Arisa Hoshiki: the legacy of the SHiNiNG Star
In today's writing, I will discuss what make someone's legacy stand out in pro wrestling through the legendary SHiNiNG STAR of STARDOM, Arisa Hoshiki!
The human mankind has seeked to leave a long-lasting legacy that prevails even many years after they become one with Earth. Some people choose to write books, perhaps planting a tree or even trying to raise children that will have a direct effect into the planet's near future.
There are many ways to leave your mark in the history of civilization, but there is something about art that makes people gravitate into it, the way that an artistic piece can be interpreted in many ways and all of them could be correct, is absolutely fascinating.
This leads us to our matter of the day, some people (myself included) see professional wrestling as an art form, so due to this, many wrestlers that followed different life journeys and careers can be seen as people that brought meaningful stuff and made important contributions to professional wrestling.
So please join me today as I write this essay about not only legacy, but the outstanding path that Arisa Hoshiki followed in her wrestling career!
Legacy:
Arisa Hoshiki’s legacy is one that requires a little bit of context, because if you were to check her championship resume without it, you would find out that she has only won one title on her entire career, but this is where my message from the introduction comes into play, because there are many ways to carve your legacy.
You can start to understand a little bit more about Hoshiki’s legacy when you start looking at the numbers, Arisa stands amongst the longest reigning Wonder of STARDOM champions with an astronomical 370 day-long reign, just behind the current title holder Saya Kamitani and the original White Belt champion, Yuzuki Aikawa.
Unfortunately, the ‘SHiNiNG STAR’ had to vacate her championship due to a heart-breaking retirement because of a combination of injuries, but if it weren’t for that, I am sure that her reign would have gone longer, and she could have even tried to break the former record of title defenses held by the woman that she defeated for the title in Momo Watanabe, who had set the record at the time with 13. But to fully grasp how special she was, we have to go back to her wrestling genesis.
Prodigy:
As some of you might know, STARDOM’s SHiNiNG STAR debuted at the same time as the promotion itself did, because she fought on the company’s first ever show ‘Birth of Nova’ , and not only did she wrestle on that day, but she stood across the ring from Mayu Iwatani herself. Hoshiki managed to defeat Iwatani to start her career on the right foot, and after learning more about Arisa, you will understand that it was a quite rather fitting beginning to her journey.
The superlative Chiba striker started her wrestling career at the tender age of 15 years old, but despite her early start, she enjoyed a decent run, defeating and usually having the upper hand among her rookie peers like Iwatani herself, or Saki Kashima. Even from the start, you could always feel the good heart of Hoshiki and Iwatani, because even after starting her career as rivals, they decided to go together as a team into STARDOM’s first ever Goddessess of STARDOM tag league.
The team of Arisa Hoshiki and Mayu Iwatani also known as ‘AMA’ , went on to have a pretty decent run, even defeating Natsuki Taiyo and Yoshiko in the process, but didn’t manage to qualify for the finals where Yoko Bito and Yuzuki Aikawa managed to crown themselves as the first tag team champions of the promotion. Despite a strong start in wrestling, Hoshiki chose to take a break from pro wrestling in 2012, where she focused in other areas of her life, and even participated in shoot boxing competitions in 2014. But Hoshiki’s wrestling career wouldn’t end there.
The return of the prodigal daughter:
After being away from professional wrestling since 2012, the SHiNiNG STAR made her return to the squared circle in 2018, and this second run for the promotion would be where she would write her name in joshi wrestling history, because what unfolded next was absolute excelence.
Hoshiki joined STARS’ after Mayu Iwatani welcomed her old friend with open arms, even if someone within STARS’ was against it. Her introduction to the faction was a conflicting one, because on one hand she had the unconditional love and support of her old partner in Mayu Iwatani, but on the other hand there was Tam Nakano, who had already went through the same process when Iwatani brought another old friend to the faction in Saki Kashima. And hence, Arisa found herself divided.
Despite her odd relationship with Tam, the sensational Chiba performer did what she always did best; kick ass while having a bright smile while doing so. This attitude would prove very effective, because Hoshiki went on to achieve the biggest piece of success that she’s ever accomplished as a wrestler. Arisa eventually succeeded, but what happened to Nakano? Please stay around as everything comes full circle.
The SHiNiNG’s star brightest moment:
Arisa entered 2019 with everything to prove, she had just returned to STARDOM to fulfill the massive potential that she had shown on her first wrestling run, so Hoshiki came, and conquered, because she ended up leaving the promotion’s 2019 Cinderella Tournament with a crown on her head, a wonderful blue dress, and her eyes set on the Wonder of STARDOM champion, Momo Watanabe.
