2014 was Natsuki*Taiyo’s final year as a pro wrestler. After her retirement, she would become a referee and trainer, and she would still wrestle a few matches here and there. It’s always a big blow to the joshi puroresu scene when a top 5 worker retires, just like we saw in 2013 when Ayumi Kurihara retired. Taiyo wasn’t the only wrestler retiring in 2014, as Yuhi left the pro wrestling business in March 2014. Yuhi had been one of the most promising young workers in joshi puroresu, and she had shown a lot of advancement for her experience level, as she had only been wrestling since April 2012. She was a good top 25 worker who could have had a much bigger future in joshi puroresu if she stayed around. Tomoka Nakagawa was another joshi worker who was wrapping up her career, as her final matches as a pro wrestler in Japan took place in late 2014. She was still a top 25 worker in her final year. Her actual final matches as a pro wrestler took place in the United States in 2015, as Nakagawa participated in the tapings of SHIMMER Volumes 72-75 in April 2015.

JWP was once again the best league of 2014, and they were able to give us 8 of the top 30 matches, the most of any promotion in 2014. Another pleasant thing about JWP was that they consistently seemed to have at least one good match on each card. JWP also gave us the 2014 joshi puroresu Match of the Year on 12/28/14, a great match between Arisa Nakajima and Tsukasa Fujimoto, two of the best workers of 2014.

One of the highlights of the year in the WAVE league is usually the Catch the WAVE tournament, since it’s a good opportunity for some of the top talent in the joshi puroresu scene to wrestle each other in a competitive setting. Unlike 2013’s Catch the WAVE tournament, 2014’s tournament didn’t include top workers Kana, Arisa Nakajima and Syuri, so the line-up for the 2014 tournament felt like a big step down from 2013’s line-up. Still, there were more than a handful of good matches, and a big chunk of WAVE’s best matches in 2014 came from the Catch the WAVE tournament. Misaki Ohata and Mio Shirai were among the most enjoyable performers in the Catch the WAVE tournament, and the WAVE league in general in 2014. Another disappointment was the WAVE Tag Team Title scene in 2014, because the championship was held by teams that weren’t even close to being nominated for best tag team of the year. 

STARDOM’s booking of Io Shirai in 2014 was much better compared to the way Io was booked in 2013, as she was given the opportunity to have better match-ups with more capable opponents, compared to what she had to deal with in 2013. She was the holder of STARDOM’s Red Belt, the World of STARDOM Title, for most of the year. After previously having worked some exhibition matches, a young worker known as Azumi made her official pro wrestling debut on 7/6/14 (at age 11), and fans of the current joshi puroresu scene will know she’s still around these days as AZM. It’s a rare thing for a joshi worker to stick around that long, which makes her stand out quite a bit. As of this writing, STARDOM has always been Azumi’s main league. Speaking of loyal current STARDOM workers, Mayu Iwatani, who is currently known as the STARDOM icon, improved quite a bit in 2014 and did quite well for herself. The two best rookies of 2014 also came out of the STARDOM dojo, as Koguma and Reo Hazuki showed lots of potential in their first year. While STARDOM mostly focused on newer talent, the experienced Kaori Yoneyama, who had been wrestling since 1999, was still around and was still a top 15 worker in 2014. 

OZ Academy was arguably the least interesting it has been so far during this decade. With every match, it felt like the wrestlers either were overly tired or didn’t seem to be into it. The work was generally good enough to make a good amount of matches end up being decent though. Still, the lack of energy displayed by the wrestlers, and everyone kinda going through the motions really didn’t make it a league that anyone should look into too much when watching 2014 joshi puroresu. Plus, when you’re watching OZ Academy shows, you know there’s going to be an overreliance on some sort of outside interference, garbage wrestling shenanigans, and at times a crappy finish to add insult to injury. At least their 10/13/14 show featured matches that were all more than just okay though (apart from the mixed match involving Sakura Hirota, which was worse than okay, of course). It was on that show that GOAT-candidate Aja Kong guided Hikaru Shida to an excellent match, which was the best OZ Academy match of 2014.

Kana Pro was not really a full-time league, but the Kana Pro events were shows produced by Kana, and they gave us some of the more memorable matches of the year. Ice Ribbon once again wasn’t the most memorable league, but at least they gave us an excellent match when Tsukusa Fujimoto and Arisa Nakajima battled it out. REINA surprisingly enough gave us an excellent Kana vs. Syuri match. While it’s not surprising the match was excellent, because Kana and Syuri were top talent, it was surprising the match took place at a REINA show, because REINA usually isn’t known for high quality matches.

There is very little SGPW footage available, and while Io Shirai and Meiko Satomura had an excellent match on 4/26/14, it’s disappointing that there isn’t much more 2014 SGPW footage available, as SGPW potentially could have given us some interesting matches to look at.  Marvelous booked a very interesting match for their 3/22/14 show (Io Shirai & Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Jumonji Sisters), but it was somehow decided to edit this 19-minute match down to 4 minutes. Other leagues, like Diana, Daijo and Gatoh Move, while they had a decent match here and there, they didn’t really have any good matches to recommend.

DASH Chisako was one of the most underrated wrestlers of the year, at least from a booking perspective. A good example of that is her final standing in STARDOM’s 5STAR Grand Prix tournament, when she finished below Yoshiko and Kyoko Kimura, two of the most overpushed people in STARDOM. It’s a shame there is almost no SGPW footage available, because then we could have enjoyed more of the Jumonji sisters, Chisako and her sister Sendai Sachiko. The same could be said for Kagetsu, who mostly appeared in SGPW, but at least she also appeared in OZ Academy a pretty good number of times.

Some of the most improved wrestlers of 2014 were Takumi Iroha, Mika Iida, Mayu Iwatani, Sareee, Maki Narumiya and Tsukasa Fujimoto. However, the most improved wrestler of them all was Kaho Kobayashi, who went from being a top 60 worker who showed potential and didn’t really show up in good matches to someone who had become a top 20 worker and was fun to watch on a regular basis. Kobayashi’s hard work was hard to overlook for anyone who paid attention, and she was certainly one of the more enjoyable performers in 2014.

Once again, Arisa Nakajima and Kana were the two very best wrestlers of the year. It was nice to see Io Shirai become a great top 3 worker in 2014, after it became clear in previous years that she had the potential to reach that level of true greatness. Those three wrestlers played a big role in several of the matches that ended up in the top 30 matches of 2014.

2014 had about the same amount of good matches as 2013 (more than 60), but this time there is a little bit more diversity in the top 30 matches list when it comes to the leagues in which the top matches took place, at least compared to 2013.

Let’s now have a closer look at more than 60 joshi puroresu matches from 2014 that range in quality from pretty good to great. This will be followed by some lists, including a list of the top 133 wrestlers and a list of the 30 matches...

JWP 1/5/14 Itabashi Green Hall: Hanako Nakamori vs. Leon 12:17. Leon started the year off with more enthusiasm than she would generally end up showing throughout the year. It seems that Leon became less energetic with each year in the 2010s, which is somewhat understandable considering she had been wrestling since the year 2000, which is quite a lengthy career for joshi puroresu standards, generally speaking. Hanako Nakamori hit some nice-looking strikes. One of the coolest spots in the match was when Leon went for her springboard frog splash to the floor, but Nakamori caught her with a kick. Leon later on caught Nakamori with a dropkick when Nakamori attempted a move off the top rope. Leon hit a released German suplex while sitting on the top rope, and she followed this up with a nice frog splash. Nakomori showed a lot of enthusiasm during the final minutes, as she came closer to putting Leon away, in which she eventually succeeded. This was a good match between two of the more reliable workers in JWP. ***¼ 

JWP 1/5/14 Itabashi Green Hall, JWP Tag League The Best A Block: Arisa Nakajima & Kana vs. Tsukushi & Rabbit Miu 14:38. Arisa Nakajima & Kana were a dream team based on their ability. However, as they had been rivals, there was quite a bit of dissension between the two. They did a really good job of putting over their angle as tag team partners who didn’t get along, while still delivering top quality puroresu. Their opponents were two happy underdogs who tried to score a massive upset win. Kana made her two opponents work hard, and even bullied them around quite a bit. Their underdog opponents lacked size and credibility, and the only way they would have a chance of winning was if the tag team of Nakajima & Kana would lose focus and start fighting amongst themselves too much. In the end, Miu scored the huge upset pinfall over Nakajima after Kana hit Nakajima with a kick. ***½ 

WAVE 1/26/14 Nagoya Club Diamond Hall: Tsukasa Fujimoto & Hikaru Shida vs. Kana & Natsu Sumire 8:53 of 14:41. The other girls did a really good job of guiding and carrying rookie Natsu Sumire in this match. Sumire’s offense isn’t that great, and obviously she was the weak link, but she could take moves well and clearly understood her role. Kana gave a strong performance, and was a true ring leader. Hikaru Shida worked hard, and was enthusiastic. She was arguably the second-most outstanding worker in this specific match. Tsukasa Fujimoto did well and hit her moves, but this wasn’t her most memorable night in 2014. This was a pretty good tag team match overall. It would have been a lot better of a match if Sumire wasn’t featured so much, but the fact that they put time into trying to make the most of giving her the opportunity working with three of the best makes up for it. Just a little over half the match was shown though, so we can only really guess at the overall quality. *** 

WAVE 1/26/14 Nagoya Club Diamond Hall: Regina Di WAVE Title Match: Yumi Oka vs. Misaki Ohata 8:27 of 30:00. These two were very familiar with each other and it showed. The work was smooth. Yumi Oka certainly isn’t the best when it comes to making a match exciting, but Misaki Ohata did a really good job going that extra mile to make this more than worthwhile. Ohata really put it over that she was super hungry to win the title here. Eventually, this ended in a 30-minute time limit draw. Based on the quarter or so of the match that was shown, and based on what we know about the workers, Ohata would have definitely deserved to win this. ***¼   

STARDOM 1/26/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World of Stardom Title: Io Shirai vs. Natsuki*Taiyo 20:38. Finally, another singles match between Io Shirai and Natsuki*Taiyo, arguably the two best workers in STARDOM at the time. They had a very good match on 7/25/09, an excellent match on 3/25/12 and a good match on 8/5/12. This time, it’s for the big prize, STARDOM’s version of the Red Belt. Despite being the title holder at the time, Shirai somehow didn’t have the belt with her for this big main event match. Shirai’s tremendous athleticism and Taiyo’s tremendous speed stood out early in the match, along with their urgency, which helped put this over as a match of importance. The fire and determination displayed by both helped make this come across as two fighters battling each other, and not just two talented performers creating something great together. The work was excellent throughout the match, as they executed everything crisply and with great precision, and there were plenty of cool-looking moves. Shirai’s tope suicida looked incredible, and so did her springboard dropkick. Also, her moonsaults looked amazing. Since they both excel when the work is spectacular and fast-paced, there was no doubt as to what type of match they should work here together, and they focused on trying to deliver the best match they could. It wasn’t just flashy stuff, as the selling was strong throughout the match as well. Naturally, they had to slow down slightly during the middle portion of the match, but they never stopped being impressive wrestlers. If anything, this chance of pace actually helped make the overall story they were telling better. The stiffness and brutality got quite a bit more intense during the final minutes of the match, and Shirai even got a bloody nose. Shirai hit two double foot stomp moonsaults, and the second one was a perfectly executed one that looked super devastating. The opening minutes and the finishing stretch were particularly memorable, and overall, this was a great pro wrestling match. It’s more than likely that this was the best match these two had together. ****½   

