Now that August has begun, it’s time once again, to come together to celebrate the best joshi pro wrestlers of this past year by putting together our top 100 list. As always, this list isn’t to put down the wrestlers who are not represented, but instead, to show appreciation to the wrestlers who we felt deserved to be recognized as the best of the best during our scoring period. I’m sure you’re wondering what I mean when I say scoring period right? Well, the scoring period we use from July 1st, 2025 until June 30th, 2026, a full year for these wrestlers to gather accomplishments and put on great matches for us to enjoy.

You may wonder, how do we come up with this list in a fair manner? Well, I truly believe that no single person can make a truly fair list because biases are natural, and for that reason, I reached out to seven other people to help me. Between the eight of us we have fans of many different companies and fans of many styles of wrestling, so that everyone gets a fair shake for the most part at least. As always we rank the wrestlers on the joshi scene 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, take a look at the names at the bottom of this article. We also did have one other person participate, but they preferred to not have their name added to the project for personal reasons.

Before we start off with the list itself, I had each member of the team submit an honorable mention of a wrestler who didn’t make the final top 100 list. This doesn’t mean that they barely missed the list exactly, but it’s a wrestler that someone wanted to shed some light on at least.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

LADY C – STARDOM

Lady C is the type of wrestler that anyone could cheer for, because in a lot of ways we can see ourselves within her. She’s a wrestler who always puts her all into everything she does from what you can see within the ring, and what she puts on social media which really helps me, at least, form a bond with her. The former school teacher in my opinion has been a bit slow at times during her career to improve inside of the ring, but I think this year she finally got to the level I had always imagined she’d get to. Sure, her win percentage was sub 50%, but even in defeat she’d leave a lasting impression that made you believe that maybe next time she’d pull out of the victory. This year was different though than prior years because she was finally able to achieve something she had always wanted to, which was to obtain a championship by being one third of the Artist of Stardom champions with her partners Hina and Ami Sohrei. It was truly a great accomplishment for her career, and it was something that almost brought a tear to my eye seeing her hold the championship like it literally meant the world to her. She was only able to defend it twice during the grading period since it cut off during her reign, and she lost the title shortly after, but my hope is that this was simply a test run, in a way, so that she’ll get another opportunity to hold gold again in the future.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

MIYU YOTSUBA – CHOCO PRO

Miya Yotsuba battled her way to the top of ChocoPro, collecting gold and acclaim along the way. We saw her grow as a performer, gaining confidence and presence. She looked more and more ready to take over as ChocoPro’s centerpiece, proving herself in the ring and as someone compelling enough to be the company’s central figure. First, by winning the Asia Dream Tag Team Championship (with Soy) Then an emphatic statement win against her mentor and ChocoPro founder Emi Sakura. Lastly, Yotsuba claimed the Super Asia Championship for the first time in her career. When she dethroned Rina Yamashita, she signaled a shift for ChocoPro, ringing in a new era. The fact that she had such a great stretch and still sits in the honorable mention section of this list (as she did last year), is really a testament to the depth of the joshi scene.

• Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: RyanDilbert)

YUNA – SENDAI GIRLS

When I started following Sendai Girls last year, YUNA’s matches didn’t appeal to me very much. I mainly stuck to the upper card matches, and her bouts were almost always the opener. However, I decided to give her a chance and realized that she’s got something I love in wrestlers: energy. She combines fighting spirit with heart and technique, but at the same it is pretty obvious she is a rookie…and that’s good, because you feel her desire to learn and improve, especially when she faces big names like Chihiro Hashimoto and Mika Iwata. In this period, she won her first championship in the form of the Sendai Girls Junior Championship by defeating Stardom’s Aya Sakura at Senjo The Biggest in August 2025, and went on to have a 152-day reign. She is just 22 years old, and while girls her age like Yurika Oka and Manami are more experienced (Manami is even younger), Yuna is on the right track to be a great talent.

• Written By: Fernando Ibarra (X: Jferimsw)

SHINNO – MARIGOLD

Shinno is that special kind of talent that you just know: this kid is going to be big. She debuted in May 2025 and honestly, I can’t understand how she didn’t make this top 100. Out of 73 matches, she won over half of them. At the end of last year, she won the Twinstar Cup alongside fellow rookie Seri Yamaoka and challenged for the Twinstar Tag Team titles, falling to Darkness Revolution. She also attempted to grab the 3D Trios Title with Yamaoka and Yuuki Yamazaki, but came up short as well. Yamaoka and Shinno were on opposite sides in December when they competed for the Rookie of the Year trophy, which went to her tag team partner. Whether it’s in tag team matches or in singles action, Shinno always gives it her all and while she might be on the losing end of the big fights now, she’s a sure bet on picking up gold soon. I expect Shinno to not just make the top 100 next year, but maybe even crack the final 25… If school permits her to do so.

