Whether it’s curiosity or an insatiable appetite for wrestling that sparked your interest in Marvelous Women’s Pro-Wrestling, you came to the right place.
The following is a beginner’s guide for the promotion; a look at its stars, schedule, and style. An onboarding to one of the more entertaining but underrated companies on the wrestling scene. Let’s jump right in!
Marvelous Women’s Pro-Wrestling (usually just called ‘Marvelous’) is a Japanese women’s promotion founded by joshi legend Chigusa Nagayo in 2006. Well, mostly women. Marvelous is one of the few joshi companies that books men. More on that later.
This year, Marvelous is celebrating its 10th year anniversary!
It’s a promotion built on hard-hitting action. Nagayo’s prime was in the ‘80s in All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling (AJW), and it’s clear she wanted some of that AJW style in her own company.
You’ll get comedy moments from time to time, but Marvelous leans on that side of wrestling far less than TJPW. And it’s not as cutesy as STARDOM and TJPW can be. It’s often about wrestlers going out there trying to beat each other, to prove themselves in a violent, athletic competition. In that way, it’s a lot more like Ring of Honor than WWE. Or in joshi terms, the spiritual successor to AJW.
The influence of that famed promotion is clear, from the throwback style young stars like Senka Akatsuki employ to the Marvelous tracksuits the wrestlers sport.
In terms of where it stands in the joshi hierarchy, it’s definitely below STARDOM and TJPW. Marvelous, instead, sits on the scene’s second tier next to a company like Sendai Girls. It’s not pulling in STARDOM attendance numbers, but it easily outdoes promotions like Pure-J and SEAdLINNNG.
As mentioned earlier, Marvelous is one of the few joshi promotions that books men. Wrestlers like Starboy Charlie, Vinne Massaro, and Titus Alexander have wrestled for them. They are often the undercard or opener, the warm-up to the women. There aren’t any Marvelous-branded men’s titles and you don’t see these guys play roles in major storylines.
There usually isn’t more than one men’s match on any given show. It’s just a change of pace that gives Marvelous a unique flavor.
You will also see Marvelous team up or work with other promotions quite often.
Marvelous star Mio Momono regularly travels to other companies, whether she’s battling for titles in OZ Academy or teaming up with Yurika Oka as Bob Bob Momo Banana in Sendai Girls. STARDOM’s FWC (Hazuki & Koguma), Sendai’s DASH Chisako, and Kuroshio TOKYO Japan from Pro Wrestling Up Town have all appeared on Marvelous shows this year.
The biggest recent example of Marvelous’ open door, though, was its rivalry with Marigold in 2025. The two promotions invaded each other’s territory, looking to prove who is superior.
That led to some tremendous action and began what should be a generational rivalry in Seri Yamaoka of Marigold versus Marvelous’ young star Senka Akatsuki.
And both times that Marvelous came to Las Vegas the last two years for WrestleMania weekend, it worked closely with West Coast Pro.
This approach isn’t likely to change. Marvelous has a small roster and doesn’t run as many shows as STARDOM or Marigold. It needs fresh faces. It needs alternate places for its stars to work.
Before we head into detail about Marvelous’ championships and key wrestlers, one last thing to note is the prominence of Nagayo.
She is the founder, the booker, a sometimes wrestler, and often the sole voice on commentary. The former Crush Gal is seen at all the Marvelous press conferences and on many of the company’s streaming videos on YouTube. Onscreen and behind-the-scenes, she’s running the show. You’ll have to get used to seeing her, even more than Marigold fans have to with Rossy Ogawa.
Rossy doesn’t ever step in the ring as Chigusa does, and he doesn’t take the lead on commentary as Vince McMahon did back in the day. Chigusa’s commentary is loud and expressive. Regardless, us non-Japanese speakers can clearly understand how passionate she is about what’s happening between the ropes, language barrier or not.
Championships
Marvelous’ championship picture is simple. There’s a tag title (AAAW Tag Team Championship) and a world title (AAAW Championship). No mid-card belts. No gimmick titles. No trios championship.
That makes sense given the size of its roster. You don’t need half the roster belted up.
The AAAW Tag Team Championship dates back to the ‘90s when it was a part of GAEA Japan. Marvelous revived the titles in 2022 when Rin Kadokura and Itsuki Aoki beat Kaoru Ito and Tomoko Watanabe in Korakuen Hall.
Some of the bigger joshi teams of the past few years have won this crown: Magenta (twice), SPARK Rush, Team 200kg, and Bob Bob Momo Banana.
Currently, Nightshade and Nyla Rose are the champs. The gaijin knocked off RIKO and Maria at the Marvelous 10th anniversary show.
As for the promotion’s main title, Takumi Iroha is currently in her second reign. She bested Mayumi Ozaki in 2024 and has held tight to the gold since. She’s now passed 650 days as champion but has only defended it four times including most recently against Sareee.
Like the tag titles, the AAAW Championship pre-dates Marvelous. It was defended in the ‘90s in GAEA Japan starting with Nagayo as the first champ in 1996. It’s a belt with a lot of great lineage featuring legends like Aja Kong, Manami Toyota, Dynamite Kansai, and Meiko Satomura.
