There can only be one.
In direct defiance of the Highlander tagline, there are in fact two successful athletes named Miyu Yamashita. That can’t be. The world will remain imbalanced and unsettled until one of them becomes the singular, true Miya Yamashita.
One is a coldblooded, headhunting fighter who has been the centerpiece of the Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling promotion. The other is a young talented golfer from Neyagawa, Osaka.
Short of the two women duelling to the death, the only way to settle who has rightful claim to the Miyu Yamashita name is to put their accomplishments and abilities side by side. Let reason decide the winner. The loser can go by Mitsu Yamaguchi or something.
Size
The wrestler stands at 5’5’’ or around 165 cm. The golfer is only 150 cm. That’s barely taller than Shoko Nakajima for Christ’s sake. Point for the wrestler.
Miyu the Wrestler-1; Miyu the Golfer-0
Highlight Reels
There’s some remarkable stuff among golfer Miyu’s 2022 TOTO Japan Classic highlights. She hits a gorgeous drive that gets the ball right up next to the little hole. She hits a birdie. She has poise and power.
But come on.
Golfer Miyu’s got no signature pose. She kicks exactly zero women in the sternum. The wrestler, meanwhile, has streamers raining down on her. She’s yanking people to the mat and cranking on nasty submissions. She’s kicking ass all over the place.
Plus, nobody is making music video highlights set to a rap tracks and rock songs for golfer Miyu. The longest reigning Princess of Princess champ in TJPW history wins this one, too.
Miyu the Wrestler-2; Miyu the Golfer-0
International Success
The golfing Miyu has said she’s “dreamed of playing golf abroad,” and is making that dream a reality. She recently played in the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield in Scotland.
Good for her. Big deal. The wrestling champion Miyu wrestled in London, Portland, Los Angeles and Barcelona in 2022 alone. She was on AEW Dynamite and wrestled Thunder Freaking Rosa. The golfer ain’t going to get a call from Tony Khan, even for one of those YouTube shows.Easy decision here.
Miyu the Wrestler-3; Miyu the Golfer-0
Ranking
Per NBC Sports, golf Miyu is ranked 31st in the world. Wrestler Miyu has her beat. She was ranked no.12 on the most recent edition of the PWI 150. And it’s not like the Pro Wrestling Illustrated rankings are refutable. Point for The Pink Striker.
Miyu the Wrestler-4; Miyu the Golfer-0
Tournaments
The golfing Miyu has won six tournaments in her young career including the Itoen Ladies Golf Tournament and the JLPGA Tour Championship Ricoh Cup.
The wrestler made it to the finals of the Max Heart tag tourney in 2021. She has never made it past the semis of the Tokyo Princess Cup. That adds up to zero tournament wins, believe it or not.
The golfer gets one.
Miyu the Wrestler-4; Miyu the Golfer-1
Driving Ability
The JPLGA lists golf Miyu’s average driving distance of 236.52 yards. The other Miyu’s driving stats are not available, but let’s assume she got hold of a golf ball and kicked the hell out of it. It would probably go like 236 miles.
The victor is unclear here. No points awarded.
Miyu the Wrestler-4; Miyu the Golfer-1
Record Against Yuka Sakazaki
Miyu has beaten Yuka Sakazaki seven times in singles matches. The Pink Striker defeated Yuka at last year’s CyberFight Festival. She defeated her in Yokohama in 2016 to retain the Princess of Princess title. She even knocked Yuka out of the first round of the Princess Cup back in 2015.
The golfer wouldn’t last two minutes with The Magical Girl. Yuka would knock that cap off her head with a forearm and that’d be that. No contest here.
Miyu the Wrestler-5; Miyu the Golfer-1
Birthday Candle Kicking
Miyu the wrestler extinguished a whole mess of birthday candles out with the force of a kick. It’s on the internet and everything.
There is no video of the golfer even kicking one candle out. In fact, I have yet to see a clip of golfing Miyu Yamashita kicking anything. Point for the TJPW ace.
Miyu the Wrestler-6; Miyu the Golfer-1
Nicknames
Miyu the wrestler is known as The Pink Striker, or alternatively The Momoiro Striker. Her tag team with Maki Itoh is called 121000000. She’s been referred to as The End Boss and The Ace.
Miyu Yamashita the golfer is just called Miyu. Need I go on?
Miyu the Wrestler-7; Miyu the Golfer-1
Finishing Move
When Miyu Yamashita of TJPW needs to end a battle, she wields a most impressive weapon—the Skull Kick. It’s a simple move, a spinning kick to the head that is equal parts savage and beautiful. It’s as emphatic a strike as you can get.
The other Miyu wins by putting. Tapping a ball softly versus cracking a boot against someone’s skull. It’s not even close.
Miyu the Wrestler-8; Miyu the Golfer-1
Verdict
Look, from what I’ve seen of the rising golf star, Miyu seems nice, hard-working and good at her craft. She’s just competing with a namesake who is one of the most awesome wrestlers on the planet. What are you going to do?
So, with yet another decisive victory in her career, The Pink Striker takes out Ms. Swings-a-Club-Well 8 to 1. As one might have expected.
Miyu the golfer is just 21. Maybe she does something to reclaim the Miyu Yamashita name in the years to come. Until then, she has to find something else folks can call her.
Wrestle Inn 