• Written By: DaveTCS (X: Dave_TCS4Life)

YUUKA YAMAZAKI – MARIGOLD

There’s nothing better than a wrestler who can do everything, and do it well. That’s Yuuka Yamazaki. The majority of her year and a handful of months of her career have been over this period, and she’s done nothing but show she’s a star in the making. Despite her small stature, the “Mad Dog of Naniwa” has stepped up time and time again. She brings a fiery personality with a strong skillset that few wrestlers have in the amount of time she’s been active. She doesn’t necessarily have big standout moments but has become the most consistent show-to-show wrestler in a promotion that needs her to be just that. Her ability to step into singles, tag team, and trios matches no matter her opponent or partner and be the star of them is why she deserves some praise — even if she isn’t going to make it on the overall top 100. Oh, and she has as much personality as you can ask for, from calling anyone she faces old to wanting the smoke against everyone. It’s that mentality that makes her the “Mad Dog.” Yamazaki has already become the one to count on in Marigold, and I hope everyone takes note as she prepares to rise to new heights in her complete second year.

• Written By: Scott Edwards (X: ScottEWrestling)

CHIKA GOTO – MARIGOLD

Chika Goto’s year has been filled with highs and lows, but each experience has helped her grow. Whether it was her standout PPV matches against Sareee and Utami Hayashishita or her major singles bouts in Korakuen Hall against Victoria Yuzuki and Miku Aono, she has consistently shown why she’s considered one of Marigold’s most interesting stars. Every match served as a learning experience that ultimately led to the biggest moment of her career so far: capturing the Marigold Twin Star Tag Team Championships alongside her partner Kouki Amarei at the promotion’s second anniversary show. Since then, the duo has successfully established itself as one of the cornerstones of the tag division. While Goto may not be Marigold’s most spectacular in-ring performer, she has become the emotional heart of the promotion. Her relentless effort, natural charisma, and genuine connection with the audience shine through in every performance, making her one of the company’s most valuable and beloved talents.

• Written By: Anonymous

YUUKA – ICE RIBBON

Yuuka is one of the best wrestlers on this list. The reason she failed to make it comes down to two things. Firstly, Yuuka returned from retirement on 31 December 2025 at “Ribbonmania,” following nine years out of action. She found her way back to Ice Ribbon through Venus, a theatre group containing a host of Ice Ribbon and AWG wrestlers, which has also led to bringing back Hikari Minami to Ice Ribbon and has led to the debuts of Nanao Matsuhashi and Marino Nishimura in AWG. At “Ribbonmania,” Yuuka was due to face Kirari Wakana in a singles match, but due to Manami Katsu’s illness, she was promoted to the main event, fighting for the ICExInfinity title in her first match back, and she went lights out with an incredible performance, capturing the heart of many new fans (including me in the front row). She was unsuccessful, and that’s the second reason for her placing on this list: her lack of wins. Since that first attempt, she’s consistently gone after two other titles. One is the FantastICE Title, which she’s been unsuccessful in winning twice, and the other is the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship, which she failed to capture. The latter is another failed Yuuka attempt which I was there for, and I cannot describe how amazingly Yuuka sold that loss, crying her eyes out as she shook the hands of all the fans in the front row, barely making eye contact with me. Finally, she failed for the second time since her return to win the ICExInfinity Title on the 20th Anniversary of Ice Ribbon, 10 years after she tried to win it on the 10th Anniversary.

So Yuuka’s half year has been marred by storyline failure. But let’s be real. She has absolutely killed it in every other sense. Her placing, or lack thereof, on this list is very much a Jose Mourinho ‘I prefer not to speak’ moment for me. She has blown away all expectations and been consistently the best wrestler in Ice Ribbon, going so hard that she has injured herself on multiple occasions and wrestled through some of those injuries. She has posted pictures on social media of bruises up and down her arm due to her notorious signature forearms. I’ve been in the building when she and Umesaki went to war in a random Gokigen Pro Amistad show. She’s also been taken somewhat under Sareee’s wing, being booked not only on the Sareee-ISM Yokohama Budokan show, but also selected to face her in a singles match at Jaguar Yokota’s 50th Anniversary show, a match that could not take place due to how hard Yuuka was pushing herself, injuring herself in a random undercard match on an Ice Ribbon show where she and Ancham were killing each other. Yuuka is working extremely hard, more than she probably should, and has a stated goal of winning the Tokyo Sports Women’s Wrestling Grand Prix within three years, a goal the returning Tsukasa Fujimoto has stated she wants to help Yuuka attain. Absolutely nothing is going to stop Yuuka from achieving her goals, and it’s only a matter of time.

