One of the best workers active in Japanese women’s professional wrestling at the time, Ayumi Kurihara, retired in August 2013. Kurihara mentioned when she announced her retirement in March that various injuries she had suffered were the cause. In her final eight months in the business, her passion and versatility stood out. She still gave a strong effort, even in her final months as an active wrestler, and she remained an excellent worker till the very end of her career. In her final year, Kurihara had good matches in several different leagues, including Pro Wrestling WAVE and OZ Academy.

Pro Wrestling WAVE had a strong year, and it was this league that delivered good matches on the most consistent basis of all leagues. That’s perhaps not a real surprise when you consider that many of the best workers of 2013 had matches in WAVE, and this included Kana, Arisa Nakajima, Ayumi Kurihara, Hikaru Shida, Syuri, Shu Shibutani, and others. Of course, not all WAVE matches were good, but their product was arguably the best overall if you look at the cards they had from top to bottom on a day in, day out basis. GAMI, WAVE founder and booker, retired as an in-ring performer in 2013, but she would occasionally come back for a few matches here and there later in the decade. GAMI’s retirement didn’t really have much of an impact on fans who were only interested in seeking out the best matches, as GAMI had been smart enough to keep her own matches somewhat separate from the main matches that oftentimes featured workers who were still in their prime. 

The JWP Openweight Championship, which already was one of the most prestigious championships in joshi puroresu history, was held by Arisa Nakajima until 8/18/13 when Kana won the title. This means that in 2013 the title was held by the two best workers of the year, giving the championship more credibility than ever before. 2013 was a solid year for fans of very good joshi puroresu matches, but December 2013 was a particularly great month, because it gave us three of the best matches of the year. At the 12/15/13 JWP show, the two best tag teams of the year, the Jumonji Sisters and the tag team of Leon & Ray, gave us an excellent display of exciting joshi puroresu. Later that show, Arisa Nakajima and Kana delivered a great singles match, the Match of the Year. Even though there were several excellent workers active in joshi puroresu at the time, Nakajima and Kana were so great that they were quite a bit ahead of the pack, and their performance in the 12/15/13 match helped 2013 deliver what was arguably the best joshi puroresu match of the 2010s, at least up until that point in time. The greatness didn't stop there, because December 2013 once again gave us a great match on 12/29/13 when Arisa Nakajima and Io Shirai had a great singles match at Year End Climax, which was the final show of the year for World Wonder Ring STARDOM.

Another big event for STARDOM in 2013 was the 4/29/13 show at Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan, which they drew a reported attendance of 5,500 fans, and this STARDOM attendance is a record that still stands for the promotion today despite the influx of resources from Bushiroad. The show was filled with average matches and only one pretty good match (Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Yuhi), so despite the successful attendance number, the in-ring work shouldn’t be considered much of a success. It was at this show that Yuzuki Aikawa had her final match. Aikawa retired after having been a pro wrestler for only a couple of years. She had been pretty good as a worker, but was never really as good in the ring as her push suggested. Despite being somewhat overrated by STARDOM, there were several STARDOM workers who were far more overrated, most notably Nanae Takahashi, Yoshiko, Kyoko Kimura and most of the gaijin workers. On a more positive note, 2012 rookie of the year Yuhi gave some very good showings in 2013, and she showed why she was one of the most promising young workers. In 2013, STARDOM once again produced the rookie of the year, and this time it was Takumi Iroha who showed more potential than any other rookie that year. One of STARDOM’s most hyped tours was the so-called 5STAR Grand Prix, which turned out to be a disappointing tournament, producing just one match that was even within a star of its namesake, when Io Shirai and Kaori Yoneyama wrestled each other on 8/25/13.

Despite running about half the amount of shows STARDOM did in 2013, OZ Academy produced roughly the same amount of good matches as STARDOM, and while OZ Academy wasn’t a very consistent league either, they proved to be a league that shouldn’t be overlooked. Most of the good OZ Academy matches from 2013 seemed to have Kurihara and Hikaru Shida in them, but wily veteran Aja Kong once again proved to still be a reliable performer, especially in tag team competition. Most of OZ Academy’s shows are very watchable shows in general. One of the most disappointing things about OZ Academy’s 2013 was AKINO’s disappointing title run. AKINO won the OZ Academy Openweight Title on 4/24/13 after beating an injured Chikayo Nagashima in a match that was quite decent given Nagashima’s injury, but AKINO then proceeded to have two disappointing title defenses against Kagetsu and Leon. While it was an interesting fact that AKINO’s title reign was the longest title reign in the history of the OZ Academy Openweight Title, it also was clear that AKINO’s stock as a good worker kept declining as the 2010s progressed.

Ice Ribbon had a few good matches, and usually those good matches featured Tsukasa Fujimoto, who was the top star of the league. 2013 Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling footage is somewhat rare at the moment, but there is at least a good match featuring the Jumonji Sisters (DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko) available. If there was more SGPW footage available, there’s a pretty good chance they would have ended up being one of the top 5 leagues of 2013. Other leagues that haven’t been mentioned yet so far, like World Woman Pro Wrestling Diana, REINA X World, Daijo, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling and YMZ didn’t really deliver any matches that were worth recommending for fans who are interested in finding out about the good joshi puroresu matches that took place in 2013.

2013 was a memorable year for joshi puroresu. Just like in 2012, there were more than 25 matches that were at least ***½, and there were seven matches that were **** or higher. The best match of 2013 was the best match of the 2010s up until that point in time, which was a ****¾ match.

Let's have a closer look at a selection of recommended matches. This will be followed by a few lists, including a list of the top 110 wrestlers and a list of the top 30 matches...

WAVE 1/4/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE, WAVE Tag Title: Tsukasa Fujimoto & Misaki Ohata vs. Hikaru Shida & Yumi Oka 11:04 of 30:00. These were two of the top tag teams in WAVE at the time. This was a typically good WAVE match that featured a lot of action. Like most good matches involving Yumi Oka, it was a good match more because of the work done by the other participants, and not so much because of Oka’s own skills. We didn’t get to see that much of Hikaru Shida’s work in this clipped version of the match, but what was shown of her work looked good. These four kept things going, and the match got progressively more exciting with them adding more near falls and drama as the match came closer to ending. Tsukka & Misaki Ohata ended up being one of the top 5 tag teams of the year, and when you watch this match, it’s not hard to understand why. Ohata’s selling stood out, and it helped make the opposition seem like a serious threat to the tag team title. Some of her offense also looked very good, including a beautifully executed German suplex. Tsukasa Fujimoto’s speed and flying ability certainly helped make this match exciting, and she was arguably the worker who stood out most in this match. This was a good match, but we only got to see about a third of it, so perhaps it was even better than it appeared to be. ***¼ 

STARDOM 1/19/13 Matsuyama Community Center: Io Shirai & Mayu Iwatani vs. Natsumi*Taiyo & Saki Kashima 12:09. The more experienced workers in this match, Io Shirai and Natsuki*Taiyo gave strong performances here, but Kashima and Mayu Iwatani deserve credit for giving better performances than we had been used to seeing from them. Iwatani still wasn’t quite the STARDOM icon we got to know her as in later years, and she still wasn’t quite ready for Thunder Rock, but you could tell that she had improved quite a bit compared to her work in previous years. One of the best things about Iwatani around this time was her eagerness to try her best, and she showed that she cared. This was Kashima’s second-last match before taking a break from pro wrestling for more than five years, but you couldn’t tell she was about to take a break based on what she showed in this match, because she did very well for herself and seemed more than willing to perform as well as she could. Even though it would have been really nice to have had a singles match between Io and Taiyo in 2013, this tag team match was a fun way to change things up for the in-ring feud between Io and Taiyo. This was a surprisingly good match with lots of very good action from start to finish. I say surprisingly because we hadn’t really seen a match this good involving Iwatani and Kashima before. Io and Taiyo executed their moves superbly. Io’s dropkicks were executed with thunderous ferocity, and pretty much all of her moves looked gracefully athletic. Taiyo was like a bundle of dynamite, and her dynamic energy added a lot to this match. Taiyo’s choice moves off the ropes were some of the most memorable things about this match, as she flew around like a bird ready to attack its prey. STARDOM was hit-and-miss in 2013, but this was a hit for sure. This match is one that exemplifies why Io and Taiyo were two of the best workers around at the time. ***½ 

WAVE 1/23/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Four-Way: Kana vs. Ayumi Kurihara vs. Misaki Ohata vs. Yumi Oka 10:00 of 20:00. I’m usually not a fan of four-way matches, but these four found a way to make it work. One of the things they did well was that they didn’t overly focus on the fact this was a four-way, so we didn’t really get the typical four-way sequences (except some near the finish where they were breaking up each other’s pinfall attempts with rollups to put over the near falls, which were actually useful). Instead, this match had these four working hard, and putting on a very good display of wrestling. It was actually more reminiscent of several singles matches happening at the same time. Kana’s work stood out most, but everyone made sure to help make this match flow as well as it did. Some of the main things that stood out from Kana’s offense were her strikes and her selling. Ayumi Kurihara hit some really nice looking offense, including a spectacular missile dropkick. Misaki Ohata really helped add a lot to the more dramatic moments through her great selling and ability to exhibit emotion, like when there was a flurry of near falls near the end of the match. Yumi Oka’s work was the least spectacular here, but the other three were so good that carrying Oka was something that happened naturally here. It would have been nice to have had a decisive winner, but judging from what was shown, this was a very good match with plenty of action. ***½

JWP 1/27/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Arisa Nakajima & Command Bolshoi & Kana vs. Kaori Yoneyama & Hanako Nakamori & Maury 17:17. This was Kana’s first match in JWP in over a year. Kana showing up in JWP is a cool fact in itself, but later that year, it would become very clear how much of a positive impact Kana being in JWP would have on joshi puroresu. This was a pretty good match, which was not a real surprise, since most of these workers are at least good. Maury was the odd one out, because she wasn’t as renowned as the other workers, but she did well for herself considering she was in there with top talent. Maury moved around somewhat inelegantly, but the selling done by Kana and Arisa Nakajima helped make even Maury’s segments worthwhile. Hanako Nakamori executed her offense excellently in this match, as she would end up doing for pretty much the entire year. Kaori Yoneyama’s contribution to this match mainly consisted of selling very well, along with executing the occasional exciting move whenever she was on offense. Command Bolshoi didn’t really seem to add much to this match, and this didn’t appear to be one of her strongest years, but I guess she wanted to be around for this match, since it was a big deal that Kana was in JWP. It was a relatively slow-paced match, and it seemed more of a warming up for JWP than anything else. It was a good match overall though, because the wrestling was generally good throughout the match. In the end, it really felt like merely a teaser of what Kana and Nakajima would be accomplishing later that year. Still, it was worth watching and a good way to get ready for what JWP had to offer during the rest of the year. ***

WAVE 2/3/13 Nagoya Club Diamond Hall: Kana & Mio Shirai vs. Hikaru Shida & Yumi Oka 10:38 of 16:36. One of the more surprising things that stood out early in the match was Yumi Oka’s work. Both Oka and Mio Shirai deserve credit for really stepping up their game, as they were giving better performances than you’d expect here in early 2013, if you’d base your expectations on their overall 2012 work. They did a good job of not only trying to keep up with the other two workers, but they also tried to make sure whenever they were in the ring, the action wasn’t much less interesting. Kana was great, as usual, and she was the most outstanding worker in this match. Her strikes looked great, her selling was top-notch, and some of her other moves (submission holds and suplexes) were also a joy to watch. Hikaru Shida had gotten a haircut, but that didn’t seem to influence her ability, since her work was definitely excellent here. She executed a cool-looking giant swing on Mio at some point. Kana and Shida both showed a lot of aggression. When they worked against each other, they had some nice interactions and counter sequences that were reminiscent of their singles match from 5/5/12. Both teams showed good teamwork, and in particular, it was the Shida & Oka team that tried to work together as well as possible as a team here. Kana & Mio also had each other’s back though, and they were a more natural team. As this was a very good tag team match with lots of action and high quality puroresu, it’s the type of match that makes WAVE stand out as a top league. ***½ 

JWP 2/17/13 Yodogawa Ward Community Center, JWP Openweight Title: Arisa Nakajima vs. Kayoko Haruyama 18:39. This was Arisa Nakajima’s first title defense since winning the title on 12/24/12. It’s been quite rare for Kayoko Haruyama to be in a singles match this good, and this says a lot about Nakajima’s ability to carry her opponents to unexpectedly good matches. Nakajima worked hard to make this good, and the way she hit her own offense and sold Kayako’s offense all helped adding to the feeling that this was a match to pay attention to. Despite the Yodogawa Ward Community Center not exactly having the vibe of a venue a big singles title match would take place at, Nakajima made this match come across as important. What kept this from being a really good match was that it was a bit too much Nakajima’s match with Haruyama not contributing enough to warrant her status as #1 contender for the top singles title. *** 

