To celebrate a historical year for women’s wrestling, in collaboration with Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Bell To Belles interviewed over 20 women who have ranked on this year’s PWI 500 ranking, creating the “Women of the 2021 PWI 500” Interview Series. To empower women in wrestling even more, some of the interviews were conducted by the talented women who make up wrestling media.
Saki Akai, who ranked #445 on the PWI 500, chats with Warren Hayes of Bell To Belles on her last year in wrestling, being the only woman at DDT Pro Wrestling, the dominance of her faction Eruption, and intergender wrestling in Japan.
When asked about her views on intergender wrestling and how it’s viewed in Japan, Saki used the game “Street Fighter” to explain her views.
Saki explained, through her translator Mr. Haku, that when a female character is fighting a male character in the game, the user doesn’t view it as intergender wrestling, they just accept the situation. Saki shares that she has the same mindset about men and women competing in the ring against each other.
Watch the entire interview with Saki Akai on her past year in wrestling, below. A special thank you to Mr. Haku for translating during the interview.
Order the digital version, or pre-order the print edition, of the 2021 PWI 500 issue at pwi-online.com. Follow PWI on Twitter @OfficialPWI.
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Please credit Warren Hayes of Bell To Belles for the interview, and Mr. Haku for translation of Saki Akai’s answers.