STARDOM 2/2/14 Nagoya Telepia Hall. High Speed Title Match: Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Kaori Yoneyama 5:28. They definitely worked at a high speed. They both showed their high flying ability and agility with excellent precision and timing. It’s a shame this match only lasted five minutes, especially since they were two of the best in STARDOM at the time, and would have surely deserved more time to shine. ***

WAVE 2/11/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Kana vs. Mio Shirai 8:00 of 15:00. They both gave a good effort,and showed a lot of intensity. Kana’s technical skills were superb, as usual. It was good to see Mio be so motivated here, because with the right motivation and right opponent, Mio is able to have a very good match for sure. The near falls were exciting. It’s a shame only a little over half the match was shown. I guess no joshi year in review is complete without several complaints about WAVE's editing. ***½ 

JWP 2/23/14 Osaka Move On Arena: Kana vs. Command Bolshoi 11:17. These two worked some good sequences, and there were some good counters. The matwork was intriguing, because they seemed to try to outdo each other. Kana is one of the most skilled wrestlers in joshi puroresu, but Bolshoi showed that she still was able to hang in there with one of the best. Kana showed viciousness, and made Bolshoi fight for survival. Kyoko Kimura couldn’t take the excellence displayed by these two workers anymore and randomly interfered, which made this match end in a no contest. What a crappy way to finish such a good match, especially considering this match was potentially on its way to being excellent. ***½    

STARDOM 2/23/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Io Shirai vs. Yuhi 14:03. Io Shirai’s tope suicida was amazing, as usual. Yuhi’s kicks looked good. Both workers displayed their tremendous athleticism. However, while this was a good match, it wasn’t as good as expected. Also, it’s a shame Shirai’s World of STARDOM Title wasn’t on the line here, because Yuhi was better than most of the workers who challenged for the title during this title reign of Shirai’s. ***¼ 

Kana Pro 2/25/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Kana vs. Meiko Satomura 16:00. They had a pretty good technical match, and the final minutes were particularly action-packed. However, there was someone playing traditional-style Japanese music in the background. Also, instead of the regular lights, there were blue lights shining over the ring. All of this was quite unique and made for a different experience for the viewers, but it was also a bit distracting for the fans, and probably also for the wrestlers. This match would have been better if they would have wrestled each other in a regular setting. ***¼  

Joshi4Hope 3/9/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Misaki Ohata vs. Tsukushi 9:59. Tsukushi showed her usual enthusiasm. Misaki Ohata gave a strong performance, and she displayed her tremendous selling, as usual. Whenever she was on offense, she executed her moves with authority. There was plenty of intensity shown by both workers, and this was the match of the show. Some really good-looking dropkicks were thrown in this bout. Both workers clearly tried hard to make this a good match, and this turned out to be a good one indeed. While Tsukushi got to show quite a bit of good things here, she never really came close to winning this match, resulting in this 10-minute match to be a relatively easy victory for Ohata. *** 

WAVE 3/19/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Kana & Mio Shirai vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Hikaru Shida 10:22 of 20:00. Kana displayed her tremendous technical ability. Tsukasa Fujimoto did well, as usual. Mio Shirai and Hikaru Shida worked hard and their finishing stretch was memorable. The teamwork shown by Tsukka & Shida was quite impressive, and they came across as the hungrier team. Kana & Shirai were a solid and established team though, and they were a tough team to beat. In the end, neither team was able to be victorious, as this went to a time limit draw. ***¾  

Marvelous 3/22/14 Tokyo Ota City General Gym: Io Shirai & Natsuki*Taiyo vs. DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko 4:36 of 19:03. Io Shirai had great chemistry with the Jumonji Sisters. These four workers were super smooth, four of the smoothest workers around at the time. The Jumonji Sisters know very well what it’s like to have good tag team matches, since that’s their specialty. Both Io Shirai & Natsuki*Taiyo brought lots of energy to this battle. It’s such a shame they only showed four minutes of this 19-minute match. This looked like this possibly could have been a 4-star match, but it’s hard to say with less than a quarter of this match shown. Of course, somehow there was time to show half of the terrible 20-minute opening trios match featuring KAORU, Yoshiko and over-the-hill and far away Dump Matsumoto and Chigusa Nagayo. Somehow there was also time to show half of the terrible 12-minute match between two of the worst joshi workers ever, Sakura Hirota and Aiger. However, there was not even time to show a quarter of the semi-main event and actual best match of this show? That’s not marvelous, that’s ridiculous! ***¼ 

Ice Ribbon 3/30/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Hikaru Shida 18:41. These two had quite a history together. Despite no title being on the line here, this was a big match for Ice Ribbon, and they managed to make this match have a big match feel to it. It was the final match Hikaru Shida would wrestle for Ice Ribbon until 2018. Shida had grown a lot as a worker over the years while wrestling for Ice Ribbon, which had been her home league since making her debut there in 2008. Now it was time to say goodbye for Shida, who was ready to “graduate” from Ice Ribbon and focus more on other leagues, most notably her new main leagues WAVE and OZ Academy. As a way of saying “thanks for everything” to each other, they rammed each other’s heads into the “EAST” sign of Korakuen Hall, while brawling through the crowd after the more traditional feeling out process in the ring had been completed. This was a relatively slow match with an emotional feel to it, definitely the vibe of a farewell match, but the work was good. This wasn’t the most energetic performance we’ve seen from Shida, but perhaps she was pacing herself for this 18-minute match. Tsukasa Fujimoto spent most of the first twelve minutes selling, perhaps in a way to show how much she respected Shida. To make up for the extensive selling, she decided to hit Shida with several stiff kicks, which was worth the wait. Tsukka almost pinned Shida soon after both had delivered their variation of the huracarrana. Tsukka was all business when she put Shida in a submission hold, and it seemed they saved the majority of the intensity for the last few minutes, which coincided with the part of the match that featured more Tsukka on offense. In the end, while Shida got a nice sendoff and was treated with respect, she had to do the job to Tsukka, which made sense because Shida wasn’t going to be in this league anymore and Tsukka was the icon of the company. After the match, they cut promos and cried. They placed the International Ribbon Tag Team Title on the canvas, as they were now vacating this championship due to Shida resigning from Ice Ribbon. This was a memorable and good match, but it didn’t feel like this was the best match these two could have had against each other at that time, as they probably could have done better if the first part had a little bit more fire. ***¼

STARDOM 4/6/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, High Speed Title Match: Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Mayu Iwatani 11:50. It’s nice to see Mayu Iwatani in a good and competitive title match. It’s something she would eventually get much more used to later in her career. Iwatani gave a good effort, and had been showing improvement since her debut in 2011. Natsuki*Taiyo did a great job guiding her in this match. They told the story of the match very well, as it was clear that Iwatani was the underdog here. This was not just because of the way the match was wrestled, but also the way they came across to the viewer. Iwatani still didn’t quite look or act like the STARDOM ace she would eventually become later in her career, and Taiyo was clearly a confident top wrestler at the time who knew exactly what she was doing. Iwatani gave a valiant effort, but Taiyo proved to be too much for Iwatani to overcome. Taiyo had already announced it wouldn’t be too long before her retirement, but she was still wrestling at a high level. *** 

JWP 4/20/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: DASH Chisako vs. Hanako Nakamori 12:35. This was the best match of JWP Mania-X 2014. DASH Chisako was excellent, and she was particularly impressive because it seemed like she really understood what Nakamori wanted from this match and how to help Nakamori get there. Nakamori gave quite a strong performance herself, trying to find ways to not have to overly rely on her kicks, but still use kicks whenever she saw an opening to use them. This helped to make Nakamori’s kicks appear more devastating whenever she hit them, especially considering Chisako’s excellent selling helped put them over too. Nakamori also reacted intensely to the fired up Chisako, fighting fire with fire. They worked this at a somewhat deliberate pace with a focus on intensity and a solid buildup to the finish, as they progressively managed to draw the viewer into this bout. Chisako’s high energy and clear view helped her to always be quick to react and smoothly move from being on offense to being on defense, back-and-forth, while guiding Nakamori to the finish line with her. This wasn’t perfect, but it was excellent and interesting from start to finish. **** 

JWP 4/20/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: JWP Junior & Princess Of Pro Wrestling Double Title: Manami Katsu vs. Sareee 12:04. This was a surprisingly good match. Having Diana initially as her main league was probably a reason why it took Sareee a bit longer to show more of her true potential, and she really started blooming more once she got more work in JWP and other leagues. For Manami Katsu, it was more the other way around, as she had her start in JWP, one of the very best leagues of the early 2010s, so she had more of a stable training ground when she started, but never really improved much more than the progression she showed during her first few years. Katsu, who gave a solid performance and gave Sareee a reason to keep fighting, controlled the early part of the match with Sareee trying to fight back whenever she could. Katsu executed a vicious bulldog off the apron onto the floor. Sareee’s fighting spirit that kept her in there and her dropkicks off the top rope were quite impressive. Sareee kept attacking whenever she saw the opening to do so to the point that Katsu had to be careful to not allow Sareee get too much momentum. Katsu wasn’t the most sophisticated wrestler around, but she managed to come across as someone you can’t dismiss, and an opponent who is not an easy obstacle to overcome. Both workers had been in the business for three years, and it was interesting to see them craft this good match together here. Sareee certainly gave a surprisingly good performance, and showed that she was going to be someone to keep an eye on in later years. ***¼   

Triple Tails.S 4/26/14 Osaka Minato Ward Community Center: Kana & Mio Shirai vs. Arisa Nakajima & Command Bolshoi 17:47. Kana worked some good mat wrestling sequences with Command Bolshoi. It was a joy watching these two trade holds. Overall, this was a match that was fun to watch featuring four talented workers. Kana and Arisa Nakajima showed a lot of intensity when they battled each other, as they continued their rivalry. Kana and Bolshoi had the most time in the ring together though, and them trying to out wrestle each other appeared to be the main story of the match. It was a very good match, but it never reached the level you’d think it could have reached. It was a good way to conclude the Triple Tails.S shows co-produced by Kana and Mio Shirai, as this was the main event of the final Triple Tails.S show. The Kana Pro shows would still continue, but instead of doing Triple Tails.S with Kana, Mio would have Mio Shirai Produce shows. ***½

SGPW 4/26/14 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Io Shirai vs. Meiko Satomura 18:15. Despite this being the first time they wrestled each other, they worked very well together. Initially, this really started out as Meiko Satomura’s type of match, and Io Shirai showed she was able to work this type of match very well. This was the type of match Satomura excels at because it’s her type of match against a worker who can work on a high level, which also meant Satomura became extra motivated to have an excellent match. Shirai also must have seen this as a great opportunity to show what she’s capable of, as she had become better and better over the past few years. Shirai not only became better at what she did, but she also became more versatile, which made her able to enhance matches against a wide variety of workers in different types of settings. Shirai’s explosiveness and athleticism really enhanced the match whenever she got the chance to get some flurries of offense in. Shirai got quite a bit of her flashy stuff in, but she managed to keep things in the realm of this SGPW Satomura match, which isn’t overly flashy and features a lot of time spent on the mat. This dynamic of their combined styles was what really made the match work, and they did a really good job of reacting to each other’s moves. It certainly was an outstanding way to start off a series of matches between these two established names. While this wasn’t as spectacular as their STARDOM 7/10/14 match, it felt like everything they did in this SGPW 4/26/14 match made sense. ****  

