It is that time of year once again for the annual RESURA Joshi Top 100 list, which is our way to not only give possible joshi pro wrestling fans the chance to learn about wrestlers they may not be all that familiar with, but to also show our appreciation to the various joshi wrestlers who we think put in the best effort this year! You may have seen other prevalent pro wrestling lists such as the PWI 250, but this one we wanted to be focused on the wrestlers from Japan or wrestlers performing in Japanese companies, so that way you don’t have to see a bunch of AEW and WWE wrestlers filling up the list.

You may ask, how do we come up with this list in a fair manner? Well, I personally like to get other people’s input to go along with my own, so this year we had eight people in total including myself rate all of the wrestlers on the joshi scene in three different categories: Skill, Influence and Competition.

Skill is determined by how good we thought that wrestlers matches were for the year. I’m sure you personally could figure out who a few of the top performers were in that category.

Influence is a measurement of what they meant to not only their own promotion, but also the joshi landscape as a whole. If the wrestler was a bigger name who was known to draw, have been in the business a long time, or held an office position in their promotion like head booker or owner along with their wrestling duties, then it meant they they’d receive a pretty high score.

Competition is a rating based on the competition of wrestlers they’d face during the year long scoring period. Wrestlers that had big matches, especially for titles would get higher ratings than a wrestler who was normally lower on the card, facing rookies for instance.

On top of those three categories we also factored in a wrestler’s win rate, the amount of matches they wrestled, and their accomplishments which include not only titles won during our scoring period, but also any awards or tournaments that they won as well.

All in all, we did our best to try to put together a list that we could be proud of and stand behind. If you’re looking to see who took part in the rating of these wrestlers, that will be the first eight names you see on the list at the bottom of this article. The last two names are fellow writers who wanted to simply pitch in to help write some of the wrestler related paragraphs, which we definitely appreciate.

Before we start off with the list itself, I had each member of the team submit an honorable mention of a wrestler who didn’t make the final top 100 list. This doesn’t mean that they barely missed the list per say, but it’s a wrestler that we wanted to shed light on at least.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

CHANYOTA – P.P.P. TOKYO

While she didn’t end up making the top 100 list for this year, Chanyota took one hell of a step forward in her progress as a professional wrestler with the great year she had. One of the biggest things that held her back in the past was simply not working enough matches, because even if you practice a lot, the best experience one can gain in pro wrestling is actually wrestling matches in front of a crowd. Chanyota already had quite a bit of popularity, not only for her professional wrestling, but also her other occupations like JAV and working at the Muscle Girls Bar just to name a few. With all of that stuff behind her though, and only pro wrestling along with body building competitions as her focus, it has helped her really lock in while inside the ring. This year she worked 37 matches with most of them being in Marigold, which is considered either the second or third biggest joshi promotion in the country depending on who you talk to. Her 62% win percentage was quite high for someone who still didn’t have a ton of experience, but it shows that the people booking her, including her home promotion of P.P.P. Tokyo seeing big things in her future. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if we end up seeing Chanyota pop up on the Top 100 List next year, and honestly I could even see her winning some gold while she’s at it. The sky’s the limit for this powerhouse!

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

RAKU – TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING

Raku does a little of everything for TJPW, from singing with her fellow UpUpGirls, to being a dependable comedy character, to now reigning as champion. The mid-match napper bested Pom Harajuku at Grand Princess to claim the SETUP All Women’s Championship, becoming only the third woman to win that belt. Raku also briefly held the DDT Iron Man Heavy Metal Championship in February after defeating voice actor Tetsu Inada. To go along with her first tastes of gold, we saw her rack up more wins in the first half of 2025 (36 at the time of this writing) than she’s had in any single year, a number good enough to make her the leading victory-getter in all of TJPW. And whether the train expert wins or loses, she is reliably entertaining. When her home promotion traveled to Las Vegas and Houston, she was right there, putting opponents to sleep and wielding her trademark pillow. When TJPW needed a tag match heavy on slapstick or someone to juxtapose the monstrous Max the Impaler, Raku stepped up, a linchpin in a yellow dress.

• Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: RyanDilbert)

MIYA YOTSUBA – CHOCO PRO

Miya Yotusuba may have had the most ups and downs out of all the ChocoPro roster. She was at the promotion’s first Korakuen Hall in eight years, being defeated by Rina Yamashita in a six-woman tag team match, which started a feud between them, helping Miya elevate her game and get over her Miya Hammer finisher, but ultimately losing the rivalry. She got to face several big names outside ChocoPro like SAKI and Mizuki, wrestled at shows promoted by promotions like DPW and Michinoku Pro, formed a surprisingly cohesive tag team with Soy, even challenging for the Asia Dream tag titles. Unfortunately, even if she’s got meaningful victories, she hasn’t won any titles and, to top it all, she had to see her sister Nonoka Seto take a break from wrestling, leaving one of the most emotional moments in ChocoPro’s history when both sister shared a chocolate square after Miya won a Janken tournament. Miya Yotsuba towers over almost anyone in ChocoPro, but her determination is her biggest virtue, now she only needs to turn that into bigger victories.

• Written By: Fernando Ibarra (X: Jferimsw)

NAGISA NOZAKI – FREELANCER

Just a few years ago, Nagisa Nozaki would have been a shoe-in for a spot in a yearly top 100. Mid-2022, she was the Regina di Wave champion and made the finals of the Catch the Wave tournament. The odds-on favorite to win the tournament then tore her ACL the night before the finals and was on the shelf for a year. Upon her return, she went freelance and mainly competed for Marigold. Although it took her a while to shake off the ring rust, Nagisa has worked her way back up the card. Right now, she is a reliable upper-midcard heel that can be an asset to any company. She was a cup-of-coffee Marigold Twin Star champion throughout the grading period, which is less title gold than we should expect from an athlete the caliber of Nozaki. But her match for the Beyond the Sea title against Sareee in December last year shows that Nozaki can still be called upon for a great main event match. Hopefully, we will see more of big match Nagisa next year, because leaving her off the Joshi 100 just feels wrong to me.

• Written By: DaveTCS (X: Dave_TCS4Life)

SENKA AKATSUKI – MARVELOUS

Senka Akatsuki only debuted at the end of 2024, but has left a mark on joshi fans in an instant. That becomes all the more impressive when you consider that her home base, Marvelous, wasn’t on WRESTLE UNIVERSE up until recently. She’s that talented, and she’s only going to continue making waves moving forward. Whether it’s her dedication to the art of pro wrestling or her overall intensity at such a young age, Akatsuki has showcased why she’s truly one of the next joshi greats in the making. And perhaps nothing has been as notable in her first year than her rivalry with fellow rookie Seri Yamaoka of Marigold. They’ve led the Marigold vs. Marvelous feud with their overall dislike for one another, and while Akatsuki may not have the wins to show for to get her on the Top 100 this year, she feels as though she will be a lock for years to come. A special talent with all the potential to headline this list in a few years time.

• Written By: Scott Edwards (X: ScottEWrestling)

HONOKA – PRO WRESTLING WAVE

At just 20 years old, Honoka has taken the next big steps in her career by capturing the Princess of Pro-Wrestling Championship in PURE-J, the first singles title of her young career, which she has held ever since. Her success didn’t stop there, as she went on to win the Diana Crystal Championship in 2025, making her the simultaneous holder of the two top “young talent” titles in both Diana and PURE-J. Honoka also earned her first opportunities at the Regina di WAVE Championship, challenging both Yuki Miyazaki and Saya Kamitani. Though she came up short on both occasions, her performances made it clear that she is the future of Pro Wrestling WAVE, and it seems only a matter of time before she captures the prestigious championship.

• Written By: Peps (X: Peps_Wrestling)

ANRI – ACTWRES GIRL’Z

Anri is a performer who really rejuvenated AWG at a time when it seemed like their star power was dwindling. She is someone who came in with little hype but came in to show the world that she is different from many of the rookies in the world. One year in and she has already challenged for the major title and has gone up against the big hitters and has delivered every single time, whether in tags or singles, whether part of Polaris with Erisa Nagai or not, she goes in to fight. She has become one of the most must-see wrestlers in joshi for me, and her ascension to the AWG title seems for sure if she doesn’t leave in the next year or two. Her technical ability with her kicking and pure babyface aggression gives her the edge over many of her peers. Many will not give her a chance, because of where she works, how she looks, or because of her slight gimmick. But I think she is easily one of the most valuable pieces to AWG and joshi in the last three years.

• Written By: Pedro (X: PlugPedro99)

ERISA NAGAI – ACTWRES GIRL’Z

Erisa Nagai in under a year’s time has quickly mastered two skills that are essential for a pro wrestler; crowd engagement and making your opponent look the absolute best they can. When you first watch a Erisa entrance you know from her smile and energy that you will root for her to do the best she can in the match, even though she will lose you will still feel cheer for her when she connects her moves like the delayed leg drop or the Ahirimo fisherman suplex. Her rookie team with Anri “Polaris☆” has become one of the leading stories in AWG in 2025 as they aim to establish themselves as the future of Act Wrestling and try their best at beating veterans like Mari and ACT. While Anri brings the technical side of the team, Erisa brings the heart and helps making them a must-watch act if you are a fan of joshi rookie wrestling like I am.

