It’s Friday, and you know what that means…it’s time for the next edition of the 2025 RESURA Joshi Top 100 List, where this time we’ll be covering the wrestlers who came in at number 50, all the way to just outside the top 25. As the list rolls on, you should see bigger and better names than the prior lists because some of these wrestlers had fantastic years that could have easily had them in the top 25 in a lesser year. The state of the joshi puroesu scene is truly special right now, and we’re all lucky to get to enjoy it in real time!

If you need a refresher on how we rate these wrestlers, we do so in three different categories: Skill, Influence and Competition.

Skill is determined by how good we thought that wrestler’s 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 get started with the wrestler who came in at number 50, make sure you’re up to date with who’s been on the list already. If you didn’t get a chance to read last week’s release, click HERE to do so. If you want to start from the beginning and see #100 to #76 click HERE. If you’re all caught up already, then continue on and enjoy reading what our talented writers have to say about these 25 great joshi pro wrestlers!

50. EMI SAKURA – AEW / CHOCO PRO

Long live the Queen! Emi Sakura celebrated her 30th year in professional wrestling just after the voting period for this year’s Top 100 ended, but she spent much of the previous year showing everyone how she’s aged like a fine wine. Emi continues to leave her mark on the scene in the way only she can – whether it’s one of the biggest platforms in the industry with AEW or helping foster one of the best and most creative environments in ChocoPro. Emi entered the voting period as a double champion, and although she didn’t hold onto either for much longer, she still played a key role in ChocoPro – particularly in establishing Mei Suruga’s reign as the Super Asia Champion. Emi Sakura’s impact will always be better appreciated the deeper you dive, and this year was no different.

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

49. TOMOKA INABA – JUST TAP OUT

Tomoka Inaba is one of the most impressive technical strikers in all of joshi puroesu and she got a chance to show that once again this year. Her position on our list didn’t change much from last year with her only moving up two spots, but her ability to put in great performances time after time in not only her home promotion of JTO but also STARDOM really helped cement the fact that she’s a future star who is a lot closer to the present than you may think. In Tomoka’s whopping 137 matches wrestled during our year-long scoring period, she only won 51% of them, however she filled the proverbial stat sheet when it came to accomplishments in her home promotion JTO. She held the Queen of JTO Championship twice during the year, sadly not getting a successful defense before the scoring period ended, and she added on the JTO Girls Tag Team Championship with her partner Aoi as well, which she held for 140 days, while defending it two times successfully. Tomoka might even be poised for more on next year’s list, because she’s already set up for a Wonder of Stardom Championship match against the champion Starlight Kid soon, so if she’s able to win that, it will give her a great start to her 2026 résumé. TAKA definitely struck gold when it comes to the Inaba sisters, but one has to wonder when the both of them will decide that they want to move to the brighter lights full time.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

48. SUZU SUZUKI – STARDOM

The redemption of Suzu Suzuki was a wonderful one to experience. It’s no secret that the majority of her 2024 was a letdown, especially coming off a year where she had won the 5STAR Grand Prix and looked destined to hold the World of Stardom Championship. Rather, that didn’t happen, and instead she was met with inconsistencies and joined NEO Genesis as a secondary member behind Starlight Kid and AZM. Her pairing with Mei Seira as CRAZY STAR did a lot of the work for her in the early going — even in 2025 — but it was Suzuki’s World of Stardom Championship match against Saya Kamitani that elevated her back to the undeniable level she was at pre-2024. They battled in Korakuen Hall in front of a sold-out crowd, and it was the Suzu Suzuki that was always seen as a future world champion. From there, Suzuki turned her back on NEO Genesis, turning back to her more rebel mindset. The match at All Star Grand Queendom against Mei Seira was truly her returning to full form — blood and all — and doing all they could to steal the show from the likes of Mayu Iwatani, Syuri, Kamitani, and Tam Nakano. Suzuki has returned to form and feels like she is climbing back to the top of STARDOM, slowly but surely. It was a year of redemption, a year of bouncing back, and a year worth celebrating for the Mi Vida Loca leader.

