Backstage Notes On Meiko Satomura’s Retirement Announcement

Meiko Satomura is retiring next year, and a new report has some details on the reaction backstage in WWE to the news. As reported, Satomura announced on Friday that she will be retiring in April of 2025 on her 30th anniversary of her first match. Satomura is signed to WWE and has worked in NXT UK and NXT, and Fightful Select has some news on when WWE became aware she was retiring and more.

Satomura last appeared on WWE TV at NXT Roadblock in March of 2023, and the report notes she hasn’t been at an NXT taping since and has not been coaching at the WWE Performance Center. She was part of the company’s Japan tour the past few days, and had received permission from WWE to compete at Fortune Dream 9 in Tokyo in June.

According to the report, only Satomura and higher-ups in WWE knew of the reason for Satomura’s WWE TV absence although talent in NXT had expressed a belief over the last few months that she was looking to finish out her WWE deal and no one had expected her to return to WWE TV. There’s been no word on whether she will appear on WWE TV again and the notion of a potential WrestleMania match next year was doubtful.

People in NXT were not surprised by Satomura’s retirement announcement, and everyone in NXT and NXT UK praised her work as a coach, particularly in NXT UK. SOme people in NXT were said that she did not have a longer run on the US branch of the brand.

Sources in Japan believe that for now, she will focus on growing her Sendai Girls promotion. Satomura said in her announcement that she will be competing for the brand in the coming months, and it was noted that her final run will be based in Japan and a US return is unlikely although not impossible.