Every year, as a sports fan in general, I always look forward to reading interesting articles that gives you a different outlook on the sport than you might have had prior. One of the most interesting articles that The Athletic normally puts together for ice hockey, my favorite sport, is the results of a survey they send out to many players in the league where they answer various questions anonymously, like who’s the most underrated or overrated player, or what’s the best city to play in as a visiting player.
Surveys in general, are interesting tools to help gather data, that you can use, to help get a read on what others are thinking about topics that are important to you. As a numbers guy myself, I’m always interested to see the results of surveys because it’s fun to see how many people are on the same wavelength as you, or who is thinking about it in a completely different way.
When it comes to pro wrestling, there are a few surveys that are prominent year after year, like the Voices of Wrestling: Match of The Year survey for instance, that goes out to members of the wrestling media in order to come up with what the best matches of the year were. While that survey is good for putting spotlight on pro wrestling as a whole, I wanted to make something that is more focused on the wrestling that I enjoy the most—joshi puroresu.
With this being the first year of the survey, just about all of the questions were thought up by myself, meaning that there were probably going to be some questions that should be refined in the future or added if they weren’t already covered in the first place. While quite a few of the earlier questions were covered by multiple choice or check boxes, a lot of the later questions were short answer, where the survey taker could type in whatever answer they wanted, causing there to be quite a large spectrum of answers. Seeing so many varied answers was honestly awesome, and while I won’t cover every single answer in this article, there will be a link at the bottom of the page that will redirect you to a spreadsheet with all of the answers submitted so that you can see just how many different answers there were.
For a first time survey like this, I was pretty happy with the 108 people along with myself who decided to take our survey, and hopefully next year when we bring it back, we’ll have even more. As I cover each question, I also intend to give you what I put down as an answer myself, because maybe you might find that interesting. With all of that said, we might as well get started!
1. What Country Do You Live In?
While some may feel like a question like that could be a bit invasive, for me it was interesting to see what kind of reach we had when it comes to fans around the world. Joshi pro wrestling may take place in Japan, but the fans of it span the entire world, and that could be seen with our results. The country that came in first place was the United States with 49, which probably shouldn’t be too much of a surprise considering how big pro wrestling, in general, is here in the states. Second place ended up being the United Kingdom with 11 which also shouldn’t be too much of a surprise because of pro wrestling’s popularity on the other side of the Atlantic. There was actually a three-way tie for third place between Brazil, Canada, and Italy who all sent in five entries a piece. We actually did have two people from Japan submit surveys as well, which was pretty cool, and hopefully in the future we can format the survey to be more friendly to Japanese fans so that they can easily fill it out as well.
2. When It Comes To Your Wrestling Mix, How Much Joshi Wrestling Do You Watch?
The second question of the survey was multiple choice and it was put there to gauge how much joshi pro wrestling the survey taker actually consumes. There are no problems with watching all kinds of wrestling, no matter the gender, but to fill out a survey that is specific to joshi pro wrestling, I kind of expected the results we ended up getting. The top answer was “Mostly Joshi Wrestling” that 75 people answered on their surveys. In second, was people who watch “Some Joshi Wrestling” which accounted for 21 people, followed by “Only Joshi Wrestling” which came in third with 12. Only one person put down that they watch “A Bit Of Joshi Wrestling” but I can respect that they still filled out the survey. Personally, I answered “Mostly Joshi Wrestling.”
3. What Type Of Joshi Pro Wrestling Media Do You Ingest?
I know that with my fandom of joshi pro wrestling, I love being able to listen, watch, and read media that is produced about the wrestling I love the most, and it was interesting to see how others consumed the same media that I enjoy. The top answer ended up being both “Video and Written Content” with 34 people choosing that answer. Second was just “Video Content” which accounted for 20 people, and third place was “Podcasts, Video, and Written Content” which 18 people chose.
I also crunched the overall numbers of the answers available, and realized that out of 109 people who were surveyed, 86 of them view “Video Content” made about joshi pro wrestling, which is 79%. “Written content” came in second place with 64 which is 59%, and “Podcasts” came in third place with 40, making up 37% of the surveys turned in. I love all media about joshi pro wrestling, so I picked all three myself.
4. What Type Of Written Content Do You Enjoy From ResuraMag.com?
This question was more so focused on what we do here on ResuraMag.com, as I wanted to get an idea on what people enjoy reading on our joshi pro wrestling focused site. We try to offer a plethora of various articles, lists, interviews, and more, and hopefully there will be more and more content that we will be able to release soon. There were a ton of combinations of answers on this one, but the top singular answer was “Long & Short Form Features, Top 100 List, Various Lists, Wrestling Interviews“ which seven people chose in particular.