STARDOM 2/17/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani 5:21 of 9:29. This match was joined in progress just before the 5-minute mark. Mayu Iwatani was aggressively working over Io Shirai's arm, and Shirai's selling indicated that this approach was effective. However, Iwatani decided to not further pursue this approach, and tried to go for a top-rope move, but that proved to be a mistake, as it opened the doors for Shirai to start flying around freely, and it wasn't likely that Iwatani was going to beat Shirai at her own game. Iwatani tried her best to correct this mistake by fighting back as much as she could, and Iwatani's attempt at trying to match Shirai's spectacular offense was admirable, but Shirai was simply too strong of an opponent for Iwatani at the time to really become a serious threat. Iwatani bumping big for a springboard dropkick by Shirai was a spectacular sight. Iwatani managed to get in some good offense of her own, and the action ended up turning into a back-and-forth affair with near falls from both sides. However, in the end, Shirai got the pinfall win, as expected. Iwatani gave a good performance, but she wasn't as competitive as she would be in their future battles. This appeared to be a good match, but only about 5 of the 9 minutes were shown. This wasn't even close to the quality of their future battles, but you could tell by watching this that there was the potential for these two to deliver high quality singles matches against each other. This match is mostly noteworthy for being the first one-on-one meeting between these two. ***

WAVE 2/17/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE, Regina di WAVE Title Tournament Round 1: Misaki Ohata vs. Yumi Oka 8:22 of 20:17. “Regina” is Italian (and Latin) for “queen,” so this was basically a tournament to decide the queen of WAVE. As they’ve proven before, these two work very well together. They put over the drama of this tournament match quite well, as there was a sense of urgency during the minutes that were shown. Oka ended up winning this match after nailing Ohata with a big boot that was executed very well. Earlier that show, Kana had defeated Mio Shirai as part of this tournament. That means Oka and Kana both advanced to the semifinals, which would take place on 3/17/13. ***¼ 

Triple Tails.S 2/24/13 Osaka Umeda Stella Hall: Kan & Mio Shirai vs. Arisa Nakajima & Ayako Hamada 20:00. The match started off with the two best workers of the year, Arisa Nakajima and Kana, facing off against each other. Arisa carried her team, even to the point of Arisa realizing it was necessary to interfere a bit when Ayako Hamada applied a camel clutch in an uninspiring manner. Ayako certainly wasn’t the hardest worker at the time, but the hard work by Arisa and Kana made up for it in this match. Kana didn’t let Ayako get away too easily though, as she hit a stiff kick on Ayako and later stretched Ayako a bit. Mio Shirai was a reliable tag team wrestler, and Kana could always rely on her Triple Tails.S partner Mio when needed. Kana & Mio were one of the best tag teams around at the time. Ayako tried some of the moves she was able to pull off flawlessly in the past, but now was only able to execute in slow-motion and/or in a sloppy manner. Ayako certainly dragged the match down quite a bit. We got quite a bit of Arisa vs. Kana here, which ended up being the in-ring feud of the year, but it ended up feeling more like a teaser for things to come. Despite the match being not as good as it may have looked on paper, it certainly did the job in wetting everyone’s appetites for more interactions between Arisa and Kana. ***¼ 

Ice Ribbon 3/2/13 Saitama Isami Wrestle Arena: Leon vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto 10:00. Both workers gave a solid performance, and it was clear these two were top 15 workers at the time. The moves were executed very smoothly, and it was enjoyable to watch this match. Despite this match being worked very well, it never felt more than a good match at a random Ice Ribbon show, as it didn’t really feel like a match of any importance. It’s hard to blame the participants too much for this though, since it pretty much really was a good random match at a random Ice Ribbon show. The fact that the time limit set for this match was only 10 minutes didn’t help matters, especially considering that they were working it like it would last maybe about 15 minutes, resulting in this match leaving the viewer with a feeling of incompleteness as soon as the time limit expires. ***

WAVE 3/3/13 Osaka NASCI Hall Umeda: Syuri vs. Mio Shirai 7:47 of 10:10. This bout was billed as “Osaka shooting WAVE,” which seemed to allude to the fact that this was going to be a pseudo-shoot style match, and while it wasn’t quite that, it was still a very good Syuri vs. Mio Shirai match. The cool thing about Syuri matches is that pretty much all her matches are always going to be closer to something resembling shoot style than most workers. This was a particularly interesting match because of Syuri helping Mio Shirai to remind herself of the fact that she was capable of trying some more submission holds and matwork than usual. When Syuri started landing kicks, it seemed like Mio would have no chance in matching Syuri’s viciousness, but Mio responded with some nice kicks herself. This match had a nice balance of matwork and fast-paced action. Syuri once again showed her excellence, and she was the worker of the match, but the nice surprise was Mio showing that she’s capable of doing something a bit different from what she generally tends to show. Mio gave a valiant effort, but Syuri was victorious after making Mio tap. ***½

WAVE 3/3/13 Osaka NASCI Hall Umeda: Misaki Ohata vs. Shu Shibutani 7:53 of 11:43. This bout was billed as “Osaka amazing WAVE,” and it’s not hard to understand why when you see who the participants are. Shibutani’s tope suicida certainly was amazing, and so was her dropkick off the top rope. Shibutani is able to make everything she does look so smooth, almost to the point that it’s easy to forget how excellent her work truly is, because she makes it look so easy. Shibutani’s work certainly stood out in this match, and this was arguably one of Shibutani’s finer performances in 2013. However, Ohata’s contribution shouldn’t be overlooked, and she kept adding good WAVE matches to her resume. Ohata hit a beautiful top-rope dropkick of her own, and her selling was superb. The action got more urgent near the end when the near falls started popping up. This was a darn good WAVE match, and it’s matches like this one that make WAVE so much fun to watch. ***¾  

STARDOM 3/3/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, High Speed Title: Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Kaori Yoneyama 30:00. It’s kind of ironic that this is a long match, because fans of 2020s STARDOM will probably think of short flashy matches that don’t get enough time when they think of a High Speed Title match. This match started off with flashy moves executed at a high speed, which is a good thing, because it doesn’t make it obvious to the viewer that they will be going for a long match. However, the match gradually slowed down more, at least for their standards. To their credit, they initially tried to not make it seem like the matwork was just thrown in there for the sake of filling up time. Still, the match probably would have been better if they wouldn’t have to worry about going 30:00. This is exactly why their match later in the year (6/2/13) is better. Despite trying to make the most of having 30 minutes to work with, as this match progressed, it started to feel less like there was any real urgency or real need to beat the opponent. This is probably one of the main reasons why this is “only” a good match and the two best matches of 2013, which were of similar length, were great matches, because those two great matches (12/15/13 Kana vs. Arisa Nakajima and 12/29/13 Arisa Nakajima vs. Io Shirai) never saw the intensity level go down. In particular, the middle portion of this match between Taiyo and Yoneyama saw them really lose the momentum they had built up early in the match. It seemed they tried to have a final couple of minutes of hot action near the end, but by that point it was already too late, and once the final bell rang, it was hard to not feel a little bit disappointed. *** 

WAVE 3/17/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE, Regina di WAVE Title Tournament Semifinal: Kana vs. Ayumi Kurihara 9:13 of 11:16. You can’t go wrong with two of the best joshi workers ever facing each other in a competitive semi-final match of a tournament. They certainly didn’t disappoint, as the work was super crisp. They executed everything really well, and they kept reacting to each other’s moves in a very focused manner. There were plenty of good counters and transitions in this match, and both workers sold each other’s offense very well. This was a very good match, and they were on their way to having what potentially could have been an excellent match. However, it was over after eleven really good minutes. Ideally, these two would have met in the final, but the WAVE promotion apparently really wanted to push Yumi Oka as the first Queen of WAVE. The good thing was that we got to see most of this match, and we got a decisive winner. ***¾  

WAVE 3/17/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Syuri & Hikaru Shida vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Misaki Ohata 10:10 of 14:38. This was a very good tag team match that was a really good representation of what the best WAVE matches were all about around this time, as it featured four of the best workers in a high workrate type of match. Syuri & Hikaru Shida were a cool team. They both were capable of hitting arguably the best jumping high knee in joshi at the time. Syuri’s kicks also looked nice, and Syuri added some matwork to this match. Tsukka moved around the ring elegantly, and she hit some cool-looking offense. Misaki Ohata did a very good job selling. Ohata was probably the one who stood out the most in this match, not only because she executed her moves superbly, but also because she showed a lot of determination throughout the match. ***½ 

WAVE 3/17/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE, Regina di WAVE Title Tournament Final: Kana vs. Yumi Oka 7:00 of 15:04 This was the main event of one of the best WAVE shows of the year. Kana had beaten Ayumi Kurihara earlier that show, and Yumi Oka had beaten GAMI earlier that show. Kana did a good job of putting Oka’s offense over and making it look as good as possible. Oka wasn’t nearly as skilled as Kurihara was, so a lot of the sequences Kana was working with Oka here felt less intriguing, because they were a bit slower and less crisp than what we saw in the match Kana had with Kurihara earlier that show. Nonetheless, this appeared to be a pretty good match overall, judging from what we have available of this match. Oka tried her best to do her part in this tournament final, and Kana carried the match well. Oka won the match and became the first holder of WAVE’s main singles title, the Regina di Wave Title. ***

STARDOM 3/24/13 Osaka IMP Hall, World of STARDOM Title #1 Contendership Tournament Semifinal: Io Shirai vs. Kaori Yoneyama 5:00 of 11:41. These two showed why they were two of the most exciting workers by displaying plenty of athletic high-risk moves. It’s a shame this match was not shown in its entirety, and despite being clipped, it’s still worth mentioning this match here, just for the sake of trying to get a more complete overview of the good matches that happened in 2013. Judging from what was shown, it’s likely this was at least a pretty good match. Io Shirai would end up beating Dark Angel later that show to win this #1 Contendership tournament, and Io Shirai then would end up beating Alpha Female to win the World of STARDOM Title (the “Red Belt”) on 4/29/13. ***

JWP 3/31/13 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall, Tag League The Best Block A: Arisa Nakajima & Command Bolshoi vs. Hanako Nakamori & Maury 13:21. Arisa Nakajima showed the type of determination you’d expect from someone who wanted to win this tournament. One of Nakajima’s big moves in this match was hitting a plancha off the top to the outside. Nakamori also seemed quite into the idea of wanting to win this tournament, and she worked hard. Bolshoi was reliable, and a good tag team partner for Nakajima. At some point in the match, Bolshoi hit a suplex off the top rope while she was standing on the top rope, along with her opponent Nakamori, who was on the receiving-end of the move. Maury was okay, but she’s the type of wrestler who only ends up in some good matches from time to time because of her getting booked in matches featuring some of the best workers in JWP. Nakamori’s team won the match after Nakamori pinned Bolshoi via a rollup. This was a good match with Nakajima and Nakamori standing out most. ***¼ 

JWP 4/7/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Tag League The Best Final: DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko vs. Hanako Nakamori & Maury 14:10. DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko, the Jumonji sisters, brought energy and excitement. Maury isn’t the most graceful worker, and despite wanting to focus more on trying to be a powerhouse, she was somewhat able to keep up with the pace set by the Jumonji sisters. Maury’s quasi-powerhouse stuff wasn’t very effective, because she isn’t imposing enough to make it work, which just emphasizes her status as someone who doesn’t have the skills to hang in there with three of the biggest stars in the league. Still, Maury is adequate enough of a worker to not drag this match down too much, and at least she showed the enthusiasm that one would expect in a tournament final. Nakamori and Maury showed some decent teamwork, even though their styles are quite different. We could rely on Nakamori giving a strong performance, as usual, and Nakamori hard work and enthusiasm helped in making this come across like a tournament final and not just a Jumonji sisters showcase. Despite the efforts of the opposition, the Jumonji Sisters deserve most of the credit for this match being good. Chisako & Sachiko kept the pace high, and they executed their nice-looking moves crisply. They sold well for the opposition, which helped in putting over the idea of the Nakamori & Maury team being worthy finalists. Chisako was arguably the worker of the match, because of her ability to keep the flow of this match going, no matter who was in the ring, and for hitting the most superbly executed offense in this match, which included some spectacular dropkicking. Sachiko was arguably the #2 worker of the match, because she was always there by her sister’s side whenever needed, and she hit some beautiful moves of her own. The match gradually became more action-packed with the final minutes being the most memorable. The Jumonji sisters winning this tournament was fitting, because they were the #1 tag team of 2013. ***½  

