Kana signs with the WWE

So I was watching Saturday's NXT Takeover show on the WWE Network when suddenly my favourite joshi wrestler Kana was shown sitting in the audience with Ric Flair and Sgt. Slaughter. She was mentioned on air as KANNA with no other frame of reference. I don't know why she was brought in for that. But obviously she signed with the WWE or she wouldn't be there in the first place. Dave Meltzer confirmed her signing yesterday. If you're wondering how the WWE knew about Kana, assistant trainer Sara Amato and Kana go way back. They both lived in the A To Z dojo in 2003 where Kana first trained. Sara was there for three months as a guest gaijin. They also worked together in SHIMMER. Head trainer Matt Bloom lived in Japan for several years so I'm sure he knew about Kana too. If you're not familiar with Kana, there are plenty of her matches on Youtube. Unlike a lot of Japanese wrestlers, Kana doesn't do much high flying. She seemed to come into her own after working for the now defunct Battlearts wrestling company in 2009. Battlearts incorporated submission moves and ground wrestling into the usual pro wrestling repertoire. It was also in Battlearts that Kana started wrestling barefoot. After Battlearts closed in 2010, Kana probably had her best run in Tajiri's company Smash in 2011 as one of the top heels in the company. When Smash closed in 2012, Kana worked for Tajiri's new company WNC. But things didn't go well there and Kana left over money in late 2012. Since then, Kana has freelanced for REINA and JWP and she also revived her own part time promotion Kana Pro. Last month, Kana announced she was going on hiatus from joshi puroresu and she will make her final appearance on the Sept. 15 Kana Pro show at Korakuen Hall. Until then she is still freelancing for REINA and JWP. At the press conference, she wouldn't give a reason for the hiatus except that she is taking "the next step". Well, we now know what that next step is. She works very stiff, as Sara Amato knows all too well, so I expect she will have to tone down her style. And I don't know if the WWE will allow her to work barefoot. She owns two businesses in Tokyo. She has owned a graphic design business for the last decade. Kana is a major league video gamer and she has designed video games. Her look when she first started in pro wrestling was based on a character in the popular joshi puroresu video game Rumble Roses. She also owns a beauty salon. I doubt she will keep those. By the time she comes to the WWE, Kana will be 34 years old. Her birthday is Sept. 26. There is also talk that the WWE has signed Sarah Stock who announced she is leaving CMLL in Mexico after working there for ten years. Down there she was known as Dark Angel and she was also Sarita in TNA and she has worked for Stardom in Japan. Sarah is a Winnipeg native. She is 36 years old but you wouldn't know it by looking at her. She has won bodybuilding contests in Mexico. Obviously she is a lucha expert and she has been a guest trainer at the WWE Performance Center. There is also talk the WWE is bringing in SHIMMER veteran Athena (Adrienne Reese). She was trained by Booker T. Obviously if they are going to improve the women's division, they not only need girls who can work but can also carry greenhorns to good matches. All three of these women are capable of doing just about anything that can be done in a ring. And they look good doing it. I can't wait to see Kana on RAW every week.