The best numbers you can pull from the answers on this question is the totals for each of the boxes you could have checked. The top choice was “Wrestling Interviews” which was chosen by 49 people, but shortly behind that was “Long & Short Form Features” with 47. The “Top 100 List” and “Various Lists” came in the next two spots not too far behind with 45 and 43 respectively. There were also 25 surveys turned in that had said they weren’t aware of our site, or chose not to answer, so hopefully because of this survey, we at least got our name out to them and they decide to give us a try in the future.
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5. Do You Listen To Any Joshi Pro Wrestling Related Podcasts? If So, Which Ones?
Since I have a job that a lot of times doesn’t involve a lot of critical thinking and can get quite boring at times since I work overnight, I listen to my fair share of pro wrestling podcasts, especially ones that cover joshi pro wrestling in particular. Going into this, I wondered if there were quite a few others like me, and the results were interesting to say the least. First things first, there were 51 people who answered that “they don’t listen to joshi pro wrestling podcasts.” That was slightly more than I expected, as that’s almost half of the people who took the survey, but at the same time, not everyone has time to listen to podcasts with how busy everyday life can be, which is totally understandable. There were two singular answers that tied for first place which was “Cult Of Joshi” and “STARDOM Quest Gold” that both had five people select their podcasts without selecting any of the others, showing some loyalty to one podcast in particular.
When we take a look at the overall numbers for the podcasts that people listen to, the top spot was taken by “STARDOM Quest Gold” by Alex and Dylan which was selected by answers turned in by 25 people. Coming in second place was “The STARDOM Cast” by Rob and Matt which was selected by 18 people. One of the podcasts that I had left off of my original list for selection was “Wrestling Omakase” as I completely forgot about it when I was putting things together, but they were mentioned in the other section by three survey takers, which is honestly pretty good for not being on that original list. I listen to all of the podcasts listed, and I was the only one who selected that answer.
6. Do You Watch Any Joshi Pro Wrestling Related YouTube Content? If So, Which Ones?
With video content there’s a few different ways that you can cover what’s happening in joshi pro wrestling. The results of this survey shows that simply delivering news, or reviewing a show isn’t the only thing that people are looking for. There are quite a few YouTube channels out there that cover the best wrestling, but only one came in first place, both being picked singularly by the people taking the survey, and in the totals. “Meerkat Ultra” was the big winner in this survey as they had 19 people say that they only watch Meerkat’s content out of everyone else I mentioned, and when you total up all of the answers together, Meerkat’s name was listed in 54 people’s surveys, which is just under 50%! I feel like this data shows that people like a little extra entertainment with their joshi pro wrestling coverage, and Meerkat Ultra delivers that in spades!
The two YouTube video series that came in at the next two spots was Scott E Wrestling’s “5 Star Joshi Show”, along with his other great content, and “HypeTalk TV’s Wrestler Interview” series that has allowed English speaking fans from around the world to get to know some of the awesome joshi pro wrestlers better. There was eight people who selected only the “5 Star Joshi Show”, and in total 34 people marked that they regularly watch the program along with other stuff. When it comes to “HypeTalk TV”, five people singled out that channel’s videos as the only video content they watch, and overall 30 people had them marked down as a regular viewer. There was also 21 people who said they don’t regularly watch joshi pro wrestling video content.
7. What Joshi Promotions Do You Watch Regularly?
When it comes to what promotions the people watch regularly, there are a lot of possible answers, so we’ll mostly focus on the overall totals as I feel that’s more important anyway. Not only is STARDOM the biggest joshi show in Japan, it’s also the most popular with the international fanbase who took part in this survey as they were chosen by 93 people, which is a whopping 85%! While the booking isn’t everyone’s favorite, they are definitely doing something right to keep people invested in their product. The promotion that came in second place might surprise some, but it makes me happy to see it, TJPW came in strong with 79 people out of the 109 who says that they watch the product regularly. I feel like TJPW is off to a pretty hot start this year, and it’s good to see that people are tuning in to see it for themselves. Sendai Girls and Marigold came in at third and fourth, appearing on 74 and 70 surveys respectively.
8. Choose Your Favorite Joshi Promotion
Naturally, after asking what all promotions you regularly watch, I had to make things that much difficult and make you choose only one promotion as your current favorite. When backed into a corner, the promotions were a lot more spread out compared to the question before, and it’s probably no surprise, but STARDOM came in first place quite handedly as they were chosen by 51 out of 109 people who took the survey. Just like the question before, TJPW came in second place, this time being quite far behind STARDOM by only having 21 people choose them as their favorite. The only other promotion to be in the double digits was Marigold, which 16 people chose as their favorite promotion. My personal choice was STARDOM as I have honestly enjoyed their booking for the most part, and the overall high level of their pro wrestling.
