With the rise of Japanese wrestling in the Western world, thanks to the partnerships of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) with their IWGP Conception partners with Ring of Honor in the US and RevPro in the UK, in the past year, it’s sister format, Joshi Puroresu (women’s wrestling) is also seeing a boom. Promotions like Stardom are starting to steal headlines, and top women’s indie stars are flocking to Japan for tours with Stardom, Sendai Girls, and more. With that in mind, we’re also starting to see more joshi stars come to North America, with the likes of Asuka (formerly Kana), Kairi Sane (formerly Kairi Hojo) and Io Shirai heading to the WWE and Stardom regulars like Mayu Iwatani, Kagetsu and others appearing with Ring of Honor’s Women of Honor promotion. But the new stars aren’t the only ones reaping the benefits of increased attention and exposure. The legends are also making the rounds, showcasing the skills that helped set joshi apart from traditional Japanese wrestling. Sendai Girls’ Meiko Satomura, recently announced as an entrant in this year’s Mae Young Classic, lead her trios team to victory at CHIKARA‘s 2016 King of Trios tournament, and made her UK debut with Pro Wrestling EVE last year. This year, she defeated Chris Brookes to become the new Fight Club PRO Champion.
https://twitter.com/ProWrestlingEVE/status/1025023537977942016
Much like the case with Meiko Satomura, Pro Wrestling EVE is once again leading the charge in bringing in joshi pioneers, announcing today that another icon was coming to EVE this year. Command Bolshoi, a 27-year veteran and student of Atsushi Onita and Kotetsu Yamamoto, has been added to EVE’s October 13, 2018 event in London, England.
Command Bolshoi began her training in 1991, before debuting in 1992 with Joshi Women Pro-Wrestling Project (JWP). She would remain one of JWP’s principle stars from her debut until 2017, when the promotion closed down. A 2x JWP Openweight Champion and 6x JWP Tag Team Champion, Bolshoi would also work for a multitude of other promotions throughout her career, including All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling (AJW), GAEA, Pro Wrestling WAVE, Sendai Girls, DIANA and Ice Ribbon. She’s also worked in Mexico with both CMLL and AAA, briefly holding the REINA-CMLL International Championship. Following JWP’s closure last year, Bolshoi opened her own promotion to carry on the JWP traditions, PURE-J. Bolshoi has twice lead JWP teams to CHIKARA’s King of Trios tournament, once in 2012 (losing in the semi finals) and again in 2016, where they lost in the finals to Satomura’s Sendai Girls squad.
EDIT: It appears Bolshoi will be doing a UK tour of sorts, as she was announced for the following night with Ireland’s Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling, where she’ll face another longtime joshi veteran in former 2x ICE (Ice Ribbon) Champion and Pro Wrestling EVE Champion Emi Sakura.
#Defiant2
Oct 14th, Tivoli Dublin
Emi Sakura Vs Command Bolshoi
Tickets https://t.co/AHYDU2Xh3e #OTT #?? pic.twitter.com/4kRlwNxhx2— OTT WRESTLING (@OTT_wrestling) August 2, 2018
