#3 The Crush Gals (Chigusa Nagayo & Lionness Asuka)
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Most fans of Joshi wrestling, view the 1990s as the golden age of the sport’s match quality. But the golden age of Joshi wrestling’s popularity was the 1980s, thanks to the unprecedented popularity of two women: The Crush Gals, Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka.
These two women experienced the kind of pop culture popularity that could only be compared to Hulkamania in North America. Thanks to their amazing chemistry, excellent matches, and boundary-pushing attitudes, the Crush Gals became Superstars not just to wrestling fans, but also to young girls across Japan.
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Joshi wrestling was suddenly something cool, and everyone wanted to see the Crush Gals perform. This led to record-breaking ratings for All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling, the likes of which they’d never replicate again, even with their second golden age in the 1990s.
It wasn’t uncommon for the stations broadcasting AJW’s programs to reach a 12.0 rating, which means that 12% of all TVs in Japan were watching them. That’s a monumental number regardless of decade.
Like Hulk Hogan, the Crush Gals crossed into pop culture in many ways, from television to magazines, to even releasing two albums. They would stay on top of the entire women’s wrestling world until 1990 when they turned on each other and engaged in a bitter, yet masterfully-crafted feud between them.
In WWE, it’s rare for any singles wrestler to cross into pop culture these days, much less a tag team. The Crush Gals did this at the same time as Hulk Hogan became “ the pro wrestler” to many people, and probably made more money while doing so.