JWP 4/14/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP & Daily Sports Tag Team Title: Tsubasa Kuragaki & Kayoko Haruyama vs. DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko 14:32. These two teams had a surprisingly good match in 2012, and they came close to recapturing the magic from that match, as they once again delivered a very good match that saw all four of these workers try their best to make this memorable. Tsubasa Kuragaki showed some of that fire she had shown in previous years and hadn’t really shown earlier in the year until this match. Kayako Haruyama has been showing this year that she is still able to step up her game once in a while whenever the opponents are able to do some carrying. The Jumonji sisters, Chisako & Sachiko, certainly were able to carry opponents to greater heights in 2013, as pretty much every match involving the Jumonji sisters in this year felt exciting, and they seemed to be able to get the opposition to try harder. Kuragaki did some carrying too, but more in a literal sense, as she showed her tremendous strength when she lifted both Jumonji sisters on her shoulders. What set the two teams apart here was that the Jumonji sisters were always there to back each other up, while Kuragaki & Haruyama, despite being a regular tag team, seemed to rely more on their individual efforts here. Sachiko’s speed and ability to react fast made her stand out. Chisako also stood out because of her tremendous selling. It’s a shame the Jumonji sisters lost this match, because, given their effort, they totally deserved to win this. Either way, this was a very good tag team match, and it was the best match of the night. ***½ 

JWP 4/14/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP Openweight Title: Arisa Nakajima vs. Yumiko Hotta 20:31. This was a somewhat bizarre match-up, as we got the best wrestler in the world, Arisa Nakajima, defending the most prestigious title in the wrestling world against aging legend Yumiko Hotta, of all people. It is somewhat unclear how Hotta earned this big title shot beyond her reputation from two decades ago because this was only her third JWP apppearence of the year. Hotta beat Nakajima in a tag team match, but is that really enough reason to give Hotta a title shot? In the video package that was shown prior to the match, it seemed that Hotta acted like a stiff bully, as usual, and Nakajima simply felt that Hotta should be put in her place. In a tag match a week prior to this singles match, Nakajima and Hotta had gone to a no-contest, which was a match that featured illegal objects and a lot of brawling. As a challenger in this big singles title match, Hotta certainly brought somewhat of a reputation, but she didn’t bring much to the table in terms of skill, as her badass attitude generally didn’t really mean that much anymore in the 2010s. Although, to be fair, initially it seemed Hotta was giving a little bit more of an effort here in JWP than she did in the Diana league. It didn’t last long until it became obvious that there either wasn’t much confidence in Hotta’s ability and/or Hotta’s willingness to give a serious effort, because one of her Diana cronies, Keiko Aono, got involved along with a chain, joshi puroresu’s favorite illegal object. Nakajima once again proved why she is one of the best at carrying people. In this match, which was the main event of the JWP Mania X event, Nakajima carried the over-the-hill Hotta, who was arguably somewhat overrated in her prime to begin with, to a memorable singles match at one of JWP’s biggest shows of the year. This was quite an impressive feat. Nakajima focused on superb selling and intense offense, and this resulted in Nakajima carrying Hotta, who was mediocre at best at the time, to what could be considered a pretty good match. The chain got involved once again, and Nakajima simply decided to play along and make it work. Hotta juiced during the brawling in the crowd section of this match, and she ended up bleeding quite heavily. Nakajima went for a dropkick and hit referee Tessy Sugo, who took a pretty good bump onto some seats. Nakajima also ended up bleeding. The blood of both competitors ended up on the “East” sign on the wall at the famous Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Later in the match, Nakajima even went as far as climbing on top of the ring entrance and hitting a double foot stomp off the ring entrance. Perhaps it’s a bit generous to say this was a pretty good match, but considering Nakajima’s effort, it feels somewhat justified, as this match is worth mentioning because of that, and it’s hard not to remember this match in some way. ***

WAVE 4/21/13 Sapporo Teisen Hall, WAVE Tag Title: Tsukasa Fujimoto & Misaki Ohata vs. Kana & Mio Shirai 10:24 of 18:56. Kana’s selling and bumping was really good, in particular a bump she took after a top-rope dropkick by Ohata. Kana’s offense also looked effective. Ohata gave a strong performance in this match, probably more so than we had seen from her this year so far. She showed more energy than we had seen her in a while, and her moves looked very good. At some point, Ohata executed a perfectly executed German suplex into a bridging pinning combination. Tsukka gave a solid performance, but this wasn’t one of her most outstanding days; also Kana and Ohata just stood out more than anyone else in this match. Ohata was possibly the most outstanding worker of the match. Of course, we only saw half the match, so I’m basing all of this on what was shown. When Mio was in the ring, they were able to keep things going, but Mio didn’t particularly stand out in this match. Mio played a big role in the final minutes though, and the way she beat Ohata to win the match looked impressive. The result was a title change. This was a good match and possibly a very good match, but the clipping hurt the flow. ***¼  

OZ Academy 4/24/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Barbed Wire Board Dress Up Wild Fight: Ayumi Kurihara vs. Mayumi Ozaki 20:15. Ayumi Kurihara was really good at taking a beating and making it work while having a very good match. Kurihara’s ability to emphasize the drama of the punishment she took and making it look convincing through selling and caring about what she’s doing is something that made brawls involving Kurihara more special than the average brawl. We had already seen this quality of Kurihara’s in some of Kurihara’s OZ Academy matches from 2012. This time, in a Barbed Wire Board Dress Up Wild Fight, they turned up the violence another notch. Mayumi Ozaki clearly still loved violence and blood. This was more violent than most OZ Academy matches were at the time, and since OZ Academy is a league where brawling and illegal objects are more common than in any other joshi puroresu league, that meant these two were facing the challenge of making this a lot more memorable than the typical OZ Academy brawl. This match was pretty much all about drama and violence, but the way they worked it and the overall layout of the match made this a very good match overall. Ozaki wasn’t the worker she used to be, but she still knew how to work a big dramatic match in the right setting. On one hand, it seemed a waste of Kurihara’s ability to put her in a garbage wrestling match like this. On the other hand, she was the right worker for this match and very few other workers would have been able to make this match work as well as Kurihara did here. This street fight certainly was different, even for OZ Academy standards. Even the top rope was taken down and used as a weapon against Kurihara. Ozaki deserves credit for her presence and her role in this match, but Kurihara was the star of the match by making the viewer care about a garbage wrestling match. Once again, Kurihara proved how versatile she was, and it was nice to see a very good singles match from 2013 featuring Ozaki. ***½ 

OZ Academy 4/24/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, OZ Academy Tag Team Title: Tomoka Nakagawa & Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Hikaru Shida & Aja Kong 17:17. Of course, the match that took place right before this tag team match was a very good singles brawl featuring Ayumi Kurihara and Mayumi Ozaki. However, this tag team match was still able to be pretty much equally as memorable, despite following such a unique brawl. This tag team match embodied the essence of what had been one of the main attractions in OZ Academy, their tag team division. Tomoka Nakagawa & Hiroyo Matsumoto were two workers who had been heavily involved in the OZ Academy tag team division for the past few years, so it was somewhat fitting that they were the ones defending the tag team title, a championship they were holding for the second time after having beaten Mayumi Ozaki & Yumi Oka on 2/10/13. Their opponents were the team of Hikaru Shida & Aja Kong, which was a team that had been formed earlier that year, and it was a team that was mostly active in 2013 (although they’d team up a few more times later that decade). Shida & Aja would arguably end up being one of the six best tag teams of 2013. While being one of the 25 best workers in joshi for four years straight, Matsumoto isn’t someone who is constantly having matches that are necessary to seek out, but several of the main tag team matches she’d been having in OZ Academy featured some of her best work. This match was one of those matches where Matsumoto knew exactly how to enhance the quality and feeling of importance of this match through basically being like a truck that wasn’t going to pull over anytime soon. Of course, most trucks don’t have to worry about a head-on collision with a powerful force like Aja Kong. Matsumoto’s tag team partner, Nakagawa, had more fancy moves to bring to this match, and Nakagawa’s selling was a bit more refined than the more straight-forward selling of Matsumoto. Both members of the defending tag team championship team contributed more than sufficiently to this match though. Of the opposing team, it was Aja who was obviously a big part of why this match was so memorable. Aja, one of the greatest veterans of joshi puroresu, knew exactly when to step in and be Aja, and she knew exactly when to let the others have their moment to shine. Shida showed a lot of determination and willingness to succeed. I think what made the Shida & Aja tag team work so well was that Aja was the confident veteran who had seen it all, and yet enjoyed still adding more gold to her resume, while Shida was the young and hungry worker who was desperate for more success and recognition. This contrast somehow ended up working out well in a well-balanced manner. In the meantime, Nakagawa & Matsumoto had the experience as a team, and they were putting that team experience on display, but it seemed the champions were facing one of their toughest challenging teams here. In the end, the hunger and strength of Shida & Aja proved to be too much for the champions to handle. After Aja pinned Nakagawa, Shida & Aja were crowned the new tag team champions of OZ Academy. ***½

STARDOM 4/29/13 Ryogoku Kokugikan, High Speed Title: Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Yuhi 12:06. This show was a big event for STARDOM, as it took place at the legendary Ryogoku Kokugikan. However, it turned out to be a not-so-memorable show from an in-ring perspective. This match was the only match that was pretty good, and even this match could be considered slightly disappointing, since it arguably wasn’t quite as good as it looked on paper. The work was good and the moves were good, but it felt like these two could have delivered a better match. Still, this match is noteworthy because it was pretty good and arguably one of the ten best STARDOM matches of the year, and it was the best match on the STARDOM show with the largest attendance, but these two would indeed end up having a better match against each other later in the year during the 5STAR Grand Prix tournament. *** 

JWP 5/3/13 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall: Ayumi Kurihara vs. Leon 16:38. These two workers were so good that they probably could have a good match against each other while sleeping. Luckily, it didn’t seem they were sleeping, and this was an action-packed match. Both wrestlers showed intensity, and they executed their moves very well. They both tended to favor moves where they launched themselves at the opponent. Leon hit moves like a springboard plancha to the floor, a couple of spear-like moves, a couple of dropkicks off the top rope (including one where she first walked the ropes a bit before hitting the dropkick) and a frog splash. Kurihara executed moves like a jumping high knee, an uranage and several beautifully executed dropkicks. At some point, Kurihara hit a dropkick off the top rope to Leon’s knee, and she followed it up by working over Leon’s knee some more. They both never gave each other much time to rest or recover, as they stayed on top of each other for pretty much the entire duration of this match. They sold each other’s offense well, which helped make the moves feel meaningful. It was good to see Leon in a top singles match again, because it’s matches like these that help confirm that Leon was still a top 10 worker. Of course, Leon was also a strong tag team performer, but she’s at least equally as strong in singles competition. ***¾

WAVE 5/6/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Kana & Ayumi Kurihara vs. Arisa Nakajima & Yumi Oka 10:10 of 20:00. This match looked super interesting on paper, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Kana’s reactions, selling and facials added a lot. Arisa Nakajima showed a lot of fire, and her interactions with Kana were a joy to watch. Kana and Nakajima were arguably the two best workers in all of pro wrestling at the time, and their work here certainly would make anyone look forward to a singles match between these two. Kana and Nakajima hit each other with a lot of intensity. Ayumi Kurihara showed great enthusiasm and certainly added a lot to the match as well. She would be retiring a few months later, but you couldn’t tell from her really good performance here. Nakajima and Kurihara hit some perfectly executed moves on each other, including a couple of German suplexes by Nakajima, and Kurihara hit a spectacular uranage. So we had the three best workers of the year in one match… and then there was Yumi Oka, who was the weak link of the match. Oka was a decent worker, at times pretty good, but she usually was quite dull and repetitive. She certainly wasn’t on the level of the other three workers in this match. However, whenever Oka was in, she made sure to keep working at the pace that had been set, and she understood she was involved in a really good match. Oka was good enough to not drag the match down too much, and she was certainly carryable. Kana made the Oka segments interesting through appropriate selling and clever counters. This really good match was arguably among the best 15 matches of the year, but it’s a shame we only got to see half of it. ***¾ 

OZ Academy 5/12/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Ayumi Kurihara vs. Aja Kong 19:50 of 21:55. Just a few months before Ayumi Kurihara, we got treated to this interesting match-up. Kurihara was one of the top 3 workers in joshi puroresu at the time, and Aja Kong is arguably the greatest joshi worker of all time. Aja’s selling and pacing played a big role in the moves performed by both participants feeling meaningful. Kurihara’s selling was also top-notch, and she brought a nice variety of athletic moves, which she was able to combine with a tremendous ability to put over everything that happened with a high level of intensity. The way these two worked this match showed that they cared about this, and that helped make the viewer care about this match as well. Both workers showed resourcefulness as they were able to come up with things to keep things interesting. Because of the excellent performance these two were giving throughout this match, wondering what would happen next became a natural and exciting process while watching this match. It’s hard to say what kept this from being a 4-star match, other than that not every match that has the potential to be excellent has to end up being a 4-star match, perhaps they didn’t quite push each other to really make this an excellent match. Also, while Aja was psychologically still on top of her game, she wasn’t the type to be able to match Kurihara’s speed and flashiness. Anyway, this was a really good match, because these two were really good at what they were doing. ***¾   

