Mari Saito

Mari Winterborn (born Mariko Kaori Saito, January 24, 1987, in Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently contracted with the World's Greatest Wrestling Federation in the Diva's division and formerly signed to the Supreme Wrestling Alliance. She is also a former teen model and singer/dancer in her homeland of Japan, with rumblings of a musical debut in the United States sometime in the near future.

=Early Life=

She is the third of five children born to Jiro and Hana Saito. She has an older brother Kenzo (28), older sister Keiko (24), younger sister Emiko (10) and younger brother Taro (13). Her family situation is rare in Japan, as it is uncommon to have such a large family. Jiro is a successful sensei of many forms of martial arts, while her mother is a stay-at-home wife.

From a young age, Mari showed an interest in martial arts, so her father enrolled her in his classes. She excelled at judo, though she was adept at many different forms, such as karate, jiu-jitsu, and tae kwon do. Competing with her love of judo was her equally strong love of music and dance. Alongside her martial arts lessons, she also took dance, voice and even piano lessons. Her father was understanding of her dual hobbies, and eventually took to teaching her in private sessions to accomodate her musical training.

At the age of 12, Mari was discovered by a talent scout while on her way to school. After speaking with her parents, the scout offered her a place with a prestigious Japanese modeling agency, which she agreed to. She garnered much success in different ad campaigns for various products, including clothing, cosmetics, businesses and food. She took a year off when she was 14 to study martial arts over in Seoul, Korea. She competed in a few demonstrations, and won a couple of medals in competitions. At the age of 15, she made her musical debut on a popular Japanese talk show, where she revealed that she had been working on her first album for a year or so. It hit the Oricon charts and climbed steadily, eventually making it to number one. She gained a massive following after that, becoming one of Japan's best-loved celebrities.

=The Move To America=

In 2004, Mari announced, via her online blog, that she planned to attend university in the United States. She had been accepted on scholarship to the Arts program at New York University, where she planned to study dance and music. She made the move and settled into her new life as a university student, while still keeping in regular touch with her online fanbase in Japan through her website blogs.

While at NYU, she befriended a young girl named Max Revell, who was a business student and shared the same dormitory. The girls bonded quickly, and it was Max who introduced Mari to the world of professional wrestling. Max's older half-brother Brennan Sullivan was a professional wrestler, and Max had grown up loving the sport as well. She took Mari to see a few independent shows around New York, and the young Japanese girl quickly became enamored with the sport.

Changing Paths
Max used some of her contacts to help Mari score a few tryouts with different independent federations, despite Mari having no wrestling experience. However, the promoters liked her martial arts background and exotic looks, so she was picked up by a couple of different promotions in New York City. They provided her with wrestling training, and soon she became one of the most well-known indy wrestlers in New York. It wouldn't be long before professional federations began calling, and Mari took her first contract with All-Star Wrestling. With Max signed on as her manager, Mari made her professional debut on December 5, 2007. She would go on to win her first two matches, until the company unexpectedly closed its doors. Undeterred, Mari used her own personal contacts to look into other federations.

The Asylum & First Taste Of Gold
She soon heard about a place known for its somewhat unorthodox methods, called [appropriately enough] "The Asylum". She contacted them with her resume, and they quickly hired her to their roster. She debuted in the company in early 2008, and began rapidly climbing the ranks, eventually becoming the Asylum Vixen's Champion.

CWF & More Gold
During her time with The Asylum, Mari was also contracted with CWF. She would go on to have one of her more nasty feuds in her career when she battled Lea Skye. In February 2008, Mari was to team up with Kalila Erazo and Izabella Manning to take on the Lollipops [stable consisting of Lea Skye, Temptress and then-CWF Women's Champion Candy James] at the Bare False Witness pay-per-view. However, Mari's team mates were attacked before the match, two more victims of a mysterious string of Valkyrie attacks. Mari would go on to team with CWF Director of Talent Torrey Lyne, and even picked up the pin on Lea Skye, earning herself a future CWF Women's Title shot.

She went on to win the title on a March 2008 edition of Redemption, besting the champion at the time, Candy James. She held the title for a month, before it all came to a terrifying end for young Mari.

In April 2008, at the War Games pay-per-view, she would face #1 contender Kenzie in a Ladder Match for the Women's title. Towards the end of the match, Kenzie delivered a devastating DDT to Mari onto the ladder, which resulted in Mari sustaining her worst injuries to date: a severe neck injury as well as a broken arm. Kenzie would go on to win the match, while Mari was put on the injured list. When her contracted expired during that time, she chose not to renew and instead rehabbed her injury and put her focus onto her schoolwork.

WGEF
Mari debuted in the WGEF on July 4, 2008. She had hesitated somewhat about returning to wrestling after her neck injury, but her older sister Keiko encouraged her to go back, knowing how much the wrestling world meant to Mari despite her apprehension. Her first few matches in, Mari's hesitation was visible, but started to fade away as she gained new confidence in the ring.

Along the way, she would encounter and befriend Justin Kage, just before Kage endured a breakup with then-girlfriend Jeanette Salazar. It was then that Mari experienced her first taste of scandal, as rumours surfaced that she was the cause of the breakup and that they [Kage & Mari] were involved in an affair. She has repeatedly denied it all, maintaining that she and Justin are merely friends.

While participating in an overseas promotional tour in her homeland of Japan, she struck up a friendship with Chris Kinning and Phoenix Winterborn. It was around this time that she began her relationship with now-fiance Winterborn. During a backstage interaction where Winterborn was leaving on a brief hiatus, Mari would approach him and subsequently end up traveling to his Oceanside home for the weekend before she had a Rampage match. When they both returned the following week, they revealed that they had begun a relationship, which was also played out on television.

To this day she has racked up some impressive wins, including one over the then-WGEF Women's Champion Ivy Stratus. A tournament was held in the WGEF Women's division to determine two contenders for the vacant Women's Title, with the final match taking place at WGEF's final pay-per-view on the MSN circuit, Whatever It Takes. Mari battled Paris Jior on the February 10 edition of Rampage, only to come up on the losing end of the match and therefore eliminating her from the tournament.

Currently, she continues to prove her worth in the Diva's division, never giving up on her goal to become the WGEF Women's champion. On the March 6 edition of Fight Night, Mari battled current WGEF Women's Champion Phoenix, and despite not securing the win, she proved her mettle not only to the champ, but to management as well. Over the next few weeks, she would rack up wins over the likes of Katya Rose, Eden Cross and Ivy Kinning. Having noticed her winning streak, management booked a match for the upcoming Far From Over pay-per-view card, pitting her against Women's Champion Phoenix for the title belt, with Jeanette Salazar-Sane as the special guest referee. The match took place on Sunday, April 19, 2009. She shocked the world by pinning Phoenix and capturing the WGEF Women's Championship, but her elation was short-lived.

Shortly after arriving home in Oceanside, Mari was kidnapped and held hostage in an undisclosed location for the better part of a month. She eventually managed to escape and make her way to a show in Milwaukee, though she still has no recollection of what happened to her or who was behind the kidnapping. A lot of suspicions point towards WGEF Champion Ryan Payne and his stable the Golden Age, but so far nothing has been proven.

Merely a week after escaping, Mari was placed in a match against Kristilin Flint at the Addicted pay-per-view, held Sunday, May 24. There was speculation that Mari would not be fully ready for a match so soon after her ordeal, but she defied everyone's expectations by agreeing to show up. Unfortunately, she would go on to lose her title to Flint.

Following the match, when she went to the hospital to be with her fiance Phoenix [who had injured his leg in a match prior to hers] she started complaining of stomach problems and was seen by a physician. He didn't find anything physically wrong with her, but indicated that he suspected that she may be pregnant.

=SWE=

Recently, she also signed a contract with the up-and-coming federation Supreme Wrestling Alliance. In her first match there against Summer Fox for the SWE Women's championship, she won the title by default when a scheduling conflict prevented Fox from appearing at the arena.