9. What Is Your Favorite Annual Joshi Wrestling Tournament Or League?
We then turned our attention to the various tournaments and leagues that happen each year on the joshi scene, which honestly is something I always look forward to the most. When two joshi pro wrestlers stand toe to toe in the ring against each other in a singles match, the intensity seems to rise, and sometimes you get something truly special! After asking everyone what their favorite tournament or league was in joshi, once again STARDOM reigned supreme as their “5STAR Grand Prix” overwhelmingly took more than half of the possible votes with 66. Marigold’s “DREAM STAR Grand Prix” came way behind in second place with 14, and TJPW’s “Tokyo Princess Cup” tournament came in third with 12. My personal choice was the 5STAR because this past year’s league was spectacular, especially with the continued ascent of Rina that we all got to witness.
10. Choose Your Favorite Joshi Wrestling Venue In Japan
Even if you’ve never been to Japan yourself to see a joshi pro wrestling show in one of the many great venues that the country has to offer, you still can’t help but to have a favorite venue that you enjoy seeing the wrestlers wrestle in. I’ve been lucky enough to go to Japan twice now, and I’ve been able to watch a show in many of the venues I listed. There’s something truly special about seeing a show in Korakuen Hall, and a lot of people agreed with me even if they may have only been watching through a screen as Korakuen Hall came in first place with 45 votes. Shinjuku FACE came in second place with 22 votes, and it’s honestly a shame that the venue will be no more by the end of the year. That venue has such a cool atmosphere with it being more of a concert venue than anything, yet it works so well as a wrestling venue. While I haven’t been to the venue that came in third place, it’s definitely on my bucket list as KBS Hall in Kyoto racked up 19 votes. The stained glass in the background makes the photos that people take of the wrestlers posing look so cool, and it gives the show a great backdrop during the matches as well.
11. Do You Subscribe To Any Streaming Services For Joshi Wrestling Promotions?
The next question covered the various streaming services that the joshi companies use for all of us around the world to be able to watch their products and enjoy the wrestling they give us. The services vary in price and scale, and because of that it might be easy to understand why the first-place streaming service was chosen. What service was that you ask? Wrestle Universe of course! Out of the 109 people we surveyed, 87 of them are a subscriber to Wrestle Universe and considering how great of a deal it is, I can’t even blame them. Not only do you get some prominent men’s promotions like NOAH and DDT, but you also get quite a few joshi promotions like TJPW, Marigold, Sendai Girls, and Marvelous. It truly is the best bang for your buck! Unsurprisingly, STARDOM World came in second place with 67 subscribers. While you may only get STARDOM related content with their service, they normally run a lot of shows every year making the price of their service more than worth it, especially with them putting on such great shows.
12 & 13. Have You Ever Been To Japan? / Have You Ever Been To A Joshi Pro Wrestling Event Live In Japan?
These two questions go in tandem, because you obviously haven’t been to a joshi pro wrestling show in Japan if you’ve never been to Japan before. Out of the 109 people who completed our survey, only 33 of those people have been to Japan before, meaning that 76 people have not. Obviously, not everyone is blessed enough to have the means to take a trip across the world to visit such a beautiful country, but I can say, that if you ever have the opportunity to visit Japan, make sure to take full advantage of it! Not only is there awesome joshi pro wrestling, but there’s so many things to see and experience while there.
14. Who Is Your Favorite Current Joshi Pro Wrestler?
With this question, we moved on to the more wrestler focused questions, and there was no reason to put it off any longer, as it was time to force everyone to state their current favorite joshi pro wrestler. After tallying up the votes, the wrestler who took the top spot for this one was none other than Sareee who received 10 votes. Sareee has been one of the biggest stand outs in joshi wrestling over the past couple of years, so it’s no surprise that she’d be picked as quite a few people’s favorite. The wrestler who came in second was the 2025 STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix winner Momo Watanabe who recieved 9 votes. Starlight Kid came in third place with 7 votes, which isn’t too surprising considering how popular of a character the Sky Tiger is. My personal selection was Hazuki, who ended up with a total of 4 votes including mine.
