Welcome to RESURA ROUNDUP, our monthly dive into the best joshi action out there. Each month, our crew serves up a curated mix of must-watch matches—barnburners, technical showcases, and everything in between.
We’ll highlight the headline-worthy clashes, but we’re just as excited to spotlight those hidden gems you might have missed. We’ll give you stuff from the major promotions as well as the less-heralded indies.
Let’s do this!
Cosmic Angels vs NEO Genesis, STARDOM – Supreme Fight (Feb 2)
Every piece of this match fell into place. Every. Single. One.
When you mix a team that works so well together and a team that has gotten better and better since its inception, the result will be the best Artist of Stardom title matches in years. CA served as the untouchable veterans facing the young and hungry AZM and Starlight Kid (who are veterans in their own right), then you add the revelation that is Miyu Amasaki, and you get an fast-paced and action-packed match where you genuinely had something happening at all times.
The crowd at Korakuen Hall witnessed the coronation of NEO Genesis as trios champions for the first time after a nail-biting ending sequence. Plus, the match got a five-star rating by Dave Meltzer (if you’re interested in that kind of stuff), the second in Stardom’s history.
Recommended by: Fernando
Mika Iwata & Miyuki Takase vs. Mio Momono & Yurika Oka, Sendai GIrls (Feb 9)
Bob Bob Momo Banana established itself as joshi’s best team in 2024. This year promises to be a strong one for them judging by their early offerings.
The bout starts with some silly shenanigans and when it reaches its climax, the wrestlers are all blasting each other in the heads. The pace quickens as things move on. The final moments are a blur of bombs and near-falls that have the crowd oohing.
The ending, as entertaining as it was, wasn’t a happy one for fans of Momono and Oka. The duo lost the Sendai GIrls Tag Team Championship here and also dropped the AAAW Tag Team Championship on the same day in another match.
Recommended by: Ryan
Miyu Amasaki vs. HANAKO, STARDOM – STARDOM in OSAKA (Feb 12)
You get my attention when you start a match just straight swinging. And then Future of STARDOM champ Amasaki did just that, kicking things off with some fiery strikes against the ropes. That set the tone; this was going to be an intense one.
They managed to maintain a sense of urgency and ample aggression through most of the action.
Both champion and challenger excelled here. Amasaki looked like a formidable champion with her emphatic offense. HANAKO played the part of the big bruiser quite well even with her limited move set.
Miyu (affectionally referred to as “Kevin” by Western fans) promises to be a star we should be paying attention to all year.
Recommended by: Ryan
Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Miria Koga, SEAdLINNNG – Winter Ends in Shinjuku (Feb 12)
insert “I owe you an apology. I wasn’t really familiar with your game” meme
Miria Koga made me want to see a lot more of her. I didn’t know her at all going into this, but after seeing how plucky and fiery she is, I became an instant fan. She’s smooth and a strong storyteller at just 19 years old.
Hiroyo made damn sure she looked good, both when taking Koga’s offense and dishing out merciless punishment. At one point, Matsumoto clamped on one of the nastiest Boston Crabs you’ll ever see. It’s a microcosm of her being an absolute bully here. She’s the vet, domininating and methodical.
Together, they gelled quite well in an opening match that is for sure worth your time.
Recommended by: Ryan
Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Yuki Arai & Max The Impaler vs Mizuki, Miu Watanabe, Raku & Aja Kong, TJPW – Shinkansen Joshi Pro Wrestling (Feb 15)
It’s a wrestling match in a train wagon featuring Raku; of course it’s worth mentioning.
If you know anything about DDT is that they’re not afraid of thinking outside the box, or, in this case, the ring. Of course, the promotion has already had a wrestling match in the Shinkansen, but this is the first time Raku, the biggest train aficionado there is, humps in to wrestle in it. She teamed up with fellow UpUpGirls member Miu Watanabe, personal friend Aja Kong and Princess of Princess champion Mizuki to face 121000000, Yuki Arai and Max The Impaler. Once the bell rang, chaos ensued.
The teams were at opposite sides of the wagon and each woman had to tag their partners, but like many tag team matches, there was a time when everyone was fighting at the same time. Every girl adapted her moveset to the small space they were in, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t any less effective, even Miu was able to lift Maki Itoh and lock her in a Canadian Backbreaker and a Giant Swing in that same position. At one point, Minoru Suzuki made a Cameo as a ticket collector and to fight Sanshiro Takagi (both of them have wrestled in a train before).
