Post by Oni Kymiku on Feb 27, 2016 16:47:47 GMT -5
Kymiku Shinsuzuki has always been an outcast. Raised in the gang culture of Japan’s underworld, she did not fit in…even in the world of the Yakuza. Born of Korean heritage, Japanese society had a lowly view of her and her family. It was very likely that this racial hatred and bias only served to fuel her decidedly antisocial behavior as well as her propensity for violence in the extreme.
LAW fans first took notice of the woman known simply as Oni in July of 2014 when she arrived in the company, answering the call of Sidney Grey, who had hoped that the unstable woman would serve as a distraction to her sister, Nyako Shinsuzuki. While her ploy initially worked, the sisters quickly became a thorn in her side, joining forces and becoming a formidable duo, despite their troubled and tumultuous past.
Oni’s debut match at LAW #12 took place on 10 August 2014 in Denver, Colorado…ironically enough against her opponent at Rising Stars, Gabby Camacho. At that time, Gabby was an extremely over babyface with a legion of fans. Gabby was on the fast track to becoming a megastar in the company and Oni was just going to be another footnote on her list of victories. The build up to the match lacked any real animosity on either woman’s part, but the match proved to be a classic with a shocking finish as Oni weathered Gabby’s strength, surprising the woman with her own as she connected with the ‘Oni Driver’ to win the match.
Following the surprise victory, Oni was assaulted in the ring by Sidney Grey and the reigning Marquee Champion, Summer St. Claire. The assault was aimed to take Oni out completely and the gambit nearly succeeded, until Sidney and Summer were chased off by Nyako and Gabby. While the sisters showed their gratitude to Gabby, the woman all but ignored them, as despite her loss to Oni, she was rewarded with a Marquee Championship match against Summer…which she would capitalize on at the next pay-per-view.
Gabby’s star was on the rise and Oni’s overshadowed, even though her record did not record a single defeat. The two women would meet again in a tag team match at LAW #17 where animosity between the two of them was starting to build. Oni and her sister and tag team partner, Nyako were being labeled as villains while Gabby and her partner, Evie Taylor were seen as good guys who would put down the sisters. The ending of this match would seem to validate that point of view as Nyako hit Gabby in the back of the head with her own Marquee Title and Oni again picked up the pinfall, unaware of the illegal tactics.
Doubtless, the seeds of dislike were sewn on that night…
The careers of both women took a radically different turn at the following pay-per-view. Oni continued to toll in relative obscurity while her sister went on to defeat Gabby for her Marquee Championship, forcing her to pass out in a devastating submission hold. Nyako cast a long shadow over both women for several months as she went on a march through the competition that made her a legend in LAW and elevated the Marquee Title to mythical status within the company. Gabby faded into the shadows and Oni continued to try to fight her way out of obscurity.
Oni finally managed to carve out her own niche when she walked out of Rising Stars in 2015 as the LAW Champion. Everything finally seemed to be going her way after that victory…but the fans didn’t buy into their new babyface champion, and neither did LAW. Oni was booked for one tag team match where she would appear as champion until she would go on to lose her title at the next pay-per-view against fan favorite Fujiko Mine.
Feeling slighted by the company and the fans alike, Oni set off on a bid to regain her title, a feat that had not yet been accomplished in LAW. Her change in attitude shocked all but the very few that knew of her infamous history. Oni’s erratic behavior drove her sister away…but in the end it garnered her the thing she seemed to covet most…the LAW Title. In a brutal and bloody battle, Oni stooped to underhanded tactics to defeat Fujiko and end her title run while hitting the reset button on her own.
With her main rival gone, Oni set her sights on a new opponent…the LAW fans. Oni disrespected the fans and the LAW Title for months…carrying the belt disrespectfully with the blood and name plate of their former beloved champion still adorning it. After months of disrespect and a successful title defense in a match that was designed to wrench the title from her grasp, only one woman emerged from the back to openly challenge the self-proclaimed Empress of LAW…’Army Strong’ Gabby Camacho!
The two women sparred verbally at first…then their fight turned physical, culminating in a spectacular match that would make Gabby the number one contender if she won. The women fought each other in a vicious and brutal match, busting one another open and splattering the ring with one another’s blood. The match ended in a draw as both women crashed through the announce table and were carted out of the arena on stretchers. Oni thought that she had eliminated Gabby as a challenger and the General Manager, Ashley Marie Chase agreed…but Lucas Dupree disagreed. He suspended Chase and named Gabby the number one contender and scheduled them to face off again at Rising Stars 2016.
Oni has been a dominant force in LAW since 2014, earning match and wrestler of the year in 2015. Her brutality has ended the LAW careers of many of her opponents…and her propensity for extreme violence has made her a feared competitor. Gabby Camacho alone has proven herself to be the one opponent who does not fear her vaunted reputation. So now the stage is set for a battle that has been years in the making…the third singles meeting between Oni and Gabby…this time for the most coveted title in wrestling…The LAW Championship!
Join me as I go one on one with the current LAW Champion. Tonight I enter the mind of ‘Oni’ Kymiku Shinsuzuki… ________________________________________
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH TRISHA VANREARDON
- February 2016 –
"ONI" KYMIKU
THE MOST HATED WOMAN IN LAW!
As I waited at the place where I would meet the subject of my interview, I couldn’t help but to feel a bit of trepidation. A person with a reputation like hers had earned it for good reason. I could personally attest to this as Oni had assaulted me on live television in December of 2014, breaking my nose. Since that time, I had always been careful to have security around when interviewing her…but tonight I had made an exception. I wanted to face down this fearsome woman…I wanted to see if she would affect me in some way, especially since the rivers of hatred for her ran so deeply.
When she finally arrived and I got a glimpse of her, I thought back to the first time I had seen her; she was thin and quite striking in her appearance. I had expected a muscle bound ogre with blood and gore dripping from her fangs…but Oni seemed more like a young woman, not unlike any other you would pass on the street.
Of course, in this, I had been dead wrong…
It wasn’t her speech so much as it was her mannerisms…slow and deliberate. She didn’t waste motion and she didn’t waste her words. Her body was taunt and fit and her face was almost angelic, but her eyes were nearly stark black as they settled on me. They were not the eyes of a young woman, but something altogether different. I immediately felt as though I were stripped bare before her. It was deeply unsettling…and finally I knew the truth behind her name…there was no other name that could be given to her.
The Devil’s eyes were on me…
Trisha VanReadon: Kymiku, it is an honor for us to finally get to talk again.
Oni Kymiku: Address me as Oni. Only my family addresses me as Kymiku and they are all dead to me.
Trisha VanReadon: My apologies, I meant no offense.
Oni Kymiku: You ALWAYS mean to offend. It is your very nature to do so. Your inherent need to place yourself above everyone else is so ingrained in you that you offend and commit trespass without thought. I saw your interview with Alex Yin…I saw how offensive and condescending you were. She had every right to beat you within an inch of your life, but she showed the practiced restraint that is typical of the Asian people…a quality that all Westerners and you in particular lack.
Trisha VanReadon: That is a rather harsh indictment, isn’t it? I mean…not just of me, but of everyone who isn’t Asian.
Oni Kymiku: It is simply a harsh truth. Whenever an Asian woman steps to the forefront to show her mettle, she is immediately knocked down for it. You did it to Alex Yin on your Hot Seat a few days ago. LAW has continued to hold her back from any chance at winning a title. Look at what LAW recently did to Ashley Maria Chase! The woman is without question the greatest asset to the company…the greatest General Manager I have ever seen, yet…they fire her…publically humiliate her? They say for poor performance, but that can’t be true. Competition is the finest that it has ever been and talent continues to flock through the doors. They suspended Ashley because she is an Asian woman who outshined the lily white blandness of Bliss Fischer. That is a fact! If that is still not enough evidence for you, look at what happened to me when I won my first LAW Championship! I was not promoted as champion like Fujiko Mine of given a coronation like Evie Taylor. They pushed me off the shows…begrudgingly put me in a single tag team match nearly a month later! Taylor and Mine fought on the very next show! LAW has it in for people of my race…but it doesn’t matter because I have beaten them at every turn.
Trisha VanReadon: Do you really think that LAW is racist against Asians? I mean...Fujiko Mine is Asian!
Oni Kymiku: Fujiko Mine was LAW's ideal Asian. She was an anime character come to life! Enormous boobs and half naked in pictures all over the internet! Don't get me wrong...I respect her...she beat my ass...but I would never call her Asian. As for the racism against me? How much more evidence to you need? Look at the actions of Lucas Dupree! They are unprecedented where I am concerned! When I made a fool of Fischer for her attempts to treat me like anything less than the champion I was…Lucas Dupree himself showed up to come to her aid. They personally made a point of putting me in a match that he knew I had no hope of winning! I took on half the LAW and ALCW roster and in the end, I kept the LAW Title and I made him and his lapdog of a General Manager look like fools. When Chase was made to be the full-time General Manager, she made the right call after Gabby failed to become the number one contender for my title! Again…Lucas Dupree himself comes out of hiding to personally suspend her for doing the right thing and then forcing me to face his favorite chosen one…again!
Trisha VanReadon: To be fair…Gabby didn’t lose that match…so the argument could be made that she more than earned a chance at your title.
Oni Kymiku: To be MORE fair…Gabby didn’t WIN that match…so Ashley Marie Chase made the right call, but Dupree couldn’t stand having his lack of testicular fortitude being made public by a pair of queens from the Far East.
Trisha VanReadon: Okay…for arguments sake, let’s say that you’re right about Lucas…and I don’t think that you are, but what about Gabby Camacho? She’s a legitimate challenger…and she’s not ‘lily white’ as you put it.
Oni Kymiku: Take a close look at Gabby and what she has done in her time in LAW. She was the darling of the company and she was all but handed a championship against a lame duck Marquee Champion after I soundly beat her in front of the world. She, along with another anointed piece of trash, Evie Taylor made me out to be the bad guy…trashing me and doing what they could to keep me and my sister down. In that…they failed. Gabby failed to win back the Marquee Title and Evie Taylor proved that she was nothing more than a one trick show dog! They both faded into obscurity…despite having the world handed to them. Taylor ran off and deserted the fans and the LAW Title…leaving it for me pick up and make it really mean something. As for Gabby…she has proven herself to be deluded and self-absorbed to the point of her own certain destruction. A woman with a fixation like hers will say and do anything to fuel their cause and give it the appearance of a logical foundation where none exists. I am saddened by the fact that she has let her obsession with me sidetrack her career. If she would focus on making something of herself inside the ring instead of taking ridiculous selfies, then maybe she would take a step towards achieving her potential. Maybe in time she would legitimately be a top contender in LAW…but probably not.
