Tag: tjpw

Tokyo Joshi Pro has just announced the full card for GRAND PRINCESS ’24, their biggest event of the year, on 3/31 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. 5 matches were already announced but now the 11 match lineup is official:
Shino Suzuki, Chika Nanase & Kira Summer vs. Haru Kazashiro, Runa Okubo & Uta Takami
Nao Kakuta & Ami Yumoto (AKB48) vs. Mahiro Kiryu & HIMAWARI
Andreza Giant Panda & Kaya Toribami (with Neko Haruna) vs. Raku & Pom Harajuku
Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano vs. Wakana Uehara & Toga
Rika Tatsumi vs. Masha Slamovich (TNA Wrestling)
Aja Kong & Max The Impaler vs. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao
Minoru Suzuki vs. Maki Itoh
Yuka Sakazaki (All Elite Wrestling) & Mizuki vs. Chris Brookes (DDT) & Emi Sakura (All Elite Wrestling)
International Princess Champion Yuki Arai vs. Yuki Kamifuku for the title
Princess Tag Team Champinos Yuki Aino & Ryo MIzunami vs. Suzume & Arisu Endo for the titles
Princess Of Princess Champion Miyu Yamashita vs. Miu Watanabe for the title
An SKE48 mini-live performance will also be held with 5 members including Yuki Arai and Marika Tani, who will be a guest on commentary for WRESTLE UNIVERSE. The event will stream live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE on 3/30 beginning at 10 PM PT/1 AM ET and is expected to run around 4 hours.

Tokyo Joshi Pro kicks off their spring house show tour today with a morning matinee event in Tokyo as they begin the final push to GRAND PRINCESS ’24, their biggest event of the year, now just 4 weeks away. It’s an exciting day for the promotion as the remaining two wrestlers from their recent 3-woman trainee group will make their debuts today, just days after Chika Nanase was the first to begin her pro career. First up is Uta Takami, who has been part of Up Up Girls and performing with the group since making her pre-training debut last year and seen much more this year with the extended absence of Hikari Noa. With her 17th birthday coming up later this month, she’ll be in good company for her debut as she will team with Miu Watanabe to face Raku & Shino Suzuki in an Up Up Girls showcase match. The other trainee, Kira Summer, then will make her debut as the Australia native will team with Nao Kakuta to face fellow new rookie Chika Nanase & Arisu Endo.

Today’s event will be held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE. There will be no commentary. There are 7 matches on the lineup but none will probably have more than a 20 minute time limit, and the early start time means west coasters can watch and still go out and about on their Saturday nights as this event probably won’t run longer than 2 hours.

Today’s lineup:
Suzume vs. Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami in a 3-way
Uta Takami Debut Match: Miu Watanabe & Uta Takami vs. Raku & Shino Suzuki
Kira Summer Debut Match: Kira Summer & Nao Kakuta vs. Arisu Endo & Chika Nanase
Rika Tatsumi vs. Haru Kazashiro
Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Yuki Kamifuku & Pom Harajuku
Miyu Yamashita & Moka Miyamoto vs. Wakana Uehara & Toga
Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino vs. Mizuki & HIMAWARI

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 5:45 PM PT/8:45 PM ET. The event is scheduled to begin at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET but the opening announcements are set to begin 7 minutes before as there will be a lot of them, including a greeting from AKB48 member Ami Yumoto, who will debut on 3/31, and more announcements relating to additional 3/31 participation.

5:45 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has begun. We should be going to the venue shortly.

5:53 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now…

We are LIVE from Shinjuku Face in Tokyo, Japan. There is no commentary.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. The cheaper seats that were still available today look about half full right now (all the lower level and more expensive seats are sold out) so we’ll see what the walk-up crowd looks like. I’ll predict around 325. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 370, a super full house/very near sellout)

Opening announcements begin as soon as we go live as there’s a lot on top. The matches should begin in 15-20 minutes. More on these later, but among the announcements for GRAND PRINCESS ’24 participation was…she’s back for one more event…Yuka Sakazaki! (MId-show Update: It was also announced that Runa Okubo has passed her high school entrance exams, and with that out of the way her current hiatus is over and she will return on 3/16. Also, Yuki Kamifuku will have a hometown return event on 5/25 at Shonandai Cultural Center in Kanagawa)

The matches begin at 6:16 PM PT/9:16 PM ET.

