Fujiko Mushashibo

Fujiko Mushashibo (武蔵坊 藤子; Musashibō Fujiko) (born 22 December 1985) is a Magisterian professional wrestler. She is currently signed with the Magisterian women's wrestling promotion Pure Women's Wrestling Association (PWWA), and also works overseas with the Japanese joshi puroresu promotion Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW).

The younger sister of the legendary Yoshimi Mushashibo, she was also trained by his older brother and debuted in 2003. Briefly wrestling under her real name for the first pair of her matches, she gained early stardom under the masked identity of Shadow Ashikawa who is feared for her incredibly painful submission moves. She would drop the gimmick by unmasking during her entrance in 2012.

Hailed as one of the best female professional wrestlers of all time, her matches with Tegan Merritt, Chelsea Lane, and Jess Bell received significant critical acclaim. Mushashibo was named Magisterian Sports Observer 's Female Wrestler of the Year in 2014 and 2015. Throughout her career, Mushashibo has held the PWWA World Championship five times and was a two-time PWWA Queen's Crown winner (2013, 2016). She was also a TJPW Princess of Princess Champion.

Early life
Fujiko Mushashibo was born on 22 December 1985 in Mathias, Little Belgium to Japanese immigrant parents. Her older brother, Yoshimi Mushashibo, was born in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, Japan, the city where she is billed from. She started watching professional wrestling from a young age with her brother, Yoshimi, who became a professional wrestler in 1993 and became one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

Fujiko attended the National People's University to study history and politics, but said she 'really hated it' and dropped out. She later returned to college in the Mathias Federal Institute of Technology, graduating in 2009 as a Bachelor in Science.

Early career (2003—2004)
In 2001, Yoshimi asked her if she wanted to get some wrestling training in the GCG Dojo Camp which she immediately accepted on the way. She began training there along with the guidance of her brother Yoshimi Mushashibo, Shuji Inukai, and Nobuatsu Tatsuko. After two years of intense training, she made her professional wrestling debut in December 2003 under her real name.

Early years and Shadow Ashikawa (2004—2007)
Fujiko joined the Pure Women's Wrestling Association promotion in March 2004. Following her arrival in PWWA, Fujiko feuded with Anja Henni and defeated her, but lost to her a month later. Fujiko was injured during her match with Henni, and had to take three months off. In September 2004, she returned under a new masked persona; Shadow Ashikawa, a visually intimidating masked figure who is feared for her incredibly painful submission moves and boasts a brilliantly vicious, stiff style of attack.

The Shadow Ashikawa gimmick became an overnight sensation with the fans, and it became the major factors to her first wrestling championship win with the PWWA World Championship in January 2006, and would hold the belt until December 2006, losing it to Laura Evangeline. In 2007, She was kayfabe injured after she was hit with a brainbuster; this was done for her to be written off storylines and continue college.

Return, unmasking and superstardom (2009—2016)
Fujiko returned in 2009, with her first major feud being against Laura Evangeline. The feud one of the most finest matches in PWWA's history and subjectively in Magisterian women's wrestling history. Feeling that the Shadow Ashikawa gimmick has gone stale, Fujiko made the shocking move by unmasking during her entrance in 2012.

The questionable move was justified as Fujiko's career went through a period of superstardom; her superstardom made her capture the PWWA World title four more times, and she won the Queen's Crown tournament in two different occasions (2013, 2016). Her matches during the period between 2013 and 2015 received significant critical acclaim, with four of them receiving a 5-star rating from journalist and sports historian Simon Stanford.

Later career (2017—present)
By 2017, she began to move down the card to give way for the newer generation of female wrestlers. While she gradually ran out of steam, she remains a popular figure for the promotion. Since 2017, she made her international debut in Japan, working matches in the joshi puroresu promotion Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW), where she won their main title, the Princess of Princess Championship, in 2017.

Legacy
Widely regarded as the one of the greatest female professional wrestlers of her generation, Fujiko is famous for her submission moves and her incredibly stiff style of attack, which she adapted from Shuji Inukai. Mushashibo was named Magisterian Sports Observer 's Female Wrestler of the Year in 2014 and 2015.