We’ve assembled a distinguished panel to compile the most comprehensive 30 Under 30 list in wrestling for 2026! Inspired by the highly regarded FSM 50, Voices of Wrestling strives to deliver a list that is as informed and wide-ranging as possible. Our diverse panel features experts deeply involved in various wrestling styles from around the globe, including American television wrestling, lucha libre, deathmatches, joshi, and much more.
Every wrestler under thirty was eligible for this year’s list.
We’ve separated our list into several parts. This is Part II. Part 1, featuring Honorable Mentions and all wrestlers who received votes, is here.
The final piece, revealing Nos. 15-1, will be posted later.
Without further ado, here are the 30 best wrestlers under 30:
#30 – Sayaka Kurara
Age: 25
Years Active: 2
Promotion: STARDOM
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: World Of Stardom Champion, New Blood Tag Team Champion, Goddesses Of Stardom Tag League 2025 Winner
Highest Panel Ranking: 8
Last Year’s Ranking: NR
“Nobody shot up my list over the last few months quite like Sayaka Kurara did. She would have made my top 30 no matter what thanks to her charisma, striking look, and surprisingly explosive in-ring ability (seriously, where exactly did an art student learn how to throw spears like that? I mean, probably the STARDOM dojo, but you get the idea). What’s really taken her to another level, though, is how spectacularly she’s delivered since being elevated into the role of top babyface. This is still only a 25-year-old wrestler with less than two and a half years of experience, yet she’s already ended one of the most legendary World of STARDOM title reigns in company history in the main event of the biggest drawing show the promotion has ever run. That’s simply incredible. A unicorn indeed! In hindsight, STARDOM had clearly been preparing her for this spot long before they pulled the trigger, and I think a lot of people got worked a little by the intentionally unconventional path they took getting her to her most recent title match. Kurara already showed she was ready for this level back in early 2025 when she became such a central part of the Saya/Tam storyline, and by the time she landed that shockingly beautiful Firebird Splash to finally end Saya Kamitani’s reign, the doubters had been silenced for good.” – John Carroll
“Despite seeing her first wrestling match in 2022, she’s now the rocket the company has strapped itself to. What a push it’s been too, capped off by the match that ended Saya Kamitani’s nigh-invincible all-timer of a World of STARDOM reign. The protagonist aura is real, the selling is desperate, and her spear is already one of the best out there. A lot of people saw it coming, but not a lot expected it to be this successful this quickly. STARDOM has another pillar to lean on.” – Warren Hayes
#29 – Homare
Age: 21
Years Active: 1
Promotion: Dragongate
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: Open The Triangle Gate Champion
Highest Panel Ranking: 7
Last Year’s Ranking: NR
“As a little peek behind the curtain, I’ve been writing these blurbs in order from #1 through #30, and by the time I arrived at my 20th-ranked wrestler, Homare, I realized he embodies a lot of the same qualities I’ve already spent this entire project praising in other great young wrestlers. Was he absurdly talented basically from the very first match he ever wrestled, to the point where anyone watching without knowing his actual experience level would assume he was already a ten-year veteran of (Jado voice) dis business? Check. Is he ridiculously good-looking in a modern Dragongate landscape where some of the younger wrestlers have felt a little more plain than the company’s historical standard? Well, considering DG literally had to issue an official statement asking fans to stop harassing wrestlers after one especially deranged Homare fangirl caused problems at a signing event, I think we can safely mark that one down too. And does he feel poised to break out to an even greater degree at basically any moment now? Given how often Dragongate has historically used the ultimate loser of its annual mask/hair cage match as a launching pad toward bigger stardom, plus how significant it felt watching Homare finally separate from longtime mentor Shun Skywalker at the end of said match, I’d say that’s another obvious checkmark. At a certain point, Homare simply checks every box you’d want from a future wrestling star- and that’s very good news for a Dragongate promotion that could really use a few more of them in 2026.” – John Carroll
“Homare had as good as a first 18 months one could have as a Dragongate wrestler, but now it’s time for him to figure it out without Shun Skywalker in 95% of his matches. Still sickingly young, it’s time for him to grow as a babyface and see what he’s like with the restrictor plate taken off.” – Mike Spears
#28 – Suzume
Age: 27
Years Active: 6
Promotion: Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: International Princess Champion, DDT Iron Man Heavy Metal Champion
Highest Panel Ranking: 4
Last Year’s Ranking: NR