• Written By: Sondre Bjorn (X: SondreBjorn)

YAPPY – ICE RIBBON

We have to admit that a lot of things we, non-Japanese fans, know about Ice Ribbon, it is because of Yappy’s excellent work as an ambassador for her brand. Wrestler, translator, social media manager, video editor, international talent liaison, and more: Yappy has done it all. Whether wrestling in the ring or working behind the cameras, her work has been a staple in Ice Ribbon. Recently, alongside Ancham, as the team “Bad Butts”, she captured her first wrestling gold, the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship. The wrestler from Manila is only getting started, and we couldn’t overlook her impact.

• Written By: Aris Emmanouloudis(X: ArgyEmm)

MASA TAKANASHI – CHOCO PRO

Just like Chris Brookes and Baliyan Akki on last year’s list, it’s important to show thanks to the guys in pro wrestling who go out of their way to lift up joshi wrestling. For years, Masa Takanashi has been an integral part of the ChocoPro family, working as an invaluable veteran figure helping the future stars of joshi find their footing. With Emi Sakura often away in the U.S, his impact is even more pronounced as a guiding light for the company and its bevy of young talent.

A major spinal injury suffered during a match earlier in the year has unfortunately taken him out of action, and Emi Sakura has set up a GoFundMe to try and help with his ongoing recovery. Donations can be made here if you would like to and are able to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-masa-takanashis-recovery-journey

• Written By: Trent Breward (X: 1UpCulture)

RESURA JOSHI TOP 100

100. ITSUKI AOKI – FREELANCER

Where Itsuki Aoki goes, fun follows, at least that’s my viewpoint of her. Whether it’s the loud yelling at the start of a match to get on her opponent’s nerves or to fire the crowd up during the match, Itsuki Aoki will always grab your attention. While Aoki may not be a usual main event level talent unless it’s in a tag setting, she’s improved quite a bit over the past few years, really leaning into a powerful brawling style that is fun to watch. During the year-long grading period, she wrestled a total of 112 matches, and came away with 52 victories which left her with a 46% win percentage. While she wasn’t on the winning side in more than half of her matches, she was able to pick up the SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Team championship with her partner Ayame Sasamura and defend them three times which is still quite impressive. Last year, Aoki finished 88th on our Top 100 List, so she didn’t drop too much this year, and honestly I could see her moving up a good bit on next year’s list, especially if STARDOM intends to use her a bit more as a part of Suzu Suzuki’s newish faction “Mi Vida Loca”.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

99. AYA SAKURA – STARDOM

Aya Sakura may not get the fanfare that someone like fellow Cosmic Angel Sayaka Kurara has received this year, nor does she have such accolades, but Sakura has made herself undeniable through hard work, determination, and the ability to feel different from everyone else around her. Sakura’s induction into Cosmic Angels once felt like an odd decision in 2024, but she’s used that opportunity to take her strike-based skillset and mix that with what she’s learned from the likes of Tam Nakano, Natsupoi, and Saori Anou. It’s given her a confidence that she carried into a feud against Chi Chi for the Sendai Girls Junior Championship — the same championship that she managed to take from Chi Chi at Sendai Girls’ THE TOP of JOSHI WRESTLING back in March. She’s reigned with the title since, making strides both as a champion and a junior wrestler to show that she’s only getting started into her career. This time next year, her and Kurara should be higher up the card in STARDOM, side-by-side, as they take on the world together as the next gen of Kouzen.

• Written By: Scott Edwards (X: ScottEWrestling)

98. NATSUKO TORA – STARDOM

Look, I know that Natsuko Tora isn’t everyone’s favorite wrestler in STARDOM, but I think at times people underrate what she brings to the promotion. The current leader of H.A.T.E. honestly had quite a decent year winning the World of Stardom Championship for the very first time in her career. However, that reign was cut pretty short when she lost on her first defense against Tam Nakano only 34 days after winning it from Maika. Even with that unfortunate quick ending to her title reign, she’s been booked pretty strong in matches where Natsuko is counted on to be the big bad that she is supposed to be. During our scoring period, she wrestled a total of 118 matches, and had a strong 55% win percentage, which is quite good considering STARDOM not only books so many matches, but a lot of them also happen to be tag team matches that involve three or four wrestlers on each team, making it easier to lose without actually being pinned. Whether you see it as important or not, Natsuko was also ranked in the top 50 of the PWI Women’s 250 for 2024, which we do use as an accomplishment when grading these wrestlers. While her performances in the 5STAR for 2025 aren’t accounted for, she’s off to a pretty good start to the next grading period for us, so it will be interesting to see if she’s able to move up the list next time.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