15. Who Is Your Favorite Joshi Pro Wrestler Of All Time?
The question before this only covered who your current favorite wrestler was, but now you have to think a bit harder as I ask you who your favorite joshi pro wrestler of all time is. Joshi pro wrestling has been pretty popular for many years already, meaning that there’s a lot of wrestlers to choose from. The wrestler who captured the hearts of the most people who participated in the survey was none other than Io Shirai otherwise known as IYO SKY now in WWE who received 17 votes. It should probably be no surprise that her Thunder Rock teammate Mayu Iwatani came in second place with 12 votes. The recently retired Tam Nakano rounded out the top three by scoring 7 votes. Tam’s ability to connect with her fans was truly something special to watch, and I can admit that after meeting her before, she definitely had that something special within her. My personal choice for this was Hana Kimura, as I wouldn’t be the fan of joshi wrestling that I am today without her. There were four other people who agreed with me, selecting her as their all-time favorite as well.
16. What Is Your Favorite Joshi Pro Wrestling Match Of All Time?
There have been a ton of amazing joshi pro wrestling matches over the years, so it should be no surprise that a lot of matches were represented with this question being asked. There was one match that was chosen double the number of times as the second-place match and that was Tam Nakano vs. Saya Kamitani from All Star Grand Queendom 2025, which was chosen by 14 people as their favorite match of all time. The emotionally charged match, that was not only well worked in between the ropes but left lasting memories from the entrances all the way until the show faded to black. The match that came in second place was Io Shirai/IYO SKY vs Mayu Iwatani, and while it wasn’t really established which of their few singles matches was seven people’s favorite, I think it’s understandable why these two battling each other in the ring would be the favorite of quite a few people. The third-place match was Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori (the first match) which is always talked about as being one of the best joshi matches of all time. Six people chose it as their favorite, and if we had even more people take the survey, I could definitely see that number going up quite a bit. My personal choice was Arisa Hoshiki vs. Tam Nakano for the Wonder of Stardom championship, as it was one of the first matches that I saw when I got my subscription to STARDOM World that made me want to show my friends. The story telling and hard-hitting nature really connected with me personally.
17. Who Is The Best Joshi Wrestler Who Is Known As A Power Wrestler?
Now that we’ve selected the favorite joshi wrestlers of the wonderful people who donated their time to us to fill out the survey, it’s time to ask questions about who people think the best wrestlers of a certain type are. What do I mean by type you ask? Power, Technical Skill, High Flying, High Speed, and Submission Use. As you can see by the question, the first of the bunch we tackled was who the people think the best Power wrestler is. I didn’t qualify it by asking for current or all time, so you’ll see that some of the answers reflect one or the other.
There was a pretty overwhelming winner for this style of wrestler and that was none other than the “Ace” of Sendai Girls Chihiro Hashimoto who garnered 32 votes. Not only is Chihiro probably one of the greatest amateur style wrestlers ever in joshi pro wrestling, but she’s also an absolute monster who uses her power even at her short stature to throw around anyone that is put in her way. The wrestler who finished in second is who I consider the “Ace” of TJPW currently and that’s Miu Watanabe who got 17 votes. Miu might look somewhat unassuming when you see her outside of the ring since she’s also an idol, but when she gets into the ring and start throwing women around, you quickly realize that you’re seeing one of the stronger wrestlers for her size on the scene. The only other wrestler who got more than 10 votes was Aja Kong who received 12 votes and is probably the greatest all-time power wrestler in joshi, at least in my opinion. Chihiro Hashimoto was my pick however for this one.
18. Who Is The Best Joshi Wrestler Who Is Known As A Technical Wrestler?
Sometimes explaining what I mean when I say a wrestler is great technically can be difficult, because there’s quite a few things that goes into it. For one, in my opinion a great technical wrestler is one who performs their moves seamlessly and a wrestler that you can trust to be in there with even the newest wrestlers where you know they’ll put together a good match. I also normally attribute a great technical wrestler to be one who can perform a lot of suplex variations and handle themselves really well in chain wrestling situations.
With that said, there was another overwhelming favorite when it came to the wrestler that people voted the best technical wrestler in joshi and that was none other than the current IWGP Women’s champion Syuri. With the definition that I put in the paragraph up above, I would say that Syuri fits that perfectly. She received 26 votes, which is 16 better than the second place wrestler Chihiro Hashimoto who only received 10 votes, but is someone who is very understandable to choose as the best technical wrestler in her own right. The wrestler who came in third place was none other than Sareee with eight votes, and she’s widely seen as one of the best overall wrestlers on the scene currently. My personal pick was Asuka/Kana.
19. Who Is The Best Joshi Wrestler Who Is Known As A High Flying Wrestler?
Some people feel like High Flying and High Speed wrestlers are one in the same, but in joshi at least, I don’t feel like that’s the case. There are some wrestlers who can wrestle at a very high pace, but don’t really climb the ropes all that much, and the opposite can be true as well. With that in mind, I was honestly quite happy with the results for this question and the next as we got some different names at the top.
