Before Dump Matsumoto (Yuriyan Retriever) turned one in all Japan’s most reviled pro-wrestling villains, she was only a candy woman who overcame her shyness by watching different ladies within the ring. The Queen of Villains, a five-episode sequence about her rise to infamy, reveals her transformation from teenage wallflower Kaoru into the terrifying, bloodthirsty Dump Matsumoto.
Read on to familiarize your self with this real-life story.
When will The Queen of Villains be launched?
You can stream it beginning Sept. 19.
Where can I discover the trailer for The Queen of Villains?
Watch the trailer above.
Who’s within the solid of The Queen of Villains?
- Yuriyan Retriever (America’s Got Talent) as Kaoru “Dump” Matsumoto, a wrestling-obsessed teenager who turns into Japanese wrestling’s most notorious heel (the dangerous man)
- Erika Karata (Desert of Namibia) as Chigusa Nagayo, a failed wrestling trainee who finally rises to stardom
- Ayame Goriki (Watashi ga Ore no Jinsei?!) as Lioness Asuka, essentially the most athletic and technical wrestler amongst her friends
- Hitomi Kamoshida as Jackie Sato and Haruka Imou as Maki Ueda, the tag staff referred to as Beauty Pair
- Jun Murakami as Takashi Matsunaga, Daisuke Kuroda as Kunimatsu Matsunaga, and Takumi Saitoh as Toshikuni Matsunaga, the brothers who based All Nippon Women’s Pro Wrestling
- Takuma Otoo as Shiro Abe, wrestling promoter and referee
- Nobuko Sendo as Satoko, Dump Matsumoto’s mom
What occurs in The Queen of Villains?
Just as GLOW fictionalized the story of the US-based Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, The Queen of Villains turns Dump’s real-life story right into a five-episode dramedy. It follows a bunch of aspiring wrestlers in Japan’s pro-wrestling scene of the Nineteen Seventies and ’80s as they grow to be nationwide heroes — and, in Dump’s case, essentially the most hated girl in Japan.
When Chigusa Nagayo (Karata) lastly makes her professional debut, she shines within the ring and varieties the tag-team duo Crush Gals with Lioness Asuka (Goriki). Crush Gals, together with their predecessors, Beauty Pair, turned well-known for each their wrestling and their singing and dancing within the ring. Kaoru Matsumoto (Retriever) watches her good friend Chigusa’s ascent with a mixture of envy and want, in the end turning heel in an try and survive because the wrestler Dump Matsumoto.
Adopting a method of untamed make-up, a leather-based jacket, and a bamboo kendo sword, she goes wild out and in of the ring. As TV rankings skyrocket, Kaoru makes enemies of the Crush Gals’ followers throughout Japan, whipping up intense hatred and slander of herself and her household. However, Kaoru’s deep-seated rivalry along with her previous good friend and nationwide idol Chigusa drives her to maintain preventing. This results in a demise match between Chigusa Nagayo and Dump Matsumoto, with the loser’s head of hair on the road.
Is The Queen of Villains based mostly on a real story?
Yes, Dump Matsumoto is a real-life Japanese professional wrestler who rose to fame within the ’80s because the villainous adversary of beloved feminine wrestling duo the Crush Gals. However, the sequence is a fictionalized story based mostly on the wrestler’s actual life. In reality, creator Osamu Suzuki developed, wrote, and produced the sequence after listening to Matsumoto talk about her time within the ring. The real-life Chigusa Nagayo was the actors’ wrestling coach and choreographer, and he or she and Matsumoto served because the sequence’ wrestling supervisors.
“Yuriyan’s powerful performance is incredible,” Matsumoto instructed Netflix. “Some parts will make you cry, and I hope viewers will watch The Queen of Villains and feel inspired to believe that their dreams can come true if they never quit or give up.”
“Our story from the 1980s was authentically captured with this series,” Nagayo added, “and I’m grateful for the strength and resilience of the women we were back then.”
How lengthy did the actors prepare to grow to be wrestlers in The Queen of Villains?
Retriever spent two years getting ready for the function. “I auditioned in the fall of 2020, and filming began in July 2022,” the actor instructed Netflix. “We started with bodybuilding. You can’t have the body of a pro wrestler without building up your muscles, so under the guidance of a trainer, we started by developing muscle to gain strength.”
The costumes and hairstyles for the characters had been painstakingly re-created — which the actors can vouch for, since Goriki instructed Netflix she and her castmates ready by doing loads of analysis. “We all watched a lot of the videos from those days,” she mentioned.
Matsumoto confirmed the accuracy, too. Retriever instructed Netflix, “When Dump came to the set, she taught me how to swing the bamboo kendo sword to make it look bigger. She praised my gait and how I tossed my hair. She told me, ‘You did your research. It looks exactly the same.’ ”
What is the theme music from The Queen of Villains?
The music “Are you serious?” by Awich, which was written for the sequence, closes every episode. The title sequence is “Dump the Heel,” sung by Retriever herself.