She had been a victim of severe hate messages from so-called wrestling fans which ultimately led to her mental health deteriorating.
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Professional wrestling is a business that has certainly seen its fair share of heart-wrenching tragedies. Oftentimes, the sport is blamed for causing mental unrest to some of its athletes. The reason could be anything, from the violent nature of the sport to poor morale over unsatisfactory booking, to even mental instability over hate messages on social media. While wrestlers like Owen Hart and Eddie Gurrero met with their deaths over illness or a fatal injury, there have been deaths that have arisen purely put of deteriorating mental health. Arguably the most well-known case is that of Chris Benoit, who murdered his wife and child before falling to his own death by suicide. It was one of the darkest cases in pro-wrestling history, and Benoit’s then-employer, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has refused to comment on the matter since then.
While the Beniot example might be at the extreme end of the spectrum, there have been several instances of wrestlers battling with mental health issues for a litany of reasons. Some of them manage to drag themselves out of the abyss but for some, it does not end up being possible. One such wrestler was Japan’s Hana Kimura.
She had been a victim of severe hate messages from so-called wrestling fans which ultimately led to her mental health deteriorating to an alarming extent. Early in the morning of May 23, 2020, Kimura had tweeted pictures of the abuse she received online, and also those of inflicting self-harm. She later died by suicide on the same day. Reports suggested that the technical reason for her death was the ingestion of hydrogen sulfide. In simpler terms, poisoning.
Kimura was a second-generation wrestler, her mother being the great Kyoko Kimura. She made her professional debut in 2016, at the age of 18, and within four years of her career, she managed a feat that thousands of wrestlers dream of. She performed at the iconic Madison Square Garden and Tokyo Dome. The two arenas are often referred to as the Meccas of professional wrestling. She was the one who ended her mother’s 15-year long career inside the squared circle in 2017 in what can only be seen as a passing of the torch from mother to daughter.
Kimura’s professional career might have only spanned over four years, but there was no doubt that she was destined for the stars. She had undergone training at the Wrestle-1 Professional Wrestling University and within six months of her career, she had captured the JWP Junior Championship and also begun to appear alongside her mother in Stardom. Fans knew by then that she was special. In October that year, the mother and daughter duo teamed up with Kagetsu as part of the Oedo Tai to defeat Threedom for the Artist of Stardom title. The opposition trio consisted of current NXT superstar Io Shirai and former WWE women’s tag team champion Kairi Sane.
By 2017, Kimura had lost the JWP Junior Championship. However, it was in this year that she won the Goddess of Stardom Championship as she teamed up with Kagetsu to defeat the team of Hiroyo Matsumoto and Jungle Kyona at Galaxy Stars. The duo also received the award for Best Tag Team that year.
Wrestle-1 announced Kimura as a part of their main roster in 2018, but she kept working with other companies both in Japan and overseas. Her overseas experience proved to be vital in developing her move set and her in-ring character. She wrestled for the likes of Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling: EVE as well as in various Mexican promotions.
In 2019, she officially returned to Stardom but she still had time to participate in overseas wrestling promotions. Kimura worked with Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling G1 Supercard as those promotions invaded the WWE’s turf to hold an event at Madison Square Garden on WrestleMania weekend. In Stardom, Kimura won the Artist of Stardom Championship alongside Jungle Kyona and Konami. Later that year, she won the Five Star Grand Prix tournament, defeating Konami in the Grand Final.
