The Joshi wrestling scene (Japanese Women’s Wrestling) is a deep scene full of insanely talented performers and every month there are dozens of fantastic matches from promotions from Stardom to Pure-J and everywhere in between.
Important Note (Due to some matches not airing as of the time of writing some presumably great matches can’t be ranked)
10. Donna Del Mondo (Giulia, Syuri & Maika) vs STARS (Riho, Tam Nakano & Saya Iida)
As anyone that reads this feature may know we’re a sucker for a good tag team match. This trios match between STARS and Donna Del Mondo was a very good match, better than it had any right to be. The performances of Tam and Saya especially were really good but both teams worked hard to deliver a match that had some fantastic 1 v 1 sequences and good tag team moves.
9. Hibiki, Takumi Iroha & Yuu vs Nagisa Nozaki, Himeka Arita & Ayame Sasamura
Once again the Wave vs Marvelous rivalry pays dividends with a really good trios match. Hibiki once again got some shine in this one and every interaction between Nozaki and her is fantastic. If Wave can keep producing intense matches like this they’ll remain one of our favorite promotions of 2019.
8. Team 200KG (Yuu & Chihiro Hashimoto) vs Reiqa Ultimate Powers (DASH Chisako & Hiroyo Matsumoto)
A well-worked Sendai Girls tag match that was up to part with the high expectations of SG tag matches. Given the four talents involved, you can imagine there were some sore chests after this match.
Link To Watch (Sendai Girls YouTube)
7. AZM vs Mei Suruga vs Kaho Kobayashi
They worked this in the high-speed style that fans of SEAdLINNNG have become accustomed to with a lot of spots involving all three competitors. A well-worked match that gave joshi fans their dream of seeing AZM and Mei Suruga square off.
6. Yuu vs Chihiro Hashimoto
Similar to their last singles match from Sendai Girls Yuu and Hashimoto went back and forth with some incredible chops and strikes aplenty. At this stage, you should know exactly what to expect of these two and this match delivered on those expectations
5. Ryo Mizunami vs Tsubasa Kuragaki
Another match designed just for me these two just stiffed the heck out of each other. Some of the lariats sounded so good I started smacking the table from excitement. Joshi hoss matches will never not be fantastic and these two really went to town on one another
4. Haruka Umesaki, Madeline & Sareee vs Meiko Satomura, Mikoto Shindo & Yurika Oka
This was Sareee’s final match in Sendai Girls. She led a team of Diana performers against Meiko, Ohka, and Shindo. The match had a bit of everything like the rookies getting their spotlight and fighting back against Sareee and Satomura but what really made the match great was Satomura and Sareee getting to go at it one last time with stiff strikes aplenty. What better way to say goodbye to someone than by kicking some of their skin off?
Link To Watch (Sendai Girls YouTube)
3. Yuka Miyazaki vs Takumi Iroha
This was a very fun mix of Takumi kicking Miyazaki very hard, which she did multiple times, with the Miyazaki/Sakura Hirota style of comedy which meant that the match never dragged since the time’s when Takumi wasn’t on offense were full of comedic moments. The WAVE vs Marvelous rivalry has provided plenty of great matches and this is just another to add to the collection.
Link To Watch (Marvelous Freshlive Channel)
2. Kagetsu vs Meiko Satomura
The pro wrestling world said goodbye to Kagetsu as she took on her trainer Meiko Satomura in her final match. Kagetsu certainly didn’t take it easy on her retirement tour and Meiko was up for giving Kagetsu the send off she deserved. This was wrestled like a big-time Sendai Girls match with stiff strikes, scary-looking suplex bumps, and an intensity that few companies can match. A really nice send-off for Kagetsu who could have easily coasted to retirement but instead went out on one last great match. These two legends of their particular era’s of Joshi wrestling delivered a match that Kagetsu’s legacy deserved.
1. Takumi Iroha vs Mayu Iwatani
What a fantastic match this was. It is the current clubhouse leader for this writer’s Match Of The Year and for good reason. Both women played to their strengths as Iwatani was selling and taking bumps for the majority of the match allowing Iroha to show off her array of offense, with her kicks being particularly vicious against Mayu. When Iwatani did manage to get a counter and some time on offense she was giving as good as she got. Words can’t do this one justice it has to be watched and enjoyed.
Link To Watch (Stardom’s YouTube Clipped)
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. And check out last month’s edition for more fantastic Joshi matches
