The Joshi Wrestling incidents

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Rest In Peace to Bray Wyatt

[@lidboydarksun3434]

One of the most underrated wrestlers ever but at least he gets to reunite with brodie

[@MinnaNoPeace20]

RIP 🙏

[@eser3257]

He deserves to be in the hall of fame imo, RIP Bray

[@AgeOfWrestling]

best tag team in heaven @@lidboydarksun3434

[@AgeOfWrestling]

RIP @@MinnaNoPeace20

[@MinnaNoPeace20]

Here’s an interesting tidbit on the Asuka/Nanae Takahashi incident. Nanae was one of the founders of Stardom along with Rossy Ogawa. Because she had so much heat with Asuka, she never allowed to Asuka to wrestle for Stardom despite Asuka being one of the biggest Joshi wrestlers in the industry and by the time Nanae had left the Stardom, Asuka was on her way to WWE

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Interesting 🤔

[@Snt-Berg]

Hmm, that explains Asuka's recent comments about how Stardom was created to destroy Kana, but she got the last laugh.

[@shadowof7662]

​@@Snt-BergIt's crazy to hear, and I'm a fan of both.

[@IISuzakuII]

Still weird a wrestler known to work stiff pretty much called out Kans for being green and Kana then took offense to it....

[@Trancymind]

@@shadowof7662In a way Asuka made wrestling better and she delivered by backing up her own manifesto. That right there is dedication to get better as a wrestler and a professional. More respect for Asuka in my opinion.

[@immortallegacy100]

As a note on Io Shirai in regards to the supposed marijuana incident, it more or less ruined her relationship with her family for several years, including her sister Mio. Even if Io was found to be completely innocent, it was a BIG deal in Japan, and Io still had to donate money she made from wrestling to charity, and apologize to fans and her peers. Even if she was innocent, it was still considered bringing shame to wrestling, Joshi, Stardom, and her family. Io and Mio are on good terms now, but Io apparently was more than a little bitter about her family practically disowning her.

[@nathanalexandre9043]

Hmph some family then.

[@mangamango5569]

The fuck? It was straight up sabotage, she didn’t do anything.

[@latinsizer]

The relationship between Mio and Io was already in shambles when Io decided to join Stardom despite the beef between Stardom and Asuka/Mio.

[@meldrickedwards1892]

Sure....

[@johansmallberries9874]

What’s funny is you can apologize your way out of a knife attack, just don’t get caught with weed.

[@thebestcentaur]

It's crazy just how much darkness lies behind the pomp, circumstance, and cuteness that has come to define a large part of the joshi scene. I was shocked to see that not even Kairi was spared its brutality and related issues. As the last remaining Daughter of Stardom, hopefully Mayu isn't faced with what Kairi and Io (IYO) faced before her Edit: also RIP Hana. You deserved so much better, and those men would rightfully be in prison in a better world.

[@cerberus3838]

Act Yasukawa didn't retire altogether. She continued to wrestle for a bit after the "ghastly match" and eventually returned to wrestling in 2021. She currently wrestles for Actwres Girl'Z and you can even find her recent matches here on youtube on the Actwres Girl'z channel.

[@JoKa1013]

She did retired for a short time after the foundation of Oedo Tai and then she returned in 2021 as an active wrestler.

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Thank you for pointing that out!

[@ILSLF]

I'm most just surprised that Yoshiko was allowed to continue to live. I would have thought that in Japan specifically, some fat not good looking whale get into that much heat, they'd usually be sent for slaughter

[@michelgrandseigne1780]

Un jour où l’autre il y aura un mort dans ce sport violent ,une limite doit être imposé, des règles également, sous peine d’expulsion et également des catégories comme dans la boxe cela serait plus juste et égalitaire à mon avis ,bien des fois c’est du n’importe quoi dommage de dénaturer ce sport à ce point là, comme le matériel que certains lutteurs utilisent pour gagner en trichant, toutes les supercherie sont utilisées, cela gâche ce noble sport

[@koray6261]

@@JoKa1013 _She continued to wrestle for a bit after the "ghastly match" and eventually returned to wrestling in 2021._ You are not pointing out something that haven't been already pointed out.

[@AnimeAlex1.0]

I knew i would start to cry as soon as the Hana Kimura story come up

[@AgeOfWrestling]

RIP HANA KIMURA ❤️

[@wrestlingNOTsportsentrtanmnt]

I understand completely! Every time she is talked about I have the same problem 😢

[@swaviechan999]

one of the reasons she is my favorite women’s wrestler of all time asuka is the embodiment of no one can destroy what you are she was given so much hate because she was against what they were doing to the joshi female wrestlers but then she left and joined the biggest wrestling company in the world at the end of the day she got the last laugh i will forever respect this woman for that

[@princesstamika]

kana was often the bully more often than not. so it's basically, knock people's teeth out, bad mouth everyone and break social norms, say whatever you want cause you can eat off gravure photos whilst having to PAY Meiko Satomura for a win and still end up in WWE. Step on juniors, don't support your cohorts and be a destructive, hateful force of internalized misogyny and end up a success.

[@number0017]

LMAO!!!!. WWE is only big in the United States and India.

