Profile and Dream Matches! Introducing: Hazuki
In October 2013, after Hazuki graduated from junior High School she began training to become a professional wrestler, but suffered an injured that sidelined her for six months. On July 5, 2014, she passed her introductory test to be accepted into the Stardom dojo. The following day, at 16 years old, Hazuki made her professional wrestling debut, losing to Koguma. Afterwards, Hazuki joined Io Shirai, Takumi Iroha, Mayu Iwatani and Yoshiko to form a new unit dubbed “Heisei-gun”, which referred to the Heisei period in Japanese history, with all five wrestlers being born during it. The Heisei-gun began feuding with Nanae Takahashi’s Showa-gun, during which Hazuki developed a feud with her generation rival Koguma. On December 7, Hazuki defeated Kris Wolf and Momo Watanabe to win the Rookie of Stardom award. On March 29, 2015 at Stardom The Highest, Hazuki unsuccesfully challenged Koguma for the High Speed Championship.
On November 20, 2016, Hazuki turned heel revealing herself as the newest partner of Io Shirai, renaming herself to “HZK”. HZK and Shirai were joined by Momo Watanabe, who had turned on Mayu Iwatani, forming the “Queen’s Quest” stable. On January 7, 2017, Queen’s Quest became the new Artist of Stardom Champions by defeating Oedo Tai (Kagetsu, Kyoko Kimura and Viper) for the vacant titles. The titles were declared vacated April 9, after Watanabe was sidelined with an injury. Six days later, HZK, Shirai and Queens Quest’s newest member AZM defeated Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura, Kagetsu and Rosa Negra) in the finals of a four-team tournament to win the Artist of Stardom Championship.
They lost the title to Hiromi Mimura, Kairi Hojo and Konami on May 6, only to regain it on June 4. They lost the titles to Team Jungle (Hiroyo Matsumoto, Jungle Kyona and Kaori Yoneyama) on June 17. On August 13, HZK, Shirai and Viper defeated Matsumoto, Kyona and Yoneyama to regain the Artist of Stardom Championship. The titles were vacated on April 15, 2018, during the 2018 Stardom Draft, after HZK was drafted to Oedo Tai, renaming herself to “Hazuki” as part of her addition.
On December 24, Hazuki defeated Mary Apache to win High-Speed Championship. As part of a working relationship between Stardom and American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), Hazuki teamed with her Oedo Tai stablemate Kagetsu and Jenny Rose in a winning effort against Hana Kimura, Stella Grey and Sumie Sakai. On July 20, 2019, Hazuki lost the High-Speed Championship to Death Yama-san. On November 24, Hazuki announced that she would retire from professional wrestling on December 24. On December 24, Hazuki made her retirement match losing to her fellow Odeo Tai stablemate Natsuko Tora, ending her professional wrestling career.
On May 23, 2021, HZK and Kagetsu both came out of retirement to honour their friend and former unit mate, the late Hana Kimura, at the Hana Matane memorial show. Their match… ASUKA, Mio Momono, Natsupoi & Syuri defeat Oedo Tai (Hazuki & Kagetsu) & Tokyo Cyber Squad (Death Yama-san & Konami) (17:57). During that match, both Hazuki and Kagetsu showed that they had not lost a step in the ring and could still compete with the best of them.
On August 29, Hazuki made her official professional wrestling return after she confronted Mayu Iwatani and Lady C after she took issue with how outsiders have taken over the promotion in her absence under Iwatani’s watch. On October 9, at Osaka Dream Cinderella, Hazuki had her return match defeating Koguma. After the match, Hazuki annouced that both women would form a tag team in the future. After Utami Hayashishita retained the World of Stardom Championship, Hazuki challenged her to a title match. After Hazuki and Koguma formed their partnership, Koguma and the rest of the members of her unit STARS would invite her to join the stable. Hazuki accepted, thus turning face in the process. Koguma and Hazuki eventually won the Goddess of Stardom tournament and is scheduled to be a part of the 10 million yen unit tournament at the Osaka Super Wars show teaming with Mayu Iwatani.
Thanks for reading up to now. It’s time for what you, most likely, are really here for and that is the dream matches portion. As usual, I’ll be picking five women from around the world who I would love to see in a match with Hazuki.
