Tag: tjpw

Tokyo Joshi Pro continued the Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament today with the Semifinals.

Today’s event was held at Kasukabe Fureai Cube in Saitama and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 251, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1: Mahiro Kiryu beat HIAMWARI.

Match 2: Mizuki beat Wakana Uehara by submission.

Match 3: Raku beat Yuki Aino & Neko Haruna in a 3-way by pinning Haruna.

Match 4: Yuki Arai, Suzume & Arisu Endo beat Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Kaya Toribami. Suzume pinned Toribami after Ring A Bell.

Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament Semifinals:
Match 5: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh beat Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano. Itoh beat Nagano with Itoh Punish.
Main Event: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao beat Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe. Nakajima pinned Tatsumi after a diving senton.
As a result, the Finals will be Yamashita/Itoh vs. Nakajima/Misao. That will happen on 2/11.

The next event is “Beyond the origin, to the future” tomorrow at Twin Box Akihabara in Tokyo, the promotion’s 10th Anniversary event. It will be a one-day single-elimination tournament, matches will not be in a ring but on small mats with no ropes, 5 minute time limits and only 1 or 2-count pinfalls. The entire roster will participate with the following exceptions: Yuka Sakazaki (in the US for All Elite Wrestling), Yuki Kamifuku (in Singapore for events), Yuki Arai (not scheduled to participate) and Wakana Uehara (scheduling conflicts), so 19 total. This will be a closed event with no fans in attendance and will be available as a PPV on WRESTLE UNIVERSE for around $27 for non-subscribers and around $20 for monthly subscribers (a 20% discount for subscribers). You must order the PPV via the website version of the service and not the mobile app, then you can use the app to watch. The live broadcast will begin at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET. It’s not known when the replay will be available on demand for all subscribers.

Tokyo Joshi Pro continued the Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament today with the rest of the Quarterfinals.

Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 268.

During opening announcements, a 10th Anniversary event for 1/30 was announced for WRESTLE UNIVERSE and International Princess Champion Miu Watanabe vs. Janai Kai for the title was announced for 2/18. If they can’t defend the title overseas (the original plan before the pandemic took hold) this is the next best thing.

Match 1: Hikari Noa beat Wakana Uehara.

Match 2: Mizuki & Mahiro Kiryu beat Nao Kakuta & HIMAWARI. Mizuki beat HIMAWARI with a facelock.

Match 3: Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Yuki Kamifuku beat Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku. Itoh beat Harajuku.

Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament Quarterfinals:
Match 4: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao beat Neko Haruna & Kaya Toribami. Misao pinned Haruna after Hypami Returns.
Match 5: Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano beat Suzume & Arisu Endo. Miyamoto pinned Endo after Korokan.
Main Event: Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe beat Saki Akai & Yuki Arai. Tatsumi beat Arai with White Dragon Sleeper. The defending champs move on and Arai was left crying backstage, and once again I’m heartbroken over another painful loss for Arai & Akai.
As a result, the Semifinals will be Miyamoto/Nagano vs. Yamashita/Itoh and Nakajima/Misao vs. Tatsumi/Watanabe.

The next event is 1/29 at Kusakabe Fureai Cube in Saitama with the Semifinals. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 3 AM ET/midnight PT.

UPDATE: The 1/30 event will be a PPV on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. It will be held at TwinBox AKIBAHARA and will be a closed event with no fans in attendance. The event will have a one-night Princess Of The Decade tournament with all participating wrestlers. The PPV will be available for pre-order starting Tuesday and will cost 3500 Japanese yen or 2800 yen for WRESTLE UNIVERSE monthly subscribers. For subscribers, that works out to around $23 US and around $30 for non-subscribers.

More as it becomes available.

UPDATE 2: On 1/20 TJPW announced Yuka Sakazaki, currently in the US for her latest return to All Elite Wrestling, will return to TJPW on 2/11. Also, at some point in March Maki Itoh will miss some events due to returning to Game Changer Wrestling in the US.

