*   

* biography.

  Ring Name(s)  
Ren Aoyagi   (青柳  怜)
Ren   (レン)
Renna   (レンナ)  Nickname(s)  
Scarlet Shooter
Cardinal Striker  Real Name  
Ren Aoyagi   (青柳  怜)  Age  
26  Date of Birth  
November 25th, 1997  Gender & Pronouns  
Cisgender Female   (she/her)  Orientation  
Panromantic / Pansexual  Hometown  
Okinawa-shi, Okinawa, Japan  Residence  
Tokyo-shi, Tokyo, Japan  Nationality  
Japanese   (Asian)  Languages  
Japanese   (fluent)
English   (passable)  Height  
155 cm   (5 feet 1 inches)  Weight  
60 kg   (132 lb)  Hair Colour  
Brunette  Eye Colour  
Brown  Faceclaim  
Sareee  Debut  
October 2013   (11 years experience)  Promotion  
Marigold / Freelance  Alignment  
Tweener  Affiliation  
N/A

---

Early Life
Ren Aoyagi was born in Okinawa, Japan on November 25th, 1997. She was raised by both of her parents in her hometown for the early years of her life, until her mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness. After a two-year-battle, she passed away when Ren was only six-years-old.Following the tragic loss of her mother, her father and her moved to Tokyo for a fresh start. He raised Ren by himself for a few years, until he would meet her eventual step-mother, who came into Ren's life when she was nine years old, and married her father just a year later when she was ten.She performed well throughout elementary school, as her father put a lot of effort into making sure Ren got the best education she could. Once she got into junior high school, Aoyagi joined the girls basketball team. Despite being quite short, she performed well for her team and continued playing into her freshman year of high school.Early into the season, a talent scout from a local joshi wrestling promotion, World Wonder Ring Stardom came to the high school. Ren caught their attention and was offered a tryout at the Stardom Dojo. Depsite never being interested in pro-wrestling or knowing anything about it, she accepted the opportunity and gave it a try.World Wonder Ring Stardom (2013 – 2015)
After her initial tryout, Ren was invited to continue training at World Wonder Ring Stardom's dojo, and she passed her professional qualification exam after several months of training. She made her in-ring debut on October 26th, 2013 at Goddesses In Stars Night 1. She wrestled mononymously under her first name in a losing effort to Natsuki Taiyo. She continued to compete in singles bouts with more experienced wrestlers in a consistent losing effort, or teaming with them to be lead to victory.She had her first title challenge in STARDOM on April 29th at Osaka Championship Night, teaming with Kairi Hojo and Nanae Takahashi in a losing effort against Hiroyo Matsumoto, Mayu Iwatani & Miho Wakizawa for the Artist of Stardom Championship. She later challenged the trio a second time on June 1st, this time teaming with Kaori Yoneyama & Sayaka Obihiro in another losing effort.After nearly a year of impressing in her matches, Ren competed in her first 5★STAR Grand Prix in 2014, beginning on August 24th. She went to a double count-out draw with Kyoko Kimura in her opening match, followed by a loss to Yoshiko, an impressive 15-minute time limit draw with Takumi Iroha, then back-to-back defeats against DASH Chisako and Mayu Iwatani, finishing on two points at the bottom of the A Block.In October, Ren entered into the inaugural Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, where she teamed with Kaori Yoneyama. They faced defeat to Thunder Rock and Mystique & Star Fire, before defeating Koguma & Miho Wakizawa on the final night of the tournament, finishing with two points. Shortly after the tournament, Ren had her first singles title match in STARDOM when she challenged Mayu Iwatani for the Wonder of Stardom Championship on November 3rd, where she came up short. Following her defeat, she vowed to get stronger and one day defeat Mayu Iwatani for a championship in Stardom.On April 23rd, 2015, Ren competed in Stardom's inaugural Cinderella Tournament, where she defeated Hatsuhinode Kamen in the opening round, followed by another loss to Mayu Iwatani in the second round. A few months after the tournament, Ren challenged Io Shirai for the Wonder of Stardom Championship on June 20th, where she would come up short again.Ren entered her second 5★STAR Grand Prix in 2015, competing in the A Block and not scoring a single point across her five matches with Chelsea, Star Fire, Kairi Hojo, KAORU and Queen Maya. Following the tournament, it was announced that Ren would be going on hiatus from pro-wrestling to focus on her final trimester of high school. This would be her final pro-wrestling match for nearly three years.Return to World Wonder Ring Stardom (2018 – 2021)
After her nearly three year absence from the promotion to finish high school and university, Ren made her long-overdue return to STARDOM on August 12th by confronting Kagetsu following a retain of her World of Stardom Championship over Mayu Iwatani, at Kagetsu's own 10th anniversary show. She announced that she would be making a full-time return to in-ring competition, and wrestling under her full name, Ren Aoyagi.Aoyagi made her return by competing in the 2018 5★STAR Grand Prix where she entered the Red Stars block, competing against Kagetsu, Jungle Kyona, Tam Nakano, Konami, Natsuko Tora, Utami Hayashishita and Kimber Lee. She met her only defeats to Hayashishita and Lee, along with a draw against Kagetsu to finish at nine points. Despite not wrestling for three years, Ren had not missed a beat between the ropes and had her sights set on becoming a top star in STARDOM.