[@jbellflower83]

​@@number0017yeah, the only billion dollar wrestling company in the world is "OnLy PoPuLaR iN AmErIcA aNd InDiA". You realize what an idiot you sound like saying that? Even if you don't like what they currently are, to undercut them like that is just pure bias. They are, whether you like it or not, the biggest wrestling company on the planet, period. I don't really much watch WWE anymore but I still acknowledge they are the biggest wrestling company out there. New Japan, AEW and all the rest would kill for just a year of what WWE does financially.

[@Dizerfullpower]

And there is what, billion people in India?

[@johnriley7312]

The irony of Nanae Takahashi hating Asuka for working stiff

[@SpeedDemonPowerage98]

Yet she did the same thing to young Kairi in Pre-Bushiroad Stardom.

[@RichardM1366]

Kairi is a wonderful lady. She is indeed one of the best in the business. Japan has produced legends in the business and they have made their mark. I would like to see her in AEW.

[@Snt-Berg]

I've watched Kairi Hojo matches, and the fans live and die with her. If you've ever seen Ricky Morton getting the snot beat out of him and all the fans - male and female - cry and scream for him to fight back, that's what it is like with Kairi.

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Kauri in AEW would go NUTS. But sadly she’s going back to WWE

[@DarkHeartTheEmo]

​@@AgeOfWrestlingSo is confirm that she will return to WWE? Last time I heard they weren't certain about that.

[@WarGhoulKharas]

She was in one match for Lucha Underground too. Her and Io Shirai were part of this trio that took on Pentagon Jr.

[@duckmercy11]

@@DarkHeartTheEmo Yes, she's supposedly returning in the fall. Probably will debut between Survior Series and the RR.

[@MxMoondoggie]

Nanae Takahashi is a nasty bit of work. When she was the head trainer at Stardom there were a lot of stories about her rough training methods and she was regularly stiff in the ring. She somewhat clashed with Fuka's training and joshi philosophies so seemed to have a resentment towards Fuka's favourites such as Kairi and Act. Yoshiko was Nanae's favourite student and rumour is that she was also involved in the heat and told her to shoot on Act which is why she was let go over it. They bought her back though which seems like a dumb idea. It must be said that the story of Yoshiko being jealous of her popularity is simply a fan theory and nobody who was there has ever spoken about any of the reasons why it happened or gone into detail over the events that night. I've heard credible people say Yoshiko was unhappy about having to drop the title to Act but not necessarily why and also that Nanae had encouraged her to shoot so there was probably some backstage issues going on between them. People often see it as the big and ugly girl as the bully and the pretty model as the victim because image and because Act took the worst of it but I doubt she's completely innocent in the drama. It looked like she was squaring up to Yoshiko at the start instead of working so there were probably some words backstage before they even got to the ring. She probably came off worse because she kept trying to continue the match to get Yoshiko to do the finish and drop the belt. Will also note that the referee tried to stop the match several times and in the live hall people noted that he even looked at Rossy at one point and asked if he should stop the match and Rossy shook his head "no" so the owner of the company is part of the problem. Nanae's close friend Natsuki Taiyo was her training assistant and an active roster member in the early days of Stardom too and she was also a nasty piece of work. The most violent thing I ever saw in joshi was Natsuki Taiyo vs Ayumi Kurihara where Kurihara got knocked clean out because she was still green and accidentally got herself hit with a stiff shot to the head and Natsuki was annoyed about it because she still had to do her finish so she picked up Kurihara still out cold and did her finish without her being able to sell or protecting her, it was so dangerous and irresponsible. The GAEA documentary was everything wrong with old school joshi rolled up into a feature. A lot of what they were doing had nothing to do with training, they were beating a kid up for fun and to show off for the cameras and it's uncomfortable to watch. This also happened in a lot of places including Stardom which improved when the training responsibilities moved away from Nanae and her cronies. Though since Bushiroad took over they bought back a lot of the problems including dangerous actions in matches and stiff training forcing the roster to bulk up while bringing back Nanae and bringing in other veterans who are known for hurting people.

[@fortunes_youtube]

I used to be heavily involved with a joshi online community back in 2007-2010. Many HATED Nanae and Natsuki*Taiyo if for anything else, they were basically every-fuckin-where when there was like maybe 3 consistent promotions and pop-up promotions otherwise. If I recall correctly, I think I saw gifs of the Ayumi/Natsuki match where there was a crazy stiff dropkick to a seated opponent

[@markboon2024]

​@@fortunes_youtubeThe "legends" had a strangle hold on Joshi for way too long.

[@fortunes_youtube]

@markboon2024 yeah that was exactly the case. We used to call Yumiko Hotta "Triple H." Chigusa Nagayo is obvious. It's kind of jarring that multiple generations debuted and retired before wrestlers such as Manami Toyota. And those people still had a good 10-20 years of experience like Azumi Hyuga and Yoshiko Tamura.

[@duckmercy11]

Another fan theory I've heard is that Act Yasukawa has graves disease in one of her eyes which, along with her skipping practice sessions, caused her to make mistakes in the ring and unintentionally hurt people, which upset Yoshiko.

[@princesstamika]

Nanae trained wrestlers like zenjo. Stardom wrestlers didn't even want to train. they mutinied when Kagetsu tried to step training up just a little. and you can tell by their matches that they don't drill the basics. they just show up and practice new japan spots and cute poses. that's cute but that's hardly the spirit of zenjo.

[@WarGhoulKharas]

Nanae is working for Starlet in Germany now. Kana also took a beating from Minoru Suzuki in a mixed tag. She earned his respect after that.