STARDOM 4/29/14 Osaka IMP Hall, High Speed Title 2/3 Falls Match: Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Kaori Yoneyama 7:57; 1:10;  5:45. A match between these two is always a good thing for a STARDOM show. The 2-out-of-3 falls stipulation brought a different dynamic to the match. It kinda helped make the middle portion of the match not just be the middle portion of the match, but also the point where both had scored a fall and were not building to the finish. Despite having achieved a lot in joshi puroresu over the years, Yoneyama still showed a lot of urgency to try to beat Taiyo and win this title match. Taiyo, despite coming closer to retirement, didn’t plan on losing this title match. This was an exciting match, and I think they did quite a good job of changing the pace and putting over all aspects of their work, not just their high speed offense. I think the finish of the third fall, and subsequently the match, came a bit too early, because I think the match could have benefited from them having a few more near falls and a bit more of a finishing stretch. Still, this was a good match overall. ***¼  

WAVE 5/5/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Catch the WAVE Tsuyayaka Block: Hikaru Shida vs. Mio Shirai 4:57 of 7:13. The Tsuyayaka (“Glossy”) Block was the block that included workers in their twenties. They had a pretty good match that was fun to watch. It wasn’t anything exceptional, but it was good enough to be considered one of the better matches of the tournament, judging from what was shown. Mio Shirai’s work was a bit more showy, while Hikaru Shida’s work was a bit more high impact. Together they turned this into quite a watchable match. Mio seemed eager to try to get past Shida here, which made sense since this was the first match of the tournament for both, and Shida was one of the favorites to win the whole thing. Eventually, Shida realized she had to start showing why she was one of the favorites, and she started being all business, which led to her scoring a relatively quick victory. *** 

WAVE 5/5/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Catch the WAVE Adeyaka Block: Shu Shibutani vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto 5:15 of 8:50. The Adeyaka (“Elegant”) Block was the block that included workers in their thirties. Despite not being very elegant at all, Sakura Hirota was also part of this block, and she somehow actually made an attempt to wrestle her matches seriously instead of ironically and comically. Still, the Adeyaka Block was a lot less interesting than the Tsuyayaka Block, as the Adeyaka Block featured another bottom 10 worker in Kyoko Kimura. Shu Shibutani and Tsukasa Fujimoto were certainly two of the most interesting workers of this block. Back when Shibutani was one of the very best workers in the world, her intensity was what made her stand out among the pack. It was nice to see Shibutani display some of that intensity we hadn’t seen from her in a while again. It was also good to see Shibutani execute her moves with a snap, which makes the way she executes her moves stand out. Tsukka, who represented Ice Ribbon, was one of the top stars of 2014, and she proved that here through her high energy and high effort. The pace was high, and the near falls were super exciting. ***½ 

STARDOM 5/6/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, High Speed Title Match: Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Io Shirai 7:51 of 16:15. After challenging for Io Shirai’s Red Belt earlier in the year, now it was time for Natsuki*Taiyo to defend her High Speed Title against Shirai. They worked at a fast pace, and the execution was super crisp. The work was great, and this match appeared to be excellent, but somehow they decided to not show this match in full form and cut half of it out. In full form, this possibly was a great match, but the full version is not available. ****

WAVE 5/13/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Catch the WAVE Tsuyayaka Block: Hikaru Shida vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto 7:04 of 11:18. Hikaru Shida kept track of the amount of points she scored by writing it on her leg. These two workers really took it to each other, and they didn’t want to back down from each other. It was a full-on display of offense by both. It wasn’t too technical or too fancy by any means, but it was certainly high impact and no-nonsense. Hiroyo Matsumoto’s flying dropkick looked really good though. Matsumoto’s run in STARDOM featured a bit too much comedy, which is why she didn’t end up as high on the list of the top 133 wrestlers as she potentially could have. I guess teaming with “Wacky” Miho Wakizawa didn’t help either, and Wacky certainly must have been a bad influence. Overall, this was pretty good, but nothing too exceptional. Still, it was good enough to confirm that these two were certainly two of the top 40 joshi workers of 2014, and this was one of the better matches of the tournament. Shida showed a lot of intensity in the final minute, as she was about to beat Matsumoto and collect more points in this tournament. *** 

STARDOM 6/1/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Takumi Iroha 15:59. Takumi Iroha, the 2013 Rookie of the Year, had a big opportunity to prove herself here, as she challenged for the Red Belt. It wasn’t going to be an easy match for her, and this was clear when her mouth got bloody less than a minute into the match. Io Shirai’s high flying moves were executed gracefully. While Iroha occasionally would ascend to the top rope, she was definitely not known for high flying, as she focused more on hard-hitting moves and determination. Iroha came across as a sympathetic hard worker, who would do whatever it takes to try to win this battle. While still early in her career, Iroha already had developed the never-say-die attitude of a winner. Iroha’s moves weren’t fancy, but the strength in her performance is more the story of the young worker trying to overcome all odds in her battle against the established top star. Shirai did a really good job guiding Iroha in this match, giving Iroha enough opportunity to get some time in the spotlight, yet still showing why she was the deserving champion, wowing the crowd with her high flying moves. At one point, Iroha came really close to beating Shirai and the crowd was into this match. While it was certainly very unlikely Iroha would win, they worked this match in a way that believing a title change could happen was still a possibility. ***¼ 

WAVE 6/5/14 Tokyo Wrestle Fighter Museum, Catch the WAVE Tsuyayaka Block: Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Misaki Ohata 5:45 of 15:00. These two were very familiar with each other. They have teamed with each other, and they have battled each other. Here they showed they were willing to try hard to make this worthwhile. Misako Ohata showed a lot of fighting spirit, and Hiroyo Matsumoto made sure it wouldn’t be an easy battle for Ohata. Only a third of the match was shown, but it appeared to be a pretty good match. *** 

WAVE 6/11/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Catch the WAVE Tsuyayaka Block: Hikaru Shida vs. Mika Iida 7:42 of 15:00. Mika Iida worked hard, and was quite alert. She kinda lacked power and explosiveness, but she made up for it with high effort and knowing how to play her role as sympathetic underdog. Hikaru Shida executed everything with a good amount of firmness and authority. At times, Shida seemed to underestimate Iida a bit, and that’s when Iida was able to fight back. Iida’s execution is more crisp than during her earlier years, and here she showed she had no real problems contributing to a 15-minute match. Iida’s technique was maybe slightly more diverse and exquisite. However, Shida showed more intensity and power. Shida got a birthday cake thrown in her face, because June 11 is Shida’s birthday. This was a pretty good match, judging from the half we got to watch. They worked together quite well and it was quite enjoyable. It certainly wasn’t one of the very best matches of the year, but fun enough to be one of the more memorable 2014 Catch the WAVE tournament matches. ***

STARDOM 6/15/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Kagetsu vs. Koguma 9:28. Kagetsu showed why she was very good, and Koguma showed why she was the Rookie of the Year, and arguably the best rookie since Yuhi. Both gave a strong effort. Kagetsu was now at the stage of her career where she understood how to carry a promising rookie to a pretty good match. Koguma really gets it, and this helped with the match getting progressively more exciting. *** 

Kana Pro 6/16/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Arisa Nakajima vs. Hikaru Shida 15:00. They kept taking it to each other, not giving each other a moment to rest. It was a hard-fought battle that was put over well by both competitors through their excellent selling. It was quite a balanced match with neither really getting the upper hand over the other. This made it interesting for the viewer, as things could go either way. There was a true sense of struggle, and this really felt like a true battle. They sold things well, and they executed things well. The near falls near the end were also exciting. All in all, this was a really good match. We didn’t get a decisive winner, as they went to a time limit draw, but it didn’t feel as unsatisfying as time limit draws often do, which is probably because both workers fought really hard, and it felt like they were out there to win. ***¾ 

Kana Pro 6/16/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Kana & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Meiko Satomura & Minoru Suzuki 23:18. This was an interesting match-up to say the least. Four well known competitors in puroresu in a mixed tag team match. The male workers, Naomichi Marufuji and Minoru Suzuki, both have quite a reputation in men’s puroresu, but the way they worked here with two of the top names in women’s wrestling was respectable yet still somewhat realistic for pro wrestling standards. The men’s workers didn’t sell too much, but they didn’t sell too little either. Marufuji and Suzuki came across as tough, but also came across a bit as somewhat broken down and not quite at the peak of their respective careers. This match wasn’t nearly as good as the Kana Pro 6/17/12 Kana & Kenichi Yamamoto vs. Syuri & Daisuke Ikeda match, because the level of intensity and the snugness of the wrestling wasn’t quite the same, but this was still a good match. This was certainly better than the not-so-serious Hikaru Shida Produce 8/28/14 Kana & Kenny Omega vs. Hikaru Shida & Masato Tanaka mixed match. ***¼

WAVE 6/22/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Catch the WAVE Tsuyayaka Block: Misaki Ohata vs. Hikaru Shida 15:00. Both workers gave a strong effort. Even during the early minutes of this match, they put over the struggle they were facing as they were trying to overcome each other. The work was smooth and they worked really well together. The way they countered and reacted to each other’s moves showed that Ohata and Shida were two of the more interesting workers in joshi puroresu at the time. Even though they did a good job working a 15-minute match, it seemed like a slightly shorter match would have been more suitable for them here, because they were mainly interested in just going for an action-packed match and not really in any further storytelling within the match. This focus on trying to have an action-packed match above all was probably why the clipped commercial version makes this match appear to be slightly better than the full niconico version did, especially since what they were trying to go for isn’t necessarily most suitable for them. A more gradual build-up with more extensive selling and some more limb work would probably have resulted in a better match. ***¼    

WAVE 6/22/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Catch the WAVE Adeyaka Block: Yumi Oka vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto 14:37. A tremendous performance by Tsukasa Fujimoto, further establishing her status as one of the top workers of 2014, saw Tsukka really go the extra mile to make this match more than just pretty good. Yumi Oka tried her best, and to her credit, she was able to hang in there with Tsukka, but it was Tsukka who was responsible for the majority of the high quality work in this match. Tsukka sold Oka’s offense in a way that made Oka seem like a real threat, and Tsukka’s offense was the main thing that made this match so good. ***¼

WAVE 6/27/14 Tokyo Isami Wrestling Arena, Catch the WAVE Tsuyayaka Block: Mika Iida vs. Misaki Ohata 6:55 of 13:34. This was arguably Mika Iida’s best singles match performance. Of course, working with top WAVE talent Misaka Ohata helped Iida get into the groove of performing at this level. What was really cool was that both of them being so enthusiastic to perform well led to both challenging each other to have a match as good as possible together. Iida’s execution came with a somewhat surprisingly excellent display of technique. Maybe that’s why the commentators kept mentioning Dory Funk Jr. However, Iida lacked power and wasn't imposing enough to really be an actual serious threat in the long run on a career level, but at least she’s good in the underdog role. That being said, by the end of this match on this particular day, Iida’s determination led to a big upset victory here. This was a good match, and both workers deserve credit for making this good. ***¼   

WAVE 7/4/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, Catch the WAVE Tsuyayaka Block: Mio Shirai vs. Misaki Ohata 5:37 of 10:00. Misaki Ohata was particularly energetic and explosive here. This seemed to encourage Mio Shirai to also join in on the fun of going for a memorable match here. There was a cool spot where Mio Shirai hit a 619 while Misaki Ohata was hanging upside down in the corner. Both workers worked hard and really kept going at each other. Mio threw a really good-looking punch. Mio’s 2014 Catch the WAVE matches were quite a bit more memorable than her 2013 Catch the WAVE series of short matches. ***¼ 

