Joshi wrestling gave us so many exhilarating matches this year. If you are looking to get into more high-octane women’s wrestling or just looking to reflect on various points in the fairly smooth road that was 2024, allow me to introduce to you RESURA’s Top 5 Joshi Matches of 2024. 

Without any sugarcoating involved, everyone has their version of this list. So we’re gonna have fun with this one as well. Joshi wrestling is near and dear to all of us, so let’s celebrate the good and look into some awesome wrestling.     

5. DASH Chisako vs Mika Iwata – 11.17.2024 – Sendai Girls

To begin with, we have a more emotional match. DASH Chisako’s climb to the top has been nothing more than heartwarming. Up until this point, DASH Chisako had only held tag championships. She could never get it done in a singles match. 

Mika Iwata is who many consider to be one of the top dogs in Senjo, bar that of Chihiro

Hashimoto. You can hear fans roaring with admiration, chanting “Chisako!” and “Iwata!” 

They started fairly quickly, and both had hardships to face along the way, Mika Iwata had to deal with her trilogy of battles with one Saori Anou, and DASH Chisako had to defend Sendai Girls against a fearsome foe in Momo Watanabe. 

Here we have a clash of styles, DASH uses the environment to her advantage, brawling Mika across Korakuen Hall. One of my favorite spots is when DASH hits a missile kick into a sliding kick, if you go back you can hear it. It’s truly fascinating. 

They start laying bows into each other, and Mika Iwata’s Thrust Kick is a thing of beauty. 

The drama that comes associated with these two is awesome. This is the undisputed star versus the veteran who wouldn’t give up. The feeling of loneliness and seeing everyone surpass you as you grow older and try to keep up, it’s a struggle to keep up in the race that is pro wrestling. 

When DASH hit the dropkick followed by a headbutt it seemed to be over, but Mika pulled out a desperate armbar. DASH Chisako’s story is more than just a simple “Thank You.” She earned her victory against the brick wall everyone had to climb in Senjo and for her to beat Mika Iwata, who had so quickly lit a fire into the Sendai Girls World Championship was surprising. It’s never too late to bloom. 

Although the subsequent reign was short, seeing her get her moment live was thrilling. DASH looked like she was about to cry out there, and she sent joshi fans in the building and those watching on stream when she won the belt. She called out Meiko Satomura and the rest was set in stone. 

4. Miu Watanabe vs Miyu Yamashita – 3.31.2024 – Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling

Next up, we have a straight-up power battle. Some people point to Miyu’s matches with Masha Slamovish or her battle with Maki Itoh against the Daisy Monkey team of Arisu Endo and Suzume. This was my choice, though.

The contrast here is fun to note, Miyu is a serious ass-kicker, while Miu is a serious and delicate, ass-kicker. Miu Watanabe is the underdog here, she’s going against the four-time champion. It’s funny because these two have a lot of similarities when you see the sights of it all: The one named Miu. The one in pink. The one who does power moves. 

But you can tell them apart in how they tackle this match, and tackle they do. 

Miu got the upper hand quickly, but when the Pink Striker came through with her kicks, she still couldn’t easily turn the tide. I love Miyu Yamashita’s offense, she reminds me of Toshiaki Kawada in the way their moves have that oomph. Yamashita’s slam on the apron and her ongoing offense to Watanabe on the outside is just smart. 

You can tell she’s more experienced, following up with more impactful moves rather than just brute force. You can hear every sound her attacks make. 

I will note that Miu’s facial expressions are awesome. She looks like she could burst out crying at any moment. But’ll keep it together. She’s a tough gal. You can even hear the shakiness in her voice when she goes for moves like backbreakers or elbows; it’s passionate. She even broke out her ponytail pretty early but couldn’t easily get the swing off. 

Yamashita has strategies that cover every angle; it’s like she has eyes in the back of her head. But when Miu gets off a Reverse Giant Swing, she has a sense of chilliness in her eyes. She’s determined but laser-focused as well. 

The sense of impending doom got more real, though, as Yamashita and Watanabe were both on the middle rope. Yamashita hit a German Suplex, and then the Skull Kick but Miu blocked it. Yamashita looked like a video game boss here, but Miu couldn’t rest and tried again.

This was her only shot and it looked like she was failing after Miyu hit a devastating German suplex. But the powerslam counter seemed to smart. Even Miu looked surprised. 

The sudden Skull Kick reminded me of how much I love Miyu Yamashita. She makes it look like being a wrestler could come easy. Miu stopping the Skull Kick with desperation in her eyes and hitting the Tear Drop sealed the deal.

This is such a good match. The underdog premise is undefeated. This win was an establishing victory for Miu Watanabe. 

3. Mika Iwata vs Saori Anou – 6.22.2024 – STARDOM

I present to you all, one of Stardom’s best decisions of 2024. Maybe THE. BEST. I present to you a match that is a Who? What? When? Where, and Why? 

