While Willow Nightingale is predominantly recognized for her contributions to AEW, her journey in wrestling has also taken her to Japan, where she had the opportunity to refine her skills.
In 2022, Nightingale worked several dates for Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, and in 2023, she became the inaugural New Japan Strong Women’s Champion, solidifying her presence in the Japanese wrestling scene.
Reflecting on her experiences in Japan, Nightingale shared on “Chats & Graps” how influential women’s wrestling in the country played a pivotal role in shaping her career aspirations.
“Specifically speaking about Japan, a lot of my personal influences and role models came from there,” Nightingale expressed.
“When you think of…Bull Nakano, Aja Kong, even Awesome Kong, Kharma, whatever name you know her as, she really came into her own from going over there.
Her and Aja, we’re looking at biracial, black women, who are not the conventional body type you see in wrestling. That hits home for me.
When the time came where I was like ‘Can I be a wrestler? Will I sign up?’ Like, that really stuck me in my head and helped me believe that it was possible.”
In addition to personal inspiration, Nightingale believes that the influence of the Joshi scene has significantly impacted the wrestling world in the United States, particularly in terms of elevating the status of women in the industry.
“To be able to see a culture where, for maybe 20 years now, women’s wrestling has been wrestling at the forefront, that speaks volumes about how we got to where we are now,”
Nightingale remarked. “Whereas in the past, maybe 20 years ago when I was a kid watching [US] wrestling, women’s wrestlers did wrestle, and they were great at it.
But they weren’t really given the platform to have the wrestling itself be at the forefront.”
