Summary

Manami Toyota said she realized it was time to retire from full-time in-ring competition when wrestlers were getting injured by her moves.

The source text says Toyota ended her full-time career in 2017, and explained she feared she could seriously harm someone if she continued wrestling in the same style.

Toyota also described severe physical pain during the end of her run, including neck pain, numbness in her hands, and long-term shoulder problems tied to injuries and incomplete rehab.

The source text adds that she returned to the ring in 2019 for Ice Ribbon after retiring from full-time competition.

Manami Toyota's account underscores the long-term cost of elite-ring longevity

Manami Toyota linking retirement to both opponent safety and her own physical breakdown creates a concrete consequence, her final career phase is framed as a health-and-responsibility decision rather than a loss of passion.

Her comments about ongoing pain management and continued rehab also highlight how injury consequences can extend years beyond a full-time retirement date.

Quotes

Quote from Manami Toyota

"When OZ rookie Nao Komatsu, who was actually a junior of mine back in my (All Japan Women’s) days, and Mika Nishio got injured from my moves, I thought, If I keep this up, I’m going to kill someone someday. I figured that if I couldn’t execute my own fighting style, it would be better to quit gracefully, so I retired at my 30th anniversary. Even so, it was a long run. It was too long. I really feel like I missed the right time to quit. Right before I announced my retirement, I had excruciating pain in my neck and was starting to feel numbness in my hands. But I knew that once I announced my retirement, I’d have even more matches. So I was getting a nerve block injection every other day and still competing. I was going to a pain clinic. The part that still hurts a lot now is my right shoulder joint. My arm won’t go up past here (pointing to her shoulder), so while I can barely wash my hair, I can’t use a hair dryer, and it’s really difficult to hang up laundry… After retiring, I had two surgeries to have it (the shoulder) fixed with screws. Part of the reason I’m still in pain is that I left the hospital too soon and didn’t do my rehab properly. I’m still in constant pain and take painkillers. I still do rehabilitation once a week and have a check-up every two months."

Sources

As reported by Fightful.