5SSW Thread

[Infernalmiko]

Overview

5 Star Supreme Wrestling are the most successful women's wrestling company in history, having dominated the joshi scene in Japan since the early 1990s when they put every other promotion out of business. They are best known for the very successful period where they had the 'Magic Three' - the legends Sensational Ogiwara, Thunder Hike, and Crusher Ichihara - headlining shows.

 

Long time owner Sakurako Kagawa retired in 2015, handing the reins of power over to Sensational Ogiwara. She has revitalized a company that had become stale, promoting a faster-paced and more modern product and taking 5SSW into the Modern Japan movement too.

 

Popularity: E+ in Japan

Money: 100,000,000 Yen

Product: Highly Competitive Joshi

Key Feature: Modern, Realistic

Heavy: Lucha Libre

Medium: Traditional

Match: Intensity: 80% Danger 40%

Face/Heel: None

 

1. Current Situation

5SSW starts the game in good shape, ranked 4th in Japan in prestige, with plenty of money (relatively) and no real competition. New owner Sensational Ogiwara has signed 5SSW up with the Modern Japan Movement, so regional battles aren’t a concern. They run a western style schedule but I usually switch to touring.

 

2. Product

5SSW has changed a little, with Traditional deemphasized and Modern elevated to a key element. Intensity and danger were changed from 70/70 to a more traditional 80/40. Unlike most puro promotions, gimmicks are expected.

 

3. Location

5SSW is based in Kinki, one of the two most important areas in Japan. So Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe are your main cities. The region has its own unique character that’s much more diverse than Tokyo. For a long time the capital of Japan was in Kyoto and the only port for trading with gaijin was in Osaka. As the birthplace of Japanese civilization, Kinki continues to be the heart of Japanese culture and there is a strong rivalry with new comer Tokyo. Even so Kanto (Tokyo) is the most important region in Japan and should be run frequently as well.

 

4. Roster

The roster has 24 wrestlers, with the only major loss being Kiko Sakakibara. She was usually upper midcard and was a great veteran for teaching in the ring. To balance out all the good character wrestlers you have, 5SSW signed Unstoppable Tai and Lady Lotus, who are both toxic enough to cancel out two or three positive personalities. Fuyuko Higa is still trouble as well, but her talent outweighs it. You are in a good place talent wise, with younger wrestlers like Higa, Oonishi, Ariyoshi, and Romi Yamato all looking very promising.

 

The main event scene has lost Saori Nakadan, who was replaced by Tomoko Nagatsuka in the roll of ‘not popular enough but need to fill this spot main eventer’. 5SSW’s core of DEVIL Karube, Megumi Nakajima, eccentric Shiori Jippensha, and Yuma Maruya are in their primes.

 

5. Figurehead

Devil Karube and Yuma Maruya are the only real choices and neither are quite up to it. But if you can build up Yuma’s pop she’s probably the best option, since she’s a lot younger than Devil and has the SQ quality. In the long term Fuyuko Higa has all the tools to qualify once you get her overness equal to Devil’s.

 

6. Signings to make

Saeko Hiroyuki is a veteran worth a look. She doesn’t have much mileage (events only) left but she’s a locker room leader with excellent performance skills so she can train the younger wrestlers. Zofia Jankovic is a younger wrestler with a positive attitude, good skills with room to grow and a joshi promotion doesn’t feel right without a few gaijin to add variety. Emma Bitch is another gaijin I look at, mostly because I like her picture. Eri Sato is another good younger wrestler with skill and star quality.

 

7. Tag Teams/Stables

5SSW has no Stables or storylines so it’s up to you to liven things up. The Tag team is pretty unbalanced. All Business is A+ but Nagatsuka is already the Five Star World Champion. After that the tag experience drops off quickly, so you’ll have to develop teams yourself.

 

8. Booking

Lots of tag matches, with all the big singles matches saved for the major events. Resist the temptation to overpush Higa. Her ego can already be seen from orbit. Title changes should be rare for the singles belts, more frequent for the tag belts. Insert obligatory reference to the Puroresu Thread.

 

9. Belts

The 5SSW World Champion is Tomoko Nagatsuka, the least over of all the main eventers. I’d probably give her a couple of title defenses against Upper Mids just because I don’t like to change belts too quickly, but then I’d pass it on to Maruya, Jippensha or Nakajima. Probably Maruya to see if I can build her up to Ace level.

 

The 5SSW Tag Champions are Etsuko Arihyoshi and Chiyeko Kita. The titles are floating, so it can be a way to build up upper, mid and lower mid wrestlers depending on what is needed at the time. Right now it would be mostly midcard, maybe make a couple of new teams that combine a more experienced upper mid with a younger midcarder.

 

The 5SSW All-Asian Champion is Yu Hashimoto. I can easily see Arihyoshi and Oonishi in a storyline feuding with Hashimoto. Given how teams are set up this could cross over into feuding with the tag titles as well.

 

5 Star J Grand Prix I’d probably give to Yuma Maruya to set up her winning the world title from Nagatsuka. The Grand Prix is a good chance to build up whoever gets the next title show as well as creating issues between wrestlers to set up future matches.

[Narcizo]

I've always had a soft spot for 5SSW and the eternal struggle that is developing Higa while keeping her ego in check. I'll miss the Dragons though - Dragon Assassain was the surprise breakout star of my 2010 save. I prefer touring as well.