Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Japanese Female Pro-Wrestling Drama Series The Queen of Villains' Premieres September 19

17/07/2024

Back to All News

Japanese Female Pro-Wrestling Drama Series The Queen of Villains' Premieres September 19

Entertainment

17 July 2024

GlobalJapan

Link copied to clipboard

How did one woman whip Japan into a frenzy? Launching on September 19, The Queen of Villains unveils the story of Dump Matsumoto, the most terrifying heel during the golden age of women's pro wrestling in Japan. Spanning five episodes, the series explores the events that led to her rise decades ago.

From the 70s to the 80s, female pro-wrestling tag teams like Beauty Pair (Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda) and Crush Gals (Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka) became national icons. They captivated Japan not only by competing but also by singing and dancing in the ring. On the other side of this was Dump Matsumoto, the sworn rival of the Crush Gals. She made all of Japan her enemy, wreaking havoc in and outside of the ring. But once upon a time, young Dump Matsumoto was told she was too kind to be a villain. What events made her one of the most disliked figures in Japanese wrestling history?

Bringing these iconic female wrestlers to life is a talented cast chosen through auditions:

Multi-talented comedian Yuriyan Retriever portrays Dump Matsumoto.

Erika Karata (Desert of Namibia) plays Chigusa Nagayo, who starts as a failed wrestling trainee but eventually rises to stardom.

Ayame Goriki (Watashi ga Ore no Jinsei?!) portrays Lioness Asuka, known for being the most athletic and technical wrestler among her peers.

The renowned Osamu Suzuki developed, wrote, and produced the series. After hearing Matsumoto talk about the women's pro wrestling era on his show, Suzuki was inspired to turn her story into a series and wrote the screenplay himself. Kazuya Shiraishi (The Devil's Path, The Blood of Wolves, Lesson in Murder) serves as the supervising director, while Chigusa Nagayo herself led the actors' physical training and presided over the wrestling scenes.

Watch the rise of these women to fame and the lessons their journeys hold today. The Queen of Villains premieres globally on September 19, only on Netflix.

About Netflix Series The Queen of Villains Cast: Yuriyan Retriever, Erika Karata, Ayame Gorik Developer, Producer, Screenwriter: Osamu Suzuki Supervising Director: Kazuya Shiraishi Director: Katsuhito Mogi Writer: Junya Ikegami Producers: Haruhiko Hasegawa Hidehisa Chiwata Produced by: Netflix Production Company: KADOKAWA Release Date: September 19, 2024 Episode: 5 episodes https://netflix.com/thequeenofvillains

#TheQueenofVillains

Logline: The Queen of Villains unveils the untold story of Dump Matsumoto, a professional wrestler who ignited a boom in womens wrestling in the 1980s with her cult-like following. Unlike the iconic Crush Gals duo, Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka, Matsumoto made her mark as the most famous heel. Dominating television screens, they became a cultural phenomenon, captivating Japan.
LINK: https://about.netflix.com/en/news/the-queen-of-villains-premieres-sept...
See more stories from netflix

North America Stories

07/04/2026

ASG Names Andrea Cummis VP of Systems Engineering

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/04/2026

KTVJ Completes Major Signal Upgrade

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/04/2026

Hearst's WDSU to Air Million Dollar Rodeo Competition

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/04/2026

Grass Valley Launches Future Playmakers Program

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/04/2026

Saranyu Technologies Launches MATCH - Multi-View Sports S...

Designed for synchronized multi-stream playback, low-latency delivery, and real-time analytics, MATCH introduces a unified viewing experience for sports broadca...

07/04/2026

Berklee Students to Honor George Martin with Performance of Original Scores

Berklee Students to Honor George Martin with Performance of Original Scores The orchestra, led by associate professor Xander Rovang, will perform several work...

06/04/2026

Fab Five' Reunion Drives TNT and CBS's Experimental Final Four Altcast Built on REMI Workflow

Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...

06/04/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Optikka CEO Daniel Evans on Scaling Sports Content with Programmatic Graphics

From high school sports all the way up to the major leagues, building high-quali...

06/04/2026

Quickplay and TwelveLabs Join AWS Business Outcomes Xcelerator Program

Quickplay, an AI company for the media and entertainment industry, has been accepted into the Advanced tier of the TwelveLabs Ecosystem Partner Program. Quickpl...

06/04/2026

Grass Valley Launches Future Playmakers Program for Students in Sports Production and Media Technology

Grass Valley has announced the Future Playmakers Program, a global initiative to...

06/04/2026

SVG All-Stars: Raasean Robinson, Gerente de Posproduccin y Operaciones de Estudio, FOX Deportes

El l der de operaciones impulsa la producci n en estudio mientras encuentra insp...

06/04/2026

SVG All-Stars: Raasean Robinson, Manager, Post Production and Studio Operations, FOX Deportes

The ops leader helps lead the charge in studio for the Spanish-language broadcas...

06/04/2026

Behind The Mic: SiriusXM Shares 2026 Masters Broadcast Team; ESPN to Produce Over 140+ Hours of Masters Live Coverage

Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...

06/04/2026

NHL Opens Innovation Lab in Partnership with Verizon, New Jersey Devils

The National Hockey League (NHL), in partnership with Verizon and the New Jersey Devils, today announced the opening of the NHL Innovation Lab powered by Verizo...

06/04/2026

ESPN+ To Stream Inaugural Rock League Curling Season

Rock League, a new professional curling league, has announced that ESPN+ will stream its inaugural 2026 season for fans in the United States. The first Rock Lea...