[@AgeOfWrestling]

I didn’t know Nanae is still working 🤔 and that Kana vs Minoru match would definitely be interesting!

[@WarGhoulKharas]

@@AgeOfWrestling kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKjGZqGPq9-JfJosi=p78cHAs375aTgegw Here's a highlight. Kana told him not to take it easy on her. Satomura is in the match too. As for Nanae, I follow Jazzy Gabert (she's a nice lady. Had a few conversations.) She's running a federation in Germany called Starlet, and when you mentioned Nanae, my ears perked up. She's been advertised for her Starlet shows.

[@manusabu5839]

Kama told Minoru to fight like that way and both agreed ?.the other one was one side bullying

[@WarGhoulKharas]

@@manusabu5839 Yes. Even Meiko was pulling him off at one point. Don Callis tells the story of Minoru, where any time he spotted him around ringside, he'd make himself scarce, because Minoru would stretch anyone within reach. Josh Barnett said that Suzuki opened up his guard by somehow forcing his legs apart. It's a thing in Japan (and in wrestling, really) about taking a beating from your elders. You just take it and give some back. Not too much. The point is to let them know you're solid. Flair's first match was against Larry "The Axe" Hennig, and Larry beat the shit out of him, ribbing him by telling him not to sell at times, and to oversell others, then complain to the ref, "What's with this kid? He sells too much."

[@nathanalexandre9043]

@@WarGhoulKharas Turns out Flair didn't sell enough then.

[@jason200912]

Nanae is a disgrace that deserves prison time.. Kairi should have defended herself against nanae instead of risking permanent injury

[@thecharmcityplayerbrandona8827]

It's very crazy that incidents like this barely get mention. I'm guessing the wrestling world in Japan really knows how to keep things like this on the down low.

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Yeah Japanese wrestling culture is notoriously very secretive

[@lookitskazzy]

All of these stories are very well documented all over the internet. They're not exactly a secret.

[@Decaliyon]

That or if it doesn't happen in America, then it never happened. Clown

[@Bectka]

Japan isn't as thirsty for tabloid-fodder, but if you're a joshi fan you probably know about most of these.

[@zaynes5094]

@@AgeOfWrestlingIt doesn't have to do anything with shame or "shame on ones family" it's actually a very respectable business and is very much respected by most viewers. It is ruthless, though. And those that dedicate their lives to it aren't usually normal after 20+ years physically. A lot of the guys, and ladies, from there are taught from very young ages. They also will learn actual martial arts to better sell the moves without actually hurting someone. While in-match they are opponents, but in reality, they are actually working together as a team to entertain but back in the early days the training was extremely "shoot" style and you had to take your bruises to get to the next level. Japan is crazy in everything business, and that pro wrestling world isn't any different. They are also very driven in their jobs and are determined to get to the top. Some of the stories I've heard from the Joshi early days is very extreme stuff indeed. From stabbings, to death threats, to bullying and even some narcissism. Narcissism is surprising when I think of Japanese because they're typically very honorable and not self-absorbed. But good job on the video otherwise man.

[@emmanuelmarkakis804]

excellent video , very detailed , The BIGGEST Tragedy in the joshi world ever is the Death of Hana Kimura causing her to take her own life because of social media hate....The TV show is also to blame for hyping up the hate toward her . These people who bullied Hana should be charged for hate crimes and not just small fines .the world stills mourns her death today.....

[@SpeedDemonPowerage98]

I really hope when Rina gets older Hana’s protege she doesn’t fall into a reality TV trap and ends up doing the same Hana did. But I’m not gonna say anything more.

[@shadowof7662]

​@SpeedDemonPowerage98 I highly doubt it. Hana was almost everything the conformist Japanese society wanted to avoid in a Japanese woman, so in a way, she was set up from the beginning because she was; 1. Half Japanese, 2. Wasn't your typical petite Japanese woman, and 3. Didn't put on a cutesy submissive persona. And the fact Fuji TV directors didn't just tell the Terrace fans that it was scripted and only stepped in after she died just proved they never cared about her to begin, while fellow Stardom wrestlers and it's fans did.

[@MxMoondoggie]

If I remember the Kagetsu incident right the rumours going around was that Haruka was previously in a relationship with Kagetsu and Kagestu had been moving on to new girl Hazuki so Haruka flew into a rage upon being told and pulled a knife out. It seems Kagetsu had a taste for younger girls who she mentored and groomed as her prodige while making them feel special and important. She began wrestling in Stardom full time and was training Hazuki so it's likely they were spending more and more time together. like 6 months after this Hazuki was moved to Kagetsu's faction of Oedo Tai where they teamed together regularly and seemed extremely close even as you say leaving the company together when she was voted out as head trainer.

[@SuperWildsnorlax]

Always knew Kagetsu was a lesbian. That hair style alone

[@WillHendersonTX]

@@SuperWildsnorlax yeah, she was a lesbian, but now, she identifies as he and became a man after coming out as trans.

[@princesstamika]

it really is amazing how overseas fan make up these stories and paint every single wrestler who wrestles better than idol style in a bad light.

[@vcom741]

Huh. Like this still sounds like complete fabrication and Occam’s Razor principle makes you go to much simpler conclusions (the stab fight happening for other reasons, Hazuki exiting likely in solidarity with her friend originally, but not wanting to do that after saying it out loud), but it is an interesting theory nonetheless. Most important thing that makes me believe that this is a lie is that the source for the rumor was never named :/

[@jaybee4288]

It’s not that far fetched, most women’s wrestlers pre divas era are lesbians.