WAVE 5/15/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Catch the WAVE Slender Block: Arisa Nakajima vs. Shu Shibutani  7:07 of 8:33 shown. This Catch the WAVE tournament block called “Slender Block” was particularly interesting because it featured Arisa Nakajima, Syuri, Hikaru Shida and Shu Shibutani. Those four really stood out in this tournament. The other three workers in this block (Mio Shirai, Cherry and Moeka Haruhi) did well for themselves, but didn’t quite have matches as memorable as the main four. I expected Mio to have better matches, but Mio’s matches in this tournament were quite short, so she ended up not standing out as much. Obviously this match between Nakajima and Shibutani was going to be at least good, and it turned out to be very good, but ideally these two would have met in a longer match. Ironically, these two would have a match that was arguably just slightly better on 7/15/13 in a match that was even shorter than this one (the 7/15/13 match was at a further stage in the tournament though and exceptionally good for a match of its length). Here in the round robin portion of the tournament, they both really put each other’s moves over very well, and especially Nakajima’s selling was great. Both workers showed a lot of intensity behind every move. Nakajima put so much force and effort behind every move, and Shibutani showed that she really cared about every second this match lasted. These two were so subtle and smooth at working a good match that they made it look easy. ***½ 

Ice Ribbon 5/25/13 Yokohama Radiant Hall, International Ribbon & REINA X World Double Tag Team Title: Tsukushi & Aoi Kizuki vs. Hikaru Shida & Tsukasa Fujimoto 16:04. This was a very watchable match. The match started off with a bunch of action, and the pace never really slowed down much. Tsukasa Fujimoto played a big role in making this match feel important, as she made sure to stay on top of the opposition whenever it was her turn to be in the ring. The champions, who defended the two championships they were holding, was a tag team known as Seishun Midori and it consisted of two workers who had the vibe of a happy and playful tag team, Tsukushi & Aoi Kizuki. It seemed their joyous approach had caught the more serious challenging team off guard. The challengers, Hikaru Shida & Tsukusa Fujimoto, were together known as Muscle Venus. Most of the quality work came from Shida & Tsukka, but Tsukushi worked hard. Kizuki isn’t one of the very best workers in the league (and certainly not one of the worst either), but she gave one of her better performances here, as she seemed to try to show that she wasn’t the champion as a result of a fluke. In the end, Muscle Venus was too much of a powerful force for the opposition, and the result was a title change. This was a good match, and one of the best Ice Ribbon matches of 2013. ***¼  

WAVE 5/25/13 Hiroshima, Catch the WAVE Glamorous Block: Misaki Ohata vs. Kagetsu 6:15 of 15:00. Despite this being a match from the Glamorous Block, this is the type of fast-paced and exciting match that was similar to the type of matches the Slender Block was delivering. They both showed a lot of urgency and a will to win. There were lots of near falls, and many of them felt like the one that was really going to be the end. Eventually, the match went to a time limit draw. These two showed that the Glamour Block wasn’t all about glamour, as these two stole the show in their block through their hard work. ***¼ 

WAVE 5/26/13 Osaka NASCI Hall Umeda, Catch the WAVE Slender Block: Hikaru Shida vs. Shu Shibutani  6:07 of 7:18. Both showed why they are two wrestlers that are always worth watching for those who are interested in 2013 joshi puroresu. It was a relatively short match, and especially in the clipped version we have available, it felt like it was over when they were just getting warmed up. Still, they managed to give us a very good match with the seven minutes they were given. It’s always a joy to watch Shibutani in action; Shibutani’s tope suicida was spectacular, and she followed it up with a great top-rope dropkick that was sold well by Shida. The work displayed by Shida was crisp, as Shida hit her moves well, and her work mixed well with Shibutani’s spectacular moves. The action was excellent while it lasted. ***¼ 

WAVE 6/2/13 Nagoya Club Diamond Hall, Catch the WAVE Slender Block: Arisa Nakajima vs. Hikaru Shida 8:59 of 15:00. Arisa Nakajima’s selling was of top-notch quality, as usual. Hikaru Shida executed a nice huracarrana and a nice jumping high knee. Nakajima hit several nice looking suplexes. Shida used her bamboo kendo stick once, but referee Tommy Ran was used to a lot more violence than that, so it didn’t result in any warning of sorts. It’s nice these workers got 15 minutes after watching several good tournament matches that were considerably shorter, it’s just a shame we didn’t get to see all of the action. The extra time seemed to help though, because even though what we got to see was edited down (we got to see just a little over half of the match), it felt a bit more satisfying of a match than some of the shorter matches in this tournament. ***½ 

STARDOM 6/2/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, High Speed Title: Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Kaori Yoneyama 14:46. This match was quite a bit better than their 3/3/13 30-minute draw because they didn’t have to worry about having to work a 30-minute match, and they were instead able to have a match that’s more suitable for them, a 15-minute match. Taiyo running the ropes and walking up the ropes is always a joy to watch, because of her tremendous speed and agility. Even during the parts where the action took place on the mat, they both showed a good amount of intensity, making those slower segments still seem important. Taiyo was one of the most spectacular workers, and the match peaked whenever she put her breathtaking skills on display. Yoneyama deserves credit for being able to keep up with Taiyo’s speed, and for her solid selling. If it wasn’t for Yoneyama being around, STARDOM’s 2013 would have certainly looked a lot less interesting. The work in this match was very good, as they both gave a strong effort, and the Korakuen Hall crowd enjoyed the action. ***½    

WAVE/Daijo 6/8/13 Osaka Azalea Taisho Hall, Catch the WAVE Slender Block: Syuri vs. Shu Shibutani 7:24 of 9:53 This match featured two excellent workers having a good match against each other. Syuri’s kicks were spot on, and her aggression added a lot to this match. Shu Shibutani’s selling helped make this match memorable. After having watched the entire tournament, this match still stands out as a good match. It would have been nice if these two would have gotten a few minutes more though. Syuri and Shibutani are really cool workers, and these two facing each other is certainly worth watching. This is one of only a few times these two faced each other in singles competition. ***¼ 

WAVE 6/9/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE, Catch the WAVE Slender Block: Syuri vs. Hikaru Shida 9:55 of 15:00. Hikaru Shida attacked Syuri before the bell when the streamers were still in the ring. Syuri also showed good aggression from the start, especially when she threw her kicks. Both workers showed their fighting spirit and their will to win. This was a match where they were really able to put over the importance of this tournament. Shida reacted well to each situation she was presented with in this match, and Shida’s enthusiasm really helped enhance this match. Syuri’s energy was the driving force that kept this match going, and she gave Shida and the viewers no choice but to hold on tight while the relentless action continued. Both women showed they were experts in hitting a neat looking jumping high knee. It was nice they were given a good amount of time and we actually got to see more than just a few minutes. This match certainly stands out as one of the best from this tournament, as these two excellent workers meshed particularly well. ***¾ 

KanAyu 6/15/13 Osaka NASCI Hall Umeda, Kana & Ayumi Kurihara vs. Meiko Satomura & Ayako Hamada 18:45. Ayumi Kurihara and Ayako Hamada started this match off. They did some reversal-type stuff on the mat to kinda feel each other out in the early stages of this match. Once Kana and Meiko Satomura entered the ring, the action became stiffer and more intense. Kana and Ayumi, the two workers who had teamed up to co-produce this show, showed good teamwork in the ring as well. Their opponents were a tag team combination of two of the more experienced joshi workers at the time, and two of the more well known names in joshi puroresu. One of the first moves that really stood out was Kana executing a top-rope dropkick very nicely. This match was generally at its best whenever Kana and Satomura were in the ring together, because their styles complement each other well. This is not really a surprise, since we know they had good singles matches in the past against each other (on 4/29/10 they worked a ***½ match, and on 2/13/11 they worked a ***¾ match). Kurihara executed several exciting moves, and her work was excellent overall. Despite not being at her peak anymore, Ayako still was a solid tag team partner for Satomura here, and Ayako actually gave one of her best performances of the year here. The final minutes had some close near falls, which was a satisfying conclusion to an excellent match. ****

WAVE 6/19/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Catch the WAVE Slender Block: Arisa Nakajima vs. Syuri 8:33 of 15:00. This had a bit more variety in terms of moves and overall approach of the match than most of Syuri’s matches had in this tournament, which I think is a great example of Arisa helping her opponents to bring out some hidden abilities, even when Nakajima is facing a top 6 worker like Syuri. Nakajima bumped well for Syuri’s awesome jumping high knee. They both did a great job of making the final minute or so more dramatic, as the match was nearing the time limit. It’s good to know these two got 15 minutes, despite the fact we only got to see half of it. Overall, this was some very good pro wrestling. ***½ 

Ice Ribbon 7/14/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Syuri vs. Hikaru Shida 15:15. This match happened at one of the most notable Ice Ribbon shows of the year. This was not only because it took place at Shinjuku FACE and not the Ice Ribbon dojo, but also because this show had two memorable matches on it. On 6/9/13, at this very same venue, Syuri and Hikaru Shida had wrestled each other at a WAVE show in a really good match. This 7/14/13 match featured a lot more serious wrestling than most of Ice Ribbon’s matches that year. It almost felt like a WAVE match instead of an Ice Ribbon match. The main difference with their previous match is that the 6/9/13 match had more urgency, which was understandable, since it was part of the Catch the WAVE tournament. Still, this 7/14/13 match was better than most Ice Ribbon matches that year. Syuri and Shida both showed very good intensity and a will to overcome the offense thrown at them by the tenacious opposition. They worked this at a methodical pace, and drew the viewer into what they were doing. In the end, this was good, but not quite as good as their 6/9/13 match. ***¼   

Ice Ribbon 7/14/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE, ICEx60 & IW19 Title: Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Tsukushi 15:28. This unification of two championships, the ICEx60 Title held by Tsukushi and the IW19 Title was held by Tsukusa Fujimoto, was the main event of a particularly interesting Ice Ribbon show. The Internet Wrestling 19 Title was created in 2011 and was defended in 19-minute time limit matches. After the unification of the two championships, the IW19 Title was retired (until it was reactivated in 2020), and the ICEx60 Title would be renamed to ICExInfinity Title in August 2013, because of the abolishment of the 60kg weight limit for this championship. Tsukushi gave a strong effort tonight, and showed the desire to make this unification match a memorable event. Her small stature makes her a natural underdog, and she has been able to translate that story into her matches, especially in matches that are of a certain importance, like this match against Tsukka. Early in the match, Tsukka remained calm and cool during most of the times she was on offense, but she gradually showed a lot more fire as it became harder to keep Tsukushi down. When Tsukushi had Tsukka almost beat on a few occasions, Tsukka visibly became more desperate in ending this match, making the final minutes the most energetic ones. ***¼ 

OZ Academy 7/14/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Ayumi Kurihara vs. Tomoka Nakagawa 15:12. These two workers were very familiar with each other. As a matter of fact, Ayumi Kurihara and Tomoka Nakagawa were both each other’s most frequently faced opponent. It was no surprise that the work in this match was quite smooth. One of the main things they focused on was Nakagawa’s right arm. Nakagawa sold the arm throughout the match, and Kurihara made sure to work on the arm whenever it seemed a good moment to do so. Kurihara gave an excellent performance, as along with superb selling, her offense was outstanding as well. Nakagawa gave a very good performance, but she wasn’t quite on the level of Kurihara (of course, very few workers were ever as good as Kurihara was). Nakagawa’s consistent selling of the right arm suggested that it was perhaps a legit injury. Because of this focus on the selling of the arm, it seemed that it took Nakagawa a while before she was able to turn things up a notch. However, in the final minutes, Nakagawa decided to bite the pain and unleash a flurry of offense. This was Kurihara’s final OZ Academy match, and just like she did in pretty much every league she appeared in, Kurihara made quite an impact in OZ Academy, and several of her matches stood out as some of the most memorable. Despite this match not being the most memorable, it was still a good match overall. In this final OZ Academy match of hers, Kurihara did the job to what could be considered her main rival, Nakagawa. ***¼