“There’s no underdog in wrestling today I’d rather watch work a match than Tokyo Joshi’s tiny hornet Suzume. Her selling is brilliant, and more than simply conveying pain (which she does incredibly well, of course), she constantly draws you in through her facial expressions and body language, making you believe she’s fighting with everything she has and refusing to give up. Rather than allowing the fact that she’s small even by joshi standards to become a limitation, everything Suzume does makes you desperately want to see her persevere and somehow find a path to victory. Already a two-time International Princess Champion and Princess Tag Champion (not to mention a former DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship holder!), I have absolutely no doubt she’ll eventually reach the Princess of Princess Championship before her already brilliant career is over. On the approximately 0.00001% chance Tetsuya Koda is reading this, please book that title win for a 1/4 Korakuen Hall show so I can be there in person to see it. Thanks!!” – John Carroll
“Suzume played a great babyface challenger to Miu Watanabe in their match at Tokyo Joshi Pro ‘26 in January, and she followed it up with another great match with MIRAI at Grand Princess ‘26. She is great at the high speed style, which positions her well against power wrestlers like Watanabe, strikers like Miyu Yamashita, and grapplers like Shoko Nakajima.” – Kim Wong
#27 – Junya Matsunaga
Age: 29
Years Active: 5
Promotion: Pro Wrestling ZERO1
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: ZERO1 World Heavyweight Champion, NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Champion, Furinkazan Tag Team Tournament 2025 Winner, Saikyou Ketteisen Tournament Winner
Highest Panel Ranking: 6
Last Year’s Ranking: NR
“Similar to my inclusion of Yuya Aoki, Junya Matsunaga had to be on this list in his final year of eligibility.
Always a prospect in ZERO1’s limited arsenal, the promotion’s resurgence and increased exposure over the last six months has coincided with a real maturation in Matsunaga’s work and presence. He’s thrived in both tags and singles matches and looks every bit the World Champion after his win over Masato Tanaka at the Anniversary Show back in April.” – Andrew Sinclair
“Everyone wants to talk about the new Hayabusa, and fairly so, but Junya Matsunaga might quietly be the heart of ZERO1 right now. He is very good in the ring and brings a fire to his work that feels genuine. The kind of guy that makes a promotion feel like it means something when he’s out there. ” – Griffin Peltier
“This is the final time I can include Matsunaga in this project, and he absolutely deserves a much higher placement than he received last year.
After all the turmoil surrounding the Tochigi/ZERO1 situation, he officially returned to his home promotion and made an immediate impact. Matsunaga hit the ground running, winning the tag tournament, capturing a One-Day Tournament victory, and even claiming the ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship by defeating the legendary Masato Tanaka.
It finally feels as though Matsunaga is emerging as a true cornerstone player for his home promotion.” – Chris Gascoigne
“Matsunaga finally won the ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship and carries himself well with the belt. He has the chance to really elevate ZERO1 alongside Shin Hayabusa.” – Gerard Di Trolio
#26 – Johnnie Robbie
Age: Under 30
Years Active: 4
Promotion: Freelancer
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: West Coast Pro Women’s Champion, PrideStyle World Champion, NTLL Women’s Champion, PrideStyle New Wave World Champion
Highest Panel Ranking: 6
Last Year’s Ranking: NR
“It never hurts to understand your own biases as both a fan and, uh, “content producer” (god, I hate that term), and mine very obviously lean heavily toward Japanese wrestling and the wrestlers who populate it, which you can see with my list obviously. Especially in modern times, when major league American wrestling often feels dominated by flashy performers who spend most of their matches lying around between spots (“spot-rest-spot” wrestling has perhaps never been more popular over here), I’m constantly struck by how technically proficient and genuinely hard-hitting Japanese wrestling remains at almost every level by comparison. So when I traveled to Las Vegas to watch West Coast Pro and Marvelous on the same night, I saw quite a few American wrestlers who wouldn’t have looked remotely out of place in Japan. But none stood out quite like Johnnie Robbie. She possesses that exact combination of confidence and charisma I would describe as “main character energy,” while also bringing high-level technical proficiency, outstanding selling, and genuinely great instincts to everything she does. At a time when so much of American wrestling seems to scream “go bigger, play to the cheapest seats, overdramatize like you’re delivering a Shakespeare soliloquy to a hurricane,” where indie wrestlers often carry themselves like they’re auditioning for NXT on the CW with no greater desire than to be in terrible AI-generated video packages or trying to make exaggerated reaction faces on TBS while the incredibly goofy 2026 version of Kazuchika Okada calls someone a bitch, Robbie instead chooses understatement at almost every turn. I genuinely cannot compliment her more highly than to say she feels like someone swimming against the tide- not necessarily because she thinks it’s the easiest path to money or fame (it almost certainly isn’t, although she’s talented enough that I’m totally positive that kind of success will find her eventually anyway), but because it simply feels like the kind of wrestling she wants to create. Put simply, if major league American wrestling had a lot more Johnnie Robbies, I would watch a lot more major league American wrestling.” – John Carroll
“I will be shocked if Johnnie Robbie is unsigned by one of the two giants battling for wrestling hegemony by this time next year. Beyond her technical prowess, she wrestles with her head up and ready to engage the crowd, a key skill that raises a wrestler to become a potential star.” – Kim Wong