In a Twitter post from US independent promotion Deadlock Pro Wrestling (DPW), they announced Tokyo Joshi Pro Princess Tag Team Champions Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler will defend the titles on 2/25 in Raleigh, NC vs. Raychell Rose & Hyan. In a retweet in Japanese, TJPW confirmed this match is official. No word yet on if this match will be available live online or later on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

More as it becomes available. See the original Twitter post below:

🚨 DPW YAK UPDATE 🚨

WASTELAND WAR PARTY vs RAYCHELL ROSE & HYAN for the TJPW PRINCESS TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP is scheduled for DPW You Already Know on February 25th in Raleigh, NC!

🎟 https://t.co/zuMyEshkdN pic.twitter.com/B5M3hP2G64

— DEADLOCK Pro Wrestling (@deadlockpro) January 17, 2023

Tokyo Joshi Pro begins the 3rd Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament today with opening round matches. This is a tag team tournament coming back for the second straight year in the winter as a lead-in to GRAND PRINCESS in March, featuring almost the entire TJPW roster participating. Of the 10 teams many are established to some extent and have been featured before but there are some new faces as well as notable names missing-in particular one top team absent this time is Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki. Sakazaki is in the USA for the next month, presumably for a return to All Elite Wrestling, and won’t be back until March and thus being the privileged, snobby brat she is Mizuki refused to participate without Sakazaki. Also sitting out the tournament is Pom Harajuku, who has opted to be a cheerleader for her friends Yuki Aino & Raku. New rookies Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI, who just debuted, also will not participate. The assumption seems to be that despite a mild concussion a couple weeks ago, Miyu Yamashita will be competing and teaming with Maki Itoh-there have been no indications Yamashita is out. The eventual tournament winners will probably get a shot at NEW Princess Tag Team Champions Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler at GRAND PRINCESS ’23, I’m personally hoping Yuki Arai & Saki Akai claim the tournament and can win the belts back. The defending tournament champion team is Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe.

Today’s event will be held at Otemachi Mitsui Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. There will be no commentary. The event is a legit advance sellout-only 50% capacity so vocal cheering probably will be allowed. For the tournament there are 2 1st round matches and one 2nd round match today (it’s single-elimination but the bracket setup is odd because there are 10 teams participating). With 6 matches and probably no time limit for the tournament matches I anticipate the event’s running time being around 2 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Shoko Nakajima vs. Wakana Uehara
Mizuki vs. Hyper Misao & Pom Harajuku in a 3-way
Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & HIMAWARI vs. Suzume, Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami
Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament Round 1:
Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu vs. Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
Saki Akai & Yuki Arai vs. Yuki Aino & Raku
Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament Quarterfinals: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh vs. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at midnight ET/9 PM PT.

11:30 PM ET UPDATE: The live stream has started. Updates will begin in about 30 minutes when we go to the venue.

11:55 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Otemachi Mitsui Hall in Tokyo, Japan. There is no commentary.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event but it is a legit advance sellout. With only 50% capacity because vocal cheering is allowed it’s probably going to be between 250-300.

The matches begin at 12:10 AM ET. The match order listed above is today’s official match order. No time limit for the tournament matches. Looks like hard-camera only setup today.

Match 1: Shoko Nakajima vs. Wakana Uehara. 15 minute time limit
Result: Shoko Nakajima beat Wakana Uehara

Match 2: Mizuki vs. Hyper Misao & Pom Harajuku in a 3-way. 20 minute time limit
Result: Hyper Misao beat Mizuki & Pom Harajuku in a 3-way by pinning Harajuku.

Match 3: Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & HIMAWARI vs. Suzume, Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami. 20 minute time limit
Result: Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & HIMAWARI beat Suzume, Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami. Watanabe pinned Toribami after Teardrop. And that’s career V1 for HIMAWARI!

Match 4: Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament Round 1: Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu vs. Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano. No time limit (side note: Miyamoto recently unveiled a new look and changed her outfit up. I really like it)
Result: Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano beat Yuki kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu. Nagano pinned Kiryu after a spinning head kick. As a result, Miyamoto & Nagano advance to the Quarterfinals and will face Suzume & Arisu Endo.

