By the 1980s, joshi puroresu was a pop culture force. Tag teams like the Crush Gals topped music charts and drew millions of TV viewers, blending powerbombs with pop stardom.

This was Sukeban, a new highly stylized league of joshi puroresu, or Japanese professional women’s wrestling.

The history of joshi puroresu traces back to the late 1940s with controversial all-female shows operated by the Igari family that predated today's major pro wrestling organizations in both the US ...