Mercedes Mone in STARDOM. Max the Impaler in TJPW. Debbie Keitel in DIANA.
A foreigner stepping into the world of joshi can create quite the spark. We’ve seen that play out since the ‘50s when Mildred Burke, Rita Martinez, and others toured Japan. That tradition continues today with companies looking to freshen up their cards with a dose of international talent.
The Many Gaijin Of STARDOM – RESURA
So, whose next? Which luchadors would be most exciting to see continue the long link between Japan and Mexico? Which American and British stars would most thrive during a run with Sendai Girls or STARDOM?
Our writers compiled a list trying to answer that very question. Their choices hail from everywhere from Manchester, England to Torreon, Mexico.
The King Bees (Charity King & Danni Bee)
The King Bees are one of the most complete women’s tag teams on the US indie scene. Equally capable as singles wrestlers, Charity King and Danni Bee are the ultimate fill-in-the-gaps tag team. While King has been establishing herself as a leading powerhouse in the Texas scene, Bee is a fine technical wrestler who can work on the small details and let King wreck shop.
There’s a place for this kind of duo anywhere in Japan, a team who can split their attentions between tag titles and singles endeavours where they’ll be right at home.
-Alex
Kalientita
“The Spiciest Chica” Kalientita is not someone who I’ve seen work a ton of matches personally, but she’s someone who left a positive impression on me when I saw her wrestle live a couple of times in Las Vegas during the WrestleMania weekend festivities in 2025. One thing I wouldn’t have realized without hearing the commentary on one of the STARDOM shows from Las Vegas in 2025, was that one of her trainers at the Hybrid School of Wrestling is none other than Sho Funaki of WWE fame. That shouldn’t automatically get Kalientita on a Japanese company’s radar, her fiery in-ring personality, and hard-hitting style should!
While I do think she’s still probably a bit rough around the edges, a long stint in Japan could really do her a lot of good in my opinion, and I’m not saying that it has to be in one of the bigger companies either. I think it would be kind of cool if she did some time with JTO just because of the TAKA and Funaki connection, but honestly any company that’s willing to make it possible for her to work there would be sufficient for this 22 -year-old talent. Hell, I’d even be happy if TJPW decides to use her on their next Texas tour, because it would at least help her get her seen a bit more.
-Justin
Erika Reid
Okay, so technically the Dream Time Voodoo Witch can already be ranked as a gaijin in Japan. She wrestled and beat Mizuha in JTO in April last year, while training there for a month. But one match only sparks the imagination of what she could do in a full tour of Japan.
Reid is a solid wrestler with great brawling ability and some high-flying moves tucked in her arsenal; and those types of athletes have made great gaijins in Japan in the past. Whether she is putting people down with her Dragon Sleeper or hitting them with moonsaults or a Twist of Fate, Erika can hold her own with basically anyone. Her hard-nosed brawling ability would make for a perfect opponent for the likes of Rina Yamashita or Suzu Suzuki. But what really sets this two-time MCW champion apart is her awesome look and gimmick. The Dream Time Voodoo Witch has that aura that so many wrestlers struggle to find. From her face paint to her gear, to her amazing entrance, Erika commands you to take notice.
This 10-year pro is probably the best Australian wrestler to not be fully discovered by foreign promotions. I would love to see what she could do in Stardom, Marigold, or Sendai Girls, companies that are known to take really talented women and make them into superstars.
–Dave
Raychell Rose
In 2025, we got a taste of what Raychell Rose could do in Japan as the Texas indie star wrestled a tag match on the STARDOM American Dream show in Vegas. She more than held her own in there, mixing it up with Hazuki and Suzu Suzuki. We need to see more of that, be it with STARDOM, TJPW, or elsewhere.
Rose has made a name for herself across the Texas scene, working for places like Inspire Victorious, Reality of Wrestling, and New Texas Pro.
What stands out right away is her cockiness and aura. Rose has a commanding presence, sauntering through the crowd demanding that fans bow to her. That will translate anywhere. In the ring, she has a hard-hitting style and nails foes with big, powerful kicks. That’s going to fit in nicely with a lot of joshi promotions.
Her work against longtime rival Hyan is a good showcase of what she can do. (Check out their match at DPW Forever!) A blend of strong character work and intense offense.