“The best women’s wrestler on the US indies. Quick mind, so good in every situation in the ring that it seems effortless. Buy stock now, I am sure you will see her on TV soon.” – Brady Trappett
#25 – Xelhua
Age: 22
Years Active: 3
Promotion: Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: Gran Alternativa 2025 Winner
Highest Panel Ranking: 5
Last Year’s Ranking: NR
“Xelhua possesses some of the crispest pure technical wrestling skills in CMLL and the lucha clasica style he brings helps him stand out in a way that feels increasingly rare. He has bulked up considerably over the last two years to the point where he is now a legitimate heavyweight threat, which opens up a whole new set of possibilities for where his career can go. The world class potential has always been there and the pieces are falling into place around it. Guaranteed future star.” – Griffin Peltier
“Xelhua is someone I can’t get enough of. He’s got a great look and works a throwback, traditional, technical style that you just don’t see anywhere else. He’s yet to have the sort of really big blowaway match that would have put him higher on my list but at 22, this feels like the first appearance of many for him in my musings.” – Andrew Sinclair
“The most unique wrestler to me anywhere in the world and he delivers every time. It doesn’t matter if it’s a mat war with Solar, or an aerial back and forth with someone younger he can make the match work for his style and he never jeopardizes his gimmick for anything which is refreshing. Insanely young with a limitless ceiling.” – Corey Clark
#24 – OZAWA
Age: 29
Years Active: 8
Promotion: Pro Wrestling NOAH
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: GHC Heavyweight Champion
Highest Panel Ranking: 5
Last Year’s Ranking: 4
“OZAWA is in a bit of a weird part of his career now. While still very obviously talented, over and a draw, there’s no denying that his in ring work has suffered over the last year and arguably due to the aforementioned. Because he is is so over he’s realized that he can get away with largely relying on shtick and because he is such a draw no one in the promotion appears to be willing to push back on that. At this point the best thing for him would be moving him away from Team2000X and forcing him to reinvent himself and rely on his own work rather than copious amounts of interference from his faction. In a weird way he is essentially the shoot version of his character where his obvious talent makes his reliance on shortcuts makes you frustrated. Still the aforementioned obviousness of his talent makes his inclusion on this list necessary.” – Paul V
#23 – Rina
Age: 19
Years Active: 9
Promotion: STARDOM
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: Artist Of Stardom Champion
Highest Panel Ranking: 6
Last Year’s Ranking: NR
“Seemingly born to answer the question “what if beloved Sanrio character Kuromi became a professional wrestler?”, Rina has managed to outshine her very talented sisters Hina and Hanan at nearly every turn over the last couple of years. Now, is it inherently easier to get over as a cool, funny, pink-wearing heel than as an aloof quasi-babyface (a difficult balancing act that Hina handles quite well) or an utterly sincere white meat hero (arguably even harder, but Hanan gives it everything she has)? Of course. But it’s not like being a heel is some magical shortcut to success either, because we’ve all seen plenty of wrestlers fail miserably at it. Rina simply brings such infectious energy to almost everything she touches. She somehow makes even basic heel interference spots come across as weirdly charming- no small feat given how ubiquitous and, frankly, annoying those spots have become in modern wrestling. And when it’s finally her turn to step into the ring, she can absolutely tear the house down, as she repeatedly proved during last year’s 5STAR GP. The fact that Rina would also qualify for a hypothetical 20 Under 20 list while simultaneously already being a nine-year (!!) veteran almost feels unfair. She’s going to be really, really good for a really, really long time, which made her an easy wrestler to rank highly on my list.” – John Carroll
“It took Rina a while to win me over, but she finally did this year in her match with her sister, Hanan. She is becoming a polished, charming wrestler, and she is only 19 years old. Though she’s wrestled primarily as a heel in H.A.T.E., she even showed her potential as a compelling face in her match against Konami this year. Her intensity, dynamism, and versatility promise great potential for Rina, and I’m excited to see her progress over the coming decade of eligibility for this list.” – Kim Wong
#22 – Kaito Kiyomiya
Age: 29
Years Active: 10
Promotion: Pro Wrestling NOAH
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: N/A
Highest Panel Ranking: 5
Last Year’s Ranking: 9
“Kaito Kiyomiya is a weird one. A three-time GHC Heavyweight Champion who put together a legitimate Match of the Year contender with his Iron Man match against Kenoh last year, the in-ring ability is not in question. And yet something about his positioning in NOAH hasn’t clicked recently, leaving him feeling like a complete zilch despite the resume. Working Scott D’Amore Pro hasn’t done him any favours either. Maybe the thirties bring a new chapter, or maybe a jump somewhere else is what finally gets him over this strange hump he’s been stuck on. The talent is clearly there. The rest just needs to catch up again.” – Griffin Peltier
#21 – Atlantis Jr.
