Stardom Wrestler Hana Kimura Dies at Age 22
May 23, 2020
Japanese wrestler Hana Kimura, who has been working for Stardom since 2019, died at the age of 22.
Stardom issued an official statement on Kimura's death Saturday:
No official cause of death has been given at this point. Variety noted "the most recent update on her Instagram story on Friday featured a photo of her with her cat, with a caption that reads 'goodbye.'"
Wrestling Inc reported Kimura had recently faced criticism online over events on Japanese reality television series Terrace House, which Kimura was starring in before filming was halted because of the coronavirus.
Her official debut came in 2016 for Wrestle-1, and she also worked for JWP, Stardom and Senjo during her career.
After leaving Wrestle-1 in March 2019, Kimura appeared on the G1 Supercard joint show with Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling at Madison Square Garden the following month in a dark match.
Per Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, in January Kimura was part of the first women's match at the Tokyo Dome since 2002 on New Japan's signature show when she lost a tag team match with her partner, Giulia, to Mayu Iwatani and Arisa Hoshiki.