While AEW & WWE maintain their status as the top wrestling promotions in the world today, the entire country of Japan is a hotbed for pro wrestling, offering a number of big-time promotions in the form of NJPW, NOAH, Stardom, TJPW, AJPW, and DDT, among others. Japanese wrestling itself is an entirely different style than what is found in North America, with joshi wrestling being a step above women's wrestling outside of Japan.
With the joshi style of wrestling presenting women as truly fierce wrestlers on the same level of the men in terms of intensity and physicallity, there have been a number of breakout stars such as Asuka, Hikaru Shida, Giulia, Mayu Iwatani, and a number of others. Looking to the past and present of Japanese women's wrestling, these are some of the toughest, strongest women to do it.
10 Saya Iida
At just 25 years old, Saya Iida is one of the younger breakout stars in Stardom right now, with a physique that could rival Impact Wrestling's Jordynne Grace in terms of being the most muscular woman in wrestling today. While she has yet to sink her teeth into all that much, despite only debuting in 2019, Saya has already scored one championship win in Stardom, winning the Future of Stardom Championship before being forced to vacate after suffering a torn ACL.
Saya would make her return to the ring in the Spring of 2022 after 10 months away from wrestling and has looked great ever since. As she continues to grow as a perfomer, she will likely be seen as one of the most promising Japanese powerhouses in women's wrestling.
9 Utami Hayashishita
Arguably the greatest women's wrestler actively wrestling today, Utami Hayashishita is the total package. An insanely marketable look, a great personality, and some of the best pure wrestling skills in the business. While she has slimmed down in recent months, she still maintains her toughness to a strong degree. A true wrestling prodigy, Utami is only 24 years old and is already leagues above most other wrestlers in terms of her ability.
For those who have not seen Utami wrestle, she is a sight to behold and is likely going to become an even bigger star in years to come as she will hopefully perform outside of Japan. For now though, fans can see Utami's work exclusively in Stardom, where she is a former World of Stardom Champion, holding the belt for 409 days.
8 Megumi Kudo
Hardcore deathmatch wrestling is certainly not for everyone, and certainly not for women back in the 1980s and 1990s when Megumi Kudo rose to prominence. In Japan, things were a bit more lax, though Kudo would push herself to the limits with her brutal, violent style of deathmatch wrestling, something that North American fans would not see from women's wrestlers until recently.
Through her unrelenting violence, the self-dubbed "Evil Princess" would become a star through her sadistic wrestling style as she did not hesitate to put her body on the line in every outing. She rose to fame and became a major draw in Japan for her willingness to do anything in the ring, working mainly in FMW, eventually retiring in the most reasonable way possible; wrestling in a "No Ropes 200V Double Hell, Double Barbed Wire Barricade, Double Landmine Glass Crush Death Match".
7 Bull Nakano
Arguably the most recognizable name among joshi wrestlers of the past is Bull Nakano. Thanks to her work outside of Japan, Nakano would become a memorable face for American wrestling fans as she would have stints in both WWE and WCW before being forced to retire in 1997.
Despite a short career, nobody could deny the toughness of the former AJW Champion. After retirement, Nakano would eventually work for Rise Wrestling as an on-screen manager and would join the LPGA as a golfer.
6 Maika
A current powerhouse on the Stardom roster today, Maika should be looked at as one of the strongest women in wrestling today. With a great physique, Maika can lift any opponent, regardless of size and has some of the most consistent power moves on the Stardom roster. Having only debuted in 2019, she is still in the early years of her career, and yet her strength and toughness are truly undeniable.
During her time in the company so far, Maika has already won a number of championships, with her being a former Future of Stardom, Goddess of Stardom, and Artist of Stardom Champion. As she continues to train and improve, the future only looks bright for this Japanese powerhouse.
5 Dump Matsumoto
Debuting in AJW in the early 1980s, Dump Matsumoto has such a unique look that it would be hard for anyone who has seen her wrestle to forget her. Emerging on the scene with an insane impact, Dump used her size and strength to carve her way through any and all challengers in Japan, with her becoming AJW World Champion by 1983.
Similar to Megumi Kudo, she would utilize a hardcore style of wrestling which set her apart from the crowd. Dump would eventually find herself wrestling in WWE in 1986, bringing Bull Nakano with her as Bull's first appearance in WWE.
4 Miu Watanabe
At 23 years old, Miu Watanabe is certainly the youngest person to be mentioned here as one of the strongest, toughest women in Japanese wrestling history. Currently a member of the Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling roster, Miu Watanabe is one of the brightest, most promising women's wrestlers in the world today, and part of that is due to her sheer strength.
For a woman of her size, she should not be able to do what she does with such ease, notably her using the Giant Swing and even being able to perform the move on two people at once. It is a wild thing to see, and as she continues to grow as a performer, it seems as if Miu Watanabe's strength & toughness will improve even more!
3 Manami Toyota
To many hardcore fans, Manami Toyota is the best women's wrestler of all time, and it is hard to deny her accolades. By age 24, she had already accomplished nearly everything she could have, and yet, her name is not known by most wrestling fans outside of Japan. One of the greatest babyface wrestlers to ever do it, Toyota had everything anyone could ever want in a wrestler.
From her fiery passion to her insanely innovative in-ring work, Manami Toyota was a living legend during her prime and left one of the strongest legacies following her retirement. For those who doubt her toughness, she would take all of her opponents to her limits, even those bigger and stronger than her, somehow managing to hit suplexes on even the biggest adversaries deep into her matches thanks to her immense fighting spirit.
2 Kyoko Inoue
Similar to Miu Watanabe's bubbly personality, some may brush off Kyoko Inoue as a strong, tough wrestler due to her bright colors and vibrant outfits, however that just simply is not true. Basing most of her moveset off of intense power moves, Inoue would be a forced to be reckoned with in Japan, as she would toss her opponents around with violent intent, a total subversion with her appearance.
Wrestling mostly in All Japan Women's Wrestling, Inoue would become a decorated star, winning the AJW Championship once, as well as a number of other belts during her in-ring career. In 1994 and 1995, Kyoko Inoue would wrestle in WWE for a few matches, cementing her legacy outside of Japan before eventually founding her own company, World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana.
1 Aja Kong
Arguably the name that comes to mind the quickest for many fans of Japanese wrestling in terms of the strongest women to ever do it, is none other than Aja Kong. Outside of Japan, fans may most recently remember her for her brief work in AEW. However, she is not only to be defined by her recent work, but for her decade-spanning career, which began in 1986.
At 52 years old, Aja Kong has done it all in Japan and is one of the biggest names in joshi wrestling history. Most known for her work in All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, where she would spend 20 years wrestling, Aja Kong is a decorated champion and the definition of a tough-as-nails, true powerhouse wrestler. Still wrestling now in 2023, Aja Kong remains a legend of the sport as she works as a freelance wrestler around the globe.
