Emi Sakura, Mayumi Ozaki, La Estrella and More in AAA World Cup

Emi Sakura, Mayumi Ozaki, La Estrella and More in AAA World Cup

By: J. Curbelo

Earlier today, the prestigious Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide confirmed the participants for their highly anticipated Lucha Libre World Cup of 2023, a trios tournament with multiple companies and countries from all over the world represented. This massive competition will take place next March 19th in Guadalajara, Jalisco. During a press conference, the Japanese representatives were announced.

Descubrimos el equipo "Japón" para la @LuchaWorldCup. @koji_michinoku, @nishikawa_dg y @dragongate_pro

📍 Jalisco, México. pic.twitter.com/bgQM874GbR

— Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (@luchalibreaaa) January 25, 2023

On the male side of the tournament, DRAGONGATE’s La Estrella and Takuma Nishikawa join freelancer KUUKAI, an assortment that prompted AAA’s Mr. Iguana to burst in anger emojis. Nishikawa, who already wrestled against Iguana in Mexico last year, wasted no time in heating things up by replying “Who are you? I don’t know who you are” in Spanish. KUUKAI -formerly known as Koji Kawamoto- also went on excursion to Mexico, where he gained massive appreciation for lucha libre. La Estrella has international experience as well, with MLW and other independent promotions in the U.S.

El equipo "Japón" en la rama femenil para la @LuchaWorldCup @EmiSakura_gtmv de @AEW , Mayumi Ozaki y @msakino1024

📍 Jalisco, México pic.twitter.com/WGBOA0gFzO

— Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (@luchalibreaaa) January 25, 2023

Their female counterparts are the world tenured AEW star and Gatoh Move founder Emi Sakura, along with Oz Academy’s AKINO and Mayumi Ozaki, the latter being regarded as one of the toughest wrestlers in joshi puroresu history, her Ozaki-gun team and parallel promotion OZ Academy being a blueprint for modern teams like STARDOM’s OEDotai. Rudos aficionados will certainly enjoy her. AKINO has been described by fellow wrestler AKARI as an underrated legend in our interview with her for Monthly Puroresu Issue #10.

More details about brackets and matches will be revealed at a later date. How will these two teams fare while defending the honor of puroresu?