[@RiruKrypto_]

This makes Kairi Sane getting beaten by Nia Jax child’s play.

[@WillHendersonTX]

and the messed up thing is, Kairi is still on friendly terms with Nanae.

[@user-gh6zh6dx7m]

probably just out of respect since Japan has that culture of respecting superiors. wouldn't be surprised if she and Asuka backstabs her whenever they go out for drinks in WWE

[@passose7329]

The thing about Nia Jax was that all the injuries she caused was a direct result of her being a botch machine that refused to improve, not intentionally stiff, for better or worse

[@SpeedDemonPowerage98]

@@user-gh6zh6dx7mAsuka absolutely despises Nanae already and Nanae despises Asuka back tenfold.

[@John-Stark]

​@@SpeedDemonPowerage98yeah, bullies tend to be petty when they get punked by someone that can fight back

[@SusieNation]

The Io Shirai thing is straight out of a soap opera!

[@kadharefinley224]

He had a genius creative mind. Promo’s were captivating and intriguing. From Nexus to Cult Leader to Fendish to Himself. What an amazing career he has had winning multiple championships. RIP Windham Rotunda aka Bray Wyatt 🙏❤️ we definitely need a documentary on him

[@AgeOfWrestling]

RIP to Bray Wyatt ❤️

[@immortallegacy100]

Asuka's manifesto was a WORK. She was feuding with the women of JWP. I have no doubt that it ruffled some of the feathers in the Joshi world, but people, it was a WORK. Asuka lies somewhere in between old school and new school, the Joshi that doesn't like the old ways of beating the crap out of their rookies but also isn't necessarily a fan of idol culture. Hikaru Shida falls into this camp, as does a lot of women Asuka booked in her promotion (Asuka was also a booker/promoter for those that don't know). She's a highly intelligent woman, and her bashing modern day Joshi is in part a part of her character, especially since she's feuding with Io Shirai and very likely Kairi Sane in the near future.

[@immortallegacy100]

@@seamusogil9229 Kairi literally just signed a contract with WWE a month ago.

[@John-Stark]

​@@immortallegacy100wait really? Awesome!

[@erickgarcia7912]

She just came back today at crown jewel

[@venomslair137]

And said work put her in the map without relying on companies like Stardom or Ice Ribbon... Yup. Such a clever woman, indeed!

[@immortallegacy100]

@@venomslair137 When it comes to wrestlers, Asuka has to be near the top when it comes to having her priorities straight and having a good head on her shoulders. I genuinely think she's be successful in just about any career path, in part because she's done just about EVERYTHING outside of the ring you can do.

[@resop3]

American promotions have a long history of people getting beaten up for real, especially in the territory era. They were really protective of Wrestling's image back then and people who tried to break into the business who were deemed unworthy were often get beaten within an inch of their lives. Stu Hart's dungeon and Eddie Graham's bar are just two of the most infamous spots where wrestling hopefuls got brutally beaten up. Al Snow has a story where he showed up to a pro wrestling "try out" in North Carolina which turned out to be one long torture session (finished up with being bitten by Gene Anderson) that was done so that the hopefuls would talk about how real wrestling was.

[@drunk247]

Nanae Tanahashi is connected to quite a few of these incidents. If you havent,you should do a bit on her. I'm betting she had brutal training when she started and carried on training the same way.

[@zaynes5094]

She was very brutal from the beginning. I remember hearing Manami Toyota, who is also a legend in the business and has trained some of the best in currently, and she even spoke about her own early training being very cutthroat, but she didn't like it and instead treaded down a completely different path when it came to her matches and her training others. Instead of feeling a burdon of having these other younger women coming for her spot or coming to get her help, either way, she felt it was a great way of teaching them something they might not have thought about before. I kinda get that from Nanae, but also could understand why she's seen as a "bully" in the Japanese women's circuit. Also, while Jim Cornette may be a tool now, he wasn't always like that and I don't think he is racist, at least not to Japanese, but I do think he sees their "shoot" wrestling and their "dangerous" wrestling as less than our wrestling taught over here. He's also not wrong about Riho. I saw her matches, she is not proficient, she is not good technique wise, and she is not a good talker on the mic (and that doesn't have to do with her lack of English skills, either, I've heard both Giulia and Asuka/Kana talk in English and they speak great English). She's just not that good. Some take time to grow on the mic and camera and are more about the wrestling skills, some are more enigmatic talkers who can do decent in the ring but get better as time goes by. She's not really either of those skills. At least Giulia, who is a newer favorite of mine in the Japanese women's pro wrestling side, is very good.

[@drunk247]

@@zaynes5094 i like Guilia as well. I think she'd have big success here in the US if she decided to come here to wrestle. And I like Riho but i cant really believe her because she is sooo small! Im afraid for her sometimes in the ring. I appreciate your comments on Nanae and Toyota. I have seen many Toyota matches. She is very very tough!!! I will look into learning more about her training. It sounds like an interesting story! Thank you very much!!!!

