Out pro wrestler Alexis Lee, one of the most important wrestlers to ever come out of Singapore, is set to step into a Japanese ring for the first time.
Lee will debut for popular women’s pro wrestling promotion Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling during its spring tour stop at Tokyo’s Shinkiba 1st Ring on May 18. One of the more decorated champions to come out of Southeast Asia, Lee’s first match in TJPW pits her against Singapore Pro Wrestling Queen of Asia champion and Vietnam Pro Wrestling Women’s champion Yuki Kamifuku with both titles on the line.
The match itself represents a bit of revenge for Lee that brings the budding rivalry between the two to its most high-profile stage yet. Kamifuku ended Lee’s 364-day reign as SPW Queen of Asia champion last November and again defeated Lee on Saturday to become the inaugural VPW Women’s champion and the first women’s singles champion in Vietnamese pro wrestling history.
Beyond titles and storylines, the announcement puts overdue recognition on Lee for what she has meant to the rise of pro wrestling and specifically women’s pro wrestling throughout Southeast Asia. Recognized as the first Singaporean female wrestler ever, Lee built her name over the last 10 years in her home promotion Singapore Pro Wrestling.
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“I started watching pro wrestling because I was being bullied in school and wrestling helped me get through it,” Lee told the Singaporean Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth in 2022. “Hopefully one day, through my work in wrestling, I could help someone else in my situation. That’s one of the reasons I got into pro wrestling. So far, it has been amazing because I’ve had people come up to me and tell me how I’m an inspiration to them.”
Her growth in the ring brought opportunities to wrestle for promotions in numerous Asian nations, including China, South Korea, The Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand. She made her U.S. debut in 2018 for Florida-based Championship Wrestling Entertainment, winning the CWE Vixens title and holding it for over 2100 days.
The “Lion City Hit Girl” also holds the record for the longest SPW Southeast Asia Tag Team title reign with tag partner Nyc at 485 days and also secured gold in Australia. She won the first women’s match in Vietnamese pro wrestling history last year and earned an invitation to a WWE tryout in China back in 2019.
In that time, Lee has shown her skill against a number of wrestlers who have become household names, including inaugural All Elite Wrestling Women’s World champion Rhio, former NXT Women’s champion Indi Hartwell, Emi Sakura, Katie Forbes and former TJPW Princess of Princess champion Mizuki.
Those accomplishments define Lee as a standout, but they also point to how her presence continued to build pro wrestling’s visibility and viability within Southeast Asian nations that have just begun to build their pro wrestling histories. And Lee carries all of that into the ring against Kamifuku on May 18.
Fans can check out Lee and Kamifuku’s double championship clash when the event streams live on Wrestle Universe at 12 p.m. local Tokyo time on May 18 and 11 p.m. EDT on May 17.
