If all you know of pro wrestling are guys like CM Punk and John Cena, buckle the hell up. This month, New York City will host the debut of an all-new all-female Joshi wrestling promotion called Sukeban — named for a term used to describe Japanese girl gangs that began appearing in the 1960s — and featuring an entirely Japanese roster. For the uninitiated, Joshi is a term for Japanese women professional wrestlers. Their wrestling style is one that involves fast, hard-hitting, high-flying combat, but also big characters who can sometimes do magic. It’s a genre of wrestling that has only grown in prestige in the last several years, and Sukeban is looking to introduce Joshi wrestling to Americans who might not otherwise even be pro wrestling fans. To do this, they’re promising to take the world of Joshi to new aesthetic heights, bringing in icons from the fashion world like milliner Stephen Jones, designer Marc Newson (who is designing the title belt), costumes by fashion designer Olympia Le-Tan, and nail art by Mei Kawajiri. There will even be anime and manga created by Sakana Koji, which you can get a glimpse of in the above trailer released last week. It all begins September 21 at Capitale in Manhattan, and while tickets sold out within hours of going on sale, you can try your luck on the waiting list. If you just can’t wait for your chance to see this art form live (understandable), you can begin going down the Joshi YouTube rabbit hole literally right this very moment.
Sukeban Is Coming to Make You a Wrestling Fan
