At this stage in the evolution of the hugely hyped (and deeply corporate) phenomenon that is Art Basel Miami, attendees should know to expect the unexpected. While AR art exhibitions on megayachts and endless cascades of celebrity appearances have become par for the course at the fair, one of the buzziest events on the 2023 lineup—a women’s Japanese wrestling match—feels surprisingly…surprising. More than 1,000 people reserved tickets to see the Sukeban collective’s 90-minute wrestling show this evening at Lot 11, the trendy skatepark in downtown Miami.
But those put off by the melodrama of WWE, with its Undertakers and Hogans, should know that a Sukeban event is more similar to a riot grrrl–themed drag show than anything broadcast on Fox. “Sukeban blends fashion, anime, and music, and breaks down the walls between these worlds,” says the league’s commissioner, Bull Nakano, one of Japan’s most famous athletes.
Taking a slightly more western approach to women’s professional wrestling, which began in Japan in the late 1960s, the Sukeban collective places more emphasis on lighting and production design, narrative storytelling, and fashion. “For me, being a part of Sukeban means embracing a sense of novelty and creativity,” says wrestler Ichigo Sayaka. “The idea that we’re not bound by what has existed before is invigorating. It’s an adventure in innovation and breaking away from the norm.”
The group’s premiere match—advertised via stylish promotional campaigns unrolled on Instagram and TikTok—took place in New York City’s historic Capitale building on Bowery in late September, and sold out in just two hours; among its attendees was Supreme founder James Jebbia. (The full show was streamed exclusively on TikTok, where it has already amassed 3.5 million views.) Sukeban will continue to tour the U.S. in the coming year, before pivoting their focus back to Japan.
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The theatrical spectacle of a Sukeban event blends performance-art style choreography with comedy, pageantry, and the marvel of costumes created by designer Olympia Le-Tan and milliner Stephen Jones. The league also solicited the Jamie Reid Studio in London and manga artist Sakana Koji to help hone its visual identity. For Sukeban’s second-ever match, at Art Basel, they enlisted additional collaborators like makeup artist Isamya Ffrench and nail artist Mei Kawajiri. (Yet another marvel unique to the Sukeban roster: the ability to wrestle without breaking any acrylics.) Actor Kunichi Nomura is the evening’s host, and the match’s victors will receive a championship belt designed by Marc Newson. Yet those who already follow women’s wrestling in Japan know that Sukeban’s athletes are just as impressive as the creatives affiliated with the project. “I have been working with Sukeban for more than a year, helping to scout and sign the strongest roster of wrestlers in the world,” says Nakano. (They vary in age from their late teens to mid 50s.)
Much like in drag, the world of Sukeban is rich with mythology. Each athlete on the roster has a unique backstory, persona, and distinguishing strengths and weaknesses. To give them a fresh start within the Sukeban league, Le-Tan helped to create new personas (with coinciding outfits) for the athletes—ones distinct from their typical avatars in Japan, where they wrestle under different names. The Sukeban roster includes wrestlers like Bingo, “the resident evil clown”; Midnight Player, “a rugged biker”; and Atomic Banshee, “an anarchic punk.” Asked which costumes she is proudest of, Le-Tan mentions Lady Antoinette, whom she described as a “wayward Marie Antoinette in Galliano and latex,” as well as Commander Nakajima and Countess Saori, who are “two villains dressed as Victorian goths.” The characters Le-Tan created mirror Sukeban’s broader mission of centering the talents of the women involved, rather than pandering to the objectifying male gaze that has long shaped women’s wrestling. “In most [women’s] wrestling all over the world, there’s a lot of flesh. They’re basically in bikinis,” says Le-Tan. “I wanted to make it more about the skill of the wrestlers, because they’re great athletes. When you see the wild stuff they do, it’s mind-blowing! I felt they deserved to look like the superheroes that they are.”
The name “Sukeban” refers to the subculture of “delinquent girls” who became prominent in Japan during the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Known for their petty crimes and schoolgirl-inspired outfits—which included elongated skirts designed to conceal weapons, Converse sneakers, and knotted Girl Scout scarves worn under sailor collars—these girl gangs rebelled against the narrow confines of Japanese gender roles, and more generally against a culture that reveres discipline and conformity. Nakano is a longtime admirer of the sukeban subculture and says the wrestling collective wants to honor and carry forward their ethos of defiance. “It was a way to express dissatisfaction for middle and high school students who were frustrated with Japan’s male-dominated society. The wrestling ring has reawakened this spirit.”
Beyond its meaningful shift away from wrestling’s history of misogyny, Sukeban is also a project that prioritizes accessibility. Whether by welcoming anime lovers, appreciators of vintage Vivienne Westwood with its costume design; fans of the band Bikini Kill or the movie Whip It! with music and theatrics; or even skateboarders with the Japanese street market they will host at Lot 11 (where visitors can buy merch and snacks), Sukeban is striving to make the art of wrestling visible and relevant to fresh cohorts.
But for the women involved in the collective, Sukeban is about even more than entertainment, or spreading knowledge of Japanese culture—it s about empowerment and the role of rebellion in enacting change. “It is very important to carry on the legacy of sukeban, not just in pro-wrestling, but in creating a new world,” says Sayaka. “We can’t just fulfill the wishes of higher-ups; we need to find our own meaning in life, sometimes by getting involved and fighting for the things we believe in.” Fellow athlete Crush Yuu also notes on how crucial it is to celebrate displays of female power: “Sukeban culture represents a willingness to push the limits of what society allows. I am a strong Japanese woman, and I want the world to know it.”