News, results & more from Japanese Pro Wrestling & Sumo
Tokyo Joshi Pro has announced a last minute change to today’s event card because Raku is now off. The ever-vague poor physical condition. She was to have faced Hyper Misao & HIMAWARI in a 3-way. It’s now just Misao vs. HIMAWARI.
The event also will now start with a public contract signing for the Princess Of Princess Championship Match between Mizuki & Nao Kakuta on 4/15. The event begins tonight at 11:30 PM ET/8:30 PM PT and streams live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
As part of WrestleCon weekend, Tokyo Joshi Pro made their US debut today with about half the roster participating.
Today’s event was held at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles, CA and can be watched on demand on FITE for $19.99. It is not available on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 665, a legit sellout.
Match 1: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta beat Suzume & Arisu Endo. Kakuta pinned Endo after 5G.
Match 2: Janai Kai beat Yuki Kamifuku.
Match 3: Hyper Misao & Trish Adora beat Yuki Aino & Raku. Misao pinned Raku after I Am A Hero.
Match 4: Max The Impaet & Heidi Howitzer beat Shoko Nakajima & Miu Watanabe. Impaler pinned Nakajima after Master Blaster.
Match 5: International Princess Champion Rika Tatsumi beat Billie Starkz to retain the title. V1 for Tatsumi.
Match 6: Mizuki & Yuka Sakazaki beat Princess Tag Team Champions Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh to win the titles. Mizuki & Sakazaki become the 13th Princess Tag Team Champions. Mizuki pinned Itoh after a diving foot stomp.
All but Yamashita, Itoh & Sakazaki are now headed back to Japan as those 3 will stay in the US a little longer. Yamashita is not expected back in TJPW until June.
The next event is 4/8 at Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin on 4/7 at 8:30 PM PT/11:30 PM ET.
UPDATE: Next up for Tatsumi and the International Princess Chanpionship: Vertvixen. That match will happen on 4/15 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
A bit of Tokyo Joshi Pro news today:
The next foreigner to visit Japan will be Sawyer Wreck from the US. A giant of a woman by Japanese height standards at about 6’2″, she trained at the 3D Academy under WWE Hall Of Famers Bully Ray & D-Von Dudley and currently has 4 years of experience, primarily competing in Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) these days. That experience includes a GCW match against Maki Itoh.
Wreck has been added to the just-announced TJPW INSPIRATION event on 5/1 at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo and will face Hikari Noa in a deathmatch. Specific deathmatch type/fotmat is TBA. After that, Wreck will challenge the Princess Of Princess Champion (the 4/15 Mizuki-Nao Kakuta winner) for the title on 5/5 at Korakuen Hall (TJPW’s annual major Golden Week event). That’s the first match set for 5/5. Yuki Arai participation has also been announced.
The rest of the 5/1 card was also announced, as is usually the case with TJPW INSPIRATION events this is a short 4-match event with mostly comedy/unusual matches:
Mahiro Kiryu vs. Gabai Ji-Chan
HIMAWARI vs. Toga
Suzume & Arisu Endo vs. Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami
The event will be streamed live on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at 2:30 AM PT/5:30 AM ET.
UPDATE: Some of the talent not coming to the US this week will be in a special match Sunday at GOTANDA G6/G7, an all-day music festival in Japan. The match will be Moka Miyamoto & Neko Haruna vs. Mahiro Kiryu & HIMAWARI.
UPDATE 2: On 3/29 TJPW announced, in revealing the first post-US lineup for 4/8 (Ryogoku KFC Hall, Tokyo) that Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Yuka Sakazaki will not return to Japan for this event. They will stay abroad on excursions a little longer, but Yamashita likely won’t return to Japan until at least June. She already has some US independent dates set for mid-April. This may affect the Princess Tag Team Championship she currently holds with Itoh. Sakazaki may be back with All Elite Wrestling and/or Ring Of Honor for another stint as she will be on the ROH PPV Friday.
UPDATE 3: Yamashita is now schedules to return to Japan for a 6/25 TJPW event at Nishitetsu Hall in Fukuoka. However, this is subject to change as her International schedule is not set in stone.
