We’re already half way through our big Top 100 list, and now it’s time to make our way from number 50 down to number 26! As we move up the list there are more and more names that I’m sure even a casual joshi wrestling fan will recognize, and it will give the wrestlers involved some of the flowers they deserve for having themselves a good year. It also may give you an idea on who is in the top 25 based on who you haven’t seen pop up on the list so far. All in all, it’s all about showing our appreciation to the wonderful wrestlers who entertain us with their hard hitting skills, or more comedy-based entertainment. Now let’s break into the top 50!
50. DASH CHISAKO – SENDAI GIRLS
DASH Chisako is one of the most underrated wrestlers in the world, let alone joshi. While most of her top-seen matches among fans are hardcore battles at Korakuen Hall, when she’s wrestling in the Sendai PIT or Shinjuku FACE or whatever random venue, you’re seeing one of the best competitors in wrestling shine. She doesn’t get the accolades that Chihiro Hashimoto and Mika Iwata get, but it’s proof of her ability to still standout alongside those two at the top of Sendai Girls. DASH delivers in both a singles and tag team setting, and it’s why she should be anyone’s favorite wrestler who takes an hour to check out her work. She’s a longtime veteran at this point, but she’s entered her prime these last few years with nothing slowing her down. Sendai Girls is preparing for the end of Meiko Satomura and her career — so it’ll be DASH that continues to step up as the legend wraps things up.
- Written By: Scott (X: @ScottEWrestling)
49. KOGUMA – STARDOM
Everybody’s favorite wrestling bear has been a staple for Stardom’s main face unit STARS. While she can always be counted on for a goofy moment, mostly involving her trying to get her opponents to do her patented bear pose, by no means is she just a comedy wrestler. Koguma can really turn it up in the ring. The former High Speed champion is still incredibly fast and often amazes fans with her high risk offense, especially her borderline insane dives of high places. Her team with Hazuki is arguably the best in the business, which was once again underscored with an unprecedented third Goddesses of Stardom championship. Unfortunately, the run ended after only 55 days and the rest of the year was a bit uneventful for The High Speed Genius, being included mostly in multi-person tag team matches, mostly including other members of STARS. Hopefully, we will see Koguma featured more prominently next year, preferably with either a strong singles run or another historic tag title.
- Written By: Dave Coumans
48. HANAKO NAKAMORI – PURE-J
Hanako Nakamori has been the most dominant champion in joshi through this time period and deserves all the respect in the world. Nakamori won the Daily PURE-J Openweight Championship in 2022 and has held strong since, defending the title against the likes of Rydeen Hagane, Ayako Sato, SAKI, Kaho Kobayashi, and Risa Sera. As the ace of PURE-J, she’s pushed the promotion to some impressive heights and made more people pay attention through her work. She’s also shined in the world of tag wrestling, holding the Daily Sports Tag Team Championship with Sato as well as being the current World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana Tag Team Champions. The PURE-J ace is shining as one of the veterans on the scene and deserves all the respect that many of the top competitors get.
- Written By: Scott (X: @ScottEWrestling)
47. KAIRI SANE – WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
After her second run with Stardom and a brief run as a freelancer, Kairi Sane returned to WWE as part of Damage CTRL. Her return saw her assist Iyo Sky in retaining the WWE Women’s title against Bianca Belair at Crown Jewel. From there, Kairi and Asuka grabbed the Women’s Tag Team championship and held it for ninety-nine days, defending it four times before dropping the belts to Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair. She tried to regain them alongside Dakota Kai, but hasn’t been successful. Even though she’s been on the losing side of her most recent matches, The Pirate Princess remains a threat to any woman in WWE. Her amazing speed and high flying maneuvers remain a sight to behold, especially her Insane Elbow. Maybe it’s time Kairi forgets about tag team wrestling for a while and starts aiming her amazing energy towards a singles championship.
- Written By: Dave Coumans
46. ARISU ENDO – TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING
There’s opportunity abound in TJPW and no one was more primed to take it than Arisu Endo. It hasn’t taken a lot of time for Endo to climb up the ranks in Tokyo Joshi Pro when it comes to being considered among the best wrestlers in the company — it was just a matter of getting one chance to show it. Being paired with Suzume to form Daisy Monkey made for that chance, and we’ve seen them rise from hopeful duo to one of the best tag teams in wrestling. Their efforts finally paid off in the 2024 Max Heart Tournament, winning the tournament before going to Grand Princess ‘24 and finally becoming Princess Tag Team Champions by defeating Ryo Mizunami and Yuki Aino. The rise to the top only further showed that Endo is ready for more in TJPW, and is now arguably the best and most consistent competitor in the promotion. Sitting at No. 46 on the Top 100 list feels like the lowest she should be for years to come as long as the promotion continues to believe in her.