WAVE 7/15/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Catch the WAVE Quarter Final: Arisa Nakajima vs. Shu Shibutani 5:52 of 6:43. Syuri had the most points (8) in her block, and was placed automatically in the semi final of the tournament. Arisa had the second-most points (7) in the block and faced Shibutani, who had won a four-way match over Shida, Mio and Cherry to determine Arisa’s quarter final opponent. This quarter final match between Arisa and Shibutani was a little bit more energetic than their match in the round robin portion of the tournament. Shibutani’s tope suicida was spectacular and emphasized her will to win. Arisa excels in emphasizing the importance of matches, and she worked this match with tremendous urgency. The way Nakajima took Shibutani’s DDT gave me chills up and down my spine, as these two workers performed it to such perfection. It’s a shame it was only a 6-minute match, but what they did with these six minutes was more worthwhile than what most workers do with 15 minutes. ***½ 

WAVE 7/15/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Catch the WAVE Semi Final: Arisa Nakajima vs. Syuri 9:15 of 11:02. This was the semi final of the tournament, which means the winner of this match would win the Slender Block and would go on to face the winner of the Glamour Block. This match was of similar quality and of similar length as their 6/19/13 match. The execution of the moves in this 7/15/13 match seemed slightly more crisp and the overall work in this 7/15/13 match felt more intense, which was to be somewhat expected since this was a semi final match. ***½ 

WAVE 7/15/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Catch the WAVE Final: Arisa Nakajima vs. Misaki Ohata 12:04 of 13:06. It was good to see these two make it to the final, because they were the most impressive performers of their respective blocks. A stiff kick by Nakajima to Ohata’s back made people on the front row cringe. Ohata was good, but Nakajima carried the match and pretty much made this match as good as it was. It took Ohata a while to start feeling some of the energy she felt earlier in the tournament, which was perhaps understandable given this was the third match of the night for both these two. Shibutani received the bronze medal for finishing third. Arisa Nakajima refused her silver medal, and walked away. I can’t blame Nakajima, since she deserved gold instead of silver. Ohata received the gold medal and trophy for winning the tournament. This was arguably the best show of the year, because it had three very good matches on it. ***½  

WAVE 7/27/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: A*YU*MI & noki-A vs. Tojuki Leon & KAGUYA 6:27 of 19:06. A*YU*MI is the masked alter ego of Kurihara. noki-A is the masked alter ego of AKINO. KAGUYA is the masked alter ego of Mio. Even though the main vibe of this match seemed to be that of these four having fun, they gave a good effort and provided a good match. This was easily the most effort AKINO gave all year. There was a lot of action, and it was a nice way to celebrate the career of Kurihara. This was Kurihara’s final match in the WAVE promotion. ***¼ 

JWP 7/28/13 Nagoya Club Diamond Hall, JWP Openweight & CMLL-REINA International Double Title: Arisa Nakajima vs. Command Bolshoi 18:31. This is the type of match that shows how good Command Bolshoi still could be in 2013. Although, it still wasn’t quite as good as the work Bolshoi showed in previous years. It started off with both wrestlers focusing on mat-based wrestling. This can help us remind ourselves once again that Nakajima is so versatile. It was nice to see Bolshoi try to work a technical singles match more sincerely again, since we hadn’t really seen that from her in a while. However, it felt like she seemed very comfortable with relying a bit too much on Nakajima doing most of the work. If Bolshoi would have shown a bit more intensity and urgency, it would have been a bit better of a match. It was a very good match overall though, because Nakajima gave a strong effort, and the technical wrestling was really good throughout the match; also near the end of the match, Bolshoi seemed more fired up. In the end, JWP Openweight Title holder Nakajima defeated Bolshoi to win the CMLL-REINA International Title. ***½

Ice Ribbon 7/30/13 Saitama Isami Wrestle Arena: Ayumi Kurihara & Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Tsukushi & Aoi Kizuki 13:11. To the best of my knowledge, this was the only Ice Ribbon show Ayumi Kurihara ever worked at, and it was her second-last show of her career. Her final show would take place on 8/3/13, which was an Ayumi Kurihara Produce show. Here in this Ice Ribbon match, which was one of the best matches of the year for this league, Kurihara teamed with its top star, Tsukasa Fujimoto. Their opponents were the former tag team champions, the bubbly team of Tsukushi & Aoi Kizuki, who were quite a decent tag team. Of course, most of the actual high quality work in this match came from the tag team of Kurihara & Tsukka. Kurihara’s dropkicks, which were some of the most awesome things about this match, had a lot more power behind them than Tsukushi’s dropkicks. Tsukushi is such a natural underdog that Kurihara & Tsukka almost came across as heelish in this match at times, especially considering Tsukushi’s tag team partner had a particularly cheerful personality. The final minute or so was quite dramatic with Tsukushi and Kurihara trading near falls. This was a good match, but despite everyone doing a good job of making it seem Tsukushi had a chance to get the victory here, Kurihara & Tsukka winning didn’t seem much of a surprise, nor a result that was ever in real danger of being any different. ***¼ 

Ice Ribbon 7/30/13 Saitama Isami Wrestle Arena: Ayumi Kurihara vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto 5:00. This was a surprise match that took place immediately after the previous match, which had these two teaming up together. Tsukasa Fujimoto challenged Ayumi Kurihara, and Kurihara accepted Tsukka’s challenge. This match had a lot of high quality joshi puroresu work in it. Both workers showed a very good amount of intensity, and their moves looked very crisp. They basically had the best 5-minute match they could possibly have together. ***

OZ Academy 8/11/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE, OZ Academy Tag Team Title: Hikaru Shida & Aja Kong vs. Tomoka Nakagawa & Hiroyo Matsumoto 17:12. This was a big rematch because Hikaru Shida & Aja Kong had beaten Tomoka Nakagawa & Hiroyo Matsumoto to win this championship on 4/24/13 in a very good match. It took the challengers a while before they got warmed up, which almost made it seem they didn’t really believe in their chances of winning the belts back. The work was good throughout this match, but it never felt like the champions were in too much danger of losing. Somewhat surprisingly, the former champions were actually able to win the belts back after the champions seemingly got too lackadaisical. This match seemed more good by “default,” and it wasn’t as good as their 4/24/13 match, but it was still a good match and one of the best OZ Academy matches of 2013. ***

WAVE 8/15/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Misaki Ohata vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto 8:11 of 15:00. They worked hard and well. There was a brief moment of comedy featuring a ball, but it didn’t take anything away from the match, because it’s easy to forgive these two when they were clearly just trying to add a funny moment to the match, and they were not trying to cover up any lack of ability like so many others seem to do when they’re attempting to be funny. Tsukka showed her speed and agility. It’s always good to see Tsukka in a high quality league like WAVE, because there’s more chance of seeing her in a good match here than in Ice Ribbon. Ohata gave a good effort and her work was solid. The match had a lot of good action, and I think it’s a good example of one of the better matches these two had in 2013. ***¼

JWP 8/18/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP Openweight Title: Arisa Nakajima vs. Kana 13:56. After not having appeared on JWP shows in quite a while, Kana had reappeared a few times earlier in the year. Kana became the challenger for one of the most prestigious titles in joshi puroresu, the JWP Openweight Title. When Arisa Nakajima and Kana faced each other in this big singles match on 8/18/13, they were the two best workers in joshi puroresu. Kana showed up with crazy face paint and multi-coloured hair. This new look made her even more dangerous than she already was, since now her opponent not only had to worry about her great in-ring skills, but the somewhat crazy and intimidating appearance could potentially give Kana a psychological advantage as well, especially if Kana’s opponent would perhaps start to worry whether Kana had actually gone crazy. Kana was in control for a large portion of the match, as she displayed her mat wrestling skills, her striking skills, and her ability to show all of that offense in an intriguing manner at a deliberate pace. In the meantime, Nakajima’s selling was great, and she really put over Kana’s offense very well. This was an excellent match, but it could have been better if Nakajima would have had a proper comeback later in the match. However, that didn’t happen, and Kana won this match quite decisively. Of course, this helped establish Kana as a big threat to everyone in the JWP, but I feel that this wasn’t really necessary to happen in this manner. Luckily, these two would have another match, so in hindsight, this match from 8/18/13 was basically a tasty appetizer preceding the main course that would be delivered on 12/15/13. ****

STARDOM 8/25/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, 5STAR GP Blue Block: Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Yuhi 10:34. This match from the opening day of the 5STAR Grand Prix tournament was much better than their match at the big 4/29/13 show. This was a very energetic match, and both workers showed a lot of fire and determination. These two were two of the most exciting workers in STARDOM, and the action was pretty much non-stop from start to finish. They started off at a fast pace, and while there were slower parts, the match felt like a spectacle at all times. This match is a very good example of how Taiyo’s tremendous speed and skill-level made her one of the most outstanding workers of the year. This is particularly rewarding whenever she gets the opportunity to face a worker who is capable of hanging in there with her. Despite having only 16 months experience as a pro wrestler, Yuhi had the ability to react like an experienced worker. Next to the flashy athletic stuff she was capable of, one particularly cool thing Yuhi did at some point during the match was countering Taiyo’s flashy move with a submission hold. This was a good way to still keep things going, and yet still mix things up a bit. This was one of the very few matches in this tournament that was this good, and it was easily the best match of the Blue Block, a block that also consisted of Nanae Takahashi, Yoshiko, Act Yasukawa and Kyoko Kimura. ***½ 

STARDOM 8/25/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, 5STAR GP Red Block: Io Shirai vs. Kaori Yoneyama 10:16. This was the main event of the opening day of the so-called 5STAR Grand Prix tournament. Kaori Yoneyama is one of the best opponents Io Shirai could hope to face. While the opening day featured two memorable matches, the rest of the tournament basically consisted of some okay matches here and there carried by Io Shirai amidst a bunch of average matches, and it ultimately ended in a disappointing final between two of the most overpushed performers in STARDOM; Nanae Takahashi and Alpha Female. They should rename the tournament, because it certainly wasn’t a 5-star tournament by any means. The final really should have been Io vs. Natsuki*Taiyo, because those two didn’t have a match in 2013, and it could potentially have been one of the best matches of the year. Regardless of all of that, this match between Io and Yoneyama was an excellent match and one of the best STARDOM matches of the year. It was the best match of the Red Block, a block that also consisted of Kairi Hojo, Takumi Iroha, Dark Angel and Alpha Female. Io and Yoneyama made the most of the ten minutes. Io’s athletic ability and the smoothness of the way she executed moves were amazing to watch. When Io was on offense, she would execute moves that were both beautiful and impactful at the same time, but it wasn’t all Io, as Yoneyama showed that she still was able to pull off some exciting moves herself. Both women made use of the top rope very well. One of the most awesome spots was Io’s moonsault off the top turnbuckle to Yoneyama on the floor. It wasn’t all just flashy and spectacular action, as there were plenty of moments where they put over the struggle they were involved with. They both had to fight to get the upper hand, and that’s when they were able to find an opportunity to hit their spectacular offense. The action was off the charts, and this bout is a really good example of Io showing that she was about to become one of the very best in the world. **** 

WAVE 8/25/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Regina di WAVE Title: Yumi Oka vs. Misaki Ohata 8:49 of 19:30. This was an interesting match-up between two workers who had a good match against earlier in the year, and they also had two good matches against each other in 2012. These two seem to gel well together, and they provided another good match here. Misaki Ohata worked over Yumi Oka’s right leg quite a bit. Oka’s work in 2013 had been quite solid, and she even sold her right leg a bit after the match was over, but it should be mentioned that Oka’s benefitted quite a bit from facing Misaki Ohata and Kana, who both did a very good job of carrying Oka. This was a good match overall, mostly thanks to Ohata’s good effort. Oka’s lack of fire kinda hurt the final minutes though, because it didn’t feel like a big victory for her, while Ohata was trying to put over the finish big time. ***

OZ Academy 9/15/13 Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan: Arisa Nakajima & Hikaru Shida vs. Syuri & Kagetsu 5:33 of 6:48 shown. In a puzzling booking decision, it was decided that four of the top 20 wrestlers were going to be booked in a six-minute opening match on one of the biggest shows for OZ Academy that year. Shouldn’t they have deserved a much higher spot on the card and a longer match? Perhaps the idea was that these four were able to give the viewers a hot opening match that would make people digest the rest of the show better. It’s kinda like a band that puts their best song(s) on the album first and then lets the listener sit through some lesser quality stuff and rely on the idea that the listener will keep listening since they are already listening anyway. This show was main evented by a disappointing match between Chikayo Nagashima and Mayumi Ozaki, a match that emphasized the least interesting aspects of this league (a focus on garbage wrestling and constant outside interference). Despite this opening tag team match being a six-minute match, these four did more with these six minutes than many other wrestlers would have been able to do with more time. The work was of high quality during the six minutes this match lasted. Insult was added to injury when it was decided GAORA TV should only show 5:33 of an already short match that deserved way more time. ***