• Written By: Scott Edwards (X: ScottEWrestling)

47. MIYU AMASAKI – STARDOM

The joshi wrestler affectionately known as “Kevin”, Miyu Amasaki had a really good year during our grading period. Last year, she barely made our list at number 96, but this year she not only added some more accomplishments to her game but also improved her winning percentage to almost 59. Miyu Amasaki was also a part of one of the first five-star matches that Dave Meltzer had given out to a joshi match in quite some time when she teamed with Starlight Kid and AZM to win the Artist of Stardom Championships in February of this year. When it comes to accomplishments during the grading period, she won the Future of Stardom Championship and successfully defended it three times. She also won the aforementioned Artist of Stardom Championship, which she defended successfully two times. When you add to that, the fact that she was a part of the Neo Genesis team that won the New Year Unit Competition League, those accomplishments really helped Miyu make her way up the rankings. Miyu definitely has some detractors out there who feel she just spams various types of DDTs, but personally I feel like she’s truly grown more as a wrestler during this year long period than she ever had before. I still don’t think she’s at a level to be in really big matches as a singles star yet, but if she keeps on improving, she could definitely be a really marketable star for STARDOM going forward.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

46. HANAKO NAKAMORI – PURE-J

The long time veteran Hanako Nakamori once again had a strong year, proving why she is the “ace” of PURE-J even though the promotion doesn’t really get talked about enough. She improved on her ranking from last year moving up two spots on the back of a very good 59% winning percentage and a couple of title reigns, with one of the two being quite long to say the least. That aforementioned long title reign was the DIANA Tag Team Championship which she held for 279 days and defended successfully twice. She also held the PURE-J Openweight Championship for 41 days of our grading period, but in reality, that was simply the end of mammoth 602-day reign as the top champion of PURE-J. As always, she also had a strong composite rating of match quality, influence, and competition that ranked her 52nd out of everyone in the joshi scene. This year has been a bit of a struggle for her with injuries at least, but there’s a good chance you’ll probably be seeing Nakamori towards the middle of our list next year as well, because while she may not make a ton of noise when it comes to her work, she’s still very talented, and one hell of a workhorse.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

45. SAYA IIDA – STARDOM

“Macho Gori-San” Saya Iida feels like she’s just one step away from being a huge star in STARDOM, because no matter how often they knock her down the card, she impresses everyone with her performances. During this year’s grading period, she had a great year moving up from the 57th position last year, up to 45th this year with the help of amazing tag team work with her “Wing-Gori” tag team partner Hanan. Not only did that duo win the Goddesses of Stardom Championship and defend it four times, but they also captured the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League which led to them getting that shot at the tag titles in the first place. Before that, Iida and Hanan held the New Blood Tag Team Championships, but unfortunately only 23 days of the reign took place within this grading period. Ultimately as you can tell, Iida has been putting on a masterclass when it comes to tag team wrestling, but I feel we should also think back to last year’s 5STAR Grand Prix where Saya Iida didn’t look out of place at all in the proverbial “block of death” with the likes of Mayu Iwatani, Tam Nakano, Mei Seira, AZM, Tomoka Inaba, and Momo Watanabe. Some would have thought that Iida’s matches would have been the worst for a lot of the other wrestlers in the block, but instead her matches were some of the best because she always pushed her opponent to match her level of intensity and energy. While I’m not sure if BushiRoad will ever want to put one of the big two titles on Iida, I feel like they should definitely be open to the idea of having Saya Iida win the Wonder of Stardom title one day, because at times, she truly feels like the heart and soul of the promotion.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

