This is RESURA ROUNDUP, our monthly installment of match recommendations. Every month, our writers will bring you a fresh batch of bangers, slugfests, epics, and more from the world of joshi.

We’ll often shine a light on the big bouts, but there will also be plenty of focus on the under-the-radar hits. Expect a diverse selection that hits a wide range of joshi promotions. 

Let’s get into it.

Nanae Takahashi & Ryo Mizunami vs. Chanyota & ZONES, PPP Tokyo-Chanyota Produce Love & Muscle (March 5)

Damn son, Takahashi and Chanyota really smash on each other here. They combine excellent chemistry with plenty of outright viciousness. 

While it is a match with some slow moments, its high points have all kinds of drama. The powerhouse and fast-rising talent Chanyota is the star here, the emotional focal point. Her suffering is at the center of the story and what gives the bout its heart. She’s someone everyone should be keeping their eye on. Chanyota has “it”.

This match is such a good time. You get a slew of big-time lariats, Mizunami’s usual fun antics, and lots of mid-battle howling. You probably have a lot of matches still on your watchlist thanks to WrestleMania weekend, but this is a solid slugfest worth checking out.

 Plus, the whole show is free on YouTube. Obscure-but-accessible joshi wrestling for the win!

Recommended by: Ryan

Maria & Riko Kawahata vs. Chie Ozora & Unagi Sayaka, Marvelous (March 8)

If watching more Marvelous wasn’t on your list of New Year’s resolutions, you might want to make a mid-year addition. Magenta is primed to have a big year. This match is proof positive.

Kawahata and Maria are magnetic. Their offensive and teamwork is cohesive. The duo’s attack has all kinds of oomph to it here, showing off a welcome aggression even in small moments.

Unagi and Maria have a hell of an entertaining exchange where they just take turns kicking each other in the face. Someone is speaking my love language!

And man, there are some killer near falls in this bout that will get the blood flowing.  

The last third of the bout is excellent. It’s a tasty reward for sticking around during the more slow-burn early sections.

The competition for joshi tag team of the year is going to be a real (and fun!) race in 2024, folks.

Recommended by Ryan

Natsupoi & Saori Anou vs. Sareee & Chihiro Hashimoto, STARDOM-Cinderella Tournament 2024 Opening Game (March 9)

Wrestling is better when Natsupoi is in it. It’s as simple as that. And, in her first match in 2024, she put on one of the best performances of the year in what can easily be considered one of the best tag team matches of the year. Poi pretty much booked herself an all-star match where she’d get dropped on her head (a lot) but show the world that she was truly back. And for that, I’m grateful.

When talking about four awesome wrestlers, you’re more often than not just left in amazement of what they do. The pacing of this match alone was worth talking about. It was all action, all the time. Never a minute of nothing, meaning that if you blinked, you were missing greatness.

It started off as this friendly affair between four stars but by the end, it was all about winning. That’s what you should expect when Sareee and Hashimoto are involved, after all. Sareee challenged Natsupoi to return to her form, and it’s when we got to the closing minutes that this match reached the level of MOTYC that we all LOVE to see.

Natsupoi hitting a German Suplex on Sareee before following up with a Release German Suplex on Hashimoto is that joshi spirit that no one else can mirror. I was pacing watching this in the early morning hours.

If you’re going to watch anything from the Cinderella’s Opening Night, it’s this match over everything else. Welcome back Natsupoi; thank you for the show stealer yet again.

Recommended by: Scott

Hanan vs MIRAI, STARDOM-Cinderella Tournament in Korakuen Hall (March 10)

There was a lot of buzz that 2024 might be Hanan’s year when it came to the Cinderella Tournament, but in order to make true on that statement she’d have to find a way past someone who for two straight years hadn’t lost a match in the tournament. MIRAI had made the Spring tournament hers, and while she herself had called Hanan a ‘Future Ace’, she wasn’t prepared to let the youngster just waltz through.

What followed was the most exciting match in the entire month-long tournament. Backed by the usually excitable Korakuen Hall crowd, those in attendance were even louder than normal. They were firmly behind the nineteen year old, cheering her on at every turn. And Hanan needed their support to survive the brutal barrage of offense MIRAI threw at her. From painful submission holds to her signature decapitating lariats, the former Wonder of Stardom Champion threw everything at Hanan.

Still, the last few years had prepared Hanan to endure. This isn’t the JK Fighter of years past but the Young Lioness, and as she withstood the fierce offense and responded in kind you could feel her becoming more confident in her new role. A classic short and sharp Cinderella Tournament match that made the most of its short time to pack in a compelling story that lifted up the eventual winner. A masterclass.

Recommended by: Trent

Miku Aono & Mari vs. Natsumi Sumikawa & Chika Goto, Actwres girl’Z-ACT Wrestling in Osaka (March 16)

Four women just beating ass is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when someone thinks of Actwres girl’Z, but that’s exactly what was delivered in this main event.

The AWG champ Mari teamed up with the woman she defeated for the title against two members of the cocky faction The Royal. The result is a bout bursting with urgency and anger, a slugfest that maintains a fervent pace.

The action leaves Goto’s thighs red and her back purplish. There’s a lot of flesh thudding against flesh. Sumikawa and Mari give us a very tasty kick exchange. This is, in fact, the way to my cold heart.

The match is built on a simple in-ring narrative, one that’s straightforward, primal, engrossing.

Following Miku’s excellent run as champion is no easy feat, but Mari has looked like a boss in the first few months of the year. She’s been a rock for the promotion, the powerful warrior that grounds a roster full of the goofy and melodramatic.

Recommended by: Ryan

Rika Tatsumi vs. Masha Slamovich, TJPW-Grand Princess (March 31)

Miyu vs. Miu is getting all the (well-deserved) buzz from Grand Princess, but this banger deserves its own flowers.

This is packed tight with action, a taut 10 minutes of aggression and risk. It’s boosted by a real sense of danger. Both Rika and Masha are going all out because they know their opponent could knock their ass out at any moment.

Masha delivered her second big-time match for teej this year. Rika proved again that she’s TJPW’s best overall ring worker.

If the wrestling gods are kind to us, we will get a rematch before long where The White Dragon gets a chance to avenge this tough loss.  

Recommended by: Ryan