If wrestling were polite, Mina Shirakawa would’ve never made it past the entrance curtain. A gravure model with a “Fighting H-Cup” gimmick, debuting at 31, no dojo background, no five-star pedigree. But wrestling isn’t polite. It’s messy, theatrical, and brutal—and so is Mina. She didn’t break the mold. She rolled it in glitter, stomped it with stilettos, and turned it into Club Venus.
Now, in 2025, she’s juggling New Japan spots, AEW storylines, and the interim ROH Women’s Television Championship, all while leaving a trail of broken alliances, broken hearts, and broken noses. Wrestling didn’t want Mina Shirakawa. But Mina made herself unignorable.
Late Start, Fast Rise: Debuting at 31 With a Dream and a Gimmick
Most wrestlers enter the ring before their knees start creaking. Mina walked in after a career in wedding planning, English lit, and enough bikini photoshoots to qualify for a lifetime gravure discount. Her debut came in 2018 under the Best Body Japan Pro Wrestling banner, a promotion that sounded more like a fitness contest than a bloodsport.
And yeah, she lost her first match. And the second. And the third. But that didn’t matter. Mina knew what she was doing: biding her time, building the persona, learning the game. She hit TJPW and DDT in the same year, getting booked in tag matches that let her show off more sass than strikes. But the seeds were planted.
Then came Stardom.
Stardom and the Birth of a Brand
In 2020, Mina debuted in World Wonder Ring Stardom and immediately started doing what she does best—aligning with chaos and making it fashionable. She joined Tam Nakano and Unagi Sayaka to form Cosmic Angels, a faction that looked like it escaped from a J-pop concept album and wrestled like they were trying to prove glitter has weight.
They won the Artist of Stardom titles. Then lost them. Then kept going. Mina didn’t mind the booking limbo. She treated it like a catwalk made of suplexes. She wrestled like someone with nothing to lose and just enough insecurity to make every loss personal.
She went from opening card novelty to Future of Stardom Champion, beating Unagi Sayaka in 2021 and finally showing the doubters that behind the bustline was bite. Not content to sit pretty, she formed a tag team with Tam called Dream H and flopped out of a tag tournament in poetic fashion. But she kept coming back. Every time.
Club Venus and the Queen of Rebranding
Then came 2022. Dream Queendom 2. Mina showed up with Mariah May and Xia Brookside, slapped Unagi Sayaka across the face, and formed Club Venus—the most aesthetically pleasing coup in joshi history.
It was a mutiny wrapped in sequins. A heel turn with hair extensions. A faction built on beauty, ego, and serious in-ring muscle. She broke off from Cosmic Angels, rebranded, and dared the world to take her seriously.
Spoiler: it worked.
In 2023, she beat Saya Kamitani for the Wonder of Stardom Championship. Then lost it 34 days later to Tam Nakano in a winner-takes-all match, because nothing says “character development” like being beaten by your old mentor while holding back tears through lip gloss.
She followed it up by winning the Goddesses of Stardom titles with Mariah May as Rose Gold. That reign was short too. But again—Mina never needed reigns. She needed resumes. And hers was getting longer than a Kenny Omega match.
AEW, ROH, and the Venus of War
In 2024, Mina Shirakawa did the unthinkable: she left Stardom.
Well, not before wrestling through one last arc of betrayal and redemption that ended with Mariah May turning on her after winning the AEW Women’s World Title. Mina confronted her at Full Gear, challenged her at Winter is Coming, and failed. But not without making it look good.
She officially joined AEW in May 2025. Immediately got booked in a title eliminator at Beach Break. Won it. Then lost to Toni Storm at Double or Nothing. You sensing a pattern?
Mina loses the big ones—but takes something from every match. A pop. A spot. A scar. She plays the long game like a woman who knows she’s always one promo away from breaking through.
Then came Supercard of Honor 2025. Mina Shirakawa wins a four-way to become the interim ROH Women’s TV Champion. Red Velvet’s out. Mina’s in. And suddenly, she’s not just the Venus of Pro Wrestling. She’s the interim queen of the B-show. And she’s fine with that. Because in Mina’s world, the side stage is still a damn spotlight.
Wrestling as Theater, and the Venus in Combat
What makes Mina Mina isn’t just the matches—it’s the character work. She treats wrestling like opera. Every bump is a betrayal. Every win, a love story. Every loss, a revenge subplot waiting to happen.
Her finisher names are practically novella titles:
-
Glamorous Driver MINA
-
Figure Four Driver MINA
-
Glamorous Collection MINA
She even has a leg-drop hurricanrana hybrid called Hurricane Leg Screw MINA, which sounds like a yoga position and hits like a divorce settlement.
But behind the sparkles, there’s structure. Mina’s offense is crisp, tight, and intentional. She doesn’t throw wasted strikes. She performs them. And when she smiles after taking a stiff elbow, it’s not for the cameras—it’s because she likes it.
This isn’t cosplay. It’s theater with blood. And she’s the star.
Legacy: From Tarento to Titan
Mina Shirakawa was never supposed to be here. She was supposed to pose, smile, maybe headline a bikini DVD.
Instead, she fought her way into Stardom, captained two factions, won multiple belts, headlined shows, and now stands on the edge of global relevance with AEW and ROH pushing her into American consciousness.
She didn’t outwrestle the doubters. She outlasted them.
In a business built on grind, Mina Shirakawa added glamour. In a world of hosses and hard hits, she brought a splash of perfume and a headbutt.
She’s not the best. Not the most over. Not the strongest.
But she’s impossible to ignore.
And in pro wrestling, that’s the only thing that matters.