Future of Joshi: Crea (PURE-J)

The Future of Joshi series is an effort to highlight the best, young talent in Joshi pro wrestling for fans to keep an eye on in 2023 and beyond. Led by Scott Edwards, a number of Joshi podcasters, writers, and fans took part in hyping up the best young talent from the scene as 15 wrestlers will be highlighted as well as honorable mentions. Next up is Crea of PURE-J.

Crea

Expanding outside of the major promotions in Joshi and even the top indie promotions is something that not all fans do but should because some of the most impressive prospects can be found in the deeper indies. We move to PURE-J on this one as Crea has done nothing but deliver for fans who have had a chance to see her in action. She hasn’t only competed in her home base of PURE-J as the 22-year-old competed in SEAdLINNNG, Sendai Girls, Ice Ribbon, WAVE, and Diana in 2022 which only furthers that she’s doing the work to learn in and out of her own promotion.

She’s already had some standout matches in 2023 with the likes of Asahi, Miyuki Takase, and Hanako Nakamori. As both Wide Screen and JD point out in their write-ups, the size and power she brings to the table help her make an impact more than most prospects in the scene right now.

Out of the recent prospects to come out of PURE-J, Crea by far has the most potential.
She brings excellent size, power, striking, and carries herself well for someone her age with her level of experience. With a good reign with the other POP title already behind her time will tell if she’s quickly elevated to the main event or an extended program with Riko Kaiju, who beat her for the belt in December, either way, the results will be well worth the watch. – Wide Screen (@WidescreenJoshi)

Only kicking off her career in July 2019, Crea has shown the flashes that should have fans taking notice even if they haven’t heard the name until now. There’s a form of precision to her abilities in the ring that has jumped out to me in the few times I’ve seen her.

Her run with the Princess of Pro Wrestling Championship kicked off with a fellow Future of Joshi series name — Haruka Umesaki. That is her biggest win to date and she went on to successfully defend that championship against Marvelous’ Ai Houzan, COLORS’ Yuko Sakurai, and Diana’s Himiko before losing the belt to Riko Kaiju at year’s end. That’s a good group of names to defeat and there’s got to be hope that Crea and Kaiju are rivals moving forward as two of the great young talents in Joshi.

JD, who covers PURE-J on the Red Leaf Retrocast Patreon, has an encouraging overview as to why she’s the cream that could eventually rise to the top!

Coming out of the PURE-J dojo trained by long-time former JWP veteran Command Bolshoi, the 22-year-old from Nagoya, Aichi, Japan has a bright future.
She is heading into her fourth year in professional wrestling. Crea is coming off a year highlighted by her PURE-J Princess of Pro Wrestling title (PoP) win back in August 2022 against Haruka Umesaki (recently semi-main evented Stardom Dream Queendom). It was her first title win and a match worth checking out.
Her top matches from 2022 worth noting:
Hanako Nakamori & Momo Tani vs. Crea & Leon from March 3 and Rydeen Hagane & SAKI (c) vs. AKARI & Crea for the tag titles from November 27.
2022 saw a change in her gear, gain more confidence, and rank up her skills in the ring. Crea has developed strength in her submission game with moves like a smooth flying armbar and using more dynamic offense such as a wicked-looking hook kick. She has good size and tremendous developed speed off the ropes and off the ground which improved across 2022. If Crea adds more moves like her snap German Suplex, and adds more strikes for her offense to be more dynamic then watch out. A big addition needed in 2023 will be to have that impact finisher to close out matches.
Coming off that PoP title run, 2023 could be a breakout year for Crea inside PURE-J, and possibly using that to jump-start more bookings outside her usual stomping grounds. We’d like to see Crea and Akari possibly win the tag titles in PURE-J, get a couple of wins elevating her higher up the hierarchy, and hopefully Crea getting her first Openweight title match. It’s tough to break through decades-old traditional Joshi booking, but with the potential Crea has, maybe the cream will rise to the top. – JD (@BowlingJD)

You never know what Joshi prospects will go on to do when they’re part of independent promotions as these places more often than not lean on the veterans but Crea has that something special that gives her a shot. The more she works in her home promotion while also working in other places should do her a lot of good.

She has all the talent to make the splash so get your eyes on her now and don’t miss out.