By: J. Curbelo
STARDOM’s “Jumbo Princess”, Himeka, announced her retirement last February 10th in an unexpected conference that shook fans around the world. Her retirement tour will conclude at April 23rd’s All Star Grand Queendom in Yokohama show, in a match against tag team partner Maika, before holding a retirement ceremony on May 14th at Korakuen Hall.
Himeka has announced that she will retire from pro wrestling on April 23 at Yokohama Arena. She wants to face Maika in a singles match, for her retirement match. A retirement ceremony will take place on May 14 at Korakuen Hall. pic.twitter.com/28AKg7lh7O
— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) February 10, 2023
Donna del Mondo’s alt-fashion sporting powerhouse is a favorite amongst the joshi puro community, but she remained firm in her decision to hang up the boots. She listed several reasons at first, most prominently wanting to retire healthy to pursue other things in life, all while remaining out of the public eye indefinitely.
More recently, we have come to learn why Himeka expressed her desire to keep a low profile, as she confessed to Yahoo! Japan that a series of attacks targeted on her from online individuals was a factor in her decision.
We have previously reported on Tam Nakano’s pleas for better online behavior from Japanese wrestling fans. It is Himeka who is now joining in the discussion, as she vented about receiving a myriad of comments from strangers on the internet, which constantly distracted her from focusing on herself.
https://t.co/I419VhLijf pic.twitter.com/hCgESBHzII
— 中野たむ Tam Nakano (@tmtmtmx) February 27, 2023
Something that people may not remember is that Himeka had her Instagram and Twitter comments closed by mid-2021, around the same time she took time off for nearly two months between the Cinderella and 5 STAR Grand Prix tournaments.
Unfortunately, comments against Himeka persisted, despite not being directly sent at her. “Jumbo” would face turmoil one year later with the untimely passing of her father, which also took a toll on her mental health. Himeka reminded the general population that wrestlers are humans first and above anything else, which should be taken into consideration when talking about wrestlers.
Himeka:
Stardom is so popular that we often get heartless comments.
What you say with good intentions may sometimes hurt the other person.
We are human beings before we are wrestlers.
You have no right to intrude even into our hearts.https://t.co/oPXTRYwumi— Shigeo 🇯🇵 (@sg_oxxt) March 5, 2023
While not getting to hold singles gold in STARDOM, Himeka was still popular and had many fans pour out nothing to love and admiration towards her. She has also received important praise from the legendary AJPW and NOAH wrestler Kenta Kobashi, who booked her against Lady C for his Fortune Dream 7 show last year.
LADY C vs. HIMEKA has been announced for 6.15 Fortune Dream 7 at Korakuen Hall produced by KENTA KOBASHI.
KOBASHI: I booked this card because I thought it would be interesting to see "GIANT BABA vs. JUMBO TSURUTA" of joshi wrestling.
(1/3)#STARDOMhttps://t.co/c0iHfKCUvZ— 龍月-DragonMoon- (@1222Dragonmoon) May 10, 2022
Kobashi referred to her as a second coming of Jumbo Tsuruta and expressed sadness about her retirement, but respects her decision at the end of the day. Himeka promised to go all in on her retirement tour as she prepares for her last match against her close friend Maika.
Date:
March 6, 2023
Category:
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