97. YUNA MANASE – GANBARE PRO

This long time veteran who has trained a lot of awesome wrestlers over the years, had a pretty decent year overall during our grading period. As the face of Ganbare Pro’s women’s division, Yuna is tasked with being one of the main reasons why people would want to tune into a Ganbare Pro show that features joshi action, and I think she handles it quite well. Sure, she doesn’t move around like she once did because of injuries over the years, but she can still put together a pretty good and entertaining match when she’s called upon. During our grading period, she wrestled a total of 62 matches and picked up the victory in 56% of them. With her being a veteran, it makes sense that she’d pick up more victories than losses, so that win percentage checks out. When it comes to accomplishments, she has mainly held the Kitsune World championship for the Kitsune promotion based out of California. She lost the title for a short time to MICHIKO, but then picked it back up, so her two title reigns in total equaled out to 284 days, but she has only had one successful defense. She also held the International Ribbon Tag Team championships with Totoro Satsuki, but that only lasted for 14 days, with no defenses under their respective belts. While she had a good enough year to end up on our list, I’m sure she is hoping to have an even better year next year!

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

96. SUMIKA YANAGAWA – FREELANCER

Recently, JTO standout Sumika Yanagawa left her home promotion for over five years to go freelance. Over the last few years, the Yamagata native has visited a number of promotions, including Ice Ribbon, WAVE, Pure-J and even Mexico’s top promotion CMLL. All roads eventually led her back to JTO, where she became both Queen of JTO and JTO Girls Tag Team champion during our grading period. In both cases, she was only able to hold on to the titles for about two months. However, it did showcase Yanagawa’s indisputable talent. Now that she’s become a freelancer, it will be interesting to see where she will end up. Wherever she goes, champions better pay attention, because Sumika Yanagawa has tasted championship gold and you can bet she’ll be hungry for more.

• Written By: DaveTCS (X: Dave_TCS4Life)

95. YUKI KAMIFUKU – TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING

The effortlessly cool Yuki Kamifuku has long been a standout for TJPW. Charming, fabulous, unscrupulous. While she remains the same eye-poking egotist in the ring, we’ve seen her role shift of late, Kamiyu becoming an ambassador of sorts. She reigned as both the Vietnam Pro Wrestling women’s champ and the SPW Queen of Asia titleholder. In both cases, she helped spotlight smaller Asian promotions as she traveled to Singapore, China, the United States, and the Philippines. While she remains underrated for her in-ring work, she did deliver some solid tag team action, often alongside her Ober Eats partner, Wakana Uehara. Kamifuku also boasts an intriguing batch of opponents during the grading period including Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, Alexis Lee of Singapore, Danshoko Dino, and Xia Zhao aka Lei Ying Lee. Whether she’s been a champion or simply a showboat, Kamiyu consistently catches the eye.

• Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: RyanDilbert)

94. BOZILLA – STARDOM

The German Powerhouse has emerged as one of the true breakout performers of the past year, establishing herself as one of the best young wrestlers in the world. Her past 12 months began with a major loss to Miku Aono at Marigold’s Summer Destiny show in a challenge for the United National Championship, before entering the Dream Star Grand Prix as one of the tournament favorites. While she fell short of the finals, she was the only competitor to defeat then–Marigold World Champion Sareee, setting up a fantastic championship match between them for the Crimson Red Belt later in the year. At the start of 2024, she once again challenged for the Marigold World Championship, this time against Utami Hayashishita, but came up short before departing Marigold to begin her next chapter. Despite standing out as one of the promotion’s most promising talents, her only championship success came when she and Tank captured the Marigold Twin Star Championships, a reign that lasted just 16 days. In June, she made a surprise appearance at Stardom’s The Conversion show in Yoyogi, aligning herself with Suzu Suzuki and the rest of Mi Vida Loca, which opens an exciting new chapter for the 21-year-old.

• Written By: Peps (X: Peps_Wrestling)

93. MARU – ACTWRES GIRL’Z

In AWG, since the Marigold exodus there has been a heel veteran trio at the head of the heel side of the roster of Act, Mari and MARU. While Act and Mari are the more story and main event focused of the three, MARU fills out the gimmick-heavy matches and focuses a bit on the comedy side. However, every time she has been given a chance in higher card placements she has shocked me with her athleticism and vigor considering her age of 44.