44. MAKOTO – FREELANCER

Battlehardened veteran Makoto has basically wrestled everywhere in Japan throughout her 19-year career. Over the past years, she frequented promotions like Ice Ribbon, SEAdLINNNG,  YMZ, ChocoPro, Diana, and PURE-J. No matter where she goes, The Oriental Doll always seems to have title gold in her sights. She has proven to be a bit of a tag team specialist. Whether it’s making life difficult for the fan favorites of SEAdLINNNG alongside VENY as Las Fresas de Egoistas, or having fun alongside Sayaka as the Bellflowers in ChocoPro, Makoto always seems to be able to make a team shine and pick up title gold. Throughout the grading period, Makoto has picked up three tag team title belts: winning the Asia Dream Tag Team title with Sayaka and the Beyond the Sea Tag Team Championship with Nagisa Nozaki. But her most impressive run has to be her fifth reign as International Ribbon Tag Team champion alongside Hamuko Hoshi, which lasted 245 days and saw her defeat teams such as Mio Shirai & Unagi Sayaka and then champions Totoro Satsuki & Yuna Manase.

• Written By: DaveTCS (X: Dave_TCS4Life)

43. AZM – STARDOM

The High-Speed Bomb Girl AZM had a standout year defined by the rise of her faction, Neo Genesis. She kicked things off by winning the New Year Unit Competition League alongside her stablemates, a victory that earned the group a shot at the Artist of Stardom Championship. In one of the best trios matches of the year, AZM, Starlight Kid, and Miyu Amasaki captured the titles from Cosmic Angels. Her year wasn’t without setbacks, as she came up short in a high-profile challenge against her own teammate, Starlight Kid, for the Wonder of Stardom Championship at All Star Grand Queendom 2025 in Yokohama Arena in a match that also had the leadership of Neo Genesis at stake. AZM’s greatest triumph, however, came on the international stage. At New Japan’s Resurgence, she defeated Mina Shirakawa and Mercedes Moné in a three-way bout to capture the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship, marking her first singles title since her legendary High Speed Championship reign that established her reputation worldwide. Over the past year, AZM proved herself as one of Stardom’s fastest-rising stars. With her momentum building, it feels like only a matter of time before she breaks through to the very top of the promotion.

• Written By: Peps (X: Peps_Wrestling)

42. GIULIA – WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT

The Beautiful Madness has dropped down the ranks considerably, since grabbing the number 4 spot last year. Giulia had finished up her time in Marigold and had just made a big splash in NXT when last year’s list dropped. She immediately made her presence known in her new home, targeting NXT women’s champion Roxanne Perez. While unsuccessful in her first outing against Perez, Giulia quickly regained her #1 contender status with an impressive victory in the Iron Survivor challenge at Deadline. She finally unseated Perez as champion at New Year’s Evil and went on to have a few strong defenses against the likes of Lola Vice, Wren Sinclair, Perez, Cora Jade, and Bayley in multiple-person matches. However, she dropped her title after only a month to Stephanie Vaquer, her first real one on one challenge. After a few less successful months, the former World of Stardom champion finally got called up to the main roster and made her SmackDown debut, not wasting time and defeating Zelina Vega for the Women’s United States title. For the past year, Giulia has put her amazing talent and incredible charisma on display on WWE’s developmental brand and main roster midcard. Look for Giulia to keep improving and move to challenging for the WWE or World Women’s Championship soon.

• Written By: DaveTCS (X: Dave_TCS4Life)

