Kira Summer and Her Journey to Wrestling Fame

In the world of professional wrestling, Kira Summer stands out in many ways. A self-proclaimed anime fan, she moved to Japan five years ago to pursue a career as an artist and animator, and is now the first foreign member of the Tokyo Women’s Professional Wrestling Association to train in-house, while also enjoying motherhood.

Image credit: Daryl Harding

Wrestling is in her nature

Wrestling is in Summer’s nature. In her hometown of Adelaide, her sister and brother-in-law are both professional wrestlers. Growing up, she watched American events such as WWE with her parents and family. On her 14th birthday, her sister took her to Riot City Wrestling, a local wrestling promotion and academy. Summer recalls that it was an amazing experience. She sat backstage with the wrestlers and got to know them up close.

“It wasn’t necessarily the sport itself that piqued my interest, but the people in the industry that I was able to meet. As the sister of a professional wrestler, I was treated like one of the kids in the family. The atmosphere was great, and the shows were fun,” Summer shared.

Summer continued to work as a staff member at Riot City for over a year. She also completed a year of training with Snakepit Pro Wrestling (now South Australian Pro Wrestling). However, she did not debut. After moving to Japan, she was ready to put wrestling aside to pursue other things, but a chance encounter during the COVID pandemic brought her back to her passion.

Image via Tokyo Women’s Pro Wrestling

Major Events

When Summer returns to her roots, she’s at her most needed moment.

“After the coronavirus pandemic hit, I started feeling depressed from staying at home all the time and not seeing anyone. Then, a friend of mine came to Japan and he was a big fan of wrestling. I went to a live women’s wrestling match with him, and as soon as I walked in, I was immediately hit by a wave of emotions. Seeing all the wrestlers interacting and working as a team made me feel like I was missing out on it,” Summer recalled.

Summer still wasn’t sure her friend had planned it, but the show also happened to be advertising the auditions. With only two weeks left until the deadline, Summer went home and without hesitation sent an email to the publicity department. The rest is history.

Kira Summer prepares to perform a power wrestling move on her opponent. Image via Tokyo Women’s Pro Wrestling

Train to become a professional Joshi athlete

A lot of what goes into professional wrestling training is an industry secret. However, what Summer can share is that one of the first things you learn at any reputable academy is how to fall safely. Falling is naturally a big part of wrestling, and aspiring wrestlers must learn how to protect themselves with as little damage as possible.

“In my first class at the Australian school, an instructor had me sit on a box. He suddenly pushed me backwards. Luckily there was a cushion behind me, but he did it to see how I would react,” Summer recalled.

Summer recalled another training session where if you couldn’t fall on the mat properly, they would make you fall on the concrete the next time. For training in Japan, Summer said that besides safety, having a basic level of fitness is the most important thing. Beyond that, the most important thing is professionalism.

“The people you end up working with need to trust that you’re not going to go out and pick fights with fans or go around picking fights with people in the locker room,” she said.

Summer’s daily routine depends on her schedule, as her training times are not always the same. The time she wakes up is actually determined by her son, but it is usually between 5 and 7 a.m., and she prepares breakfast and a lunch box for him to take to school. Then she goes to her morning training, and if it is an evening training, she spends a few hours working on illustration assignments or doing housework.

“One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced since becoming a wrestler has been balancing the roles of wife and mother,” Summer admitted.

The sessions can last between two and four hours and are very intense. She usually comes home late, eats dinner and goes straight to bed. In June, Summer also stepped up her training routine to include a push-up challenge.

The road to becoming a princess

Summer has only been in the industry for a little over four months, and she’s already hit some career highs. One of those was competing in Grand Princess at Ryogoku Stadium, the biggest show of the year for women’s pro wrestling in Tokyo. It was a surreal experience for her to have a camera crew follow her around. It was then broadcast live internationally on one of the biggest wrestling streaming platforms.

“It feels like a dream,” she said. “Sometimes I rewatch the video and see myself in the ring. It’s hard to remember how it felt.”

As for new milestones, Summer has already accomplished another one. On July 20, she participated in the “Summer Sun Princess 2024” held in Korakuen, Tokyo, and went head-to-head with one of her friends, Chika Nanase.

“We spent the most time together, and we always wanted to have a singles match between us. There’s no animosity between us. With Uta Takami, the three of us started out together and reached the same milestones together,” Summer said.

At some point, Summer would also like to challenge for the International Princess Championship belt.

“Challenging for a belt is not just about the title itself, but also about who holds the belt,” Summer explained. “For example, if Rika Tatsumi or Yuki Kamifuku holds the belt, then I would really like to challenge both of them.”

Summer is just beginning her career as a female professional wrestler, but she has already managed to carve out her own space, which is a major accomplishment. She thanks her family, especially her sister, for all their support, and the staff at Tokyo Women’s Pro Wrestling, who worked tirelessly to help her adjust to the language, culture, and nuances of the Japanese wrestling industry.

Asked if her son would be concerned if he saw her wrestling, Summer laughed and said he had watched live streams of her matches.

“I don’t think I’d take him to a live fight because if he saw me he’d probably come after me. But if he saw me get beat up in real life he’d find it hilarious,” she said.

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