• Written By: Sondre Bjorn (X: SondreBjorn)

92. AOI – JUST TAP OUT

Ask any people to define Aoi, and “cool” is the response you’ll get. A wrestler with a constantly changing image, Aoi is always keeping the audience excited. The JTO star has had quite a busy year, wrestling in various matches against both rookies and veterans, sometimes even intergender ones, with a bout against NJPW’s El Desperado being among the highlights. In terms of accomplishments, Aoi held the Queen of JTO and JTO Girls Championships simultaneously, but also racked up some tag team gold, winning the JTO Girls Tag Team titles with both Inaba sisters. Moreover, Aoi, under the guise of Midnight Player, has also captivated the fashion fans, performing at the SUKEBAN show in Europe. It has been a good year for this young talent, and the future only looks bright.

• Written By: Aris Emmanouloudis(X: ArgyEmm)

91. CHI CHI – PRO-WRESTLING EVOLUTION

Chi Chi is the one. At least, that’s what she has proven thus far through her career. Joshi’s resident “Barbie Girl” has not stopped improving, to the point where everyone needs to know her name. This last year was filled with moments and matches — but perhaps none more notable than her becoming the first Sendai Girls Junior Champion in a number of years. The win was a belief in her potential, but also an ideal way to show why she’s the future of the scene. Chi Chi may look like Barbie, and come out to the song, but she packs a punch like you wouldn’t believe. It’s not a shock, considering she has been trained by Shuji Ishikawa, Suwama, and “The Sun God” Sareee herself. Chi Chi has as good of a learning tree as any in pro wrestling, and it led to her carrying forward her first feud against Aya Sakura — which brought her to matches with Sakura in Sendai Girls and the STARDOM ring. She also just wants to fight everyone, take on every challenge, and do something new seemingly every step of the way. That’s the type of wrestler you invest in, believe in, and trust to carry the torch for years to come. That’s who Chi Chi is, and that’s why she deserves a spot on this Top 100.

• Written By: Scott Edwards (X: ScottEWrestling)

90. AYAKO SATO – DIANA

Ayako Sato has been a mainstay in Diana for nearly a decade now. One of the last wrestlers to come out of the AJW dojo, Sato is a veteran of the sport. Ayako signed with Diana in 2011, but left the ring for over five years to become a mom. The mother of three returned to action in 2017 and became a three-time WWWD World champion. During the grading period, the member of heel unit CRYSIS didn’t challenge for a singles championship, instead targeting tag team titleholders alongside partners like Hanako Nakamori and Debbie Keitel. Both these combinations proved successful and brought her the WWWD Tag Team title, which she has held 4 times now. At 39 years old, the veteran from Yamagata can still turn it up in the ring and won’t shy away from using dirty tactics and her trusted shield to achieve her goals. While her antics in the ring aren’t always something to look up to, her story as a wrestling mom following her dreams certainly is.

• Written By: DaveTCS (X: Dave_TCS4Life)

89. SONOKO KATO – OZ ACADEMY

Even after 30 years in the business, Sonoko Kato is still working at a pretty high level, mostly on OZ Academy shows, but you can also find her on various produce shows, or smaller independents as she gets closer to her retirement from the business on November 23rd of this year. While Sonoko may not deliver a blow away match all that often in my opinion, she’s still very solid, and can work in there with just about anyone. During our year- long grading period, she worked 37 matches, and ended up with a 57% winning percentage which is pretty standard for a wrestler of her stature in the business. This year, she held two different tag team championships both with the same partner Ryo Mizunami, the AAAW Tag Team Championships and the OZ Academy Tag Team Championships. While she didn’t collect a successful defense of the AAAW Tag Team championship during her 100-day run with the belts, she did successfully defend the OZ Academy Tag Team Championships twice during her 182 days with the belts. Overall, it was a good chance for Kato to have a nice run with some titles before hanging up the boots, and it helped her case when it came to making this year’s list. All I can say as a fan of joshi wrestling, is thank you for your hard work, dedication to the craft Sonoko, we’ll miss seeing you in the ring, even though I doubt you’ll stay away from the business all together.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

88. NARU – ACTWRES GIRL’Z

You need someone like Naru on your wrestling roster, especially in a promotion like AWG, a reliable talent who can connect with the crowd, does flashy moves and makes other wrestlers look good. Everyone who watches her promotions knows what to expect at their shows, and what you should expect when you watch Naru is having fun. After the mass exodus last year, Naru was there as part of the ActWres 5, who helped rebuild the promotion, not only inside the ring, but also as a costume maker for most of the girls in AWG. 

