Founded in 1972, New Japan Pro-Wrestling has been on the rise in terms of popularity with Western pro wrestling fans over the last decade. This is partially due to the Bullet Club faction boasting popular wrestlers like AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, and The Young Bucks, but Western fans were also quick to appreciate Japanese stars like Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, and Minoru Suzuki.

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Now that NJPW is a pretty well-known commodity among Anglophone wrestling fans, some may want to branch out and look at Japanese promotions outside of King of Sport. For those fans, there’s good news -- Japan has a wealth of awesome promotions to check out.

10 All Japan Pro Wrestling

Japan’s other iconic wrestling promotion, All Japan Pro Wrestling, was founded by legend Giant Baba in 1972 -- the same year as New Japan -- and experienced a tremendous peak in the 1990s. AJPW in the ‘90s is regarded by many Western fans as some of the finest wrestling ever produced thanks to legendarily stiff epics featuring Japanese wrestling legends like Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Toshiaki Kawada, and Akira Taue -- collectively dubbed “The Four Pillars of Heaven.” AJPW experienced some trials and tribulations in the decades that followed but has largely stabilized to remain a quality promotion.

9 Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling

A sister promotion of DDT Pro-Wrestling, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling offers some of the comedic stylings of DDT, but with a female-focused flavor and idol music performances for added entertainment. Many Western fans consider TJPW easy to get into thanks to its fun, colorful characters like Maki Itoh, Shoko Nakajima, and Yuka Sakazaki, the latter two of which were featured in All Elite Wrestling pre-pandemic. While some members of the roster are clearly rookies, TJPW is a great place to see the rising stars of the Joshi scene, NXT style.

8 Pro Wrestling NOAH

In 2000, Mitsuharu Misawa staged a mass exodus from All Japan Pro Wrestling, taking nearly the entire roster to his new promotion, appropriately named Pro Wrestling NOAH. NOAH was huge with die-hard Western fans in the mid-2000s, as the promotion introduced stars like KENTA, Taiji Ishimori, and NOAH ace Naomichi Marufuji.

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The promotion has ties to NJPW, too, as the Suzuki-Gun stable was exiled to NOAH for two years and its stars would make frequent appearances on New Japan shows.

7 Big Japan Pro-Wrestling

Big Japan Pro Wrestling has been around since 1995 and has a reputation among fans for its focus on deathmatch style wrestling, and is considered by some to be Japan’s premiere hardcore promotion. In particular, they’re infamous for developing some of the more infamous gimmicky deathmatches, like the one where you have to put your opponent in a tank full of piranhas. For fans who aren’t into hardcore styles, BJW also has divisions that offer traditional pro wrestling, featuring buzzworthy stars like Daisuke Sekimoto, making for a surprisingly diverse promotion.

6 Sendai Girls

Western fans will see at least one familiar face in Sendai Girls, as it was founded by Meiko Satomura, who was touted as a “final boss” of sorts in WWE’s Mae Young Classic tournament. Satomura and Jinsei Shinzaki (known to Western fans as WWE’s Hakushi) established the promotion in 2006, and they run a surprisingly reasonable three shows every month. Meiko Satomura has trained most of its small, consistent roster, which includes notables like DASH Chisako and Chihiro Hashimoto.

5 DDT Pro-Wrestling

Fans may be familiar with DDT Pro-Wrestling without knowing it. This is the promotion where Kota Ibushi fought a blow-up-doll and where Joey Ryan became a memetic sensation using only his crotch. While there’s a lot of traditional pro wrestling in DDT, there are equal amounts of comedy, including strange opponents, parody gimmicks, and wrestling matches happening in places where wrestling matches do not normally happen. The spirit of DDT is best exemplified by its Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship, a strictly comedic title that makes the WWE 24/7 Title look like the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

4 World Wonder Ring Stardom

Above other Joshi promotions, Western fans are most likely to have heard of World Wonder Ring Stardom which was recently acquired by NJPW parent company Bushiroad. Because of that, it’s most likely to gain increased exposure in the West.

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Like any good Joshi fed, Stardom offers quality matches that can get incredibly stiff but gets extra recognition for introducing many Western fans to Io Shirai and Kairi Sane as well as hosting gaijin, including future NXT stars like Toni Storm, Dakota Kai, and Piper Niven.

3 Ice Ribbon

Ice Ribbon was founded by Emi Sakura, who Western fans may remember as the Freddie Mercury obsessed Joshi who wrestled on pre-COVID shows for All Elite Wrestling. In the years since its establishment in 2006, Ice Ribbon has gained a reputation as one of Japan’s finest Joshi promotions. Ice Ribbon has been host to much notable Joshi talent like Hikaru Shida and Tsukasa Fujimoto but also introduced the world to future AEW Women’s Champion Riho, who would leave Ice Ribbon at age 15 (!) for the next promotion on this list.

2 Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling

One of Japan’s most unique promotions, Gatoh Move, was also founded by Emi Sakura following her departure from Ice Ribbon in 2012. Rather than wrestle in a traditional ring, Gatoh Move matches are staged in a small square with no ropes in a tight performance space, inches away from fans. While some traditionalists may balk at the unconventional approach to pro wrestling that Gatoh Move offers, the result is an infectiously fun -- and extremely “indie” feeling -- that can range from silly to serious depending on who’s in the “ring.”

1 Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling

An offshoot of Ultimo Dragon’s wrestling school/promotion Toryumon, Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling showcases a hybrid of Japanese puroresu and lucha libre, offering something different from the competition. Needless to say, matches in Dragon Gate are very fast-paced and exciting, and there are loads of guys in masks, 90% of whom are dragon-themed. This promotion has been a noted home to Western wrestlers like Ricochet, Apollo Crews, as well as Japanese talent like Akira Tozawa and Shingo Takagi.

NEXT: 10 WWE Wrestlers Who Would Be Better Off In NJPW