[@duckmercy11]

@@zaynes5094 On Manami Toyota, I don't know of anyone trained by her, the most influential trainers in Joshi are Jaguar Yokota, Chigusa Nagayo, Meiko Satomura, Nanae and Emi Sakura. Toyota partially helped Tsukasa Fujimoto of Ice Ribbon but she had already been grounded in fundamentals by Sakura. On Jim Cornette, dude is a confirmed racist. He's on tape dropping the N bomb back in the 90s, and has repeatedly called all current Joshis, including Asuka and Iyo, interchangeable schoolgirls and/or fetish objects. On what planet is that not racist? He's only reluctantly praised Iyo because she's now an undeniable star in WWE but he has a strong bias towards either no women in wrestling or tall blondes only. On Riho, she may not be your cup of tea but she hits her spots well and is much faster and more fluid than most of the other AEW women, which is why she consistently gets crowd reactions and they don't. For all the talk about her not being good, everyone completely ignores the fact that crowds love her matches and she even pops ratings. It's ridiculous to deny how over she is. She doesn't need to talk, she's fine as is. On Asuka and Giulia, neither of them speak fluent English nor are they over because of talking. Weird comparison.

[@thehaunted8055]

Rest in peace Terry Funk and Bray Wyatt

[@AgeOfWrestling]

RIP to 2 Legends ❤️

[@yukimurasanada2451]

This is why asuka is an anti-joshi.

[@0b5qRa]

You know that joshi simply means "girl" in Japanese right? So when you say Asuka is anti-joshi, do you infer she's a man?

[@yukimurasanada2451]

@@0b5qRa are you dumb what I mean is that Asuka(WWE) is all woman. I mean by being an anti-joshi as to how Joshi pro wrestling stable do their training to those young girls, not asuka being a man. Although their is another Asuka who is a transgender maybe that's who you're referring I'm referring about Asuka of WWE.

[@duckmercy11]

​@@0b5qRa Asuka herself said she's anti-joshi on Xwitter.

[@NothingOsaka]

I lived in Japan over a decade man and all the wrestling drama is still so wild to me. Seen some greayshows here tho.

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Yeah there used to be a lot of drama especially back in the day 😂

[@pencilassassin572]

This was a great video, but it was absolutely depressing to watch

[@AgeOfWrestling]

LMAO

[@Aetolus]

Japan wrestling in small promotions is all about connections, majority of the people you mentioned here eventually came back like nothing happened, while their victims have to endure and keep their mouth shut. For example, Yoshiko came out of wrestling retirement just a year after the incident, wrestling for Seadlinnng, eventually returning to Stardom by 2021. Meanwhile Act Yasukawa did came out of retirement to regularly wrestle for Actwres girl'Z since 2021, but she is still permanently blind in the right eye and Yoshiko never apologized for it.

[@duckmercy11]

Yasukawa's partial blindness is more because of her graves disease than Yoshiko.

[@THE_Dodge_Morningstar]

👍🏽Good video. I didn’t watch beyond the Hazuki/ Kagetsu Retirement segment, but it was still great work and I can’t wait to see more from the channel.

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Thank you for watching!

[@LoadBulking]

Great video ! You should upload more.

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Thank you for watching bro!

[@mistermister6940]

So if i understand correctly, Nanae takashi is a complete psychopath

[@erickfeliz2132]

R.I.P. Bray Wyatt & Terry Funk🙏🏾🙏🏾

[@AgeOfWrestling]

RIP to 2 Legends 🙏

[@19Pyrus70]

When did Funk die? I was unaware of this. He seemed immortal!

[@ms.carriage6867]

You missed out one of my favorites. The huge issue between Nanae Takahashi and Kumiko Maekawa. I don't know what caused it but I remember them being in a tag match and Kumiko just started kicking and punching Nanae in the head and face. It carried on for years after. Anytime they were in the ring together they would just hit each other as hard as possible. Kumiko always seemed to get the better of Nanae

[@WarGhoulKharas]

Probably because she knew if she didn't, Nanae would eat her alive. You can't give someone like that any opening.

[@ms.carriage6867]

@@WarGhoulKharas nah Nanae had a very hard time trying to shoot on Kumiko. Kumiko was a special kind of nasty

[@princesstamika]

this dude doesn't know SHIT about AJW. Kumiko Maekawa is too deep for him. Dude only watches Stardom and regurgitates the things idol fans say.

[@zaynes5094]

@@ms.carriage6867Looking into Japanese pro wrestling these last few years has led me down some really dark finds, but one of my favorite stories is this duo here. They really had heat and I'll tell you I'm a 190 lb guy, but I wouldn't want to be caught in the middle of that backstage scrap. If they were killing each other in the ring like that, I imagine what it must be like backstage. I also wondered if a lot of these stories were just made up by the agencies and wrestlers agents as well as a way to sell their own talents names.

[@friday26th]

It's always funny when someone who's known to be something in the business accuses someone else of being the same thing. Granted, people don't tend to have heat with multiple people. And Kana-Asuka ended up being right about the Joshi world and look at it now...

[@reddragon8609]

Hikaru Shida and Asuka dancing together. Mind blown!

[@noahemmanuelkekana2527]

I wish your channel could get more views... It's so underrated

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Thanks for that comment! Tbh I don’t really mind not getting that many views. I do this because I love talking about wrestling on the tubes lol

[@derekhazuka8680]

Not my poor little Kairi 😢

[@piguelmonce9937]

Wow the Joshi scene is wild

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Yeah it’s WILD 💀

[@vinsilver]

Deserve more views and subs Daamnit😂😂

[@Sam.Gaming]

Wrestling is supposed to be fake if you intentionally try to hurt someone you should be banned or arrested

[@HollandTHG]

I knew that petty monster Yoshiko would be on here, I just didn't expect it to be a list of her equals in monstrosity. Glad some of these were much less severe incidents.