Wrestling-wise, and performing as her alter ego Ninja Girl URAN, she challenged Sakura Mizushima for the King of the Ring Entertainment title, falling short in the process. However, Naru has continued to be an essential part in this peculiar “wrestling” promotion.

• Written By: Fernando Ibarra (X: Jferimsw)

87. KAORI YONEYAMA – GOKIGEN PRO

You may not realize it, but Kaori Yoneyama, maybe better known for the various “Death” gimmicks that she’s been in STARDOM, is one of the biggest workhorses on the joshi pro wrestling scene. Not only does she work pretty often for the biggest joshi promotion in the world, but she also runs her own shows under the former name “YMZ”, now called “Gokigen Pro”. When you add the various appearances she makes on other indies such as DIANA, WAVE, and PURE-J to name a few, it means that she’s going to work a ton of matches which is proven by the 166 matches she wrestled during our one- year scoring period. Her 42% win percentage isn’t exactly the best, but considering the fact that she plays more of a comedic character than anything, it checks out. During the year she won the Ice Ribbon Triangle Ribbon Championship on two occasions, but only successfully defended it once while holding it for a total of 67 days. She also picked up the Daily Sports Tag Team Championship with her partner Leon from PURE-J, and held it for 55 days of our grading period, while defending it three times. Even though she’s no spring chicken both in the business and in life, she still moves around very well for her age, which means she can still put on really great matches when she really needs to lock in. If I had a joshi wrestling Hall of Fame, she’d definitely be a first-ballot entry!

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

86. YURIKA OKA – SENDAI GIRLS

Had her tag team partner and fellow speedster Mio Momono not gone down with injury, Yurika Oka would likely be significantly higher on the list. Bob Bob Momo Banana has established itself as one of joshi’s most reliable and entertaining duos. Oka and Momono won both the Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship and the AAAW Tag Team Championship in the past 12 months. They knocked off teams like Reiwa Ultima Powers, Team 200kg, and Lena Kross & Veny. And they were damn fun to watch along the way. On her own, Oka didn’t rack up many wins but regularly faced Sendai Girl’s biggest names, showing herself to be a captivating singles star in the making.

• Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: RyanDilbert)

85. KOHAKU – PRO WRESTLING WAVE

Ever since Cohaku/Kohaku made her return to Pro Wrestling WAVE in 2022, it was clear that she was destined to become one of the company’s top stars. Over the past 12 months, she has taken major steps in that direction. She reached the finals of the 2024 Catch the WAVE tournament, ultimately falling short against Saya Kamitani, and also competed in Stardom’s Goddess of Stardom Tag League alongside Mei Seira, a partner she knows well from their days in Marvelous. Cohaku also found success in OZ Academy, capturing the OZ Academy Tag Team Championship with Tsubasa Kuragaki as the team Phantom Limit, dethroning FWC in the process. However, her biggest match of the past year came on January 1, 2025, when she unsuccessfully challenged newly crowned World of Stardom Champion Saya Kamitani for the Regina di WAVE Championship, a bout widely regarded as one of WAVE’s best matches of the year.

• Written By: Peps (X: Peps_Wrestling)

84. MISA KAGURA – FREELANCER

Misa Kagura has been a standout for JTO for over five years, but recently announced that she would be leaving the promotion to go freelance. She did say she is holding the door open to keep wrestling for the JTO, but wants to elevate her career by competing against the best in multiple promotions. She has been a regular in SEAdLINNNG and Ice Ribbon for years, while also performing for smaller organizations and appearing on several cards put together by Unagi Sayaka. During the grading period, Kagura established herself as somewhat of a tag team specialist. Alongside Sumika Yanagawa, she won the JTO Girls Tag Team Championship twice, while also capturing the International Ribbon Tag Team title with Arisa Shinose. As a singles competitor ,she also had her fair share of title opportunities, falling short against both Yanagawa and Aoi for the Queen of JTO title, Azusa Inaba for the JTO Girls Championship and to YuuRI for the ICExInfinity belt. She successfully defeated her friend Yanagawa for the UWA Light Heavyweight title. It will be very interesting to see what she’s going to do next, but you can bet she has her eyes on the prize wherever she ends up.

