Evaluation of Joshi Streaming Services for March 2022 Results

March 2022 Streaming Evaluation

At the beginning of March, I decided to do a running evaluation of nine Joshi streaming services for the month to see which streaming service provides the best value. The goal of the evaluation was to look at recent events added to the streaming services as their back catalogs were not considered, as I wanted to find which service has the best value on a month to month basis. The raw data is after the ranking, showing which events were uploaded, when they were uploaded, and my own grade on the quality of the event. Some fans will likely disagree with my subjective opinions, such as event and wrestler quality, but the facts don’t lie as some streaming services offer a lot more “bang for your buck” than others. Here is the criteria I used for the evaluation:

Criteria: 

  • Overall Quality of Events
  • Number of Events and Total Matches Added in March (2022 events only)
  • Timeliness of Event Uploads (when the event took place vs. when it was uploaded)
  • Value Compared to Cost

Ground Rules:

  • Only events available for the flat streaming fee will be counted, not events that cost extra on top of the regular monthly price.
  • Only wrestling events will be evaluated, not interviews, talk shows, etc. as I don’t speak Japanese so I can’t fairly evaluate the quality of them.
  • Events will not be evaluated and considered as “uploaded” until the entire event is available.
  • Individual match uploads will only be evaluated if the entire event is uploaded in March.
  • Events heavily clipped/in digest form will not be evaluated.
  • If an event from a promotion is fully uploaded but has some matches that do not have any Joshi wrestlers, only matches with at least one Joshi wrestler will be evaluated.

In the month of March, 39 joshi wrestling events were uploaded to the tracked streaming services. Without further ado, here are my rankings for the best (and worst) Joshi streaming services!

1. Stardom World

Cost: 920 yen
Website: https://www.stardom-world.com

For March, this wasn’t very close. Stardom had it all this month – they had two of the best Joshi events period, they had the quantity (nine full events), and a fast turnaround time. They have the best female wrestlers in the world and all of their events (even PPVs, on a slight delay) are added to Stardom World for only $9 a month. Really the only knock on Stardom is they don’t stream events live like some other promotions on this list, but they check every other box. For quality, quantity, and timeliness you couldn’t do much better than Stardom in March.

2. Wrestle Universe (for Tokyo Joshi Pro)

Cost: 900 yen
Website: https://wrestle-universe.com/

There is something to be said about quality over quantity, which is the reason I have Wrestle Universe ranked second. Really, when it came to high end wrestling on Joshi subscription services, Stardom and Tokyo Joshi Pro were the clear winners and that may be a trend that continues for the rest of the year. Tokyo Joshi Pro only added four events in March, but all were streamed live and one of the events was a PPV-quality show that delivered. For $9ish its hard to argue that the value isn’t easily met by the service they provide. Plus you get DDT too, if you are into that sort of thing.

3. NicoPro Nico Channel

Cost: 550 yen
Website: https://ch.nicovideo.jp/nicopro

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for NicoPro. They don’t air the best events, and aren’t always timely with uploads. But I love the variety and the lower price at only $5 a month. NicoPro uploaded events from four different promotions in March, which is the only cheap way to see some of the promotions via a legal service as JUST TAP OUT and Oz Academy currently only deal with PPVs for their bigger if they aren’t on NicoPro. The video quality isn’t great… the commentary box is annoying… but hell its $5 for a wide variety of promotions and wrestling styles so I always recommend it. Plus if you watch more than just Joshi, there is even more wrestling events available from other random promotions to get the most out of your money.

4. Gatoh Move Youtube Channel

Cost: Free
Website: https://www.youtube.com/c/GatohMove

Gatoh Move has three major benefits – they are live, frequent, and free. They add a lot of events, but most of them average only two matches so it can be a little misleading when comparing to other promotions. The wrestling style of Gatoh Move will turn off some fans, wrestling on just a mat instead of a ring, but since it is free its hard to really complain. Not generally known for high end matches (partially due to the environment), Gatoh Move events tend to be an easy watch but it certainly isn’t for everyone.