Age: 28
Years Active: 8
Promotion: Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: World Historic Light Heavyweight Champion, Gran Alternativa 2025 Winner, Copa Dinastias 2025 Winner
Highest Panel Ranking: 1
Last Year’s Ranking: 11
“There’s a case to be made that Atlantis Jr. is one of the best wrestlers in the world right now, and not enough people are making it. Pushed too fast and too soon earlier in his career, he has since done the quiet work of developing into one of the most consistent luchadors on the CMLL roster. The problem is that consistency has made him easy to take for granted, and in today’s CMLL landscape he gets slotted into upper midcard main events as a reliable option rather than treated as the star he has every tool to become. He has everything needed to be a major player in lucha libre for a long time.” – Griffin Peltier
#20 – Gabe Kidd
Age: 29
Years Active: 14
Promotion: All Elite Wrestling
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion, AEW World Trios Champion
Highest Panel Ranking: 8
Last Year’s Ranking: 1
“There is no reason to think Kidd doesn’t possess the talent to be a top star in wrestling, but his jump to AEW before fully establishing himself in NJPW has left him as mid-card act in a promotion that is teeming with competitive acts (such as Kevin Knight) that have been placed above him.” – Jesse Collings
“Splitting his time between New Japan and AEW feels like it derailed Gabe Kidd’s momentum in 2025/26 – with stronger booking and a more consistent, organic presentation, he could and should have been further up this list. Kidd’s in-ring work is among the best in the world. There’s a violence, aggression and bite to everything he does that stands out whichever promotion he’s in. However, where he struggles is letting that work speak for itself. He’s often too pre-occupied with ensuring he comes across as tough that he can verge on the distinctly off-putting.” – Andrew Sinclair
#19 – Ryoya Tanaka
Age: 27
Years Active: 2
Promotion: Dragongate
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: Open The Brave Gate Champion, King Of Chop 2025 Winner
Highest Panel Ranking: 3
Last Year’s Ranking: NR
“A not-uncommon refrain in nerdy puro circles over the last few years has been some variation of “Nowadays, DDT out-Dragongates Dragongate.” A lot of that comes down to the recent waves of young DDT wrestlers embodying the kind of matinee idol good looks that once felt synonymous with DG itself. When you look around a packed DDT Korakuen Hall crowd and see young women reacting like it’s 1980s Texas and they’re watching the Von Erich brothers, the comparison starts to make sense. Meanwhile, Dragongate has recently produced wave after wave of perfectly competent young wrestlers who execute moves well enough, but often lack that classic idol appeal. With all due respect to the Kazuma Kimuras of the world, some of them frankly look a little plain. And then there’s Ryoya Tanaka. As DG English commentator Jae has said on commentary himself, if you tried to design a Dragongate wrestler in a laboratory, you’d probably end up with something awfully close to Tanaka. He’s incredibly handsome, overflowing with confidence and charisma, and an exceptionally smooth in-ring worker on top of it all. In a sea of wrestlers who sometimes feel like they would’ve been little more than opening match guys during the 2000s or even much of the 2010s, Tanaka looks like someone who would fit seamlessly into any era of the company. This is a Star with a capital S, and given the relative lack of competition around him in his home promotion, the opportunity in front of him is enormous. He’s already on the verge of breaking a Brave Gate single-reign defense record that has stood for 15 long years, which at the very least suggests Dragongate understands exactly what they have here: a truly special young talent.” – John Carroll
“Ryoya Tanaka is The Guy. It’s been clear since day one with his exceptional debut match with Yamato. It was clear also when he was the glue holding D’Courage together through injuries and Dragon System Drama. And it’s even more clear now he’s challenging 2011 PAC for the greatest Open The Brave Gate champion of all time. Frankly, he should break the defense record as soon as possible and then he should be challenging Kikuta at Kobe World and become a Double Champion. Almost lab engineered as the perfect Dragon System wrestler. Fully expect him to top my ballots in years without Saya Kamatani breaking 50 year old award records.” – Mike Spears
