With almost every independent wrestling company in the world featuring a women’s division, it is important to have all female companies dedicated to showing the best and brightest of this generation of wrestlers as well as the next. In Part 3 of our Indie’s Not Dead series, we looked at some all women’s companies that can be found in North Ameria, this time around we take the search worldwide and look at some of the top all-female promotions in the world.
Asia(India, China, Japan)
World Wonder Ring Stardom (Stardom)
One of the most recognizable all women’s promotions in the world, as it is known as the former home of NXT stars Io Shirai and Kairi Sane. Shirai and Sane departing has allowed a new wave of talents to come through, as new ace Momo Watanabe has stepped up to fill Shirai’s boots. An idol promotion that features fast-paced wrestling with an emphasis on characters and faction warfare it has a significant English language presence, including a sometimes spoiler filled English language twitter. Check out their entire back catalogue as well as every new show on their VOD service, Stardom World.
Sendai Girls
Run by the legendary Meiko Satomura, Sendai Girls is one of the most laid-back promotions you will find. Undercards often have a lot of comedy and Riot Girls matches always feature heavy metal playing during crowd brawling. With a roster that has a lot of freelance talent there is a lot of variety to Sendai Girls shows, but people like Meiko, Chihiro Hashimoto, Mika Iwata and Cassandra Miyagi are regulars. They are also English language friendly as they have an English language Twitter and translated promos on their VOD. They’re also available on Powerslam.tv
Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW)
A sub-brand of DDT Pro, TJPW has been one of the internet’s favourite promotions this year. Buzzworthy talents like Miyu Yamashita and Yuu, who has left to freelance in Europe, have been putting on very good matches. It is a storyline heavy promotion so I would check out this brilliant guide courtesy of Voices Of Wrestling. The bonus to TJPW is they are on the DDT network so for the price of one VOD you get access to several brands.
Marvelous That’s Women’s Pro Wrestling (Marvelous)
The baby of Chigusa Nagayo, one half of the Crush Gals, and one of the biggest names in Joshi history. Marvelous features a lot of freelance talent but is spearheaded by talented ace Takumi Iroha. Iroha is one of the most talented women in the Joshi scene and headlined Marvelous’ first Korakuen show in a cracking match with Mayu Iwatani. Marvelous’ VOD service is difficult to sign up to but is worth every penny.
YMZ
YMZ is a unique promotion, to say the least. They recently got a VOD allowing new fans to experience the wackiness that is YMZ. The promotion is run by JAN member Kaori Yoneyama, which should tell you all you need to know. If you want to dip your feet in first before committing to a VOD, then check out their YouTube channel.
While there are plenty of other top joshi promotions in Japan, such as Ice Ribbon, DIANA, OZ Academy and Gatoh Move, very few actually have avenues to watch them without being in attendance. To find out about more ways to watch some of these, either singles matches or clips, check out the list from Joshi City.
UK/BRITISH ISLES (England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales)
Pro Wrestling: EVE
If you want the best of the best of European women’s wrestling then look no further. Founded and booked by two fans of women’s wrestling they have created a cult-like promotion. In your face feminist and not afraid to say it EVE is all about letting the women go out there and proves anything the men can do they can do better. An easy recommendation is to watch the free PPV Wrestle Queendom from last year on their YouTube, fall in love with EVE, then hit up their On-Demand service.
Fierce Females
Based out of Scotland, Fierce Females does not run frequently but had something of a comeback in 2018. They have younger talent on display than EV,E as they seem more focused on building younger talents like Valkyrie on their shows. Not only will there be young talent, FF books names like Viper and Millie McKenzie when available. All shows are available for free on YouTube so there is nothing stopping you from diving into the world of Fierce Females.
Bellatrix
Sister promotion to World Association of Wrestling (WAW) and ran by the Knight family, most known as the family of WWE Superstar Paige and the patriach, Saraya Knight. Bellatrix is a good promotion to watch as it is full of unique matchups and tag teams. A fresh roster, almost unheard of in the UK scene, of talents that don’t get bookings in the Big 4 meaning you have a whole roster of talent to discover. Bellatrix is available to view on Fite TV.