Miyu Yamashita was able to hit the Crash Rabbit Heat on Raku to pick up the win for her team. However, Raku wasn’t done for the day, as she also won the DDT Iron Man Heavy Metal championship by singing a lullaby to Tetsu Inada, a fan and then champion, only to lose it to Miyu a little later.
Long story short, Raku got her dream match on a train and won her first championship ever, all in one day. Life cannot be better than this.
Recommended by: Fernando
Crazy Train: TJPW Shinkansen Pro-Wrestling
Mai Sakurai vs. Chanyota, Marigold – New Years Golden Garden (Feb 20)
I’ll admit ahead of time that I’m not the biggest fan of Mai Sakurai as a wrestler. I think she has definitely gotten better over the past year, but I’m not sure I see her on the same level as someone like a Utami, MIRAI or Miku Aono for instance, and some people say that Mai’s the best out of all of them.
Either way, we knew going into this match that it was going to be a good one, because if there’s one thing that is always true in pro wrestling, it’s that friends hit each other the hardest!
Chanyota hasn’t been as active as most of us would like, because she has good raw talent, and strength that makes her a special wrestler. The only real thing that holds her back is the lack of experience with not working enough matches. This match was for the United National championship, the second strongest title in Marigold, and a title that would honestly fit well on the waist of either competitor in the match.
The last time Chanyota and Mai were in a championship match it was as teammates on a STARDOM New Blood show, where they took on Wing Gori, and had an amazing match that people still talk about to this day, so we knew that both could rise to the occasion, we just weren’t sure to what degree.
The match began pretty hot with both of them going at each other right away, and very early on they ended up outside of the ring, giving the crowd a very close look at the intensity that the match was going to have. Yota had the early advantage, even using a chair a few times on Mai, before having it turned against her as she ran towards the United National champion. Back inside the ring, Mai was the first to bring a headbutt into the equation, something that surprised me a bit, but with the hard hitting nature of the match, it shouldn’t have. Mai was able to lock in the “STF” somewhat early in the match, but Yota was able to get to the ropes to break the hold, something that not a lot of people had been able to do so far as the move had already finished quite a few matches. Once again both traded some big moves, and eventually Yota was able to catch both of Mai’s arms under her own, allowing her to deliver a headbutt of her own that caused both competitors to really feel it.
The power moves of Yota seemed to be breaking Mai down a bit, and eventually Chanyota hit her usual finish “The Jackhammer,” but Mai was able to kick out right before the ref’s hand came down for three. Yota also tried to lock in the “Nagata Lock,” but eventually got caught once again in the “STF” after a “Glorious Driver” which she wasn’t able to escape. An overall really strong match for both involved, and here’s hoping that we’ll get to see more Chanyota on a regular basis in places other than just P.P.P. Tokyo.
Mai continues to build on her title reign which is off to a pretty strong start at least. Check it out!
Recommended by: Justin
Mizuki, Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Suzume vs Rika Tatsumi, Hyper Misao, Shoko Nakajima & Arisu Endo, TJPW – Winter Fes. (Feb 22)
Tag team matches featuring champions vs. challengers are a common sight in TJPW, and this all-star encounter was no exception.
TJPW’s title holders faced off against their challengers in an 8-women tag team match where every woman proved why they’re the protagonists of Grand Princess ‘25.
Mizuki and Rika had their little moment where the White Dragon had the opportunity to choke the Sugar Rabbit but didn’t, Misao and Shoko showed their hunger for that elusive tag team gold, and Daisy Monkey displaying their chemistry as rivals as well as tag team partners. At the end, Miyu kicked Shoko’s head clean off to win the match, but words can’t do justice to the action in that night’s main event.
Recommended by: Fernando
Starlight Kid vs. Rina, STARDOM – Path Of Thunder (Feb 24)
I’d say it’s pretty normal to watch a match that STARDOM puts on and feel like you got a chance to see some really great wrestling, but it’s not every day that the match truly makes you feel emotional.
I won’t lie, Hana Kimura was my favorite joshi wrestler before her unfortunate passing, and being able to watch Rina follow in Hana’s footsteps by joining the evil team, while also getting better in the ring with each match she wrestles has truly been special. When she beat Saori Anou to win the number one contendership for the Wonder of Stardom championship, the stage was set for the biggest match in her career thus far, and it was going to happen in her hometown of Tochigi.