STARDOM 7/10/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Meiko Satomura 24:20. This was an excellent match, but it wasn’t quite on the same level as Io Shirai’s matches with Natsuki*Taiyo. At some point, it became clear that they couldn’t make this more than “just” a 4-star match. Meiko Satomura was good enough to work a match of this quality, and she executed some cool-looking kicks, but it felt like she didn’t bring enough to the table to really come close to matching Shirai’s level of work, and this seemed to affect some of the execution quality. This became more accentuated since this wasn’t necessarily the type of match Satomura excels at, unlike the 4/26/14 match they had together, which was Satomura’s type of match, a slower match in which things kinda made sense. In the SGPW 4/26/14 match, Satomura had the “home field” advantage, and here in this STARDOM 7/10/14, it was Shirai who had the “home field” advantage. Shirai gave a great performance, further establishing her as one of the greatest wrestlers of 2014, and the decade of the 2010s. As usual, Shirai executed moves with a high difficulty level. It felt like they were going for a great match, but they just fell short. The transitions were kinda abrupt, and it didn’t seem like a very focused match. At times, it came across as rushed, despite them having over twenty minutes of time to fill. Shirai’s tremendous athletic ability is certainly what stood out most in this match. The SGPW 4/26/14 match was more focused and felt like it was better worked, while this STARDOM 7/10/14 match felt more like a match to showcase Shirai’s amazing ability. That’s barely a complaint though, since Shirai’s work was really enjoyable to watch. In the end, this match was probably slightly better than their SGPW 4/26/14 match, simply because of Shirai’s amazing skills being more featured here. **** 

WAVE 7/27/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Catch the WAVE Quarter Final: Misaki Ohata vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto 5:00 of 5:44 shown. Tsukasa Fujimoto attacked Misaki Ohata while still covered in streamers, showing how important it was to try to get the upper hand in this match as soon as possible. These two teamed with each other many times, and they were even former WAVE Tag Team Title holders together, but here they were fighting each other for a spot in the semifinals. Tsukka continued showing that tremendous urgency way past just the first few minutes in this match, she just kept fighting and kept putting it over that she was in this to win. Ohata did a great job of selling Tsukka’s relentless attack. Unfortunately, this match lasted less than six minutes, but it was excellent while it lasted. ***

WAVE 7/27/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Catch the WAVE Tournament Final: Hikaru Shida vs. Misaki Ohata 10:16 of 12:23. WAVE’s Catch the WAVE tournament was a prestigious annual tournament that from 2009 through 2013 had been won by Yumi Oka, GAMI, Kana, Ayumi Kurihara and Misaki Ohata respectively. Misaki Ohata had the opportunity to be the first person to win this tournament for a second time. However, Hikaru Shida didn’t plan on losing this big match. Shida was pretty confident during the early stages of the match, and she was in control for quite a bit. Ohata had beaten two opponents to reach the final, so while she was not as fresh as Shida was, she showed quite a bit of determination to hang in there and try to overcome Shida’s offense through the positive momentum she had built up that day. Ohata eventually came pretty close to beating Shida, but Shida realized she had to fight back to avoid a defeat, since both competitors were top stars in WAVE, and both had a big chance of winning this tournament final. This was slightly better than their match earlier in the tournament, because here they were more focused on making things seem more meaningful, as opposed to falling short in an attempt to have an action-packed match from start to finish. The selling in this final was solid, and they were able to put over the importance and drama of this tournament final. Shida gave a good performance, but it was Ohata who really was the stronger worker of the two here, as she knew how to put the pieces of the puzzle together slightly more efficiently than Shida did. In the end, it was Shida who was the winner of the tournament, and this would set her up for the opportunity to dethrone Queen of WAVE Yumi Oka. ***½   

WAVE 8/6/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Hikaru Shida vs. Kaho Kobayashi 9:47. Hikaru Shida dominated quite a bit of this match, and Kaho Kobayashi sold it very well. This was kinda similar to Shida’s match with Iida during this tournament, except for Shida acting more like a bully here instead of being merely overconfident. If this would have been a bit more competitive, this match would have been even better. This was kind of disappointing, since Kobayashi is certainly a capable enough wrestler to be treated as more of a threat than she was allowed to be here. If anything, it was Shida’s approach that was limiting the match. If Shida would have simply acknowledged and accepted Kobayashi’s capabilities more, this could have been more memorable. ***¼ 

JWP 8/17/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Hanako Nakamori & Kayoko Haruyama & Leon vs. Arisa Nakajima & Kana & Meiko Satomura 12:55. It was good to see Leon show some of that enthusiasm she used to show more often, and it’s hard not to get enthusiastic about a match with this line-up. Arisa Nakajima was the worker of the match, as she gave the most effort and showed the most intensity. She executed everything superbly. Meiko Satomura was good while she was in, but she didn’t really seem to care too much. Kayoko Haruyama was probably the least impressive worker in the match, but she tried to contribute as well as she could. Luckily, we didn’t get too much of Satomura or Haruyama. Hanako Nakamori gave a strong performance. Her selling was good, and her offense looked good as well. In particular, her work with Kana was some of the best stuff this match had to offer. It’s always worthwhile watching Kana and Nakamori wrestle each other. Kana sold really well for Nakamori’s offense. The final minutes involving Nakajima and Leon resulted in a strong finishing portion, and it was a nice culmination of this really good match. ***¾   

WAVE 8/24/14 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Tsukasa Fujimoto & Misaki Ohata & Mio Shirai vs. Kaho Kobayashi & Natsu Sumire & Rina Yamashita 9:40 of 14:12. Rina Yamashita’s offense was nothing fancy, but she tried hard. Natsu Sumire’s offense was very basic rookie-level offense, but she tried to contribute to the best of her ability. It was nice to see promising worker Kaho Kobayashi in a WAVE ring wrestling against top talent. Kobayashi sold the offense she was taking really well, as she really put over that she was having a hard time against the more experienced opponents. It was also believable she was having a hard time because of the great teamwork displayed by Tsukasa Fujimoto’s team, who were the ones controlling this match. This wasn’t very competitive, but it was fun to watch. It was pretty good overall, because at least Kobayashi was able to be somewhat competitive. ***

Hikaru Shida Produce 9/6/14 Osaka Azalea Taisho Hall: Hibiscus Mii & Tomoka Nakagawa vs. Arisa Nakajima & Rina Yamashita 10:33. Arisa Nakajima and Tomoka Nakagawa displayed the high-quality and intense puroresu you’d like to see from them. It goes without saying that this match peaked whenever they were in the ring together. Nakajima’s execution was superb, and Nakagawa’s selling was really good. Hibiscus Mii (Apple Miyuki) was in the mood to work hard, and she seemingly wanted to show that she was able to be a pretty decent worker in the right setting. Rookie Rina Yamashita didn’t really play too much of a factor in this match, but her performance was more than adequate for a rookie. It’s a shame this was just a 10-minute match that kinda ended when they could have had another five minutes worth of wrestling to finish the story they were telling. ***

Hikaru Shida Produce 9/6/14 Osaka Azalea Taisho Hall: Hikaru Shida vs. Kana 21:07. This could potentially have been an excellent match. It certainly sounded like one on paper. However, it seemed that they initially weren’t taking this match as seriously as they should have been. Hikaru Shida was more concerned about showing off her behind than the match. Since this was Shida’s show, Kana kinda went along with Shida more than she normally would have. There was certainly a lot more butt-based offense in this match than usual. If this would have taken place in one of the major joshi leagues, Kana would have been more vicious and serious. That being said, this was still a very good match overall. These two simply were too good to not have a good match together, regardless of how they approached the match, and at least the execution was quite good throughout the match. However, it definitely was a disappointment considering who was involved. Kana eventually showed some of her more serious matwork, and that’s when the match quality picked up. The strikes also became more stiff and no-nonsense during the final stages of the match. Inspired by Kana’s approach, Shida also became more all business near the end of the match. It was the final nine or ten minutes or so that were really good and helped this make a good match overall. ***¼

STARDOM 9/7/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, 5*STAR Grand Prix 2014 Block B Match: Kairi Hojo vs. Kaori Yoneyama 13:55 of 15:00. Kaori Yoneyama gave a strong and serious performance. She attacked Hojo just after Hojo was introduced and was still covered in purple streamers. Yoneyama hit a nice flying knee off the apron. Yoneyama was in control for quite a bit, but Hojo eventually managed to fight back. Kairi Hojo tried hard and kept launching herself at Yoneyama. This was a hard-fought battle, and Hojo even bled from the mouth. This is the type of match in which Yoneyama proved she was still a top 10 worker. ***¼  

STARDOM 9/7/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, 5*STAR Grand Prix 2014 Block B Match: Io Shirai vs. Star Fire 8:21. Star Fire’s style was unorthodox, even for Mexican lucha libre standards. This was a nice change to the usual 5STAR Grand Prix matches. Io Shirai, who was quite familiar with lucha herself, was able to work quite well together with this luchadora. This is the type of match that really shows Shirai’s versatility and how she was able to adapt to her opponents and get the best out of opponents, regardless of the style or quality of the opponent. ***

STARDOM 9/7/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, 5*STAR Grand Prix 2014 Block A Match: DASH Chisako vs. Mayu Iwatani 9:22. Such a cool match-up. Mayu Iwatani was really fired up and ready to perform as well as she could. The underrated DASH Chisako gave a strong effort here, and meshed well with Iwatani. Chisako’s emphasis on strong and gloomy selling nicely countered Iwatani’s playful and positive enthusiasm. The intensity was off the charts here, and these two really made it clear this was a hard-fought battle. Iwatani bridging out of a pinfall attempt with tremendous desperation shows that she wouldn’t have seemed out of place back in the glory days of joshi puroresu in the 1990s. This was a really good match, mostly because of Iwatani being able to take the punishment and Chisako being able to dish out the punishment. ***¾ 

STARDOM 9/13/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, 5*STAR Grand Prix 2014 Block B Match: Kaori Yoneyama vs. Io Shirai 6:19 of 8:27. It’s not  a surprise this match featuring two 2014 joshi top 10 workers was very good. They went at each other non-stop. The work was great, because what they did was executed crisply and helped draw the viewer into what they were doing, as they executed everything with great conviction. However, they were only given eight minutes, and not all of those eight minutes were shown. ***½ 

STARDOM 9/15/14 Osaka Minato Kumin Center, 5*STAR Grand Prix 2014 Block A Match: Takumi Iroha vs. Mayu Iwatani 9:20. This was nothing like their joshi puroresu MOTY-candidate matches in 2020, but this was still pretty good. Both workers showed the determination and willpower that would eventually make them two of the best by the next decade. Also, these two showed they were two of the most improved workers of 2014. ***

STARDOM 9/15/14 Osaka Minato Kumin Center, 5*STAR Grand Prix 2014 Block B Match: Io Shirai vs. Kairi Hojo 8:40 of 12:28. Kairi Hojo was a little overdramatic, but Io Shirai’s no-nonsense high workrate approach made up for it. This was pretty good, but Hojo was more interested in drama than actual good wrestling. Still, Hojo was okay enough of a worker to make this worth watching, and this appeared to be overall a pretty good match. Of course, it was Shirai who turned this into a pretty good match, through her ability to react properly and understanding what Hojo was and wasn’t capable of. *** 