41. MAKI ITOH – FREELANCER

In terms of casual name value in joshi puroesu internationally, Maki Itoh is one of the biggest stars out there because of how often she’s featured in video clips through social media. While a lot of people see her as simply a comedy wrestler, I feel like there’s a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to the “Cutest in the World”. Not only did Maki Itoh work on adding more moves to her repertoire this year, but she’s also locked in more often when she’s had matches in TJPW even with the promotion not really giving her a direction to go that isn’t tied to her tag team partner “The Pink Striker,” Miyu Yamashita. During the year-long grading period, she only wrestled in 69 matches (nice), and she came away with a win in 58% of those matches, but unless she was working overseas, a lot of those matches were of random tag team variety. She held the TJPW Princess Tag Team Championship with the aforementioned Miyu Yamashita for 175 days, which included four successful defenses, a strong title reign for the two after their first reign with the titles only lasting 13 days. She also held the GCW Extreme Championship for 202 days and defended it three times successfully during that time span. With her working so much in GCW against men, she also not only made an appearance on the PWI Women’s 250 (69) but also the PWI 500 (456). With Itoh recently moving on from TJPW via contract expiration, it will be interesting to see if she simply freelances or if she has much bigger plans to join another company. I know I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled to see what’s next for her.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

40. ARISA NAKAJIMA – RETIRED (SEAdLINNNG)

Early in our grading period, Arisa Nakajima ended her legendary 180year career. She debuted in 2005 at the tender age of 16 for AtoZ, a company that went out of business within a few months of Arisa’s debut. She continued as a freelancer and appeared regularly for JWP, winning the Junior Championship in 2006 and adding the JD Star POP title to it in 2007. The two titles would be defended together ever since, and she would be a two-time champion. She also ventured into other promotions like Wave and Ice Ribbon. Arisa was still one of the hottest young stars in the business when she shockingly retired in 2009. She returned to the ring in 2012 and started an incredible collection of championships, which included the JWP Openweight, Tag Team and Daily Sports Tag Team Championships, as well as the International Ribbon Tag Team and Reina International and Tag Team titles. And while Nakajima was a cheerful babyface for most of her career, she also showed signs of a dark side, especially during her feud with Kana. In 2017, she joined SEAdLINNNG where her star would continue to rise. She went on a long journey to defeat Nanae Takahashi and finally did so in an emotional hair vs. hair match for the Beyond the Sea Championship in 2019. For years, Nakajima was the ace of SEAdLINNNG , winning the Beyond the Sea title three times and having instant classics with athletes like Sareee, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Ryo Mizunami, and VENY. Arisa Nakajima has built an incredible reputation for herself as an outstanding technician, with great striking ability and a never say die attitude. Unfortunately, she suffered a few injuries in her final few years, which may have contributed to her decision to hang up her boots. At SEAdLINNNG’s 9th Anniversary, Arisa Nakajima had her official final match. She will be remembered as a fierce competitor who carved out an incredible legacy for herself.

• Written By: DaveTCS (X: Dave_TCS4Life)

39. SHOKO NAKAJIMA – TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING

The TJPW original had a standout year, embracing new roles and serving as a keystone for the promotion. Shoko Nakajima spent much of the grading period teaming with Hyper Misao. The duo consistently blended comedy and action en route to becoming one of the most entertaining acts in TJPW. Kyoraku Kyomei thrived. They won the Max Heart tag tourney and then claimed the TJPW Princess Tag Team Championship. Shoko and Misao beat Ober Eats, Miu Watanabe & Riku Tatsumi, and 121000000, and all manner of TJPW tag combos. On the singles side of things, Nakajima gave us some eye-catching matches including a battle against Emi Sakura, Kaya Toribami’s best career bout, and a clash with Hyper Misao that involved snake people and mind control. In addition, she won the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Championship. That belt has allowed her to be an ambassador for TJPW as she traveled to the U.S. to defend it. A wrestler who can deliver slapstick as effectively as high-speed style wrestling, the ever-reliable Nakajima is a great choice for that role.

• Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: RyanDilbert)

38. MEI SEIRA – STARDOM

STARDOM’s most underrated wrestler remains Mei Seira. Whether it be in singles, tag team, or trios action, Seira shines. She did that all year long, even while carrying the High-Speed Championship, which has mostly been inactive here in her second reign. Seira has the ability to be the promotion’s ultimate babyface, and her performance in her lone big match against a newly-turned Suzu Suzuki at All Star Grand Queendom being the true showcase of just that. The accolade of holding the High-Speed Championship the entire time is worth mentioning though, as a title around your shoulder always matters. Add in her work pre-breakup with Suzu Suzuki as CRAZY STAR, or her tag league run with Kohaku, and you just have consistent showcases of quality in the world of tag team wrestling. She isn’t one of the top two in NEO Genesis, but she’s often the one that steals the show when given the chance. She had a great year, and it’s possible to argue that there was plenty of room for it be even better. Seira is ready to make the step up, and STARDOM should give her the opportunity to do so.

• Written By: Scott Edwards (X: ScottEWrestling)

37. VENY – FREELANCER

One of the most recognisable faces on the joshi scene is freelancer VENY. She has made a big impact in companies like Sendai Girls, SEAdLINNNG , WAVE, and Marvelous over the past year. She is an excellent tag team wrestler, especially alongside her Las Fresas de Egoistas partners Makoto and Nagisa Nozaki. But even the most random pairing can lead to championship gold, as proven by VENY teaming with Lena Kross to grab the Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship. Even though the team didn’t have a long reign, it still shows how good VENY is. And she might even be better as a singles star, often main-eventing and challenging for championships. In January, the Yokohama native beat Sareee for the Beyond the Sea Championship in an excellent match. She defended the title so far against Yumiko Hotta and Honori Hana and is looking for a long title reign. Early in the year, VENY confirmed that she had also been wrestling as Tiger Queen, a female incarnation of the popular Tiger Mask. She also stated she wouldn’t be competing under the famous mask anymore and would concentrate on her career as VENY. And that can be considered a warning to other wrestlers. Because what VENY wants, VENY gets. So, champions beware!

• Written By: DaveTCS (X: Dave_TCS4Life)

36. MOMO WATANABE – STARDOM

Momo Watanabe has been known as one of best tenured wrestlers in Stardom history. Whether heel or face, Momo has been an important staple in Stardom’s history. One of most reliable wrestlers to ever grace the joshi scene, Momo has almost done it all and has faced a lot of iterations of the Stardom roster. At 18, Momo Watanabe became the Wonder of Stardom champion when she beat Io Shirai. In her reign, Momo Watanabe established herself as one of the best wrestlers in joshi and she seemed primed to become the total ace of Stardom. She talked down on everyone as if she was a 20-year vet. She was booked strong and backed it up in her wrestling matches. Sadly though, through the years, Momo has had her ups and downs in her tenure. In her 10-year wrestling career, she has had failed title challenges, tag runs, a heel turn, and quiet years while many people passed her up in hierarchy, it seemed like she would continue to stay in her place as a great wrestler who would never get the big one. In every chance she could, Momo Watanabe wrestled her best and tried to constantly remind everyone from the office to the fans and critics, that she could hang with anyone overseas and anyone in her home country. In 2024 and 2025, the scene for Stardom and joshi changed with the opening of Rossy Ogawa’s Marigold. As time went, we saw a lot of top wrestlers move over to Rossy’s new promotion, including Mayu Iwatani. With the moves, the Stardom roster seemed ready to stab at the open spots left by the leave. In 2024, she continued her challenging ways. In 2025, she kicked off her year by winning in a Tokyo Dome 4-way match for a shot at Mercedes Mone’s TBS title on AEW PPV. Things seemed on the same trajectory, as she lost her title challenge. Momo again seemed on one track until earlier these past months. Momo Watanabe, in her ninth attempt, would enter the 5-Star Grand Prix tournament. With no super clear winner in the minds of fans, Momo would get her way into the finalist column and would actually get to face her former Queen’s Quest and MOMOAZ member in the finals, AZM. With so much history, bad blood, and anticipation, we got to this finals at a crazy time. Momo Watanabe would go on to win the final, in maybe her biggest achievement yet. With the world still holding their doubts and still hoping for Momo to change herself, she has touched another achievement. In Stardom, she has just that one accomplishment hovering over her. With 2025 coming to a close, it seems Momo’s Stardom full circle journey is almost complete. At maybe her most hype right now, Momo might finally get to the top. Just maybe, finally. At 25 years old, she seems ready again.

