Tag: tokyo joshi pro

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling has announced the 9th Tokyo Princess Cup, their annual singles tournament featuring the entire TJPW roster. Normally it features the entire roster, which is currently 22, but only 20 entrants are set for this year and it guarantees a new champion this year. That is because defending winner Maki Itoh is out because she was invited to participate in Game Changer Wrestling in the US on August 14, which is the same date as the Finals. Itoh will go to the US to contribute to TJPW by appearing overseas and will miss the tournament as a result. Rookie Juria Nagano will also not participate due to schedule reasons. That and recent history would suggest Mizuki will be the favorite going in-the only reason she may very well not have been going for a 4-peat this year is Itoh, who beat Mizuki in last year’s Semifinals to deny her a potential 3rd straight tournament win.

The schedule for this year’s tournament is as follows:
Rounds 1-2: 7/16, 7/17, 7/18 at Ryogoku KFC Hall & 7/23 at Shinjuku Face
Quarterfinals: 7/31 at Otemachi Mitsui Hall
Semifinals: 8/13 at Korakuen Hall
Finals: 8/14 at Korakuen Hall
Round 1 will have 4 matches over each of the first 2 events. Because of the number of participants, 4 will get a free pass to Round 2. After the Quarterfinals, there likely will be a random draw to set up the Semifinals. The eventual winner will likely earn a Princess Of Princess Championship match unless the current champion wins (that will be either Shoko Nakajima or Rika Tatsumi).

With CyberFight Festival now in the past, Tokyo Joshi Pro begins the fast build to Summer Sun Princess ’22 tonight with Additional Attack, their monthly mid-major event. A Princess Tag Team Championship match is the main event, as current Princess Of Princess Champion Shoko Nakajima tries to add to her current title alongside former challenger Hyper Misao as they try to dethrone Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki. Emotions will come into play here as Nakajima beat Sakazaki last weekend to retain the title while Mizuki’s intentions to challenge Nakajima in July were derailed when she lost her chance by failing to win a 4-way (which was won by Rika Tatsumi).
On the undercard, AA Eye Candy is back together as DDT star (and budding skin care entrepreneur) Saki Akai returns to TJPW for her second pairing with SKE48 member Yuki Arai to face Miyu Yamashita & Moka Miyamoto, and Juria Nagano is in action against Miu Watanabe.
In related TJPW news the last couple days, All Elite Wrestling & Ring Of Honor rising star Willow Nightingale will make her TJPW debut at Summer Sun Princess, and Yuki Arai’s July-September participation schedule has been announced: 7/9 (Summer Sun Princess ’22), 7/16, 7/17, 7/18 (all at Ryogoku KFC Hall), 7/31 (Otemachi Mitsui Hall), 8/13, 8/14 (both at Korakuen Hall), and 9/4 (Nagoya Congress Center). As always this is subject to change and more dates could be added.

Today’s event will be held at Korakuen hall in Tokyo and can be watched LIVE and on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE in Japanese and English. Japanese commentary team will be Haruo Murata, Kagehiro Osano & Sayoko Mita. English commentary team will be DDT wrestler Chris Brookes & ChocoPro personality Baliyan Akki. Also, the opening and the first match will be streamed FOR FREE on YouTube.

Today’s lineup:
Arisu Endo vs. Kaya Toribami (YouTube broadcast ends after this match)
Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu vs. Nao Kakuta & Neko Haruna
Yuki Aino vs. Raku & Pom Harajuku in a 3-way
Miu Watanabe vs. Juria Nagano
Miyu Yamashita & Moka Miyamoto vs. Saki Akai & Yuki Arai
Rika Tatsumi & Suzume vs. Maki Itoh & Hikari Noa
Princess Tag Team Champions Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki vs. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao for the titles

Refresh occasionally for the latest results.

Updates below will begin at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT. I expect the event’s total running time to be just under 2 1/2 hours.

10:23 PM ET UPDATE: Stream just began so updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Looks like they are still using reduced capacity setup but it’s already getting close to a near-sellout. Your Japanese hosts are Haruo Murata, Kagehiro Osano & Sayoko Mita. Your English hosts are Chris Brookes & Baliyan Akki.
The pre-show announcements & housekeeping are underway now. The matches should begin in about 15 minutes.