- Written By: Scott (X: @ScottEWrestling)
45. SUZUME – TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING
Ever since her debut, Suzume has shown not only the skills, but the fire to become a key player in TJPW. With her radiant attire and eye-catching move-set, The Bee stands out as one of the best high flyers in the joshi scene. Even though she had her worst Princess Cup run last year, being eliminated in the first round, she won both the Max Heart tournament and the Princess Tag Team championships with her partner Arisu Endo. She has great potential in her home promotion, as it seems to be only a matter of time for her to win a singles title. It’s a shame she doesn’t make more appearances for other promotions outside the DDT umbrella, as she is clearly someone who should be thriving all over the world.
- Written By: Fernando Ibarra
44. MINA SHIRAKAWA – STARDOM
“We want Mina!” is the chant heard on two continents nowadays. Whether she’s wrestling in Japan for her home promotion of Stardom, or in the US for AEW, or any of the independent groups she visited in between, fans are collectively losing their minds for the stunningly beautiful athlete. There are those who say that Mina is just beauty and nothing more, and then there’s the people who are correct. Mina has grown leaps and bounds since joining Stardom in 2020. The charismatic performer started the grading period as one half of the Goddesses of Stardom champions with Mariah May, dropping the belts in August to Natsupoi and Saori Anou. Then Mariah left to join AEW and Mina merged her Club Venus with Maika as EXV, and won the Artist of Stardom title alongside her new teammates. But true friends cannot be kept apart and Mina made her first excursion to the U.S. in March, defeating Anna Jay in ROH. She finally made it to AEW before the end of the grading period, reuniting with Mariah and unsuccessfully challenging Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s title. Whether it’s in the US, Japan, or even elsewhere on the planet, you can bet “The Powerbomb To Your Hearts” will continue to turn heads wherever she goes.
- Written By: Dave Coumans
43. EMI SAKURA – ALL ELITE WRESTLING
Emi continues to age like a fine wine, and this past year has proven that. Whether it’s working in America bolstering the AEW women’s division, leading the independent scene as the DPW Women’s Champion, or continuing to lead and running one of the true gems of Japan’s wrestling scene in ChocoPro. This year has been an incredibly busy one for Emi, who spent a lot of time traveling back and forth between her two homes and showcasing her talent. Her impact on the industry should never be understated, but even just across a singular year Emi is proving why she should be so revered.
- Written By: Trent Breward
42. MAKOTO – FREELANCER
During the past year, the “Oriental Doll” showed why she is known to be a tag team specialist in joshi wrestling as she’s shined with her consistent output in SEAdLINNNG mixed with her great work in Ice Ribbon. Makoto held tag team gold with three different partners during the last year as she captured the SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Team Championship once with VENY and shortly after with Nagisa Nozaki, who she showed great chemistry with despite them only teaming up a couple of times. On top of that, she won her fifth International Ribbon Tag Team Championship in Ice Ribbon together with Hamuko Hoshi, who next to VENY, was the tag partner of Makoto in the past couple of years. Her work as a tag team wrestler helps every company she works with as she can elevate everyone at any given moment with her ability to not make only herself, but everyone shine.
- Written By: Peps (X: @Peps_Wrestling)
41. RINA – STARDOM
The youngster that was once known as “Mini Hana” is truly coming into her own and no doubt is doing her mentor, the late Hana Kimura, proud. Rina grabbed the Future of Stardom championship in May 2023 and defended the belt against all comers. She turned away challenges from Stardom youngsters like Waka Tsukiyama, Yuzuki, and Sayaka Kurara. But her victories weren’t just limited to Stardom, as she also successfully defended the belt against invading athletes like Nanami, Miran, and Azusa Inaba. Rina held the belt throughout the entire grading period and looks well on her way to breaking the record of longest reign and most defenses of the Future belt. The charismatic Pink Devil is definitely a shining star in the making for Stardom.
- Written By: Dave Coumans
40. SHOKO NAKAJIMA – TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING
Even when she is not TJPW’s top dog, Nakajima is always in the championship mix. I guess you can’t keep a big kaiju down. Nakajima won a Battle Royal to determine the no. 1 contender for TJPW’s International Princess Championship, she challenged Miu Watanabe for the Princess of Princess Championship, and fought her way to the quarterfinals of the 2023 Tokyo Princess Cup. And two tag team wins over the legendary Aja Kong should really be worth at least four victories. The speedy, colorful character often teamed with Hyper Misao, providing goofball entertainment en route to racking up wins. Shoko’s efforts earned her the ninety-eighth spot in PWI’s Women’s 250 list in 2023.
- Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: @ryandilbert)
39. LEON – PURE-J
There are few wrestlers in joshi puroesu who are more consistent than Leon. Most of the time you’re not going to get a show stealing performance per say from the 44 year old, but you’re also never going to get a bad performance either. Leon has cemented herself as being one of the best tag team wrestlers in all of Japan, and she continued to show that this year by winning the Daily Sports Tag Team Championship for the record-tying fifth time. Leon also happens to have the longest combined reign for the Daily Sports Tag Team Championship all time at over 1100 days! This past year Leon had a win rate of fifty-four percent which is not all that surprising as she’s one of the biggest stars of her home promotion PURE-J and also one of the best veterans they have on the roster. While PURE-J may not be seen as being one of the bigger joshi companies in Japan, Leon always does her best to help push the promotion up, and help their young roster get better, and honestly that’s the most you can ask for from an awesome veteran like her!
- Written By: Justin Stein (X: @BioHizzle)
38. MOMO WATANABE – STARDOM
While the chances may be fading on her ever winning the big one, Momo Watanabe continues to show why she’s been one of the best for close to a decade. Still just 24 years old, it feels like Watanabe has been around forever. The then record-breaking Wonder of Stardom Championship reign feels forever ago as does leading Queen’s Quest. She’s now a key member of H.A.T.E. (Oedo Tai), and had her biggest career match in the main event of All Star Grand Queendom 2024 against Maika for the World of Stardom Championship. She ultimately came up short, but there’s a reason she was in the match. Beyond the big main event, the accolades didn’t come together but the match performances did — as they always do. Watanabe may not have the glory fans universally want to see from her, but she’s going to keep being one of the best when the bell rings.
- Written By: Scott (X: @ScottEWrestling)
37. MAYUMI OZAKI – OZ ACADEMY
The “Queen Of The Street Fight” Mayumi Ozaki is one of most polarizing wrestlers in all of joshi because fans sit on one side of the fence or the other on her. What’s the fence you ask? Do you enjoy overbooked matches that involve weapons, interferences, and the babyface getting destroyed for twenty-plus minutes, or do you not? In OZ Academy you know what you’re going to get out of the main event scene: Ozaki on top or right around the top at all times. In the past year, Ozaki only worked thirty-seven matches, but she picked up the victory in twenty-one of them, which gave her a fifty-seven percent win rate. That isn’t overly impressive, what was impressive was her title victories and long reigns, however. In the past year, she held the AAAW Championship for 328 days of the grading period, the AJPW Six-Man Tag Team Championship for 253 days of the grading period, and Oz Academy Openweight Championship for 63 days of the grading period, which shows that the 55 year old is still on top after 38 years in the business. Will her reign of terror over babyfaces all over Japan continue over this next year? We’ll have to wait and see.
- Written By: Justin Stein (X: @BioHizzle)
36. TAKUMI IROHA – MARVELOUS
If Takumi Iroha was in a bigger company I think we’d be seeing her a lot higher up the list, but unfortunately with most of her matches happening in her home promotion Marvelous, she is sometimes forgotten about when people talk about the best joshi wrestlers on the planet. Takumi’s ability to provide hard-hitting action, with smart in-ring psychology is truly special, and as fans, we simply want to see it more. In the past year, she only wrestled sixty-eight times, but she won sixty-three percent of those matches, which means she was being booked pretty strongly and that’s how it should be. She held titles in other countries like the West Coast Pro Wrestling Women’s Championship in America for 325 days of the grading period and the RCW Women’s Championship in Spain for nearly 200 days. She also held the AAW Tag Team Championship for 161 days of the scoring period in her home country of Japan, which shows that even while traveling the world, she still made a lot of time for her home promotion as well. Takumi has also become a bit of a mainstay in Pro Wrestling NOAH’s small women’s division which has helped get a few more eyes on her, but without the company having a title, many fans don’t put a lot of stock in the division unfortunately. All in all, Takumi had a pretty good year, but as a fan of hers, I expect her to have a great year, and hopefully that is what is upon us over the next 12 months. Make sure to check back next year to see if she rockets her way up the list.
- Written By: Justin Stein (X: @BioHizzle)
35. HANAN – STARDOM
It has felt like Hanan has been touted as the Future Ace of STARDOM for years, but that future really began to reveal itself over the latter half of 2023 and 2024, culminating in a star-making Cinderella Tournament victory and a heroic effort against Saori Anou a month later. The Young Lioness has now shown that she can hang with the best in the company, and a lengthy run with her Wing Gori teammate Saya Iida as the New Blood Tag Champions only helped to solidify her strength and confidence. A transformative 12 months that has rewarded her longtime supporters.