Trisha VanReadon: Well…she is actually the top contender right now and she has made no bones about saying that she has your number. She’s dropped you at every turn and at Rising Stars, she’s says she will do it for the title.
Oni Kymiku: I heard her ridiculous prattling and quite frankly, it made me laugh! Has she put me down? Sure…outside of a match, where she can use her ghetto street tactics…she has gotten the better of me. At Rising Stars…she will meet me inside the confines of a wrestling ring…a ring where my shoulders have only been pinned to the mat once in nearly two years! Her confidence is higher than it’s ever been…and the fall? Oh…that is going to be the sweetest yet!
Trisha VanReadon: Gabby makes no bones about it. She thinks that you are a terrible person and that you are terrible for LAW. It’s safe to say that it’s her goal to get rid of you…utterly. Do you know where her obsession comes from?
Oni Kymiku: I know where it comes from…at least in her mind and in the fantasy she has created for herself. I don’t deal in fantasy and I don’t live in the past. The reality of it all is that Gabby’s obsession has cost her dearly. I defeated her before she was handed the Marquee Title and from that moment until the moment that she lost that title, she has blamed me for exposing her as a lackluster competitor. I have beaten her one on one and I have beaten her in tag team matches. Instead of realizing that she’s just not ever going to be better than me and focusing on lesser opportunities she decided to continue to focus on me…to look ahead to some final clash between us…using my championship as her inspiration. Her obsession comes from jealousy…pure and simple. I came in and took the spotlight off her. I legitimately won titles while she couldn’t even hang on to the one she was handed. It’s sad, really.
Trisha VanReadon: I’d like to change the topic right now, if I may. You have made history by being the first two-time LAW Champion. You’ve more or less duplicated your sister’s feat of taking a title that meant nothing and elevating it. Are you at all concerned that should you beat Gabby, the same thing that happened to your sister will happen to you at the hands of Kate Steele, a woman who is said to be next in line for the title?
Oni Kymiku: Before I address Steele or what she has done, allow me to address titles. Titles and awards are for people who need to validate their existence in the wrestling world. I have no such need, as I have forged my position in this sport by deeds and blood both shed and spilled. It is true that I earned every title and accolade that is tied to my name, but championships were not my aim. The LAW Title was a symbol of the company and the fans who wanted to put me in a box and tell me I was worthless! After Fujiko Mine took the LAW Title from me…I wanted it back so I could stick it in their smug little faces.
Trisha VanReadon: And what about Steele and her opportunity?
Oni Kymiku: Another example of LAW attempting to throw everything it can at me. They hope that Camacho will beat me...but just in case, they stack the deck with another of their hand-picked favorites. Tell me, when have you seen a #1 contender named before the already named #1 contender gets their shot? NEVER, but you don't want to see that, do you? Kate Steele has had exactly TWO good matches since LAW opened its doors! The one where she became the first LAW Champion and the one where she got lucky and beat my sister. Let me ask you something Trisha…what happened after those wins?
Trisha VanReadon: I mean…she lost her titles…but everyone loses sometimes…even you have lost.
Oni Kymiku: True enough…my first reign as champion was forgettable, but I don’t book the matches. Kate has had two flashes of brilliance and afterwards…all she has done is fade away, dragging the titles down with her. It took Fujiko and me to fully erase the stink that she had left on the LAW Title…and as for the Marquee Title? My sister made it the premier title in the company…and Kate made it a joke! If I weren’t so mad at my sister for deserting me…I would have broken Kate Steele’s neck for what she did!
Trisha VanReadon: Like you did to Nicky Silver?
Oni Kymiku: I helped Silver by crushing her spine…I gave her an opportunity to come back stronger and stop being an annoyance. Because of me, Nicky Silver is a household name now. She has a movie about her pathetic come back. I made her 1000 times more famous than she ever should have been. Honestly, Camacho should look to Silver as inspiration! Look at all the women that I have buried and sent packing out of LAW…out of the sport! Unlike the last two challengers to my title…at least she managed to make it back! I doubt the same will be true after I cripple her in the same way.
Trisha VanReadon: So…you beat Gabby and then you beat Kate…what would be left? Is there any challenges left out there for you? Other titles and other challengers?
Oni Kymiku: (Laughs) Sure…there are plenty of challengers out there, but as for titles? Like I said…I don’t care about those. The Marquee Title was tarnished by Kate Steele and it isn’t worth a pack of chewed bubble gum right now! Mackenzie Roberts is doing the best that she can…God bless her heart, but sometimes you just have to realize that you can't ice skate uphill. The Breakout Title is interesting…but the champion, Keira Fisher? She isn’t! I’ve destroyed her in the past and doing it again to become the Breakout Champion would be like crushing a chinchilla to make yourself one really tiny glove…it’s hardly worth all the effort. Then there are the tag team titles…a pair of belts that LAW refused to put my sisters and I in the running for. There was I time I really wanted those belts…but it wasn’t about the titles…it was about the partnership with my sister. Without that, the tag team titles are just decoration. That being said…I can’t pretend that I didn’t hear sweet little Ana Jones, one of the current tag team champions remarking on she and her partner were the best talent to walk into this place…and it was only a matter of time before they turned their attention to dismantling the other divisions. I admire that fire…and I want to see it…I want to see it up close and personal.
