Maki Itoh

Maki Itoh (伊藤麻希) is a Japanese professional wrestler, actress, and singer affiliated with Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, where she is a former International Princess Champion.

She initially debuted as a member of the idol group LinQ, and she is, currently, a member of the idol group Tokiwoikiru (トキヲイキル).

She also makes appearances for American based wrestling promotions All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), where she is the current GCW Extreme Champion in her first reign.

Itoh was born in Ogōri, Fukuoka Prefecture on July 22, 1995.

She lived a rural lifestyle during her childhood.

She was often bullied at her junior high school.

She could not attend high school because she failed the entrance exams.

She became interested in idol culture after learning that her crush likes AKB48 member Yuki Kashiwagi.

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.

From 2013 to 2016, Itoh made sporadic appearances at DDT Pro-Wrestling shows.

On December 15, 2013, at the World Third Total Hakata event, she teamed with Danshoku Dino and Makoto Oishi in a two-on-three handicap match, where they defeated Sanshiro Takagi and Toru Owashi.

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, Itoh 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.

On December 13, 2015, at Super Star Lanes 2015, Itoh took part in a battle royal for the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship, where she was the first eliminated.

In 2016, Itoh played herself in the film Minna Suitouto (みんな好いとうと), 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".

On December 11, 2016, at the DDT Pro-Wrestling event Road to SUPER SAND-Dramatic Dream Tonkotsu- in Fukuoka Hakata Star Lane, Itoh made her official DDT debut, where she was defeated by Miyu Yamashita.

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.

Itoh 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, Itoh 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, Itoh turned her wrestling tag team with regular partner Mizuki, Itoh Respect Army (伊藤リスペクト軍団), into an idol group.

On January 4, 2017, Itoh officially joined Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling.

On March 13, 2017, at At This Time, Get Excited In Nerima! Itoh was defeated by Mil Clown in a three-way match also featuring Maho Kurone.

The pair released their first CD single, "Setsunairo", on January 4, 2018.

Upon successfully selling 400 CDs, a music video was produced for the title 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.

Itoh 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, Itoh performed "Setsunairo" twice, along with an impromptu a cappella 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.

On July 22, 2019, Itoh 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.