5. Liv Morgan – WWE
Hazuki is one of those women who can get a good match out of nearly anyone she gets in the ring with. Who better to -match- that skill than WWE’s resident underdog Liv Morgan? Liv has had a surge of popularity recently, evident by how her loss in Money in the Bank and her World Title loss was received. People are clamouring for Liv to get a single title push and frankly, she deserves it. WWE has been screwing the talented Liv over in her booking for some time and while it is highly unlikely to ever happen, I would love to see Liv in Stardom. Her skill set would lend itself perfectly to the highly competitive landscape that is Stardom and she would be able to have so many dream matches in the company that it is mind boggling. If you put Liv and Hazuki in the ring together, I can guarantee that it would be one hell of a match. Liv can match Hazuki for everything she would throw at her and it would be a super competitive match. It’s one that I would love to see happen, even though the chances are slim.
4. Cora Jade – NXT
Cora Jade is quickly becoming one of the best performers in NXT 2.0 and her performance at the Wargames PPV was very impressive. She sold her injury masterfully and she looked like she absolutely belonged in the ring with the likes of Io Shirai, Gigi Dolin, Kay Lee Ray and Dakota Kai. If Cora got the chance to go to Japan, then she would have to step in the ring with Hazuki. Cora and Hazuki, in the ring together, would simply be amazing to behold. If you’ve watched Cora or Hazuki in the ring at all recently then you understand what I mean. Hazuki has been getting better and better since her return from retirement, not that she lost anything in the ring anyway. It’s just that Hazuki is one of those women that someone like the young Cora should be striving to compete against someday. When you’re as talented as Cora and Hazuki are, the only thing that you can expect is fireworks.
3. Britt Baker – AEW
Britt Baker is the current AEW Women’s Champion and she’s only getting better with each defence. She gets a lot of shit from the IWC but really, she’s nowhere near as bad as the people seem to think she is. In all actuality, Britt is one of the most entertaining women currently in the US and frankly, it’s not even a debate. When you get someone as talented as Britt Baker is, and with her potential, someone like Hazuki could draw out the absolute best in the DMD. Britt’s best matches, that I’ve seen, are when she’s been competing with the Joshi talent that AEW has brought in, like Hikaru Shida and Riho. While they are great, and it’s no debate, they are not quite on Hazuki’s level. I am not going to repeat myself when it comes to Hazuki, just go watch Britt’s matches with Riho and Hikaru and then imagine her stepping foot in the ring with Hazuki. It’d be one of the best matches in Britt’s career.
2. Mickie James – NWA
Mickie James is a legend in the women’s wrestling scene. She’s competed for nearly every company in the US and has held titles everywhere she has gone. She’s got the talent and the skill to make rookies look like 20+ year veterans and other veterans look 20 years younger. Mickie is one of those rare talents who seems to get better with age, like a fine wine. So one of my biggest dream matches for both her and Hazuki are each other. Let’s face it, Mickie is exactly the type of opponent that Hazuki needs, in the US, to show just how good she is. You can hate on both Mickie and Hazuki as much as you want, but the facts are the facts and it’s no debate that these two would tear the house down. Mickie is probably closer to true retirement than Hazuki is, especially since she just came back to the ring, so I hope that someday we get to see these two legends compete against one another.
1. Yuka Sakazaki – TJPW/AEW
Ok, I want you all to hear me out on this one. Yuka Sakazaki is one of the best high flyers and technicians that Tokyo Joshi has on its roster. Add on to that that she is immensely popular and is even gaining fans around the world due to her fan friendly style. Yes, they are in rival promotions but let’s be honest here, Sakazaki vs Hazuki is one of the best matches that could happen if their promotions ever worked together. Yes, there are a ton of potential matches for Sakazaki in Stardom, and vice-versa, but the chance to see Hazuki and Sakazaki in the ring together is… it’s amazing. It’s something that needs to happen and the sooner, the better. The Magical Girl and the Wild Heart would blow your minds if they got to share the ring. I’m sorry, but it’s not even a debate. Just watch any of their matches and you’d see that their styles would mesh so well in the ring. Enjoy the idea folks, because I sure as hell do.
