Born in America but made in Japan, Kris Hernandez better known by her ring name Kris Wolf is a larger-than-life personality, an embodiment of many great things in one. She is a retired pro wrestler, photographer, voice-over artist, and internet personality. Originally a freelance photographer in San Francisco, Wolf nurtured her desire to become a wrestler following her brief stay in Japan, eventually fostering a successful career in the combat sports world.
5 Things To Know About Kris Wolf
1. Where Is She From?
Of Filipino descent, Kris Hernandez was born on the 12th of August 1984 in Chicago, Illinois, in the U. S. but has lived in New Jersey and San Francisco before eventually moving to Tokyo, Japan. She has a sister with whom she was raised by her mother.
Her relocation to Japan was necessitated by the breakup of a long-term relationship that was on its way to marriage. Kris Wolf, following the split, visited Japan to cool off and for some reflection. Kris Wolf was smitten with the land of endless discovery after spending some days cycling through the Japanese countryside and ended up living there for six years. The land of endless discovery indeed. While Wolf originally went there to nurse her broken heart, she discovered her love for wrestling, opening her heart to the world of combat sports.
2. Kris Wolf Worked as an English Teacher
On a love retreat turned purpose discovery, Kris Wolf realized her desire to feature in the wrestling scene. After being taken in by Japan’s scenery and deciding to stay, Wolf found a job as an English teacher in Tokyo, where every moment is history.
Into her second year as a teacher, she started having a second thought about her career. She ended up working for a year and a half. Following a suggestion to consider doing Joshi puroresu (Japanese women’s professional wrestling), she did and would fall in love with the sports. Wolf combed through the internet where she found a Stardom match on YouTube. She subsequently signed up to train at the promotion.
3. Her Wrestling Career
Her journey from being an English teacher to a wrestler could be best described as unorthodox. She didn’t come to it the way a lot of wrestlers come to pro wrestling. Originally from Chicago, Kris traversed across continents in the course of her career. Besides Kris Wolf, she had other rings names including Blood Rayne, Crazy Wolf, Gaki Ōkami, and Shadow.
Kris Wolf was trained by World Wonder Ring Stardom and made her debut for the company in August 2014. Three years later, she won her first title, the High-Speed Championship on February 23, 2017, in a three-way match. Although she lost the title a few months later, in July precisely, she would go on to clinch the Alternative Wrestling Show (AWS) Women’s World Championship on December 2, 2017. In 2018, American wrestling magazine, Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked her No. 28 of the top 100 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 100.
Wolf was never a main event player in Stardom but still made her mark as one of the most fun members of the company’s midcard. Moreover, with her antics in Oedo Tai, she provided some of the most memorable promos and moments in the promotion. She left the Stardom on March 25, 2018.
After leaving the company, Kris Wolf competed regularly for independent promotions in the U.K., Ireland, North America, and mainland Europe. Sadly, her career was cut short due to severe concussion issues throughout her career. Wolf announced her retirement from the wrestling scene on February 6th, 2019, less than five years after her debut. She had her final match on April 26, 2019, in the UK.
4. How She Got Her Moniker
It was at the onset of her pro wrestling career. Towards the end of her training and before her official debut, she was meant to take some tests which included endurance to bumps, techniques, and sparring. While she was sparring with supposedly a fellow trainee, Mayu Iwatani. Then, whoop, she was on the winning end and couldn’t help it but was letting out this celebratory howl like “Awooooooo.” And that sealed her name as Kris Wolf.
5. Kris Wolf is Married
Her first attempt at marriage may have failed but on her second trial, Wolf succeeded. In character as Kris Wolf, she announced her marriage to her partner, a very tall woman, in January 2019. The duo currently lives in Oslo, Norway.
You can keep a tab on her via her eponymous YouTube account though she uploads infrequently on it. She also has a Patreon account which she created in August 2018.
