Etsuko Mita

Etsuko Mita was a 22-year joshi veteran who, like a few of her fellow NEO veterans, started out in All-Japan Women in the 1980s. She spent 10 years in AJW, leaving in 1997 and briefly freelancing before joining NEO. After spending most of 1998 & 1999 in NEO she returned to freelancing for several years, including a stop in DDT where she won a title competing with the men-she was 1/3 of the first DDT Jiyugaoka 6-Man Tag Team Champions-before returning to NEO in 2005, where she has been based since. She may be best known as half of the 80s tag team Dream Orca with Toshiya Yamada. Mita won one of her AJW Tag Team Championships with Yamada, but had more success with her longtime post-Orca partner, Mima Shimoda. Mita was also well-known for her signature double slaps to her opponents’ chest during matches, which bear a resemblance to Kenta Kobashi’s hard chops.
Mita retired on November 1, 2009, bringing the curtain down on a long and commendable career. She’ll be remembered as one of the top tag team wrestlers of the 80s & 90s and one of the growing list of joshi wrestlers who managed to keep going for over 20 years, which doesn’t seem too common these days. Although no longer active as a wrestler, she still makes appearances now & then at NEO events and sometimes in Ice Ribbon to help satisfy the “obsession” of the wrestler there who idolizes her-Makoto.
Mita will be inducted into the NEO Hall Of Fame on May 3, 2010.

Stats & info:
Age: 40
Height: 5’8″
Weight: 183 pounds/83 kg
Experience: 22 years
Finishing move: Death Valley Bomb
Current affiliation: Retired

Titles won:
2-time AJW Tag Team Champion
5-time WWWA World Tag Team Champion
1-time JWP Tag Team Champion
1-time NEO Singles & NWA Pacific Women’s Champion
1-time NEO Tag Team Champion
1-time NEO Kitazawa Tag Team Champion
1-time International Ribbon Tag Team Champion
1-time DDT Jiyugaoka 6-Man Tag Team Champion
1-time DDT Iron man Heavymetalweight Champion

Other accolades:
2000 Tokyo Sports Grand Prix Joshi Puroresu Grand Prize (shared with Mima Shimoda)
Inducted Into NEO Hall Of Fame In May 2010

Official website (Japanese):
http://blog.livedoor.jp/etsu_neo/