Trisha VanReadon: There’s one more title…
Oni Kymiku: You’re talking about Jennifer Drew’s made up belt?
Trisha VanReadon: It’s the Master of Puppets Championship…
Oni Kymiku: The MoP Championship?
Trisha VanReadon: I don’t think she calls it that…
Oni Kymiku: MoP is more catchy…probably more accurate. That being said, I nearly pissed myself when I saw Alexis Blake rip her a new one on Twitter over her ‘FAKE’ championship.
Trisha VanReadon: You seem hostile. You guys were pretty buddy-buddy a few months ago.
Oni Kymiku: Well…that was probably back when I was more…entertaining and less of a bore to her. She can continue to make up titles and cute nicknames for herself…and I’ll continue to not be entertaining as I bore LAW in main event after main event, I suppose we all have our crosses to bare. She can do her thing and I will keep my focus on what’s important…putting Gabby Camacho in her place at Rising Stars!
Trisha VanReadon: And so, it appears that we have come full circle…back to your opponent on Sunday. Do you have any final words for her, if she’s watching?
Oni Kymiku: I have quite a few words for Gabby Camacho. First of all…I want her to know that what I do to her is going to be personal. This has been building since 2014 after we had our very first match. Leading up to it and after it…she wouldn’t give me the time of day. I couldn’t get a mention…not even a ‘how you doing’ or a ‘fuck off.’ Now…at long last I finally have her attention. With Lucas Dupree holding her hand, she finally has the time to address me. Well…I suppose late is better than never. I’m personally glad that you are getting a chance to do that one thing that LAW fans have been dying for someone to do for the past 9 months…step into my ring and beat me for the LAW Title. She and I have had our fun leading up to Rising Stars…but the fun ends on Sunday night. The kid gloves come off…and then I show her and everyone else in LAW why I am called Oni. I didn’t make up a name to call myself…I earned it. At Rising Stars…Gabby Camacho, the attention whore, finally gets what she’s earned…the absolute beating of a fucking lifetime…
Trisha VanReadon: Oni, thank you very much for your time and good luck in your match.
Oni Kymiku: You don’t really mean it…and I don’t really need it, so let’s just leave it at that, shall we?
- Epilogue -
After we ended the interview I found myself thinking about many of the things that she said. While I didn’t agree with some of it, I did come to see that she had a particular point of view. Many people, especially those in management, have said that Oni is merely twisting the facts about LAW doing everything they can to get the belt from around her waist. Frankly, I was one of those people, and while I still cannot say it with 100% certainty, I now think that she truly believes that she is in the right and everything she has done and will do is completely justified.
I think back to the day that Lucas Dupree came out and personally intervened in order to stack the deck against Oni retaining her title at Night of Glory II. Oni had been the first to say that the deck would be stacked against her, and it was. When Gabby Camacho failed to win her match and should not have been named #1 contender, again Lucas Dupree came out, suspended the General Manager and named Gabby Camacho the challenger anyway. Now, with so much on the line, Oni has placed herself in the role to play the spoiler and ruin what would be a fairytale ending for her challenger.
Kymiku Shinsuzuki is anything but a mere spoiler and if I am right about the woman and her conviction, then I must take a step back and eat my words because she will not lose the LAW Championship. She believes in herself too strongly…she hates her opponent and even the fans with too much unbridled passion. Someone who believes enough can do almost anything…short of defeating an army. In this case, she must do exactly that.
I spent hours upon hours watching video of LAW following my interview with her. In that time, her conviction has not wavered and many of her detractors have fallen silent or been unceremoniously forced to retire at her hands. Are they starting to believe that Oni can truly continue her march through the endless waves of opposition that is placed in front of her and still walk out champion, time and time again?
I find myself torn as the hour approaches when we will see this long awaited rematch. I, like many of you, want to see Gabby triumph over Oni. I want to see the woman who has bled for LAW for years leave Rising Stars with the belt they have always said that she deserved. That would be a dream come true, however…a part of me wants to see if Oni can do what she says she can.
If Oni wins…does Kate Steele stand a chance against her? Their last match was a massacre! Who can stop her…or even slow her down the way that Gabby Camacho has? What does she have in store for LAW and the fans should she win, yet again? What is going on behind those eyes that are as black as pitch…with a heart to match? Will she stay true to her word and continue to make life hell for LAW and those who would see her gone?
My ticket was purchased weeks ago, and as the days grow shorter and the hour approaches I find myself wondering if I haven’t allowed her to flip some kind of switch within me, one that might actually get me to silently cheer for her. Is it morbid curiosity or do I really think that she has a point in all of this? Frankly, it is a little of both.