• Written By: DaveTCS (X: Dave_TCS4Life)

83. NANAMI HATANO – DIANA

Nanami Hatano is one of the more underrated young wrestlers on the scene in my opinion as she’s been slowly building her skills up over the five years that she’s been in the business. Like most wrestlers who start at a young age, I think Nanami got off to a bit of a slow start, as I think most companies are usually gun shy to really push a wrestler under the age of 18 strongly, but now at the age of 19, she’s finally hitting her stride. With awesome legends to learn from in DIANA like Jaguar Yokota and Kyoko Inoue, it should be no surprise that Nanami has such good fundamentals in the ring. As she continues to develop inside of the squared circle, there’s no doubt that she’ll be an important piece of not only DIANA but the joshi wrestling landscape. This year, she wrestled a total of 88 times, winning exactly 50% of her matches, which is definitely a step up from prior years where she was still paying her dues mostly. She also held three different championships during the grading period which were her first championships ever won! This year, she picked up the DIANA Crystal Championship, defending it twice successfully in 300 days, the Triangle Ribbon Championship that she didn’t defend successfully at all in her 13 days with the title and the DIANA Tag Team Championship, that she won with Rina Amikura, which lead to one defense in 86 days. All in all, it was a strong year for Nanami, and I think it will only get better from here!

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

82. AYAME SASAMURA – 2AW

Often overlooked, Ayame Sasamura has been a steady, indispensable presence on both the tag team scene and the overall independent joshi landscape. The hard-hitting bruiser, alongside Itsuki Aoki, is closing in on a year-long reign with the SEAdLINNNG Beyond the Sea Tag Team Championship. The champs’ three successful defenses include fending off Natsuko Tora and Ruaka from STARDOM. Sasamura can also be seen teaming with fellow Starlight Dreamers member Kotaro Yoshino who she won the 2AW Tag Team Championship with last fall. Regardless of her who her partner is, you can count on her delivering engaging, rugged wrestling in a variety of places, from Marvelous to a off-the-beaten-path show like Futaba Puroresu Vol. 2. Sasamura had notable success as a solo act, as well. Her reigns were short but she did hold the DIANA World Championship and the recently created Chiba Pro Wrestling Hyakkenden Championship. She boasted over 50 wins during the past year, too. That includes victories over current DIANA world champ Haruka Umesaki, Chi Chi, and Riko Kawahata. In large part because of the size of the promotions she works for most often, Sasamura may remain underappreciated but those that have seen her fun, fierce style in action know damn well how good she is.

• Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: RyanDilbert)

81. RINA YAMASHITA – FREELANCER

Rina Yamashita is quite a unique wrestler when it comes to this list because a lot of the matches she wrestles each year are against men in a hardcore setting. To me, I think that adds to the competition level a little bit since it’s different from most of the other joshi competitors, but maybe others see it differently. For me, Rina Yamashita is always an exciting worker to see on any card, because you know that she can have one of the hardest hitting matches of the night. When she really locks in, she’s one of the best freelancers out there in my opinion, and whether she’s tasked with being a powerful bully in the ring, or a lovable comedy wrestler, she’ll always deliver. Out of every other wrestler on this year’s list, Rina Yamashita worked the most matches, coming in at a whopping 168! Her 52% win percentage was pretty decent considering the amount of matches she wrestled, but it’s a little lower than I would have honestly expected. She held the GCW Ultraviolent Championship for 103 days of our scoring period, but didn’t successfully defend it during that span of time, probably because she wasn’t touring America too much like she had been in years past. She also placed 106 on the PWI 500 which is a list that includes mostly men, and only women who regularly work against men, so having her place that high is quite an accomplishment. Last year, she placed 80th on our list, and this year she only fell one spot, so it will be interesting to see next year if she ends up around the same area once again.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

80. MAIKA OZAKI – FREELANCER

A powerhouse and a workhorse of a joshi, Maika Ozaki will be there if you need a Big Girl putting on a show. During the grading period, she finally won her first major singles title when she defeated DIANA World champion Haruka Umesaki, having a 87-day long reign with two successful defenses. However, her tag team with Tae Honma (SPiCEAP) has also won gold in the last year, capturing the WAVE Tag Team titles two times, currently holding them as of the time of this writing. She has also made appearances at JTO, STARDOM, Prominence and her wrestling little sister Ram Kaicho’s promotion, 666.

• Written By: Fernando Ibarra (X: Jferimsw)

79. ACT YASUKAWA – ACTWRES GIRL’Z

The woman once known as Act Yasukawa,  now simply referred to as ACT, has been a very important part of Actwres Girl’z for a few years now. The former Wonder of Stardom champion has been a veteran performer the youngsters in AWG look up to. When the company got plagued by defections in 2024, ACT stepped up. She secured her first championship gold since her return to the ring in 2021, by winning the vacant AWG title. ACT, then part of the heel stable Beastz Rebellion, eventually joined the massive heel unit ActWres Killerz, alongside MARU and MARI. Her team with MARI also is the odds on favorite in the tournament to crown new tag team champions in AWG. 