If AEW or WWE isn’t going to snatch Rose up anytime soon, a joshi promotion has to take advantage of her potential and give her a run.
-Ryan
Hollie Barlow
One half of the well-known EVE duo Lallie, Hollie Barlow is often, in my eyes, hidden a bit by her tag team work. When looking at the classic between Lallie and French Art (which is free on YouTube, so NO excuses) the standout sections of the match often see Barlow getting to let the reigns loose and take center stage. If given time to find herself in Japan and get a run of singles matches, I believe she could easily achieve the kind of cult hero status that keeps names like Hailey Hatred and Layla Hirsch spoken in joshi fan circles to this day.
-Alex
Kris Statlander
Look, I know what most of you are going to say, “we don’t need more AEW people in our joshi promotions,” but what if the person being sent over is actually quite talented already, and can work a powerhouse style, while still showing off her athleticism against the much smaller on average joshi talent? Kris Statlander is that person!
From doing a quick search of her CageMatch profile and setting the region to Asia, it looks like she’s never wrestled in Japan before, which I think needs to change sometime within the next few years.
Kris is a talented pro wrestler who has has had a few notable accomplishments already in her home promotion of AEW, including winning the AEW Women’s Championship and the AEW TBS Championship, so you wouldn’t be simply helping a young wrestler get reps, you’d be booking a wrestler who knows what she’s doing. One thing that has hindered Kris Statlander in AEW however is that she’s failed to get her personality and character over as well as she’d need to on US national television, which expects your character work to be a main selling point over simply being good inside of the ring.
If she was in STARDOM or another big joshi promotion, she wouldn’t have to worry about the character work as much, and she’d have a lot of incredible wrestlers to work with, which will only improve her in-ring skills as well. It may also help her with some of the fundamentals like selling, or making things feel more realistic which has been a draw recently to US TV audiences with the likes of Giulia coming overseas from Japan, as well as Mariah May making the jump to the two US companies after her year-long stint in Japan.
Ultimately, I think it could work well for both parties, and I don’t feel like she needs to absolutely dominate or anything, but I do think she’d be booked strongly not only for political reasons, but also because she’s a pretty big, imposing woman when you stand her next to a joshi wrestler, which I got to see it first hand when she wrestled Neo Genesis in Las Vegas.
-Justin
Charlotte Flair
Hey, hey, put down your pitchforks and hear me out.
Charlotte Flair is my favorite non-Japanese female wrestler ever, but at this point (a long time ago, actually), The Queen has accomplished everything in WWE, so why not?
Yes, she is a nepobaby. Yes, they give her title opportunities just because. Yes, she has rubbed some people the wrong way. However, fans tend to forget something: she is a GREAT wrestler. Charlotte constantly put on some of the best women’s matches during a lengthy period of time, and while some may say that was almost a decade ago and WWE doesn’t need her anymore, well…that’s my point: she could (and would) thrive somewhere else. Let her face Sendai’s finest, Stardom’s excellent batch of talent and just have fun with some TJPW act.
It feels like a crime that we never got to see a proper one-on-one match between her and IYO Sky (you know what I mean), and just like Momo Watanabe, exiting her current promotion could benefit her in a big way, at least career-wise.
-Fernando
Taniya
An interesting prospect, Taniya is a wrestler with an endless imagination in the ring. Her match with Miu Watanabe over WrestleMania weekend was a fine audition but what a talent like her needs is consistent in-ring time to put it all together.
At her worst, she’d provide an interesting new talent to work her way up the totem pole on a joshi roster, but at her best she’d be the best unsigned women’s wrestler to hit the scene since Zara Zakher and Maya World were first making their mark.
-Alex
Kira
One of Mexico’s biggest rising stars is just five feet tall, but she is the highlight of every match she is in.
With only a couple of matches in Japan to her credit, Kira needs to get more exposure internationally, just for her impressive moveset full of high-flying maneuvers that remind me of Chaparita Asari. I just imagine what she and Starlight Kid, Mei Suruga, or Suzume could do in a ring.
Also, her tag team partner, Skadi, could really do great in Japan, as her mother Marcela, also had a pretty noteworthy career in the land of the rising sun.
Back to Kira, I hope CMLL’s partnership with Stardom benefits the luchadora in a big way, as she deserves to be more known outside the country.
-Fernando