Match 5: Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament Round 1: Saki Akai & Yuki Arai vs. Yuki Aino & Raku. No time limit
Result: Saki Akai & Yuki Arai beat Yuki Aino & Raku. Akai beat Raku with an arm triangle choke. As a result, AA Eye Candy advances to the Quarterfinals and will face Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi. One step closer!

Main Event: Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament Quarterfinals: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh vs. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta. No time limit
Result: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh beat Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta. Yamashita pinned Kakuta after Skull Kick. As a result, Yamashita & Itoh advance to the Semifinals and will face the 1/19 Miyamoto/Nagano-Suzume/Endo winner.

The event was a little shorter than anticipated, the total running time was 1 hour 45 minutes.

The next event is Thursday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo with the remaining Quarterfinals: Miyamoto/Nagano-Suzume/Endo, Arai/Akai-Tatsumi/Watanabe and Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Neko Haruna & Kaya Toribami. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 2 AM PT/5 AM ET. Likely no vocal cheering as it’ll be full capacity.

UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 310.

Tokyo Joshi Pro continued the CITY CIRCUIT series with a visit to Okayama today, their first trip to Yuki Aino’s hometown in about a year.

Today’s event was held at Okayama Convention Center in Okayama and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (probably Wednesday). There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 284. Vocal cheering was allowed and despite the reduced capacity, photos on DDT’s website show a mostly full venue.

Match 1: Moka Miyamoto beat HIMAWARI by submission.

Match 2: Mizuki beat Kaya Toribami.

Match 3: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta beat Raku & Pom Harajuku. Noa pinned Harajuku with a blizzard suplex hold. Well, at least we know Harajuku is alive after yesterday…

Match 4: Trish Adora beat Hyper Misao.

Match 5: Miu Watanabe & Suzume beat Maki Itoh & Mahiro Kiryu. Watanabe pinned Kiryu after Teardrop.

Match 6: Max The Impaler & Heidi Howitzer beat Yuka Sakazaki & Arisu Endo. Max pinned Endo after Master Blaster.

Main Event: Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino beat Rika Tatsumi & Yuki Kamifuku. Aino pinned Kamifuku after Venus DDT.

The next event is 1/15 at Otemachi Mitsui Hall in Tokyo with the start of the 3rd Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament. I imagine the tournament winners will now get a chance to try and regain the Princess Tag Team Championship back from Wasteland War Party, most likely at GRAND PRINCESS ’23. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 11:30 PM ET/8:30 PM PT.

Tokyo Joshi Pro continued the CITY CIRCUIT series from last year today, which is normally when they visit a wrestler’s hometown for an event. Today it was their first visit to Kobe since last summer.

Today’s event was held at Kobe Art Center in Kobe and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNVIERSE at a later date (probably Tuesday or Wednesday). There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 237, a full house/near sellout.

Match 1; Nao Kakuta beat HIMAWARI.

Match 2: Yuki Kamifuku beat Kaya Toribami.

Match 3: Yuki Aino & Raku beat Maki Itoh & Hikari Noa. Raku pinned Noa after Doctor Yellow.

Match 4: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao beat Yuka Sakazaki & Mahiro Kiryu. Nakajima pinned Kiryu with a Northern Lights suplex hold.

Match 5: Max The Impaler, Heidi Howitzer & Trish Adora beat Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Pom Harajuku. Max pinned Harajuku after Master Blaster. After being carried to the back by the winners, Harajuku’s whereabouts are in question and her life should be feared for. (That’s meant to be comedy of course)

Main Event: Suzume & Arisu Endo beat Mizuki & Moka Miyamoto. Suzume pinned Miyamoto after Ring A Bell. In the post-main event winners’ promo, Suzume & Endo aka Dejimon declared they would win the upcoming Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tag Team Tournament. What ends up higher-their win total or number of different Endo hair colors for their matches?

The next event is tomorrow at Okayama Convention Center in Okayama. This is their first event there in a year and is a Yuki Aino hometown event so she gets the main event spot. There will be no live broadcast.

A few minutes ago Tokyo Josbi Pro announced more injury news and it’s more significant: Miyu Yamashita’s scheduled trip to England this weekend to defend the Pro Wrestling EVE Championship is now off. Concussion. According to a loose translation of the Twitter post in Japanese. Yamashita had a headache after yesterday’s event, where she lost to Yuka Sakazaki for the Princess Of Princess Championship in the main event, and was hospitalized, where a subsequent MRI revealed a mild concussion with no abnormalities. Out indefinitely. The EVE matches probably will be rescheduled at a later date. She would have missed this weekend’s TJPW events anyway because of the trip.

More as it becomes available.

The biggest day of the year in Japanese pro wrestling kicks off today with Tokyo Joshi Pro running a matinee to begin their 2023 with their first major event of the year. The event has 8 scheduled matches and a bit of everything, starting with two new debuting wrestlers, then a mini battle royal to determine the next Princess Of Princess Championship challenger, and finally 3 title matches to close it out-first, International Princess Champion Miu Watanabe looks to overcome a huge size disadvantage once again as she defends the title against AEW’s Trish Adora. Second, Princess Tag Team Champions Saki Akai & Yuki Arai have another very tough task ahead as they defend the titles against Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler, which has me very worried for AA Eye Candy. Finally, it’s a showdown between the top 2 TJPW wrestlers of all time as Princess Of Princess Champion Yuka Sakazaki defends the title against Miyu Yamashita, who looks to become the first 4-time champion in history against the only other 3-time champion in Sakazaki. It should be another instant classic.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. The opening video will be narrated by Japanese voice actress Yuko Minaguchi. The Japanese commentary team will be Haruo Murata, Kagehiro Osano, Sayoko Mita and SKE48 member Marika Tani. The English commentary team will be Chris Brookes & Drew Parker. The promotion has already mentioned the main event will take place roughly 2 hours in so the event should have a total running time of just over 2 1/2 hours. (Pre-show Update: TJPW is projecting the event will end around 2 PM JST, meaning a roughly 2 1/2 hour runtime and finishing about 80 minutes before New Japan’s Tokyo Dome event begins)

Today’s lineup:
HIMAWARI Debut Match: HIMAWARI vs. Yuki Aino
Wakana Uehara Debut Match: Wakana Uehara & Arisu Endo vs. Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami vs. Raku, Pom Harajuku & Neko Haruna
Shoko Nakajima vs. Hyper Misao
6 Woman staggered entry battle royal. The winner will be the next challenger for the Princess Of Princess Championship. Participants-Mizuki, Maki Itoh, Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Kamifuku, Suzume, Hikari Noa
International Princess Champion Miu Watanabe vs. Trish Adora for the title
Princess Tag Team Champions Saki Akai & Yuki Arai vs. Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler for the titles
Princess Of Princess Champion Yuka Sakazaki vs. Miyu Yamashita for the title

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

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

8:45 PM ET UPDATE: The opening announcements are scheduled to begin 10 minutes before the event at 9:20 PM ET/6:20 PM PT.

9 PM ET UPDATE: The live stream has just started. We should be going to the venue in about 15 minutes.

9:15 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE deom Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Your Japanese hosts are Haruo Murata, Kagehiro Osano, Sayoko Mita & Marika Tani. Your English hosts are Chris Brookes & Drew Parker.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. The bleachers on commentary’s side were mostly tarped off but the rest of the venue already looked close to full. So depending on whether or not vocal cheering is allowed, the number will be in flux but it looks like it is not. The available seating looks full or close to it so I’m guessing it’ll be in the 900-1000 range.

The matches should begin in about 20 minutes. During opening announcements they reveal that Miu Watanabe & Suzume will become part of the videogame “The Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls” as part of a special game/TJPW crossover promotion starting on 1/11. And…on 3/31…US DEBUT! TJPW’s first-ever US show! It will be at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles, CA

The matches begin at 9:50 PM ET.

Match 1: HIMAWARI Debut Match: HIMAWARI vs. Yuki Aino. 15 minute time limit
Result; Yuki Aino beat HIMAWARI. HIMAWARI has ponytails long enough to be a Japanese Bianca Belair in terms of appearance although it’s nowhere near as thick as Belair’s.