I know that I will never be a fan of hers…for Christ’s sake, she broke my fucking nose! I dislike so much of what she has said and has done. That being said, through this interview, I have come to understand some of her motivations and why she does the things she does. In the end…at least for me, she is a tad less hated…but even so, she remains…Oni Kymiku…the most hated woman in all of Ladies All-Star Wrestling.
[FIN]
LAW fans first took notice of the woman known simply as Oni in July of 2014 when she arrived in the company, answering the call of Sidney Grey, who had hoped that the unstable woman would serve as a distraction to her sister, Nyako Shinsuzuki. While her ploy initially worked, the sisters quickly became a thorn in her side, joining forces and becoming a formidable duo, despite their troubled and tumultuous past.
Oni’s debut match at LAW #12 took place on 10 August 2014 in Denver, Colorado…ironically enough against her opponent at Rising Stars, Gabby Camacho. At that time, Gabby was an extremely over babyface with a legion of fans. Gabby was on the fast track to becoming a megastar in the company and Oni was just going to be another footnote on her list of victories. The build up to the match lacked any real animosity on either woman’s part, but the match proved to be a classic with a shocking finish as Oni weathered Gabby’s strength, surprising the woman with her own as she connected with the ‘Oni Driver’ to win the match.
Following the surprise victory, Oni was assaulted in the ring by Sidney Grey and the reigning Marquee Champion, Summer St. Claire. The assault was aimed to take Oni out completely and the gambit nearly succeeded, until Sidney and Summer were chased off by Nyako and Gabby. While the sisters showed their gratitude to Gabby, the woman all but ignored them, as despite her loss to Oni, she was rewarded with a Marquee Championship match against Summer…which she would capitalize on at the next pay-per-view.
Gabby’s star was on the rise and Oni’s overshadowed, even though her record did not record a single defeat. The two women would meet again in a tag team match at LAW #17 where animosity between the two of them was starting to build. Oni and her sister and tag team partner, Nyako were being labeled as villains while Gabby and her partner, Evie Taylor were seen as good guys who would put down the sisters. The ending of this match would seem to validate that point of view as Nyako hit Gabby in the back of the head with her own Marquee Title and Oni again picked up the pinfall, unaware of the illegal tactics.
Doubtless, the seeds of dislike were sewn on that night…
The careers of both women took a radically different turn at the following pay-per-view. Oni continued to toll in relative obscurity while her sister went on to defeat Gabby for her Marquee Championship, forcing her to pass out in a devastating submission hold. Nyako cast a long shadow over both women for several months as she went on a march through the competition that made her a legend in LAW and elevated the Marquee Title to mythical status within the company. Gabby faded into the shadows and Oni continued to try to fight her way out of obscurity.
Oni finally managed to carve out her own niche when she walked out of Rising Stars in 2015 as the LAW Champion. Everything finally seemed to be going her way after that victory…but the fans didn’t buy into their new babyface champion, and neither did LAW. Oni was booked for one tag team match where she would appear as champion until she would go on to lose her title at the next pay-per-view against fan favorite Fujiko Mine.
Feeling slighted by the company and the fans alike, Oni set off on a bid to regain her title, a feat that had not yet been accomplished in LAW. Her change in attitude shocked all but the very few that knew of her infamous history. Oni’s erratic behavior drove her sister away…but in the end it garnered her the thing she seemed to covet most…the LAW Title. In a brutal and bloody battle, Oni stooped to underhanded tactics to defeat Fujiko and end her title run while hitting the reset button on her own.
With her main rival gone, Oni set her sights on a new opponent…the LAW fans. Oni disrespected the fans and the LAW Title for months…carrying the belt disrespectfully with the blood and name plate of their former beloved champion still adorning it. After months of disrespect and a successful title defense in a match that was designed to wrench the title from her grasp, only one woman emerged from the back to openly challenge the self-proclaimed Empress of LAW…’Army Strong’ Gabby Camacho!
The two women sparred verbally at first…then their fight turned physical, culminating in a spectacular match that would make Gabby the number one contender if she won. The women fought each other in a vicious and brutal match, busting one another open and splattering the ring with one another’s blood. The match ended in a draw as both women crashed through the announce table and were carted out of the arena on stretchers. Oni thought that she had eliminated Gabby as a challenger and the General Manager, Ashley Marie Chase agreed…but Lucas Dupree disagreed. He suspended Chase and named Gabby the number one contender and scheduled them to face off again at Rising Stars 2016.
Oni has been a dominant force in LAW since 2014, earning match and wrestler of the year in 2015. Her brutality has ended the LAW careers of many of her opponents…and her propensity for extreme violence has made her a feared competitor. Gabby Camacho alone has proven herself to be the one opponent who does not fear her vaunted reputation. So now the stage is set for a battle that has been years in the making…the third singles meeting between Oni and Gabby…this time for the most coveted title in wrestling…The LAW Championship!
Join me as I go one on one with the current LAW Champion. Tonight I enter the mind of ‘Oni’ Kymiku Shinsuzuki… ________________________________________
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH TRISHA VANREARDON
- February 2016 –
"ONI" KYMIKU
THE MOST HATED WOMAN IN LAW!
