The relationship between Mexico and Japan is a close one, with Mexico being a big business partner to the Asian country. Mexican imports from Japan mainly include manufactured goods like TV and automotive components.

Culturally, Mexico is an avid consumer of Japanese food, music, and media, especially anime, with series like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and Naruto becoming almost a religion for a lot of Mexicans.

Speaking of culture, there is no doubt that you wouldn’t find two other countries where professional wrestling is as rooted in their culture as Japan and Mexico. Lots of wrestlers have had excursions in the land of Lucha Libre. People like Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Ultimo Dragon, El Desperado, and Tetsuya Naito will be the first to declare that they wouldn’t be the same without their Mexican tours. This which has led to both joshi and luchadoras to clash in the ring across decades. Let’s take a look at some of the joshi and their runs in Mexico.

The earlier years

Once women’s wrestling was restored in Mexico City in the late 1980’s, not only did luchadoras have bigger stages to display their talent, but it opened the door for international stars to discover lucha libre; enter the joshi.

The first big name to stepped into Mexican arenas was Jaguar Yokota, who toured in Mexico in 1984, while being UWA World Women’s champion, a title owned by the Universal Wrestling Association, a Mexican independent promotion; she won it in Japan from Pantera Sureña, but lost it to Lola Gonzalez in Mexico City. Yokota was not the only joshi to win this belt, as Shinobu Kandori and Ayako Hamada also held it.

From 1985 and throughout the 90’s, several joshi wrestled for CMLL, including Chigusa Nagayo, Kyoko Inoue, Bison Kimura, Chaparita Asari, and Aja Kong. However, when speaking of accomplishments, certain names need to be brought up.

In 1992, Bull Nakano won a tournament to become the first CMLL World Women’s champion, defeating Lola González in the finals, and went on to have a 282-day reign, defending it across both nations against the likes of Akira Hokuto and Yumiko Hota, before losing it to Xochitl Hamada in 1993.

Speaking of Hokuto, she had one of the most illustrious runs for a joshi in lucha libre, since she actually moved to Mexico after marrying Mexican wrestler Máscara Mágica, performing there regularly from 1992 to 1995, where she even adopted the gimmick of Reina Jubuki, wrestling under a mask. It was during this run, in September 1995, that she had her mythical entrance at Big Egg Wrestling Universe, inside the Tokyo Dome, walking down the ramp to Luis Miguel’s “Oro de Ley”, a memorable moment for both Japanese and Mexican fans.

Lioness Asuka was another joshi who won gold in Mexico. After having wrestled there in 1985 alongside Chigusa Nagayo as the Crush Gals, she defeated Lola Gonzalez at the CMLL 63th Anniversary Show in 1996 to win the TWF World Women’s Championship, a title also held by Kyoko Inoue, Jaguar Yokota, and Yoshiko Tamura.

Becoming the norm

In the 2000’s, a new batch of talents tried to make a name in the industry by conquering Mexico.

In 2005, Hiroka Yaginuma, known for her work in Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling, embarked on an excursion to Mexico for a few independent shows before debuting in CMLL, where she would become a one-time CMLL World Women’s champion, and most importantly, she defeated Lady Apache in a Hair vs. Hair match, an extremely rare accomplishment for a foreigner, especially a woman, establishing herself as the top female heel in the company. Hiroka married Mexican wrestler Pequeño Damian 666, with whom she has a son. She retired from wrestling in 2010 to focus on her family.

When Akira Hokuto toured in Mexico in 1992, she was accompanied by Etsuko Mita, with whom she would form the “Las Cachorras Orientales” (The Oriental Bitches) tag team, later being joined by Mima Shimoda. After Mita and Shimoda continued teaming under that name throughout the 90’s and early 00’s, Shimoda moved to Mexico to wrestle for CMLL, while also performing for independent promotions. She also won a wages match, defeating Roza Azteca for her mask.

Puroresu legend Ultimo Dragon founded Toryumon in 1997, and he had the goal to combine the best aspects of lucha libre and puroresu, so he began to promote shows featuring talent from both countries, and this was in full display during the 2010’s, with joshi like Syuri, Kana, and the aforementioned Mima Shimoda. Also, “Threedom”, the Stardom trio consisting of Kairi Sane, Mayu Iwatani, and Iyo Sky had some matches there.

Continuing with Sky’s run in Mexico, she and her sister Mio Shirai toured the country wrestling under a mask and the names of Oyuki and Kaguya, respectively. Mio was only there in 2010, but Iyo returned in 2011 and went on to defeat La Malefica to win her mask in a four-way wages match. From 2012 to 2015, she would have a few more matches, including a World of Stardom match defense against Star Fire.

Going back to CMLL, Tsukasa Fujimoto and Hikaru Shida had a brief run in 2012. However, between 2014 and 2015, Maki Narumiya and Syuri would become key players during the REINA-CMLL partnership, with both becoming REINA-CMLL International champions. Syuri also captured the CMLL World Women’s title and the REINA World Tag Team title with La Silueta.

Setting the standard

In the late 2010’s and early 2020, Hana Kimura wrestled some matches for independent promotions, while wrestlers like Tae Honma, Shoko Nakajima, and Tsukushi Haruka did mini-tours in Mexico, wrestling for CMLL, but it was during this time that Kaho Kobayashi went to this company and had one of the best runs for a joshi in Mexico, having wrestled there between 2018 and 2019, culminating in a big Hair vs. Hair match at CMLL Juicio Final, losing to La Amapola. Even though she had to shave her head bald that day, she became one of the most beloved Japanese wrestlers in Mexico, reciprocating that love by creating her alter ego “La Pidita”. In 2023, she returned for a few independent dates.

After travel restrictions were lifted in 2021, CMLL celebrated its first Grand Prix de Amazonas, a Torneo Cibernetico where Team Mexico faces the International Team, and has since become an annual event, where joshi are usually the most anticipated talents. In the first edition, Tskushi Haruka, Momo Kohgo, and Tsukasa Fujimoto represented the land of the rising sun, with Fujimoto being the last eliminated from her team by eventual winner Dark Silueta. In 2022, Japan’s participants were Tae Honma, Hikari Shimizu and Mei Suruga, with the latter confessing she fell in love with Mexican culture. The 2023 edition had The Apple Girl once more, who was now being accompanied by Sumie Sakai and Makoto (Makoto also had a run in Mexico in 2014, where she would come up with the name of her faction “Las Fresa de Egoistas”, a mistranslation for “The Selfish Strawberries”). The fourth and most recent edition featured Sumika Yanagawa and Unagi Sayaka as Japan’s representatives.

As of the time of this writing, Yuuki Mashiro just finished a month-long run with CMLL, leaving a good impression on Mexican fans.

With joshi wrestling becoming more and more popular around the world, Mexico and lucha libre fans have been clamoring for Japanese wrestlers to perform in Mexican arenas, while joshi also seek to prove themselves in Mexico.

Anyway, here’s Mei Suruga being loved in Mexico: