Before Dump Matsumoto (Yuriyan Retriever) became one of Japan’s most reviled pro-wrestling villains, she was just a sweet girl who overcame her shyness by watching other women in the ring. The Queen of Villains, a five-episode series about her rise to infamy, shows her transformation from teenage wallflower Kaoru into the terrifying, bloodthirsty Dump Matsumoto.
Read on to familiarize yourself with this real-life tale.
You can stream it starting Sept. 19.
Watch the trailer above.
Just as GLOW fictionalized the story of the US-based Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, The Queen of Villains turns Dump’s real-life story into a five-episode dramedy. It follows a group of aspiring wrestlers in Japan’s pro-wrestling scene of the 1970s and ’80s as they become national heroes — and, in Dump’s case, the most hated woman in Japan.
When Chigusa Nagayo (Karata) finally makes her pro debut, she shines in the ring and forms the tag-team duo Crush Gals with Lioness Asuka (Goriki). Crush Gals, along with their predecessors, Beauty Pair, became famous for both their wrestling and their singing and dancing in the ring. Kaoru Matsumoto (Retriever) watches her friend Chigusa’s ascent with a mix of envy and desire, ultimately turning heel in an attempt to survive as the wrestler Dump Matsumoto.
Adopting a style of wild makeup, a leather jacket, and a bamboo kendo sword, she goes wild in and out of the ring. As TV ratings skyrocket, Kaoru makes enemies of the Crush Gals’ fans across Japan, whipping up intense hatred and slander of herself and her family. However, Kaoru’s deep-seated rivalry with her old friend and national idol Chigusa drives her to keep fighting. This leads to a death match between Chigusa Nagayo and Dump Matsumoto, with the loser’s head of hair on the line.
Yes, Dump Matsumoto is a real-life Japanese pro wrestler who rose to fame in the ’80s as the villainous adversary of beloved female wrestling duo the Crush Gals. However, the series is a fictionalized story based on the wrestler’s real life. In fact, creator Osamu Suzuki developed, wrote, and produced the series after hearing Matsumoto speak about her time in the ring. The real-life Chigusa Nagayo was the actors’ wrestling coach and choreographer, and she and Matsumoto served as the series’ wrestling supervisors.
“Yuriyan’s powerful performance is incredible,” Matsumoto told 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.”
Retriever spent two years preparing for the role. “I auditioned in the fall of 2020, and filming began in July 2022,” the actor told 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 were painstakingly re-created — which the actors can vouch for, since Goriki told Netflix she and her castmates prepared by doing plenty of research. “We all watched a lot of the videos from those days,” she said.
Matsumoto confirmed the accuracy, too. Retriever told 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.’ ”
The song “Are you serious?” by Awich, which was written for the series, closes each episode. The title sequence is “Dump the Heel,” sung by Retriever herself.