Match 2: Wakana Uehara Debut Match: Wakana Uehara & Arisu Endo vs. Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano. 20 minute time limit
Result: Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano beat Wakana Uehara & Arisu Endo. Miyamoto beat Uehara with Rashomon. Uehara almost looked like a nicer Maki Itoh.

Match 3: Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami vs. Raku, Pom Harajuku & Neko Haruna. 20 minute time limit
Result: Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami beat Raku, Pom Harajuku & Neko Haruna. Kakuta pinned Haruna after Shiden Kai.

Match 4: Shoko Nakajima vs. Hyper Misao. 15 minute time limit. This has become some kind of ladder match involving 3 stuffed animals hanging a few feet above the ring. Also apparently some kind of lumberjack match as Yuki Aino, HIMAWARI, Arisu Endo & Mahiro Kiryu came out wearing rabbit ears with blow-up mallets. This, of course as expected, is a comedy match.
Result: Draw. Apparently they both grabbed the last animal at the same time and referee Masayuki declared it a draw after some comedy stuff.

Quick break for ring cleaning and taking down the hanging wires after this last match..

Match 5: 6 Woman staggered entry battle royal. Eliminations by pinfall, submission or over the top rope. The winner will be the next challenger for the Princess Of Princess Championship. Participants-Mizuki, Maki Itoh, Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Kamifuku, Suzume, Hikari Noa. No time limit
Order of entry: Noa, Itoh, Kamifuku, Tatsumi, Mizuki, Suzume.
Order of elimination: Noa by Kamifuku (over the top rope), Kamifuku by Itoh (over the top rope), Tatsumi by Itoh/Mizuki/Suzume (pinfall), Suzume by Itoh (submission), Itoh by MIzuki (pinfall)
Result: Mizuki wins. As a result, Mizuki gets the next Princess Of Princess Championship shot after today. Which could mean facing her BFF Yuka Sakazaki perhaps…

Match 6: International Princess Champion Miu Watanabe vs. Trish Adora for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: International Princess Champion Miu Watanabe beat Trish Adora to retain the title. V2 for Watanabe.

Match 7: Princess Tag Team Champions Saki Akai & Yuki Arai vs. Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler for the titles. 30 minute time limit
Result: Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler beat Princess Tag Team Champions Saki Akai & Yuki Arai to win the titles. Howitzer & Max become the 11th Princess Tag Team Champions. Max pinned Arai. Nooooooooo…beyond heartbroken…

Main Event: Princess Of Princess Champion Yuka Sakazaki vs. Miyu Yamashita for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: Princess Of Princess Champion Yuka Sakazaki beat Miyu Yamashita to retain the title. V2 for Sakazaki. Next up: Mizuki. Yamashita is now headed to England to defend the Pro Wrestling EVE Championship. Mizuki came out and a tense-sounding promo at first between the BFFs ahead of their upcoming title match turned more joyful to end the show.

The next event is Saturday at Kobe Art Center in Kobe, resuming the CITY CIRCUIT series. There will be no live broadcast.

UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 1111, a super full house/very near sellout. Outside of the bleachers in the middle next to commentary, I saw only one or two empty seats. Also, Sakazaki-Mizuki is now official for GRAND PRINCESS ’23 at Ariake Arena on 3/18.

UPDATE 2: TJPW has announced on Twitter that Neko Haruna was injured during her match. Shoulder. Out 1-2 weeks and will miss this weekend’s events and 1/15 but hopes to return on 1/19.

In a free YouTube video posted a short time ago, Tokyo Joshi Pro unveiled the full bracket for the 3rd Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament starting in January. The matches were determined via a random draw by ring announcer Sayuri Namba.

