Tag: tjpw

The biggest day of the year in Japanese pro wrestling kicks off with Tokyo Joshi Pro opening 2024 with their first blowout event of the year. 3 big title matches headline a 10-match extravaganza today-first, in a match that will have me on pins & needles, Yuki Arai challenges International Princess Champion Max The Impaler for the title. Can the Genius Girl solve the Non-Binary Nightmare? Then, what was to have been a Princess Tag Team Championship match between Nao Kakuta & Hikari Noa and Suzume & Arisu Endo is now a 3-way for the titles because Kakuta & Noa vacated the titles due to Noa being out indefinitely (the always vague poor health/physical condition). Suzune & Endo will face Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi and Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino for the titles. In the main event, Miyu Yamashita defends the Princess Of Princess Championship against Masha Slamovich. This will also be the final event for Runa Okubo for now. The rookie will be away for the near future to focus on her education (high school entrance exams) and is planning to return in March.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. Arai’s SKE48 teammate Marika Tani will be a guest on Japanese commentary. You can also watch the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube. Fans will be allowed to throw streamers into the ring but they just announced it won’t be allowed during only the 4th match due to the nature of the match. There will be a post-event gathering/autograph session afterwards at a nearby venue. Although this event will be over in time for fans to get to (or ready for) Tokyo Dome they do caution it’s going to be a longer event than normal. With the plans for the post-event party they may have to push that back a little but plan on this event going roughly 3 hours. (Pre-show mote: TJPW is saying around 3 hours runtime for today’s event, which would leave maybe 90 minutes until Tokyo Dome afterwards)

Today’s lineup:
Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Toga vs. Moka Miyamoto, Juria Nagano & Kaya Toribami
Raku, Ram Kaichow & Pom Harajuku vs. HIMAWARI, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo
Mizuki vs. Nao Kakuta
Shoko Nakajima vs. Hyper Misao
Riho vs. Shino Suzuki
Aja Kong vs. Wakana Uehara
Rina Yamashita vs. Maki Itoh
International Princess Champion Max The Impaler vs. Yuki Arai for the title
Suzume & Arisu Endo vs. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe and Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino in a 3-way for the vacant Princess Tag Team Championship
Princess Of Princess Champion Miyu Yamashita vs. Masha Slamovich for the title

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 5:30 PM PT/8:30 PM ET. The event is scheduled to begin at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET.

5:30 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has started. We should be going to the venue in about 15 minutes.

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 Marika Tani (SKE48). Your English hosts are Baliyan Akki & Mr. Haku.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s a slightly modified reduced capacity setup as usual so won’t be in the 4 digits, plus a Stardom event is about to start too, but looks like a good crowd so far. Probably will be around 700. Will not be a sellout but looks like it will wind up being close. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 1235, a super full house/very near sellout. Blew my estimate away and then some)

The matches should start in about 20 minutes.

No match lineup video as usual for Korakuen, Sayuri Namba handles it today as she usually does for other events.

The matches begin at 6:15 PM PT/9:15 PM ET.

Match 1: Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Toga vs. Moka Miyamoto, Juria Nagano & Kaya Toribami. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Toga beat Moka Miyamoto, Juria Nagano & Kaya Toribami. Kamifuku pinned Toribami after Fameasser.

Match 2: Raku, Ram Kaichow (666) & Pom Harajuku vs. HIMAWARI, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo. 20 minute time limit
Result: Raku, Ram Kaichow & Pom Harjauku beat HIMAWARI, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo. Raku pinned Kazashiro after Doctor Yellow.

The YouTube broadcast ends here.

Match 3: Mizuki vs. Nao Kakuta. 15 minute time limit
Result: Mizuki beat Nao Kakuta

Match 4: Shoko Nakajima vs. Hyper Misao. Some kind of ladder match with a Daruma hanging above the ring. 15 minute time limit
Result: Shoko Nakajima beat Hyper Misao. Retrieving the Daruma. Comedy match largely involving Misao riding her new and improved Hyper Bike all throughout Korakuen Hall. Nice guided tour!

Match 5: Riho (All Elite Wrestling) vs. Shino Suzuki. 15 minute time limit
Result: Riho beat Shino Suzuki by submission

Match 6: Aja Kong (OZ Academy) vs. Wakana Uehara. 15 minute time limit
Result: Aja Kong beat Wakana Uehara

Match 7: Rina Yamashita (Independent/Freelancer/Game Changer Wrestling) vs. Maki Itoh. 20 minute time limit
Result: Rina Yamashita beat Maki Itoh

Match 8: International Princess Champion Max The Impaler vs. Yuki Arai for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Arai beat International Princess Champion Max The Impaler to win the title. Arai becomes the 12th International Princess Champion. FINALLY!!! SHE DID IT!!! A long-awaited measure of revenge. Last year on this date Max & Heidi Howitzer beat Arai & Saki Akai to win the Princess Tag Team Championship and Max also stole Arai’s prized hairpin. After this, Max returned the hairpin in an honorable gesture. Now Arai has it back and she is finally a singles champion. And I broke down crying very happy tears of joy. It’s all worth it now.

Match 9: Suzume & Arisu Endo vs. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe and Ryo Mizunami (Independent/Freelancer) & Yuki Aino in a 3-way for the vacant Princess Tag Team Championship. 30 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Aino & Ryo Mizunami beat Suzume & Arisu Endo and Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi in a 3-way, when Aino pinned Endo, to win the Princess Tag Team Championship. Aino & Mizunami become the 15th Princess Tag Team Champions. Kinda feel bad for Suzume & Endo because they lost a good chance to win when Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta had to vacate the titles and cost them a shot and instead they got put into a 3-way here instead that really stacked the deck against them. They’ll be back.

Main Event: Princess Of Princess Champion Miyu Yamashita vs. Masha Slamovich for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: Princess Of Princess Champion Miyu Yamashita beat Masha Slamovich to retain the title. V3 for Yamashita. The onscreen graphics on the stream incorrectly spelled Masha’s last name as “Alamovich”. When it was over, Masha made it clear she wanted one more match. Next up: The winner of a 6 person battle royal Saturday, meaning it will be one of these: Mizuki, Maki Itoh, Miu Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Kamifuku, Shoko Nakajima. That title match will happen at GRAND PRINCESS ’24 on 3/31 at Ryogoku Kokugikan. Just not Mizuki or Itoh again please…

The next event is a TJPW INSPIRATION stand-alone event Saturday at Shinjuku Face. It is supposed to be headlined by Slamovich vs. Hikari Noa in some form of deathmatch but that is questionable because of Noa’s status as she may be off the event due to the ever-vague poor health/physical condition that caused her to miss today. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Friday at 5:45 PM PT/8:45 PM ET with live results scheduled.

UPDATE: The Noa-Slamovich Death Match Saturday is now off. Noa remains out and will miss the event. Max The Impaler is the replacement and it will be a normal match.

UPDATE 2: Maki Itoh is now off all events for the next month after Saturday. Returning to the US from 1/13-1/27. Will return on 2/10.

More bad news for DDT & their sub-brands as the body count keeps rising, and as a result, this breaking news: The Tokyo Joshi Pro Princess Tag Team Championship is now VACANT. Previous champions HIkari Noa & Nao Kakuta have vacated the titles because Noa is now off the 1/4/24 event. The ever-vague poor health/poor physical condition. Out indefinitely. Kakuta attended the emergency press conference but Noa did not. They were to have defended the titles against Suzume & Ariseu Endo on 1/4. As a result, there will now be a 3-way between Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe, Suzume & Arisu Endo and Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino for the titles and Kakuta will now face Mizuki on 1/4.

Tokyo Joshi Pro wrapped up the CITY CIRCUIT 2023 Tour today with their penultimate event of the year, their annual fan appreciation event. This event featured matches that were all determined by a fan lottery/drawing at the prior event.

Today’s event was held at Kasukabe Fureai Cube in Saitama and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 210.

Miyu Yamashita, Rika Tatsumi & Mizuki all missed the event due to remaining on overseas expeditions to the US and Nao Kakuta missed the event due to scheduling conflicts. All matches had a 7 minute time limit.

In opening announcements, Princess Tag Team Champions Nao Kakuta & Hikari Noa vs. Suzume & Arisu Endo for the titles was added to 1/4 at Korakuen Hall.

Match 1: Arisu Endo beat Haru Kazashiro.

Match 2; Suzume beat HIMAWARI.

Match 3: Shoko Nakajima beat Toga.

Match 4: Yuki Kamifuku beat Runa Okubo & Shino Suzuki in a 3-way by pinning Okubo.

Match 5: Raku vs. Juria Nagano went to a time limit draw.