Recommended Match: Kaho Matsushita vs. Kirari Wakana vs. Yuuka – Ice Ribbon, 31st December 2025

• Written By: Eric (Joshi’ing Around Podcast)

HARU KAZASHIRO – TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING

Wrestling can be a surprising thing even after all of my time sunk into watching it. When Haru debuted opposite Runa Okubo, it was Okubo that I invested my stock into with Haru being the solid, if unremarkable counter. Since then, everything has turned on its head as Okubo has been on a long-time hiatus that may never end, and Haru Kazashiro has emerged as one of the bright spots of TJPW’s recent youth movement. Her overhaul to embrace a bright blue hairstyle to go with her gear  has allowed her to stand out from the crowd even in the charismatic and colourful cast of TJPW wrestlers; she’s also been given chances to back herself up in the ring where her abilities are really starting to look like those of a future main eventer. Just this year we’ve seen Haru trusted to hang with Suzume and MIRAI in standout singles matches which delivered on the hype, at just 18, this level of talent would likely be considered prodigious in many other companies, but as of now Haru continues to slide under the radar. This is your last invitation to jump on the bandwagon before the wider fanbase clues in that Haru Kazashiro is one of the bright spots of an already crowded Joshi scene.

• Written By: Alex Reynolds (X: LWOSPWAlexR)

YAPPY – ICE RIBBON

For yet another year, Yappy has been the international ambassador of Ice Ribbon. A lot of announcements and details about future shows have been more accessible thanks to her efforts and work on social media. But her social media skills are not the only ones we cherish here. Yappy’s prowess in the ring has been, for another year, remarkable. Week in, week out, she has been an Ice Ribbon mainstay, going against everyone, whether a homegrown talent or someone external. This past year also saw Yappy winning the first championship of her career, the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship, together with Ancham, as the team of Bad Butts. Ever since, Bad Butts, with occasional collaborator Crea, have been a force to be reckoned with in the independent joshi scene. What is even more impressive, Bad Butts justified the championship’s “International” name by defending the belts in Yappy’s home in the Philippines -the first time this championship was defended outside of Japan.  Yappy’s work cannot go unrecognized. Here’s hoping that next year she wins more than just an honorable mention.

• Written By: Aris Emmanouloudis (X: ArgyEmm)

RESURA JOSHI TOP 100

100. MIRAN – DIANA

Miran is a prodigy despite the fact that she is only 17 and only wrestles part-time due to school. The way I like to describe Diana’s future star is that she is a cross between STARDOM’s Neo Genesis pair AZM and Mei Seira. She is mind-blowingly athletic and can wrestle the “high-speed” style like the back of her hand, but in the past year, she has been working on her striking and adding tools like a lethal buzzsaw kick to her game. Given how young she is, her inability to focus on wrestling full-time, and how good she is, she has incredible upside as a wrestler. In the past year, Miran has established herself as the ace of the Crystal division in Diana, which focuses on youngsters and rookies. She defended the title three times before vacating it, in line with the rules of the division, and now looks to advance and fight for the same gold that her seniors do in Diana. In her hometown, Itabashi, she had her maiden challenge for the WWWD Diana held by ace Haruka Umesaki. It was a losing effort, and the two were clearly holding back, but it was a sign of things to come for the young starlet. Miran is ambitious, determined, and a fast learner. And her trajectory is “one of the best wrestlers in the scene”. Diana is more than aware of the incredible talent they have on their roster and giving her space and time for her to fulfil her potential.

Recommended Match: Honoka vs. Miran – Diana, 25th March 2026

• Written By: Eric (Joshi’ing Around Podcast)

99. MARIA – MARVELOUS

Maria may be further down this list than we’ve come to expect from her, but she remains a steady presence across the joshi scene as both a singles wrestler and a tag team specialist. Over the grading period, she and RIKO (fka Riko Kawahata) won both the AAAW Tag Team Championship and Marigold Twin Star Championship as Magenta. Those AAAW tag titles came via a victory over the impressive duo of Sareee and Takumi Iroha, so that should net her extra points. They clashed with formidable teams in and out of Marvelous, including representing their home promotion in Las Vegas for WrestleMania weekend again. On her own, Maria put in a solid performance in the Marigold Dream Star tourney, faced DASH Chisako at Sendai Girls’ 10th anniversary show, and fought her own tag partner a number of times including losing the Battle Royal for the vacant Rose World Championship. We saw Maria knock around some heads in places like Gokigen Pro, Sendai Girls, and Rose Pro-Wrestling, but these collisions weren’t nearly as memorable as we’ve seen from her (and her alongside RIKO) in the recent past.

• Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: RyanDilbert)

98. SAYAKA – CHOCO PRO

‘Smiling Violence’ Sayaka from Choco Pro is someone who I think has been a bit under the radar for quite a few years now because she rarely works outside of ChocoPro, meaning that she’s easy to miss if you simply don’t watch that promotion. I also think that on average she works less shows than most of the others in ChocoPro which definitely doesn’t help. This year I feel like she’s locked in pretty well, as she not only obtained a 57% win percentage in her 54 matches, but she also had two reigns with the Asia Dream Tag Team Championships that took up a majority of the year, hitting 244 days in total. Unfortunately for her, she only defended those titles twice in total, but it’s still a positive step in her wrestling career that should be celebrated. I would honestly love to see her take more bookings outside of Choco Pro or Baka-Gaijin, just because I think she has a lot to offer the joshi wrestling scene, but she might be happy just wrestling a bit each month and streaming on Twitch (@kukku118).