[@zaynes5094]

True, but as a fan of Japanese pro wrestling due to the game Rumble Roses, it turned me onto female wrestling but especially good female wrestling. The sweeter you were backstage, the more likely you were to get your ass beat. It's still kinda like that now, but it's also like "we're both trying to do something good here to entertain the fans, AND try to impress our bosses so lets do our best." And that's what's the only difference now. Japanese female wrestlers are just as intelligent and just as ferocious as their male counterparts. I was surprised by how hot some of them are, but also how "shoot" style some of these can seem at times in Japan, and I wasn't wrong to think that. A lot of those matches really did turn into Shoot style matches because they wanted to impress those looking at them and those in their individual corners. They also didn't sometimes like each other. Sometimes it resulted in a KO or partial rocking from a stray elbow or knee. As they were savages, they would keep going and keep beating the crap out of each other. There are plenty of dark stories I've read from the early days of Japanese pro wrestling circuits basically blackmailing the green women into getting their asses beat by guys or other more experienced women. Why? To learn that they don't mess around and if you want to make it high you have to impress ALL of the higher-ups.

[@markboon2024]

Nanae taking a walk was the best thing to happen to Stardom.

[@XB_4200]

I think she's back. Last time I watched Stardom she was there and had an awful match.

[@brysoncherry9884]

​@@XB_4200she is. She was just on the New blood 10 show and is also on most of the ongoing 5star gp shows.

[@markboon2024]

@@XB_4200 I meant more in her old backstage role. Yeah she's back but mostly in matches i can easily skip without missing anything of worth.

[@datboybobby]

Jim Corrnete has a weird hateful obsession with small wrestlers.

[@beauleidig8670]

As far as I can tell, it all boils down to him having no patience for people he believes don't respect or hurt the integrity of the business. Many of the wrestlers that Jim showers with praise weren't super huge muscle monsters, but they also did everything in their power to "protect the business". His criticisms of Riho are that she's hurting the business due to being so small that she's completely unbelievable as a wrestler, even when having matches against other women. Which, isn't entirely unfair. It's pretty doubtful that anyone would ever look at Riho and think that she presented any real physical threat to any person in the ring.

[@kamiloalvarez5800]

@@beauleidig8670 sometimes cornette is a idiot

[@rtrichar]

@@beauleidig8670 Bringing up the suicide of another wrestler is digusting. So many "great" wrestlers looked like any 15 year would kill them in the ring (Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, AJ Styles, Ric Flair)

[@uainjansun]

What happened to kairi apprently happend the same to asuka. Tho with kyoko kimura it was because at the time (08-10) asuka was at a bad place and they had a match in 2008 where kyoko heabutted her mutiple times busting her open and putting her into her place As for the Saika gaea one its quite creepy what happened to her but apperently the producers didnt like nagayo's behavior and as for result nagayo was pissed blackballing her from the industry once she retired..

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Ooooh I actually didn’t know that 🤔 wish I could go back in time to add it in the video!

[@duckmercy11]

Nagayo isn't really blackballed, she runs her own promotion right now called Marvelous.

[@pedrofreitas4262]

@@duckmercy11 i think he meant to say that Chigusa Nagayo blacklisted Saika.

[@ArtyCollectz]

I am so glad Joshi has changed because oh my god that isn’t tough training that’s abuse.

[@latinsizer]

God bless your innocent soul if you think things have changed.

[@duckmercy11]

​@@latinsizer By all accounts it has. Stardom isn't nearly as toxic as 10 years ago, or AJW was 30 years ago.

[@JoKa1013]

I don't know if it's true but I heard that Nanae is behind the Ghastly Match and ordered Yoshiko to shoot on Act. No wonder Nanae is Hulk Hogan of Stardom. It explains why she never lost since her return except losing to tag matches and championship single matches.

[@ECW5320]

Nanae did train her, so I wouldn't be surprised.

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Yes I don’t know if she ordered it, but I know she was involved in it some capacity, that’s why she left Stardom after the incident

[@ECW5320]

@@AgeOfWrestling Yup and started her own promotion. She really is like Hulk Hogan.

[@WillHendersonTX]

@@ECW5320 how do you say "that doesn't work for me brother" in Japanese

[@kisamehoshigaki09]

I think it's less about the manifesto and more about Asuka just being one of the best technical wrestlers out there tbh

[@trevorcarey3997]

I love Asuka, the best wrestler.

[@TheRandomGoofball]

4:49 is that both Syuri and Hikaru Shida with Asuka?

[@friday26th]

Yep, she trained both and they've worked together for some time

[@SpeedDemonPowerage98]

@@friday26th Incorrect Asuka only ever trained one and only one young Joshi prior to heading stateside for the WWE, that being Konami from Hiroshima,Japan you can see a bit of Asuka in Konami’s moves sure she’s nowhere near as stiff as Asuka was that doesn’t mean her Strong Strikes hurt like hell. Asuka, Syuri and Hikaru are friends and still are I believe, of course they can’t go out to eat and drink with each other. Due to Asuka being in the WWE. Hikaru being in AEW and Syuri being in Stardom those take up most of their time sure both Asuka and Hikaru have personal YT channels and occasionally upload on them.

[@dgyakushi2937]

Great vídeo

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Thank you for watching !

