This past Wednesday, 38-year old joshi legend Meiko Satomura, founder of SENDAI Girls promotion in Japan and one of the standout performers in this year’s Mae Young Classic, told Yahoo! Japan that she intends to return to the WWE in 2019.
【ＷＷＥ】継続参戦表明の里村明衣子 「ロンダ・ラウジーと戦う！」（東スポWeb） – Yahoo!ニュース https://t.co/qDuvCfkcgE @YahooNewsTopics
— センダイガ－ルズプロレスリング-SENDAI GIRLS PROWRESTLING- (@senjo2006) November 7, 2018
Meiko Satomura has a lot still to do in Japan – including fight the current Sendai Girls Champion Chihiro Hashimoto at BIG SHOW in OSAKA on November 17 – plus she still works in the UK with Pro Wrestling EVE and Fight Club: PRO (where she’s the reigning FCP Champion).
According to the interview with Yahoo! Japan, Meiko Satomura was flown into New York last month to watch WWE Evolution with several of the other Mae Young Classic competitors, and after that she knew that she needed to come back to the WWE in 2019. “The scale and level are completely different,” she said. The fans are so noisy, I want to stand in that ring. I feel strongly that I cannot just stay in Japan.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqpqIxEIsMw
While she expressed interest in facing Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey – saying she had “not seen a fighter who emitted such an aura” – she was most impressed with the match between Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, saying the whole match made her “whole body tremble.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIBWu9zbZDQ
Meiko Satomura also said that a full-time deal was never going to be in the cards – with her commitments as owner of SENDAI Girls and her obligations in other promotions around the world, it just wasn’t feasible – she did say that she left with an open door invite to return when she was able. And it’s something she seemingly intends to take advantage of. “If an opportunity comes up,” she said, ” I will definitely make the trip across the ocean.”
Meiko Satomura stole the first few rounds of the Mae Young Classic, with solid displays against Killer Kelly in the first round, and an absolute classic against Mercedes Martinez in the second round. She ultimately lost to eventual winner Toni Storm in the semi finals, in yet another tournament stand out.
No word where Satomura would be utilized, but it would more than likely be a run with either NXT or NXT UK, given the opponents she could more easily work with – although a match against Asuka would be something of epic proportions. Before she joined the WWE, Asuka (then known as Kana) was one of Meiko’s rivals across several promotions.
