Wrestling has a surprising amount in common with anime. They both feature larger than life heroes, villains who are capable of the most evil acts, and ridiculous fight scenes that defy comprehension. Anime and wrestling are also environments where characters can freely move between wicked whims and pure intentions without necessarily facing real-world consequences.
There's significant crossover between the themes and values in both anime and wrestling, but the similarities go even deeper. Anime has established an impressive reputation for the diverse places that it's pushed wrestling. There are grounded, patient series that focus on the basics of the sport, while others bravely turn wrestling into a chaotic free-for-all solution to the apocalypse. Between these extreme examples, there's a lot for wrestling fans to explore.
Updated on April 30th, 2023 by Sage Ashford: Anime has always specialized in telling gripping stories featuring relatable characters and epic action. It's these same ideas that make people want to watch wrestling, so fans of both are more likely than ever to check out wrestling and combat sport series. We've updated this list with more information about some of the best anime and manga focused on professional wrestling and fighting.
15 Kick-Heart
1 Episode
Masaaki Yuasa is one of the most creative voices in anime. All of Yuasa's television and feature film contributions are dazzling displays of style and emotion. Kick-Heart is a 12-minute short film that Yuasa funded through Kickstarter. It tells a beautiful tale of star-crossed lovers who can realize their passion within the wrestling ring.
Romeo and Juliet spend their days working at an orphanage, while at night they masquerade as volatile luchador wrestling combatants. Yuasa doesn't hold back with his trademark visuals and creative bursts of color. The precise choreography of wrestling becomes the perfect conduit to show off Yuasa's skills.
14 Baki The Grappler
99 Episodes
Baki is an intense action series where powerful individuals long to face defeat at the hands of Baki, an athlete who's reached peak physical condition through strenuous training. Any variety of physical combat is allowed in Baki’s altercations, but most showdowns adopt a wrestling framework.
Anime adaptations for Baki have been happening since 2001, but Netflix's recent take on the manga's "Most Evil Death Row Convicts" story arc has resulted in some of the best Baki material to date. That being said, any of these series should appeal to wrestling fans.
13 Cutie And The Beast
By Yuuhi Azumi
Cutie and the Beast is a touching love story that uses wrestling as the unique element that brings together Kuga and Momoka. Momoka has always felt like an outcast because she doesn't fawn over the same pretty boys that her friends do.
Instead, Momoka is drawn to Kuga, a professional wrestler who most people know as his villainous heel character on TV. A proper anime for Cutie and the Beast has yet to happen, but this tender mix of romance and sports is bound to connect with diverse audiences once someone finally brings it into the ring.
12 Hajime No Ippo
127 Episodes
Hajime no Ippo is a boxing series, but there's still a lot for wrestling fans to connect with in this grueling, serialized look at a no-nonsense boxer named Makunouchi Ippo. Hajime no Ippo has had various adaptations over time, including the more extreme Megalobox.
What's common between these adaptations is that they always focus on the hard work and fundamentals of the sport, as well as the physical toll that it takes on its fighters. These are all ideals that wrestling fans can appreciate.
11 Giganto Maxia
By Kentaro Miura
A one-shot manga from Kentaro Miura of Berserk fame, Giganto Maxia is too extreme of a wrestling series to ignore. Set hundreds of millions of years in the future, gigantic bugs terrorize what's left of the planet following a cataclysmic event known as the Great Destruction.
Three unlikely warriors — a gladiator, titan, and mystic — must fight against these monsters and help save what's left of the world. The action sequences in Giganto Maxia are clearly influenced by wrestling, and it's deeply entertaining to watch a giant perform a suplex on a huge cockroach.
10 Abarenbou Rikishi!! Matsutarou
23 Episodes
Released in the mid-2010s, Abarenbou Rikishi!! Matsutarou follows a young man named Matsutarou Sakaguchi. When audiences first meet Matsutarou, he’s lazy and prone to cause problems more than he fits into the typical sports anime protagonist mold. Matsutarou accepts the fact that he's not good at much in life, except for the physical acts of strength that are prevalent in sumo wrestling.
Abarenbou Rikishi differs from the standard sports anime and its protagonist leaves a lot to be desired. That being said, there's a true charm to Abarenbou Rikishi that grows more apparent over time and is effectively complemented by the series' distinct art style.
9 I Wanna Be The Strongest In The World
12 Episodes
I Wanna Be the Strongest in the World is about a young woman who starts out as an idol, only to shift her life towards the world of wrestling. I Wanna Be the Strongest in the World fights typical sports series expectations by making her path to glory filled with more setbacks than accomplishments. This anime has a lighter touch at times, but sobering defeats mean that it never verges too far into fantasy.
The tone and characters in I Wanna Be the Strongest give the anime a polarizing reputation, but those who like it are all-in on its unique wrestling antics. There's copious fan service on display, but it's at least appropriately balanced with genuine wrestling theatrics.
