IWGP Women’s Champion Sareee Opens Up About WWE Experience: ‘They Made Me Play an Anime Character’

The current IWGP Women Champion Sareee had a great career in Japan working in World Woman Pro-Wrestling DIANA and Seadlinnng before signing with WWE in 2020.

NXT Character Shift Raises Eyebrows

In NXT, Sareee debuted as Sarray, in a similar character to that of her time in Japan. Nevertheless, WWE radically changed her character in January 2022. She came out with pigtails, a school girl attire, and a mysterious medallion that made her a new in-ring character, which fits the NXT 2.0 direction.

During an open interview with Jaguar Yokota, Sareee spoke about how she did not feel comfortable with the change. When I entered WWE in America, I was not so interested to become a bad guy as a powerful wrestler. She said that she wanted to look cool and strong but instead they made her perform an anime character in a sailor uniform.

IWGP Women’s Champion Says Role Was Not True to Herself

Sareee acknowledged that the gimmick fit her in terms of appearance but not her real identity. Yokota observed that the short life of the role was probably caused by the fact that she was made to play a character she did not desire.

The anime-schoolgirl character was short lived and Sareee disappeared out of NXT television after a few months. On March 9, 2023 she made it official announcing her departure WWE, ending a chapter which never had a place in her vision of wrestling.

Return to Japan and Championship Glory

After leaving the company, Sareee did not take long to go back to her roots. She returned to the ring at her self-promoted show “Sareee-ISM” against Chihiro Hashimoto. She went back to Seadlinnng shortly afterwards and won the Beyond the Sea Single Championship, once again establishing herself as one of the best talents in Japan.

The increased momentum has seen her enter into a multi-year contract with the U.S-based Joshi promotion, Sukeban.

IWGP Women’s Champion Continues to Shine

That was not the end of Sareee. She later became the first-ever Marigold World Champion and then won the IWGP Women Championship at World Wonder Ring Stardom The Conversion event in June this year.

Whether it is anime-inspired gimmicks or the finest gold, Sareee proves that being real to oneself can take you even higher.

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