The paid attendance will be announced tomorrow. For the limited capacity setup it looks close to a sellout so should be a good number.

There’s new theme music for the opening card announcement, I think it was composed by someone who did music for the “Final Fantasy” videogames. Admittedly I am not a fan of it. Anyway, moving on…

Match 1: Arisu Endo vs. Kaya Toribami. 15 minute time limit
Result: Kaya Toribami beat Arisu Endo

Match 2: Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu vs. Nao Kakuta & Neko Haruna. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu beat Neko Haruna & Nao Kakuta. Kamifuku pinned Haruna after Fameasser.

Match 3: Yuki Aino vs. Raku & Pom Harajuku in a 3-way. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Aino beat Raku & Pom Harajuku in a 3-way by pinning Harajuku.

Willow Mightingale vs. Miu Watanabe is announced for 7/9 at Ota City General Gym.

Match 4: Miu Watanabe vs. Juria Nagano. 15 minute time limit
Result: Miu Watanabe beat Juria Nagano by submission.

AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa vs. Miyu Yamashita is announced for 7/9.

Match 5: Miyu Yamashita & Moka Miyamoto vs. Saki Akai & Yuki Arai. 20 minute time limit
Result: Saki Akai & Yuki Arai beat Miyu Yamashita & Moka Miyamoto. Arai pinned Miyamoto after Finally.

Match 6: Rika Tatsumi & Suzume vs. Maki Itoh & Hikari Noa. 20 minute time limit
Result: Rika Tatsumi & Suzume beat Maki Itoh & Hikari Noa. Tatsumi pinned Noa after Missile Hip.

Main Event: Princess Tag Team Champions Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki vs. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao for the titles. 30 minute time limit
Result: Princess Tag Team Champions Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki beat Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao to retain the titles. Sakazaki pinned Misao after Magical Merry Go Round. V5 for the champs. Next up: AA Eye Candy? Yuki Arai came out to make the challenge for herself and Saki Akai. When it will happen should be known soon, maybe tomorrow.

Post-event updates to follow tomorrow.

The next event is Saturday at Kobe Art Center in Kobe then Sunday at Nishitetsu Hall in Fukuoka. There will be no live broadcast for either event. After those two, the next event is SUMMER SUN PRINCESS on 7/9 at Ota City General Gym. Here is the current 7/9 lineup at the moment:
Willow Nightingale vs. Miu Watanabe
Thunder Rosa vs. Miyu Yamashita
Mei Suruga & Suzume vs. TBA
Princess Tag Team Champions Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki vs. Yuki Arai & Saki Akai for the titles
International Princess Champion Maki Itoh vs. TBA for the title (it will not be someone from TJPW)
Princess Of Princess Champion Shoko Nakajima vs. Rika Tatsumi for the title
Other participation: Hikaru Shida, Riho, Aja Kong, Yuki Arai, Juria Nagano
Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin on 7/9 at 1 AM ET/10 PM PT.

Post-show Update: The announced paid attendance was 525. Also, the Princess Tag Team Championship match of Mizuki/Sakazaki vs. Akai/Arai is now official. That match will happen on 7/9, meaning 3 title matches as the headliners. Sakazaki/Mizuki will be trying to tie the record for most successful defenses in a reign, which is 6, and is also a record they hold from their first reign.

Tokyo Joshi Pro made their Hamamatsu are debut today with their first visit to Shizuoka this year, also serving as their final event before CyberFight Festival ’22.

Today’s event was held at Entetsu Hall in Shizuoka and will be available on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE at a later date. There was no live broadcast.

The announced paid attendance was 219, a super full house.

During pre-match announcements, the next Nagoya event is announced for 9/4 at Nagoya Congress Center. Miyu Yamashita missed this event due to still being on an overseas excursion. She will be back this next week. The next participant for Sunmer Sun Princess ’22 in July was also revealed-the return of Riho! The former All Elite Wrestling Women’s World Champion will make her first TJPW appearance in a while, she made a few appearances during the pandemic when travel restrictions kept her from going to the US for AEW events.