5. Sendai Girls’ Youtube Channel

Cost: Free
Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/sendaigirls

Sendai Girls’ only uploaded two events in March, but both were very good shows and it is free which is a nice benefit. I debated on where to put Sendai Girls’ as they don’t upload very quickly, and there is no telling when they will actually upload shows. But since they don’t currently use a regular alternative method to stream their events, these weren’t low level shows they added as one of them had two title matches. Sendai Girls’ has a better set of wrestlers than many of the promotions that surround it on these rankings, which does help make their shows better. And they use a ring, which is a perk for some. For the low price of free, definitely worth subscribing to so you know when their events pop up.

6. Club Ice Ribbon

Cost: $9.99
Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7i9ItxT_BgDa14GkqOy1iQ

Unlike Wrestle Universe, Ice Ribbon went more for quantity than quality. And they do stream almost all of the events live, which is a big plus, so it is hard to argue that if you are a big Ice Ribbon fan that you don’t get a lot of wrestling for your money. But for the more neutral Joshi fan, even though Ice Ribbon put seven events on their new streaming service in March, none were particularly great. Their bigger events they still save for NicoPro/PPV, so Club Ice Ribbon is more designed if you want to watch house-show style events with mostly inexperienced wrestlers. I thought maybe it was just me but from looking at other thoughts on Twitter, when you leave the Ice Ribbon Stan Bubble there wasn’t a lot of positive reviews. That’s not to say it is *bad* but its a lot of basic wrestling. If you love Ice Ribbon, or enjoy watching young wrestlers slowly hone their craft, this may be worth picking up, but at $10 its a tough sell for secondary-level events.

7. PURE-J on Youtube

Cost: $9.99
Website: https://www.youtube.com/c/PUREJ

Even though they are 7th on this list, I still think PURE-J offers a decent value for what they charge. But the fact they charge, which I don’t blame them for doing of course, does slot them below Gatoh Move and Sendai Girls’ for March since those promotions are free to watch. The four PURE-J events in March were all decent, nothing to rock your world but pretty solid. Unlike Ice Ribbon they don’t air live however, and did have half the events. For $10 it may be hard to justify as they simply don’t have the wrestlers that Stardom and Tokyo Joshi Pro have, but I appreciate they are pretty timely with their uploads and average an event a week.

8. Actwres girl’Z Nets

Cost: 1,000 yen
Website: https://actwresgirlz.net/app

AgZ only is averaging one wrestling event per month since they changed their structure, so this is about all one can realistically expect. For the price, it is hard to recommend as basically you are paying $10 a show and its usually not a great show. All of the best wrestlers in AgZ left, so now they are mostly left with actresses/wrestlers with some being better than others. They have a sizeable back catalogue so it may be worth a month or two subscribing just for that, but for a rolling month to month subscription, AgZ definitely provides the least for the money spent.

9. Diana Youtube Channel

Cost: Free
Website: https://www.youtube.com/c/dianaofficial/

Diana did not upload anything in March and hasn’t uploaded anything in the last few months. They are very hit and miss and go through spurts of uploading events. This was an off month for sure. Since it is free, there is no harm in subscribing, but don’t count on their Youtube channel to give you your wrestling fix.

Conclusion:

Coming up with a ranking based on just one month is both fair as it puts them all on the same level, but also unfair as some promotions can just have a down month. For the paid services, the two best are easy – you can’t go wrong with Stardom World and Wrestle Universe. Ice Ribbon and PURE-J’s paid services are best suited for hardcore fans of the promotions or completionists, as there are better or equal options that are free. Sendai Girls’ and Gatoh Move are easy to recommend as far as free services go if you are into their respective styles. I’ll check again next year to see how the streaming services are going, hopefully we’ll get some new ones so we can watch even more Joshi!