8 Keijo
12 Episodes
Keijo is one of the more ridiculous sports anime to come along and while it's not based on an actual sport, the crude competition that the anime depicts has actually found a dedicated fandom in real life. Keijo follows teams of female athletes who battle it out on platforms that levitate above the water. The aim in Keijo is to knock the competition off balance, but only through the use of hips and posteriors.
The plot of Keijo is ludicrous and prone to gratuitous visuals. However, the series plays everything straight, meaning the competitions in Keijo play out like in any other sports series and build toward suspenseful drama. Wrestling fans will have plenty to appreciate here beyond the surface-level fan service.
7 Plastic Model Wrestling Sanshiro
37 Episodes
Plastic Model Wrestling Sanshiro takes place in a universe where tiny robots known as "PlaWres" engage in battle alongside their young partners. The humble protagonist in Plastic Model Wrestling Sanshiro is Sanshiro Sugata, who builds his own custom model called Juohmaru to participate in intense matches.
The cute artifice of this standard sports anime subversion has become more popular in passing years through branded properties like Gundam Build Fighters. Plastic Model Wrestling Sanshiro offers a similar premise, but one that falls back on athleticism rather than on giant robot rampages.
6 Hinomaru Sumo
24 Episodes
One of the most uplifting tropes in anime and manga is that underestimated individuals get to emerge as the ultimate underdogs. Hinomaru Sumo looks at an optimistic would-be wrestler, Hinomaru Ushio, who sees his dream get snatched away from him when he learns that he's under the required weight limit. Rather than give up on his passion, Hinomaru refocuses his efforts and finds an arena where he can properly dominate.
Ushio decides to become his high school's strongest sumo wrestler, which sets him on an arduous path toward greatness. The only problem here is that Hinomaru's high school doesn't have a sumo club, which means that he needs to exhibit some opportunistic charm in addition to his peak physical strength.
5 Tiger Mask
105 Episodes
Plenty of anime have legacies that go back several decades. Tiger Mask is one of the most iconic wrestling series and has its root back in the 1960s. Tiger Mask finds a strong structure that effectively combines sports staples with the more exaggerated villains that occupy shonen series.
Naoto Date is a successful wrestler who turns his back on his public heel persona after he sees young children idolize his wicked ways. Naoto's mission for redemption turns him into a better wrestler, but it also exposes him to a vicious association of villains, the Tigers' Den. These monsters exploit children and add a very personal element to Naoto's quest that goes far beyond wrestling supremacy.
4 Jushin Liger
43 Episodes
A lot of experienced wrestling fans have at least some level of familiarity with Jushin Thunder Liger, one of Japan's most famous athletes. Jushin Thunder Liger has established a career that's lasted longer than three decades, but what's not as well-known is that Jushin's gimmick and character are largely inspired by a retro anime series with the same name.
Created by prolific mangaka Go Nagai, Jushin Liger is a series' from the late 1980s and early '90s that follows Ken Taiga, a special individual who gains unique armor that pushes him to powerful new heights. Ken Taiga dons the title of Jushin Liger and uses this unique armor to protect the Earth from Dragonite's dark intentions.
3 Ultimate Muscle
77 Episodes
Kinnikuman found surprising success in North America under the title Ultimate Muscle. So much of the appeal of this anime is how it toes the line with parody and how strange fighters and sudden tonal shifts undercut the battles at hand in entertaining ways. Mantarou Kinniku finds himself at a painful crossroads when the Earth is under attack and he's expected to follow in his wrestler father's footsteps.
Mantarou begins Ultimate Muscle with limited interest in fighting against these deadly juggernauts. However, a fateful meeting between Mantarou and his father's old trainer reawakens his fighting spirit and puts him on the path to accomplishing what his dad never could. A satisfying mix of action and absurdism, Ultimate Muscle will resonate with wrestling fans of all ages.
2 Kemono Michi: Rise Up
13 Episodes
Anime's isekai genre has exploded in popularity over the last decade, and some extremely creative approaches to these fantastical anime series have begun to dominate the industry. In this sense, it was perhaps only a matter of time until isekai tropes and wrestling were combined. Kemono Michi: Rise Up is about a princess who summons Genzo Shibata to her fantasy world.
The princess hopes Genzo will take care of her land's monster problem, but he's more interested in shirking responsibilities and performing wrestling moves on the royalty. Genzo eventually accepts that his options are limited in this isekai situation and his wrestling skills soon become his greatest tool against supernatural creatures. Kemono Michi has lots of action, heart, and humor to experience.
1 Tiger Mask W
52 Episodes
Modern reboots and sequel series to classic anime have become increasingly popular over the last decade. Tiger Mask W is a recent update to the original Tiger Mask series, that pushes the classic story to greater heights. Tiger Mask W feels like both a remake and an evolution of its predecessor.
New individuals step into the roles of Tiger Mask and Tiger the Dark as they fight for the future of the Tiger's Lair. The values of these characters reflect the original series, but there's a serious upgrade to the animation and battle choreography. What makes Tiger Mask W such a special wrestling anime is that it's actually affiliated with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Several real wrestlers from the company show up in the series and take on these fictional fighters.
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