The Queen of Villains

I'm a wrestling fan and it's interesting to see Netflix up it's Wrestling content ahead of the arrival of the WWE next year. This Japanese series retells the story of iconic villain Dump Matsumoto and others from her time at the top of the profession, in the late 1980s.

Karuo Matsumoto (Yuriyan Retriever) dreams of becoming a professional wrestler and joins All Japan women's wrestling as a trainee in 1979. She struggles in the ring, as is surpassed by her classmates until she channels her hatred of her father (Takamitsu Nonaka) into a villainess character "Dump" Matsumoto. Wielding a chain, fork or Kendo stick, Dump intimidates fans and officials, breaks all the rules, and leaves her opponents a blood-soaked mess. Hatred of her revitalises All Japan and her rivalry with The Crush Girls remains the stuff of legend.

Though, as I say, I'm a wrestling fan - I can't claim to know that much about the History of wrestling in Japan from around the time I was born. I had heard of Bull Nakano, though from her stint in the WWF more so than anywhere else. So, this was a story I knew very little about but enjoyed immensely. Yuritan Retriever is excellent and shows great range from Matsumoto's early naïve and vulnerable years to the ones as Dump, a character that the show suggests she essentially was living and not just playing for the cameras.

It's interesting to see how Wrestling is portrayed in the series. Almost every match we see is presented as not using 'the script'. I.e. It's a real athletic contest with the result either not pre-determined, or someone refusing to take the instruction and doing what they want. I've tried to do a bit of research, though not come up with much, but I'd suggest that maybe the show is trying to 'print the legend', rather than capture the truth at times though I respect them for doing so.

I watched this in Japanese with subtitles, so can't speak to the dubbing work by amongst others Alexa Bliss. I would say that perhaps the series focused a little too much on life before "Dump" and not quite enough on her time with that alter ego, but that's my only real complaint.

I really liked the series though and would love to see more dramas about wrestling personalities being made, they are often more fascinating characters off screen than on.

From beginning to end Queen Of Villains grabs you and doesn't let you go as you follow Kaoru Matsumoto's trials and tribulations escaping a broken home and pursuing her dreams. As the psychological stresses begin to take their toll and responsibilities mount in the lives of Kaoru and her class of wrestlers entering the professional wrestling world they must all face their own unique challenges and adapt. The story is full of highs and lows and truly is a gut wrencher of a dramatic tale to follow but so full of heart and charm it never feels over done. Really one of those great pieces that captures the struggle of the human spirit. If you you cry and/or are moved easily you may want to keep a box of tissues on hand!

So I just got done binging through The Queen of Villains (2024-) and it was absolutely phenomenal. This is easily one of the best tv shows of 2024 for me.

Positives for The Queen of Villains (2024-): First off, this show did a phenomenal job at giving me a compelling story about Dump Matsumoto, a person who know little to nothing about, and I was instantly hooked from Episode 1. As someone who is a massive fan of professional wrestling and especially Japanese professional wrestling, this show gave me everything I wanted from the wrestling side of this story. I've also gotta give props to these actresses for their work in the ring and the fact that they aren't actual wrestlers is even more impressive. And finally, the show's finale is easily among one of the best finales I have seen in any tv show.

Overall, The Queen of Villains (2024-) is everything that I wanted it to be and more. So if you're a fan of professional wrestling like me, then you need go and watch this show as soon as possible because this was truly a phenomenal experience.

As a 47 year old fan of old school 80s wrestling, I actually witnessed the action in this drama at the time, so I was really looking forward to this one as I was hugely let down by Iron Claw, which is one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

This is by far the best drama or film about wrestling ever made, simply because the actual wrestling action is done properly. The girls in this show are outstanding. At first I thought they had used actual wrestlers but apparently not, these actresses have done a pheonomenal job at working in the ring.

The only downside is that after a really strong start, it takes some liberties with reality in the middle. At the point where Matsumoto turns into the heel character of Dump, they portray her as actually psychotic, in and out of the ring, instead of focusing on how well she created the character to convince the audience that she was psychotic. I get that's it probably for entertainment sake but I think it would have been more realistic, and more of a tribute to the legendary wrestler, to show that she was a really good entertainer instead of an out of control lunatic in real life.

However, that small blip aside, this is done really well. Filmed beautifully, well paced and accurate in portraying Japanese pro wrestling at the time, the costumes and styling of 1980s Japan is really on point.

If you're an 80s wrestling fan then this is gonna be right up your street and it's great to see the nostaligic action recreated on the screen. And if you're not a wrestling fan and you are not aware of the inner workings of the ring then this is pure entertainment and action, and not to be missed. Fantastic job.