For the second year in a row, WrestleMania Weekend will be a feast for the joshi fan.
Not only do they get to see the big promotions stateside, with both STARDOM and Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling running shows, but there will be plenty of indie fare to gobble up. That includes companies that bring in lots of joshi talent like West Coast Pro as well as sporadic appearances elsewhere from joshi stars like Rina Yamashita and Saya Iida.
Last year, TJPW delivered one of the better events all week. And Senka Akatsuki vs. Aja Kong on the Marvelous show got all kinds of deserved buzz. There’s a great chance for the joshi scene to create that kind of impact again. The cards look mighty good.
WWE pulled its deal with New Orleans to instead run Vegas for the second consecutive year. As expected, the rest of the wrestling world followed and built around WrestleMania. The result is a joshi-heavy docket in Sin City between April 15 to 19.
Whether you are attending in person or streaming the events from home, here’s what to expect from the joshi contributions to the WrestleMania Weekend experience.
Wednesday, April 15:
Pandemonium Pro, 3 pm at Bizarre Bar
A fresh face on the scene is set to make a hell of a mark. The Los Angeles-based promotion has a strong, diverse card overall, but there are two bouts joshi fans will be most interested in.
Natsupoi will take on indie star Johnnie Robbie and AMIRA, Janai Kai, and Saya Iida will compete in a three-way bout for the Pandemonium Pro Title.
The Natsupoi match is an absolute treat. One, because this is her first visit to the U.S. and two, because she has a tremendous opponent opposite her in the ring. Johnnie Robbie is one of the most exciting women in indie wrestling today. A dynamo with a surplus of attitude.
Saya wrestled in Vegas last year, and it’s great to see her there again. She’s really grown as an all-around performer in the last year-plus. There’s a good chance she, Amira, and Kai have a standout match.
Thursday April 16
TJPW, 11 am at Pearl Theater
West Coast Pro, 7 pm at Bizarre Bar
Marvelous, 10:30 pm at Bizarre Bar
This is the big day for the joshi enthusiasts. A jam-packed schedule.
We start with teej at the swanky Pearl Theater. It’s the same venue TJPW used last year, a place usually reserved for concerts that gave a classy air to the event.
And TJPW isn’t coming with some two-bit house show card. Three championship matches are headed our way. The revived Sakura Hattori will challenge Suzume for the International Princess Championship. Shoko Nakajima and Hyper Misao will take on the newly crowned tag champs, The IInspiration from WWE/TNA fame. In the main event, J-Rod will wrestle Yuki Arai with the Princess of Princess Championship.
These are all new champs, so don’t bet the house on seeing a lot of gold change hands, but it’s great to see matches with big stakes.
The show-stealer, though, promises to be a three-way between Mizuki, Miu Watanabe, and Miyu Yamashita. That’s three former POP champs going to war. It has a real chance to be one of the best matches of the whole week.
Thankfully, The West Coast Pro, just like last year, is very joshi-heavy.
The card features Aja Kong vs. Miko Alana from California. Mio Momono will challenge the aforementioned Johnnie Robbie for the West Coast Pro Women’s World Championship. As good as Natsupoi vs. Robbie promises to be, this one should be even better. Momono’s athletic ability and Robbie’s storytelling skills is an electric combo.
Lastly, West Coast is giving us Dani Luna vs. Senka Akatsuki.
Senka was super over with fans in 2025. She’s even more popular (and even better) now. There is going to be big energy surrounding this one.
Fans at the West Coast show won’t have to travel at all for the last Marvelous event as it’s in the same venue.
Mio Momono will join forces with Johnnie Robbie to take on Spark Rush (Sareee and Takumi Iroha). That is, of course, if Sareee can pull off the Herculean task of wrestling a show in Japan and traveling to and wrestling in the U.S. in the same day. That’s the plan should the airports not get in the way, and it will be a legendary moment if she can pull it off.
