Erika Shishido (宍戸 江利花, Shishido Erika, born September 25, 1970) is a Japanese
professional wrestler better known by her ring name Aja Kong (アジャ・コング, Aja Kongu). She is the founder of the
Arsion all-women
professional wrestling promotion and has won several championships in both singles and tag team divisions throughout her career, primarily while with
All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling.[6]
Early life
Born Erika Shishido, her mother is Japanese and her father is Henry Manigault (deceased),[7] an
African-American man who worked for
US Army at
Tachikawa Airfield.[8] Although her parents were de facto married, they were forced to divorce when Erika was five years old, due to her father's sudden
repatriation and grew up in a single-mother family. Her mother was ostracized by all her relatives who did not like her relationship with Erika's father.[citation needed]
Erika and her mother moved from
Tachikawa to
Akishima, Tokyo when Erika was in the 5th grade of elementary school. Erika started learning
karate at the recommendation of her mother from elementary school. Erika was teased for her "
mixed blood" and had fights almost daily, and she continued to suffer from serious
bullying up until she graduated from junior high school. She was part
volleyball club in her junior high school.[citation needed]
Professional wrestling career
All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (1986–2005)
Shishido was trained by
All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) and graduated as part of their class of 1986. She made her debut that summer against
Noriyo Toyoda.[1] She immediately joined
Dump Matsumoto's
heelstable Gokuaku Domei ("Atrocious Alliance"), along with classmate and tag team partner Nobuko Kimura. After the stable dissolved in 1988 due to Matsumoto's retirement, Shishido and Kimura went their separate ways, but re-formed in 1990 as Jungle Jack. Now called Aja Kong and Bison Kimura, they entered a two-year feud against their former allies
Bull Nakano and her heel stable Gokumon-to. During their partnership they won the
WWWA World Tag Team Championship twice. They lost a
hair versus hair match on January 11, 1991, resulting in both women being shaved bald.
Kong herself also pursued Nakano for the
WWWA World Single Championship during the early 1990s. She failed in several attempts before finally achieving her goal on November 15, 1992, ending Nakano's three-year reign.
World Wrestling Federation (1995)
In 1995, Kong made an appearance in the American
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as the sole survivor of a women's elimination match at the pay-per-view
Survivor Series by pinning all 4 members of her opposing team, including
WWF Women's Champion,
Alundra Blayze.[9] Kong also appeared on two episodes of Monday Night Raw and was victorious in both bouts. During one bout, she broke the nose of Chaparita Asari.
Kong was being built up as a challenger for the WWF Women's Championship held by Alundra Blayze. Kong was scheduled to face Blayze at the
Royal Rumble pay-per-view in January 1996, but the company elected to end its women's division after Alundra Blayze showed up on WCW Monday Nitro with the WWF Women's championship and threw the belt into a garbage can.
Arsion (1997–2004)
In 1997, Kong left AJW and started the independent promotion Hyper Visual Fighting Arsion (usually referred to as simply
Arsion). She led the organization until February 12, 2001, when she walked out of a tag team match and announced she was quitting.
Kong also wrestled for
Mayumi Ozaki's promotion,
Oz Academy where she is affiliated with the Jungle Jack 21 stable.[1] She has also held the promotion's championship.
Freelance in the United States (2011-2012, 2017-2019)
In December 2011, Kong took part in American promotion
Chikara's JoshiMania weekend, losing to
Sara Del Rey in the main event of night one on December 2.[14] The following day, Kong defeated
Ayako Hamada in the main event.[15] On the third and final night of the tour, Kong teamed with
Mio Shirai and
Tsubasa Kuragaki to defeat
Hanako Nakamori, Manami Toyota and
Sawako Shimono in a six-woman tag team match.[16]
Kong returned to the United States on April 11, 2015, working for
Shimmer Women Athletes.[17] Kong was brought in as a surprise to take part in Tomoka Nakagawa's retirement event.[18]
On May 25, 2019, Kong made her
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut, as she teamed with
Emi Sakura and
Yuka Sakazaki where they unsuccessfully challenged the team of
Hikaru Shida,
Riho, and
Ryo Mizunami.[19] In February 2021, Kong was announced as a participant in a tournament for the
AEW Women's World Championship as part of the Japanese bracket. Kong made it to the semi-finals, where she lost to Mizunami after being counted out.[20]
Personal life
Shishido's mother is Japanese and her father, who served in the military,[21] is African American.[21] Shishido has a half brother and sister via her father. She also has 2 nieces and 2 great nieces.[citation needed]
^
In
TV Asahi program "Anata ni aitai” (『あなたに逢いたい』 - "I want to meet you"), she searched for her father as part of her project, but because her father was a former soldier, they were not allowed to disclose information due to security issues and subsequently abandoned the search. Then at TBS broadcast of
Information dramatic Mokugeki!, the subjected was revisited. They had discovered the identity of the man, but turned out he had already died.