JWP 9/22/13 Yokohama Radiant Hall: Arisa Nakajima vs. Leon 12:51. From the way they started this match, you could tell this was going to be more than just good by default. After some of the feeling out stuff, Nakajima started being all business, and Leon didn’t want to be outdone. Both workers are top 10 workers, and one of the things that makes them so good, along with always giving a strong effort, is their eye for detail. They aren’t the type of workers that would go through the motions. These two tried to make every move have some sort of meaning. Nakajima’s selling was phenomenal and a joy to watch. Nakajima was also phenomenal when she was on offense though. When you pay close attention to Nakajima’s work, it certainly becomes clear why she is an all-time great worker. They were on their way to having a match that potentially could have been excellent, but then the match was over after 12 minutes. I think they needed a few more minutes to make this excellent, but that didn’t happen. Still, this was a really good match. Leon had a match of similar high quality against Kurihara on 5/3/13, and while that match probably had a bit more spectacular moves, this match from 9/22/13 was a bit more able to pull the viewer into what was happening, thanks to Nakajima’s ability to get people invested in what’s going on in the ring more so than most workers are able to do. ***¾ 

JWP 10/14/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE, JWP Openweight Title: Kana vs. Hanako Nakamori 15:51. As a response to “zombie” Kana lately wearing crazy face paint, Hanako Nakamori decided to wear some crazy face paint of her own for this match. After some brawling on the floor, Kana got to show her mat wrestling skills, as she was pretty dominant on the mat early on. Hanako wasn’t really able to be much of a threat in the first half of the match. It almost looked like this was going to be too one-sided of a match, but this ended up going into a more competitive direction. I guess from a kayfabe perspective, you could say that Kana became overconfident and Hanako was finally able to fight back during the second half of the match.  The finishing minutes were particularly exciting, and Kana sold well for Hanako’s offense, and Hanako appeared to come close to beating Kana, which caused the crowd to believe a big upset was about to happen. Nakamori had been giving good performances throughout the year, but here she was finally able to have an excellent match, with some help from Kana’s guidance and Kana’s ability to take her opponents to the next level. ****

OZ Academy 11/10/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Hikaru Shida & Aja Kong & Tsubasa Kuragaki vs. Kagetsu & Hiroyo Matsumoto & AKINO 17:03. One of the main reasons this match was very good is that they kept the action going. Despite being disappointing throughout most of 2013, AKINO was able to solely rely on just doing some of her spots without the entirety of the match feeling disappointing here in this six-person tag team match, since she was only one of six workers in the match and still good enough to make somewhat of a positive contribution to this match. The exact same could be said for Tsubasa Kuragaki actually. Ironically, it felt like Aja Kong, who had been one of the main driving forces in OZ Academy in 2013, didn’t quite make as much of an impact on this match as she did on some of her tag team matches earlier in the year, but everything she did resulted in something the match quality benefitted from. Hikaru Shida gave a very good effort, and she was the most fired up one on her team. Hiroyo Matsumoto excels in matches like this, since she was able to bring a bunch of energy and keep the action going without having to worry about putting too much detail into things, focusing more on big power spots. Kagetsu’s energy helped this match for sure, and she was particularly fired up whenever she faced Shida. It would have been nice to have seen a bit more of Kagetsu in this match, but she played a big role in the final minutes of the match. Kagetsu took a smooth-looking huracarrana by Shida very well, and this almost resulted in Shida’s team winning. Kagetsu then got beat up by all three opposing members with Shida eventually scoring the pinfall win. This was a good match that was a solid example of how enjoyable no-nonsense OZ Academy (six-person) tag team action can be. ***¼

SGPW 11/16/13 Sendai Sun Plaza: DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko vs. Natsuki*Taiyo & Yoshiko 12:30 of 16:16 shown. This tag team match was certainly more than decent. The Jumonji sisters worked together very well, as usual. Taiyo & Yoshiko had been a regular tag team in STARDOM, so they were quite the solid team as well. Yoshiko was the weak link, and despite dragging the match down a bit whenever she was in, she was okay-ish as the fourth person to make this a tag match. The other three workers all provided plenty of spectacular moves and solid work overall. It was good to see Taiyo have a match on a non-STARDOM show again for a change. ***¼

JWP 11/24/13 Osaka Minami Move On Arena: Leon & Ray vs. Manami Katsu & Kayoko Haruyama 14:44. Leon & Ray once again showed us why they were one of the best tag teams. Ray mostly relied on her flashy offense in order to make her contribution to the matches, and she’s good enough in other areas of in-ring work, like selling, where she’s pretty much always a positive factor in tag team matches. This is particularly the case when she teams with Leon, who is the leader of the team and someone who usually has a pretty big impact on the flow of the matches. Manami Katsu’s hard work also shouldn’t go unnoticed. Katsu wasn’t the most sophisticated worker, but she gave a strong effort and is particularly useful in tag team matches. I like how she can make a Vader Bomb look graceful and effective at the same time. The fourth participant in this match, Kayako Haruyama, also gave a solid effort, and she’s been surprisingly good this year. Haruyama’s work in 2013 had been more memorable than it was in previous years. It seemed she was quite a bit more motivated in some of these matches that were very good and had her in it. As the match came closer to the end, Haruyama executed a particularly good top-rope leg drop. This was an enjoyable match from start to finish, and they were able to keep things interesting all the way through. It looked like this was going to go on for a couple of minutes longer with some more near falls, but once Leon hit the fisherman’s bomb on Katsu. The team of Katsu & Haruyama were able to be competitive, but they weren’t as much of a threat to Leon & Ray as the Jumonji sisters would be. ***½  

JWP 11/24/13 Osaka Minami Move On Arena: Arisa Nakajima & Hanako Nakamori vs. Kana & Meiko Satomura 19:40. It’s always a joy whenever Arisa Nakajima and Kana are facing each other. When Nakajima was in there against Meiko Satomura, Nakajima made Satomura work on the mat. Satomura quickly tagged in Kana, who tried to play mind games with Nakajima, but Nakajima stayed focused. These two gave a little preview of their upcoming singles match. These interactions between Nakajima and Kana were very interesting, and they certainly made the viewer want more. Nakamori showed a lot of courage by trying to face Kana and Satomura head-on. Nakamori found herself in a lot of trouble on the mat against both opponents. Once Nakamori saw the opening to tag Nakajima in, Nakajima took care of business in the ring with her never-say-die attitude. Later in the match, Nakamori occasionally managed to surprise the opposition with some fancy offense. Satomura was good and solid, and Nakajima managed to bring out some more fire out of Satomura. This was a really good match and a good way to get people to want to see more of Nakajima vs. Kana. ***¾ 

STARDOM 12/8/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Io Shirai & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Natsuki*Taiyo & Yuhi 7:37 of 13:35. One of the most awesome things about this match is that it featured the four best in-ring performers STARDOM had at the time all in one match. They started this off at a very fast pace. When the pace slowed down a bit, the match didn’t become less awesome, because these four executed every move they did very well. It’s a shame we only got to see half of this match, because perhaps this match was even better than it appeared in the seven minutes we got to see. ***½ 

WAVE 12/15/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Regina di WAVE Title: Yumi Oka vs. Shu Shibutani 8:00 of 18:25. It was nice to see Shu Shibutani in a big singles match again. Shibutani showed the urgency you’d want to see from someone going after the main singles title in the league. Shibutani even wore the colors of the WAVE logo, yellow and blue. It’s a shame that the champion, Yumi Oka, didn’t show as much urgency, and she kinda made it seem like this was just another match for her. Regardless of all of that, Oka once again showed that, while not being the best worker in the league and certainly not the most spectacular, she was able to be in good singles matches when she was facing strong opponents. Despite these single title matches featuring Oka not being among the absolute best matches of the year, they did help make this title seem worth fighting for. ***

JWP 12/15/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP & Daily Sports Double Tag Team Title Decision Match: DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko vs. Leon & Ray 19:14. The two best tag teams of the year battled it out at the biggest JWP show of the year, making it very fitting that this was a decision match for the JWP & Daily Sports Double Tag Team Title. The workrate was high, and the action was non-stop. All four workers displayed a variety of spectacular moves, and both teams showed excellent teamwork. The high level of intensity helped make this match become one of the best matches of the year. Neither team could really get the upper hand early on. In a match in which all participants played an important role in making it so excellent, it’s hard to pinpoint who the most outstanding worker of the match was. DASH Chisako deserves credit for standing out for hitting her offense particularly well in a match featuring four workers who all hit their moves crisply. Her selling was also of high quality, and it aided the progression of the match. As impressive as her sister Sendai Sachiko was, Chisako was probably slightly more responsible for the high quality here. Ray did many really good things here, but Leon stood out most for her team, as she was a big reason this match was so good. Next to her spectacular offense, Leon’s timing and unselfishness were also a big part of the match flowing very well. The match was interesting to watch from start to finish, with never a dull moment, as the 19 minutes flew by. It should be noted that this match is particularly unique because it was the only match in 2013 that was worth more than four stars and didn’t involve Arisa Nakajima or Kana. ****¼ 

JWP 12/15/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP Openweight Title: Arisa Nakajima vs. Kana 28:35. This was the main event of one of the best shows of the year. Even though they shook hands before the match out of respect for each other, immediately after the handshake, they weren’t too friendly with each other. The match started off as a wild brawl and they beat the living daylights out of each other on the floor. Kana not only visually somewhat resembled the Joker here, but she also showed a lot of violence and aggression. Nakajima took the beating like the superhero that she is. On 8/18/13, Kana had taken the JWP Openweight Title away from Nakajima, and Nakajima wanted revenge. Nakajima finally snapped and threw a bunch of chairs on top of Kana. These two really put over that they wanted to destroy each other through the way they brawled. These two workers are so versatile, because they not only were able to convincingly brawl better than most workers, but they also showed they were able to have a completely different type of match than their previous singles match. This was the perfect culmination of their work previously in the year. Once they were done brawling on the floor, the battle continued in the ring, with both workers now focussed on attempting to beat each other through the use of submission holds. Nakajima’s selling for Kana’s viciousness was amazing. Kana’s matwork was great as always, but Nakajima was able to be competitive on the mat with Kana. They continued the high level of intensity they had set early in the match for pretty much the entire duration of this match. They never stopped fighting and they never let the other have a moment to rest, which helped give this match a realistic feel to it. At some point in the match, Nakajima even started biting Kana’s arm to escape a hold. In the end, this match came to an end after what felt like a grueling battle. Nakajima had regained her championship, but she had to go through a war to get it. This was arguably the best match of 2013, and arguably the best joshi match of the decade up until that point in time. *****  

STARDOM 12/23/13 Osaka IMP Hall, High Speed Title: Kaori Yoneyama vs. Yuhi 3:56 of 10:24. This was the fast-paced and action-packed match you’d hope these two to have. At least, judging from the four minutes we got to see of this, it was a good representation of what the High Speed Title was about. The moves were executed well, and the work was exciting. It’s just a shame we didn’t even get to see half of this match. Still, it deserves to be mentioned, because it appeared that it probably was a match that was among the best 75 matches or so of the year; and even in clipped form, it is clear that these were talented wrestlers. ***

STARDOM 12/29/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP Openweight & World of STARDOM Double Title: Arisa Nakajima vs. Io Shirai 25:18 of 30:00 shown. This was a big match that featured Arisa Nakajima’s only match on a STARDOM show. Nakajima, who was arguably the best worker in the world at the time, defended the main singles title of the promotion she represented, JWP. Io Shirai defended the main singles title of STARDOM. The match started off with both participants trying to get the upper hand, and both were struggling against each other. Once Io Shirai found an opening to start using more of her amazing high flying skills, she started getting more of an advantage. Arisa Nakajima showed her determination and fought back. Both workers battled like they were involved in a match that would settle a war. The work was intriguing, and both wrestlers really drew the viewers into this match. The selling was superb and the intensity was tremendous. It’s a shame this was the final time these two were in the same ring together, because a rematch would have been really interesting. This match is a great example of why Arisa Nakajima is one of the very best at working a great joshi main event type of match. ****½ 

(Pro wrestling debut dates of top 30 workers in parenthesis) [Top 30 ranks of previous years in brackets]

Great:

1. Arisa Nakajima (debut: 1/3/06) [2010: N/A, 2011: N/A, 2012: #1] - Arisa Nakajima once again was the best wrestler of the year. She appeared in more matches that were good or better than anyone else. She also had two of the best joshi puroresu matches of the decade, a match against Kana on 12/15/13 and a match against Io Shirai on 12/29/13. Her hard work and high quality in-ring work on a consistent basis made her the best. Whether it was brawling, mat wrestling, spectacular moves, or a bit of everything, Nakajima was able to do it all. Her ability to be versatile and mix things up helped make her matches very enjoyable, along with her tremendous level of passion and intensity. Her ability to help elevate matches through selling and her ability to carry matches in general, made her such an important part of joshi puroresu in 2013. JWP and WAVE were the leagues she mainly wrestled for, but she also appeared at shows of other leagues, including Diana, Ice Ribbon, Daijo, OZ Academy and STARDOM.

