much of its 10-minute runtime was spent doing anything other than wrestling. That’s not surprising considering where Kamifuku ended up. She has so often been comic relief and a beacon of pageantry.
Over the years, Yuki improved in the ring and produced some solid matches as both champion and challenger. Hello, Kamifuku vs. Yamashita in the 2023 Princess Cup! But her biggest contributions weren’t as much about wrestling holds as they were about the hold she had on the audience.
Even from her rookie year, she could hear and see the connection she had with the TJPW fanbase. Her cool demeanor, vibrant personality, uniqueness all make her a standout.
Kamifuku boasted all kinds of aura over the years. She had some of the most memorable entrances we’ve seen in TJPW. She carved out a place in the spotlight, doing things her way. She was herself, loudly and flamboyantly.
And the place won’t be the same without her.
Also in the Year One series:
RESURA 