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

97. MARU – ACTWRES GIRL’Z

Every joshi company needs a few veterans who have been around for a good while, and that’s even more true in a company like Actwres girl’Z who takes idols off the street, or the stage for that matter, so that they can put them inside of a wrestling ring to wrestle for our entertainment. A lot of people use the term ring general, but I think it goes even farther than what happens inside of the ring, because there’s certain things you need to learn even outside of it to truly be successful in the wrestling business. MARU is honestly that perfect veteran for AWG because she can not only still put on great matches inside of the ring with less experienced roster members, but she can also share stories, or tips that she would have picked up during her long but somewhat scattered career thus far. When it comes to the year she had during our scoring period, she had a pretty strong 56% winning percentage, and she held the AWG King Of Ring Entertainment Championship (their secondary championship) for 80 days. She had three pretty strong defenses within those 80 days, and that means that she wasn’t afraid of a challenge which is appreciated as well. This will make two years straight that MARU has found herself on our list, and I don’t expect to see her miss it anytime soon with the performances she’s still providing us.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

96. MIKU KANAE – T-HEARTS

Miku Kanae has become one of the best wrestlers on planet earth. She’s the most unexpected trainee of Yumiko Hotta, but there’s no doubt that her decision to change from Actwres girl’Z to T-HEARTS was the perfect choice. And Hotta has been able to get the best out of her to fine-tune her skills to become, as mentioned, one of the very best. Her athleticism is impressive, as seen in her diving rolling senton. She has the speed that allows her to qualify as a high-speed competitor that is really great. But it’s her ability to be one of wrestling’s very best underdogs that allows her to stand out more than perhaps anyone. She has faced all sorts of competitors, including some of the very best like Sareee and Chihiro Hashimoto. She also had the opportunity to team with Sareee in the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League, where she managed to showcase her skillset to more and more fans—more often than not being the shining star of her matches in that tournament. She hasn’t had the chance to win singles gold in her career, but she feels as though she’s drawing closer and closer. Also more recently, she’s found herself a great partner in LINA of LLPW-X, which has become one of joshi’s most exciting young teams in quick succession. I firmly believe that not only will Kanae climb this list over the year ahead, but she will be recognized by more than just me as one of the best wrestlers in the entire world. She’s a superstar and one you NEED to watch if you aren’t already.

• Written By: Scott Edwards (X: ScottEWrestling)

95. CREA – PURE-J

Ah, Crea, the single most potent source of frustration in my fandom over the past year. Not because she has done anything wrong, no. Quite the opposite actually, Crea is the person I most want to win her home promotion’s title, the PURE-J Openweight Title. She is the best wrestler in her promotion and has been so for a few years. She has an uncompromising, stiff approach to wrestling, while also being an exceptional seller. After seven years in the promotion, she is yet to win the big one. On 14th December 2025, I thought we had finally waited long enough. It was time. Transitional champion SAKI, an outsider, the perfect type of person that is beatable for the homegrown young star to dethrone. It was a grueling, brutal 20-plus-minute match. And Crea lost. SAKI later dropped the title to five-time champion, multiple double champion, and ace Hanako Nakamori. Okay, now it’s time. 4th May 2026, Crea is going to surpass the ace of the promotion and win the big one. Another loss. And that is the current state of play, and the story of Crea’s year. Multiple failed attempts at a title, disbanding her tag team with AKARI, which was the best tag team in the promotion, entering a losing streak as a result, going in and out of her Ice Ribbon heel character and her PURE-J babyface character in a state of emotional crisis: all while being the clear-cut best wrestler in the promotion. On the other hand, she did finally beat Rydeen Hagane on the 19th attempt this year, so, maybe she can actually win the big one in PURE-J in her eighth year?

Recommended Match: Crea vs. YuuRI – PURE-J, 4th January

• Written By: Eric (Joshi’ing Around Podcast)

94. AJA KONG – FREELANCER

The vagabond badass continues her long trek across the joshi landscape. Yet again, she was everywhere: Sendai Girls, Gokigen Pro, Best Body Japan, OZ Academy, TJPW. Marvelous. Teaming with VENY, beating down Unagi Sayaka, facing Super Sasadango Machine of all people. Aja Kong wrestled in over 60 matches during the grading period, an impressive number considering that she’s 55 years old and been doing this longer than some of her opponents have been alive. In the past 12 months, we saw the final stretch of her Shikoku Unified Tag Team Championship reign (alongside Imabari Towel Mascaras) and Kong come in at 196th in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI Women’s 250.  Plus, she and Senka Akatsuki continued their rivalry which is one of the more intriguing subplots of the joshi story. Through all of it, Kong’s presence and aura remain powerful. She is an undying force we watch roll on and on.

• Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: RyanDilbert)

93. MOMOKA HANAZONO – UP TOWN

Momoka Hanazono is one of the best comedy wrestlers and I don’t mean just in joshi, I mean period! Whether it’s shooting bubbles from her bubble wand into an opponent’s face, crying after being treated oh so harshly, or letting a mechanical dog loose inside of the ring, causing her opponent to soften up, Momoka will find a way to make you smile, which is truly all you can ask for. The awesome thing about Momoka, though, is that she doesn’t even have to just do comedy, because she’s one hell of a pro wrestler even without it. This year has involved Momoka wrestling quite a few male wrestlers along with females because she is one of the main three parts of Pro Wrestling Up Town that was originally created by ‘The Ikeman” Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, and it books shows with indie talent from all of the Japan wrestling scene. She’s also been a big part of my favorite storyline in OZ Academy as one part of ‘Chibikko Gurentai’ with Ram Kaicho and Kaori Yoneyama as they take down team after team in their pursuit of a newly made (hopefully) trios title for the promotion. Sure, her winning percentage was quite poor at just under 40%, and she only held two titles this year (WAVE Tag Team & DFLD Mixed Tag Team), but her performances were strong enough for us as a group to want to give her proverbial flowers anyway. I will also add that she is incredibly fun to meet as well, because she’s just as high energy when you go see her at the merch table.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

92. NATSUMI SHOWZUKI – MARIGOLD

When you look at Natsumi Showzuki in Marigold today, it’s hard to imagine she quit the business in 2015 due to a career-ending injury. She wrestles like a long-time vet and throws everything she has at her opponent. The woman who once studied Shorinji Kempo, which is taught at the Shaolin Temple, uses her martial arts training in her stiff kicks and striking offence. But since returning to the ring in 2021, she has shown she is so much more than that. She carries herself with the presence of a superstar and is well on her way to becoming just that. She is one of Marigold’s originals and teamed with Mai Sakurai and Erina Yamanaka to be crowned the first ever 3D Trios champion. This feat makes Sakurai and Showzuki the only two Marigold competitors to win inaugural gold twice. With two successful title defenses under their belt already, Natsumi and her friends should be looking for a lengthy title reign. It’s a shame Showzuki was injured for a long time during the grading period and that so many of her matches have been multi-person filler battles. When Natsumi is used to her full potential, she can be a threat to anyone.

• Written By: DaveTCS (X: Dave_TCS4Life)

91. MIYUKI TAKASE – SENDAI GIRLS

Great presence, effortless charisma, supreme athletic skill: Miyuki Takase is one of those wrestlers who, while is not a member of a promotion with major exposure, has everyone’s respect and admiration as a constant workhorse in the scene. Her efforts were rewarded almost a year ago, when Sendai acknowledged her ethic and inducted her in their full-time roster. Alongside that, Miyuki has proven her reliability for yet another year, whether as a singles wrestler or a tag team one, participating in numerous bouts all over the independent scene of Japan (with the occasional international match here and there). She has a been a part of two popular and successful tag teams in the joshi scene, Luminous (with Haruka Umesaki) and Red Energy (with Mika Iwata). Despite Luminous not being very active this past year, Red Energy have had a lot of success, even winning back the Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship that they lost last year. Moreover, her alter ego in Sukeban, the Queen of Hearts, has been a mainstay in those shows, even challenging for the company’s championship. Indeed, the “Phoenix of Osaka” never runs out of (Red) Energy!

• Written By: Aris Emmanouloudis (X: ArgyEmm)

90. YURIKA OKA – SENDAI GIRLS

The spark plug. The ray of light. The Sendai Girls stalwart. Yurika Oka made her mark, largely with Mio Momono at her side. Those two gremlins won the Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship (a title they’re becoming synonymous with) for the third time. Besides winning gold once more, Bob Bob Momo Banana again delivered exciting tag action consistently whether it was against Team 200kg before Yuu retired or against Red Energy. On the singles side, Oka faced Senjo’s best, including Chihiro Hashimoto, continuing to show promise outside of the tag team scene. Here’s hoping that the next time we write about her in the Joshi Top 100, we’re talking about her singles championship matches and a deep run in a tournament somewhere. The more we see of her infectious, high-energy style, the better.

• Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: RyanDilbert)

89. MAIKA – STARDOM

Maika’s year got off to a delayed start as she returned from injury to a huge ovation on the final night of the 2025 Goddess of Stardom Tag League. Her comeback marked the beginning of the Babyface Army vs. H.A.T.E. storyline, a rivalry that reached its climax five months later at Yokohama Arena. Although Maika set the story in motion, she was never its central figure. Instead, much of her year was defined by her rivalry with Suzu Suzuki, helping elevate Suzuki into a credible challenger and eventual World of Stardom champion. Rather than being the focal point herself, Maika spent the year laying the foundation for others to succeed. Whether through her feuds, leadership, or willingness to elevate her opponents, she played a crucial role in shaping Stardom’s main event scene, even if she wasn’t always the one standing in the spotlight.