As I waited at the place where I would meet the subject of my interview, I couldn’t help but to feel a bit of trepidation. A person with a reputation like hers had earned it for good reason. I could personally attest to this as Oni had assaulted me on live television in December of 2014, breaking my nose. Since that time, I had always been careful to have security around when interviewing her…but tonight I had made an exception. I wanted to face down this fearsome woman…I wanted to see if she would affect me in some way, especially since the rivers of hatred for her ran so deeply.
When she finally arrived and I got a glimpse of her, I thought back to the first time I had seen her; she was thin and quite striking in her appearance. I had expected a muscle bound ogre with blood and gore dripping from her fangs…but Oni seemed more like a young woman, not unlike any other you would pass on the street.
Of course, in this, I had been dead wrong…
It wasn’t her speech so much as it was her mannerisms…slow and deliberate. She didn’t waste motion and she didn’t waste her words. Her body was taunt and fit and her face was almost angelic, but her eyes were nearly stark black as they settled on me. They were not the eyes of a young woman, but something altogether different. I immediately felt as though I were stripped bare before her. It was deeply unsettling…and finally I knew the truth behind her name…there was no other name that could be given to her.
The Devil’s eyes were on me…
Trisha VanReadon: Kymiku, it is an honor for us to finally get to talk again.
Oni Kymiku: Address me as Oni. Only my family addresses me as Kymiku and they are all dead to me.
Trisha VanReadon: My apologies, I meant no offense.
Oni Kymiku: You ALWAYS mean to offend. It is your very nature to do so. Your inherent need to place yourself above everyone else is so ingrained in you that you offend and commit trespass without thought. I saw your interview with Alex Yin…I saw how offensive and condescending you were. She had every right to beat you within an inch of your life, but she showed the practiced restraint that is typical of the Asian people…a quality that all Westerners and you in particular lack.
Trisha VanReadon: That is a rather harsh indictment, isn’t it? I mean…not just of me, but of everyone who isn’t Asian.
Oni Kymiku: It is simply a harsh truth. Whenever an Asian woman steps to the forefront to show her mettle, she is immediately knocked down for it. You did it to Alex Yin on your Hot Seat a few days ago. LAW has continued to hold her back from any chance at winning a title. Look at what LAW recently did to Ashley Maria Chase! The woman is without question the greatest asset to the company…the greatest General Manager I have ever seen, yet…they fire her…publically humiliate her? They say for poor performance, but that can’t be true. Competition is the finest that it has ever been and talent continues to flock through the doors. They suspended Ashley because she is an Asian woman who outshined the lily white blandness of Bliss Fischer. That is a fact! If that is still not enough evidence for you, look at what happened to me when I won my first LAW Championship! I was not promoted as champion like Fujiko Mine of given a coronation like Evie Taylor. They pushed me off the shows…begrudgingly put me in a single tag team match nearly a month later! Taylor and Mine fought on the very next show! LAW has it in for people of my race…but it doesn’t matter because I have beaten them at every turn.
Trisha VanReadon: Do you really think that LAW is racist against Asians? I mean...Fujiko Mine is Asian!
Oni Kymiku: Fujiko Mine was LAW's ideal Asian. She was an anime character come to life! Enormous boobs and half naked in pictures all over the internet! Don't get me wrong...I respect her...she beat my ass...but I would never call her Asian. As for the racism against me? How much more evidence to you need? Look at the actions of Lucas Dupree! They are unprecedented where I am concerned! When I made a fool of Fischer for her attempts to treat me like anything less than the champion I was…Lucas Dupree himself showed up to come to her aid. They personally made a point of putting me in a match that he knew I had no hope of winning! I took on half the LAW and ALCW roster and in the end, I kept the LAW Title and I made him and his lapdog of a General Manager look like fools. When Chase was made to be the full-time General Manager, she made the right call after Gabby failed to become the number one contender for my title! Again…Lucas Dupree himself comes out of hiding to personally suspend her for doing the right thing and then forcing me to face his favorite chosen one…again!
Trisha VanReadon: To be fair…Gabby didn’t lose that match…so the argument could be made that she more than earned a chance at your title.
Oni Kymiku: To be MORE fair…Gabby didn’t WIN that match…so Ashley Marie Chase made the right call, but Dupree couldn’t stand having his lack of testicular fortitude being made public by a pair of queens from the Far East.
Trisha VanReadon: Okay…for arguments sake, let’s say that you’re right about Lucas…and I don’t think that you are, but what about Gabby Camacho? She’s a legitimate challenger…and she’s not ‘lily white’ as you put it.
Oni Kymiku: Take a close look at Gabby and what she has done in her time in LAW. She was the darling of the company and she was all but handed a championship against a lame duck Marquee Champion after I soundly beat her in front of the world. She, along with another anointed piece of trash, Evie Taylor made me out to be the bad guy…trashing me and doing what they could to keep me and my sister down. In that…they failed. Gabby failed to win back the Marquee Title and Evie Taylor proved that she was nothing more than a one trick show dog! They both faded into obscurity…despite having the world handed to them. Taylor ran off and deserted the fans and the LAW Title…leaving it for me pick up and make it really mean something. As for Gabby…she has proven herself to be deluded and self-absorbed to the point of her own certain destruction. A woman with a fixation like hers will say and do anything to fuel their cause and give it the appearance of a logical foundation where none exists. I am saddened by the fact that she has let her obsession with me sidetrack her career. If she would focus on making something of herself inside the ring instead of taking ridiculous selfies, then maybe she would take a step towards achieving her potential. Maybe in time she would legitimately be a top contender in LAW…but probably not.
