Tokyo Joshi Pro’s second half of their Nagoya doubleheader featured a special live SKE48 concert with Yuki Arai ahead of her final performance with the group tomorrow before leaving to be part of TJPW full-time.
Today’s event was held at Chunichi Hall in Nagoya and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE as a PPV until 4/6 at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET. The replay is available for 3000 Japanese yen (around $20 US) for non-subscribers and 2500 yen (around $16.75 US) for subscribers. (UPDATE: I purchased the replay on 3/31/25 as a subscriber and, at that time, the 2500 yen translated to $16.70 US. The entire running time is 2 hours, 41 minutes. Except for the second match below, there is no commentary)
The announced paid attendance was 490, a legit advance sellout.
Match 1: In a “Class Of ’98” match, where all the participants were born in 1998, Yuki Arai, Neko Haruna & Moka Miyamoto beat Suzume, Arisu Endo & Shino Suzuki. Arai pinned Suzuki after Finally.
Match 2: Raku won a 6 woman battle royal, last eliminating Pom Harajuku. Order of elimination: Yuki Kamifuku by Miyu Yamashita, Mahiro Kiryu by Harajuku, Hyper Misao by Harajuku, Yamashita by Raku, Harajuku by Raku. Everyone in the match was dressed up as Yuki Arai. This match featured special live commentary from Haruo Murata & Marika Tani. (UPDATE: Not mentioned or noticed before was that former SKE48 member Shiori Aoki returned for this match as a special referee)
Main Event: Mizuki, Rika Tatsumi & Shoko Nakajima vs. Maki Itoh, Miu Watanabe & Yuki Aino went to a 15 minute time limit draw.
After the matches there was an intermission to remove the ropes from the ring and prepare for the concert. The matches went about an hour total.
The 90-minute (scheduled) concert featured 16 songs by Arai’s SKE48 Team KII including a 3-song encore, a final post-concert promo from Arai and group photo. Arai will now take a break next month before returning full-time in May but she will be part of the US events during The Collective in Las Vegas, NV, making what will be her US debut. It’s an enjoyable set and about halfway through featured my favorite (so far) SKE48 song, “Finally” which made me really happy. Today (3/31 in Japan) was Arai’s official final performance and at least some of the TJPW roster attended including Miu Watanabe & Miyu Yamashita. I will miss Arai as part of SKE48 but am excited to see her continue in TJPW and will continue to aupport her going forward. She also has her own new online fanclub starting which you can join at araiyuki.net.
The next event is Wednesday at Ueno Park Outdoor Stage in Tokyo. There will be no live broadcast.
There’s also been some outside-the-ring news:
Now that her SKE48 days are over, Yuki Arai has announced the release of another idol rite-of-passage: Her first photobook. It will be released in Japan on 5/23, you might be able to get it on Amazon Kindle outside Japan. It was shot in Bali, Indonesia and looks like it will be more pinup/gravure/swimsuit in nature. Of course I want it…
Also, Wakana Uehara announced today (4/1) she has left the talent agency she was previously signed with and will be independent going forward. This should not affect her TJPW participation but would also be for her other entertainment activities. She has also launched her own official website, which also notes her entrance song is available on iTunes in the US, which I thus need to download!
Santamaria