• Written By: Pedro (X: PlugPedro99)

35. HAZUKI – STARDOM

The Wild Heart is probably one of the most underrated wrestlers in the world today. Hazuki is an outstanding allrounder. She can turn in a technical masterpiece like her December 2024 challenge for the NJPW Strong title against Mercedes Mone. She can brawl with the best of them, as evident by her recent clashes with DASH Chisako in Sendai Girls. She can also wrestle at a furious pace and take opponents down with a sensational aerial assault. Whether it’s alongside her FWC tag team partner Koguma or on her own, Hazuki is always able to turn heads and bring her A-game to every match. Championship opportunities in Stardom have been fairly limited this past year, with FWC only receiving one Goddesses of Stardom title match. The only gold the team won was in OZ Academy, where they defended the Tag Team title for 104 days. Hazuki’s other major accomplishments have also taken place outside the Stardom ring. She won her block in the Catch the Wave tournament, before losing to eventual winner Kohaku. But her biggest success probably came overseas, grabbing the Spark Joshi Championship from Lena Kross in April. Whether it’s in Stardom or in another promotion, look for Hazuki to continue to impress and maybe that major singles title will finally be strapped around her waist.

• Written By: DaveTCS (X: Dave_TCS4Life)

34. RYO MIZUNAMI – FREELANCER

Ryo Mizunami was once again omnipresent on the joshi scene, chopping folks in the chest everywhere from Ryogoku to TOKYOSQUARE. The charismatic powerhouse wrestled for just about every promotion, providing a veteran presence, bringing big energy, and bolstering many a tag team division. Aniki and Sonoko Kato won the AAAW Tag Team Championship after defeating the popular duo of Bob Bob Momo Banana. During the grading period, Mizunami also reigned as OZ Academy tag champs (with Kato) and held the Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship alongside Manami. Her quest for glory wasn’t limited to the tag scene, though. Mizunami conquered the TJPW Princess Cup field last summer, adding another trophy to her crowded mantle. She knocked off Mayumi Ozaki to claim the OZ Academy Openweight Championship. And she entertained every step of the way. It didn’t matter whether you were watching Evolution, Marvelous, YMZ, or Sendai Girls, if you tuned into joshi programming, more than likely you were seeing Aniki shimmying down to the ring and kicking ass.

• Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: RyanDilbert)

33. MIYUKI TAKASE – SENDAI GIRLS

The Phoenix of Osaka has been a respected part of the main event and upper midcard scene for over eight years. Miyuki Takase made her pro-debut in AWG in 2017 and worked herself up to AWG champion. She ventured out to other companies and over the past year she’s been a regular in companies like Sendai Girls, WAVE, SEAdLINNNG, Diana and Ice Ribbon, just to name a few. In Sendai Girls, she’s been part of the championship team Red Energy with Mika Iwata. In Pure-J, she tagged with Leon to grab the Daily Sports Tag Team title. And in Diana, she forms the popular duo Luminous with Haruka Umesaki. But Takase is more than just a tag team wrestler. She held the DPW Championship for over a year, defending it against the likes of Tae Honma and eventually losing it to Dani Luna. The popular athlete also held the Fukumen title for nearly a year. Miyuki Takase is one of those players that can elevate a wrestling card by her mere presence on it. She carries herself like a superstar and her ever growing skill set makes her a huge threat to everyone carrying a title belt to the ring.

