They say gifting cash is tacky. Joshi match recommendations on the other hand? Always a classy move. 

So, that’s exactly what we did. You’re quite welcome.

To celebrate RESURA’s second birthday, we’re handed out gifts in the form of match recs from across the joshi scene. All of them have a handy YouTube link. No gift receipt needed.

Some of us went with a retro bout while others chose action from just a few years back. We went with stuff from ChocoPro, All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling, and more. There’s plenty here to enjoy for new fans or longstanding joshi-heads. Enjoy!

*blows party horn*

The writers who chipped in: Dave/Ryan/Trent /Fernando 

Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Tsukushi Haruka, Ice Ribbon – New Ice Ribbon #1157 (Nov. 13, 2001)

Gifted by: Ryan

I offer the fine folks who read RESURA a flashback to when Fujimoto reigned as the queen of Ice Ribbon. 

This ICExInfinity Championship match is full of speed and savagery, a chair shot that I won’t ever forget, and some damn good chemistry. Fujimoto and Haruka wreck each other with delightfully hard strikes including some real “fuck you” kicks from Haruka. There’s a sense that are deeply pissed at each other and they aren’t just trying to win but to mess each other up.

To contrast the more slugfest side of things, champion and challenger also deliver a number of smooth and beautiful counters. Their chemistry sings.  

A great gift for fans wanting to discover more joshi wrestling outside of STARDOM and TJPW or to those who so sorely miss when Ice Ribbon was cooking.

Mei Suruga vs. Ryo Mizunami, ChocoPro – ChocoPro #53 (Oct. 4, 2020)

Gifted by: Trent Breward

There’s no better gift than ChocoPro at its most ridiculous; a Falls Count Anywhere in the truest sense of the idea where falls can count not just outside of the ring (or the mat in the case of Ichigaya Square) but also vertically and upside down. As long as your shoulders are pressed against something, you’re at risk of being pinned for a three count. 

What unfolds is a young Mei Suruga still in her second year of pro wrestling employing every bit of Looney Tunes creativity she can against a veteran in Aniki she’d otherwise stand little chance against. They use every inch of the space available to them to put on a show, producing an absurdly fun and entertaining showdown that lives on as one of the highlights of ChocoPro’s rich catalog.

Azumi Hyuga vs. Yoshiko Tamura, JWP – JWP Climax (Dec. 24. 2006)

Gifted by: Anonymous

This is the gift you didn’t know wanted but love once you unwrap it. An epic from an era that’s often overlooked when reminiscing about joshi’s history.

Two of JWP’s best collide with gold on the line three times over: the NEO Championship, JWP openweight title, and NWA Women’s Pacific Championship. 

It’s a masterpiece that is somehow crisp and chaotic at the same time. It’s filled to the brim with intensity and all the German suplexes you can handle. You get some nasty strikes and a big table spot. Plenty of highlights from bell to bell.

Arisa Hoshiki vs. Utami Hayashishita, Stardom – 9th Anniversary (Jan. 19, 2020)

Gifted by: Fernando

I know my Tam Nakano bias is strong (I miss you, Tam!), so of course Arisa’s White Belt defense against her is my favorite, but I also couldn’t recommend this match enough.

Stardom was celebrating its 9th Anniversary show at Korakuen Hall, and in the middle of Arisa Hoshiki’s epic Wonder of Stardom Championship reign, Utami Hayashishita, the then SWA Undisputed World Women’s champion, stepped up to challenge the Shining Star, and holy hell!, if the previous title defense against Konami didn’t solidify Arisa as one of the most brutal stickers, this one definitely did. The Queen’s Quest member gave her all, which resulted in her getting busted open and giving us that iconic image of her putting the champion is a hold while wearing the Crimson Mask. Arisa showed that sadistic side of her when she refused to pin Utami after a knee strike, just to force her to stand up and hit the Brazilian Kick to finish her up.

SPECIAL SIX EXPLOSION: Lioness Asuka, Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Manami Toyota, Kaoru Ito & Nanae Takahashi, AJW –
Odaiba W Explosion (July 11, 1999)

Gifted by: Dave TCS4Life

A gift has to be special. So I tried finding a match that’s special and unique in every way. Sometimes just having a normal match isn’t enough. Sometimes promoters heighten drama with special stipulations: this isn’t just any match, it’s Falls Count Anywhere, it has No Disqualifications, or they’re fighting over an old lady on a forklift. Sometimes special items are added to the match, like cages, tables, ladders, or a tank filled with piranhas. And sometimes the Fates themselves throw a little something towards the match that turns it from a normal bout into a spectacle very rarely seen. The latter is the case here.

In 1999, AJW held its television matches in a makeshift arena atop the Fuji TV building. On this very night, the heavens opened up and rain poured down onto the six wrestlers in the ring. The ramp and ring quickly became soaked and the six athletes slipped and slid all over the place, which actually, if you think about it, makes this match really quite dangerous. But it also takes a normal six-women tag team match and creates something truly epic and rarely seen.

The match lasts about 23 minutes and it flies by as wrestlers fly and slide around the ring, trying not to kill themselves or their opponents on the rain soaked mat. It’s beautiful chaos! 

Sareee vs. Rin Kadokura, Marvelous – 3rd Anniversary (May 12th, 2019)

Gifted by: Fernando

The match that introduced me to Sareee, Rin Kadokura, Marvelous and helped me to get invested in Joshi Wrestling.

By the end of 2019, I mainly watched Stardom and TJPW, with the occasional AJW match here and there, so when this was recommended to me, I decided to give it a try and what a great decision it was.

In retrospect, this could pass as just a regular “Special Singles Match” promotions book at their big shows, but for me, it was one of the matches that got me hooked on joshi and I haven’t looked back since.

Sareee’s skills and Rin’s passion clicked perfectly and inspired me find more and more names in the joshi scene, which resulted in me falling in love with professional wrestling all over again, and if this does the same for everyone else, just one person, it would be the greatest thing.