We are now in an era where the  two  biggest wrestling promotions in the US have multiple former joshi wrestlers on their rosters, which would have been unheard of 10 or so years ago. If you had to rank the Japanese women in these two promotions from best to worst absed on their work in WWE and AEW only, how would you do it? To add a second component how would adding the likes of Bull Nakano, Hamada, and the Jumping bomb angels to equation change your list?  

Here's my ranking 
Currently active mainstream wrestlers.
1. Asuka - From her dominant NXT run which consisted of greta matches with Bayley, Ember, Nikki, and even Nia. To her main roster wars with Charlotte and Becky, I think Asuka is clearly # 1 here due to the opportunities she has received for big matches, and her overall talent level.

2. Io Shirai- Io's run in WWE kind of started off a little disappointingly  buy over the last several months she's really started to hit her groove espcially with her heel turn. Her match with Candice was great and a contender for WMOTY, and she's really benefited from NXT's expansion to 2 hhours as she's gotten sveral long showcase matches over the past couple months.

3. Kairi Sane- Kairi had a solid NXT run that was hurt slightly by her run consisting of basically a mini-feud with Lacey and the the rest of it being one long feud with Shayna. Her matches with Shayna were good (especially her winin Brooklyn) but it was disappointing that her title run was kust a short intermission between Shayna's title reigns, and that she didn't get more opportunities to have longer matches with other opponents. Her main roster run started off badly but has picked up steam with the heel turn.

4. Hikaru Shida- She was a part of that really fun six person joshi tag, and had a nice singles match with Shayna, and a decent one with Aerial. Her match with Riho was also decent if a bit -unremarkable. Has a great look and I think she has style that fits in better with American wrestling than Riho's.

5. Emi Sakura - Again she was a part of that great six person tag, and another pretty fun tag match on Dynamite. Her title match with Riho was also a very impressive performance from her. I think her ceilign in AEW however is a supporting player.

6. Riho- She's been perfectly decent for the most part but I feel her work overall is just not super impressive compared to the others. Dhe's ahd some good matches though.
7. Yuka- the reason she's this low on the list is because of her lack of matches in AEW I think she could easily pass Riho if given mroe matches in AEW.

My ranking plus Joshi wrestlers who wrestled in mainstream companies in the past.
1.Asuka
2. Jumping Bomb Angels- The reactions they got from the crowds were amazing, and their work was so advanced compared to many US female wrestlers of the time.
3. Io Shirai
4. Bull Nakano - She had a very solid run but I don't think she really got the platform to fully showcase her talent level.
5. Ayako Hamada & kairi Sane - On one hand Kairi's run has had way more substance to it However I just cant look past Ayako's amazing sprints with Taylor and Sarita, they really fit 10 + minutes of action into sub 3 minute matches. Her tag title win with Kong was also great, and she had very good matches with Roxxi and Melissa
6. Hikaru Shida
7. Emi Sakura.
8. Akira Hokuto- Her WCW run was fare belwo the level of her work in Japan but was still decent, her tag match on the Korean show was also excellent so that pushes her past  Rio and Yuka. 
9. Riho
10. Yuka

. 

I agree with the bulk of your list mainly the middle. But I would put Io above Asuka. In one of your past threads, you asked was Asuka the limit of a Japanese woman limit in the WWE and I replied Io there as well. Io hasn't been giving a title or a streak. And yet still makes the crowd care about her. As long as nothing major happens I will say she will top Asuka in the mind of many.
1. Io Shirai
2. Asuka

Kairi is still number 3 for me but a higher number 3. She does a lot of little small things that makes her character interesting. And has drop being a pirate which I thought would limit her.
3. Kairi Sane

Shida for the longest time was the only person remotely interesting to me in AEW women's division. She doesn't look out of place with anyone on the roster. And I do have a feeling had she moved to the United States before Riho she may have been champion first. But I guess AEW didn't want to take a chance on her not being able to stick around.
4. Hikaru Shida

I do like her "we will rock" tribute in her matches.
5. Emi Sakura

I didn't see much of her but I like her better then Riho.
6.Yuka

I didn't like Riho since day one. Her offense looks weak. I don't find it believable that she could beat girls I know let alone trained wrestlers. I don't understand how she gets the pops she does in AEW. When on AEW official youtube channels they talk about how much better Shida is then her. I think the major here is a fan of hers. And a few other places I have seen is 50/50 at best for her. I almost want to say if Omega didn't give her his support she won't be nearly as popular.
7. Riho

Nov 14, 2019 19:50:31 GMT X-zero said:

I agree with the bulk of your list mainly the middle. But I would put Io above Asuka. In one of your past threads, you asked was Asuka the limit of a Japanese woman limit in the WWE and I replied Io there as well. Io hasn't been giving a title or a streak. And yet still makes the crowd care about her. As long as nothing major happens I will say she will top Asuka in the mind of many.
1. Io Shirai
2. Asuka

I just don't don't think Io has the number of great matches/memorable yet to pass Asuka yet. The undefeated gimmick might have been a boost to Asuka but that doesn't detract from her amazing performances.

Let's compare there great to very good matches in NXT alone.

Asuka
VS Dana Brooke (not really a great match, but a brilliant carryjob Dana has never looked as good as she looked here) 
Vs Emma 
Vs Bayley  Match #1 (Title win)
Vs Bayley # 2
Vs Ember Moon match # 1
Vs Ember Moon Match # 2 
Vs Nia Jax (beast of the east)
Vs Nikki Cross last woman standing 

Io 
Vs Toni Storm MYC final
Vs Shayna, Kairi, and Bianca 
Vs Shayna steel cage title match 
Vs Candice takeover 
Vs Candice, Mia, and Bianca
Vs Mia Yim lader match

Io's match with Candice holds up against Asuka's best matches , but Asuka just has more matches at that level than Io so far. I could easily see Io eventually passing her though.

With Survivor Series just around the corner Io probably will get two chances to add at least one more to her list too.