OZ Academy 9/23/14 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Hikaru Shida & Kagetsu vs. AKINO & Kaho Kobayashi 9:25 of 15:02. Everyone gave a strong effort. Kagetsu and Kobayashi were the ones who worked the hardest, and their enthusiasm was a big part of why this match was so fun to watch. AKINO tried her best to not come across like a tired past-her-prime worker, which really helped, and this was one of her best performances of the year. Hikaru Shida did well for herself, and as usual, whenever she is surrounded by good workers, she’s more likely to excel. AKINO and Shida had good chemistry, and it was intriguing to watch them battle. ***½  

STARDOM 9/23/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, 5*STAR Grand Prix 2014 Block A Match: Mayu Iwatani vs. Koguma 6:47. Mayu Iwatani was still wrapped in streamers when Koguma attacked her. Koguma was very impressive for a rookie, and Iwatani continued to show the improvement she had made in 2014. Koguma understood the concept of fighting spirit better than most rookies, and Iwatani understood her own potential more than ever before. Iwatani probably was impressed with Koguma’s understanding of how to work a match at the stage Kaguma was in her career. The finishing minutes were quite exciting with them working several near falls. *** 

Ray Produce 9/25/14 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Kaho Kobayashi vs. Command Bolshoi 12:34. The experienced Command Bolshoi moved quickly on the mat, and she was in the mood to show she was still able to go. The spunky Kaho Kobayashi showed that she wasn’t going to back down from the veteran. Bolshoi got knocked down by a shoulder block twice, but after each time, she did a kip-up in response. Kaho decided that a dropkick was now needed to knock Bolshoi down. This seemed to work, since Bolshoi stopped kipping up. Kaho went for a second dropkick, but Bolshoi held onto the ropes to avoid the dropkick this time. Bolshoi went for an armbar, but Kaho escaped via the ropes. When Kaho was facing the mat and had Bolshoi on top of her, Bolshoi showed some more of her mat wrestling skills when she kicked Kaho’s legs out from underneath when Kaho tried to get up and escape. Bolshoi really wasn’t going to give Kaho an easy time, and Bolshoi seemed excited to face a fresh opponent of quite a comparable size who she could work an interesting battle with. When the action was focused on grappling, Bolshoi was in full control, but Kaho had the advantage in the air, scoring most of the time she launched herself at her opponent or did any sort of leaping. That’s probably why Bolshoi kept attempting to tie Kaho up in holds on the mat, while Kaho tried her best to survive and escape so that she could start leaping at Bolshoi with dropkicks. At some point, Kaho had quite a bit of momentum, as she even had the chance to hit a couple of top-rope dropkicks and a standing moonsault. Bolshoi realized that torturing and keeping Kaho on the mat in holds all the time wasn’t going to stop the energetic Kaho, especially since Kaho would find the strength to make it to the ropes when needed, so Bolshoi went for some pinfall attempts in an attempt to beat Kaho before Kaho would get more momentum. This led to some exciting back-and-forth action with a couple of near fall situations. In the end, Bolshoi pinned Kaho via a beautifully executed tiger suplex. This was a really fun match, and the 12 minutes flew by just like that. It felt like they could have had an even better match with some more time given. It was interesting to see that Bolshoi seemingly wanted to show that she was the veteran, while at the same time fully respecting and appreciating Kaho’s ability. It certainly was one of Bolshoi’s best performances of 2014. Kaho did a really good job reacting to Bolshoi’s lead, while at the same time being quick and prompt to react with her own input when the opportunities came. Kobayashi once again proved that she's a worker to keep an eye on. ***½

Kana Pro 10/7/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Arisa Nakajima & Rabbit Miu vs. Hikaru Shida & Kaho Kobayashi 9:27. This match had a lot of high energy, and everyone involved in this match worked hard. Rabbit Miu was the weak link, but she refused to be treated as such, as she tried her best to hang in there with the other three. The opening minute with Kaho Kobayashi and Rabbit Miu doing some sort of lucharesu-esque feeling out stuff was quite good. Kobayashi was quite impressive in general, not seeming out of place in a match featuring the more experienced Arisa Nakajima and Hikaru Shida, who both were two of the top names of 2014 joshi puroresu. This is one of the matches in which Kobayashi really showed that she was a top 20 worker in 2014, as her selling was really good, and she showed lots of energy when she was on offense. Nakajima was the worker of the match, as her outstanding work and energy enhanced the match the most. Fans of Nakajima should definitely check this match out. Shida deserves credit for being able to step up her game quite a bit whenever she was in there working directly with Nakajima, who really managed to get the best out of Shida here. ***¾   

Kana Pro 10/7/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Syuri & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kana & Minoru Suzuki 18:05. After a really good opening match, this show also had a really good closing match, with lesser matches sandwiched in between. Syuri vs. Minoru Suzuki was really good, as they really worked well together, and Syuri was intense and stiff enough to the point that Suzuki didn’t have to hold back too much and could be his usual no-nonsense self. Their styles complimented each other well, as there was a pretty good balance between stiff strikes and technical holds. Fujiwara’s work was nowhere near his 1980s-level work, but he’s a big name and he did well for himself here, as he came across as an old legend who still took his craft seriously. Kana mostly fought Fujiwara, and Kana ended up selling a lot for Fujiwara. Kana vs. Syuri was the most awesome part of the match though, and while we didn’t get quite enough of that, it was nice to see them briefly rekindle their old feud. Luckily, later in the year, these two would wrestle each other in a very memorable singles match on 12/26/14 at a REINA show. Kana and Syuri had a heated slap exchange, but the best part was that they got more time to battle each other as the match progressed, making it rightfully feel like their interactions was the main attraction of this match. As far as mixed matches go, this wasn’t quite on the level of the Kana Pro 6/17/12 Kana & Kenichi Yamamoto vs. Syuri & Daisuke Ikeda match, partially because of Fujiwara just not physically being able to really go anymore, and partially because it’s just hard for any mixed match to reach that level of excellence. Still, this match was really good and worth watching, and it once again showed the greatness of Kana and Syuri. ***¾  

OZ Academy 10/13/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Tomoka Nakagawa vs. Kaori Yoneyama 5:31. Kaori Yoneyama is one of the best at having a short match that’s good. Both workers worked at a high pace and brought tons of energy to this match. They executed everything very well. It’s a shame it was only a 5-minute match, as it’s likely that this would have been more than just pretty good if it was a longer match. ***   

OZ Academy 10/13/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Aja Kong vs. Hikaru Shida 13:50. Aja Kong was in control during the early stages of the match, but Hikaru Shida managed to fight back more and more during the later stages. Despite Shida being an underdog, her aggression and momentum were believable enough that you could see her potentially as a victor. Aja Kong is one of the best ever in general, but also one of the best at being in the role of a worker who has a size advantage and knows how to use it to the worker’s advantage in carrying an opponent. Aja Kong’s offense was brutal, but it was done in a believable way. Aja was in her natural role as a dark force coming on your path that’s hard to overcome, and Shida sold it super well and even tried to desperately fight back using her kendo stick. Shida also had to resort to using chairs, but she did it in a way that showed her desperation, not in a garbage wrestler’s way of that being the only option. Eventually, Shida was even able to get the upper hand for a bit with some wrestling moves. Aja’s selling was tremendous, as she gradually sold a little bit more, bit by bit, as more damage got done, yet still maintaining her power as the unstoppable force. Shida showed how talented she was and how she’s able to do different types of matches, but it was the legendary Aja Kong who truly was the one who made this excellent. ****  

OZ Academy 10/13/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, OZ Academy Openweight Title Match: AKINO vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki 22:41. Both worked very hard, especially considering the stage of their respective careers, showing that they were still willing and able to go in 2014. They took this seriously and treated this like a big title match. AKINO even executed a move off the top rope to the floor like she used to do in her earlier years, and Tsubasa Kuragaki executed a tremendous Asai moonsault among a couple of other cool-looking moves, including more moonsaults. Kuragaki also executed the old school sasorigatame. While AKINO was pretty good here, Kuragaki was the more impressive performer. It turned out to be quite a decisive victory, which actually was kinda fitting with AKINO not being able to keep up with Kuragaki’s workrate in this match. ***½  

SGPW 10/18/14 Niigata City Gymnasium: Aja Kong vs. Kagetsu 12:46. This was a slow-paced match that was dominated by Aja Kong. Aja took the match into the crowd for some brawling, which was the least interesting part of the match. Kagetsu eventually was able to fight back, but she was still having a tough time, even when she was on offense, because Aja is a super tough opponent. Kagetsu fought courageously, but Aja would stop Kagetsu’s short-lived momentum with a couple of devastating moves, namely the backdrop driver and the brainbuster. Kagetsu was able to get some offense in, but Aja managed to score a relatively easy pinfall victory. This was a pretty good match, but it was quite one-sided. Even though Aja did a good job of guiding Kagetsu through the match, Aja’s dominance here also seemed to prevent Kagetsu from really getting to show her full potential in this match. The work and execution were generally good throughout the match though. It’s a match that’s worth watching, but it’s a bit disappointing if you’re expecting more than just a pretty good match, and it wasn’t the best performance of either worker that year. However, at least it felt like they were focused, and worked in a relatively logical manner. *** 

SGPW 10/18/14 Niigata City Gymnasium: Meiko Satomura vs. Ayako Hamada 17:56. This started off slow, but gradually became more interesting. During the early stages of the match, they mainly tried to get the upper hand by trying to out wrestle the other. Initially, whatever they did lacked energy, but it seemed they gradually got more into what they were doing, which resulted in a match that became more interesting to watch. Ayako Hamada wasn’t the most consistent worker in 2014, but since this was a main event match against Meiko Satomura, Ayako made sure to give a stronger performance than usual. Ayako confirmed this by hitting a moonsault off the top rope to the floor. She followed this up with a couple of top-rope dropkicks in the ring. Satomura spent a big part of the match selling, and trying to give Ayako some time to shine. It seemed like Satomura viewed Ayako as big enough of a star that Satomura didn’t feel the need to make this about herself too much. The finish kinda came out of nowhere though, as it didn’t feel like Satomura was ready to put Ayako away yet. It was a solid match, and it was interesting to watch, but they didn’t really take this match to the next level. Still, this was a good joshi puroresu match with good execution and good selling. ***¼   

JWP 10/26/14 Kawasaki Lazona Kawasaki Plaza Sol, JWP Openweight Title Match: Arisa Nakajima vs. Hanako Nakamori 14:48. The work was very good, but it didn’t quite have that main title vibe, except until the final minutes. Nakajima went for a lock-up, but Nakamori hit a low kick. Nakamori wasn’t able to maintain that sharpness for the rest of the match though. Neither worker really got the upper hand for too long during the early stages of the match. Nakamori’s main strategy was using her low kicks, but she also took Nakajima down to the mat and put her in holds a couple of times. Eventually, Nakamori had a lot of momentum, and came close to victory. However, Nakajima managed to overcome all the punishment and fight back. The match was stiff enough for Nakajima to get a bloody nose. It was a very good match, but it felt like there was just something missing to make it excellent. Perhaps if it wouldn’t have taken till the final minutes for Nakamori to come across as a real threat for Nakajima’s title here, then maybe it could have potentially been excellent or close to excellent. It seemed Nakajima gave Nakamori quite a bit of time and room, but Nakamori failed to really use that to her advantage until the end, and it kinda made it seem like Nakajima wasn’t overly concerned about losing this match. Maybe it was Nakamori’s lack of urgency and quickness that can be attributed to Nakajima’s confidence in going home the victor and having a slightly more defensive strategy than usual. ***½   