UPDATE 4: TJPW has announced on Twitter that SKE48 member Marika Tani will be making her next semi-regular appearance as a guest on Japanese commentary for the 4/15 event on WRESTLE UNIVERSE, which features teammate Yuki Arai in tag team action and fellow teammate Shiori Aoki making her debut as a referee for said match. The event will also have English commentary with DDT’s Chris Brookes & Drew Parker.
Tokyo Joshi Pro continues their spring house show tour today with a sendoff event for about half the roster before they head to the US for their debut event next week, except for Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh who are already in Canada and thus will miss this event (Yamashita may be part of today’s Impact Wrestling TV tapings). There won’t be much build to anything really except perhaps in the main event now that we know NEW Princess Of Princess Champion Mizuki’s first challenger will be Nao Kakuta, to happen at the monthly Korakuen Hall event next month. But with the recent influx of new debuting talent they’ll all get more chances to gain experience today and perhaps victories as well.
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. With no matches having more than a 20 minute time limit this will be a standard short house show that should have a total runtime of just under 2 hours.
Today’s lineup:
Wakana Uehara vs. Toga
Raku vs. Shino Suzuki
Yuka Sakazaki, Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami vs. Yuki Kamifuku, Haru Fujo & Runa Okubo
Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe vs. Pom Harajuku & HIMAWARI
Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Yuki Aino & Neko Haruna
Mizuki, Suzume & Arisu Endo vs. Nao Kakuta, Hikari Noa & Mahiro Kiryu
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 11:30 PM ET/8:30 PM PT. The live stream is scheduled to launch 30 minutes before the event.
11:30 PM ET UPDATE: Live updates start now.
We are LIVE from Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo, Japan. There is no commentary.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s full capacity for the first time since pre-pandemic but not a total sellout from the opening shots. I may revise this if I see zoomed-out shots but based on what they usually did at 50% my initial guess is it’ll be 250-300.
The matches begin at 11:45 PM ET/8:45 PM PT.
Match 1: Wakana Uehara vs. Toga. 15 minute time limit
Result: Wakana Uehara beat Toga
Match 2: .Raku vs. Shino Suzuki. 15 minute time limit
Result: Raku beat Shino Suzuki by submission
Match 3: Yuka Sakazaki, Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami vs. Yuki Kamifuku, Haru Fujo & Runa Okubo. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuka Sakazaki, Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami beat Yuki Kamifuku, Haru Fuji & Runa Okubo. Sakazaki pinned Okubo after Tea Time.
Match 4: Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe vs. Pom Harajuku & HIMAWARI. 20 minute time limit
Result: Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe beat Pom Harajuku & HIMAWARI. Tatsumi beat HIMAWARI with a dragon sleeper.
Match 5: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Yuki Aino & Neko Haruna. 20 minute time limit
Result: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao beat Yuki Aino & Neko Haruna. Misao pinned Haruna after Hypami Returns.
Main Event: Mizuki, Suzume & Arisu Endo vs. Nao Kakuta, Hikari Noa & Mahiro Kiryu. 20 minute time limit
Result: Mizuki, Suzume & Ariu Endo beat Nao Kakuta, Hikari Noa & Mahiro Kiryu. Mizuki pinned Jiryu after a diving double footstomp.
The next event is TJPW LIVE IN LOS ANGELES Friday at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles, CA. This will be a PPV available ONLY ON FITE for $19.99. IT WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE ON WRESTLE UNIVERSE. Live streaming will begin at 3 PM ET/Noon PT.
UPDATE: The announced paid attendance was 251.
Tokyo Joshi Pro began the spring 2023 house show tour today with the first post-GRAND PRINCESS event ahead of some talent heading to the US for next week’s debut event.
Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 207.
During opening announcements, US women’s independent wrestler Vertvixen was announced for 3 events in April. They also announced SKE48 member Shiori Aoki will make her debut as referee in a tag match featuring SKE48 teammate Yuki Arai. (Specifically it will be Arai & HIMAWARI vs. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao)
Match 1: Suzume beat Shino Suzuki.
Match 2: Shoko Nakajima, Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI beat Arisu Endo, Haru Fujo & Runa Okubo. Nakajima pinned Fujo.