The tables were set and the stakes couldn’t be any higher, on one corner you had Momo Watanabe’s record-breaking reign as the queen of the White Belt, while on the other corner you had a star that was shining as intensely as she had ever done, and was ready to take over. What happened on Gold May 2019 would end up being not only one of the best matches that the promotion has ever experienced, but also one of its best moments as well, because Arisa Hoshiki was able to defeat the ‘True Heart’ to win the title and proclaim herself as the new heir to the throne.
As soon as the SHiNiNG STAR won the championship, there was someone that wasn’t happy that Arisa won the title, so if you have been following along, you will be eager to learn that this is where Tam Nakano’s journey ties back together with Hoshiki’s. It all seemed sunshine and rainbows for the champion, but ‘STARDOM’s Dream’ wasn’t going to let the woman that, in her eyes, was trying to steal her spot not only on STARS’ but alongside Mayu Iwatani as well, so Tam Nakano challenged the new champion to not only a match, but an emotional war.
June 16th 2019, Arisa Hoshiki versus Tam Nakano was not only the Wonder of STARDOM chamìonship, but a day for Nakano to keep the high-ground and prove that she was worthy of being a champion. This bout ended up being the flagship match of both of their wrestling careers, their magnum opus, their masterpiece. After an emotionally charged 21 minutes which seemed more like they both were venting their feelings through violence, Hoshiki managed to retain her championship while also earning Tam’s respect in the process. Despite the bad result for Nakano, this match would be the genesis of something that would be of equal worth for her as well in the long run.
DREAMSHiNE:
After the stellar title match, Nakano started to understand that Hoshiki’s existence wasn’t taking anything away from her own. Tam started to believe that Arisa was there to potentiate her, inside and outside of the ring, STARDOM’s Dream finally understood that she could become a better performer and human being, if rather than completely neglecting her ally, she joined forces with her to become a remarkable duo.
Sometimes, luck is on your side when you open your arms to new people, because in late 2019, the Goddessess of STARDOM Tag League started, and thus the duo of Tam Nakano and Arisa Hoshiki also known as ‘DREAMSHiNE’ , entered the competition. You could say that the power of frienship carried them on the tournament, but the truth is that these 2 on their own are some of the best talents that the promotion has ever seen, so when they decided to join forces, they turned into one of the most beloved tag teams in the history of the art of professional wrestling.
DREAMSHiNE went on to have a fantastic tag campaign, only losing once in the entire tournament to Andras Miyagi and f.k.a. Kagetsu, and thus not only earning a trip to the finals, but taking the entire tournament home, after defeating Jamie Hayter and Bea Priestley on the finals.
Unfortunately for the universally beloved duo, they weren’t able to defeat the champions to gain the championship belts, but we will forever have that outstanding tag run to look back fondly. DREAMSHiNE is clear evidence that we are stronger together, rather than when we are on our own.
The end of the journey:
Unfortunately for us, all good things must come to an end, and even when you are on top of the world and it seems like nothing can halt your momentum, life strikes you in ways that you could never see coming. Arisa Hoshiki wrestled her last match for STARDOM on February 16th 2020, not even two years after her return to the company, because due to a multitude of injuries, Hoshiki was forced to hang her pro wrestling boots when her fire was burning at its peak.
This is what the dark reality of wrestling brings us, sometimes a wrestler is able to have a long career that lasts decades, and then other times the performer isn’t able to keep wrestling for as long as they should, due to how taxing the art of pro wrestling is to the human body. Hoshiki ended up trying to return to the ring with Actwres girl’Z through their ring acting brand ‘ARG’ , but her body truly let her down, and made her walk away from wrestling.
You could argue that Arisa Hoshiki's in-ring journey is a tragic one, a story of someone that had all the potential in the world to become the best performer that has ever graced a squared circle, but I find solice in trying to see it from a different perspective.
The SHiNiNG STAR gave us around a lustrum of wrestling brilliance, where no matter the era or year that you watch from her body of work, you can always see something that is not only worth your time, but that will also blow you away with its sheer quality.
How you decide to interpet her career is up to you, but the universal truth about her is that her bright smile, energetic charisma and beautiful spirit, made her something that will forever be worth remembering.
For everything that she did inside of the ring, I thank her, and for how she carried herself outside of the ring, I am humbled. Thank you for everything Arisa Hoshiki, we will never forget STARDOM's SHiNiNG STAR.
Thank you for reading <3