Ice Ribbon
(Pictured left-to-right: Emi Sakura, Riho, Makoto, Minori Makiba, Hikari Minami, Aika Ando, Hamuko Hoshi, Haruna Akagi, Hikaru Shida, Miyako Matsumoto, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Chii Tomiya, Emi Fujino, Tsukushi, Kurumi, Mochi Miyagi, Yumiko Inoue. Not pictured: Sayaka Obihiro, Meare Naito, Neko Nitta, Maki Narumiya, Tamako. Dorami Nagano)
Ice Ribbon (sometimes stylized as ICE-Innocent Candies Evolution) is a joshi promotion founded in 2006 by wrestler Emi Sakura. Unlike most other promotions it features wrestlers of all ages and skills-elementary and junior high (middle) school students, housewives, pro wrestlers, MMA fighters, actresses, even gravure idols (swimsuit/lingerie models). As is typical of joshi promotions, their talent frequently appears in other promotions. Additionally they have a very open-door policy when it comes to training and welcoming prospective wrestlers, as they invite women and girls of all ages (even young children) to come and train with and possibly compete for them. And although it is a women’s promotion first and foremost, male wrestlers (usually freelancers or talent from K-DOJO or DDT) do appear regularly.
Ice Ribbon is based in the Saitama Prefecture and currently runs shows at it’s home arena, the Ice Ribbon School (located inside the Isami Wrestle Arena, a tiny arena with a capacity of about 150), usually on Wednesdays and Saturdays, as well as occasional shows in other arenas. They also do major events a few times a year at Korakuen, usually 3-4 times a year starting in 2010.
The promotion launched a new production/spinoff called 19 Pro Wrestling in May 2010, a one-hour program usually airing (as of May 2011) Fridays at 7 PM Japan time (5 or 6 AM ET). This new program was created by and is built around rookie Sayaka Obihiro but also features other wrestlers. There typically are 2 matches per episode along with other features.
The promotion also began a special series of events under the label/sub-brand “Teens” in April 2011, events produced by and spotlighting the teenage members of the promotion-Hikari Minami, Riho, Tsukushi & Kurumi.
Ice Ribbon currently has 3 titles-ICEx60 Singles Title, International Ribbon Tag Team Title, and Triangle Ribbon Title (3-way/triple threat matches).
19 Pro currently has one title, “IW19″/Internet Wrestling 19 aka the 19 o’clock Woman Pro Wrestling Internet Singles Championship.
Titles & History:
ICEx60 Singles Championship
International Ribbon Tag Team Championship
Triangle Ribbon Championship
Current talent based in promotion:
Emi Sakura (さくらえみ / The sakura smile)
Riho (りほ / [ri] [ho])
Makoto (真琴 / Makoto) (No longer with promotion)
Minori Makiba (牧場みのり / Ranch seeing paste) (Inactive?)
Aoi Kizuki (希月あおい / The rare month [a] it is,) (Inactive)
Seina (聖菜 / Saintly greens) (Inactive)
Hikari Minami (みなみ飛香 / Everyone seeing flying fragrance)
Kazumi Shimouma (しもうま和美 / It does and is good Kazumi) (Retired)
Aika Ando (安藤あいか / Ando it meets?) (Appears occasionally)
Hamuko Hoshi (星ハム子 / Star ham child)
Haruna Akagi (赤城はるな / As for Akagi [ru]) (Inactive-injured)
Hikaru Shida (志田光 / Shida light)
Tsukasa Fujimoto (藤本つかさ / Fujimoto handle)
Chii Tomiya (都宮ちい / The capital shrine [chi] it is)
Emi Fujino (藤野恵実 Fujino Megumi truth) (primarily competing in MMA)
Tsukushi (つくし / exhausting)
Yumiko Inoue (井上由美子 / Yumiko Inoue) (Inactive)
Sayaka Obihiro (帯広さやか / Obihiro distinct) (Affiliated with 19 Pro Wrestling but appears regularly in Ice Ribbon)
Kurumi (くるみ / Walnut)
Mochi Miyagi (宮城もち / Miyagi having)
Meare Naito (内藤メアリ / Naito [meari])
Neko Nitta (新田猫子 / Nitto cat child)
Maki Narumiya (成宮真希 / Maki Narumiya)
Tamako (たま子 / Cartridge child) (Inactive)
Dorami Nagano (長野ドラミ / Nagano [dorami])
Mika Iida (Independent/Freelancer; Appears regularly) (Inactive-injured)
The promotion’s official websites (in Japanese) can be accessed via the following URL:
http://iceribbon.com
http://twitter.com/ice_news
http://ice-ribbon.ne07.jp/ice_rss.html (All the Twitter feeds of the talent that has them plus the News feed on one page)
http://www.youtube.com/user/iceribbon (YouTube channel; Mostly promos for upcoming shows)
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/19pro (Ustream channel for 19 Pro Wrestling)
http://twitter.com/19pro (19 Pro Wrestling feed)
http://19pro.ne07.jp (19 Pro Wrestling Homepage)
Puroresu Representin' 