• Written By: DaveTCS (X: Dave_TCS4Life)

32. MARI – ACTWRES GIRL’Z

There’s no doubt that the real ninja of joshi puroesu Mari has one of the coolest looks in the business, but she also happens to be one of the most steady talented workers out there as well! The nine-year veteran once again helped lead the way in Actwres girl’Z over this past year’s scoring period, not only putting in strong performances night after night, but also bringing a lot of lesser experienced wrestlers up along with her. Obviously, Actwres was in a bit of a tough spot when they had the exodus of quite a few of their more popular wrestlers when Marigold was formed, but both Mari and ACT took it upon themselves to help turn things around slowly but surely, and now Actwres is in a pretty good spot, at least in my opinion. Within our scoring period, Mari only wrestled 40 matches, but she did come away with a win in 65% of those matches, while also adding a newly introduced title to the promotion to her ledger. Not only was Mari the first-ever AWG King of Ring Entertainment champion, but she also defended the belt successfully five times during her 153-day reign. She also had one hell of a match against the woman who beat her for the championship, Sakura Mizushima which helped start her successful reign with the title that has lasted even longer than Mari’s at the point of this writing. I’m not sure if every fan would agree with me or not, but to me, Mari is the true “ace” of this promotion, and she’s the steady hand that can always be used to calm the sometimes proverbial rambunctious waters of AWG, no matter what transpires.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

31. MIKA IWATA – SENDAI GIRLS

Mika had an excellent 2024 just with her inter-promotion feud with Saori Anou alone, trading both the Sendai World and Wonder of Stardom titles,  but it was until September when Mika would bring Sendai’s top title back home, and although she lost it to DASH Chisako a couple of months later, she and Chihiro Hashimoto seem to be in charge of leading Sendai Girls into the future due to Meiko Satomura retiring. She reformed her alliance with Miyuki Takase to capture the Sendai Tag Team titles for the first time and went on to have a five-month reign. 

As one of Sendai Girls seniors, she definitely has stepped up in order to make the promotion a must-see.

• Written By: Fernando Ibarra (X: Jferimsw)

30. MIRAI – MARIGOLD

There are few wrestlers who proved themselves as a more reliable hand in Marigold’s first year than MIRAI. She consistently delivered inside the ring, whether it was as one half of the company’s inaugural Twin Star Tag Champions along with Mai Sakurai or in her incredible series of matches with Miku Aono. The Twin Star belts have proven to be the most volatile in the company so MIRAI and Sakurai putting together the strongest reign so far speaks to their initial success, but it is hard to look past the fact that her story in Marigold so far has seemingly been putting forth great performances but falling short at the final hurdle. Whether it was the Dream Star Grand Prix, becoming the first United National Champion or being the one to dethrone Utami, the end result hasn’t reflected how good MIRAI has truly been.

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

29. VICTORIA YUZUKI – MARIGOLD

Victoria Yuzuki is, simply put, the one. When she made the jump to Marigold after an incredible start to her career in STARDOM, it was with the intention of becoming the company’s ace in record time. And while she may not exactly be there yet, she doesn’t seem all too far off after her first year with the company. At less than two years of experience, Yuzuki is consistently in the spotlight — proving in every effort that she should be there. Yuzuki has been in the conversation of Marigold MVP since Day 1, doing so with less than two years of overall experience mind you. She earned her first major accolade at Marigold First Dream when she defeated Natsumi Showzuki to become the Superfly Champion. She’d defend the belt in strong defenses against Misa Matsui, Rea Seto, and Yuuki Mashiro before being trusted to be Mayu Iwatani’s first PPV opponent at Marigold Shine Forever. And while she’d lose the championship to her mentor, it was proof that she was ready for whatever is next in her career. To go with singles success, Yuzuki has also shown she’s a tremendous tag team wrestler — teaming with both Kizuna Tanaka and Utami Hayashishita in major matches and being the MVP on both teams more often than not. No matter the situation, Yuzuki steps up, and the scariest part of all is that she’s only going to get better and better. She may have ranked 29th this year, but something tells me she will keep climbing with another major year ahead of her as she celebrates her second anniversary.

