Joshi wrestling has seen a lot of wrestlers come and go through its ranks. Every company sees their fair share of wrestlers debut and retire. Some compete for decades, others only last a few years. From a wide eyed 16-year-old growing into the greatest of all time, Manami Toyota, to promising AWG rookie Yufa retiring recently after only a very short career. Wrestling companies need fresh new talent every year. And the last few years saw some very promising rookies debut in companies like Stardom, Sendai Girls, AWG, and some of them transferring to Marigold.

This year it seems like there is a very special group of young talent looking to make a big splash on the industry. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest talents that debuted less than a year ago.

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Seri Yamaoka (Marigold)

Seri Yamaoka showed incredible potential from the moment she started training under the Marigold banner. Seri has an amateur background that goes back to the fourth grade of elementary school. In 2022, the youngster won the All Japan Beach Wrestling championship in the high school Lightweight class.

The 18-year-old prodigy uses her amateur skill as the base of her pro-wrestling ability.

Debuting on January 3, 2025 against MIRAI, Seri immediately showed signs of future greatness. Her undeniable passion for the game was imminent from the start. Not okay with wrestling her senior to a time limit draw, she passionately pleaded for a match restart. Despite losing the match a few minutes later, “The Super Rookie” had put her endless potential on full display.

A few weeks later, Yamaoka paired up with Nanae Takahashi to record her first win, in only her second match as a pro. She immediately followed that up a week later by teaming with Takahashi to win the Marigold Twin Star Championship. It took the talented teenager only six matches to grab her first title, which is virtually unheard of in Japanese wrestling.

Despite her young age and her limited experience, Yamaoka already carries herself like a superstar. She has a unique look and connects really well with the fans. Her wrestling ability is already pretty solid and will only grow over time. The sky is the limit for this incredible young athlete.

Yukina Uehara (AWG)

Popular gravure model Yukina Uehara made the switch to pro wrestling in the final months of 2024, signing with AWG as an intern in October and making her in-ring debut on December 29 against Act Yasukawa. The 25-year-old looked absolutely stunning in the ring and was able to hold her own against the veteran Act.

And there’s more than meets the eye. Besides being an incredibly beautiful woman, Uehara has a respectable background in sports. She graduated from Nippon Sport Science University and was a skillful table tennis player. She also competed in Sepak Takraw, a sport that is probably best described as “feet volleyball on a badminton pitch”.

Straight from her debut, Yukina Uehara had that special something. Her experience as a model and as a finalist at the 2024 Miss Earth Japan competition, where she was crowned Miss Air Japan, gives her an aura that gets over well with the fans of AWG. Her athleticism and her 170 cm frame also gives her a distinct advantage over the relatively young roster of Actwres Girl’z. Combine that with her history of kicking things in mid-air and her lightning like reflexes of her table tennis past, and you have a rookie that’s ready to break out from the start.

And she did, scoring her first victory on February 24 in a tag team match alongside Marino Saihara and following that up with her first singles win over Yui Tensho in only her eighth match on March 16. Now a member of the Superhuman Asako Army, look for Yukina Uehara to achieve big things in the near future.

Anne Kanaya (Stardom)

Stardom had several rookies debut in the last year. Matoi Hamabe, Rian, Akira Kurogane, and Yuria Hime could all have taken this spot on my list. But I’m actually going to highlight Stardom’s newest signing—Anne Kanaya.

The Okinawa native made her debut on March 20 against Yuna Mizumori in her hometown. The 26-year-old debutante has a long background in sports, being a swimmer for nine years, while also dipping her toes in tennis and soccer. In high school, she joined the theatre club with the dream of one day being a successful actress.

Kanaya fell in love with pro wrestling in her third year of high school, after seeing clips on YouTube. Years later, she watched wrestling on TV and was blown away by Starlight Kid particularly. And after watching a joint Stardom-NJPW show, she realized she wanted to compete inside the ring as well. The youngster felt a little disheartened that her classmates Kurogane and Hime made their debut before her. And even Hamabe, who joined the training program after her, had her first match before she did.

But on March 20, she finally stepped into the squared circle for the first time, and it was great. Even though she suffered a defeat at the hands of her senior, Kanaya made an amazing first impression. From her spirited entrance to her high impact dropkicks, to her quick flash pin attempts and her impressive modified victory roll, immediately showing the spectators she fits in well within the Stardom landscape. It will be very interesting to see where she is this time next year.

Jumbo Inoue (JTO)

Huge JTO rookie Jumbo Inoue has been with the company for nearly a year now. Where a lot of wrestlers join companies at a very young age, Inoue is a relative late bloomer at 37 years old. And she had little athletic experience with no background in combat sports. However, at 174 cm tall, she has got a distinct advantage over her opponents, and it was evident from the start.