Match 3: Max The Impaler & Heidi Howitzer beat Hyper Misao & Pom Harajuku. Impaler pinned Harajuku after a short range lariat.
Match 4: Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Raku beat Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Toga. Tatsumi pinned Toga after Twost Of Fate.
Match 5: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh beat Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami. Yamashita pinned Toribami after a right high kick.
Main Event: Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Yuki Aino beat Mizuki, Yuka Sakazaki & Neko Haruna. Kakuta pinned Haruna after Shiden Kai. Afterwards, Kakuta made a challenge to Mizuki for the Princess Of Princess Championship. That match will happen on 4/15 at Korakuen Hall.
The next event is Sunday at Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin Saturday at 11:30 PM ET/8:30 PM PT. Live results are scheduled.
After a successful debut last year, Tokyo Joshi Pro ran the second installment of GRAND PRINCESS, their new biggest event of the year from a venue and importance standpoint today, with a blockbuster card featuring a little bit of everything as they ran Tokyo’s new Olympic venue for the first time.
Today’s event was held at Ariake Arena in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. You can also watch the pre-show and the first 2 matches FOR FREE on YouTube.
The announced paid attendance was 1512. That’s not nearly as bad as it sounds because despite the easing of pandemic restrictions the venue was still limited to only 50% capacity and the layout reduced it even further. Also all but two levels of tickets sold out in advance. I did hope for more though.
Match 1: Suzume beat Arisu Endo.
Match 2: Haru Fujo & Runa Okubo Debut Match: Mahiro Kiryu, HIMAWARI, Wakana Uehara & Shino Suzuki beat Kaya Toribami, Touma, Haru Fujo & Runa Okubo. Kiryu pinned Toribami after a spinebuster. V1 for Suzuki in her young career!
Match 3: Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Ram Kaichow (666) beat Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku. Noa pinned Harajuku aftet 5G.
Match 4: Ryo Mizunami (Independent/Freelancer) beat Moka Miyamoto.
Match 5: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao beat Andre The Giant Panda & Neko Haruna. Nakajima pinned Haruna with a Northern Lights Suplex hold.
Match 6: Saki-Sama & May Saint-Michel (Saki Akai & Mei Suruga) beat Yuki Kamifuku & Billie Starkz. May pinned Kamifuku after La Revolution.
Match 7: Aja Kong beat Yuki Arai. Anticipated but still sad.
Match 8: Rika Tatsumi beat International Princess Champion Miu Watanabe by submission to win the title. Tatsumi becomes the 10th International Princess Champion. And what is believed to be the first to win all 3 TJPW titles at some point in her career (Miyu Yamashita & Yuka Sakazaki have never held this title and Maki Itoh has never been Princess Of Princess Champion). So maybe time to put Tatsumi in TJPW G.O.A.T. discussions.
Match 9: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh beat Princess Tag Team Champions Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler to win the titles. Yamashita & Itoh become the 12th Princess Tag Team Champions. Itoh pinned Howitzer after Flying Big Head. Well, at least the disaster that was the foreigners winning the title from AA Eye Candy has been somewhat resolved.
Main Event: Mizuki beat Princess Of Princess Champion Yuka Sakazaki to win the title. Mizuki becomes the 12th Princess Of Princess Champion. Boooo..(there are only two TJPW wrestlers I do not like and passionately root against. Mizuki is one. The other who I will NEVER root/simp/etc for is Maki Itoh)
Among major announcements during the event were upcoming major events later this year: 7/8 at Ota City General Gym for what should be SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’23 (the summer blowout event), 10/8 (not sure where) for what probably will be WRESTLE PRINCESS 3 (typically TJPW’s biggest/most important event of the year but I think GRAND PRINCESS has surpassed it), and 12/1 at Korakuen Hall for the TJPW 10th Anniversary event. Also announced before the event was Yuki Arai’s May & June participation schedule, which is subject to change-5/5 (Korakuen Hall), 5/13 (Act City Hamamatsu, Shizuoka), 5/20 (Otemachi Mitsui Hall, Tokyo), 6/11 (Korakuen), 6/24 (Kobe Art Center, Kobe), 6/25 Nishitetsu Hall, Fukuoka).
