August was loaded, and you were not alone if you got behind on your joshi viewing for the month. We had the last stages of the TJPW Princess Cup, a Super Asia Championship bout, Sendai Girls bangers, and a big chunk of the 5STAR Grand Prix.
Fernando and Ryan have come to the rescue and spotlighted some prime picks from across the joshi scene. They selected some big title clashes, slugfest, tag action, and more.
You’ll notice there are no 5STAR tournament matches on their list. That’s in part because Ryan talked up a lot of those in his ranking column. Read that here: The 10 Best Matches of the 2026 STARDOM 5STAR Grand Prix
For everything else from the joshi world in August, read on and figure out what you need to add to your watchlist.
Senka Akatsuki vs. Reina Takano, Sendai Girls – Shinjuku FACE (August 1)
A straightforward story played out in compelling fashion.
Akatsuki isn’t the rookie anymore. Her tenacity and experience has her sitting higher on the joshi mountain than the newbie Takano. And so, Senka smacked down her younger foe, forcing her will upon her, showcasing dominance. Takano was clearly not ready to take Senka down, but she showed big heart in trying. All of this came through brilliantly in this short opener.
Something as simple as a Boston Crab was made extra dramatic here with Akatsuki cranking it back and Takano’s face reshaped by agony, the rookie desperately reaching back trying to elbow Senka off her.
This was deliciously urgent, aggressive, and scaled down. The kind of wrestling that grabs ahold of me like a Senka headlock.
Recommended by: Ryan
Mei Suruga & Miya Yotsuba vs Chie Koishikawa & Sayaka, ChocoPro #538 (August 2)
ChocoPro’s finest collided in this all-star tag team match.
Ahead of their Super Asia Championship match, the champion Miya Yotsuba and challenger Chie Koishikawa have been trading wins across several shows, with both teaming with a variety of partners, but this particular match featured Mei Suruga (Miya’s partner) and Sayaka (Chie’s partner), which gave us a great main event full of chaos and fun sequences, ending with Miya getting the victory over Chie.
Sometimes, it feels like Chie herself is the only person who believes she can win the big one, but that’s the same thing people said about Miya, and now both are about to have a Super Asia title match.
Recommended by: Fernando
Arisu Endo vs. HIMAWARI, TJPW – Princess Cup Night 4 (August 8)
Who doesn’t love a good upset in a wrestling tournament?
Even though both women debuted just one and a half years apart from each other, it’s no secret that Arisu has had many more accomplishments than HIMAWARI, with the Zebra being a former International and tag team champion, Max Heart tournament winner and Princess Cup finalist, but the Sunflower has demonstrated she can step up anytime she needs to, giving great performances in big matches, just like this one. These girls crafted a great match with an unpredictable ending that saw HIMAWARI finally putting away Arisu to advance to the tournament’s semi-finals.
Perhaps the biggest win in the Sunflower’s career and a bitter end to Arisu’s aspirations, but in the end, these are the kind of emotions that this tournament is made for.
Recommended by: Fernando
Sareee vs. Mio Momono, Marvelous (August 8)
Match of the Freaking Year!
Full thoughts here: Every Hurt I Have to Give; Sareee vs. Mio Momono
Recommended by: Ryan
Mayu Iwatani & Victoria Yuzuki vs Takumi Iroha & Sareee, Marigold – Summer Destiny (August 9)
Marigold (and wrestling, really) just wasn’t the same without Mayu and Yuzuki. They absolutely stormed back onto the scene with a scorcher of a tag match.
It starts out overflowing with intensity and stays that way until the final bell.
It’s a bout made up of nasty strikes, puffed up chests, and big-time moxie. Sareee and Iroha play the heel role expertly here with bad attitudes and merciless offense. The way Spark Rush puts it on Yuzuki you can’t help but believe they legit hate her.
Iwatani flies around the ring. Sareee thrives on disdain. Both squads’ double-team work is deft, smooth stuff.
Wow. Just wow.
One of the best tag matches of the year. A can’t-miss bout. Go load it up on Wrestle Universe now.
Recommended by: Ryan
Kaho Matsushita vs. Sumika Yanagawa, Ice Ribbon – New Ice Ribbon #1507 (August 9)
This is the kind of dogfight the IcexInfinity Championship deserves.
Moments into the match, Matsushita ran across the ring apron and cracked her boot against Yanagawa’s arm. The champ smirked as her opponent curled on the floor with her arm clutched to her body. That’s such a fitting microcosm of what this collision was all about.
Aggression. Intensity. Relentlessness.
A pulsing energy powers Matsushita’s fourth defense of Ice Ribbon’s top title. Whether they were battering each other with forearms or getting entangled on the mat, you got the sense that these wrestlers were giving all of themselves in the pursuit of gold. The fighters are both so good at making us believe in their fatigue and fighting spirit.
Yanagawa’s artistic kicks are reason enough to watch this. Plus, there’s an emphatic end that hits hard.
Excellent stuff. Right up there with the best Ice Ribbon matches of the year.
Recommended by: Ryan
Mika Iwata & Miyuki Takase vs. Manami & Spike Nishimura, Sendai Girls – SENJO 20th Anniversary Tour In Shin-Kiba (August 9)
An excellent tag team match in the main event of any given show; just the usual from Sendai Girls.
In preparation for her Sendai Girls World Title match, Mika Iwata teamed up with her Red Energy partner, Miyuki Takasa, to face Manami and the Sendai Girls Junior champion, Spike Nishimura, and everybody just did what they were supposed to do. Red Energy showed why they are the tag team champions, with her great chemistry, while Spike is growing as a performer with every passing show, and what else can I say about Manami and her coolness. Mika looked particularly determined to make clear she is leaving as world champion on August 28th, getting the victory for her team after pinning Manami.
You could show almost every main event of a Sendai Girls show and they would be instantly interested in following the promotion.
Recommended by: Fernando
Miya Yotsuba vs Chie Koishikawa, ChocoPro #540 Fruit Juice 2545% (August 22)
Sometimes, you just need a Super Asia Championship match to brighten up your day.
Miya Yotsuba’s sixth title defense saw her facing a woman who has had several shots at the Super Asia title, but has never won it—Chie Koishikawa. The champion and the challenger have traded wins in the past weeks, so once they finally met in the ring, neither wanted to hold anything back. Roll-up attempts filled the match with drama in the final stretch, including an impressive nearfall by the champion. Miya was able to catch Chie with a powerslam, followed by a Miya Hammer to put away the challenger.
Two underdogs in their own right gave us a short-but-sweet title match that captures what ChocoPro was created for.
Recommended by: Fernando
Natsupoi vs Saori Anou, Stardom – 5STAR GRAND PRIX 2026 – Night 16 (August 23)
Oh, what the heck! One more time from the top.
In one of the most anticipated matches of her retirement tour, Natsupoi faces the woman who debuted the same day she did, and has been a friend as much as a rival during both of her careers, Saori Anou. A special singles match on the same night of the 5Star GP finals, this final encounter between two delivered a big emotional roller coaster. They know each other so well, their styles meshed perfectly, and you didn’t want anyone to lose. However, Natsupoi was the one who got the win with her new move, Made in Ja-Poi, her own version of her husband’s, Shingo Takagi, move.
They really know how to tell a story, don’t they?
Recommended by: Fernando
RESURA 