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Sukeban is an American independent women’s professional wrestling promotion and multimedia entertainment brand founded in 2023. The promotion’s name is an ode to the girl gangs present in Japan in the 1960s and 70s, referred to in Japanese culture as “Sukeban“.

It operates between Tokyo and New York, presents international live wrestling events and produces media and fashion collaborations.[1][2][3] The promotion blends professional wrestling with Japanese subculture aesthetics including fashion, anime, music and performance art.[4][5]

History

Sukeban was founded in 2023 and debuted in New York City on September 21, 2023.[6][7][8] The promotion’s name references the Japanese sukeban subculture of female delinquent gangs popular in the 1960s and 1970s.[2] Japan has historically been a major center of women’s professional wrestling, known as joshi puroresu.[9]

During the event, Bull Nakano, who was revealed to be the Sukeban commissioner, unveiled the Sukeban World Championship.[8] After its debut, the promotion staged events tied to major cultural festivals including Art Basel Miami and Anime Expo.[2][10]

Sukeban presents wrestling as a multimedia project combining athletic competition, serialized storytelling, fashion design and collaborations.[4] In 2025, the company partnered with NTT Docomo Studio & Live to develop global entertainment content.[11][12]

Alumni

Ring name Real name Notes
Commander Nakajima Arisa Nakajima Retired
Riko Kaiju Riko Shirai Retired[13]

Championships

Championship Current champion(s) Reign Date won Days held[14] Location Notes
Sukeban World Championship Ichigo Sayaka 1 December 3, 2025 132+ Miami, Florida, USA Defeated Atomic Banshee at Sukeban Miami.[15]

Sukeban World Championship

The Sukeban World Championship is a women’s professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the Sukeban promotion. The title, which is situated at the top of Sukeban’s championship hierarchy, was introduced on September 22, 2023,[16][17][8] and the inaugural champion was crowned on December 6, 2023 when Commander Nakajima defeated Ichigo Sayaka to become the inaugural champion.[15]

Later champions included Sareee Bomb and Atomic Banshee.[18] Ichigo Sayaka regained the championship in Miami in December 2025.[19]

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Defenses Number of successful defenses
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days Defenses
1 Commander Nakajima December 6, 2023 Sukeban Miami Miami, FL 1 309 1 Defeated Ichigo Sayaka to become the inaugural champion. [15]
2 Sareee Bomb October 10, 2024 Sukeban London London, England 1 400 1 [20]
3 Atomic Banshee November 14, 2025 Sukeban Tokyo Tokyo, Japan 1 19 0 [21]
4 Ichigo Sayaka December 3, 2025 Sukeban Miami 2025 Miami, FL 1 132+ 0 [22]

Personnel

Wrestlers

Harajuku Stars

Ring Name Real Name Notes
Ichigo Sayaka Sayaka Unagi Sukeban World Champion
Maya Mamushi Maya Yukihi
Saki Bimi Saki Watanabe
Babyface Anna Fujiki

Dangerous Liaisons

Ring Name Real Name
Countess Rea Seto Unknown
Countess Saori Saori Anou
Lady Antoinette Risa Okuda
Queen of Hearts Miyuki Takase
Venomous Veny Unknown

The Vandals

Ring Name Real Name
Atomic Banshee Unknown
Bingo Unknown
Otaku-chan Kaori Yoneyama
Midnight Player Unknown

Cherry Bomb Girls

Ring Name Real Name
Crush Yuu Unknown
Sareee Bomb Sari Fujimura
Supersonic Natsumi Mizushima
Nagisa Nagisa Tachibana

Tokyo Toys

Ring Name Real Name
Smack in the Box Misa Matsui
Delirious Dolly Azusa Inaba

Other personnel

Ring name Real name Notes
Bull Nakano Keiko Aoki Commissioner[8]

