Mercedes Mone, IYO SKY And Others Appear On Hana Kimura Tribute Show
A tribute show for the late Hana Kimura took place this week at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Various wrestling personalities were featured in a video montage saying the word "Pinx" during the broadcast, including former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay, one-third of the Artist of Stardom Championship KAIRI, current AEW star and Outcasts' member Toni Storm, former IWGP Women's Champion Mercedes Moné, current WWE star and Damage CTRL member IYO SKY, and many more. Kimura passed away at the age of 22 on May 23, 2020.
The Hana Kimura Memorial "pinx!" 2023 pay-per-view was the third annual show dedicated to Kimura since her tragic death. According to Cagematch, the broadcast saw six matches take place, with Saori Anou defeating Miyuki Takase in the opening match of the evening. Following that, Jaguar Yokota won a Battle Royal, before Minoru Suzuki got the better of Kyusei Hana Kimura (Sakura Hirota) in singles action. The fourth match of the night saw Minoru Tanaka, Kengo, Ryo Mizunami, and Sonoko Kato overcome Mayumi Ozaki, Masao Hanabatake, Yuko Miyamoto, and Ram Kaicho in a four-way tag team bout, while Natsupoi, ASUKA/VENY, Syuri picked up the win against Rina, Death Yama-san, and Konami. And in the main event, Aja Kong and Sareee emerged victorious against Mio Momono and Mika Iwata.
Kimura's death was officially ruled a suicide. Before tragically taking her own life, the former Goddess of Stardom Champion shared hateful messages she had received online along with images of self-harm. Kimura's appearance on the Japanese reality television show "Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020" sparked a flurry of cyberbullying — she appeared on the show until her passing. Fuji Television canceled the remaining episodes of the season following Kimura's death.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)