Who is Mika Iwata? What type of wrestler is she? When did she get so good? Where did she come from and why did she just beat Saori Anou for the Wonder Of Stardom Championship? 

Before this match happened, casual Stardom viewers didn’t know who Mika Iwata was. Everything is answered in this match. When I watched this live, I wasn’t paying attention until I realized, wait, this girl is getting too much offense in. Why is she handing it to someone as cool as Saori Anou? 

This breaks the viewer’s perception of everything, and in my opinion it’s awesome. These two bring it to each other. 

Mika Iwata has some of the best kicks in pro wrestling today, no doubt about it. She is presented like a star here as well, and it’s admirable. Saori Anou has two German suplex holds here that would make even Minoru Suzuki’s eyes sparkle, and the way she wrenches onto the holds she performs is really smart. 

Mika knocked Saori down and she almost barely got up, this enough would be able to build a strong challenge, but she took every chance to scout every play in her book and quickly at that. Spin kicks, thrust kicks, missile dropkicks, every kick you can name was most likely in this match. I love the moments of tension where the wrestlers cannot stand. It makes you go “Oh, it’s a miracle they’re still alive.” 

A knee strike and a high kick should’ve ended this, but Saori is a fighter. Sometimes the wear and tear you see on wrestlers is satisfying. They get their hair done, go out and fight until one’s dream has ended, and sadly for Saori Anou, her Wonder Of Stardom Championship dreams ended here on this night, or so it seemed. 

Natsupoi’s passionate promo after this and a broken Saori Anou made me feel bad for her. She looked very lifeless in the post-match. If it were up to me, Iwata would’ve kept the belt for a long while.

2. Mayu Iwatani vs Sareee – STARDOM – 4.27.2024 

Everyone knows the origin of this match, so we’re gonna skip that, but this is an amazing culmination of everything we’ve been talking about with stiff strikes, and devastating moves. By the end, Yokohama Buntai saw a match that even surpassed the main event in terms of quality. 

Sareee, since leaving the WWE, has been a killer. These women hit each other harder than cement. That’s what wrestling is all about. There are characters and funny moments, but it’s all about the brass ring and what you do in that ring that secures your place in the world. 

Mayu’s selling here is a particular charm, between her resilience in submissions and her just deading once Sareee hit her with a strike or an uranage. I love how resilient Mayu Iwatani was and her dragon suplex holds here were intense. 

Mayu brought a lot out of Sareee that we couldn’t get out of a Nanae Takahashi or a Nagisa Nozaki, not to say those aren’t great matches, but this one is picture perfect. 

The dragon suplex was the cherry on top and our winner was decided without a doubt in anyone’s mind. This is Mayu’s STARDOM, this exemplifies why she is THE ICON. 

There were points where it got a bit crazy with Sareee calling upon three finishers, but this was a match that brought sparkles to dry eyes. It’d make anyone a mess.  The handshake at the end was so sick. 

1. Mayu Iwatani vs Momo Watanabe – STARDOM x  NJPW – 11.17.2024 

Mayu Iwatani and Momo Watanabe were destined to be rivals. This match is a perfect example of two wrestlers just understanding each other. Mayu never takes an opponent for granted and that is what fans adore about her. Once she’s made you her target, you are going to either leave with higher stock or a higher sense of self. 

She has that magnetic ball of energy that aces have. Momo, on the other hand, has gone from a stoic figure to an enforcer of STARDOM’s heel unit H. A. T. E. She’s one of the most underrated joshi in the game right now, and this match proves it. 

The story here tells itself–Momo was looking for a fight, so she aimed her baseball bat and challenged Mayu Iwatani. Momo already got a shot, but one more couldn’t hurt. 

These two start very fast. This got the fans riled up. But H. A. T. E. was there to interfere, and we got some outside shenanigans.  

I love how nonchalant Momo Watanabe is. You can hear her laugh and taunt her way after she does some killer due to slamming Mayu into some chairs and impact felt immediately they don’t skip any beat. 

Momo is a formidable opponent and she’s made a nice wall for anyone looking to move into the upper echelon of things, 

Mayu’s strikes are thrown with a certain flair There’s a spot in the match where she just keeps kicking Momo and man, it’s so elegant. Momo does the same thing and also makes her strikes felt. And outside of Tam Nakano, no one gets Mayu Iwatani, like Momo Watanabe does. 

While Mayu keeps growing, Momo is a snake who sheds her skin and becomes something entirely new. I loved the B-Driver on the apron. She killed Mayu without even trying, and she made it look devastating and cool. The apron suplex is also something very astounding, the fact that Momo can survive this proves that she should be in the upper echelon of joshi. 

But sadly, her time was not now. Momo attempted Somato’s and Peach Sunrises, it was exhilarating. Mayu ended this with a dragon suplex and retained. 

I also love the matching gear between these two. White on white is very fashionable.