[@sscc587]

ACT actually throw the first punch. In one of their older video, you see Nanae slapped (Kana) Asuka very hard after their match. More incident: Ayako Hamada lost Joshi title due to possession of weed, and retired after that. Don't know if retiring has anything to do with that incident. -Takako Inoue brought to WWF and put on test run against Jazz but didn't make it. -Azumi Hyuga accidentally? knee Meiko Satomura in the eye causing months of recovery for Meiko and causing Hyuga to retire. -Takako Inoue stood up to Joshi trainer who bullied young trainee because she was bullied herself when she was a young training.

[@duckmercy11]

Pretty sure Hamada got in trouble for amphetamines, not weed. And she runs in dojo in Mexico and works occasional indie dates so she's not really retired, just part-time.

[@princesstamika]

I'll eat my hat if the creator of this video knows who any of those women are. You forgot Ayako Hamada sitting on Fuuka's chest because she was trying to get all her shitty offense in and not selling. and Fuuka lying about being molested.

[@sscc587]

@@duckmercy11 , It would be a dream come true if AEW hire her!

[@latinsizer]

Ayako stopped wrestling in Japan but she did not retired from wrestling.

[@elwoodwesley9115]

N that's why never compare American wrestling to that of Joshi wrestling. Kenny Omega can't control them. They do what they do.

[@hatednyc]

13:05 when has any Japanese wrestling organization EVER RUSHED someone to the hospital? The medics don’t even rush to the ring and they work for the promotion.

[@duckmercy11]

Misawa in 2009.

[@RangoTheMercenary]

Great video. Thank you!

[@o0Raine0o]

funny how nanae accused kana of fighting stiff knowing her own in ring behaviour and that kana learned from yuki ishikawa, being a direct descendend of gotch, malenko and fujiwara in style

[@venomslair137]

Kana/Asuka is a force of nature and such a smart worker. One of my faves. Edit: The Tsukushi clusterfuck was pretty messy. I mean, it really sucks such a promising career (and same Gen as Riho) ends up like this...

[@murrayroodbaard207]

Imagine the irony of Nanae complaining that Kana was too "stiff." Seems to me that she didn't like that someone could dish it out instead of only take it.

[@SpeedDemonPowerage98]

Yet she did the same exact thing to Young Kairi in Pre-Bushiroad Stardom. Which makes her a Hypocrite.

[@murrayroodbaard207]

@@SpeedDemonPowerage98 My point exactly.

[@John-Stark]

This makes me like Asuka even more. The fact she has a no BS approach...

[@Mattznick]

Asuka and Kairi got the last laugh

[@slicktrain]

wats the match of the intro with the chik droppin her on her head?????

[@duckmercy11]

The one in the black is Manami Toyota. Pretty sure the one in the white is Etsuko Mita. That was probably in a tag match from the early 90s.

[@angrypanda3939]

RIP bray and terry

[@AgeOfWrestling]

RIP to 2 Legends ❤️

[@mr_hardy5329]

Beyond those incidents. Joshi wrestling is the best. Giulia is one of the best wrestlers in joshi wrestling history.

[@shadhinov]

I was wondering who asuke was pissed at

[@geoffchurchill5492]

Jim Cornette needs to grow up and join the 21st century

[@woelikeme]

"Transitioned into a man, changing her name" so close lol

[@tomwalker389]

And they say men are violent.

[@ravinraven6913]

owen heart died in the ring, that gal went into a coma and died in the hospital.

[@KazeShikamaru]

Asuka wrote a fucking novel and it legit made her a star. LOL! I love her.

[@kbradford2270]

Kyrie Zane one of the most beautiful women of wrestling in one of the most talented

[@MC-tl7oj]

Wtf I've seen harder hits in the first 30 seconds than in 30 years of wwf,wcw,wwe

[@johansmallberries9874]

Seriously, that “training” video footage is brutal. You’re literally watching a small woman get the hell beaten out of her.

[@DanielDeLeon69]

Nice Video

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Thank you for watching!

[@larnettestunt8937]

Japan wrestling is more brutal than it is in the U.S.

[@graveyardshift2100]

I've yet to be given a reason to actually respect Cornette as a person.

[@KimXoXo0]

10:11 Hana was so special. She wouldve be one of the all time greats today. She is my all time favourite and the day when she took her.... Always hits me.

[@lucasterable]

0:00 correction: Joshi Puroresu of the 90s IS the golden standard for ALL Professional Wrestling.

[@notamaniswear4815]

Asuka ain't taking shit from no one.

[@GFM1980]

Everybody who bullied Hana should be put in jail

[@homerjs225]

0:20 DAMN that kick!

[@babaganoosh1969]

Lol makes me like iyo even more

[@Dodong0]

I always disagree with the comment that Cornette doesn’t like Japanese women’s pro wrestling. He’s a fan of the 70s/80s Zenjo stars… and it’s hard to argue as they were pretty much the cream of the crop.

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Yeah he’s a fan of old school joshi wrestlers, I wouldn’t say he’s a fan of modern joshi wrestlers

[@red5158077]

Still no excuse for his conduct. I didn't like him before learning this and I don't like him even more.

[@Outlawkk]

Wasn't found out it was AEW fans actually being horrible to Riho because she said something critical about AEW?

[@DarkHeartTheEmo]

​@@OutlawkkDoubt that is the reason, JR and Mark Henry did the same and yes some people were piss, but nothing to bad and at this time AEW was already big, so that reason doesn't make sense.

