FAQ: Can I watch Joshi wrestling in English?

In the past, it was common for American fans to simply ignore the language barrier and watch Japanese wrestling of all kinds, including Joshi wrestling, in Japanese. Obviously, for audiences who have little to no knowledge of the Japanese language, this can be a little daunting. Thankfully, the vast majority of Joshi wrestling can be understood without the need to understand any spoken or written words. When it comes to Puroresu, it's a literal case of actions speaking louder than words. Of course, some English-speaking fans would like to know what the wrestlers are saying in some of the mic work before and after a match. Thankfully, the situation has improved for these fans in recent years.

The largest Joshi wrestling promotion today, World Wonder Ring STARDOM, now includes English subtitles over most of the pre-match promo interviews and post-match mic work in the ring when you watch their matches on the Stardom World streaming platform. While it's not yet 100% coverage, a very large percentage of STARDOM shows from recent years include the English subtitles.

Additionally, as the English-speaking fanbase has gradually expanded in recent years, STARDOM has also posted some of their shows on their streaming platform with English commentary. This, however, is not always a requirement for many fans who had already been accustomed to watching imported video tapes of Japanese broadcasts and commercial video releases with Japanese commentary or, in the case of many smaller shows (equivalent to unaired "house shows" in the US), no commentary at all. Some fans would even argue that having no commentary would sometimes connect the viewer more to the crowd reactions once they build up in a match.

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW), as the second largest Joshi wrestling promotion today, has also followed suit in catering to English-speaking fans to some degree. Other smaller organizations are usually unable to equal the same level of support for fans abroad due to limited resources for translations, but we've already come a long way from the days of trading tapes with no English subtitles available at all.

Also, Dana at Shine Today, Believe Tomorrow does a great job of translating many of the promos and interviews with wrestlers.