Match 1: Miu Watanabe beat Kaya Toribami by submission.

Match 2: Yuki Aino & Raku beat Yuki Kamifuku & Neko Haruna. Aino pinned Haruna after Venus DDT. Apparently the results page on DDT’s website incorrectly says Pom Harajuku was in this match instead of Neko Haruna

Match 3: Nao Kakuta beat Mahiro Kiryu.

Match 4: Rika Tatsumi & Suzume beat Hikari Noa & Pom Harajuku. Tatsumi pinned Harajuku after Twist Of Fate.

Match 5: Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki & Arisu Endo beat Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Moka Miyamoto. Sakazaki pinned Miyamoto after Magical Merry-Go-Round.

Main Event: International Princess Champion Mako Itoh beat “The Unbreakable” Rio to retain the title. V4 for Itoh.

The next event is CyberFight Festival ’22 on 6/12 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama. The next standalone TJPW event is “Additional Attack ’22” on 6/19 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. This will be a 6/18 event in the US.

Tokyo Joshi Pro continued their Spring house show tour today with an event missing several notable top stars, as Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh & Yuka Sakazaki are all in the US (Sakazaki is in All Elite Wrestling, Yamashita & Itoh are making independent appearances this weekend).

Today’s event was held at Otemachi Mitsui Hall in Tokyo and can be watched on demand on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.

The announced paid attendance was 256.

Before the matches began, a new YouTube series called “Dream Wrestling – dream on the ring=” was announced. It will feature 4 women from the entertainment world outside of wrestling competing to possibly become a wrestler in TJPW. The show will premiere late this week.

Match 1-Raku & Pom Harajuku beat Hikari Noa & Kaya Toribami. Harajuku pinned Toribami after Pomu. Do. Justis.

Match 2: Hyper Misao beat Nao Kakuta & Mahiro Kiryu in a 3-way by beating Kiryu.

Match 3: “The Unbreakable” Rio beat Yuki Aino. Rio is a wrestler from Europe returning to TJPW for the first time since before the coronavirus pandemic began.

The Main Event was a 10-woman match divided into 5 singles matches, with the teams pre-determined then matches determined by a random draw held before the event. 10 minute time limit for each match.
Match 1: Yuki Kamifuku beat Moka Miyamoto.
Match 2: Rika Tatsumi beat Arisu Endo by submission.
Match 3: Mizuki beat Neko Haruna by submission.
Match 4: Shoko Nakajima beat Yuki Arai.
Match 5: Miu Watanabe vs. Suzume went to a 10 minute time limit draw.
Red Corner team wins 4-0-1.

The next event is Saturday at Entetsu Hall in Shizuoka. There is no live broadcast scheduled (it would be Friday night in the US). This will be the final TJPW event before CyberFight Festival ’22.

Following up on a hint dropped in the preview for Sunday’s event, Tokyo Joshi Pro announced today that International Princess Champion Maki Itoh is returning to the US later this month, and this time she’s bringing bestie/frenemy Miyu Yamashita with her. They will be appearing in Portland, OR on 5/28 and 5/29 US time for local independent PRESTIGE Wrestling. On 5/28, Itoh will defend the International Princess Championship against former WWE star and indy standout Mia Yim, who was recently let go by WWE and apparently has not yet followed fiance Keith Lee to All Elite Wrestling (Itoh made a couple appearances in AEW during their pandemic stay in Jacksonville, FL as part of a #1 Contender Tournament for the AEW Women’s Championship and has an 0-2 AEW record). This is significant for the title because it’s the first time a defense will happen outside TJPW, which was one of the plans for the championship before the coronavirus pandemic derailed those plans. Yamashita will face indy and Impact Wrestling star Masha Slamovich on 5/28.
On 5/29, Yamashita & Itoh will face each other for the first time since WRESTLE PRINCESS 2 in October. Presumably this will be a non-title match if Itoh retains.
As a result, both will miss the 5/29 TJPW event at Otemachi Mitsui Hall in Tokyo.

The events will be available to stream worldwide on the IWTV streaming service, which I believe costs around $15/month. No word on when/if their matches will become available on WRESTLE INIVERSE.