The following week, a rematch was scheduled between the women, with Summer walking away with the title. During the closing moments of the match, she hit Mari with her trademark move, a Lightning Spiral, which ended up knocking Mari unconscious. Following the end of the match, when Mari didn't rise up off the mat for a long time, the paramedics rushed in. At this time, it's known that Mari injured her neck, but how extensively has yet to be determined.

Shortly thereafter, the company closed its doors.

=Personal Life=

Mari's hobbies include shopping, dancing, and photography. She is close to her family, and visits them as often as possible.

She recently moved to Oceanside, California from her New York apartment that she had been calling home for the past three years since her arrival to the United States. The reason behind the move seems to have something to do with her newfound relationship with fellow WGEF Superstar Phoenix Winterborn.

With this move, she transfered from New York University and is now in her final year at the University of California in San Diego studying dance.

This past year, she adopted a Chihuahua-mix breed puppy, who she named Sakura [affectionately known as "Squeaks" by Phoenix] and who travels with her nearly everywhere she goes.

She revealed on her Myspace page that she was now engaged to Phoenix Winterborn, with the wedding date set as July 11, 2009.

It has now been confimed that Mari is 4 months pregnant with her first child, recently revealed to be a girl.

=Moveset=

Mari incorporates a variety of martial arts moves into her mostly high-flyer's moveset.

Basic Moves

 * Russian Legsweep
 * Drop Toehold
 * Tani Otoshi [judo throw]
 * Curved Knee Strike
 * Bulldog
 * Clothesline
 * Standing Dropkick
 * Fujiwara Armbar
 * Monkey Flip
 * Butterfly Kick
 * Crossbody
 * Baseball Slide
 * Legdrop
 * Kani Basami [Flying Scissors judo throw]
 * Enzuigiri

Submission Moves

 * Yamabuki [Stretch Plum]
 * Guillotine Choke

Trademark Moves

 * Kaze Hikaru [360 Crescent Kick, dropping down into the splits and driving a fist into the opponent's chest]
 * Mawashi Geri [Roundhouse Kick - setup move]
 * Open palm strike to the chest [setup move]

Finishing Moves

 * Hanagumori [Impaler DDT]
 * Uzume Rising [Cradle Driver]

=Entrance Music=


 * "Lose Your Mind" by BoA feat. Yutaka Furukawa
 * "Girl In The Mirror" by BoA
 * "Unstoppable" by Kat DeLuna [current]

=Accomplishments & Achievements=


 * WGEF Women's Champion
 * SWE Women's Champion
 * The Asylum Vixxen's Champion
 * CWF Women's Champion
 * Undefeated in her first two professional matches [ASW]

=Trivia/Facts=


 * Mari speaks many languages, including her native Japanese, English, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Russian, Italian, Spanish and French.


 * She has been approached to star in movies on more than one occasion. While she has always turned them down, it has been reported that she is considering a few offers.


 * She still retains some of her Japanese accent when she speaks English, as well as her Kansai accent when speaking Japanese. [Kansai is a dialect eminating from the Kansai region in Japan, where Mari was born and raised]


 * While she has stayed single through most of her professional career, she revealed that she is currently dating fellow WGEF Superstar Phoenix Winterborn. Recently, the couple were engaged in Los Angeles, with Phoenix proposing to her in the Los Angeles airport after they arrived home from Japan.


 * She enjoys designing her own ring attire with her older sister Keiko, who is a rising star in the fashion world. Keiko has designed and made many of Mari's ring outfits, as well as her street clothes and outfits for photo shoots.


 * She is an avid amateur photographer, who keeps her pictures in a personal scrapbook.


 * Her family tree includes a number of famous geisha, and she has taken lessons in various geisha activities, such as dance, tea ceremony and the shamisen.


 * Mari's full name is Mariko Kaori Saito. Her first name translates to "girl of the sea", while her middle name means "perfume or fragrance". Her last name is one of the more common ones found in Japan.