Match 1: Kira Summer Debut Match: Kira Summer & Nao Kakuta vs. Arisu Endo & Chika Nanase. 20 minute time limit
Result: Arisu Endo & Chika Nanase beat Kira Summer & Nao Kakuta. Endo beat Summer with a camel clutch.

Match 2: Uta Takami Debut Match: Miu Watanabe & Uta Takami vs. Raku & Shino Suzuki. 20 minute time limit
Result: Raku & Shino Suzuki beat Miu Watanabe & Uta Takami. Raku beat Takami with a guillotine choke.

Good debut matches for both, Takami was quite impressive. Hopefully both have bright futures ahead of them in TJPW.

Match 3: Suzume vs. Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami in a 3-way. 20 minute time limit
Result: Suzume beat Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami in a 3-way by pinning Toribami.

Match 4: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Yuki Kamifuku & Pom Harajuku. 20 minute time limit
Result: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Msiao beat Yuki Kamifuku & Pom Harajuku. Misao pinned Harajuku after Hypami Returns.

Match 5: Rika Tatsumi vs. Haru Kazashiro. 15 minute time limit
Result: Rika Tatsumi beat Haru Kazashiro

Match 6: Miyu Yamashita & Moka Miyamoto vs. Wakana Uehara & Toga. 20 minute time limit
Result: Miyu Yamashita & Moka Miyamoto beat Wakana Uehara & Toga. Yamashita pinned Toga after Attitude Adjustment.

Main Event: Ryo Mizunami (Independent/Freelancer) & Yuki Aino vs. Mizuki & HIMAWARI. 20 minute time limit
Result: Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino beat Mizuki & HIMAWARI. Aino pinned HIMAWARI after Venus DDT. Afterwards, the winners with microphone for the show-ending victory promo.

The next event is 3/10 at Itabashi Green Hall in Tokyo. There will be no live broadcast.

Following up on previous news, Tokyo Joshi Pro has announced details of Kira’s debut: The new trainee from Australia will compete using the name Kira Summer and her debut match will be Sunday, when she teams with Nao Kakuta to face Chika Nanase (who just debuted herself) & Arisu Endo.

Kira, 27, is about 5’4″ and is believed to be a true rookie. Her debut match will be streamed live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE as part of Sunday’s event, beginning Saturday at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET.

UPDATE: The third trainee, Uta, will also debut Sunday. Her name will be Uta Takami. She will continue to be part of Up Up Girls.

This could be fun down the road…Tokyo Joshi Pro has announced that another Japanese idol, this time a former J-Pop idol, is trying her hand at wrestling. Ami Yumoto, 26, is a former member of the record-setting all-girl group AKB48 (it really does have 48 members…which also spawned numerous spinoffs including SKE48, which includes current International Princess Champion Yuki Arai) who released one single as a member. She has also been an actress since leaving AKB48 and now is mostly active on stage and has a background in dance & acrobatics. She will debut at GRAND PRINCESS ’24 on 3/31 against Nao Kakuta. Interestingly, they performed on stage together in December and that seems to have led to this. And guess who happened to be a co-star in Yumoto’s prior TV work that was wrestling themed? Arai. AKB48 vs. SKE48…I’d love to see that! But don’t count on much more from Yumoto for a while after her debut-due to other commitments she probably won’t wrestle again until summer if at all.

Tokyo Joshi Pro ran their monthly mid-major event, BEAT POWER ’24, today, while there were no title matches it did further the build to GRAND PRINCESS ’24.

Today’s event was held at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (probably Tuesday or Wednesday). There was no live broadcast. (That’s just how Osaka is with everyone, even the major promotions like New Japan, unless they’re at the main Osaka Prefectural Gym)

The announced paid attendance was 349.

Before the event, it was announced that Miyu Yamashita will be leaving in April for another extended US excursion. She will return for the 6/15 event at Kobe Art Center. Also announced was a 6/16 event at Acros Fukuoka.

Match 1: Chika Nanase Debut Match: Moka Miyamoto beat Chika Nanase by submission.

Match 2: Yuki Kamifuku beat Haru Kazashiro & Pom Harajuku in a 3-way by pinning Kazashiro.

Match 3: Juria Nagano beat Kaya Toribami.

Match 4: Maki Itoh & Raku beat Mahiro Kiryu & Shino Suzuki. Itoh beat Suzuki with Itoh Deluxe. This was Itoh’s return match after being out nearly 2 months due to injury. She’s headed back to the US again shortly.

Match 5: In a comedy match where after a rope escape or perhaps a near fall you had to drink a glass of straight lemon juice within a certain time limit to continue, Hyper Misao beat Nao Kakuta by submission.