2. Kana (debut: 6/16/04) [2010: #1, 2011: #1, 2012: #2] - Kana remained one of the very best pro wrestlers in the world. She was so great that placing her at #1 would not have looked out of place at all. Kana’s match against Arisa Nakajima on 12/15/13 certainly was a great match between the two best workers. If it wasn’t for Nakajima being the best of the year, Kana would have easily been #1. Kana’s technical skills were superb, and her ability to carry opponents helped several matches become better than they would have been otherwise. Kana was in more matches that were 4 stars or higher than anyone else in 2013. Kana mainly appeared at shows of WAVE and JWP, but she also had matches for leagues like Daijo, Ice Ribbon, OZ Academy and SGPW.

Excellent:

3. Ayumi Kurihara (debut: 4/24/05) [2010: #4, 2011: #4, 2012: #3] - In her final eight months as a pro wrestler, Kurihara showed that she was still excellent and still one of the top workers. She had good matches in WAVE, OZ Academy, Ice Ribbon and JWP. It’s noteworthy that she was consistently a top 5 worker in the 2010s all the way through her retirement in August 2013. Her excellent work will be sorely missed when we will have a look at 2014 joshi puroresu, but it seems having to accept workers leaving the game prematurely is something joshi puroresu fans have grown accustomed to.

4. Io Shirai (debut: 3/4/07) [2010: #9, 2011: #8, 2012: #7] - Io Shirai was one of the best workers in STARDOM. Io’s tremendous athleticism makes it easy for her to stand out, but since many of the workers that were involved in her matches weren’t quite capable of having good matches on a regular basis (including rookies, gaijin and/or just poor workers), Io didn’t have quite the amount of good matches that some of the other names in the top 10 had in 2013, because several of those other top wrestlers had better workers to work with (especially those who regularly appeared in WAVE and/or JWP). You’d think that Io winning the Red Belt would be a good thing, but when you realize that her overpushed main event opponents in Red Belt matches are Alpha Female, Yoshiko, Kyoko Kimura and Nanae Takahashi, it becomes clear exactly why Io didn’t have as many good matches as you’d think she’d have in 2013. A different type of example of Io giving a notable performance in a match that wasn’t necessarily good took place on 6/23/13 when Io carried promising young rookie talent Takumi Iroha to the best match of Iroha’s rookie year, which was a decent match. However, despite not facing top workers on a frequent basis, at least Io participated in a few matches that were very good and recommended, and most notably, Io participated in a great match, the 12/29/13 match against Arisa Nakajima. Io is one of the few top joshi workers who only appeared in one league in 2013, as she exclusively wrestled for STARDOM (with the exception of an appearance at a memorial show for announcer Nagaharu Imai).

5. Natsuki*Taiyo (debut: 1/3/04) [2010: #2, 2011: #2, 2012: #8] - Natsuki*Taiyo was involved in more good matches than anyone in STARDOM, and that says a lot about her ability. It also says something about her being slightly luckier than Io Shirai when it comes to having workers of a certain quality to worth with. Either way, it’s worth mentioning that when you watch 2013 STARDOM that it becomes clear that Taiyo really helped elevate the in-ring quality of STARDOM that year, but it also appears that STARDOM wasted an opportunity to feature Taiyo more prominently.

6. Syuri (debut: 10/26/08) [2010: #28, 2011: #16, 2012: #4] - After showing her excellence in 2012, Syuri continued to be impressive in 2013. Her strikes and matwork was top-notch. Her style felt a bit more realistic than most of the other workers. In previous years, some of Syuri’s most memorable battles were against Kana, but in 2013, she didn’t have a match against Kana. On one hand, that was a bit of a shame, since it would have been interesting to see these two battle it out again, but, on the other hand, it shows that Syuri doesn’t necessarily need to rely on her feud with Kana to have matches that are worthy of recommendation. The main leagues Syuri appeared in were WNC and WAVE, but she also appeared at shows of leagues like REINA, SGPW, Diana, OZ Academy, Daijo, STARDOM, Ice Ribbon and JWP.

7. Hikaru Shida (debut: 7/20/08) [2010: #26, 2011: #15, 2012: #6] - Hikaru Shida participated in over a dozen good matches in 2013. Of course, it helped that her opponents were often very good, but being in many good matches also says something about Shida’s ability to have good matches. Shida appeared to have worked many matches in 2013, possibly more than anyone else that year; and she appeared in several different leagues. The leagues she mainly wrestled for were Ice Ribbon, WAVE and OZ Academy, but she also had matches for SGPW, JWP and REINA.

8. Kaori Yoneyama (debut: 11/29/99) [2010: #5, 2011: #12, 2012: #9] - If Kaori Yoneyama wasn’t around in STARDOM in 2013, it would have been a very weak year for STARDOM, but, along with workers like Io Shirai, Natsuki*Taiyo and Yuhi, Yoneyama made sure there were at least some STARDOM matches worth seeking out from 2013. She knew how to have exciting matches, and her high effort helped make her a top 10 worker.

9. Leon (debut: 3/16/00) [2010: #7, 2011: #6, 2012: #5] - For the fourth time in a row, Leon proved that she was a reliable top 10 worker. One of the many good things about Leon’s work is that she’s unselfish, and yet still knows when not to hold back and take action. Her most memorable work was in tag team action, usually with her regular tag team partner Ray, but Leon also had a few good singles matches in 2013. Perhaps this success in singles action is what puts Leon just slightly ahead of the Jumonji sisters in these rankings.

10. DASH Chisako (debut: 7/9/06) [2010: #22, 2011: #11, 2012: #16] - Along with her sister Sachiko, Chisako once again spiced up the tag team competition in joshi puroresu. The Jumonji sisters were the best tag team of the year, as their matches were often some of the most exciting to watch. The match that stands out the most is their JWP 12/15/13 match vs. Leon & Ray, a tag team that was the best tag team of the previous year.

Very Good:

11. Sendai Sachiko (debut: 7/9/06) [2010: #24, 2011: #13, 2012: #17] - Along with her sister Chisako, Sachiko once again spiced up the tag team competition in joshi puroresu. The Jumonji sisters were the best tag team of the year, as their matches were often some of the most exciting to watch. The match that stands out the most is their JWP 12/15/13 match vs. Leon & Ray, a tag team that was the best tag team of the previous year.

12. Misaki Ohata (debut: 12/10/06) [2010: #21, 2011: #10, 2012: #12] - Despite not being involved in four-star matches, Misaki Ohata was involved in a good amount of good matches and a decent amount of very good matches in 2013. Some of those matches were specifically that good because of her input. At times, Ohata was even the worker of the match in matches involving top workers. One of the things Ohata is really good at is enhancing the quality and drama level of a match through selling.

13. Shu Shibutani (debut: 9/19/04) [2010: #3, 2011: #7, 2012: #10] - Shu Shibutani is a very likeable worker, not only because she comes across as sympathetic, but also because of her hard work and strong effort. Most of her matches of 2013 took place in WAVE, and she was a worker the promotion could always rely on, as Shibutani was able to work well with just about anybody. The main reason Shibutani is not in the top 10 anymore, has not really much to do with her not necessarily having her most outstanding year, but more so with several other workers having a particularly strong year. 

14. Tsukasa Fujimoto (debut: 8/23/08) [2010: #23, 2011: #14, 2012: #18] - Even though Tsukka’s home base is Ice Ribbon, she managed to be a name that stood out as one of the 15 best workers of 2013. She not only helped elevate the Ice Ribbon matches she was involved in, which resulted in a handful of Ice Ribbon matches being good, but she also showed she could hang in there with some of the other top workers that were active in Pro Wrestling WAVE, a league where Tsukka got to prove that she didn’t just look better than she was in Ice Ribbon due to being better than most there, and she showed in WAVE that she doesn’t look out of place when you mention her name in one sentence with workers like Syuri, Misaki Ohata and Shu Shibutani. 

15. Aja Kong (debut: 9/16/86) [2010: #6, 2011: #19, 2012: #23] - Her matches, and the performances she gives keep being surprisingly memorable. Aja Kong having a strong year probably shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, as she can be considered one of the all-time greats. However, it’s particularly impressive when you consider that she had been active as a wrestler since 1986, and she was clearly more impressive than the other workers who had their debut matches in the 1980s who were still active in 2013. Aja Kong is one of the reasons OZ Academy’s 2013 was quite a bit more memorable than the league’s 2012. About half of the most memorable matches OZ Academy had in 2013 featured Aja Kong, as she was able to use her experience and psychology to help contribute to the quality of several matches that turned out to be good, which were oftentimes tag team matches. 

16. Ray (debut: 9/15/03) [2010: #20, 2011: #9, 2012: #15] - Ray (a.k.a. Lin Byron in some leagues) was once again a top 20 worker. Her impressive athletic ability makes it enjoyable to watch her work. She is particularly impressive in tag team matches, because that gives her the opportunity to focus more on being spectacular and acrobatic. She is one half of one of the best tag teams with her tag team partner Leon, who is a stronger overall pro wrestler, but what makes this tag team work so well isn’t necessarily the fact that we have two top 20 workers team up, but a big part of their success is them gelling really well and their chemistry as a tag team.

17. Hanako Nakamori (debut: 7/16/06) [2010: NR, 2011: #29, 2012: #13] - Hanako’s work is usually memorable because she gives a good effort. She isn’t someone who will carry a worker to a very good match, but she’s a worker who is involved in good matches on a somewhat regular basis. In 2013, she was involved in a handful of good matches, but it should be mentioned that most of them were mainly as good as they were because of Arisa Nakajima or Kana being involved. Still, Hanako deserves credit for her role in the good matches she was involved in, because along with her good effort, her execution is usually quite good as well.

18. Kagetsu (debut: 8/24/08) [2010: NR, 2011: #24, 2012: #11] - There’s a slight possibility that she deserves an even higher ranking, because the majority of her matches took place in SGPW, a league we don’t have all that much 2013 footage of as of current writing. However, Kagetsu participated in enough WAVE and OZ Academy matches to get a good indication of how good she was in 2013. Either way, she definitely deserves a spot in the top 20. She was a very hard worker, and she usually was good at adding more drama to matches.

19. Tomoka Nakagawa (debut: 9/19/04) [2010: #10, 2011: #3, 2012: #20] - She seemed less energetic than in previous years, but she was generally strong at selling. Her importance to OZ Academy certainly shouldn’t be forgotten, as she was involved in some of OZ Academy’s better matches of 2013. 

Good/Pretty Good:

20. Mio Shirai (debut: 3/4/07) [2010: #16, 2011: #26, 2012: #28] - Even though she usually needs to be in a match with someone who is really good for her to have a good match, she deserves credit for her work in WAVE being generally good. She’s a worker who can be a reliable tag team partner and can add quality to singles matches as well, but she didn’t always stand out as much when it seemed like she would stand out more. Obviously, it’s hard to stand out for her when she’s oftentimes surrounded by some of the best workers around. 

21. Yumi Oka (debut: 8/19/01) [2010: NR, 2011: NR, 2012: #27]  - She’s not necessarily one of the best workers technically or athletically, and she’s certainly not the most exciting worker, but her hard work really got her quite far in 2013. She clearly made the effort in trying to have good matches, and she took her role as WAVE’s main singles champion somewhat seriously. She’s been useful in tag team matches, and she’s been in a few good singles matches in 2013 as well. While Oka had good matches without Kana, Oka’s three best matches of 2013 all featured Kana giving a stellar performance, and it seems Oka needed Kana’s presence for her matches to be truly considered very good.

22. Meiko Satomura (debut: 4/15/95) [2010: #19, 2011: #20, 2012: #29] - Meiko Satomura gave quite a solid performance in two very memorable tag team matches in 2013, one one 6/15/13 and one on 11/24/13. Even though she may not be an exciting worker to watch on a regular basis, some of her big match performances are worthy to be praised.

23. Yuhi (debut: 4/24/12) [2010: N/A, 2011: N/A, 2012: #31] - The 2012 rookie of the year received a lot of praise for her work in 2012. While that is a nice thing, it also brings along more pressure for her second year as a pro wrestler. Yuhi did really well in 2013, as she managed to live up to the expectations. Yuhi was one of the top performers in STARDOM, and one of the few workers in STARDOM who were having good matches on more than just one occasion.  

24. Hiroyo Matsumoto (debut: 7/16/06) [2010: #17, 2011: #17, 2012: #24] - Even though she may not be the most outstanding individual wrestler, if you look at her contribution to tag team matches in OZ Academy, she deserves credit for being a strong tag team performer who can be a solid worker and trusted with being reliable more so than lesser workers. 