It might be a bit of a surprise, or an upset, but the top wrestler voted for this category was none other than the “Sky Tiger” herself Starlight Kid who received 24 votes as the best high-flying wrestler. While Starlight Kid has changed her style a bit over the years to become even more technically proficient, she’s still someone who loves to climb the turnbuckle when the matches mean the most, and that’s shown by her being selected by so many people. Second place wasn’t too far behind though, as the “Genius of the Sky” Io Shirai/IYO SKY was selected by 22 people as the best high-flying wrestler. To be honest, I kind of expected her to get the most votes, and she’s who I chose myself, so it’s no surprising that 21 other people agreed with that assessment. Third place was a bit farther back, but it’s someone who has quite a bit of history with the top two wrestlers. Mayu Iwatani garnered eight votes, and there are definitely arguments that can be made that she could have been selected over Starlight Kid and IYO depending on a person’s preference.
20. Who Is The Best Joshi Wrestler Who Is Known As A High Speed Wrestler?
Like I mentioned above, there’s a definite difference in being high flying and high speed, which is why the top two names you see as answers for this one are different from the top three from the last question. In my opinion, when high speed wrestling is being done correctly, it’s one of the things that truly makes joshi wrestling different than other women’s wrestling around the world. The way that joshi wrestlers can work so quickly, while also showing so much skill is truly something to marvel at, and the wrestlers selected for this question exemplify that completely.
There was a pretty large difference between the top vote getter and second place, but honestly I can’t really argue with so many people choosing AZM as the number one high speed wrestler who ended up with 42 out of a possible 109 votes. She was by far the wrestler who got the most votes for one of these category based questions about wrestlers with certain best skill sets. AZM is honestly so incredibly skilled, and can be a star whether she ends up staying in Japan forever, or ends up giving the whole international thing a try like her original mentor IYO SKY. The wrestler who got the second most votes was Mei Seira with 19 votes. She is absolutely incredible, but I think she is sometimes overshadowed by being in a faction with Starlight Kid and AZM as they are pretty big stars in STARDOM to say the least. Third place was pretty far behind as well and was aforementioned Starlight Kid who only received six votes. AZM was my personal vote on this one.
21. Who Is The Best Joshi Wrestler Who Is Known As A Submission Wrestler?
Some feel like being a great technical wrestler and a great submission wrestler are one in the same, however I’d argue that it is a bit different at least. Being technically proficient doesn’t automatically mean that the wrestler is going to be a submission sniper. I’d say that Sareee is a great technical wrestler for instance, but I wouldn’t say I’d consider her a submission wrestler per say.
I say all that just to end up pointing out that the wrestler who was voted as the best techincal wrestler also was voted as the best submission wrestler, with Syuri taking the proverbial cake for this one with 29 votes. With Syuri’s MMA background, it should be no surprise that she’d know her way around a ton of submissions, and I feel like she actively shows us that, especially in big matches. A wrestler who has been pretty closely connected with Syuri came in second place, and that was none other than Konami who ended up with 24 votes. Konami’s style isn’t always all that flashy, but if you want to see a wrestler get put in various submissions while being in immense pain, you send them in there with Konami, because the way she can work over different parts of the body is truly something to behold. The wrestler who came in third is a bit of a throwback to say the least as it was Mariko Yoshida who got six votes. I can personally admit that I don’t much about Mariko Yoshida, but I’ve heard the name a good bit from people who have watched joshi wrestling back in the day, so it’s cool to see her name pop up for this. My selection was Asuka/Kana personally, though I feel she doesn’t get a chance to show these skills as much anymore over here stateside.
22. Which Joshi Pro Wrestler Do You Think Is Overrated?
When you use the term overrated it could mean various things. Some people see it as a wrestler who is pushed way too strongly by their company, while other may see it more as a wrestler that people herald as being amazing in ring, but to you, they don’t really feel all that special. No matter which way you choose to take it, the people have spoken and the most overrated wrestler in joshi was selected to be Saya Kamitani, the current World of Stardom champion, and probably the biggest star in joshi at the moment. She was selected by 13 people for this one which isn’t overwhelming exactly, but there were a ton of different wrestlers selected overall, meaning that a lot of wrestlers ended up having one or two votes towards the bottom. The second-place wrestler for this one was the “Sun Goddess” herself Sareee who was selected by six people. There are a lot of vocal people on social media who feel Sareee is over pushed in various companies, but for me, she’s one of the best in both skills and in marketing herself, which is important. There was a tie for third place on this one with Mai Sakurai and Maika both receiving four votes as being the most overrated. My personal selection was Natsupoi.