06/04/2026

ASG Appoints Andrea Cummis as VP of Systems Design and Engineering

Advanced Systems Group has announced the appointment of Andrea (Andy) Cummis as Vice President of Systems Design and Engineering. In this role, she will lead de...

06/04/2026

Source Media Group Launches Source Golf, a Creator-Driven YouTube Network Targeting Next-Gen Fans

Backed by Bolt Ventures, the venture brings Bryson DeChambeau, Grant Horvat, and...

06/04/2026

How the NHL's Innovation Lab Will Take Broadcast, Fan, and Team Tech to New Heights

With this environment we can start that collaboration even earlier because we ca...

06/04/2026

Baseball 2026: More AI, Better Viewing Choices

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/04/2026

JB&A Announces Details for its Pre-NAB 2026 Event

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/04/2026

Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026

Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026 Brie Clayton April 6, 2026 0 Comments Dalet, a leading technology and...

06/04/2026

OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show's West Hall

OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show...

06/04/2026

Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026

Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026 Brie Clayton April 6, 2026 0 Comments Yet further creative potential unleashed through innovation in ...

06/04/2026

Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026

Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026 Brie Clayton April 6, 2026 0 Comments Experience Autoscript Voice, PTZ prom...

06/04/2026

Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Show 2026

Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Sho...

06/04/2026

Tribeca Studios And Lilly Announce Winners Of Inaugural Vital Stories Filmmaker Program

April 6th, 2026 TRIBECA STUDIOS AND LILLY ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF INAUGURAL VITAL...

06/04/2026

Netflix Expands Kids Entertainment Lineup With Playground App for Games, New Shows & Returning Favorites

Back to All News Netflix Expands Kids Entertainment Lineup With Playground App ...

04/04/2026

Don't Be Lame: Arizona Men's Basketball Social Team Aims To Catch the Attention of Wildcats Fans

The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...

04/04/2026

HDR Makes Its Men's Final Four Debut as CBS Sports and TNT Sports Collaborate on New Camera Tools and an IP-Powered Compound

1080p HDR arrives, a new generation of storytelling tools takes center stage, an...

04/04/2026

Fab Five Reunion Drives TNT and CBS's Experimental Final Four Altcast Built on REMI Workflow

Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...

04/04/2026

Sinclair to FCC: Broadcast Sports Drives Investment in Local News

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/04/2026

Study: Worldwide Telecom Capex to Decline in 2026,

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/04/2026

Ateme Delivers Full End-to-End Streaming Platform to Moldtelecom

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/04/2026

FCC Plans Spending, Regulatory Fee Revenue Reductions in FY 2027

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/04/2026

DHD Introduces AI-Based Audio Noise Reduction to XD3 IP Core

DHD Introduces AI-Based Audio Noise Reduction to XD3 IP Core Brie Clayton April 3, 2026 0 Comments The accompanying image shows the rear panel of the ...

04/04/2026

Macnica Redefines ST 2110 Flexibility with Two Speeds on One Card

Macnica Redefines ST 2110 Flexibility with Two Speeds on One Card Brie Clayton April 3, 2026 0 Comments New for NAB Show 2026, MEP100 SmartNIC now sup...

04/04/2026

Unified Media Workflows for Story-Centric Production

Unified Media Workflows for Story-Centric Production Brie Clayton April 3, 2026 0 Comments Framelight X unifies field capture, editing and publishing ...

03/04/2026

TNT Sports and CBS Sports To Reunite Michigan's Iconic Fab Five' for Special NCAA Men's Final Four Altcast on truTV and HBO Max

Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...

03/04/2026

NAB 2026: Avid To Showcase Content Core and AI Workflow Innovations

Avid will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (April 18-22, Booth N2226, Las Vegas Convention Center), demonstrating its Content Core platform and new AI-driven workflow c...

03/04/2026

MRMC Appoints Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer

Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has announced the appointment of Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer. The announcement follows MRMC's transition fro...

03/04/2026

Elite Media Technologies Selects Interra Systems' BATON for File-Based QC

Interra Systems has announced that Elite Media Technologies has selected its BATON file-based QC solution for media workflows. Elite Media Technologies speciali...

03/04/2026

Moldtelecom Deploys Ateme Technologies Across Full Streaming Workflow

Ateme has announced that Moldtelecom has deployed Ateme technologies across its streaming workflow, covering encoding, delivery, operations, and analytics. Mol...

03/04/2026

NAB 2026: Grass Valley To Demonstrate Framelight X Content Management

Grass Valley will demonstrate Framelight X, its content management platform, at NAB Show 2026. The platform connects capture, ingest, editing, and publishing in...

03/04/2026

NAB 2026: Encompass Digital Media and Techex Launch Cloud-Based Master Control Service for Live Events

Encompass Digital Media and Techex have announced a cloud-native Master Control ...

03/04/2026

Peacock Debuts Its New Vertical-Video Experience for Live NBA Games on Monday

Live Vertical Video automatically track the action on the court via AI technology and delivers a fully optimized, 9 16 live feed for viewers...

03/04/2026

Illinois Creative Team Captures Men's Final Four Run With Trust, Timing, and a Few Water Guns

As the Illini make their first trip to college basketball's biggest stage si...

03/04/2026

Hook 'Em: University of Texas Athletics Produces Digital Content for a First-Person Experience

After last summer's Softball National Championship victory and last week'...

03/04/2026

Don't Be Lame: Arizona Men's Basketball Social Team Aims To Catch the Attention of Wildcat Fans

The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...

03/04/2026

During Packed Weekend, Van Wagner Covers In-Venue Shows for Championships Across Indianapolis

Eight games across four tournaments will be played in three venues; accommodatio...