The bracket is as follows:
First, because there are 10 teams it means 2 get a free pass into the Quarterfinals. Those lucky two are Suzume & Arisu Endo and last year’s champions Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi. Likewise, 4 teams start in Round 1 and must win an additional match to win it all, including current Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Arai & Saki Akai.
Round 1 (1/15):
Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu vs. Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano
Yuki Arai & Saki Akai vs. Yuki Aino & Raku

Quarterfinals:
1/15:
Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh vs. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta
1/19:
Suzume & Arisu Endo vs. Kamifuku/Kiryu-Miyamoto/Nagano winner
Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi vs. Arai/Akai-Aino/Raku winner
Hyper Misao & Shoko Nakajima vs. Neko Haruna & Kaya Toribami

Semifinals (1/29):
Yamashita/Itoh-Noa/Kakuta winner vs. Suzume/Endo-1/15 winner
Misao/Nakajima-Haruna/Toribami winner vs. Watanabe/Tatsumi-1/15 winner

Finals (2/11):
1/29 winners

Watanabe & Tatsumi are the defending tournament winners. The winners likely will get a Princess Tag Team Championship shot unless the current champions at the time win. After 1/4 we’ll know if that’s still Arai/Akai or if they, like everyone else, will be going for a shot at Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler. As a reminder, there are 3 wrestlers not participating, hence only 10 teams: Yuka Sakazaki (scheduled excursion to All Elite Wresting in USA), Mizuki (refused to participate because she’s a snobby brat and she won’t team with anyone except Sakazaki) and Pom Harajuku (opted out to support Aino/Raku).

Tokyo Joshi Pro wraps up their 2022 schedule today with their annual Christmas event, which is more of a fan appreciation event as they continue a tradition where all the matches, except for the main event, are determined by a fan lottery held at an event earlier in the month. That was again the case here but there have been a couple of last-minute changes because both Rika Tatsumi & Nao Kakuta are now off the card. Tatsumi was pulled earlier today due to gastroenteritis after being hospitalized for the always-vague “poor physical condition”, and Kakuta is off due to coronavirus. The latter had left Yuki Kamifuku in limbo without a match, but with Tatsumi being off and that leaving Mahiro Kiryu without a match, the sometimes-partners will now face each other.

Today’s event will be held at Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. There will be no commentary. Because all the matches except for the main event have 10 minute time limits, even if they go the distance this will be a fast, short event. The total runtime will probably be just under 90 minutes.

Today’s lineup:
Neko Haruna vs. Kaya Toribami
Pom Harajuku vs. Arisu Endo
Yuki Kamifuku vs. Mahiro Kiryu
Hikari Noa vs. Yuki Aino
Miu Watanabe vs. Raku & Juria Nagano in a 3-way
Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima & Suzume vs. Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Hyper Misao & Moka Miyamoto

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT

The stream was to go live at 10 PM ET but that was pushed back last-minute to 10:15 PM ET.

10:30 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates begin now…
We are LIVE from Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo, Japan. There is no commentary.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event but based on ticket sales and same-day advertisements, and Christmas, it’ll probably be on the low side. I’d guess around 175. It may be lower in part because vocal cheering is allowed.

The matches begin at 10:40 PM ET. Took me a bit to notice it’s hard-camera-only setup today.

Match 1: Neko Haruna vs. Kaya Toribami. 10 minute time limit
Result: Kaya Toribami beat Neko Haruna. I think that’s her first ever singles win, and maybe just her second win overall, if not first.

Match 2: Arisu Endo (with new entrance music) vs. Pom Harajuku. 10 minute time limit
Result: Pom Harajuku beat Arisu Endo. Christmas themed comedy match (which of course was a lot of fun).

Match 3: Miu Watanabe vs. Raku & Juria Nagano in a 3-way. 10 minute time limit
Result: Miu Watanabe beat Raku & Juria Nagano in a 3-way by pinning Nagano.

Match 4: Yuki Kamifuku vs. Mahiro Kiryu. 10 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Kamifuku beat Mahiro Kiryu

Match 5: Hikari Noa vs. Yuki Aino. 10 minute time limit
Result: Time Limit Draw. And now we know they still use the old TJPW theme music when that happens. I prefer it over the new one (it’s fine for games like Final Fantasy-one of their composers did it, but for wrestling like this, no)

Quick break for ring maintenance/repairs..This lasted about 5 minutes.

Main Event: Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima & Suzume vs. Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Hyper Misao & Moka Miyamoto. 30 minute time limit
In progress.

Post-show Update: The announced paid attendance was 335, a super full house/very near sellout. That means they were much closer to full capacity than they had been all year (I believe the venue’s full capacity is in the 400-500 range).