March 2022 Raw Upload Data:

Service: PURE-J on Youtube
Cost: $9.99
Website: https://www.youtube.com/c/PUREJ

Event Date Uploaded Matches Grade
PURE-J at Kame Dojo 3/6/2022 3/8/2022 3 C
PURE-J Rainbow Tiger Series Vol. 3 3/20/2022 3/23/2022 4 C
PURE-J Rainbow Tiger Series Vol. 4 3/21/2022 3/23/2022 4 B
PURE-J at Kame Dojo 3/27/2022 3/29/2022 3 C


Service:
Club Ice Ribbon
Cost: $9.99
Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7i9ItxT_BgDa14GkqOy1iQ

Event Date Uploaded Matches Grade
Ice Ribbon #1183 3/5/2022 3/5/2022 4 D
Ice Ribbon #1185 3/12/2022 3/12/2022 4 D
Club Ice Ribbon Match Vol. 1 3/16/2022 3/16/2022 3 C
Ice Ribbon Yokohama Ribbon 2022 2/23/2022 3/17/2022 6 C
Ice Ribbon #1186 3/19/2022 3/19/2022 4 D
Ice Ribbon #1188 3/26/2022 3/26/2022 4 C
Club Ice Ribbon Match Vol. 2 3/30/2022 3/30/2022 9* N/A


Service:
Actwres girl’Z Nets
Cost: 1,000 yen
Website: https://actwresgirlz.net/app

Event Date Uploaded Matches Grade
ACTwrestling Step 3 3/13/2022 3/15/2022 5 N/A


Service:
Stardom World
Cost: 920 yen
Website: https://www.stardom-world.com

Event Date Uploaded Matches Grade
Stardom in Tsu, Mie 2/27/2022 3/2/2022 5 C
Stardom in Osaka 3/5/2022 3/8/2022 5 C
Stardom in Numazu 3/6/2022 3/9/2022 5 B
Stardom in Takadanobaba 3/12/2022 3/15/2022 4 B
Stardom at Korakuen Hall 3/13/2022 3/15/2022 6 C
Stardom in Hamamatsu 3/20/2022 2/23/2022 5 D
Stardom in Nagoya 3/21/2022 2/24/2022 6 C
Stardom World Climax 2022 ~ The Best 3/26/2022 3/30/2022 8 A
Stardom World Climax 2022 ~ The Top 3/27/2022 3/31/2022 9 A


Service:
Wrestle Universe (for Tokyo Joshi Pro)
Cost: 900 yen
Website: https://wrestle-universe.com/

Event Date Uploaded Matches Grade
Tokyo Joshi Winter Story 3/5/2022 3/5/2022 5 C
Pre-Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling 6 3/6/2022 3/6/2022 5 N/A
TJPW Grand Princess 2022 3/19/2022 3/19/2022 10 A
TJPW Spring Tour ’22 3/26/2022 3/26/2022 6 B


Service:
NicoPro Nico Channel
Cost: 550 yen
Website: https://ch.nicovideo.jp/nicopro

Event Date Uploaded Matches Grade
JUST TAP OUT 2/27/2022 3/3/2022 2 D
Diana at 1st RING 1/23/2022 3/9/2022 5 B
Ice Ribbon #1182 RE:BORN 2022 2/26/2022 3/16/2022 6 C
OZ Academy “Search & Destroy” 3/13/2022 3/18/2022 5 B
JUST TAP OUT “JTO Tournament” 3/4/2022 3/28/2022 1 D


Service:
Sendai Girls’ Youtube Channel
Cost: Free
Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/sendaigirls

Event Date Uploaded Matches Grade
Sendai Girls Acceleration 2/19/2022 3/9/2022 5 B
Sendai Girls Acceleration 2/27/2022 3/17/2022 5 B


Service:
Gatoh Move Youtube Channel
Cost: Free
Website: https://www.youtube.com/c/GatohMove

Event Date Uploaded Matches Grade
Gatoh Move ChocoPro #209 3/13/2022 3/13/2022 2 C
Gatoh Move ChocoPro #210 3/18/2022 3/18/2022 2 C
Gatoh Move ChocoPro #211 3/21/2022 3/21/2022 1 D
Gatoh Move ChocoPro #212 3/26/2022 3/26/2022 2 D
Gatoh Move ChocoPro #213 3/27/2022 3/27/2022 1 B
Gatoh Move ChocoPro #214 3/28/2022 3/28/2022 4 N/A
Gatoh Move ChocoPro #215 3/31/2022 3/31/2022 1 N/A


Service:
Diana Youtube Channel
Cost: Free
Website: https://www.youtube.com/c/dianaofficial/

Event Date Uploaded Matches Grade
None N/A N/A N/A N/A