Saya Kamitani

Saya Kamitani (上谷沙弥) is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she is a member of Queen's Quest and the current High Speed Champion in her first reign.

Kamitani is a former one-time Wonder of Stardom Champion, two-time Goddesses of Stardom Champion, and the 2021 Cinderella Tournament winner.

Early life
Kamitani had a couple of dancing roles in 2014 as a support dancer. She passed the audition to become a member of the idol group AKB48, however, according to the group's website, she was never listed as a full-time member.

Early career (2018–2020)
Kamitani debuted in World Wonder Ring Stardom in a non-wrestling role as part of the Stardom Idols, a dancing and singing group. While the Stardom Idols were short-lived, Kamitani passed Stardom's pro-test on July 10, 2019.

Kamitani made her wrestling debut on August 10, 2019 at Korakuen Hall, where she unsuccessfully challenged Momo Watanabe. On August 18, Kamitani gained her first victory when she teamed with Rina to defeat Queen's Quest (Hina and Leo Onozaki). Kamitani competed in the 2019 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League together with Saya Iida as the 3838 Tag. On December 8, Kamitani won the 2019 Rookie of Stardom Tournament by defeating Saya Iida in the finals. In early 2020, Kamitani began to frequently wrestle alongside members of Stars.

Queen's Quest (2020–present)
On February 16, 2020, Kamitani joined Queen's Quest after a loss to Utami Hayashishita. On July 17, Kamitani lost in a three-way match against Saya Iida and Maika for the Future of Stardom Championship. At the 2020 Cinderella Tournament on April 29, Kamitani fell short to Natsuko Tora in the first round. On July 26, Kamitani and Utami Hayashishita won the vacant Goddesses of Stardom Championship after defeating Tokyo Cyber Squad (Jungle Kyona and Konami). At Yokohama Cinderella 2020 on October 3, Kamitani and Hayashishita had their first successful title defense when they defeated Donna Del Mondo (Himeka and Maika). Kamitani and Hayashishita competed together in the 2020 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League as AphrOditE, which they would continue to use as their tag team name afterwards. At Osaka Dream Cinderella 2020 on December 20, Kamitani unsuccessfully challenged for the Future of Stardom Championship in a three-way match against Maika and Saya Iida. On December 26, AphrOditE lost the Goddesses of Stardom Championship to Oedo Tai (Bea Priestley and Konami), ending their reign at 153 days.

At All Star Dream Cinderella on March 3, Kamitani received her first match for the World of Stardom Championship, in which she lost to Utami Hayashishita. Kamitani won the 2021 Cinderella Tournament after defeating Maika in the finals. At Yokohama Dream Cinderella 2021 in Summer on July 4, Kamitani unsuccessfully challenged Tam Nakano for the Wonder of Stardom Championship. Kamitani competed in the Blue Stars block of the 2021 5Star Grand Prix which took place from July 31 to September 25. She scored a total of 11 points, which was not enough to advance to the finals. At the 10th Anniversary Grand Finale Osaka Dream Cinderella on October 9, Kamitani, AZM, and Momo Watanabe unsuccessfully challenged MaiHimePoi for the Artist of Stardom Championship. AphrOditE competed in the Red Goddess block of the 2021 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, in which they scored seven points. At Tokyo Super Wars on November 27, Kamitani became the number one contender for the Wonder of Stardom Championship by defeating Himeka and Natsupoi in a three-way match. At Dream Queendom on December 29, Kamitani won the Wonder of Stardom Championship by defeating Tam Nakano.