• Written By: Anonymous

88. RUAKA – STARDOM

If you ask a lot of English-speaking joshi wrestling fans, they are usually not the biggest fan of Ruaka, but as someone who covers the scene in a media way, you have to give a wrestler their proverbial flowers when they deserve it, and this year, Ruaka deserves it. While there are times that her matches leave a bit to be desired, when she pairs up with her tag team partner Natsuko Tora, things tend to be quite a bit better on average. That is not only easy to see while watching the matches, but it is shown by the fact that she was one half of the Goddesses of Stardom champions, with the aforementioned Tora, for 276 days of our scoring period. During those 276 days, she defended her title a total of five times, which is honestly quite impressive in STARDOM with such a talented roster, meaning that competition is always high. She also had an overall win percentage of 56%, which is honestly pretty high for STARDOM as a lot of the roster sits a percentage or two around 50%. Will Ruaka be able to improve upon her ranking next year? That is still left to be seen but considering the fact that H.A.T.E. isn’t as powerful overall as they were up until All-Star Grand Queendom, her chances probably aren’t too high.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

87. KAORI YONEYAMA – GOKIGEN PRO

Kaori Yoneyama is always a joy to watch whether she’s in the full face makeup as Fukigen Death, or wearing just a bit as herself. She’s also the hardest working woman in the business if you just count the amount of matches she wrestled in the past year. Sure, some of those matches were under 30 seconds long, but it still counts! Her company Gokigen Pro Wrestling, puts together entertaining cards with a handful of their core wrestlers, while also bringing in others from the outside to join their zany antics which helped create quite a few hilarious moments during this past year. Kaori herself can still put on the proverbial working boots though, as every now and then you’ll see her really lock in to put on a great performance even at the age of 45. She showed that off fully this year when she joined her former Tokyo Cyber Squad mates of Konami and Rina as they captured the Artists of Stardom Championship, which they then defended four times during their 258-day reign of our scoring period. She also picked up the Daily Sports Tag Team Championship twice, though for short, no defense reigns and the Triangle Ribbon Championship that she had on two occasions, but only for a day in total. I think that a lot of people see Kaori as only a comedic wrestler who keeps things very simple in her matches, but I see a 26-year veteran who knows when she needs to try, and when she doesn’t, which is something I can respect. Her comedy is good enough for the times that she’s not trying all too hard, at least in my opinion, so I personally have no complaints even if others may not agree.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

86. MAIKA OZAKI – FREELANCER

Looking back at 2025, a year full of retirements in the joshi scene, we tend to forget how a wrestler’s farewell could affect their tag team partner, case and point: Maika Ozaki. After her SPiCEAP partner, Tae Honma, retired, the team left the WAVE Tag Team Championships vacant, ending a 195-day reign. As a singles competitor she has mainly worked in DIANA and WAVE, participating in the latter’s annual tournament, Catch the WAVE. She also had a one-off appearance in the promotion that saw her make her pro wrestling debut, ActWres girl’Z, teaming with Tae Honma, who also debuted there, as part of Honma’s retirement tour. She won the 666 Chaos Undecided Freedom Championship, 666’s main title.

Maika Ozaki’s solid work speaks for itself in whatever promotion she wrestles, and whether being part of SPiCEAP or all by herself, we can count on the Big Sister.

• Written By: Fernando Ibarra (X: Jferimsw)

85. SELENE MISORA – SEADLINNNG

Selene Misora might be the hardest wrestler to place on this list. The SEAdLINNNG rookie phenom’s numbers don’t get her here. She only had 21 matches and two wins during the grading period. She won zero titles and didn’t win any tournaments. But, if you watch her in action, you know she belongs among her more established peers. Misora’s fervor and charisma burn bright. She’s made an indelible impact right away. The intangibles are all there. SEAdLINNNG is in the midst of a great stretch and she’s a big part of that. Her match quality begs for her to get recognized. Check out any bout where’s she tangling with Honori Hana and sit back and watch the fireworks. The excitement she’s bringing to the scene is special.  She’s so damn good so early, you have to throw out traditional ranking math and find a spot for on this list. Misora is about to run away with the joshi Rookie of the Year race. After that, who knows. The world is hers to devour.

• Written By: Ryan Dilbert (X: RyanDilbert)

84. YUNA MIZUMORI – STARDOM

The tropical pineapple girl Yuna Mizumori has had a hell of a year during our scoring period, as she finally got her chance to show her stuff as a singles star in the company, rather than always just needing to be a part of a tag team like before. Sure, the High Speed title isn’t the most prestigious in STARDOM, but it’s still a championship that you’ll get the opportunity to have important matches with, which as a lower card wrestler, can be a big step up. Yuna has passed that with flying colors however by putting in great performances, and turning high speed into ‘pine speed’ instead. This year, the Cosmic Angels member only came away with a 46% win percentage, but not only did she win the High Speed title for the first time, but she also defended it on four occasions, which is something she should be proud of, and maybe it will lead to less people overlooking her as a member of STARDOM’s stacked roster.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