Elsewhere on the card, Ai Hozan takes on Miko Alana while Sora Ayame clashes with Maya World. The latter contest is an intriguing one. It’s quite the interesting combination with Sora being so old-school and minimalist in her wrestling where Maya is much more flamboyant.
And we blessed joshi fans get a rematch of Senka vs. Kong. These two will get to build on the magic they had last year. This one is can’t-miss stuff.
Also for Thursday, there are two spots you can catch joshi wrestlers on other shows. Rina Yamashita is teaming with Masahi Takeda in a three-way tag versus El Desperado & Jun Kasai and Nick Gage & Matt Tremont. This will be a part of the El Desperado Presents Death Vegas Invitational at 8 pm at the Horseshoe.
Then Yamashita will be at the midnight GCW: MDK Fight Club show at the same event. It will be Rina vs. Vipress vs. Charli Evans.
As a massive bonus, FMW legend Megumi Kudo will appear at the show.
Friday, April 17
STARDOM, 3 pm at Pearl Theater
The card STARDOM put together will have to be adjusted. Maki Itoh and a few other wrestlers were pulled from the show because of visa issues. Fuwa-chan is on that list and was supposed to team with Hazuki.
They still have two excellent matches in Athena vs. Rina and Alex Windsor vs. Saya Iida for the STRONG Women’s Championship.
Rina might be STARDOM’s best wrestler right now. She’s at least their most exciting performer. Her going up against one of the best American women wrestlers around will be fun to watch.
Saya and Windsor could be a blast, too with all that beef in the ring together. It’s a real slugfest in the making.
If STARDOM isn’t your bag, but you still want to see joshi wrestling that afternoon, you could instead watch Miyu Yamashita vs. Janai Kai at Bloodsport XV. Miyu fits so well into the Bloodsport style and aesthetic. And Kai should be a fun opponent as they trade kick for kick.
Sunday, April 19
SPARK Joshi, 12pm at HyperX Arena
The America-based joshi promotion brought in a lot of STARDOM talent to plug into its card. Hazuki, AZM, Rina, Natsupoi, Starlight Kid, and Aya Sakura are all appearing at SPARK’s second-straight Vegas event.
AZM will team with Aleah James vs. Rina and Alexis Lee. Aya Sakura is taking on both Vipress and Brittany Blake in a three-way clash. Natsupoi vs. SLK vs. Maya World vs. Dani Mo promises to be a high-paced affair.
In the main event, Hazuki will defend the SPARK Joshi World Championship vs. Jada Stone who joshi fans will recognize from multiple TJPW appearances. Hazuki won the title in Vegas last year in a standout match.
In addition, SPARK regular SAKI will face Jazmine Allure for the Atlantic Championship. Allure who is one of the most underrated wrestlers on the indie scene today. She will make for a damn good opponent for the veteran SAKI.
Along with all the in-ring action, joshi fans will get multiple chances to meet their favorite stars. SPARK Joshi and TJPW will host meet-and-greet events.
And tons of joshi wrestlers will be at WrestleCon including a lot of STARDOM talent.
If you haven’t shelled out for this kind of thing before, I highly recommend it. It’s great to have a keepsake in a signed photo and all, but the real value comes in the brief interaction you have with the wrestlers. I’ve had a lot of great experiences with them being super nice and appreciative of everyone’s fandom.
It’s not easy to make it all the way to Japan, so take advantage of them being on this side of the world.
Much like last year, the joshi scene will play a big part in what unfolds at WrestleMania weekend. Devoted fans and newcomers alike will have much to sink their teeth into. We should savor it, too, with no promises of all this happening again next year. WWE is taking WrestleMania to Saudi Arabia in 2027, and that means the traveling circus of the WM Weekend will have to find a different home.
For a list of all the events (non-joshi included) going on throughout the week, check out Voices of Wrestling’s Full WrestleMania Weekend Schedule.
RESURA 