23. Which Joshi Pro Wrestler Do You Think Is Underrated?
This question was the complete opposite of the last one, as this one is all about who you feel isn’t pushed hard enough by their company, or who has more skill than you feel people give them credit for. Some people end up being underrated for their entire careers, and honestly it’s tough to watch that happen, because you know that wrestler in putting in the work, but just not getting the credit they should. The wrestler selected by the most people for being underrated was none other than my personal favorite wrestler Hazuki, which seven people selected as their top choice. I feel like the international fan base is the most vocal when it comes to feeling like Hazuki is underrated, but I think we all ultimately want to see her hit the highs in her career that we know she can accomplish. The fact that she’s wrestled so well for the Wonder of Stardom championship so many times, yet has never won it, is truly a shame, and we all desperately want her to achieve her goal.
The wrestler who came in second place was someone who I do personally feels gets overlooked at times, and that’s Momo Kohgo. We can see that she puts in so much work, both in ring, and outside of it to the best that she can be, especially fighting against the disease that makes pro wrestling even harder for her than most, which four people showed love to by selecting her. There was a three-way tie for third place, with all three of them receiving three points a piece. Hina, Natsumi Showzuki, and Mei Suruga, my personal pick are all underrated in their own right. They all deserve more spotlight than what they are currently given.
24. In Your Opinion: Who Is The Best International Talent Who Has Wrestled In A Joshi Promotion?
When you talk about the best international wrestler to wrestle in a joshi promotion, there are a lot of women to pick from over the years. You don’t see too many gaijin wrestlers wrestle full time on these joshi rosters now in days, but some have made their mark strongly enough that you’ll never forget their time in Japan. The one wrestler who ended up getting the most votes from the wonderful people who took part in this survey was “Timeless” Toni Storm, though she was quite a bit different back when she was in STARDOM regularly. She ended up with 21 votes, showing the strong impact she made in Japan during her time there. The wrestler who ended up in second place was Mercedes Mone, who really hasn’t worked too many matches in Japan or for a Japanese based company, but her star power is undeniable, so it’s understandable that 10 people would choose her. There was a tie in third place between two absolute monsters in their own right as both Bozilla and Megan Bayne, my personal pick garnered seven votes for this question. The way that both of these women can not only look so intimidating standing in the ring with the much smaller joshi wrestlers, but also throw them around with reckless abandon is always entertaining, at least to me.
25. Who Is Your Favorite Joshi Pro Wrestling Faction Of All Time?
Wrestling factions are an important part of pro wrestling, especially in Japan in general, so it’s no surprise that many joshi pro wrestling fans have grown quite attached to their favorite factions over the years. My main onboarding point for STARDOM when I got STARDOM World was the draft in 2019 where Tokyo Cyber Squad was established by Hana Kimura. Obviously, as a child, I enjoyed factions like the nWo in WCW, but when I got into puroresu factions became so much more important to me. The faction that ended up being chosen as the most people’s favorite was Queen’s Quest, who ended up with 22 votes. While I didn’t have a huge attachment to that faction personally, I know that it was beloved by many, and it was a sad day to see the faction go bye bye after losing their match to Oedo Tai. Speaking of Oedo Tai, they were actually the second place team as they were selected by 19 people as their favorite faction. Oedo Tai was my personal choice as well, as even though I truly loved Tokyo Cyber Squad, they didn’t last all that long, for understandable reasons of course. The way Oedo Tai was so good at being bad, but also so much fun truly clicked with me and many others it seems. The faction who came in third place was Giulia’s Donna Del Mondo who ended up with 13 votes. During it’s time active, it was always booked very strongly.
26. If There Was One Joshi Wrestler In Their Prime That You Could Bring Back To The Scene, Who Would It Be?
It’s always interesting to see the wrestlers come to mind when you ask fans who they’d love to see in their prime take on the best of the best of current day, and this question is all about that. There have been a ton of very talented wrestlers over the years who have stepped foot in a joshi ring, and it’s probably no surprise that Manami Toyota was selected as the top vote getter for this one, as 16 people selected this legend as their answer. Manami Toyota has one of the craziest catalogues of great matches over the years, but her body went through the absolute grinder for those matches, meaning that her body eventually couldn’t handle it anymore. Seeing her in her prime take on the likes of Mayu Iwatani for instance would be pretty incredible.