In her debut, she faced the masked duo of Rhythm and Nanase in a tag team match and made short work of them. The tall warrior followed that up with her first singles win in only her second match, dispatching Mizuha with her raw power.

Jumbo Inoue is mostly a power wrestler, but in no way is she a one-dimensional athlete. In her own words, she isn’t very athletic and trains hard to improve on techniques she doesn’t know yet but fit her style well. Jumbo had one of the most blistering starts of the modern era, putting away opponent after opponent. She only suffered her first singles defeat after three months at the hands of Azusa Inaba.

One match later though, she suffered a major injury and was sidelined for the rest of the year. She tore the ACL of her left knee and needed surgery. It will probably take a few months for her to return at full health, but when she does, you can bet she’ll have championship gold around her waist within the year.

NENE (Diana)

Joshi wrestling has seen its fair share of child wrestlers pass through its ranks. From youngsters like Riho, AZM, and Ram Kaicho starting as elementary school wrestlers and becoming superstars, to current children looking for the same opportunities like Mase Hiiro of Hot Shushu, Kaho Hiromi of Chocopro, and Diana’s NENE.

The eleven-year-old got inspired by Miran, who debuted for Diana in 2022 and is one of the sport’s most promising young athletes. Wanting to follow in Miran’s footsteps, she applied for training under Kyoko Inoue and was accepted. When she ultimately made her debut, NENE received Miran’s old gear for her match against Maika Ozaki. It felt like Miran, who was taking a break to focus on her studies, passed the torch to NENE.

As a small athlete, NENE is always the underdog in the fight and is still looking for her first singles win. But much like Miran before her, she’s gaining incredible experience with each bout. And with a background in gymnastics and karate, she has got the tools to be highly successful. If she stays with it, she might follow in the footsteps of former child athletes who became big stars. With that in mind, Diana’s Crystal Championship might very well be her first goal.

Kirari Wakana (Ice Ribbon)

Nineteen-year-old Kirari Wakana is already a champion in Ice Ribbon and she hasn’t even been with the company for a full year. The charismatic teenager was inspired by Tsukushi and joined a professional wrestling class in elementary school. And even though she is following a medical education, she is still following her dream of competing for Ice Ribbon. Fitting in well with a company whose motto is being happy with pro wrestling, Wakana is a smiling, likable babyface.

Kirari Wakana is one of the select few to immediately score a victory in her debut match, using her Tsukushi-inspired Kamisu to put away Arisa Shinose. Despite her early successes, Wakana still lost a lot of her first matches, dropping battles to Tsukina Umino, Makoto, Ancham, and fellow rookie Asuka Fujitaki, while picking up the occasional tag team victory.

In the early months of 2025, Wakana started teaming with Miku Kanae and the team gelled from the start. They scored decisive victories over teams like Ibuki Hoshi & Misa Kagura and Hamuko Hoshi & Mase Hiiro before beating Shinose/Kagura and Ancham/Yappy in a no. 1 contender’s match for the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship. A few weeks later, they scored the upset win over champions Makoto and Hamuko Hoshi to grab the gold.

Kirari Wakana is just starting out and she is already growing leaps and bounds. Her tag team work with Kanae is excellent and they connect really well with the fans. If she stays with it, the International Ribbon Tag Title might just be the first of a long list of championships on her resume.

Senka Akatsuki (Marvelous)

It’s crazy to think that Senka Akatsuki has only been wrestling for half a year considering her excellent execution in the ring. Her recent match for the Marigold Twin Star Championship alongside Takumi Iroha was a testament of that. The exchanges with fellow rookie Seri Yamaoka were nothing short of outstanding, in a match that is already a strong contender for being Marigold’s match of the year.

What is it with youngsters training under Chigusa Nagayo that makes them so good, so quickly? Mio Momono, Mei Seira, Maria, all went a similar route in delivering insanely good matches very quickly into their careers. And even further back in GAEA, where someone like Meiko Satomura showed future greatness early in her now legendary career as well.

18-year-old Senka Akatsuki made her debut for Marvelous on October 27, 1994, facing then Marigold World champion Sareee. Talk about an uphill battle-debuting against arguably the best joshi wrestler in the business! But Akatsuki showed she could hang with an athlete the caliber of Sareee, even though she succumbed to the Uranage in under 10 minutes.

Akatsuki was put through her test of fire, dropping singles match after singles match against tough opponents like Mio Momono, Itsuki Aoki, and Maria, while gaining invaluable experience points along the way. Then, at the start of the new year, she finally scored her first victory over Ai Hozan, after taking her to a time-limit draw the show before. And now that she’s shown her full potential in a championship match in the main event of a rival promotion, it will be very exciting to see what will be the next step in her very promising career.