Both Starlight Kid and Rina did a good job to build up to this big match with their work in the ring against each other in the preview tags, while also trading barbs in the media, truly building the match up to be the main event of the PPV.
Rina walked through the curtain on that night with new gear that involved even more pink and blue similar to the colors that Hana loved to wear, her hair in cornrows with colored extensions to bring out that color even more, and of course, the cyber sword that Hana always carried to the ring during her days in Tokyo Cyber Squad. Right then, I couldn’t help but to have tears start to well up in my eyes, feeling the strong emotion of sadness for the loss of Hana, but also pride in the fact that Rina still represents her today.
Starlight Kid entered dressed in all white just like before, looking like the paragon of STARDOM as the Wonder of Stardom champion, and after the usual pre-match ceremonial pictures and a check for weapons from the ref, the match began!
At first Rina was heeling it up quite a bit, making use of her whip early on with her H.A.T.E. teammates preoccupying the ref while she did it. That actually got some boos from the crowd who were probably mostly from Tochigi, so you would have thought that they’d be all for Rina, but they wanted to see her do it the right way it seemed. The two fought on the outside of the ring, and early on Rina worked on Starlight Kid’s arm to set up a very early “Hydrangea”. After Starlight Kid was able to get out, she started working on Rina’s leg, and you could hear the crowd start to switch.
The usual premiere babyface of STARDOM was now the one looked at like the villain because the hometown girl was fighting from underneath. Both competitors traded big strikes and the fighting spirit of Rina was tested early, but she passed the test with flying colors. After both of them were able to hit some big moves on each other, we started to see an exchange of close near falls, keeping the crowd and us on the edge of our seats. While I truly didn’t believe that Starlight Kid was going to lose her title this soon, I truly wanted Rina to pick up the victory because of everything this match meant to her, and those near falls really put us on an emotional rollercoaster to say the least.
We got to see Rina hit a few moves that she hadn’t really hit in the past, at least as far as I know, like the “Vertebreaker” that also led to a 2.99 count. Rina climbed to the top rope after that and hit a picture perfect dropkick from the top rope just like Hana, and then went for the “Tiger Lily” package piledriver to truly put Starlight Kid away, but SLK was able to push her away. The knee continued to be a focal point of Starlight Kid’s offense, never really getting away from her gameplan, and after hitting Rina with a “Tiger Driver” she locked Rina into a sick “Black Tiger Leg Killer” that the young star couldn’t escape from, forcing her to tap out.
I just started to rate matches for the first time this year, and in joshi, this was my first 10 rating of the year. It lived up to the very high expectations that we as fans have for Wonder of Stardom Championship matches, and Rina proved to everyone, including Hana Kimura that she has what it takes to win the championship one day. Trust me, my description of the match, doesn’t do it justice at all, it’s a match you have to watch!
Recommended by: Justin
Natsuki vs Asako Mia, AWG – ACTwrestling In Yokohama (Feb 24)
Okay, yes, it’s Asako Mia challenging for AWG’s main title, but hear me out: it was good!
A world champion should be one of the best workers in your promotion, if not THE best, and one skill they should have is making others look good, and Natuski did just that when Asako Mia had the crazy idea to challenge her for the AWG title. The match itself was fine, but knowing you’re watching the best match of someone’s career made it feel special. It actually took the champion two finishers to put away Asako.
The challenger fought with more heart than skill, but isn’t that what wrestling is all about sometimes?
Recommended by: Fernando
Mayu Iwatani vs AZM, NJPW – Wrestle Kingdom 19 (Released on Feb 25)
After the underwhelming KAIRI vs. Tam Nakano two years ago, women were able to showcase their talent at a Wrestle Kingdom.
The Icon of Stardom had her ninth IWGP Women’s title defense against AZM on January 4 at Japan’s biggest wrestling show of the year, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 and they delivered big time. Whenever New Japan remembers the title exists, Mayu is there to have a guaranteed banger of a match with almost anyone, and this time she had one of the best bouts of the night. Both girls wrestled as they were competing for the High Speed Championship, with high risk moves, quick counters and a bunch of near falls that made AZM’s fans believe she was really gonna win the big one. At the end, Mayu hit the Wheelbarrow Dragon Suplex to put away the challenger.
These two girls made the most out of the almost nine minutes they were given, even overshadowing most of the men’s matches that night at the Tokyo Dome
Recommended by: Fernando
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