At the Grand Champion Carnival evening show on September 30th, Kagetsu and Aoyagi settled their draw in a match for Kagetsu's World of Stardom Championship, where Ren came up short. Following the main event which saw Jungle Kyona and Natsuko Tora win the Goddesses of Stardom Championship, Aoyagi would be invited by Kyona to join Jungle Assault Nation (J.A.N.), which she accepted before joining the champions in their celebration.Ren teamed with J.A.N. for the first time throughout the 2018 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League tour. She missed out on the tournament but supported her stablemates throughout, including an unsuccessful challenge for the Artist of Stardom Championship alongside Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora, against the STARS trio of Mayu Iwatani, Saki Kashima & Tam Nakano.Following Kyona & Tora's loss of the Goddesses of Stardom Championship in November, Aoyagi teamed up with Kyona to challenge Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita for the gold on Stardom's 8th Anniversary event on January 27th, 2019, but were unsuccessful in their attempt. This was shortly followed by Ren challenging Momo Watanabe for her Wonder of Stardom Championship on February 2nd, but she would come up short there as well.On April 14th at the 2019 Stardom Draft, Jungle Kyona was forced to disband J.A.N. With no home, Ren was drafted by Momo Watanabe to Queen's Quest, having earned the Wonder of Stardom Champion's respect after their title match. Following the draft, Aoyagi entered the 2019 Cinderella Tournament, defeating Saki Kashima in the opening round and earning a bye through the second, after a draw between Kagetsu and Tam Nakano. She defeated former J.A.N. teammate, Natsuko Tora in the Semifinals, followed by defeating Konami in the final to win the entire tournament.Aoyagi used her wish to challenge Momo Watanabe for the Wonder of Stardom Championship for a second time. The match took place on May 16th at Gold May 2019, where Aoyagi would defeat her leader and capture her first championship in Stardom. She successfully defended the title against Tam Nakano, Roxxy in Pro-Wrestling: EVE, Hazuki and former J.A.N. leader, Jungle Kyona, before entering that year's 5★STAR Grand Prix as champion.Aoyagi competed in the Blue Stars block and finished with nine points across her eight matches, following victories over Natsuko Tora, QQ unitmate Blake Edwards, Andras Miyagi, and Jungle Kyona (via forfeit), as well as a draw with Kagetsu, and losses to Konami, Utami Hayashishita and Jamie Hayter.Following the tournament, Ren continued to successfully defended her Wonder of Stardom championship with a victory over Avary, and another over Kagetsu to finally get her win over them that she had been chasing since her return to Stardom. Following the momentous win for her, Aoyagi entered the 2019 Goddesses of Stardom Tag League alongside her Queen's Quest stablemate, Blake Edwards. The duo dominated their block, winning every single match before falling short to DREAM SHiNE in the finals.Ren continued her reign with the Wonder of Stardom Championship after her defeat, defending against Jamie Hayter, Konami, Utami Hayashishita, Blake Edwards and Natsuko Tora, mounting an impressive eleven defences across 437 days, before dropping the title to that year's Cinderella Tournament winner, Giulia on July 26th, 2020 at Stardom Cinderella Summer In Tokyo.Following her defeat, Aoyagi entered the 2020 5★STAR Grand Prix, competing in the Red Stars block where she earned victories over Konami, Starlight Kid, Saya Kamitani and Death Yama-san, finishing on eight points following losses to Giulia, Himeka, and her old rival, Mayu Iwatani. In their first singles meeting since Aoyagi's return, she came up short and vowed once again to defeat Iwatani one day.Following the 5★STAR Grand Prix, Ren missed the upcoming Goddesses of Stardom Tag League due to injury, but would return to challenge her Queen's Quest stablemate Utami Hayashishita for her recently-won World of Stardom Championship, which she came up short in her challenge for at Stardom's 10th Anniversary event on January 17th. This would be Aoyagi's final match with STARDOM, as she announced following the match that she was moving overseas to pursue bigger dreams in wrestling.World Wrestling Entertainment (2021 – 2023)
In February 2021, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) confirmed that they had signed "Japanese wrestling sensation" Ren Aoyagi to their developmental territory, NXT. She made her first appearance on the March 17th episode of NXT, where she was revealed with the new ring name Renna. After nearly a month of hype, she made her in-ring debut on April 20th, where she defeated Zoey Stark. She built momentum through a series of five wins, before suffering her first defeat on August 10th episode of NXT against Aimee Leota.Renna regained momentum over the following weeks before challenging Raquel Gonzalez for the NXT Women's Championship on September 28th in a losing effort. Over the course of the change to NXT 2.0, Renna struggled to find her footing and was frequently on 205 Live, though she primarily won her matches. But on the January 18th, 2022 episode of NXT, a vignette aired of Renna sporting pigtails and a schoolgirl uniform as a part of her new character, where she came across her