Maki Itoh


Maki Itoh is a Japanese female professional wrestler, actress, model, and idol, who wrestles for Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, where she is a former International Princess Champion in her first reign. She is currently a member of the idol group Tokiwoikiru.

Idol career

Maki Itoh made her debut in show business as part of the second generation of LinQ members, officially joining the group on February 11, 2012. She was placed in the group's Qty team.

As a LinQ member, her first experience with professional wrestling was in 2013, when she was invited by president Sanshiro Takagi to participate in an "Idol Lumberjack 4 Way Match" at a DDT Pro-Wrestling show in Ryogoku Kokugikan. In the same year, she played a supporting role in the two-part thriller film ADA.
In 2014 she was selected as a finalist in the Kodansha alternative beauty pageant, Miss iD, and although she was not selected for the main prize, she received a special prize given to her personally by television producer Nobuyuki Sakuma. Her participation in Miss iD led to her being featured on the song Heisei Shibou Yuugi by the band Urbangarde. In the same year, she also participated in the 6th anniversary show of Kyushu Pro Wrestling, "Kinniku Yamakasa '14", where she was the official second for Gabaiji-chan.
In 2015, Ito played a role in the horror film Obakeyashiki Retsuden: Senritsu Meikyuu MAX alongside fellow LinQ members Yusa Sugimoto and Kana Fukuyama. She also played a main role in the short film Inochi no Tokei, written and soundtracked by LinQ member Manami Sakura and featuring a cast made exclusively of the group's members. She appeared on the variety show God Tongue in June, drawing attention from the show's hosts due to the size of her head.
In 2016, Ito played herself in the film Minna Suitouto, a fictional movie based on LinQ and featuring the group's songs. LinQ were signed to the major label Avex later that year. In August she appeared on Masahiro Nakai's talk show Nakai no Mado, in a special episode featuring "people with unfortunate faces".
In 2017, it was announced that the lineup of LinQ would be rearranged, and that a number of members would leave the group. Those members who were removed from LinQ would be featured in a new group focused on musical theater, but only if LinQ could sell 1,000 tickets to concerts held in Tokyo's Nakano Sun Plaza and the Fukuoka Civic Hall. Ito personally performed wrestling and music on the streets in order to sell the tickets and promote the group, and they succeeded in meeting the requirements. However, on June 19, 2017, Ito was removed from the group's lineup along with 6 other members, who were moved into the "entertainment group" Tokiwoikiru. Her response to being dismissed caused "Maki Itoh" to become the #1 Twitter trend in Japan at the time.
After her removal from LinQ, Ito turned her wrestling tag team with regular partner Mizuki, Ito Respect Gundan , into an idol group. The pair released their first CD single, Setsunairo, on January 4, 2018. Upon successfully selling 400 CDs, a music video was produced for the lead track. The group appeared together on internet variety show The Night with host Mari Yaguchi, where they performed Setsunairo and demonstrated wrestling moves live in the studio.
Ito performed her first show as a solo idol at Tokyo Idol Festival 2018: Other Recommend Live, a battle of the bands-style concert where idols nominated by judges compete for a spot at the prestigious Tokyo Idol Festival main event. Nominated by writer Go Yoshida, Ito performed Setsunairo twice, along with an impromptu acapella cover of nerve by BiS. Although she did not make it through as a musical performer, she later appeared as a part of the DDT Street Wrestling show held at the festival.
In 2019, on July 22, Ito released the digital single Brooklyn The Hole, a solo recording of a song originally performed by Tokiwoikiru, which she currently uses as her wrestling entrance theme.

Professional wrestling career

On December 11, 2016, at the DDT Pro-Wrestling event "Road to SUPER SAND-Dramatic Dream Tonkotsu-" in Fukuoka Hakata Star Lane, Ito made her official professional wrestling debut, where she was defeated by Miyu Yamashita. On March 13, 2017 at At This Time, Get Excited In Nerima! Ito was defeated by Mil Clown in a three-way match also featuring Maho Kurone.
After her dismissal from the idol group LinQ, Ito stopped using the group's song Calorie Nante as her entrance theme, instead choosing to perform an on-the-spot acapella version of the Noriyuki Makihara song Mou Koi Nante Shinai. This continued until the beginning of October 2017, when she began entering to Setsunairo by Tokiwoikiru.
In July, Ito participated in the "Tokyo Princess Cup" held at Shinjuku Mura Studio. In the first round, she fought against Shoko Nakajima, but was eliminated.
Maki made her US debut at DDT Coming to America where she wrestled Miyu Yamashita. The next day she appeared at Joey Ryan's Penis Party event organized by Joey Ryan where she fought in a multi-man match for the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship, but was defeated by the champion Yoshihiko.
In 2019, Ito's long-standing tag team with her partner Mizuki, Ito Respect Gundan, was officially disbanded after a singles match between the two. Ito later recruited British wrestler Chris Brookes to replace Mizuki, renaming the team to "NEO Ito Respect Gundan". After leaving his tour of Japan and returning to the United Kingdom, Brookes continued to represent the Neo Ito Respect Gundan by wearing the team's official T-shirt and using Ito's trademark kokeshi headbutt during shows. Ito and Brookes will have their first match as a tag team on November 3 at DDT's DDT Ultimate Party 2019.

Championships and accomplishments