At Stardom Nagoya Supreme Fight on January 29, 2022, Kamitani successfully defended the Wonder of Stardom Championship against Mirai. At Stardom Cinderella Journey on February 23, she defended the title successfully again against Natsupoi. On the first night of the Stardom World Climax 2022 from March 26, she defended the title against Utami Hayashishita, and on the second night from March 27, again versus Tam Nakano. At Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2022, she only scored a draw against Maika in the second rounds of April 10. At Stardom Golden Week Fight Tour on May 5, 2022, she defended the Wonder of Stardom Championship successfully against Maika. At Stardom Flashing Champions on May 28, 2022, she defended it again against Mirai. At Stardom Fight in the Top on June 26, 2022, Kamitani teamed up with AZM and Utami Hayashishita and competed one of Stardom's first steel cage matches, where they fell short to Stars (Mayu Iwatani, Koguma and Hazuki). At Mid Summer Champions in Tokyo, the first event of the Stardom Mid Summer Champions series which took place on July 9, 2022, Kamitani defended the "white belt" once again against Starlight Kid. At Mid Summer Champions in Nagoya, the last event from July 24, she defended the title against Saki. At Stardom in Showcase vol.1 on July 23, 2022, Kamitani competed in a three-way casket match against Starlight Kid and Yuu who won the bout after unmasking from a "grim reaper costume". At Stardom x Stardom: Nagoya Midsummer Encounter on August 21, 2022, she defeated Himeka to retain the Wonder of Stardom Championship. Kamitani was initially scheduled to defend against Kairi but the latter pulled out last minute due to COVID issues. At the 2022 edition of the 5 Star Grand Prix which took place between July 30 and October 1, Kamitani competed in the "Blue Stars" block where she scored a total of 14 points. At Hiroshima Goddess Festival on November 3, 2022, Kamitani successfully defended the Wonder of Stardom Championship against Mina Shirakawa. At Stardom Gold Rush on November 19, 2022, Kamitani went into a time-limit draw against Kairi in a match disputed for the Wonder of Stardom Championship. At Historic X-Over, an event co-promoted alongside NJPW on November 20, 2022, Kamitani teamed up with stablemates AZM and Lady C to defeat Donna Del Mondo (Himeka, Mai Sakurai and Thekla). At Stardom in Showcase vol.3 on November 26, 2022, Kamitani competed in a four-way comedic match won by Lady C and also involving Himeka and Momo Kohgo. At Stardom Dream Queendom 2022 on December 29, Kamitani defeated Haruka Umesaki to retain the Wonder of Stardom Championship.

At the Triangle Derby I, Kamitani teamed up with stablemates Utami Hayashishita and AZM, scoring a total of nine points in the A block which was not enough to qualify to the finals. In the finals night, she successfully defended the Wonder of Stardom Championship against Hazuki. At Stardom Supreme Fight 2023 on February 4, Kamitani scored another succesful defense of the title, this time against Momo Watanabe. At Stardom in Showcase vol.4 on February 26, 2023, she teamed up with Utami Hayashishita and Miyu Amasaki and unsuccessfully competed in a three-way tag team match won by Stars (Mayu Iwatani, Hazuki and Koguma) and also involving Oedo Tai (Natsuko Tora, Starlight Kid and Momo Watanabe). At the Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2023, Kamitani drew against Mayu Iwatani in the first rounds. On April 23, 2023, at All Star Grand Queendom, Kamitani lost the Wonder of Stardom Championship to Mina Shirakawa, ending her reign at 480 days, with a record setting of 15-successful title defenses. At Stardom Fukuoka Goddess Legend on May 5, 2023, she teamed up with Utami Hayashishita in a losing effort against Donna Del Mondo (Giulia and Maika). At Stardom Flashing Champions 2023 on May 28, se teamed up with Hayashishita and Hina to defeat YoungOED (Starlight Kid, Ruaka and Rina). At Stardom Sunshine 2023 on June 25, Kamitani teamed up with all the rest of Queen's Quest stablemates Utami Hayashishita, AZM, Miyu Amasaki, Lady C and Hina to defeat Oedo Tai's Natsuko Tora, Momo Watanabe, Saki Kashima, Starlight Kid, Ruaka and Rina in a Loser leaves unit steel cage match. At Stardom Mid Summer Champions 2023 on July 2, she teamed up with Hayashishita, AZM and Lady C to defeat Stars (Koguma, Mayu Iwatani, Momo Kohgo and Hanan. Kamitani competed in the 2023 5 Star Grand Prix, but withdrew from the tournament after she suffered a legitimate dislocated elbow during her first match of the tournament against Tam Nakano on July 23. Kamitani made her return on November 28 alongside her AphrOditE teammate, Utami Hayashishita, who had also been out due to an injury. At Nagoya Big Winter on December 2, AphrOditE won the vacant Goddesses of Stardom Championship by defeating Divine Kingdom (Maika and Megan Bayne). At Stardom Dream Queendom 2023 on December 29, Kamitani and Hayashishita successfully defended the tag titles against XL (Natsuko Tora and Momo Watanabe).