25. Kayoko Haruyama (debut: 2010: NR, 2011: NR, 2012: #32] - Haruyama had a surprisingly strong year in 2013, as she was involved in more good matches and gave more good performances than she had been in the previous years of the 2010s. She even was slightly more impressive than Tsubasa Kuragaki, who had frequently been the more impressive worker of their tag team in previous years.

26. Tsubasa Kuragaki (debut: 1/8/95) [2010: #27, 2011: #28, 2012: #22]

27. Command Bolshoi (debut: 11/26/91) [2010: #11, 2011: #24, 2012: #14] 

28. Chikayo Nagashima (debut: 4/15/95) [2010: #8, 2011: #5, 2012: #21] 

29. Manami Katsu (debut: 3/21/11) [2010: N/A, 2011: NR, 2012: #30] 

30. Tsukushi

31. AKINO

32. Mayumi Ozaki

33. Mayu Iwatani

Decent/Okay:

34. Ayako Hamada

34. Maury

36. Aoi Kizuki

37. Sareee

38. Sonoko Kato

39. Dynamite Kansai

40. Emi Sakura

41. Saki Kashima

42. Rabbit Miu

43. Carlos Amano

44. Yuzuki Aikawa

45. Maki Narumiya

46. Mika Iida

47. Cherry

48. Sayaka Obihiro

49. Riho

50. Mima Shimoda

51. Jaguar Yokota

Mediocre:

52. GAMI

53. Kairi Hojo

54. Takumi Iroha

55. Natsumi Shozuki

56. Yu Yamagata

57. Nanae Takahashi

58. Kaho Kobayashi

59. Ariya

60. Yui Yokoo

61. Keiko Aono

62. Apple Miyuki/Hibiscus Mii/Miyuki Matsuyama

63. Makoto

64. KAZUKI

65. Sachie Abe

66. Moeka Haruhi

67. Takako Inoue

68. Eri Susa

69. Megumi Yabushita

70. Neko Nitta

71. Dark Angel

72. Kasey Owens

73. Manami Toyota

74. Risa Sera

75. Koyuki Hayashi

76. Kellie Skater

77. Miyako Matsumoto

78. Tomoko Watanabe/Piyota Mask

79. Kyoko Inoue

80. Yoshiko

81. Act Yasukawa

82. Kurumi

83. 235

84. Kyuri

85. Kaoru Ito

86. Yumiko Hotta

Pretty Bad:

87. Ryo Mizunami

88. Yuiga

89. Aki Shizuku

90. Serena

91. Nana Kawasa

92. Hamuko Hoshi

93. Jenny Rose

94. Hailey Hatred

95. Aya Yuki

96. Sawako Shimono

97. Rutsuko Yamaguchi

98. Rydeen Hagane

99. Miho Wakizawa

100. Fairy Nihonbashi

The Worst:

101. Kyoko Kimura (a.k.a. Mask de Sun)

102. Alpha Female

103. Meari Naito

104. Sumire Yoshino

105. Saki Akai

106. Akane Fujita

107. Aiger

108. The Female Predator Amazon

109. Ranmaru

110. Sakura Hirota

1. DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko (Jumonji Sisters) [2011: #3, 2012: #4]

2. Leon & Ray (Mascara Voladoras) [2012: #1]

3. Kana & Ayumi Kurihara (KanAyu) [2011: #4]

4. Kana & Mio Shirai (Triple Tails.S)

5. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Misaki Ohata (Makkurokorosuke)

1. JWP 12/15/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP Openweight Title: Arisa Nakajima vs. Kana 28:35 ***** 

2. STARDOM 12/29/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP Openweight & World of STARDOM Double Title: Arisa Nakajima vs. Io Shirai 25:18 of 30:00 ****½ 

3. JWP 12/15/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP & Daily Sports Double Tag Team Title Decision Match: Chisako & Sachiko vs. Leon & Ray 19:14 ****¼

4. JWP 8/18/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, JWP Openweight Title: Arisa Nakajima vs. Kana 13:56 ****

5. STARDOM 8/25/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, 5STAR GP Red Block: Io Shirai vs. Kaori Yoneyama 10:16 ****

6. JWP 10/14/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE, JWP Openweight Title: Kana vs. Hanako Nakamori 15:51 ****

7. KanAyu 6/15/13 Osaka Nasuki Hall Umeda, Kana & Ayumi Kurihara vs. Meiko Satomura & Ayako Hamada 18:45 ****

8. WAVE 6/9/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE, Catch the WAVE Slender Block: Syuri vs. Hikaru Shida 9:55 of 15:00 ***¾ 

9. JWP 9/22/13 Yokohama Radiant Hall: Arisa Nakajima vs. Leon 12:51 ***¾ 

10. JWP 5/3/13 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall: Ayumi Kurihara vs. Leon 16:38 ***¾

11. WAVE 5/6/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Kana & Ayumi Kurihara vs. Arisa Nakajima & Yumi Oka 10:10 of 20:00 ***¾ 

12. JWP 11/24/13 Osaka Minami Move On Arena: Arisa Nakajima & Hanako Nakamori vs. Kana & Meiko Satomura 19:40 ***¾ 

13. OZ Academy 5/12/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Ayumi Kurihara vs. Aja Kong 19:50 of 21:55 ***¾ 

14. WAVE 3/3/13 Osaka NASCI Hall Umeda: Misaki Ohata vs. Shu Shibutani 7:53 of 11:43 ***¾

15. WAVE 3/17/13 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Syuri & Hikaru Shida vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Misaki Ohata 10:10 of 14:38 ***½  

16. OZ Academy 4/24/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Barbed Wire Board Dress Up Wild Fight: Ayumi Kurihara vs. Mayumi Ozaki 20:15 ***½

17. OZ Academy 4/24/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, OZ Academy Tag Team Title: Tomoka Nakagawa & Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Hikaru Shida & Aja Kong 17:17 ***½  

18. WAVE 7/15/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Catch the WAVE Semi Final: Arisa Nakajima vs. Syuri 9:15 of 11:02 ***½ 

19. WAVE 6/19/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Catch the WAVE Slender Block: Arisa Nakajima vs. Syuri 8:33 of 15:00 ***½  

20. WAVE 3/3/13 Osaka NASCI Hall Umeda: Syuri vs. Mio Shirai 7:47 of 10:10 ***½

21. WAVE 6/2/13 Nagoya Club Diamond Hall, Catch the WAVE Slender Block: Arisa Nakajima vs. Hikaru Shida 8:59 of 15:00 ***½ 

22. STARDOM 12/8/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Io Shirai & Kaori Yoneyama vs. Natsuki*Taiyo & Yuhi 7:37 of 13:35 ***½  

23. WAVE 7/15/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Catch the WAVE Quarter Final: Arisa Nakajima vs. Shu Shibutani 5:52 of 6:43 ***½

24. WAVE 5/15/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Catch the WAVE Slender Block: Arisa Nakajima vs. Shu Shibutani  7:07 of 8:33 ***½

25. WAVE 7/15/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Catch the WAVE Final: Arisa Nakajima vs. Misaki Ohata 12:04 of 13:06 ***½  

26. JWP 4/7/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Tag League The Best Final: DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko vs. Hanako Nakamori & Maury 14:10 ***½

27. STARDOM 6/2/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, High Speed Title: Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Kaori Yoneyama 14:46 ***½ 

28. STARDOM 8/25/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, 5STAR GP Blue Block: Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Yuhi 10:34 ***½  

29. WAVE 2/3/13 Nagoya Club Diamond Hall: Kana & Mio Shirai vs. Hikaru Shida & Yumi Oka 10:38 of 16:36 ***½

30. STARDOM 1/19/13 Matsuyama Community Center: Io Shirai & Mayu Iwatani vs. Natsumi*Taiyo & Saki Kashima 12:09 ***½  

Honorable mention:

31. WAVE 1/23/13 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Four-Way: Kana vs. Ayumi Kurihara vs. Misaki Ohata vs. Yumi Oka 10:00 of 20:00 ***½

1. JWP Joshi Puroresu [2010: #2; 2011: #2, 2012: #1]. While this league didn’t give us the large amount of good matches on a regular basis that WAVE did, JWP did give us over a dozen good matches, and some of the very best matches of the year, including the Match of the Year. Of all the leagues, JWP gave us the most number of matches that were 4-stars or better in 2013. JWP also was the league in which the Match of the Year took place, as Kana vs. Arisa Nakajima had a great match at the 12/15/13 show. On that same show, the two best tag teams battled each other, when the Jumonji Sisters vs. Leon & Ray had an excellent match. Hanako Nakamori was another worker in JWP who was impressive, as her work was better than it was in previous years. While the undercard isn’t always memorable at JWP shows, the main matches usually are able to deliver something memorable. The way wrestlers are booked and pushed is usually a lot more pleasant than is the norm in pro wrestling. JWP doesn’t suffer from annoying booking and severely overpushed wrestlers like STARDOM often does, for example. 

2. Pro Wrestling WAVE [2010: #1; 2011: #1, 2012: #2]. You could make an argument that WAVE was actually the best league of the year because their shows had arguably the best pro wrestling when you consider their cards from top to bottom. Some leagues had some better main events or random micard matches that maybe have stood out more than the average WAVE match, but WAVE gave us shows that were entertaining pretty much all the time. Of course, there was also some wrestling that should be taken less seriously, but at least the comedy segments were expected and had their own place on the card. The Catch the WAVE tournament was surprisingly good because of the Slender Block that featured four workers (Arisa Nakajima, Syuri, Hikaru Shida and Shu Shibutani) that provided good matches on a regular basis. The most outstanding wrestlers in the other block of this tournament, the Glamorous Block, were Misaki Ohata and Kagetsu.  However, despite WAVE giving us many good matches, WAVE didn’t give us the amount of excellent matches that JWP did. WAVE also wasn’t quite as good at JWP at making their main matches as memorable.

3. OZ Academy [2010: #3; 2011: #3, 2012: #4]. It felt like their 2013 shows were a bit more intriguing than their 2012 shows. Overall, this league certainly wasn’t on the level of JWP and WAVE, but they seemed to deserve the #3 spot. That’s mainly because OZ Academy’s overall product was a bit better than STARDOM’s overall product, and a big reason for this is that OZ Academy’s booking wasn’t as frustrating as that of STARDOM’s booking. The wrestlers who stood out most on OZ Academy shows in 2013 were Aja Kong, Hikaru Shida, Ayumi Kurihara, Tomoka Nakagawa, Hiroyo Matsumoto and Chikayo Nagashima. Whenever these wrestlers faced each other in any sort of combination in singles or tag team competition, it almost always resulted in a match worth watching.

4. World Wonder Ring STARDOM [2010: NR; 2011: #5, 2012: #5]. Io Shirai, Natsuki*Taiyo and Kaori Yoneyama and Yuhi were the only four workers in this league who gave good performances on a regular basis. STARDOM did give us one of the best matches of the year (12/29/13 Arisa Nakajima vs. Io Shirai), even though it was the only STARDOM match ever for one of the participants (Arisa Nakajima), so perhaps STARDOM shouldn’t get too much credit for this great match. Either way, STARDOM’s top worker Io Shirai also had an excellent match against a STARDOM regular (vs. Kaori Yoneyama on 8/25/13), and STARDOM also had a few matches that were good or better. While the league’s overall product certainly wasn’t the best, especially compared to top leagues like JWP and WAVE, STARDOM in 2013 was better than it was in 2011 and 2012. Of course, the inexperienced workers in this league can hardly be blamed for dragging the quality of shows down. A case could be made that STARDOM should perhaps be ranked as the #3 league of 2013. However, it’s hard to excuse some questionable booking decisions, like the overpushing of subpar workers like Yoshiko, Alpha Female, Kyoko Kimura and Nanae Takahashi.

5. Ice Ribbon [2010: NR; 2011: #4, 2012: #3]. They had a handful of good matches in 2013, but this league’s in-ring quality wasn’t quite as impressive as that of the other leagues in the top 5. The philosophy of this league seems to mostly focus on creating a happy atmosphere and making their fanbase happy. That’s something they are good at, and it’s certainly an admirable approach. However, it also means that when we’re trying to find the best matches of 2013, Ice Ribbon isn’t the first league that comes to mind. Most of the memorable Ice Ribbon matches in 2013 involved Tsukasa Fujimoto, and she deserves credit for being Ice Ribbon’s main worker, along with being impressive on WAVE shows. Something to keep in mind is the fact that if there was more 2013 footage available of Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling, perhaps SGPW would have made it to the top 5 instead of Ice Ribbon.

1. Takumi Iroha

2. Kaho Kobayashi

3. Yui Yokoo

4. Yako Fujigasaki

5. Risa Sera

6. Koyuki Hayashi

7. 235

8. Kyuri

9. Rutsuko Yamaguchi

10. Sumire Yoshino

11. Saki Akai

12. Akane Fujita