Trisha VanReadon: Well…she is actually the top contender right now and she has made no bones about saying that she has your number. She’s dropped you at every turn and at Rising Stars, she’s says she will do it for the title.
Oni Kymiku: I heard her ridiculous prattling and quite frankly, it made me laugh! Has she put me down? Sure…outside of a match, where she can use her ghetto street tactics…she has gotten the better of me. At Rising Stars…she will meet me inside the confines of a wrestling ring…a ring where my shoulders have only been pinned to the mat once in nearly two years! Her confidence is higher than it’s ever been…and the fall? Oh…that is going to be the sweetest yet!
Trisha VanReadon: Gabby makes no bones about it. She thinks that you are a terrible person and that you are terrible for LAW. It’s safe to say that it’s her goal to get rid of you…utterly. Do you know where her obsession comes from?
Oni Kymiku: I know where it comes from…at least in her mind and in the fantasy she has created for herself. I don’t deal in fantasy and I don’t live in the past. The reality of it all is that Gabby’s obsession has cost her dearly. I defeated her before she was handed the Marquee Title and from that moment until the moment that she lost that title, she has blamed me for exposing her as a lackluster competitor. I have beaten her one on one and I have beaten her in tag team matches. Instead of realizing that she’s just not ever going to be better than me and focusing on lesser opportunities she decided to continue to focus on me…to look ahead to some final clash between us…using my championship as her inspiration. Her obsession comes from jealousy…pure and simple. I came in and took the spotlight off her. I legitimately won titles while she couldn’t even hang on to the one she was handed. It’s sad, really.
Trisha VanReadon: I’d like to change the topic right now, if I may. You have made history by being the first two-time LAW Champion. You’ve more or less duplicated your sister’s feat of taking a title that meant nothing and elevating it. Are you at all concerned that should you beat Gabby, the same thing that happened to your sister will happen to you at the hands of Kate Steele, a woman who is said to be next in line for the title?
Oni Kymiku: Before I address Steele or what she has done, allow me to address titles. Titles and awards are for people who need to validate their existence in the wrestling world. I have no such need, as I have forged my position in this sport by deeds and blood both shed and spilled. It is true that I earned every title and accolade that is tied to my name, but championships were not my aim. The LAW Title was a symbol of the company and the fans who wanted to put me in a box and tell me I was worthless! After Fujiko Mine took the LAW Title from me…I wanted it back so I could stick it in their smug little faces.
Trisha VanReadon: And what about Steele and her opportunity?
Oni Kymiku: Another example of LAW attempting to throw everything it can at me. They hope that Camacho will beat me...but just in case, they stack the deck with another of their hand-picked favorites. Tell me, when have you seen a #1 contender named before the already named #1 contender gets their shot? NEVER, but you don't want to see that, do you? Kate Steele has had exactly TWO good matches since LAW opened its doors! The one where she became the first LAW Champion and the one where she got lucky and beat my sister. Let me ask you something Trisha…what happened after those wins?
Trisha VanReadon: I mean…she lost her titles…but everyone loses sometimes…even you have lost.
Oni Kymiku: True enough…my first reign as champion was forgettable, but I don’t book the matches. Kate has had two flashes of brilliance and afterwards…all she has done is fade away, dragging the titles down with her. It took Fujiko and me to fully erase the stink that she had left on the LAW Title…and as for the Marquee Title? My sister made it the premier title in the company…and Kate made it a joke! If I weren’t so mad at my sister for deserting me…I would have broken Kate Steele’s neck for what she did!
Trisha VanReadon: Like you did to Nicky Silver?
Oni Kymiku: I helped Silver by crushing her spine…I gave her an opportunity to come back stronger and stop being an annoyance. Because of me, Nicky Silver is a household name now. She has a movie about her pathetic come back. I made her 1000 times more famous than she ever should have been. Honestly, Camacho should look to Silver as inspiration! Look at all the women that I have buried and sent packing out of LAW…out of the sport! Unlike the last two challengers to my title…at least she managed to make it back! I doubt the same will be true after I cripple her in the same way.
Trisha VanReadon: So…you beat Gabby and then you beat Kate…what would be left? Is there any challenges left out there for you? Other titles and other challengers?
Oni Kymiku: (Laughs) Sure…there are plenty of challengers out there, but as for titles? Like I said…I don’t care about those. The Marquee Title was tarnished by Kate Steele and it isn’t worth a pack of chewed bubble gum right now! Mackenzie Roberts is doing the best that she can…God bless her heart, but sometimes you just have to realize that you can't ice skate uphill. The Breakout Title is interesting…but the champion, Keira Fisher? She isn’t! I’ve destroyed her in the past and doing it again to become the Breakout Champion would be like crushing a chinchilla to make yourself one really tiny glove…it’s hardly worth all the effort. Then there are the tag team titles…a pair of belts that LAW refused to put my sisters and I in the running for. There was I time I really wanted those belts…but it wasn’t about the titles…it was about the partnership with my sister. Without that, the tag team titles are just decoration. That being said…I can’t pretend that I didn’t hear sweet little Ana Jones, one of the current tag team champions remarking on she and her partner were the best talent to walk into this place…and it was only a matter of time before they turned their attention to dismantling the other divisions. I admire that fire…and I want to see it…I want to see it up close and personal.