At Stardom New Year Stars 2024 on January 3, Kamitani teamed up with Hayashishita and AZM and drew against Suzu Suzuki, Megan Bayne and Mei Seira in the first rounds of the Triangle Derby II tournament. At Ittenyon Stardom Gate on January 4, 2024, Kamitani, Hayashishita and AZM defeated God's Eye (Mirai, Ami Sohrei and Saki Kashima). At Stardom Supreme Fight 2024 on February 4, Kamitani unsuccessfully challenged Maika for the World of Stardom Championship. On March 30, 2024, Kamitani and Hayashishita lost the Goddesses of Stardom Championship to Crazy Star (Suzu Suzuki and Mei Seira). At Stardom American Dream 2024, she teamed up with AZM and Camron Branae in a losing effort against Black Desire (Momo Watanabe and Starlight Kid) and Stephanie Vaquer. At Stardom All Star Grand Queendom 2024 on April 27, Kamitani won the High Speed Championship from Saki Kashima in a four-way match also involving Saya Iida andFukigen Death. At Stardom Flashing Champions 2024 on May 18, Kamitani successfully defended the high speed title against Kashima. At Stardom The Conversion on June 22, 2024, Kamitani teamed up with the rest of Queen's Quest's AZM, Lady C, Hina and Miyu Amasaki and fell short to Oedo Tai (Natsuko Tora, Thekla, Rina, Momo Watanabe and Ruaka) in a Ten-woman elimination tag team match. Per the stipulation, since Kamitani was the last wrestler eliminated, AZM, Hina, Lady C, and Amasaki all had to leave Queen's Quest. Thus, she remained the only member of the unit for a time.

Pro Wrestling Wave (2024)
Kamitani competed in the 2024 edition of the Catch the Wave tournament, Pro Wrestling Wave's greatest annual competition, similar to Stardom's 5Star Grand Prix. She topped the A Block with four points after competing against Risa Sera, Yuko Sakurai and Nanami. She then won a tie-breaker match against Sera who also finished the block with four points. Kamitani defeated Itsuki Aoki in the semifinals and Kohaku in the finals to win the entire competition.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2021–present)
Kamitani often competes in exhibition matches organized by NJPW in partnership with Stardom. On January 5, 2021, at the second night of New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)'s Wrestle Kingdom 15, she made her first NJPW appearance where she, alongside AZM and Utami Hayashishita, defeated Himeka, Maika and Natsupoi in a dark match. At Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome, Kamitani competed in both nights, first on September 4, 2021, where she teamed up with Momo Watanabe to defeat Lady C and Maika, and on September 5, where she teamed again with Watanabe, this time in a losing effort against Donna Del Mondo's Giulia and Syuri.

In other media
In 2014, Kamitani participated in EXILE's support dancers. She also has experience as a backstage dancer of Team A.

Championships and accomplishments

 * ESPN
 * Ranked No. 22 of the 30 best Pro Wrestlers Under 30 in 2023
 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * Ranked No. 7 of the top 150 female wrestlers in the PWI Women's 150 in 2022
 * Ranked No. 20 of the top 50 tag teams in the PWI Tag Team 50 in 2020 with AZM, Momo Watanabe and Utami Hayashishita
 * Pro Wrestling Wave
 * Catch the Wave (2024)
 * World Wonder Ring Stardom
 * Goddesses of Stardom Championship (2 times) – with Utami Hayashishita
 * High Speed Championship (1 time, current)
 * Wonder of Stardom Championship (1 time)
 * Cinderella Tournament (2021)
 * Rookie of Stardom (2019)
 * 5★Star GP Award (1 time)
 * 5★Star GP Blue Stars Best Match Award (2022) vs. Suzu Suzuki on September 11
 * Stardom Year-End Award (3 times)
 * Best Tag Team Award (2020) with Utami Hayashishita
 * Best Technique Award (2021)
 * Outstanding Performance Award (2022)