The wrestler who ended up getting the second most votes is another big-time legend of the past, Akira Hokuto who was one the best of all time in her own right. She received almost the same number of votes as Manami Toyota did, as she ended up with 14. Seeing Akira work against the great babyfaces of the current scene would be a sight to behold for sure! Coming in third place was Hana Kimura with 11 votes, and while I didn’t select her myself as my answer, I think the main reason for that is because I simply didn’t think about bringing someone back to life with this question. If I was thinking about it that way, I would have definitely selected her, because she had so much going for her, and would probably be the biggest star in joshi today if she was still with us. My personal selection was Ayumi Kurihara, who unfortunately retired before the big boom of joshi puroresu that we are experiencing right now.
27. If You Could Fantasy Book Any Wrestling Match Featuring Joshi Pro Wrestlers, What Would It Be?
At this point of the survey we moved into fantasy booking territory where we put the proverbial pencil into the hands of the people taking the survey to create whatever comes to mind. The first in those line of questions was giving the person a chance to make whatever match they wanted using joshi pro wrestlers. Since everything was so open ended, there were a ton of different answers with none of them appearing more than three times. The matches that were chosen by three people a piece though were, Io Shirai/IYO SKY vs. Saya Kamitani and Io Shirai/IYO SKY vs. Syuri, which would both been absolutely incredible matches to say the least! I can say personally that seeing IYO work a match in Japan truly feels special in a way I haven’t felt before, so seeing her go toe to toe with two of STARDOM’s best would be pretty fantastic!
I wanted to also shed some light on some other matches that were mentioned by the people who took our survey that I feel are interesting to me at least. One match that was mentioned that I’d love to see happen maybe by the end of the year would be Saya Kamitani vs. Starlight Kid in a mask vs. title match. Putting SLK’s mask on the line gives real stakes, and in my opinion would have made for a better main event for All Star Grand Queendom this year. Another fun match that was mentioned was Miu Watanabe vs. Saya Iida, a match of two absolute powerhouses. Obviously, the chances of it happening are probably not even one percent since the two companies don’t really mingle too much, but it would be so much fun to watch. Another one that interested me was a triple threat for the World of Stardom Championship between the three sisters Hanan, Hina, and Rina. It would be pretty special to see the three of them battle it out for the sports richest prize. A fun match for the sickos would be Megumi Kudo vs. Suzu Suzuki, as I’m sure there would be a lot of weapons used and blood spilled between the two.
28. If You Could Create A Faction Of Four Current Joshi Pro Wrestlers, Who Would You Put Together?
Just like the question before, this one is very open ended as I gave people the chance to put four wrestlers together into a faction of their dreams, and the various factions that were created were quite interesting to say the least. There was actually two factions that were created by two people a piece, so because of that, they won. The first of the two factions that was selected by two people was Chi Chi, Rina, Senka Akatsuki, and Seri Yamaoka as a faction full of wrestlers with immense talent now, and very bright futures going forward. All four wrestlers have a chance to be pillars of the overall joshi wrestling scene, which is incredibly impressive. The second faction that was created by two people was Miyu Yamashita, Sareee, Syuri, and Tomoka Inaba, a faction that is full of absolute ass kickers. Seeing those four standing across from you in the ring would send shivers down any wrestlers spine, so it’s understandable why two people would pick it.
There were some other created factions I wanted to shed some light on as they were interesting to me, and all around fun. The first I’ll point out is AZM, Mei Suruga, Momoka Hanazono, and Mio Momono, which would be one hell of goblin faction that would wrestle at a high speed, and annoy the crap out of their opponents. Another fun one is Chanyota, Maika Ozaki, Miu Watanabe, and Rina Yamashita which would make for a great powerhouse faction. A funny child faction would be CoCo, Moe Hiiro, Kaho Hiromi and Pom Harajuku, who would be the youngest of the bunch since she still hasn’t turned four years old yet. I also have a soft spot for Hazuki, Koguma, Maika, and Maki Itoh as Fukuoka Quadrouple Crazy.
29. What Two Joshi Pro Wrestlers Would You Like To See Battle Each Other In An MMA Fight?
Seeing two pro wrestlers battle it out in a “real fight” inside of an MMA cage would be interesting to watch no doubt, and that’s where the idea for this question came from. There were a fair share of people who didn’t want to give an answer for this one, but that’s ok, MMA isn’t for everyone. Obviously a wrestler like Syuri for instance comes to mind quickly since she fought in the largest and most popular fighting organization in the world. That’s why you’ll see her name appear in all three of the top answers. The top answer was Miyu Yamashita vs. Syuri which would be such a cool match to see whether it’s in pro wrestling or MMA honestly. Both are talented strikers, and have great submission games as well. There were 13 people who selected that match up as their favorite. In second place was Sareee vs. Syuri, which I’m guessing is fans wanting to see if Sareee’s hard-hitting nature in pro wrestling would carry over to MMA just as well. We know she’s tough as nails, so she’d definitely make it interesting in there and seven people would agree with that.