grandmother's medallion with magical transformation powers. Renna vowed that she would return to NXT with "new passion and energy", and make 2022 her year.Renna made her in-ring return on the February 1st episode of NXT 2.0, where upon making her entrance she appeared backstage in her schoolgirl uniform, then entered the areana dressed in a new wrestling outfit and a different hair style from her grandmother's medallion's transformation powers. She defeated Kayla Inlay, then defeated Aimee Leota the following week, showing that her new passion and energy would bring her greater success than last year. However, this quickly changed on the February 25th episode of the rebranded NXT Level Up, where she was defeated by Elektra Lopez.In March, Renna began a feud with NXT 2.0 newcomer Tiffany Stratton after being attacked by her for rejecting Stratton's offer to replace her grandmother's necklace with one that she offered to her. This resulted in a match between the two on March 15th, where Stratton prevented Renna from transforming and defeated her with minimal effort. Two weeks later, a transformed Renna distracted Stratton and caused her to lose in a match against Ivy Nile. On the April 19th episode of NXT 2.0, Renna once again fought Stratton in another losing effort, despite her transformed state.On the May 10th episode of NXT 2.0, Renna teamed up with Andre Chase to face and defeat the team of Tiffany Stratton and Grayson Waller in a mixed tag team match. After the victory, Renna was invited to "move her studies" to Chase University, which she accepted. She regularly teamed up with Chase U throughout the early Summer, before she issued a challenge to the reigning NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose on the July 26th episode of NXT 2.0, leading to a title match the following week. Renna suffered defeat to Rose, who then invited her to "get her trashy schoolgirl act together" and stand by her side in Toxic Attraction. Renna refused, but would begin to show dysfunction between herself and the rest of Chase University.On the August 16th episode of NXT 2.0, Renna interefered in Rose's NXT Women's Championship defence against Zoey Stark, helping Mandy retain her title before she pulled off her Chase U sweatshirt to reveal a Toxic Attraction crop top, aligning herself with Mandy and her coherts in the process.She accompanied Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne of Toxic Attraction the following Friday on SmackDown, as they competed in a tournament to crown new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions. Renna was integral in helping the pair defeat Natalya & Sonya Deville, before she would team up with Toxic Attraction the following Tuesday on NXT 2.0 in a winning effort, sporting another new look with her hair let down and revealing ring attire, marking her officially joining Toxic Attraction.Renna found moderate success as a member of Toxic Attraction, but didn't take the spotlight until Mandy Rose departed NXT, leaving her as the singles wrestler of the trio. On the January 10th, 2023 episode of NXT, Renna won a 20-Woman Battle Royal match to earn a shot at Roxanne Perez's WWE NXT Women's Championship at Vengeance Day. The match took place on February 2nd, where Perez was victorious over Renna, who was then turned on by Jayne and Dolin. This marked her final match in WWE.On March 9th, it was reported Renna had asked for her release from WWE. She confirmed on social media that her release had been granted on March 13th, and expressed her gratitude to WWE, but her desire to explore other options once her non-compete clause expired after thirty days.All Elite Wrestling, Ring of Honor and Independent Circuit (2023 – 2024)
Once again performing under her real name, Ren Aoyagi made her first appearance outside of WWE at DEADLOCK Pro-Wrestling's DPW Live 2, where she appeared as a surprise opponent for B3CCA, and emerged victorious. Following her debut for DPW, she joined them for the DPW x Gatoh Move event in Tokyo, Japan on April 25th, marking her return to her home country after over two years away, where she defeated Miya Yotsuba.Aoyagi made her first appearance on Ring of Honor television at the May 4th tapings in Sunrise, Florida, where she was defeated by Willow Nightingale. She next would compete for All Elite Wrestling in a dark match on May 3rd, where she was defeated by Skye Blue. Ren competed for Ring of Honor again at the May 6th tapings, where she defeated Vertvixen, then the following night competed against Athena in and ROH Women's World Championship Proving Ground Match, where she came up short.Ren continued her success in DPW at Standing Room Only on May 20th, where she defeated Kaitlyn Marie in a singles match, then defeated Jada Stone at No Pressure the following night.Aoyagi made her official All Elite Wrestling debut on the May 31st episode of AEW Dynamite, where she was the first challenger for her former Queen's Quest stablemate, Blake Edwards' TBS Championship. Aoyagi came up short, but impressed in her debut and was offered a full-time contract with All Elite Wrestling.She competed in her first match as a member of the AEW roster at the Ring of Honor tapings on June 4th, where she defeated Robyn Renegade. Her next apperance on proper AEW Television took place on the June 6th episode of AEW Rampage, where she defeated Trish Adora. She entered the Owen Hart Foundation 2023 Women's Tournament on June 24th, where she was defeated by Willow Nightingale in the opening round, marking her first loss in All Elite Wrestling.Following a win over Marina Shafir on the July 7th episode of AEW Rampage, Ren challenged the reigning AEW Women's World Champion, Toni Storm. The match took place at Battle of the Belts VII on July 15th, where Aoyagi was defeated by Storm. She defeated Skye Blue on the July 22nd edition of AEW Collision, before being defeated by Dr. Britt Baker DMD on Dynamite the following Wednesday.On the August 12th episode of Collision, Aoyagi teamed with Blake Edwards for the first time in AEW, where they were defeated by the pairing of Diamante & Mercedes Martinez. They were joined by Dr. Britt Baker DMD to team in six-woman tag team action on the August 30th episode of Dynamite, where they defeated the trio of Emi Sakura, Marina Shafir & Nyla Rose. The trio were then defeated by The Outcasts the following Saturday on Collision.On October 15th, Aoyagi competed in a three-way match with Masha Slamovich and Mio Momono at DPW Live 3, where Slamovich pinned Momono for the victory. Slamovich unsuccessfully challenged Emi Sakura for the DPW Women's Worlds Championship at World's Strongest 2023 on November 12th, after which Aoyagi would challenge Sakura for DPW's 2nd Anniversary event the following month. The match took place on December 10th, where Aoyagi defeated Sakura to end her year-long reign and become the third-ever DPW Women's Worlds Champion.After a few months of absence from AEW, Aoyagi returned on the December 14th episode of Ring of Honor, where she defeated Rachael Ellering. She then defeated Jazmin Allure on the Zero Hour of ROH Final Battle 2023, then defeated Vertvixen on the December 21st episode. The following week, Aoyagi challenged Athena to a match for the ROH Women's World Championship. The match took place the week after on the first episode of the new year, where Athena retained her championship.Ren returned to official AEW TV after the loss, defeating Queen Aminata on AEW Rampage: Homecoming, which aired on January 12th. She then defeated Red Velvet the following night on Collision. The following week, she was defeated by Thunder Rosa on Collision. She regained momentum by defeating Ruby Soho on the January 26th episode of Rampage.Aoyagi next appeared on the January 31st edition of AEW Dynamite, coming to Deonna Purrazzo's aid during an attack by Toni Storm and Mariah May. Ren then faced Mariah May the following Friday on Rampage, where a distraction from Storm resulted in her defeat to May. The following Wednesday on Dynamite, Ren faced Storm in an AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator Match, where she was defeated. One week later, Aoyagi and Purrazzo teamed up to face Storm & May in a tag team match, where Aoyagi was pinned by Storm once again.Ren next wrestled on the March 1st edition of AEW Rampage, where she picked up a victory over Trish Adora. Following the win, Aoyagi returned to Ring of Honor on the March 28th episode, where she defeated Diamanté. She picked up a victory over STARDOM's Momo Kohgo on the Zero Hour of Supercard of Honor on April 5th, and two weeks later on Ring of Honor, she would challenge the reigning ROH Women's World Champion, Aimee Leota to a title match at the upcoming AEW Dynasty pay-per-view on April 21st. The match took place on the Zero Hour, where Aoyagi emerged victorious to win her first championship in AEW / ROH.Return to Japan, Dream Star Fighting Marigold, and depature from AEW (2024 – present)
Just a few days later, through AEW's working relationship with World Wonder Ring STARDOM, Ren made her highly-anticipated return to the promotion and to Japan as a whole for a scheduled IWGP Women's Championship match with her former rival, Mayu Iwatani. In an excellent match, Aoyagi was once again defeated by Mayu, after which she promised to the fans that she would be back wrestling in Japan more frequently in the near future.In the week that followed, it was announced by Dream Star Fighting Marigold, the promotion newly founded by Rossy Ogawa, that Ren Aoyagi would be a full-time competitor of the promotion. This immediately flared up questions about Ren's future in All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor, considering that Marigold was openly working with AEW's rival promotion and Aoyagi's former employer, WWE.Ren competed on Marigold's debut event on May 20th, where she appeared with both her Ring of Honor and Deadlock Women's World Championships for her main event tag team match pitting herself and Bozilla against Giulia Utami Hayashishita, where Aoyagi's team emerged victorious. In the weeks and months that followed, she didn't at all appear for AEW or Ring of Honor, primarly working in Marigold and eventually competing to become their first-ever Women's World Champion on July 13th, where she defeated Giulia to make history.On July 20th, in an unassuming multi-woman tag team match, a very vicious fight broke out between Aoyagi and Bri Williams, who had recently arrived in Marigold and vowed to take the Marigold World Championship from Ren in her first defence. The two had to be separated after the match and things were very physical, but their on-screen rivalry ultimately led to an off-screen relationship between the two.