Match 6: Shoko Nakajima, Rika Tatsumi & Mizuki beat Wakana Uehara, HIMAWARI & Toga. Mizuki pinned Uehara after a diving foot stomp.

Main Event: Miyu Yamashita, Ryo Mizunami (Independent/Freelancer) & Yuki Aino vs. Miu Watanabe, Suzume & Arisu Endo went to a 20 minute time limit draw.

The next event is 3/3 at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo. The full card was announced today including the Uta & Kira (tentative names) Debut Matches: Uta will team with Miu Watanabe to face Raku & Shino Suzuki in an all-Up Up Girls match, while Kira will team with Nao Kakuta to face Arisu Endo & Chika Nanase. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin on 3/2 at 5:45 PM PT/8:45 PM ET with live results scheduled here.

Tokyo Joshi Pro has 3 new trainees set for debuts over the next month, and the first one os now official-Chika, who will debut Sunday, will be known as Chika Nanase and will face Moka Miyamoto in her debut match. Nanase, who will turn 20 on March 9, is 4’11” and will debut in her hometown of Osaka.

Two more trainees-Uta (the newest Up Up Girls member) & Kira (a wrestler from Australia)-will debut in March.

Tokyo Joshi Pro kicked off a weekend doubleheader with DDT in Niigata today, a Shoko Nakajima hometown event.

Today’s event was held at Duo Cerezo in Niigata and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date (probably Tuesday or Wednesday). There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 281.

Match 1: Kaya Toribami beat Haru Kazashiro.

Match 2: Mizuki beat Shino Suzuki & Raku in a 3-way by beating Suzuki.

Match 3: Yuki AIno & Pom Harajuku beat Mahiro Kiryu & HIMAWARI. Aino pinned HIMAWARI after Venus DDT.

Match 4; Suzume & Arisu Endo beat Yuki Kamifuku & Toga. Endo pinned Toga.

Match 5; Miyu Yamashita beat Wakana Uehara.

Match 6: Rika Tatsumi beat Zara Zucker by submisison.

Main Event: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao beat Miu Watanabe & Moka Miyamoto. Nakajima pinned Miyamoto after a diving senton. Then it was announced that Nakajima & Misao would face the literal monster-size team of Aja Kong & Max The Impaler at GRAND PRINCESS ’24 on 3/31.

The next event is “BEAT POWER ’24” on 2/24 at Osaka Prefectural Gym 2 in Osaka. There will be no live broadcast.

Since the end of 2023, Hikari Noa has been missing from Tokyo Joshi Pro for what at the time was the always-vague “poor physical condition”. Tokyo Joshi Pro must have known I was wondering what was going on and now they have provided a brief update on Noa’s continued absence. Personal reasons/circumstances. Remains out indefinitely with no return date set. In a related post from the company that manages the Up Up Girls label (including Noa and fellow TJPW wrestlers Miu Watanabe, Raku, Shino Suzuki & Uta), they suggest Noa will be out at least another month and will miss a standalone Up Up Girls event on 3/20. Based on this, I would consider her extremely doubtful at best for GRAND PRINCESS ’24 on 3/31.

More as it beocmes available.

Tokyo Joshi Pro wraps up the 2024 Futari-wa Princess Max Heart Tournament today with the Finals, which will award a Princess Tag Team Championship shot to the winners. That match will probably happen at GRAND PRINCESS ’24 in March, The Finals will be Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe vs. Suzume & Arisu Endo, with Tatsumi/Watanabe going for their second tournament victory and Suzume/Endo going for their first. This could result in double duty for Watanabe if Daydream prevails-already set for the likely main event at Ryogoku, when she gets her first Princess Of Princess Championship opportunity, she could add tag team gold, and if she wins both she would also become a rare Triple Crown Champion in TJPW (joining only Tatsumi as wrestlers to ever hold all 3 of the promotion’s titles). Suzume & Endo were perhaps denied a proper title opportunity recently due to health issues affecting former champions Nao Kakuta & Hikari Noa, ultimately getting a title shot but losing in a 3-way, so they are no doubt motivated to get a proper second chance. There is also a title match before that, and one I of course will be watching closely as International Princess Champion Yuki Arai makes her first defense against Juria Nagano, who looks to pull an upset and win gold before she walks away from wrestling.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese. This may be a Samurai! TV simulcast in Japan. There is a post-event party/gathering planned at another venue that may keep them on a strict clock today, but given only the title match could go longer than 20 minutes plus the main event, which is no time limit, this event probably won’t run more than 2 1/2 hours so those in the west US can still watch and go out on your Friday night.