There was a tie for third place, but you’ll see one name both times obviously. One of the matchups is Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Syuri, and the other is Mika Iwata vs. Syuri, both selected by six people, with both being amazing matchups to say the least, but for different reasons. Chihiro is a fantastic wrestler who’d be looking to take Syuri down to the mat, but she also has power that couldn’t be overlooked even when standing up. Mika Iwata has a similar skill set to Syuri when it comes to her striking, but she’d be fighting an uphill battle in my opinion.
30. If You Were Tasked With Putting Together An Action Movie With A Female Lead, Which Joshi Pro Wrestler Would You Choose To Play The Part?
Honestly, this question came to me because I had been seeing both Syuri and Kiyoka Kotatsu posting stunt work-related stuff over the past few months, and I felt like it would be a fun question to ponder the people taking the survey. Considering the two names I mentioned, it’s probably not too surprising that those two were the top two names chosen, though there was one other wrestler who also tied for second place at least. Syuri was the big winner for this question, getting 21 votes going her way as the ultimate joshi action star. A action movie with a ton of hand to hand combat with Syuri being the main character would be so much fun to watch. In second place was the aforementioned Kiyoka Kotatsu who ended up with five votes, but the wrestler who tied with her was actually Mika Iwata who would be an interesting person to see in an action movie in her own right. Both wrestlers have great striking ability, and Mika at least can look quite intimidating when she wants to. There was a three-way tie for third place with some interesting options being Mayu Iwatani, Saori Anou, and Saya Iida all getting four votes a piece.
31. Which Joshi Wrestler Would You Love To Have A Beer Or Non-Alcoholic Drink With?
Who wouldn’t want to share a beverage with a pro wrestler who you think you’d get along well with right? That was my thought at least when coming up with this question, and honestly when you’re in Japan, there are ways to have a drink with some wrestlers when they have their special events, or if you happen to stumble into one of the joshi ran bars like NatsuBar for instance. One wrestler was chosen quite highly compared to others, and that was a wrestler known for her drinking prowess, Maika. Part of her gimmick for a bit was that she loved to drink, and it worked for Stone Cold, so why not her? There were a total of 22 people who chose her as their selection to have a beverage of choice with. There was a six way tie for second place on this one with all of the wrestlers receiving three votes a piece with those wrestlers being Hazuki, Maki Itoh, Natsu Sumire, Rian, Rika Tatsumi, and Utami Hayashishita. Some of those wrestlers are known for enjoying an alcohol beverage or two like Natsu or Utami but honestly having a drink with any of those six would be a lot of fun, I’m sure. I’m sure my personal answer is pretty obvious for this one as I selected Hazuki.
32. If You Could Add A Question Or Two To The Next Survey, What Would You Add?
The last question I put on the survey was one that was very open-ended as I wanted to see what people would want to add to the next survey that will probably come out around this same time next year. We had a ton of great responses with many different questions to ask, or opinions on what would make things better, which I truly appreciate. There were a few things that were brought up by quite a few people, and I’ll shed some light on those. The biggest thing that people wanted added was some sort of question about “What young wrestlers had the most potential to become a future star?. We had seven different people mention something similar to that, and I think next time around I’ll add a question about what wrestlers with two years or under experience they see as becoming a future star, though I could also push that to three years if need be. The second most mentioned question for next time was about “Who is everyone’s favorite comedy wrestler?” on the joshi scene, as six people mentioned it, meaning that it has some traction at least.
A few people also mentioned the idea of asking what people’s “favorite move that a joshi wrestler is known for” currently is, or what their “favorite joshi finisher” is. Another good idea was asking what people’s “favorite annual big show“ is, much like the question this time about the various tournaments and leagues. Overall, there were a ton of things submitted, and you’ll be able to see the full results of everything with the link that I will drop at the bottom of the article, as there’s way too much to mention it all. Just know that even if something was only mentioned by one person, that it’s still something I will keep in mind for next time, and you may see it added.
In conclusion, I want to thank all 108 people other than myself again, who decided to donate their time to us and fill out our survey. I hope that you were able to have some fun filling things out, and giving your opinions on what you like best about the best wrestling on the planet. Keep an eye on everything we have cooking up here on ResuraMag.com because for us, it’s all about showing appreciation for joshi pro wrestling and trying to get more people invested in it the same way that we are. We have some fun things planned, so stay tuned and we’ll see you next time.
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