The next event is Wednesday at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo to begin the Spring 2023 house show tour. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin at 3 AM PT/6 AM ET.
Ohhhhhhh yeah, this is gonna be a good one…Impact Wrestling just announced a HUGE Title Match for Impact/New Japan Multiverse United on 3/30 in Los Angeles: Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James defends the title in a 4-way against Deonna Purrazzo, Gisele Shaw and…Miyu Yamashita! Tokyo Joshi Pro representation!
The event will be a live PPV on FITE on 3/30 at 11 PM ET/8 PM PT and is available for pre-order now for $24.99. Check out the Twitter announcement below for what is shaping ip to be an incredible event:
Tokyo Joshi Pro star and Pro Wrestling EVE Champion Miyu Yamashita is back in England today for a title defense that was previously postponed. According to posts on Twitter she will defend the title against Lizzy Evo at tonight’s Pro Wrestling EVE event, which begins at 2:30 PM ET/11:30 AM PT and is available worldwide on YouTube. The first half of the event streams for free, but the second half will be behind a paywall for paying YouTube channel subscribers. Yamashita’s match is the main event so it’s behind the paywall.
More details below:
Ahead of their debuts at GRAND PRINCESS ’23, Tokyo Joshi Pro has announced the new names for the two wrestlers making their debuts at the event:
“Momo” will now be known as Runa (Ryuna?) Okubo. She will be the youngest active wrestler in TJPW-she is just 14 years old, standing about 5 feet tall, and was inapires by her parents and traveled to a dojo in Tokyo to train every day after school from her home in Saitama. Her hobbies and skills include cooking and dancing and her goal is to be like TJPW wrestler Yuki Kamifuku.
“Haru” will be known as either Haru Fujo or Haru Kazashiro. Almost as young as Okubo, she will turn 15 in 3 weeks, stands about 5’1″ and learned about TJPW via programs on the Japanese version of Amazon Prime Video. She is an anime fan who decided to become a wrestler after seeing Nodoka Tenma’s retirement match. And in a very exciting doubleheader of sorts for her, she will graduate from junior high school the day after GRAND PRINCESS.
In their Debut Match, they will team with Kaya Toribami & Touma (who just had her Debut Match yesterday) to face Mahiro Kiryo, Wakana Uehara, HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki.
In other event news, another Japanese event tradition will return at GRAND PRINCESS as it has been announced that fans will be allowed to throw streamers/ticker tape/paper rolls into the ring during wrestler introductions. This was halted in 2020 by the pandemic as an infection control measure and has been allowed at only one or two events since.
Tokyo Joshi Pro held “The Night Before GRAND PRINCESS ’23” today, the final event before their biggest event of the year in less than 2 weeks.
Today’s event was held at Shinjuku Face in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
The announced paid attendance was 297, a full house/near sellout.
Match 1: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao beat Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI. Nakajima pinned Uehara.
Match 2: Rika Tatsumi beat Kaya Toribami.
Match 3: Shino Suzuki Debut Match: Miu Watanabe & Hikari Noa beat Raku & Shino Suzuki. Noa beat Suzuki with Blue Racer.
Match 4: Touma Debut Match: Miyu Yamashita beat Touma.
Match 5: Yuki Kamifuku, Nao Kakuta & Mahiro Kiryu beat Yuki Aino, Neko Haruna & Pom Harajuku. Kamifuku pinned Harajuku after Fameasser.
Main Event: Yuka Sakazaki, Yuki Arai & Suzume beat Mizuki, Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo. Sakazaki pinned Miyamoto after Magical Merry-Go-Round.
The build is now all but over…the next event is GRAND PRINCESS ’23, TJPW’s biggest event of the year, on 3/18 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. There’s still time to get tickets but they are selling well. The venue will be at 50% capacity as it was set before pandemic restrictions were lifted-that means depending on the setup it’ll probably be a max capacity of around 4000-the venue’s normal full capacity is 12,000. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE on Japanese and English will begin at 2 AM ET/11 PM PT.
UPDATE: It’s now official-Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh vs. Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler on 3/18 will be for the Princess Tag Team Championship. V3 for the champs over the weekend in their latest defense so now it’s for the titles at Ariake Arena.