83. MISA KAGURA – FREELANCER

Misa Kagura is one of my top three favorite wrestlers. Her pink, cutesy, idol aesthetics clash wonderfully with her hard-hitting “never stop running” style, inspired by her spirit animal, the boar. Misa Kagura and her 1111 tag partner Sumika Yanagawa took a leap of faith as they left JTO in Summer 2025 and went freelance. The gamble has absolutely paid off for Misa as she has become a key player in the freelance scene. Not only has she joined Unagi Sayaka’s unit, Papapa Reiwa Party, alongside other popular names, but she’s also established herself in OZ Academy as part of Phantom Limit, Diana as part of Grace of Royalty, as well as being a favorite of Yumiko Hotta’s, getting regular bookings on T-HEARTS shows. She also won the International Ribbon tag team title with Manami Katsu in Ice Ribbon, after capping off an incredible storyline with then ICExInfinity Champion Katsu. The Katsu storyline was actually my favorite of the independent scene the entire year, and it did a lot to establish Misa immediately after going freelance. It also sparked Katsu’s character shift from a cold-hearted, icy, aloof champion to caring, protective veteran, as Misa finally got Katsu to say, “I love Ice Ribbon.” Melting the Ice Queen’s frozen heart is worth more than any other title, if you ask me. Misa has no “off-switch”. There isn’t a single match of hers that I’ve watched where she is phoning it in. It is all action, full passion, every single match, no matter how small the crowd. I expect Misa’s rise to the top of the scene to continue next year as people catch on to what a truly special talent she is.

Recommended Match: Manami Katsu vs. Misa Kagura – Ice Ribbon, 23rd & 24th August 2025

• Written By: Eric (Joshi’ing Around Podcast)

82. ITSUKI AOKI – FREELANCER

Shimane’s “Thunderous Girl” Itsuki Aoki has worked hard to become one of the premier bookings in the scene and it feels like the past year has been a milestone for Itsuki. Not only did she become a regular fixture in the biggest joshi wrestling company in the world, STARDOM, but she also finally captured the elusive first singles title of her career, when she won the Regina Di WAVE title on the 2nd of November 2025, defeating Cohaku. That triumph came on the anniversary of her mother’s death, an event that Itsuki has spoken about in her writings in her regular Shupro blog. Itsuki wears her heart on her sleeve, and while her powerhouse, hard-hitting nature is what captures fans, for me, it is her ability to always be the life of the party and put a smile on my face no matter what is going on in my life. Her infectious positivity and propensity to work everywhere and anywhere has made her a mainstay in the scene and extremely popular among the audience, evidenced by her enormous merch table queues which I’ve endured first-hand. This year, Itsuki also main evented her homecoming show in Hamada without her mentor Ikuto Hidaka by her side for the first time ever, as the PR Ambassador of Hamada City continues to spread pro wrestling in her local area, regularly visiting schools and being told by local children that she inspires them to begin wrestling. Shimane flows so strongly through Itsuki that another prefecture native, only one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, Manami Toyota, taught Itsuki her finishing Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex that she used to capture the Regina Di WAVE title. Itsuki’s trajectory is trending upwards, and there is no doubt that this was the best year of Itsuki’s career.

Recommended Match: Cohaku vs. Itsuki Aoki – WAVE, 2nd November 2025

• Written By: Eric (Joshi’ing Around Podcast)

81. AMI SOHREI – STARDOM

I think a lot of people wondered how Ami Sohrei would look after she had her long layoff with her injury, but honestly, I think that in hindsight, that injury might have been the best thing for her. Ami had the ability to watch from the sidelines, sometimes even on commentary to get up close and personal, which I truly believed helped her better understand the psychology of pro wrestling that much better. Ever since coming back in June of last year, she’s put in one hell of an effort to put together matches that not only makes her look good, but her opponent as well. That hard work, and the better understanding she has of what the STARDOM faithful fans want has made her into a strong upper midcard act in the company, who has the ability to possibly wear that Wonder of Stardom Championship someday. When we talk about numbers though, we first have to point out her great 56% win percentage which is one of the highest in the company. She also squeaked in a title win right before the scoring period ended by becoming one third of the Artist of Stardom champions, with her two partners Lady C and Hina. Sure, the reign was only for 35 days of our scoring period, but she even managed to get two defenses during that short time as well, which is part of what puts her this high on our list. The sky is the limit for Ami as far as I’m concerned, so I’ll look forward to seeing whether she can do even better next year.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