Today’s lineup (in order):
Shino Suzuki vs. Haru Kazashiro
Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Nao Kakuta vs. Raku, Pom Harajuku & Ram Kaichow (666)
Moka Miyamoto vs. Kaya Toribami
Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI
Mizuki vs. Zara Zucker
Miyu Yamashita & Toga vs. Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino
International Princess Champion Yuki Arai vs. Juria Nagano for the title
Max Heart Tournament Finals: Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe vs. Suzume & Arisu Endo

Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 6 PM PT/9 PM ET. The event is scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM PT/9:30 PM ET with the opening announcements planned to start 8 minutes before the event.

6 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has begun. We should be going to the venue in about 15 minutes. Updates will resume then.

6:15 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.

The paid attendance will be announced after the event. As usual it’s the reduced capacity opposite-hard-camera setup and advance sales seemed to be average, so full capacity would probably be around 1100 but as usual for these events I’ll predict it’ll be around 700. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 674)

The matches should begin in about 20 minutes.

During opening announcements, the former Uta got her ring name (didn’t catch it) along with the other trainee, Kira (thankfully she speaks English as well as Japanese) and it was announced they will debut on 3/3 at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo. Then a second Hyper Misao Produced event is announced for 4/19 in Tokyo at Kitazawa Town Hall. Up Up Girls follows.

The matches begin at 6:44 PM PT/9:44 PM ET. Since it’s a Korakuen event that means STREAMERS!

Match 1: Shino Suzuki vs. Haru Kazashiro. 15 minute time limit
Result: Haru Kazashiro beat Shino Suzuki. Excellent last minute-plus as Kazashiro escaped multiple sleeper hold/rear naked chokes and managed to catch Suzuki with a Japanese leg roll clutch hold for 3. I believe this is her first single victory.

Match 2: Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Nao Kakuta vs. Raku, Pom Harajuku & Ram Kaichow (666). 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Nao Kakuta beat Raku, Pom Harajuku & Ram Kaichow. Kamifuku pinned Harajuku after Fameasser.

Match 3: Moka Miyamoto vs. Kaya Toribami. 15 minute time limit
Result: Kaya Toribami beat Moka Miyamoto

Match 4: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI. 20 minute time limit
Result: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao beat Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI. Misao beat HIMAWARI with a chicken wing.

Match 5: Mizuki vs. Zara Zucker. 15 minute time limit
Result: Mizuki beat Zara Zucker

Match 6: Princess Tag Team Champions Ryo Mizunami (Independent/Freelancer) & Yuki Aino vs. Miyu Yamashita & Toga in a NON-TITLE match. 20 minute time limit
Result: Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino beat Miyu Yamashita & Toga. Aino beat Toga with Full Nelson of Love & Flame.

Match 7: International Princess Champion Yuki Arai vs. Juria Nagano for the title. 30 minute time limit
Result: International Princess Champion Yuki Arai beat Juria Nagano to retain the title. V1 for Arai. Post-match, Arai with microphone. She thanks the crowd then…next up: Yuki Kamifuku. Guess it’s not enough for her to be Queen Of Asia Champion. That match could happen at GRAND PRINCESS ’24 on 3/31 at Ryogoku Kokugikan.

Quick break for ring maintenance.

Main Event: Max Heart Tournament Finals: Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe vs. Suzume & Arisu Endo. No time limit
Result: Suzume & Arisu Endo beat Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe to win the tournament. Suzume pinned Tatsumi after Ring A Bell. Suzume & Endo win the tournament for the first time (the trophies are almost as big as they are!)and, as a result, get a future shot at Princess Tag Team Champions Yuki Aino & Ryo Mizunami. And right on cue afterwards, the champs came out. Aino wasted no time in making it virtually official for GRAND PRINCESS ’24. Suzume & Endo will be undersized underdogs again, in particular against Mizunami, but they just showed they can do it. Suzume thanked the crowd one more time to end the event.

More on the pending title matches-to-be as it becomes available.

The next event is 2/17 at Duo Cerezo in Niigata. There will be no live broadcast.

UPDATE: It’s now official-the 2 title matches hinted at above have now been confirmed for GRAND PRINCESS ’24 on 3/31 (Arai-Kamifuku and Aino/Mizunami-Suzume/Endo along with Miyu Yamashita vs. Miu Watanabe for the Princess Of Princess Championship).