Iroha, Marvelous’ longtime Ace, was the first titleholder when the company revived it in 2022. Unfortunately, it has not been the most active of championships on the scene. Ozaki and Iroha had lengthy reigns but went long stretches without defending.
Big Events
Marvelous runs a lot of the most notable Japanese venues including Shinjuku FACE. Often, their Korakuen and Shin-Kiba 1st RING shows are the bigger events and are the ones streamed live online.
There aren’t, however, recurring marquee shows on the calendar like STARDOM’s All-Star Grand Queendom or TJPW’s Grand Princess. Instead, the top show is generally the anniversary show on May 5. That’s where you’re most likely to see titles defended and freelancers brought in.
In addition, Marvelous tends to celebrates its top stars with shows marking the anniversary of their debut. We just saw Mio Momono be the center of such an event in February and the same for Senka Akatsuki last October.
Key Wrestlers
Takumi Iroha
Takumi has long been the face of Marvelous. She was its first AAAW champion and the woman to hold the belt longer than anyone after its return in 2022. With good reason.
Iroha is a beast in the ring. She’s a skilled kicker who works fast, peppering her foes’ whole body with her boot. She’s powerful, has big presence, and steps up when the spotlight’s on her.
While representing Marvelous over the years, Takumi has thrilled in matches against Mayu Iwatani, Sareee, and Chihiro Hashimoto.
And she’s been a blast to watch as one half of SPARK Rush alongside Sareee. Joshi’s equivalent of The Mega Powers has to be put on hold as Sareee recovers from injury, but they are sure to be a major player on the joshi scene once The Sun God is back.
Mio Momono
The woman Scott Edwards called The Best Wrestler You Haven’t Seen Enough Of back in 2021 remains underrated outside of the joshi bubble.
Momono is one of the most athletic wrestlers around. She’s super fast, nimble as a cat, and brings a stirring, electric energy to every match.
She can be the ultimate babyface hero or a top-notch tag team specialist. She’s been Marvelous’ top dog and a show-stealer further down the card.
Whether you are watching her tag with Yurika Oka or go it alone, you’re going to have to work your eye muscles to keep up with her dashing across the screen.
Magenta (Maria & RIKO)
Maria and RIKO (fka Riko Kawahata) have been the stalwarts of the Marvelous tag scene for years. They are reliable, entertaining wrestlers who have standout chemistry with each other.
Magenta travels outside of Marvelous often, representing the brand with their strong ringwork. You can see them take on all manner of teams in places like Pro Wrestling WAVE or OZ Academy.
They had a more bubbly persona and would do a dance routine before their matches, but traded that out for a darker look and nastier attitude. The gimmick change has been damn good for them as they have thrived with this more aggressive approach. Plus, they just look cool in the black gear.
Senka Akatsuki
Cannot Be Refused; Senka Akatsuki – RESURA
Senka is certain to play a major role in the future of joshi. At only 19, she boasts a major-league aura. When she comes marching down to the ring, she commands your attention.
Her ring style is simple, grounded, and a clear throwback to vintage joshi.
American fans got a great look at her early star power when she battled Aja Kong in Vegas last year and took on Chris Hero this year. Her rivalry with Seri Yamaoka over in Marigold is one to watch. She kicked off the year by winning the Sendai Girls Junior Championship, so expect to see her in that promotion aplenty.
Watching her ascension is reason alone to start following Marvelous.
Sora Ayame
In the same rookie class as Senka, Sora has been overshadowed by her peer. However, Sora has all kinds of potential and deserves your attention, as well.
She’s a damn good underdog already. An unassuming presence with lots of fighting spirit. She, like Senka, has a simple-yet-effective style. She will hit you with shoot pins and shin kicks all day.
Her natural rivalry with Senka is one to watch.
Ai Houzan
A reliable, solid member of the roster who doesn’t get the buzz she deserves.
The 22-year-old works like a vet in the ring. She hits opponents with strong mat wrestling and karate-inspired offense. Houzan does well in singles or tag team action, fighting along partners like VENY or Yurika Oka.
Where Houzan hasn’t made her mark, though, is with her character work or personality. She has more of a subdued presence and hasn’t quite carved out who she is. With that in mind, she is at her best when she’s sharing the stage in more crowded bouts.
Where to Watch
One option for exploring Marvelous is the company’s official YouTube page. Most of the stuff on there is from a few years back, but you’ll get the occasional new match on there.
Takumi Iroha vs. Senka Akatsuki
Secondly, you can get your Marvelous fix via Wrestle Universe. The promotion, though, doesn’t update consistently or quickly on there. The most recent uploads on there right now aside from the 10th anniversary show are from February and March.
Those shows are all solid and good intros to what Marvelous is about, but you lose some of the spark of things when events aren’t current.
If you find yourself loving the Marvelous style and stars, your best bet to stay up to date is get a Niconico membership.
That all requires more effort than turning on TBS for AEW Dynamite, but personally I find it worth it. Marvelous is reliably good. I love a lot of their wrestlers. Piecing together the product is just part of the experience.
You can also head to the company’s online shop where you can get DVDs of past shows.
Follow Marvelous’ official account @info_Marvelous on Twitter and the English-language account: @MarvelousInter to stay in the know.
RESURA 