Women's wrestling in Japan is not like women's wrestling in the United States -- in Japan, it's totally serious, and every bit as much of a sport as its male-focused counterpart. Though the popularity of women's wrestling in Japan (or joshi, as it's called) has dipped along with the overall popularity of wrestling in the country, some of the greatest matches in the history of the sport took place in All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling (AJW) and similar outfits in the 1980s and 90s. Just like in any other sort of pro wrestling, there are heroes and villains, and one of the most feared villains in all of joshi history is Keiko "Bull" Nakano. A Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Famer, Nakano's held titles across the world -- including a five-month reign as WWE Women's Champion. With her electric blue face paint and a tower of hair that would make the Bride of Frankenstein jealous, Nakano is instantly recognizable and supremely bad-ass -- and with so many of the joshi babyfaces being young-looking competitors, Nakano was like a movie monster tearing her way through hordes of little girls. Nakano's career wound down by the late 90s. Since then, she has competed in a different venue -- professional golf. No word on how strictly she abides by the dress code there.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