[@DarkHeartTheEmo]

If it was only japanese women would be one thing, but he hate women that are wrestlers li!e Penelope Ford, he call them sluts, he call that to Penelope and Riho, he even said that Riho is having sex with TK, of course he have no evidence, but he still did it.

[@johnmagill7714]

Jim Coronette hates Asian Women in general. You should hear some of the vile shit he's said about Asuka and Iyo alone.

[@joseherrera8489]

What he's said about Asuka is actually legit. How does it not look like an obvious stereotype? Just shouting random Japanese.

[@duckmercy11]

@@joseherrera8489 He shits on Shida and until recently dismissed Iyo too. Also called Utami from Stardom an outlaw fetish girl which is ridiculous.

[@Heyimnothere45]

Joshi wrestling seems cursed

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Haha it’s much more tame these days 😂

[@villafanmart]

holy shit this looks brutal.

[@kikrudziivichii6477]

This Japanese wrestling is so damn real

[@ThaClipKeepah]

This is too stiff. The guys r stiff too but they at least seem to hit safe spots. These girls r intentionally trying to hurt each other. At that point just go mma. Ur not tough if u batter someone that just stood there n let u do it to them

[@mistermann3225]

That Yoshiko chick DID do MMA...lol

[@ThaClipKeepah]

@mistermann3225 n so did Ken shamrock but he wasn't kneeing ppl in the face. Maybe a couple stiff punches

[@nameless5413]

god that powerbomb footage of 2 guys doing the spot with title "not actual match footage" is great accidental joke. Yakuza is bit more complicated than just a "mafia" they are somewhat culturaly important to my knowlidge, centuries ago they were fighting for what they percieve as just cause against usurper of power or something. They love to profile themselves as culural benefactors and sport proponents, due to this their image is far less of mafia and more like YMCA but with katanas. obviously BS but thats how they love to present themselves.

[@simple3d326]

you know what its called when someone new steps into the industry and starts pointing out it flaws? a liability that the mafia doesn't tollerate.

[@Robby_C]

This entire Joshi thing is a stain on pro-wrestling all the way around as far as I’m concerned.

[@duckmercy11]

It's the best women's wrestling in the world. All promotions have dirty secrets and infamous incidents.

[@Robby_C]

@@duckmercy11I dont care about "all promotions" ... deflection doesn't mean anything. And i disagree about it being the best anything....

[@duckmercy11]

@@Robby_C It means you're singling them out when WWE and anyone else you could name also have long lists of similar incidents. And it's fine to disagree about joshi, but the vast majority of people that don't like it haven't even watched it. I think it's safe to assume you're likely in that category.

[@Robby_C]

@@duckmercy11 I'm not singling them out, it is literally the topic of the video.

[@Robby_C]

@@duckmercy11 There isn't any wrestling i haven't watched. I've been watching Japanese stuff since the 90's

[@GangmakerZaken]

This man just cited a reddit post for the entire Kana entry💀

[@AgeOfWrestling]

LMAO 💀💀💀

Poor them 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@ChloeOfTheCookies]

Lol did you just steal the entire script for that Kagetsu Hazuki part from a four year old Reddit post XD I typed in "Kagetsu voted out" into Google and the first Reddit post that came up is word for word what you said lmao

[@rileyanthony]

Could you please do a video talking about shabota

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Katsuyori Shibata?

[@rileyanthony]

@@AgeOfWrestling yes please my English late and night

[@bridgetmbhele6876]

💔Very Sad Bro 😥

[@casanovavirgo4011]

Women always take shit too far. Leave it to them and their emotions I assure you they will destroy everything in irrational rage and take no accountability.

[@karlacorona2186]

men literally murder, rape and torture people on a daily basis but sure, women are the violent ones

[@patricks6204]

Wow! Lots of insight that I had no idea. What a shame for each of these talented performers!

[@AgeOfWrestling]

Yeah Joshi wrestling goes very deep! Thank you for watching

[@ThailandDantotherescue]

Its heartbreaking to see some of this.... how did it devolve into this madness. Remember Bull Nakano? That lady looked like she was killing her opponents, she had some bloody matches with weapons and scissors that made my stomach turn. She threw Madusa by the hair like she was trying to kill her.... Madusa said she was as light as a feather and never hurt her. I respected Bull and Aja Kong because they never actually injured their opponents but they did work snug, but also sold for their opponents.... Yoshiko .... My dream match would be her vs Bull Nakano or Aja Kong. I would love to watch Bull or Aja beat the absolute piss out of that ugly bully. What she did to Act was unforgivable.

[@IXCANADATV]

I hope we can get another asuka type wrestlers in wwe

[@BBBYpsi]

Being a female wrestler in Japan sounds like a real nightmare for many of the females

[@milamila-pb4wc]

Daaammmm Man,How Hectic 😕

[@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716]

And ECW thought they were hardcore lol

[@wadestricklin4468]

Dont have to be so rough too be great , love girls , just entertain but dont be so brutal , god bless you ladies

[@yadielenielbellecolon982]

Thank For The Video 🙊🤯😃😍👍🥰💐🌟🥇🏆

[@Belec86]

I felt so bad for that girl the was part of a documentary on this same thing. Her "training" consisted of everyone else beating the shit out of her. She got Dropkicked in the face and her head snapped back so fast I thought she was dead.