JWP 11/2/14 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall: Leon vs. Ray 10:29. These two can’t have a bad match together. It’s probably just physically not possible for them to not have a good match together. This was definitely good, even though they just kinda did all the things you’d expect them to do, but at least they did it all well. Also, they were into it, and they clearly wanted to make this good. This wasn’t nearly as good as their excellent 5/8/11 match, but better than their slightly disappointing 4/8/12 match. The main problem with this 11/12/14 match is that it’s only 10 minutes long, which is really not enough for them to have the quality singles match they are capable of giving, but it was very good while it lasted. ***¼ 

Ray Produce 12/7/14 Osaka World Hall: Syuri vs. Kagetsu 9:45. Syuri’s strikes were stiff,and this encouraged Kagetsu to reply with some stiff-looking strikes of her own. They went for some matwork, but Kagetsu wasn’t quite on Syuri’s level as a technical wrestler, so it didn’t become quite as intriguing as Syuri’s battles with Kana, for example. Of course, that’s nothing to be ashamed of, since very few wrestlers come close to Kana’s greatness. This was the only interesting match on this Ray Produce show. It was kind of ironic that a serious puroresu match of good quality took place on a show filled with weird and random matches. Both competitors showed fighting spirit, but neither worker showed the urgency they would usually show. It’s a shame this was under ten minutes long, because this was on its way to potentially be at least a quarter star higher if they would have kept going the way they were going for a bit longer. The match was relatively slow and didn’t feature too much action, but this wouldn’t have been a problem if they were having a 15-minute match and were going to have a few minutes of hot action. On the other hand, since Kagetsu didn’t come across as enough of a threat for Syuri here, perhaps it was fitting it was under ten minutes. Although, Syuri could perhaps have tried to encourage more urgency. Either way, it’s hard to blame these two for not having a better match when it was the only good match that was put in the middle of a card filled with not-so serious wrestling. ***

REINA 12/12/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Arisa Nakajima & Kana & Lin Byron vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Maki Narumiya & Makoto 19:30. This was basically JWP vs. Ice Ribbon at a REINA Show. Of course, Makoto appeared more at REINA shows than Ice Ribbon shows that year, but Ice Ribbon was the league she had her start in and continued to appear in occasionally, so we could still see her as part of “team Ice Ribbon” here. Also, Ray didn’t appear as Lin Byron in JWP (that’s the gimmick she used in REINA and WNC), but her teaming with two JWP workers really makes it “team JWP”. Anyway, this was a very interesting match-up, because it allowed us to see more of Arisa Nakajima vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto, arguably the best in-ring feud of the year. Whenever they worked together, it was magic, but they weren’t the featured match-up here. Also, you can’t go wrong with having top talent like Kana and Lin Byron (Ray) added to the mix. Despite being REINA World Tag Team Title holders together, Nakajima and Kana continued to have disagreements, just like they had been having in JWP. It’s nice to see the consistency with storylines getting carried over into matches at shows of other leagues. Maki Narumiya had really proven herself as a hard worker in Ice Ribbon, so it was cool to see her get to work in this match. She wasn’t a great worker, but she was a young enthusiastic talented performer who was fun to watch. She did quite well for herself against Byron, who was one of the main featured wrestlers in this match. Makoto was kind of the odd one out, but she wasn’t a bad worker, plus she’s always been kinda likeable, and this opportunity was certainly great for her own personal improvement. This was a joy to watch, and this is a true hidden gem that took place at a random REINA show. Kana was the worker of the match, closely followed by Arisa and Tsukka. Kana worked well with underrated talent Narumiya, and Kana’s work with Tsukka was particularly interesting, making the viewer wish for a singles match between the two. Kana dominated when she battled Makoto, but Kana also tried to see if she could get Makoto to step up her game a bit. If there’s one main criticism for this match, it’s that Arisa didn’t get enough time in the ring. Overall, this was a really good match. ***¾

REINA 12/12/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, CMLL World Women's Title: Marcela vs. Syuri 3:04, 1:54, 5:14. Ten minutes is a little short for a 2-out-of-3 falls title match, but Syuri turned this into a good match. Marcela also deserves credit for giving a pretty good performance, as she seemed to be upping her game quite a bit after witnessing how much Syuri was into this. CMLL doesn’t exactly have a rich history of top women’s wrestlers by any means, but Marcela certainly was one of the better ones over there. Syuri had toured Mexico earlier that year and she participated mostly in some average CMLL trios matches that didn’t necessarily suit Syuri’s style very well. Despite not getting the chance to face Marcela in Mexico, at the REINA 8/30/14 show, Syuri carried Marcela to a pretty decent match. This 12/12/14 match was a better match though. Syuri’s intensity and relentlessness was what made this match worthwhile, and it showed that Syuri was able to have a good match with many workers who were at least able to take her stiff strikes. *** 

REINA 12/26/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, REINA World Women's Title Match: Syuri vs. Kana 21:14. It was good to see these two working a one-on-one match against each other again. Kana tried to control Syuri on the mat early on. Syuri was the one who started encouraging the striking with some knees, which Kana saw as an invitation to start kicking the starch out of Syuri. This encouraged Syuri to reply by kicking the crap out of Kana, resulting in a brutal striking contest between two extremely talented pro wrestlers just beating the pulp out of each other. The work was very stiff, and they didn’t hold anything back. Eventually, they went back to grappling on the mat, trying to outdo each other. Later, they went back to kicking again, and the transitions were executed smoothly. Whatever they did, they did it all very organically, and they reacted to each other with proper responses. It was great to see them not just letting each other do moves, but they made things look uncooperative by reacting in a way that made it seem like they truly wanted to overcome the onslaught and win this fight. These are two of the best technical wrestlers and two of the best strikers in the business, and they constantly tried to prove they were the superior fighter. Despite this having the pacing and overall outline of a regular puroresu match, this almost felt like a shoot style match because of both competitors’ focus on stiff striking and urgent mat wrestling, and there was certainly no airy fairy type stuff here. They were truly sincere in their dedication to making this special. It’s easy to forget that this match took place at a REINA show, because REINA is not the type of league you’d expect to present a match like this, and a match like this would be more something we’d expect to see at a Kana Pro show. The match ended with a submission victory for Kana, but she had to fight a hard and long 21-minute match to reach that victory. After the match, Hikaru Shida, who had been sitting in the front row, entered the ring and attacked Kana. All in all, this was an excellent match that was intriguing from start to finish. ****¼

Ice Ribbon 12/28/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Union Pro Fly To Everywhere World Title Match: Mio Shirai vs. Tsukushi 9:13. This championship was part of Union Pro, a sub brand of DDT, and this match was one of the top matches of the 2014 RibbonMania, which is Ice Ribbon’s annual year-end show. Tsukushi showed a lot of energy, as she enthusiastically took it to Mio Shirai. Tsukushi also put a strong effort in her selling. Tsukushi was really into what she was doing during the entire duration of the match. By this point in time, Mio almost seemed to be a worn out and tired version of her previous self, despite having had a strong 2014. However, Mio clearly still was able to have good matches. Mio kinda let Tsukushi do her thing, but she would occasionally add something that would help enhance the match, like a few stiff strikes. Despite dominating most of the match, Tsukushi lost to the wily veteran. ***

Ice Ribbon 12/28/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, ICExInfinity Title Match: Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Arisa Nakajima 13:42. Tsukasa Fujimoto was the main champion and main star of Ice Ribbon. Arisa Nakajima was the main champion and main star of JWP. They met each other twice that day in the same building, once at Ice Ribbon’s biggest show of the year for Ice Ribbon’s main championship and once at a JWP’s biggest show of the year for JWP’s main championship. This was a hard-fought battle from start to finish. They definitely made the most of the 13 minutes this match lasted. They both showed a lot of intensity. They kept the combat going and, and they made this feel like a competitive fight, with both wanting to win and both having a chance to win, making this very exciting contest for the viewers. Nakajima was no-nonsense, and she just kept trying to take it to her opponent. Tsukka showed that she had improved significantly over the past few years, and this is a match that showed that 2014 was the year she was truly coming to her own. The workrate was extremely high, there wasn’t a dull moment ever in this match, but the execution and timing was a bit better in their JWP match. To give you an indication of the tremendous ability of these two workers, this was truly an excellent match, but it wasn’t even the best match they had that day, as they had an even better match that very same day at JWP’s year-end show. ****

JWP 12/28/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Kana vs. Hanako Nakamori 9:12. This was one of the main matches of JWP-Climax 2014, the year-end show of JWP. It’s always good to see these Kana and Hanako Nakamori against each other in singles action. It’s a shame it was only for nine minutes though. It was a good thing that Kana was on offense for a good portion of the match, because her offense is more interesting than that of Nakamori. It was relatively one-sided, but still very good in the end. ***½  

JWP 12/28/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: JWP Openweight Title Match: Arisa Nakajima vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto 16:03. Just like their Ice Ribbon match that very same day, these two kept taking it to each other. The intensity level was incredibly high. They were seemingly out to destroy each other, and neither of them wanted to leave as the loser. Tsukka had gotten so far, so now she wanted it all. Nakajima had somewhat of a reputation to maintain, and she fought hard not just to keep that reputation, but more so to just beat and destroy Tsukka, which was the only thing on her mind. Even the brawling portion early in the match didn’t seem out of place thanks to the way they put it over. It definitely wasn’t just about Nakajima here, as Tsukka’s strikes generally looked good, and appeared to make good contact and impact most of the time. Nakajima took the strikes well. To prove that she was here to beat Tsukka, Nakajima smashed Tsukka’s head on the apron via a swinging DDT off the top rope to the apron, followed up by a vicious double footstomp off the top rope to the floor onto Tsukka. Nakajima’s ankle had to get taped up, but she didn’t let anything get in the way, and kept going. Later in the match, the stiffness became even more evident when Tsukka started bleeding hardway from the mouth. Both workers tried to be the best wrestler they could possibly be in this match, and this resulted in this match becoming one of the best joshi puroresu matches of the 2010s. This felt like a culmination of what these two and the other hard workers of this year had been trying to collectively work towards. It is fitting that the name of the show is JWP-Climax, as it truly felt like it was the climax of the year, just like it was the previous year when the 2013 MOTY took place at JWP-Climax 2013. ****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 ranking: N/A, 2011: N/A, 2012: #1, 2013: #1]. Arisa Nakajima once again was the best joshi puroresu worker of the year. Her performance in the 2014 joshi MOTY on 12/28/14 in JWP against Tsukasa Fujimoto is a great example of her greatness, as her determination and intensity, combined with her wrestling skills, enabled her to work this gem of a match along with Tsukasa Fujimoto, who really started coming into her own in 2014. Nakajima participated in at least eight good matches, one excellent match and one great match (which was the MOTY), and almost all of her recommended 2014 matches that were good or better ended up in the list of the top 30 matches of the year.

2. Kana (debut: 6/16/04) [2010: #1, 2011: #1, 2012: #2, 2013: #2]. It’s probably no surprise that Kana once again is #2. If it wasn’t for Arisa Nakajima being around, Kana would have been #1. Kana was the best technical wrestler in joshi puroresu, because nobody quite reached her high level of mat wrestling quality. Her match against Syuri on 12/26/14 in REINA is an excellent example of her great striking and mat wrestling ability. Next to her excellent match with Syuri, Kana had over a dozen good matches, in which she showed that she could enhance the quality of a match by challenging her opponent to bring everything they have to offer.