- Written By: Trent Breward
34. TSUKASA FUJIMOTO – ICE RIBBON
Only the best of the best could have had a baby and return to the ring at such a high level; fortunately, this is Tsukasa Fujimoto we’re speaking of. This actress-turned-wrestler is one of those performers who could have a match with a broom stick and make it entertaining (and she literally did). She only had two matches in 2023, but she is currently doing a great job in both Ice Ribbon (as the great Ace she is) and various promotions such as Stardom, Sendai Girls, and SeaDLINNNG, where she frequently tags with Arisa Nakajima as “Best Friends”. Unfortunately, an elbow injury during her dream match against Mayu Iwatani put her on the sidelines for a while. However, at 41 years old, Tsukasa still is an excellent professional wrestler, one of the best ever, some will say.
- Written By: Fernando Ibarra
33. VENY (ASUKA) – FREELANCER
VENY, still wrestling as ASUKA at the time, held the Sendai Girls world title at the start of the grading period, but lost it to Millie McKenzie on her first defense. She didn’t let that get her down, as days later, she won WAVE’s Catch the Wave tournament, and in October she defeated Hikaru Shida for the Regina di Wave title. VENY, as she exclusively calls herself now, is always competing for championships it seems. She’s either teaming with her “Las Fresas de Egoistas” teammates to challenge for tag team belts in companies like SEAdLINNNG, Marvelous, or OZ Academy, or she’s challenging for top belts like Mika Iwata’s Sendai Girls World title. Wherever she goes, VENY is always someone who can be counted on for a great match. Look for her to add more gold to her already very impressive title resume in the upcoming year.
- Written By: Dave Coumans
32. YUU – FREELANCER
YUU truly is a special wrestler. Her ability to wrestle a powerhouse style, while also making every match of hers fun in an almost comedic way is something that very few can do. The gentle giant who stands at a whopping 157 cm (5’2”) is a wrestler who you could see pop up on literally any company’s show at any given time, and that is part of what helped propel her up the list. She worked 143 matches last year, which is one of the highest totals in all of joshi, and she won 57% of those matches which is pretty impressive. She held the EVE International championship in the UK for the entire year-long scoring period while also racking up other titles in Japan like the Queen of JTO Championship that she held for 133 days of the grading period and the Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship that she held for 235 days with her impressive tag team partner Chihiro Hashimoto as “Team 200kg,” one of the best tag teams in all of joshi. YUU’s ability to bolster any match card in Japan was something special last year, and I don’t think she’ll be taking a step backwards anytime soon.
- Written By: Justin Stein (X: @BioHizzle)
31. AZM – STARDOM
It’s hard to believe that this 21 year-old is already a 10-year veteran. The former “Commander of Queen’s Quest” saw her unit disband after a disastrous feud with Oedo Tai. AZM has since found some new friends to hang around with and looks to be starting a new unit. Hopefully, this new start will also lead to new successes in Stardom’s title scene. Because despite having a pretty solid win-loss record this year, her last major title reign dates back to May 2023 when she lost her second High Speed title after a 458-day reign. While she didn’t win any gold, she did have several opportunities during the grading period. She fought Giulia for the NJPW Strong title in December and battled Stephanie Vaquer for the same belt in April. That same month, she competed against Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s championship. Alongside Miyu Amasaki, she tried to win both the Goddesses and New Blood tag titles. She might not have been successful, but there’s no doubt The High Speed Bomb Girl will be wearing championship gold soon.
- Written By: Dave Coumans
30. YUKI ARAI – TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING
The world of Professional Wrestling and the Idol industry often cross paths, with lots of these singers training to step in the squared circle. However, Yuki Arai took this experience to a whole new level. Very few people thought that the Genius Girl will become more than just another attempt to attract a new audience to the TJPW shows (which is funny because she debuted on a show with no crowd), but she quickly caught on with wrestling, developed her skills and found great chemistry with most of the girls on the roster. The fact that she is able to balance her idol duties with her wrestling dates speaks volumes about the dedication and respect she has for both businesses. She captured the International Princess championship after defeating the once invincible Max the Impaler, setting sights on becoming the champion with the longest reign ever.
- Written By: Fernando Ibarra
29. MIKU AONO – MARIGOLD
Former model and radio host has truly had a breakout year. Miku Aono started the grading period as the ace of Actwres Girl’z, having won the AWG championship in March. During the first half of the grading period, she defended the belt against the likes of ACT, Ayano Irie, and Asahi, before dropping it to MARI. The Brilliant Rose That Illuminates The Future shocked the joshi wrestling scene by jumping to the newly formed Marigold promotion. She immediately made an impact in her new surroundings with victories over Nao Ishikawa and Zayda Steel. This gave her a lot of momentum going into the tournament to crown the first-ever Marigold United National champion. After drawing against MIRAI three times in a row, Miku Aono charged into the finals to become the inaugural champion. Whatever the result, Miku Aono is in the shape of her life and is looking to make a big name for herself in her new promotion.
- Written By: