How Idol Culture and Pro-Wrestling Fandom Overlap

The world of professional wrestling thrives on spectacle, and joshi puroresu is an example, with its vibrant costumes, dazzling athleticism, and a unique brand of professional wrestling that has captivated audiences worldwide. In addition, it features a unique brand of idol culture that is significantly impacting how Western fans perceive joshi puroresu, shifting the focus from purely in-ring action to a broader, character-driven entertainment experience based on personality, personal growth, deep emotional connection, and intense fan engagement. Idol culture is a system prevalent in East Asia where a performer presents a perfect, accessible, and relatable persona, which often includes singing, dancing, and public appearances.



The Japanese idol concept originated in the music industry of the early 1960s, and became very popular in the 1970s and 1980s via TV-based idols Momoe Yamaguchi, Seiko Matsuda and the Onyanko Club. Their fans were supporters invested in their growth as performers. Idol group AKB48 popularized handshake events (akushukai) after their debut in 2005, and cheki (polaroid) sessions became standard for independent idols around the late 1990s to early 2000s.

Promotions like Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW) have fully embraced the idol concept. TJPW shows often open with the Up Up Girls (Miu Watanabe, Raku, Shino Suzuki, and Uta Takami), wrestlers who perform music and dances. For Western fans, it has quickly become a cornerstone of their appeal

Meanwhile, promotions like STARDOM and World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana have partially embraced the Japanese idol concept by blending high-level athleticism with entertainment-focused styles designed to build deep, personal links with fans:

STARDOM emphasizes visual presentation through cute personalities, neon hair, and selling branded merchandise like calendars and photobooks (featuring wrestlers such as former High Speed Champion Saki Kashima) to create a visual product that thrives on idol-style popularity. Bringing in over $1.2 million per month, STARDOM is the most successful company in joshi puroresu when it comes to idol-style marketing.

World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana, which features a mix of legends and new-generation talent, making it a promotion that has something for everyone who enjoys women's wrestling, utilizes young talent like former World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana World Champion Haruka Umesaki to incorporate high-speed, cute elements, blending traditional matches with idol-like personalities to appeal to a wider demographic.

A reason why idol culture works in pro-wrestling is synchronicity -both wrestling and idol culture unfold in real-time. A wrestler’s career milestones -birthdays, injury returns, or graduation from a promotion- happen alongside the fan's life.

As streaming services like WRESTLE UNIVERSE, Stardom World, and Diana Live continue to grow (with Western subscribers representing a significant, highly active subscriber base), we are seeing a localization of Japanese fan habits. Furthermore, Western fans are utilizing social media to show support and buying merchandise via specialized shipping.

The Western fan is no longer only a spectator; they are investing in the person behind the persona. Whether it's the pre-match songs or the post-match photograph opportunities, the intersection of these two worlds has added more fun, emotion, and excitement to the pro-wrestling industry.

The True Power of Joshi Puroresu

When many pro-wrestling fans hear the words "joshi puroresu", they think of vibrant costumes, dazzling athleticism, and a unique brand of professional wrestling that has captivated audiences worldwide. And in most cases, this is true. However, joshi puroresu is far more than a spectacle; it's an emotional, physically demanding, and historically significant style of wrestling that deserves recognition for its innovation and impact.

Historically, joshi puroresu has played a key role in the global development of women's wrestling. It has been an inspiration and training ground for a great number of female wrestlers around the world, influencing styles and promotions across continents. From the legendary AJW, which dominated the joshi (women's professional wrestling in Japan), landscape for decades, to the modern era, featuring promotions like STARDOM, joshi continues to evolve and push the boundaries of women's wrestling. These promotions, and many others, showcase the remarkable talent and dedication of joshi wrestlers, carrying the torch and forging a new path for the future.

Joshi carves its own distinct path within the wider wrestling environment. While it shares some core similarities with men's puroresu, it has evolved its own unique characteristics, blending hard-hitting strikes, high-flying maneuvers, and psychology into an absorbing and unforgettable display, very similar to the male Japanese wrestlers who have embraced the lucha libre style.

One of the defining elements of joshi is that it blends together strong style and the King's Road style. Many joshi deliver stiff kicks/strikes and impressive suplexes, can quickly change strategies and utilize holds and submissions when needed, and also perform amazing aerial maneuvers. In addition, due to toughness and resilience, many of them are also willing to absorb punishment that can rival, and often surpass, the physicality seen in men's matches.



Technical wrestling, with its emphasis on chain wrestling, counters, and submissions, is also an important part, adding another layer of complexity to the in-ring action. This blend of styles creates a dynamic and unpredictable product, keeping audiences on the edge of their seats.

An example of a match that featured all of the elements of a joshi match was the classic encounter between World Of Stardom Champion Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani at Stardom Gold May 2016 with the championship on the line. Both women can just as easily deliver suplexes and stiff kicks/strikes as they can wrestle the technical style and perform high-flying moves. Meanwhile, they both display that they can take a beating and come back fighting.



This match can be seen in its entirety via the Stardom World streaming service, and although Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani were tag team partners at the time, their match was intense. This intensity evolved into a deeply personal rivalry six months later, with Shirai betraying Iwatani during a tag team match.



The matches during the rivalry between Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani were charged with emotion, reflecting the broken trust. They were about more than the World Of Stardom Championship. It's matches that display this type of emotion, alongside excellent athleticism, that sets joshi puroresu apart and demonstrates its true power.




Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani showed that the best championship rivalries are not always focused solely on a championship. Sometimes, they are also about friendships that are complicated or broken. As the rivalry continues, audiences become invested in the wrestlers and their journey. The emotional aspect elevates joshi matches beyond athletic contests; they become compelling dramas that present themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the human spirit.

Joshi puroresu is a testament to the athleticism, artistry, and toughness of women in professional wrestling. It's a style that deserves to be celebrated not just for its physicality, but also for its emotional depth and its enduring impact on the world of professional wrestling, as we recognize the true power and skill of joshi.

Japanese Pro-Wrestling on TV in Japan (and Potentially Beyond) in 2019

A big topic as of late has been the increase of the amount of pro-wrestling shows on American television. This year, WWE, NJPW, WOW, ROH, CMLL, AAA, Impact Wrestling, CWFH, and MLW have been presenting pro-wrestling on a weekly basis. And there may be an addition this year as AEW aspires to have a TV deal in the near future as well.

Meanwhile, pro-wrestling has also been thriving as a television product in Japan. NJPW -Japan's biggest pro-wrestling company- is seen weekly via the TV Asahi network. Unlike the United States, where fans are required to have cable in order to watch programs of the most popular companies in the country, cable is not required to watch NJPW programs in Japan on TV Asahi.

GAORA SPORTS provides viewers with Dragon Gate, AJPW, OZ Academy, and WRESTLE-1. Meanwhile, NOAH can be seen regularly on the Nittele G+ sports channel and Samurai TV via satellite. Samurai TV also shows NJPW, ZERO1, Stardom, AJPW, BJW, DDT Pro, and more on their network. In total, pro-wrestling fans in Japan are able watch at least 10 different companies on television regularly, with the biggest one being able to be viewed without needing cable or satellite.

Although the pro-wrestling scene is very healthy in Japan, it has the potential to be even healthier. Being that WWE is biggest company in the industry, they have made the United States the center of the pro-wrestling industry. Alexa (a web traffic and ranking website) shows how much attention WWE captures from fans who live in the United States, and how much of an impact they have on their traffic rank. According to Alexa, http://www.WWE.com has a traffic rank of 3,009, with the majority of its visitors being based in the United States.

Japanese pro-wrestling companies branching out to the American market would enable them to potentially gain new fans from the same fan base that WWE has, as well as pro-wrestling fans who don't like the WWE product and are looking for something different. NJPW has already done this- they are currently featured on AXS TV, a network that presents the NJPW product to 200,000 American viewers every week. There are many other networks for the NJPW product to potentially be on, including ones that would be better than AXS TV, but the fact remains that NJPW's exposure had a positive impact on the company. Alexa's report on http://www.njpw.co.jp/ 's traffic rankings from the past three months are proof of this. As of this writing, the website was ranked at 75,409, having had moved up 19,483 positions versus the previous three months.

Just as how NJPW has increased its exposure by branching out to the American market, other pro-wrestling companies in Japan can (and should) do the same. Every company has a style of wrestling that is different from what American pro-wrestling fans usually are exposed to, which surely would gain their attention. And along with exposure, the pro-wrestling company would gain the financial benefit of the American television network paying them to show episodes of the wrestling program on the American television network.

[STARDOM][PREVIEW] "BEST OF GODDESSES 2018" 11/23/18

Stardom presents, "BEST OF GODDESSES 2018" on November 23 at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The card will be as follows:

JAN
Kaori Yoneyama (Artist of Stardom Champion)
Ruaka
Leo Onozaki
vs
Hanan
Rina
Hina

STARS 3 Way Battle
Starlight Kid (Future Of Stardom Champion)
vs.
Shiki Shibusawa
vs.
Natsumi

STARS
Saki Kashima (former Goddesses Of Stardom Champion)
Tam Nakano
vs.
QUEEN'S QUEST UK
Bea Priestley
Chardonnay

OEDO TAI
Kagetsu (former Goddesses Of Stardom Champion)
Hazuki
vs.
Hana Kimura (former Goddesses Of Stardom Champion)
Mari Apache (former AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion)

Mayu Iwatani (former Goddess of Stardom Champion)
Arisa Hoshiki
vs.
Konami
AZM

Goddesses Of Stardom Championship match
Jungle Kyona (Goddesses Of Stardom Champion)
Natsuko Tora (Goddesses Of Stardom Champion)
vs.
Momo Watanabe
Utami Hayashishita

[STARDOM][PREVIEW] "DREAMSLAM 2018 Nagoya" 4/1/18

Stardom presents, "DREAMSLAM 2018 Nagoya" on April 1 at the Aichi-Nagoya International Conference Center. The card will be as follows:

Tag Team Explosion Death match
Io Shirai (former Goddess of Stardom Champion)
Tam Nakano
vs.
Kagetsu (Goddess of Stardom Champion)
Natsu Sumire

World of Stardom Championship match
Toni Storm (World of Stardom Champion)
vs.
Mayu Iwatani (former World of Stardom Champion)

SWA Title match
Jungle Kyona
vs.
Viper (SWA Champion)

Saki Kashima (former Artist Of Stardom Champion)
Natsuko Tora
Shiki Shibusawa
vs.
Mary Apache (former AAA World Trios Champion)
Faby Apache (former AAA World Trios Champion)
Natsumi

Queen's Quest Single Series
HZK vs. Hana Kimura (former PURE-J Princess Of Pro Wrestling Champion)
Momo Watanabe vs. Bea Priestley

Future of Stardom Title match
AZM
vs.
Starlight Kid (Future of Stardom Champion)

IPW:UK Women's Championship match
Konami
vs.
Xia Brookside (IPW:UK Women's Champion)

Future of Stardom Tag match
Ruaka
Leo Onozaki
vs.
Hanan
Nao Yamaguchi

[STARDOM][PREVIEW] "DREAMSLAM 2018" 3/31/18

Stardom presents, "DREAMSLAM 2018" on March 31 at Osaka Edion Arena No. 2 in Osaka. The card will be as follows:

Goddess of Stardom Championship match
Kagetsu (Goddess of Stardom Champion)
Hana Kimura (Goddess of Stardom Champion)
vs.
Mary Apache (former AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion)
Faby Apache (former AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion)

Wonder of Stardom Championship match
Io Shirai (Wonder of Stardom Champion)
vs.
Bea Priestley

Mayu Iwatani (former Goddess of Stardom Champion)
Tam Nakano
vs.
Toni Storm
Xia Brookside

Elimination match
QUEEN'S QUEST
Viper
HZK
Momo Watanabe
AZM
vs.
Kaori Yoneyama
Jungle Kyona
Natsuko Tora
Konami

Visual 3WAY battle
Saki Kashima
vs.
Shiki Shibusawa
vs.
Natsu Sumire

Future of Stardom match
Starlight Kid
Hanan
Natsumi
vs.
Ruaka
Nao Yamaguchi
Leo Onozaki

[STARDOM][PREVIEW] "DREAMSLAM 2018 Tokyo" 3/28/18

Stardom presents, "DREAMSLAM 2018 Tokyo" on March 28 at the Korakuen Hall. The card will be as follows:

Saki Kashima Return match
Mayu Iwatani (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
Tam Nakano
Saki Kashima (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
vs.
Kagetsu (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
Hana Kimura (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
Natsu Sumire

SWA World & ICW Women's Championship match
Toni Storm (SWA World Champion)
vs.
Viper (ICW Women's Champion)

Hiromi Mimura Final Shout!
Hiromi Mimura
Konami
vs.
Jungle Kyona(former Goddesses Of Stardom Champion)
Momo Watanabe

Natsumi Debut match
Natsumi
vs.
Io Shirai (former World of Stardom Champion)

Future of Stardom Championship Tournament finals
Shiki Shibusawa
vs.
Starlight Kid

Gauntlet match
Mary Apache (former AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion)
Faby Apache (former AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion)
vs.
Hiroyo Matsumoto (former Goddess of Stardom Champion)
Natsuko Tora
vs.
HZK (Artist of Stardom Champion)
AZM (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
vs.
Kaori Yoneyama (former AJW Tag Team Champion)
Keneisha Moon
vs.
Xia Brookside
Bea Priestley

Future of Stardom Tag Team match
Leo Onozaki
Hanan
vs.
Nao Yamaguchi
Ruaka

[STARDOM][PREVIEW] "Grows up STARS 2018" 3/25/18

Stardom, "Grows up STARS 2018" continues on March 25 at Shinkiba 1stRING in Tokyo. The card will be as follows:

Shout Countdown Gauntlet match
Hiromi Mimura
vs.
10 opponents

Artist of Stardom Championship match
Io Shirai (Artist of Stardom Champion)
HZK (Artist of Stardom Champion)
Viper (Artist of Stardom Champion)
vs.
Toni Storm
Bea Priestley
Xia Brookside

Mayu Iwatani (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
Mary Apache (former AAA World Trios Champion)
Fabi Apache (former AAA World Trios Champion)
vs.
Kagetsu (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
Hana Kimura (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
Natsu Sumire

Tam Nakano
Starlight Kid
Keneisha Moon
vs.
Konami (former Artist Of Stardom Champion)
Jungle Kyona (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
Ruaka

Future of Stardom Championship Tournament semifinals
AZM
vs.
Shiki Shibusawa

Reo Onozaki Debut
Reo Onazaki
vs.
Natsuko Tora

Momo Watanabe
vs.
Nao Yamaguchi

[STARDOM][PREVIEW] "Grows up STARS 2018" 3/21/18

Stardom, "Grows up STARS 2018" continues on March 21 at Kanazawa Ryutsu Kaikan in Ishikawa. The card will be as follows:

Toni Storn
Mayu Iwatani (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
Tamu Nakano
vs.
Kagetsu (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
Hana Kimura (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
Natsu Sumire

QUEEN'S QUEST
Io Shirai (former Goddess of Stardom Champion)
HZK (Artist of Stardom Champion)
vs.
Mary Apache (former AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship)
Faby Apache (former AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championship)

Viper (Artist of Stardom Champion)
Momo Watanabe (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
AZM (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
vs.
Jungle Kyona (former Artist of Stardom Champion)
Natsuko Tora
Konami

Shiki Shibusawa
vs.
Bea Priestley

Hiromi Mimura
vs.
Yamaguchi Nanao

[STARDOM][PREVIEW] "Grows up STARS 2018" 3/3/18

Stardom, "Grows up STARS 2018" kicks off on March 3 at the Kasukabe Convention Hall A in Saitama, Japan. The card will be as follows:

QUEEN'S QUEST
Io Shirai
HZK
Momo Watanabe
AZM
vs.
Mayu Iwatani
Tam Nakano
Jungle Kyona
Starlight Kid

OEDO TAI
Kagetsu
Hana Kimura
Sumire Natsu
vs.
WORLD SELECTION
Toni Storm
Bea Priestley
Xia Brookside

Konami
vs.
Hiromi Mimura

Shiki Shibusawa
vs.
Hanan
vs.
Kaori Yoneyama (former High Speed Champion)

Natsuko Tora
vs.
Ruaka

Japanese Pro-Wrestling on TV in Japan (and Potentially Beyond)

A big topic as of late has been the decreasing of the amount of pro-wrestling shows on American television. This year, WWE, TNA, NJPW, ROH, CMLL, Lucha Underground/AAA, and the GWF (via ESPN Classic replays) have been presenting pro-wrestling on a weekly basis. However, the landscape may be changing as the year draws to a close, with there being rumors that Destination America will be dropping TNA's, "Impact Wrestling" program, and El Rey has yet to renew, "Lucha Underground".

Meanwhile, pro-wrestling has been thriving as a television product in Japan. NJPW -Japan's biggest pro-wrestling company- is seen weekly via the TV Asahi network. Unlike the United States, where fans are required to have cable in order to watch programs of the most popular companies in the country, cable is not required to watch NJPW programs in Japan on TV Asahi.

NOAH can be seen regularly on the Nittele G+ sports channel and Samurai TV via satellite. Samurai TV also shows JWP, Stardom, Pro Wrestling ZERO1, BJW, DDT Pro, AJPW, Legend the Pro-Wrestling, and more on their network. Meanwhile GAORA TV provides viewers with Dragon Gate, AJPW, Wrestle-1, and Oz Academy. In total, pro-wrestling fans in Japan are able watch at least 12 different companies on television regularly, with the biggest one being able to be viewed without needing cable or satellite.

Although the pro-wrestling scene is very healthy in Japan, it has the potential to be even healthier. Being that WWE is biggest company in the industry, they have made the United States the center of the pro-wrestling industry. Alexa (a web traffic and ranking website) shows how much attention WWE captures from fans who live in the United States, and how much of an impact they have on their traffic rank. According to Alexa, http://www.WWE.com has a traffic rank of 1,468, with the majority of its visitors being based in the United States.

Japanese pro-wrestling companies branching out to the American market would enable them to potentially gain new fans from the same fan base that WWE has, as well as pro-wrestling fans who don't like the WWE product and are looking for something different. NJPW has already done this- they are currently featured on AXS TV, a network that presents the NJPW product to 200,000 American viewers every week. There are many other networks for the NJPW product to potentially be on, including ones that would be better than AXS TV, but the fact remains that NJPW's exposure has increased and has had a positive impact on the company. Alexa's report on http://www.njpw.co.jp/ 's traffic rankings from the past six months are proof of this. On March 4, 2015, http://www.njpw.co.jp/ had a traffic rank of 37,833. As of this writing, the website was ranked at 28,380 (the lower the number, the higher the rank).

Just as how NJPW has increased its exposure by branching out to the American market, other pro-wrestling companies in Japan can (and should) do the same. Every company has a style of wrestling that is different from what American pro-wrestling fans usually are exposed to, which surely would gain their attention. And along with exposure, the pro-wrestling company would gain the financial benefit of the American television network paying them to show episodes of the wrestling program on the American television network.