The founding member of Oedo Tai in Stardom keeps her heel stature in AWG and continues to be a popular draw for the company. ACT seems to be working hard backstage and inside the squared circle to elevate the younger talent of the company. The Samurai Warrior can definitely still turn it up in the ring and is a massive threat to anyone she points her attention to.

• Written By: DaveTCS (X: Dave_TCS4Life)

78. MARIA – MARVELOUS

You can’t have a discussion about joshi’s best tag teams without talking up what Maria and Riko Kawahata do as a duo. Magenta remains one of the steady presences on the tag scene, a go-to source of excellence. In the past year, Maria and Riko continued their success as they held the  AAAW Tag Team Championship in the early part of the grading period. and later won the Marigold Twin Star Championship as part of the ongoing Marvelous-versus-Marigold rivalry. You could see those two delivering bangers just about everywhere: Marvelous. Sendai Girls, DEADLOCK, Pro-Wrestling Evolution, OZ Academy. Maria, in those bouts, makes sure she stands out. She’s a hard-hitting bruiser, an intimidating presence, and a wrestler that just exudes cool. That’s especially true since she and Riko adopted a darker, edgier look and attitude of late. When she’s given the spotlight outside of Magenta, she shines there, too. With more opportunities like she had against Crea in Pure-J or she is getting as Senka Akatsuki’s replacement in the Marigold Dream Star tourney, Maria’s bound to do even bigger things.

• Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: RyanDilbert)

77. CREA – PURE-J

Crea is a wrestler who falls under the radar a bit because she mostly just wrestles in PURE-J, though she’s recently been picking up more dates in Ice Ribbon as well. While I personally can’t say that I’ve watched a ton of her matches, I know she’s been putting in the work, and continuing to develop as a very solid wrestler who gets to learn from awesome veteran talent like Hanako Nakamori and Leon. During the year-long grading period, she wrestled 67 matches, which is a pretty good mark for a wrestler who normally only works in their own smaller promotion, and she came away with wins in 55% of those matches. She also had a decently long title reign with the Daily Sports Tag Team Championships that she held for 142 days with her partner AKARI and defended them twice successfully. While AKARI didn’t end up making the list this year, there’s a good chance that the team of Crea and AKARI will be a must for the list next year as long as injuries don’t derail them.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

76. JAGUAR YOKOTA – DIANA

Jaguar is the legend that keeps on giving, as she wrestles in her 48th year of competition, something that is almost unheard of in most parts of the world. While Jaguar doesn’t quite move around like she used to say…30 years ago, she still puts in a good effort each time she’s inside of the squared circle, which is really all you can ask for from such a legendary name in joshi puroesu. In terms of stats, Yokota wrestled 61 matches during our grading period which is quite a bit for someone of her stature, and she had by far the best win percentage of any wrestler who wrestled that amount of matches at a whopping 92%! Obviously, she’s not going to be pinned by many people because of the respect side of the business, but even in tag matches she really didn’t come out as the loser from her partner being pinned. It would take some digging, but that might be one of the best win percentages for a single year of all time in joshi. In terms of accomplishments, she did hold the Strong Style Women’s Tag Team Championship with Megumi Yabushita for the entire scoring period, and defended the titles three times. She also held the OZ Academy Pioneer Championship for 77 days, but didn’t defend it successfully at all. Still though, it’s a hell of a year for the 64 year old, and it doesn’t seem like she’s ready to slow down anytime soon!

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

Well there you have it for the first 25 wrestlers revealed to be on our top 100 list. Do you agree with our assessments? Do you think a wrestler should have been higher, lower or even made the list? Feel free to let us know on X, because ultimately the more conversation that we get to have about the best wrestling in the world, joshi pro wrestling, the better! Tune in next week at the same time to see who is ranked 75 to 51.

Thank you to everyone who helped out with this project, please check out their X accounts and give them a follow if you haven’t already.

Justin Stein – Writer at resuramag.com

Ryan Dilbert – Owner & Writer at resuramag.com

Fernando Ibarra – Writer at resuramag.com

DaveTCS – Writer at resuramag.com

Scott Edwards – The voice of the 5-Star Joshi Show & writer for various outlets including resuramag.com, and fightful.com

Peps – A great source for all things pro wrestling and especially joshi puroesu on X.

Pedro – The voice of The Outlet Wrestling Podcast.

Sondre Bjorn – The voice of the ActWres Stage Podcast on Youtube.

Aris Emmanouloudis – Writer at resuramag.com & member of the Professional Wrestling Studies Association. You can find his academic essays on pro wrestling from his X account.

Trent Breward – Writer at resuramag.com