The first Japanese professional wrestling events date back to the 1950s, but it was in the early 1970s and mid-1980s that it reached unprecedented peaks of popularity thanks to the activity of its women wrestlers. The local audience had the privilege of enjoying historical teams such as The Beauty Pair, and delighting in the eternal rivalry between the Crush Gals and Dump Matsumoto with her Gokuaku Domei. Today we will take a quick look at the concept of Joshi Puroresu (women's professional wrestling) and share part of the ample material available.
The term puroresu is nothing more than the compression and corruption of the phrase “professional wrestling” from English, pronounced “purofesshonaru resuringu”. Puroresu encompasses all Japanese professional wrestling, and as expected, it has some notable differences compared to Western professional wrestling.
Women's Professional Wrestling
Fans from this side of the world have repeatedly emphasized that puroresu (seen as a legitimate combat sport in Japan) is more extreme, especially when it involves women. Wrestling maneuvers are mixed with punches and kicks worthy of an MMA encounter, honoring the phrase “full contact”.
The All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Association was formed in 1955, and thirteen years later gave rise to All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) after many divisions and internal disputes. Despite those clashes, Japanese women's professional wrestling began to gain traction in the 1970s, and several of its matches were broadcast on television.
The dynamic of Japanese women wrestlers versus American women wrestlers remained relatively intact for five years, until the emergence of Mach Fumiake, who became champion at just 16 years old by defeating Jumbo Miyamoto. This turn in favor of Japanese-versus-Japanese matches gave rise to legendary teams like The Beauty Pair, formed by Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda, a mix of relentless warriors and pop artists that seduced the public in record time.
However, fans of joshi puroresu remember with special dedication the Crush Gals, Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka, facing off against Dump Matsumoto, Bull Nakano and the Gokuaku Domei. On one side, beautiful, athletic and tough as steel. On the other, painted faces, chains and blunt objects in the ring.
The popularity of these teams was never equaled again, and after the retirement of the Crush Gals, joshi puroresu entered a downward spiral until the dissolution of AJW in 2005. Even so, that did not cause its disappearance. Its events continue to gain ground and size, and even a couple of matches went down in history for their scandalous profile.
