WRESTLE PRINCESS 5, Tokyo Joshi Pro’s signature fall blowout event and second-biggest event of the year (it was the biggest until being usurped by GRAND PRINCESS a couple years ago), is in the books.
Today’s event was held at Makuhari Messe Industrial Exhibition Hall 6 in Chiba and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. (Normally it would be held in Tokyo but Korakuen Hall wasn’t available)
The announced paid attendance was 756.
Match 1: Haru Kazashiro beat Runa Okubo.
Match 2: Yoshiko Hasegawa, Kaya Toribami & HIMAWARI beat Kira Summer, Chika Nanase & Uta Takami. Toribami pinned Nanase.
Match 3: Kakeru Sekiguchi (Independent/Freelancer) & Mahiro Kiryu beat Wakana Uehara & Toga. Kiryu pinned Toga after a spinebuster.
Match 4: Ram Kaichow (666) beat Raku.
Match 5: Aja Kong (OZ Academy), Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku beat Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Aino & Shino Suzuki. Kong pinned Suzuki after a backdrop. Soon-to-be-former SKE48 member Shiori Aoki was special referee.
Match 6: Emi Sakura beat Shoko Nakajima.
Match 7: Xia Zhao (formerly Xia Li in WWE) & Mizuki beat Yuki Kamifuku & Veny. Zhao pinned Kamifuku after Thunder Strike. Post-match, Zhao challenged Kamifuku for both her current Asia promotion championships. (Zhao is also headed to TNA Wrestling soon but under a different name)
Match 8: International Princess Champion Yuki Arai beat Moka Miyamoto to retain the title. V5 for Arai. That’s a new record for most successful defenses in a reign. Obviously this all makes me very happy.
Match 9: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh beat Princess Tag Team Champions Suzume & Arisu Endo to win the titles. Yamashita & Itoh become the 17th Princess Tag Team Champions. Yamashita pinned Endo after Crash Rabbit Heat.
Main Event: Princess Of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe beat Ryo Mizunami to retain the title. V4 for Watanabe. Over the last month or so Watanabe did her pre-GRAND PRINCESS ritual of counting down the days left each night before signing off on social media so it had me worried she might wind up losing the title. Thankfully that did not happen.
The next event is Saturday at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo to kick off the fall house show tour. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET.
In other news, only one match was announced for upcoming events today: Miu Watanabe & Miyu Yamashita vs. Meiko Satomura (WWE) & Shoko Nakajima will happen at ALL RISE ’24 on 10/6 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Ryo Mizunami participation has also been confirmed for the event.
UPDATE: Injury Report-Runa Okubo suffered an undisclosed injury today in her match. Out indefinitely and will miss Saturday. Also off Saturday are Raku, Pom Harajuku and Yoshiko Hasegawa. Raku & Harajuku will be at events in Thailand. Hasegawa is off due to scheduling conflicts.