80. SAYA IIDA – STARDOM

Saya Iida is one of the most powerful wrestlers in joshi, and she does that while being only about 4 ‘9″. I can even attest that she is indeed VERY short when you meet her in person, but even with her short stature, her larger-than-life energy can eclipse just about anyone she’s in the ring with. Saya Iida is truly a special talent, and probably one of the best on the STARDOM roster at getting a true crowd buy-in to any big match she has. Whether it’s her taking on her tag team partner who is supposed to be one of the biggest babyfaces in the company, or taking on a dastardly heel like Konami, Saya Iida shows everyone that being genuine is way more important than people may realize. That genuine connection she has with the fans isn’t something you can create, it’s natural. While Iida didn’t have much when it comes to accomplishments for the year, other than the tail end of her Goddesses of Stardom title reign with Hanan at the very beginning of our scoring period, one of the things that really pushed her up our rankings is just how good her matches are on average. With the crowd connection intact, and the hard-hitting nature of her offense, she’s proved that she can be a main event level talent in STARDOM. She obviously shouldn’t always lose her title attempts, but I think they are telling a great underdog story by having her come up short so many times, so that when she finally captures the red or white belt, it will be a monumental moment for not only her but the company itself.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

79. SUMIKA YANAGAWA – FREELANCER

Ever since leaving JTO, at least as a contracted member of the roster, Sumika Yanagawa has done a really good job at being booked in quite a few places and finding a good bit of success in each one. She held the JTO Girls Tag Team Championship on two occasions during our scoring period for a total of 127 days but only defended the titles once between both of those reigns. She also captured the International Ribbon Tag Team Championship with her partner Makoto and collected three defenses of those titles before the cut-off date hit. While her 51% win percentage isn’t anything to get overly excited about, the ratings that our team gave her for her in-ring work showed that she’s been a dependable veteran presence on the joshi indie scene, and that you can pretty much plug her into any match that needs that type of worker. This sauna enthusiast has been on our list for three straight years now, and it doesn’t seem like she’s going to be stopping anytime soon!

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

78. LEON – PURE-J

Look, I know that PURE-J doesn’t get the most love on this list normally, but I do feel like we always need to point out just how great Leon still is to this day even at the age of 46. She’s one of the main trainers for the company, and hell, she probably helps with the booking as well, but on top of that she’s a dependable veteran that you can trust to have a decent match with literally anyone, even a brand-new rookie. That dependability and hard work have gotten her onto our list all three years now, and it doesn’t seem like she’s planning on missing it in the near future. Her accomplishments weren’t all that high as she only won the Daily Sports Tag Team Championship once during the scoring period, and that reign only lasted for 20 days without any defenses. On the flip side, though, her 65% winning percentage in matches was really high in general and she was very favorably rated by our team as a great in-ring worker which helped her get to this spot on our list. While there’s a part of me that would love to see Leon get a bit of a run in a bigger joshi company, just to see what she can do against some of the best, of the best, we’ll still be here to show her love even for what she does in PURE-J.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

77. DASH CHISAKO – SENDAI GIRLS

The ‘Hardcore Queen’ DASH Chisako is always a wrestler who brings out the emotion in not only the crowd but her opponents as well. You always know that you’re in for a spectacle, especially when DASH gets to have her hardcore matches, because she’s not only creative but maybe also a little crazy. Don’t sleep on her without the weapons, though, because she’s been a very accomplished tag team wrestler over the years as well. Her tag team with Hiroyo Matsumoto is one of the strongest in her home promotion of Sendai Girls as they’ve won the tag team championships on three occasions and while unfortunately, none of those reigns happened this year, her overall great in-ring work, along with her influence on the business helped push her to this spot on our list. While it’s a shame for wrestling fans that she ended up getting pregnant since we all love to watch her wrestle, I can’t help but be incredibly happy for her as a person because she’ll be able to bring life into this world, much like she brings life into a ring each time she steps into it.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

76. AYAKO SATO – DIANA

In an indie promotion like DIANA, wrestlers like Ayako Sato play a very important part. Not only is she a really good in-ring worker when it comes to the moves she does, or the psychology she uses, but she’s also one of the main heels for the promotion, which gives the plucky babyfaces someone difficult to try to deal with. It’s kind of unfortunate to be honest that Ayako Sato gets overlooked as much as she does, but I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that DIANA isn’t a promotion that people illegally stream normally. You can find SEAd, Ice Ribbon, WAVE and other indie joshi company shows on random websites, but you really can’t find DIANA shows that way. It’s good because it means that people aren’t stealing, but it’s also bad because it means that less people are seeing your product. If more people saw Ayako Sato wrestling on the regular, I think they’d truly appreciate her as a talent a lot more, but that’s just my view of it. Still though, this year Ayako Sato held two championships in her home promotion of DIANA, the Queen Elizabeth title that is only for wrestlers who are 40 years old or older, and the tag team title with her partner Debbie Keitel. She ended up defending both of those titles twice each, while having a whopping 67% winning percentage overall. It’s another strong year for the awesome veteran, and I think she’ll continue to build on it going into next year’s list as well.

• Written By: Justin Stein (X: BioHizzle)

Well, there you have it for the first 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, lower, or even made the list? 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 75 to 51.

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 on YouTube & writer for various outlets including resuramag.com, and fightful.com

Eric – One voice of the Joshi’ing Around Podcast and contributor to the Social Suplex Newsletter.

Alex Reynolds – One voice of the Stardom Quest Podcast.

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.