Aoyagi returned to the United States and to AEW for her first championship defence on July 26th at Death Before Dishonor, where she abruptly lost her ROH Women's World Championship to Athena, ending her uneventful reign at 96 days. Following the event, it was announced that Ren Aoyagi was parting ways with All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor, and would be relocating back to Tokyo, Japan after several years in the United States.Continuing her work in Marigold following the controversial exit from AEW, Aoyagi entered the inaugural Dream Star Grand Prix as the Marigold World Champion, where she defeated all but one of her opponents, Bozilla, and went to a draw with both Miku Aono and Nanae Takahashi to finish on ten points in second place, just missing out on qualifying for the finals where she would have faced her new rival and eventual , Bri Williams.Following the tournament, Ren made her first successful defence of the Marigold World Championship by defeating Bozilla, justifying her sole loss from the tournament.

* accomplishments.

* moveset.

* high-angle exploder suplex.

  Used as a finisher.  

* wrist-clutch high-angle exploder suplex.

  Used as a finisher.  

* cardinal combination.

Knee Strike into a German Suplex.
  Used as a signature.  

* kimura lock.

  Used as a signature.  

* pumphandle half-nelson suplex.

  Used as a signature.  

Elbow Smash.

Repeated Elbow Smashes.

Corner Running Back Elbow.

Corner Back Elbow into a Sliding Dropkick.

Corner Middle Kicks.

Corner Shove into a Step-Up Knee Strike.

Corner Escape into a High Kick.

Middle Kick.

High Kick.

Wrist-Clutch High Kick.

Snapmare into a Soccer Kick.

Front Dropkick.

Seated Front Dropkick.

Knee Strike.

Wrist-Clutch Knee Strike.

Shoot Headbutt.

Diving Front Dropkick.

Flying Knee Strike from the apron.

Sleeper Hold.

Henkei Cobra Clutch.

Triangle Choke.

Cross Armbreaker.

Tarantula Armbar.

Ude Gatame.

Ipponzei.

Tomoe Nage.

Judo Throw.

Tai Otoshi.

Exploder Suplex.

German Suplex.

Sleeper Suplex.

* entrance music.