3. Io Shirai (debut: 3/4/07) [2010: #9, 2011: #8, 2012: #7, 2013: #4]. 2014 was the year that Io Shirai became great and became a top 3 worker. Her execution was tremendous, and her athleticism was superb. Her moonsaults were some of the best ever, and she was one of the main reasons why STARDOM kept becoming more interesting in the mid 2010s. Finally, she also was able to have truly memorable matches, as she wasn’t constantly booked against some of the worst wrestlers, like she had to endure in 2013. Her match against Natsuki*Taiyo on 1/26/14 was a great match.

Excellent:

4. Natsuki*Taiyo (debut: 1/3/04) [2010: #2, 2011: #2, 2012: #8, 2013: #5]. 2014 was Natsuki*Taiyo’s final year as a pro wrestler in Japan, and she made sure to leave a great impression, as her matches against Io Shirai are matches any fan of joshi puroresu should seek out. Her STARDOM 1/26/14 match against Shirai would have been the MOTY if the year would have ended before 12/28/14.

5. Tsukasa Fujimoto (debut: 8/23/08) [2010: #23, 2011: #14, 2012: #18, 2013: #14]. Tsukka showed in 2014 what she truly was capable of. It was the year she started to shine brighter than before. Her matches against Arisa Nakajima are a great example of her improvement, especially the JWP 12/28/14 match, which was truly a great pro wrestling match. It wasn’t just against a top worker like Nakajima when she was outstanding, as Tsukka was able to make matches against a variety of opponents more memorable than they would have been without her. Tsukka played a big role in the best WAVE match of 2014, which was a battle of two top 5 tag teams, when she teamed with Hikaru Shida against Kana & Mio Shirai on 3/19/14.

6. Syuri (debut: 10/26/08) [2010: #28, 2011: #16, 2012: #4, 2013: #6]. Syuri’s intensity and striking made her matches very interesting to watch. Of course, her match against Kana on 12/26/14 in REINA is the best example of Syuri’s excellence that year. Another example of Syuri’s excellence is her match on 12/12/14, which was another match in which Syuri showed a lot of intensity, as she carried Mexican luchadora Marcela to a pretty good match. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment Syuri achieved in 2014 was to help make REINA a somewhat interesting league, after REINA had never been a league to really pay much attention to before.

7. DASH Chisako (debut: 7/9/06) [2010: #22, 2011: #11, 2012: #16, 2013: #10]. She was truly excellent, and she had a 4-star match against Hanako Nakamori in a year where Arisa Nakajima and Kana “only” had very good matches against Nakamori. If there was more footage available of her 2014 work, Chisako would possibly be even higher on the list than this.

8. Hikaru Shida (debut: 7/20/08) [2010: #26, 2011: #15, 2012: #6, 2013: #7]. It is true that Shida’s best matches are against workers who are better or on the same level she is, but it’s hard to deny Shida’s presence in the recommended matches section. While she may never have been a top 5 worker, she certainly was a top 10 worker in 2014. Fun little fact for those who are wondering about some of Shida’s accomplishments on a more kayfabe level, Shida became the Regina di WAVE Title holder when she beat Yumi Oka on 8/24/14.

9. Misaki Ohata (debut: 12/10/06) [2010: #21, 2011: #10, 2012: #12, 2013: #12]. Misako Ohata had at least nine good matches in 2014. It’s sometimes easy to forget how good she is, because her performances are often good in such a subtle way. She was one of the most outstanding performers in the Catch the WAVE tournament. Ohata also wrestled as Misaki Glico sometimes, but she usually used that gimmick for her matches in Daijo, which were some of her more lighthearted, less serious matches. When she wrestled in WAVE, Ohata was all business despite the presence of several less than serious workers on the promotion's roster.

10. Kaori Yoneyama (debut: 11/29/99) [2010: #5, 2011: #12, 2012: #9, 2013: #8]. Kaori Yoneyama was still a very reliable performer in 2014. She showed that she was still willing and able to go. She had at least five good matches in 2014, and she was one of the most enjoyable performers in STARDOM.  

11. Aja Kong (debut: 9/16/86) [2010: #6, 2011: #19, 2012: #23, 2013: #15]. Aja Kong may not have had many memorable matches in 2014, but her performance on 10/13/14 at OZ Academy’s best show of the year in a match against Hikaru Shida, which was an excellent top 10 match for 2014, showed that Aja was still able to have an excellent match when she decided it was the right time and place for it. Aja is a GOAT-candidate, and the fact that she’s #11 in 2014 (28 years after her first year as a pro) says a lot about her greatness.

Very Good:

12. Meiko Satomura (debut: 4/15/95) [2010: #19, 2011: #20, 2012: #29, 2013: #22]. Even though Meiko Satomura isn’t nearly as great as some joshi puroresu fanatics try to claim, it’s hard to deny her ability. In 2014, Satomura’s matches against Io Shirai were two of the most memorable matches of the year, and while Shirai deserves most of the praise for those matches, it would be silly to completely dismiss Satomura’s work. Whenever she felt like it, Satomura would give a strong performance. Satomura’s kicks were some of the stiffer ones around in joshi puroresu at the time.

13. Hanako Nakamori (debut: 7/16/06) [2010: NR, 2011: #29, 2012: #13, 2013: #17]. Hanako Nakamori’s high effort makes her matches enjoyable. She’s technically not the most advanced performer, but she certainly is good enough to be involved in good matches on a semi-regular basis. Her best match that year was the JWP 4/20/14 match against DASH Chisako, and even though Chisako was the better worker in that match, Nakamori deserves credit for her role in that match as well.

14. Mio Shirai (debut: 3/4/07) [2010: #16, 2011: #26, 2012: #28, 2013: #20]. In OZ Academy, she usually was booked as someone who wasn’t really able to handle herself without excessive use of weapons and outside interference, which is kind of ironic since she was a better pro wrestler than most OZ Academy workers at the time. Mio Shirai’s performances in WAVE were quite memorable though, and 2014 was Mio Shirai’s best year of the decade so far from an in-ring perspective.

15. Kagetsu (debut: 8/24/08) [2010: NR, 2011: #24, 2012: #11, 2013: #18]. Kagetsu not only kept being a very good worker overall, but later in the year, she also started showing more care about her appearance, dropping the generic SGPW gear, and this helped enhance the visual aspect of watching her in action. Most of her matches took place in SGPW, but almost none of her SGPW matches from 2014 are available, so it’s hard to say if this ranking is truly accurate or not.

16. Kaho Kobayashi (debut: 6/28/13) [2010: N/A, 2011: N/A, 2012: NA, 2013: #58]. Kaho Kobayashi was the most improved worker of the year. In 2013, she was still a rookie, but in 2014, she was one of the most enjoyable workers of the year. Whenever she showed up on a match list in 2014, there was a good possibility that it meant there was a match worth watching, at the very least for Kobayashi’s lively performance in the match. The best match Kobayashi was involved in that year was at a Kana Pro show on 10/7/14 when she teamed with Hikaru Shida against Arisa Nakajima and Rabbit Miu.

17. Mayu Iwatani (debut: 1/23/11) [2010: N/A, 2011: NR, 2012: #39, 2013: #33]. Halfway through the year, after apparently receiving some advice on fashion from Fuka, Mayu Iwatani dropped the indy jobber pants, dressed up like a joshi puroresu star and also became more confident of her in-ring ability. On 7/27/14, Iwatani became the holder of STARDOM’s White Belt, the Wonder of STARDOM Title. 2014 was definitely a year in which Iwatani progressed significantly, and she was one of the most improved workers of that year.

18. Sendai Sachiko (debut: 7/9/06) [2010: #24, 2011: #13, 2012: #17, 2013: #11]. There’s almost no 2014 footage available of her work, and that’s a shame, since she probably would have ranked a bit higher if we got to see some more of her enjoyable tag team work.

19. Ray (debut: 9/15/03) [2010: #20, 2011: #9, 2012: #15, 2013: #16]. Ray also wrestled as Lin Byron at times (usually in REINA and WNC). She mostly wrestled as Ray in leagues like SGPW, JWP and several other leagues. In 2014, unlike in previous years, Ray was actually more impressive than Leon, who had been her tag team partner on a regular basis. Ray’s agility always makes her performances quite impressive.

Pretty Good:

20. Command Bolshoi (debut: 11/26/91) [2010: #11, 2011: #24, 2012: #14, 2013: #27]. In 2014, she was still a pretty good worker, but it certainly wasn’t her most memorable year by any means. She showed she had ability, and obviously she had proven herself in the past, but in 2014, she was merely occasionally having memorable performances, usually when the matches involved top talent.

21. Leon (debut: 3/16/00) [2010: #7, 2011: #6, 2012: #5, 2013: #9]. Falling out of the top 20 is a big fall for Leon. 2014 was one of her least memorable years in a long time, after having had four impressive years earlier in the 2010s. She was still a pretty good worker in 2014, of course, but overall, it was a disappointing year for Leon fans who were used to her excellent work in prior years. The main reason for this drop was the lack of energy displayed and a lack of memorable Leon performances and matches in 2014 overall. She was still a pretty good worker overall though, but just not on her usual level.

22. Tsukushi (debut: 1/16/10) [2010: NR, 2011: NR, 2012: 38, 2013: 30]. Tsukushi may not be a worker that first comes to mind when you think of top 25 joshi workers, but she was a pretty good worker who was good enough to carry bad workers like Hamuko Hoshi to matches that were satisfactory. In matches with workers who were better than just pretty bad, Tsukushi often was able to intensify everyone’s positive attempts through her perky energy. Tsukushi’s match against Mio Shirai on 12/28/14 in Ice Ribbon was one of Tsukushi’s best matches of 2014.

23. Tomoka Nakagawa (debut: 9/19/04) [2010: #10, 2011: #3, 2012: #20, 2013: #19]. 2014 was Tomoka Nakagawa’s final year as a pro wrestler in Japan. It wasn’t her most memorable year, but that was just because she had been such a strong top 20 worker in the previous four years, so it was hard to live up to those expectations. In her final year in Japan, she was still a top 25 worker though. Her final pro wrestling match was at a SHIMMER Women Athletes event in the United States when she teamed with Kellie Skater as the Global Green Gangsters (a.k.a. 3G) against Nicole Matthews & Portia Perez, the Canadian NINJAs, on 4/12/15 in Berwyn, IL.  

24. Shu Shibutani (debut: 9/19/04) [2010: #3, 2011: #7, 2012: #10, 2013: #13]. Shibutani keeps going down the ranks, which means her days as a top 20 worker are probably done. Still, she was more likeable and more reliable than most workers around, so whenever she wrestled in 2014, it usually turned out to be quite a watchable match.

25. Tsubasa Kuragaki (debut: 1/8/95) [2010: #27, 2011: #28, 2012: #22, 2013: #26]. Tsubasa Kuragaki was pretty good in the 2010s, and she has been showing up steadily in the top 25-30 region of the best wrestlers list from 2010 through 2014. She’s not the first worker to come to mind when trying to think of the best wrestlers in joshi puroresu, but she has proven herself on a consistent basis.

26. Sareee (debut: 4/17/11) [2010: N/A, 2011: NR, 2012: #59, 2013: 37]. Sareee was good enough to have a good match with someone at a somewhat similar work level as her own, and she proved that when she had a surprisingly good match together with Manami Katsu on 4/20/14 in JWP.