Match 6: In a match where you had to answer a trivia question right after a 2 count or submission to win, and you could lose on a 1 count while a song was playing after a wrong answer, Hyper Misao beat Kaya Toribami.

Match 7: Mahiro Kiryu vs. Wakana Uehara went to a time limit draw.

Match 8: Yuki Aino beat Pom Harajuku.

Match 9: Maki Itoh vs. Hikari Noa went to a time limit draw.

Main Event: Miu Watanabe beat Moka Miyamoto.

The next event is “Se-No, Marry Christmas! 2023”, their final event of the year, on 12/24 at Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo. Yuki Arai participation has been announced but Nao Kakuta will miss the event due to a stage performance. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 10:15 PM PT/1:15 AM ET but the actual start time is subject to change as that is 45 minutes before the event begins (streams normally start 30 minutes before an event, sometimes 15 minutes if there are pre-show matches).

COMBAT PRINCESS USA, Tokyo Joshi Pro’s US return co-promoted with Prestige Wrestling, is now in the books.

Today’s event was held at the Vermont Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA and cam be watched on demand as a PPV on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in English (additional purchase required, around $20 US). There were technical issues during the live broadcast so it may be unavailable while a better quality replacement is put up.

The paid attendance has not yet been announced. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 400, a super full house/very near sellout)

Match 1: Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku beat Rika Tatsumi & Amira. Harajuku pinned Amira after Wasteland War Justis.

Match 2: Trish Adora beat Moka Miyamoto.

Match 3: Mizuki beat Sandra Moon.

Match 4: Miu Watanabe beat Hyan.

Match 5: Princess Tag Team Champions Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta beat Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie to retain the titles. Noa pinned McKenzie with a blizzard suplex hold. V3 for the champs.

Match 6: Taya Valkyrie beat Shoko Nakajima.

Main Event: Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly beat Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh. Slamovich pinned Yamashita after a jumping piledriver.

The next event is Sunday at Kasukabe Fureai Cube in Saitama. All the matches were determined by fan lottery at a recent event, thefe will be 11 matches with a 7 minute time limit for each. Yamashita, Mizuki & Tatsumi will miss this event due to remaining overseas while Kakuta will moss the event due to scheduling conflicts. There will be no live broadcast.

Tokyo Joshi Pro held a special aquarium-thened comedy event recently that was premiered for viewing earlier today. This was a previously recorded standalone event.

This event was held at Hakkeijima Sea Paradise in Yokohama and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE as a PPV (separate purchase required). It should be available for all monthly subscribers without additional purchase in a few months.

This was a closed venue event with no fans in attendance.

The format was a best-of-3 match series between teams of 6 led by Yuka Sakazaki & Yuki Arai. Matches were held inside an actual aquarium and were Falls Count Anywhere with no actual ring aka Street Fights, similar to how DDT does their Street Pro Wrestling events.

Match 1: Miu Watanabe & Arisu Endo beat Shoko Nakajima & HIMAWARI. Watanabe beat HIMAWARI with a Canadian backbreaker.

Match 2: Rika Tatsumi & Suzume beat Yuki Arai & Raku. Tatsumi pinned Raku.

Main Event: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki vs. Hyper Misao & Nao Kakuta went to a no contest. Ref assault by both teams. Draw. Which led to…
Impromptu Match: Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki, Rika Tatsumi, Suuzume, Shoko Nakajima & HIMAWARI beat Yuki Arai, Raku, Miu Watanabe, Arisu Endo, Hyper Misao & Nao Kakuta. Sakazaki pinned Endo after a running elbow butt. Sakazaki gets sent off with a giant stuffed animal.

At US independent promotion Major League Wrestling’s (MLW) latest live event last night, Tokyo Joshi Pro participation in 2 title matches were among the highlights of the event. Here’s what happened:

Miyu Yanashita successfully defended the Princess Of Princess Championship against Delmi Exo. V2 for Yamashita. The champ is on her latest international excursion ahead of her next scheduled defense in Japan on 1/4/24 against Masha Slamovich.

Maki Itoh lost to indy standout and occasional TJPW/All Elite Wrestling participant Janai Kai by submission as Kai retained the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Championship. Kai choked out Itoh after a missed diving headbutt following outside interference and other shenanigans.

Also in action was Satoshi Kojima, as the Japanese legend and inaugural MLW World Champion beat Tom Lawlor, and was serenaded by the Bread Club fans in attendance-yes, they actually threw slices of bread in the ring. Kojima noted on the socials he wanted to bring Japanese bread with him but couldn’t take it through US Customs.