Creative collaborations

Fashion designer Olympia Le-Tan [d] serves as creative director and designs costumes for the promotion.[4] The brand collaborated with artists and creatives across fashion and music including Pat McGrath and Isamaya Ffrench.[4] The championship belt was designed by the Australian designer Marc Newson, who worked in collaboration with the Japanese illustrator Ayako Ishiguro [ja]. Special hats for the wrestlers were created by British milliner Stephen Jones.[23]

Notes

  1. ^ During her wrestling career, she kept her age private. While her age is unknown, she is the youngest as she started wrestling at age of seven or eight in 2005


See also

References

  1. ^ George, Cassidy (December 6, 2023). “Inside the Japanese Women’s Wrestling League Bringing Fierce Athleticism—And Major Style—to Art Basel”. Vogue. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  2. ^ a b c “Sukeban Versus the World”. Office Magazine. December 8, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  3. ^ Ross, Jamie (September 1, 2023). “Sukeban, New NYC-Based Joshi Promotion Set to Hold First Event on September 21st, Full Roster Revealed”. WrestlePurists. Archived from the original on September 5, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d Maguire, Lucy (October 14, 2024). “Could Japanese wrestling become fashion’s new favourite sport?”. Vogue. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  5. ^ Clark, Anne Victoria (September 5, 2023). “Sukeban Is Coming to Make You a Wrestling Fan”. Vulture. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  6. ^ Russell, Skylar (September 1, 2023). “American Based Joshi Wrestling Promotion ‘Sukeban’ to Hold First Event in New York City on 9/21”. Fightful. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  7. ^ Pitcher, Laura (March 26, 2024). “The Wrestling Legend Bringing Joshi to America”. The Cut. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  8. ^ a b c d Peterson, Karen (September 22, 2023). “SUKEBAN Report: Debut show includes Bull Nakano as commissioner”. POST Wrestling. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  9. ^ Japanese Professional Wrestling: A Cultural History. McFarland. 2018.
  10. ^ Expo, Anime (June 29, 2025). “Step Into the Ring: Experience the Sukeban x TikTok Fanzone at Anime Expo 2025”. Anime Expo. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  11. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (July 3, 2025). “Anime-Wrestling Brand Sukeban Teams With Japanese Telecom Giant NTT DoCoMo Studio & Live for Global Content Push”. Variety. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  12. ^ Szalai, Georg (July 3, 2025). “Sukeban, Japanese Female Pro-Wrestling Brand, Strikes NTT Docomo Studio & Live Deal”. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  13. ^ 海樹リコ引退申し出に伴い、SEAdLINNNGタッグ王座返上. twitter.com (in Japanese). Weekly Pro Wrestling. December 14, 2023. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  14. ^ As of April 14, 2026.
  15. ^ a b c Daly, Wayne (December 6, 2023). “Sukeban Results: Sukeban Miami – Miami, FL (12/6)”. wrestling-news.net. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  16. ^ Lowson, Thomas (September 22, 2023). “Sukeban Results (9/21): Commissioner Bull Nakano, World Title Revealed. Sukeban hosted its first event in New York City”. sescoops.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  17. ^ Edwards, Scott (September 22, 2023). “Sukeban World Premiere Results (9/22/23): Countess Saori vs. Ichigo Sayaka”. Fightful. Archived from the original on January 21, 2024. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  18. ^ “F4W/WON”. F4W/WON. February 24, 2026. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  19. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. “CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database”. www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on February 13, 2026. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  20. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (October 10, 2024). “Sareee Wins Sukeban World Championship”. fightful.com. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
  21. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (November 14, 2025). “Sukeban Tokyo”. cagematch.net. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  22. ^ Rubio, Antonio (December 4, 2025). “SUKEBAN in MIAMI 2025 Results”. solowrestling.com. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  23. ^ Sobrino, Maria (December 5, 2023). “Best Body Slammers: Japanese female wrestling meets design”. Wallpaper. Archived from the original on February 14, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.