By: Thom Fain
Joshi wrestling is in the midst of a boom period, and unless you’ve confined yourself to a cabin in the woods with no Starlink connection you might have noticed the number of live events has exploded this year. The number of American startups promoting Japanese-styled women’s wrestling in 2023 has tripled, joining established indies who import Tokyo’s finest such as DEFY, DPW and Prestige (who is set to co-promote Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling’s second American show at Globe Theatre in LA this December).
The most eclectic roster bridging the American and Japanese women’s wrestling audiences belongs to Kitsune Wrestling, who gave fans three hours of Tokyo’s premiere freelance wrestlers on Sunday night.
“I came in thinking it was going to run smooth and there’d be no problems,” explained Kitsune founder and promoter Eric Howard. “I thought I was prepared, but I wasn’t prepared. The [1+ hour] delay bothers me, but the women who performed tonight made me look really good when I didn’t deserve to look good – the matches were amazing! The wrestlers were amazing. The crowd was unbelievable. And they had every right to be a bit of a dead crowd for making ’em wait for so long, but as soon as Miyacoco walked out the curtain, it was on.”
Unagi Sayaka, Tae Honma, Risa Sera, Konami and a bevy of joshi vets drew 330 Angelenos to a Koreatown venue brimming with excitement and energy. Joining Tae and Unagi in the main event was the enigmatic California icon Dark Sheik. At the end of the night, though, it was another moment in the annals of our #GyanEra, as Unagi delivered on the promise she made to Monthly Puroresu back in April.
“I will be a superstar, so my value is going to skyrocket! So, better come early, before the tickets get very expensive,” Unagi said in our exclusive interview. “I want to prove to everyone what I bring to the world of joshi puroresu. And in order for me to do that I have to follow the path I chose to the fullest! And that means coming to the US and competing in the US scene, and showing everyone in the ring that I can be myself as the Kabukimono.”
Unagi and the joshi from Tokyo matched up against some of America’s fastest rising women’s wrestling stars including Billie Starkz, Trish Adora, and Willow Nightingale. Also in attendance, Kyoko Kimura — whose fingerprints were on the production from start to finish — with fans lining up to meet her and donate to the #EndTheHate campaign created in Hana Kimura’s memory.
.@420Tae gives it her all in a triple threat against Dark Shiek and @unapi0902 — but it’s Unagi taking the Kitsune Wrestling title home to Japan pic.twitter.com/T8SUqC0AKk
— Monthly Puroresu (@MonthlyPuroresu) October 23, 2023
“I was the biggest Hana Kimura fan from years ago when she first came out,” explained Howard. “I don’t know why… I thought she was going to be the face of wrestling – not just women’s wrestling or Japanese wrestling – I thought she was going to be the face of Wrestling. But whatever happened, happened. And I just wanted to create a place for Kyoko to come and feel the love and let her know that her daughter was loved by international fans, by western fans.”
Kyoko Kimura @kimurarock speaks in #HanaKimura’s memory after an introduction by Chigusa Nagayo ahead of Kitsune Wrestling’s inaugural main event pic.twitter.com/OF8Jekx7Nj
— Monthly Puroresu (@MonthlyPuroresu) October 23, 2023
It was a dream come true for Howard (The Joshi Pod), who follows SUKEBAN and Spark Joshi Puroresu entering the wrestling business for the first time.
“There’ll be more Kitsune Wrestling shows,” Howard said after the event. “There probably won’t be another stacked card like this one. Because that’s one of the lessons I’ve learned with this show – just way too many people flying in… But tonight I worked with good people who helped Kitsune today and made me look better than I should look, and we will have more shows and hopefully do them internationally, too.”
Q&A with Unagi Sayaka, on freedom in wrestling and going abroad
Q&A with Miyako Matsumoto, on her career and artistic influences
Also in action at Kitsune Women’s Wrestling GONG!:
Date:
October 23, 2023
Category:
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