The event is available on demand on FITE with a FITE+ subscription for $7.99/month or $69.99/year.

Tokyo Joshi Pro finished their 10th Anniversary celebration by returning to where it all began-the site of their very first event-but it also marked an ending as they said farewell to original roster member Yuka Sakazaki, who had been with the promotion since Day 1. Sakazaki is leaving to continue her career outside Japan.

Today’s event was held at Kitazawa Town Hall in Tokyo and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Monday. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 204, a super full house/very near sellout.

The event opened with a random lottery draw for the card for the annual fan lottery match event on 12/17. Those matches include Wakana Uehara vs. Aja Kong and also on 1/4/24 it will be International Princess Champion Max The Impaler defending against…Yuki Arai! I’m both excited and scared for my girl Arai, just surviving against the Non-Binary Nightmare will not be easy.

Match 1: In an I Quit Match, Yuka Sakazaki & Rika Tatsumi beat Antonio Honda (DDT) & Trans-Am⭐️Hiroshi by making Honda say “I Quit”, which was the only way to win.

Match 2: Wakana Uehara, Shino Suzuki & Runa Okubo beat HIMAWARI, Toga & Haru Kazashiro. Uehara beat Kazashiro with a sleeper hold.

Match 3: Miu Watanabe, Suzume & Arisu Endo beat Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami. Watanabe pinned Toribami after Teardrop.

Match 4: Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta, Mizuki & Moka Miyamoto beat Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku. Mizuki pinned Harajuku with Cutie Special.

Main Event: Yuka Sakazaki Farewell Match: In a No Time Limit match, Yuka Sakazaki beat Miyu Yamashita & Shoko Nakajima in a 3-way by pinning Nakajima. Which led to…
Impromptu Match: Yuka Sakazaki vs. Mizuki went to a 3 minute time limit draw.

Sakazaki farewell ceremony closed the event. In Japanese culture they call it Graduation when one leaves a group/promotion for reasons other than being fired or retiring. It had its usual weird moments such as Tatsumi ceremonially b*tch slapping Sakazaki (they’re weird customs), traditional gift and flower presentations, group hugs and photos and lots of tears flowing as Sakazaki’s 10 years in TJPW came to a close. While it’s not entirely clear where Sakazaki will go next beyond outside Japan, the common thought is she will return to All Elite Wrestling, as she has been part of their roster since Day 1 and was pushed early on, including handing Britt Baker her first AEW loss. Unfortunately the pandemic and global travel restrictions halted that push early on but once restrictions eased she was able to return for a few appearances. Such a move would also keep the door open for independent and other international appearances, including potential special returns to Japan.

The next event is COMBAT PRINCESS USA on 12/14 in Los Angeles, CA. Although the Globe Theater is listed as the venue, co-promoter Prestige Wrestling announced late yesterday it will be moved to The Vermont Hollywood. This will be a live PPV on WRESTLE UNIVERSE for 3000 yen (around $20 US) in English, and a paid monthly subscription is not required to buy the PPV. There also will be support content packs available for 1500 yen (around $10). The PPV can be purchased now until 12/20 and includes on demand replays until 1/30/24. The live broadcast begins on 12/14 at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET.

There also is another pre-taped PPV that will be available on WRESTLE UNIVERSE Sunday, this is an Aquarium Pro Wrestling event at Halkeijima Sea Paradise in Yokohama. It will premiere Sunday at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET and can be purchased until 12/19, with replays available until 2/28/24. This PPV also costs 3000 yen (around $20).

Another big change was just made for Tokyo Joshi Pro’s COMBAT PRINCESS USA event in Los Angeles, CA later this month: An already announced match between Nao Kakuta & Hikari Noa and Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie has just been changed to be for the Princess Tag Team Championship held by Noa & Kakuta. This will be the 3rd defense for the champs.

The event will be held on 12/14 and it also was announced that it will be broadcast on PPV but I don’t know where (it likely will not be WRESTLE UNIVERSE or FITE).

UPDATE: PPV will be on WRESTLE UNIVERSE for 3000 yen, or around $20 US. Will be in English. Pre-sales begin Thursday.

UPDATE 2: And more potential headaches for the event…co-host Prestige Wrestling just announced the event has been moved from the Globe Theater to the Vermont Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA due to ongoing issues with the former. First The Globe was going to close, then it wasn’t, and now this with the event just 9 days away.