#18 – Leon Slater
Age: 21
Years Active: 7
Promotion: TNA Wrestling
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: TNA X-Division Champion, RevPro Undisputed British Tag Team Champion, BWR Cruiserweight Champion, DW Y Division Champion, NORTH Champion, Trios Grand Prix 2025 Winner
Highest Panel Ranking: 7
Last Year’s Ranking: NR
“The fact Leon Slater is still only 21 boggles my mind because I’ve been watching him ever since the pandemic. The last 12 months have been a time of real maturation for him. His X-Division title reign in TNA has been pretty much the only good thing the promotion has had to offer under their current torrid booking regime – a regime that drew him right up to the record and then had him lose a two-out-of-three falls bout with Cedric Alexander. That match rocked, however, as did his title defences with the likes of Myron Reed, Rich Swann, AJ Francis and Eric Young. A standout for consideration on this list though was his Bound for Glory bout with WWE contemporary Je’Von Evans. Screwy finish aside, that match showed Slater to be the far more well-rounded, complete worker with a clear understanding of what you should do between the big, flashy moves.” – Andrew Sinclair
#17 – Ryohei Oiwa
Age: 27
Years Active: 4
Promotion: New Japan Pro Wrestling
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champion, World Tag League 2025 Winner
Highest Panel Ranking: 6
Last Year’s Ranking: 28
“Ryohei Oiwa- or “Roy,” as his British mentor likes to call him (still one of my favorite recent ZSJ-isms)- is very much a wrestler’s wrestler. He’s far from the flashiest performer you’ll ever see step into a ring, but just about everything he does simply looks right. The holds look painful, the strikes look genuinely laid in, and perhaps most importantly, Oiwa carries himself like an athlete sincerely trying to win a competitive contest rather than merely putting on a performance. Over roughly the last fifteen years, NJPW has produced quite a few wrestlers who sometimes felt more like performers staging an exhibition than fighters engaged in an actual struggle, and while that style has obviously worked out tremendously well for the company at times, Oiwa’s more straightforward approach still feels like a refreshing change of pace. It may ultimately place a slight cap on his ceiling compared to some of NJPW’s more overtly charismatic stars, but honestly, Oiwa is so consistently excellent that it wouldn’t shock me if he eventually forced the company’s hand anyway. Our boy Roy may yet hold that beautiful IWGP Heavyweight gold someday.” – John Carroll
“Slowly coming along after being re-introduced to NJPW, Oiwa has benefited from his tag team with Zack Sabre Jr., which has allowed him to headline some smaller shows and gain important experience working in the main event spot.” – Jesse Collings
#16 – Daiki Odashima
Age: 25
Years Active: 1
Promotion: Pro Wrestling NOAH
Accomplishments Over The Last Year: GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion
Highest Panel Ranking: 2
Last Year’s Ranking: NR
“A fun, spirited underdog, Odashima has come on great guns over the last 12 months. His tag team work alongside Daga has been excellent, and he showed earlier this year that he can thrive in big singles settings too with a GHC Junior challenge against Amakusa.” – Andrew Sinclair
“While he is small even for a NOAH Jr., Odashima is an incredible talent that can fly and throw beautiful suplexes in equal measure. He is the future of NOAH’s Jr. division and well on his way to being one of the best workers in the business.” – Gerard Di Trolio
“Daiki Odashima is the next great hope of NOAH’s junior heavyweight division, the heir presumptive of the legacy that KENTA, Naomichi Marufuji, Taiji Ishimori, and Kotaro Suzuki left behind. With his “never say die” attitude and skill as a grappler, Odashima leapt off the screen every time I’ve seen him, and he was a bright spot in a sea of black Team 2000x shirts and wrestlers cosplaying as American cowboys in modern-day NOAH.” – Kim Wong
“One of the only reasons to remember that Pro Wrestling NOAH exists.” – Alan Counihan