Trisha VanReadon: There’s one more title…
Oni Kymiku: You’re talking about Jennifer Drew’s made up belt?
Trisha VanReadon: It’s the Master of Puppets Championship…
Oni Kymiku: The MoP Championship?
Trisha VanReadon: I don’t think she calls it that…
Oni Kymiku: MoP is more catchy…probably more accurate. That being said, I nearly pissed myself when I saw Alexis Blake rip her a new one on Twitter over her ‘FAKE’ championship.
Trisha VanReadon: You seem hostile. You guys were pretty buddy-buddy a few months ago.
Oni Kymiku: Well…that was probably back when I was more…entertaining and less of a bore to her. She can continue to make up titles and cute nicknames for herself…and I’ll continue to not be entertaining as I bore LAW in main event after main event, I suppose we all have our crosses to bare. She can do her thing and I will keep my focus on what’s important…putting Gabby Camacho in her place at Rising Stars!
Trisha VanReadon: And so, it appears that we have come full circle…back to your opponent on Sunday. Do you have any final words for her, if she’s watching?
Oni Kymiku: I have quite a few words for Gabby Camacho. First of all…I want her to know that what I do to her is going to be personal. This has been building since 2014 after we had our very first match. Leading up to it and after it…she wouldn’t give me the time of day. I couldn’t get a mention…not even a ‘how you doing’ or a ‘fuck off.’ Now…at long last I finally have her attention. With Lucas Dupree holding her hand, she finally has the time to address me. Well…I suppose late is better than never. I’m personally glad that you are getting a chance to do that one thing that LAW fans have been dying for someone to do for the past 9 months…step into my ring and beat me for the LAW Title. She and I have had our fun leading up to Rising Stars…but the fun ends on Sunday night. The kid gloves come off…and then I show her and everyone else in LAW why I am called Oni. I didn’t make up a name to call myself…I earned it. At Rising Stars…Gabby Camacho, the attention whore, finally gets what she’s earned…the absolute beating of a fucking lifetime…
Trisha VanReadon: Oni, thank you very much for your time and good luck in your match.
Oni Kymiku: You don’t really mean it…and I don’t really need it, so let’s just leave it at that, shall we?
- Epilogue -
After we ended the interview I found myself thinking about many of the things that she said. While I didn’t agree with some of it, I did come to see that she had a particular point of view. Many people, especially those in management, have said that Oni is merely twisting the facts about LAW doing everything they can to get the belt from around her waist. Frankly, I was one of those people, and while I still cannot say it with 100% certainty, I now think that she truly believes that she is in the right and everything she has done and will do is completely justified.
I think back to the day that Lucas Dupree came out and personally intervened in order to stack the deck against Oni retaining her title at Night of Glory II. Oni had been the first to say that the deck would be stacked against her, and it was. When Gabby Camacho failed to win her match and should not have been named #1 contender, again Lucas Dupree came out, suspended the General Manager and named Gabby Camacho the challenger anyway. Now, with so much on the line, Oni has placed herself in the role to play the spoiler and ruin what would be a fairytale ending for her challenger.
Kymiku Shinsuzuki is anything but a mere spoiler and if I am right about the woman and her conviction, then I must take a step back and eat my words because she will not lose the LAW Championship. She believes in herself too strongly…she hates her opponent and even the fans with too much unbridled passion. Someone who believes enough can do almost anything…short of defeating an army. In this case, she must do exactly that.
I spent hours upon hours watching video of LAW following my interview with her. In that time, her conviction has not wavered and many of her detractors have fallen silent or been unceremoniously forced to retire at her hands. Are they starting to believe that Oni can truly continue her march through the endless waves of opposition that is placed in front of her and still walk out champion, time and time again?
I find myself torn as the hour approaches when we will see this long awaited rematch. I, like many of you, want to see Gabby triumph over Oni. I want to see the woman who has bled for LAW for years leave Rising Stars with the belt they have always said that she deserved. That would be a dream come true, however…a part of me wants to see if Oni can do what she says she can.
If Oni wins…does Kate Steele stand a chance against her? Their last match was a massacre! Who can stop her…or even slow her down the way that Gabby Camacho has? What does she have in store for LAW and the fans should she win, yet again? What is going on behind those eyes that are as black as pitch…with a heart to match? Will she stay true to her word and continue to make life hell for LAW and those who would see her gone?
My ticket was purchased weeks ago, and as the days grow shorter and the hour approaches I find myself wondering if I haven’t allowed her to flip some kind of switch within me, one that might actually get me to silently cheer for her. Is it morbid curiosity or do I really think that she has a point in all of this? Frankly, it is a little of both.
I know that I will never be a fan of hers…for Christ’s sake, she broke my fucking nose! I dislike so much of what she has said and has done. That being said, through this interview, I have come to understand some of her motivations and why she does the things she does. In the end…at least for me, she is a tad less hated…but even so, she remains…Oni Kymiku…the most hated woman in all of Ladies All-Star Wrestling.
[FIN]