• Written By: Scott Edwards (X: ScottEWrestling)

28. SUZUME – TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING

The Bee bloomed big time over the past 12 months. The speedy, winsome TJPW star fought her way up the company’s hierarchy. Her 72 percent winning percentage is a testament to her rising position in the promotion. After she and Arisu Endo lost the TJPW Princess Tag Team Championship, Suzume broke out on her own. She won the International Princess Championship by beating Yuki Arai, the longest-reigning champ in that title’s history. Following that victory, Suzume served as a workhorse champ, defending the belt often and against all comers. Not surprisingly, her title bouts against the likes of Jada Stone and her tag partner Endo were often high-octane affairs, making the International Princess Championship feel like a de-facto high-speed title. As TJPW’s pecking order continues to shift, you can expect Suzume to keep ascending, whether with Endo at her side or as a solo act.

• Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: RyanDilbert)

27. MEI SURUGA – CHOCO PRO

There’s this old saying that goes “Having a good match against X wrestler feels like cheating” because they can make anybody look good. Well, that wrestler is Mei Suruga. In the last year alone, she’s given Sayaka, Kaho Hiromi, and Hiyori Yawata the best matches of their careers… and one of them is a literal child. She and Emi Sakura are a big part of ChocoPro returning to Korakuen Hall, where they main-evented fighting for the Super Asia Championship, with the Apple Girl winning the promotion’s top prize. Mei has constantly the best match in almost every ChocoPro show, including nine title defenses against the likes of Miyuki Takase, SAKI, Chie Koisikawa, and Mei Seira. Outside her home promotion, she’s also made appearances in GLEAT, EVO Pro and PURE-J, plus international tours to the United States, India, and the Philippines. 

Mei is unquestionably ChocoPro’s Ace and she acts like it, putting over everyone in the roster, guests, and the promotion itself.

• Written By: Fernando Ibarra (X: Jferimsw)

26. MANAMI KATSU – ICE RIBBON

In 2024, Katsu returned to wrestling and to a very hurt roster. With Mifu Ashida, Grizzly Fujitaki, Saran, Yuki Mashiro on the verge of leaving, no Ibuki Hoshi, no Kaho, and a dwindling main event scene, Manami Katsu returned at the best time possible. At 30 years old, debuting in 2011, Katsu instantly put the old school energy back into the scene. Basically in her prime, Katsu brought that smash mouth energy back into the matches and shows in 2024 & in 2025. In the beginning of 2025, Katsu won the IcexInfinity title from Mashiro. Ice Ribbon seemed to finally find their gatekeeper veteran in Katsu. From day one of her return, she was bringing an insane level of brutal offense to every member of the Ice Ribbon roster. From the children to the people like Hamuko on the roster, she brought the fight to everyone, and she seemed ready for the title and every challenger. While watching her reign, she was not wrestling like the traditional 2020s joshi wrestler. She brought some JWP energy back from almost a decade ago. She gave no one any leeway while facing her. In the dojo and in the Korakuen main events, she felt like she never left wrestling in the first place. In her reign, Katsu has faced an interesting crop of wrestlers, from Totoro Satsuki to a returning Ibuki Hoshi, to Sumika Yanagawa, to Misa Kagura, to Akane Fujita, Katsu has faced any level of competition and has delivered in all her matches. In my eyes, in terms of show-to-show effort and energy, Katsu is at the top of my list for best champions this year. She actually feels like a classic traditional ace champion, in a world where many joshi wrestlers have turned to retirement. In a world where the scene seemed to shift away from a certain style and archetype, Katsu returned to wrestling to bring back that feeling.

• Written By: Pedro (X: PlugPedro99)

Well there you have it for the third 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 or lower? 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 in the top 25 and most importantly, who was voted as the best joshi pro wrestler over this past year.

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 – One 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