27. AKINO (debut: 7/21/98) [2010: #13, 2011: #25, 2012: #26, 2013: #31]. After a disappointing 2013, her 2014 was a bit more memorable and even got her back into the top 30. She shows up more than once in the top 30 matches of the year of 2014, which is always a good sign.

28. Hiroyo Matsumoto (debut: 7/16/06) [2010: #17, 2011: #17, 2012: #24, 2013: #24]. Hiroyo Matsumoto, who occasionally wrestled as Masked Hiroyon, once again proved to be a top 30 worker. She’s the type of worker who never really was one of the most memorable ever, but still one of the more reliable and watchable performers around. Teaming with “Wacky” Miho Wakizawa seemed to have had a bad influence on her, as a lot of her STARDOM trios matches are hard to take seriously.

29. Manami Katsu (debut: 3/21/11) [2010: N/A, 2011: NR, 2012: #30, 2013: #29] Manami Katsu is often overlooked, but her hard work got her quite far, and she was a pretty good worker. Unfortunately, she was only active during the first seven months of 2014, as Katsu temporarily retired from pro wrestling after 7/13/14, but she would make her comeback in 2016.

30. Yuhi/SUNSET*JK (debut: 4/24/12) [2010: N/A, 2011: N/A, 2012: #31, 2013: #23].  She was only active during the first three months of 2014, after which she was no longer part of the puroresu business.

Decent:

31. Mika Iida

32. Koguma

33. Takumi Iroha

34. Maki Narumiya

35. Mayumi Ozaki

36. Kairi Hojo

37. Rabbit Miu

38. Yumi Oka/Sakura Candle

39. Kayoko Haruyama

40. Reo Hazuki

41. Ayako Hamada

42. Sonoko Kato

43. Aoi Kizuki

44. Chikayo Nagashima

45. Carlos Amano

46. Jaguar Yokota

47. Sayaka Obihiro

48. Emi Sakura

49. Riho

50. Maya Yukihi

Mediocre:

51. Mima Shimoda

52. Rina Yamashita

53. Neko Nitta

54. Apple Miyuki/Hibiscus Mii/Miyuki Matsuyama

55. Makoto

56. Kellie Skater

57. Star Fire

58. Dynamite Kansai

59. Cherry

60. Megumi Yabushita

61. Moeka Haruhi

62. Risa Sera

63. Aoi Ishibashi

64. Crazy Mary Dobson

65. Aliya

66. Mystique

67. Yu Yamagata

68. Nanae Takahashi

69. Keiko Aono

70. Eri Susa

71. Manami Toyota

72. Miyu Yamashita

73. Bambi

74. Yuiga

75. Koyuki Hayashi

76. Sachie Abe

77. Tomoko Watanabe/ZAP T

78. Yua Hayashi

79. Miyako Matsumoto

80. Koharu Hinata

81. KAZUKI

82. Yoshiko

83. Takako Inoue

84. Act Yasukawa

85. KAORU

86. Kurumi

87. Kyoko Inoue

88. Kaoru Ito

89. Yumiko Hotta

90. Shiori Akiba

91. Yuka Sakazaki

92. Natsu Sumire

93. Shoko Nakajima

94. MIZUKI

95. Azumi

96. Kris Wolf

97. Yuuka

98. Mari Apache

99. SAKI

100. Kotori

Pretty Bad:

101. Ryo Mizunami

102. Hiroe Nagahama

103. Kyuri

104. 235

105. Haruka Kato

106. Micro

107. Aki Shizuku

108. Mochi Miyagi

109. Hamuko Hoshi

110. Rydeen Hagane

111. Miho Wakizawa

112. Fairy Nihonbashi

113. Sawako Shimono

114. Maaya

115. Meari Naito

116. Yako Fujigasaki

117. Yuna Manase

118. Ai Shimizu

119. Yuri Kotobuki

120. Alex Lee

121. Fukin Kitazawa

122. Chikage Kiba

123. Kanna Shinmei

124. Erin

125. Ririko Kendo

The Worst:

126. Akane Miura

127. Akane Fujita

128. Nonoko

129. Saki Akai

130. Hatsuhinode Kamen/Aya Yuki

131. Kyoko Kimura/Mask de Sun

132. Alpha Female

133. La Comandante

134. Dump Matsumoto

135. Sakura Hirota

136. Aiger/Mizuki Endo

137. Ranmaru

1. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Hikaru Shida (Muscle Venus)

2. Arisa Nakajima & Kana

3. DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko (Jumonji Sisters)

4. Arisa Nakajima & Command Bolshoi

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

1. JWP 12/28/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: JWP Openweight Title Match: Arisa Nakajima vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto 16:03 ****½  

2. STARDOM 1/26/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World of Stardom Title: Io Shirai vs. Natsuki*Taiyo 20:38 ****½  

3. REINA 12/26/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, REINA World Women's Title Match: Syuri vs. Kana 21:14 ****¼   

4. STARDOM 5/6/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, High Speed Title Match: Natsuki*Taiyo vs. Io Shirai 7:51 of 16:15 ****  

5. Ice Ribbon 12/28/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, ICExInfinity Title Match: Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Arisa Nakajima 13:42 ****

6. JWP 4/20/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: DASH Chisako vs. Hanako Nakamori 12:35 ****

7. STARDOM 7/10/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, World of Stardom Title Match: Io Shirai vs. Meiko Satomura 24:20 ****

8. OZ Academy 10/13/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Aja Kong vs. Hikaru Shida 13:50 ****

9. SGPW 4/26/14 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Io Shirai vs. Meiko Satomura 18:15 **** 

10. WAVE 3/19/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Kana & Mio Shirai vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Hikaru Shida 10:22 of 20:00 ***¾

11. Kana Pro 10/7/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Arisa Nakajima & Rabbit Miu vs. Hikaru Shida & Kaho Kobayashi 9:27 ***¾   

12. STARDOM 9/7/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, 5*STAR Grand Prix 2014 Block A Match: DASH Chisako vs. Mayu Iwatani 9:22 ***¾ 

13. Kana Pro 6/16/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Arisa Nakajima vs. Hikaru Shida 15:00 ***¾

14. REINA 12/12/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Arisa Nakajima & Kana & Lin Byron vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Maki Narumiya & Makoto 19:30 ***¾  

15. JWP 8/17/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Hanako Nakamori & Kayoko Haruyama & Leon vs. Arisa Nakajima & Kana & Meiko Satomura 12:55 ***¾

16. Kana Pro 10/7/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Syuri & Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kana & Minoru Suzuki 18:05 ***¾  

17. JWP 2/23/14 Osaka Move On Arena: Kana vs. Command Bolshoi 11:17 ***½

18. OZ Academy 9/23/14 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Hikaru Shida & Kagetsu vs. AKINO & Kaho Kobayashi 9:25 of 15:02 ***½

19. STARDOM 9/13/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING, 5*STAR Grand Prix 2014 Block B Match: Kaori Yoneyama vs. Io Shirai 6:19 of 8:27 ***½

20. WAVE 2/11/14 Tokyo Shinkiba 1st RING: Kana vs. Mio Shirai 8:00 of 15:00 ***½

21. WAVE 5/5/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Catch the WAVE Adeyaka Block: Shu Shibutani vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto 5:15 of 8:50 ***½ 

22. WAVE 7/27/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, Catch the WAVE Tournament Final: Hikaru Shida vs. Misaki Ohata 10:16 of 12:23 ***½ 

23. Triple Tails.S 4/26/14 Osaka Minato Ward Community Center: Kana & Mio Shirai vs. Arisa Nakajima & Command Bolshoi 17:47 ***½ 

24. JWP 10/26/14 Kawasaki Lazona Kawasaki Plaza Sol, JWP Openweight Title Match: Arisa Nakajima vs. Hanako Nakamori 14:48 ***½ 

25. JWP 1/5/14 Itabashi Green Hall, JWP Tag League The Best A Block: Arisa Nakajima & Kana vs. Tsukushi & Rabbit Miu 14:38 ***½ 

26. JWP 12/28/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: Kana vs. Hanako Nakamori 9:12 ***½ 

27. Ray Produce 9/25/14 Tokyo Shinjuku FACE: Kaho Kobayashi vs. Command Bolshoi 12:34 ***½ 

28. OZ Academy 10/13/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall, OZ Academy Openweight Title Match: AKINO vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki 22:41 ***½

29. WAVE 6/27/14 Tokyo Isami Wrestling Arena, Catch the WAVE Tsuyayaka Block: Mika Iida vs. Misaki Ohata 6:55 of 13:34 ***¼

30. Marvelous 3/22/14 Tokyo Ota City General Gym: Io Shirai & Natsuki*Taiyo vs. DASH Chisako & Sendai Sachiko 4:36 of 19:03 ***¼

Honorable Mention: JWP 4/20/14 Tokyo Korakuen Hall: JWP Junior & Princess Of Pro Wrestling Double Title: Manami Katsu vs. Sareee 12:04 ***¼ 

1. JWP Joshi Puroresu. Almost every JWP show seemed to have at least one truly good match. Of course, most notably, JWP gave us the 2014 Match of the Year, 12/28/14 Arisa Nakajima vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto, which was one of the best joshi puroresu matches of the 2010s. JWP also has the most number of matches in the top 30 joshi matches of 2014.

3. Pro Wrestling WAVE. WAVE provided a good amount of good matches, but they didn’t give us any truly excellent matches (even though 3/19/14 Kana & Mio Shirai vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto & Hikaru Shida came close to being excellent and may have been excellent if it was available in full form). Either way, from top to bottom, WAVE shows were some of the most enjoyable joshi puroresu shows of the year.

3. World Wonder Ring STARDOM. STARDOM was mainly interesting in 2014 because of Io Shirai’s greatness, and especially Shirai’s matches with Natsuki*Taiyo. It’s hard to skip STARDOM shows when Shirai’s matches are so much fun to watch. Along with WAVE, it seemed STARDOM had the most amount of good matches this year, which is mostly thanks to Shirai, but Natsuki*Taiyo, Kaori Yoneyama and Mayu Iwatani also deserve credit for making STARDOM enjoyable in 2014. However, despite the booking being better than in 2013, watching 2014 STARDOM footage is still more frustrating and inconsistent than watching 2014 WAVE when you compare the cards of both leagues.

4. OZ Academy. In the 2010s, they’ve never really been the best, but they’ve never really been the worst either. In 2014, they gave us a handful of interesting matches, including an excellent match between Aja Kong and Hikaru Shida. It’s definitely quite a watchable league, as long as you’re also prepared to sit through a bunch of meaningless matches featuring garbage wrestling and outside interference.

5. Kana Pro. This is not really a full-time league, since these shows produced by Kana only took place a few times a year. However, in 2014, those few Kana Pro shows provided more memorable matches than leagues like Ice Ribbon, REINA, or Marvelous did. Of course, there’s still quite some 2014 footage missing, especially almost all of the 2014 SGPW footage, so these rankings are obviously based on the footage available as of this writing. 

Honorable mentions: Ice Ribbon and REINA. Ice Ribbon gave us Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Arisa Nakajima, and REINA gave us Kana vs. Syuri. If there was more SGPW footage available, they potentially could have had a shot at the top 5.

1. Koguma

2. Reo Hazuki

3. Rina Yamashita

4. Yua Hayashi

5. Shiori Akiba

6. Yuka Sakazaki

7. Natsu Sumire

8. Azumi

9. Haruka Yoshimura

10. Kris Wolf

11. Yuuka

12. Maaya

13. Yuna Manase

14. Yuri Kotobuki

15. Akane Miura

16. Remei Asuka