January 4, or Ittenyon in Japanese, is the biggest day of pro wrestling annually in the country. While it’s mainly about Tokyo Dome, it also sees Tokyo Joshi Pro begin the day with their signature year-opening event, “Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling 2026”. It’s a blowout event with 3 title matches, an annual traditional single match and plenty more in between. The traditional single match is a bit wacky this year…the match itself is Shoko Nakajima vs. Hyper Misao. The wacky part is this time it’s a TJPW Horse Princess Cup Match-instead of a traditional match, there will be three wrestlers “racing” around the venue making 3 laps through the crowd. The first to finish wins for a specific wrestler, but Nakajima & Misao can freely interfere in the racers’ paths. There will be no pinfalls, submissions, countouts or DQs. There are also bonus prizes for fans who participate in a related lottery and pick the winning “horse”. That aside, the 3 title matches start with International Princess Champion Arisu Endo defending the title against MIRAI, who bounced around last year starting in Marigold then leaving for Michinoku Pro and now coming to TJPW. The second title match has Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara defending the titles against Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro, while the main event will be Princess Of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe vs. Suzume for the title. If Suzume can win the title, she will become the 3rd wrestler in TJPW history to become a Triple Crown Champion, having held all 3 of the promotion’s championships. The other two? Watanabe and Rika Tatsumi. Finally, OG roster member Yuka Sakazaki, currently with All Elite Wrestling, makes her latest long-awaited return to the promotion for a special 6-woman tag match. Oh, 3 title matches? Actually perhaps 4 because a DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship match is scheduled but that always comes with the 24/7 “subject to change” caveat.
Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese & English. J-Pop idol Momo Sakurai will be a special guest on Japanese commentary. Kira Summer will be on English commentary after her match. The event is a legit advance sellout although standing room only tickets will be sold today. Based on the time limits for the card and being 9 matches with no intermission, the total running time should wind up being around a “standard” Korakuen event of 2 1/2 hours but not more than 3 hours, meaning there will be plenty of time to get ready for Tokyo Dome (at least 90 minutes).
Today’s lineup:
Shion Kanzaki Debut Match: Uta Takami & Chika Nanase vs. Ren Konatsu & Shion Kanzaki
Yuna Manase & Toga vs. HIMAWARI & Kira Summer
DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Mahiro Kiryu vs. Aja Kong, Rika Tatsumi & Shino Suzuki in a 4-way for the title
Shoko Nakajima vs. Hyper Misao in a TJPW Horse Princess Cup Match. See above for rules
Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami vs. J-ROD & Mifu Ashida
Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Yuki Arai vs. Max The Impaler, Pom Harajuku & Raku
International Princess Champion Arisu Endo vs. MIRAI for the title
Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara vs. Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro for the titles
Princess Of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe vs. Suzume for the title
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET. The live stream is scheduled to begin 20 minutes before the event.
Pre-show Update: The live stream start has been pushed back 5 minutes and will now be 15 minutes before the event begins. Also, there may be an emergency change of ring announcer today as Rise Shirai posted on social media that she suffered minor injuries in a fall at her home today. Mostly bruises and a chipped front tooth. We’ll find out.
Also, the WRESTLE UNIVERSE video page is listing the Iron Man 4-way as a regular 3-way with no Suzuki. Nothing on social media about any changes, the only thing so far is an apology about many supporter towels not being available for sale at the venue due to shipping issues.
5:45 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Your hosts are Haruo Murata, Kagehiro Osano, Sayoko Mita & special guest Momo Sakurai. Your English host is Mr. Haku, to be joined later by Kira Summer.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s a legit advance sellout with standing room only tickets sold today, so the number will depend on the setup. It’s going to be closer to “new noemal” full capacity today which is around 1500 (the pre-pandemic full capacity was 2350 but normally was 2100) but maybe a little less. With standing room I’ll predict around 1400. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 1564. That would suggest a lot of standing room tickets were sold but based on what I saw this may be a little inflated)
The matches should begin in 25-30 minutes. Rise Shirai is good to go as ring announcer while referee Fumirin is also there to provide English translation for visiting foreign fans during opening announcements. And good news today-STREAMERS!!!
They also announced NEXT YEAR’S installment of this event. 1/4/2027 at Korakuen so start planning now!
Up Up Girls time…false alarm about Shino Suzuki. She’s goof to go so UNIVERSE’s website match listing is wrong.
The matches begin at 6:12 PM PT/9:12 PM ET.
Match 1: Shion Kanzaki Debut Match: Uta Takami & Chika Nanase vs. Ren Konatsu & Shion Kanzaki. 20 minute time limit
Result: Uta Takami & Chika Nanase beat Ren Konatsu & Shion Kanzaki. Takami beat Kanzaki with Koala Clutch.
Match 2: Yuna Manase (Ganbare Pro) & Toga vs. HIMAWARI & Kira Summer. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuna Manase & Toga beat HIMAWARI & Kira Summer. Toga pinned Summer after Rock Bottom.
Match 3: DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Mahiro Kiryu vs. Aja Kong, Rika Tatsumi & Shino Suzuki in a 4-way for the title. 20 minute time limit
Result: Aja Kong beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Mahiro Kiryu, Rika Tatsumi & Shino Suzuki in a 4-way by pinning Suzuki to win the title. Kong becomes the 1791st Champion. Which led to…
Mahiro Kiryu beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Aja Kong ot win the title. Kiryu becomes the 1792nd Champion. Both Kiryu & Tatsumi pinned Kong together, but Kiryu was declared champion due to being underneath Tatsumi. Ugh…opportunities always wasted by putting it right back on Kiryu…
A character called Minimo-Chan is brought out. I think this is supposed to be an announcement related to GRAND PRINCESS ’26. And it is…Debut Match on 3/29!?! Mari Yaguchi, a former member of J-Pop girl group Morning Musume, will be there as a supporter.
Match 4: Shoko Nakajima vs. Hyper Misao in a TJPW Horse Princess Cup Match. Instead of a traditional match, there will be three wrestlers “racing” around the venue making 3 laps through the crowd. The first to finish wins for a specific wrestler, but Nakajima & Misao can freely interfere in the racers’ paths. There will be no pinfalls, submissions, countouts or DQs. 15 minute time limit. The “racers” are Uta Takami, Ren Konatsu & Shion Kanzaki
During the match…
Hyper Misao’s Bicycle beat DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion Mahiro Kiryu to win the title. Bicycle becomes the 1792nd Champion.
Result: Ren Konatsu “won”. That apparently meant neither wins. After that in the confusion…
Mahiro Kiryu beat DDT Iron man Heavymetalweight Champion Hyper Misao’s Bicycle to win the title. Kiryu becomes the 1793rd Champion.
Match 5: Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami vs. J-ROD & Mifu Ashida. 20 minute time limit
Result: Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami beat J-ROH & Mifu Ashida. Toribami pinned Ashida after Tenshoryu (middle rope moonsault press).
Match 6: Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Yuki Arai vs. Max The Impaler, Pom Harajuku & Raku. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Yuki Arai beat Max The Impaler, Pom Harajuku & Raku. Arai pinned Harajuku after a brainbuster. Interesting.
Quick break for ring repairs.
Match 7: International Princess Champion Arisu Endo vs. MIRAI (Michinoku Pro) for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: MIRAI beat International Princess Champion Arisu Endo to win the title. MIRAI becomes the 16th International Princess Champion. Next up: Toga. I’m sure a lot of fans have been waiting for this moment, myself included. Toga has had breakout star written all over her since her debut, and the last few months it’s felt like she’s been on the verge and just was waiting for that chance. It may have just come.
Match 8: Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara vs. Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro for the titles. 30 minute time limit
Result: Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara beat Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro to retain the titles. Uehara beat Kazashiro with Banana Pillow. V3 for the champs.
Main Event: Princess Of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe vs. Suzume for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: Princess Of Princess Champion Miu Watanabe beat Suzume to retain the title. V4 for Watanabe. But I thought Suzume was going to win it after brilliantly countering a Teardrop attempt with Ring A Bell near the 20 minute mark…but it wasn’t enough. Next up: TBD on Saturday with the match happening at GRAND PRINCESS ’26.
The next event is Saturday at Shinjuku Face. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Friday at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET.
Post-event note: It turns out that former TJPW wrestler Nao Kakuta did a live watch party stream with commentary during the event and was joined by fellow former wrestler Yoshiko Hasegawa. The replay of this is available FOR FREE on YouTube on Kakuta’s new channel so check it our for a fun way to watch the replay if you have two screens to make it work.