Tokyo Joshi Pro really gets their 2026 going today with the kickoff of the 6th Max Heart Tournament. The promotion’s now-annual tag team tournament usually held early in the year, it’s a bracket-style single-elimination tournament featuring almost the entire roster, with this year’s event featuring 12 teams. 4 teams get a free pass through the first round and all Round 1 matches will be held today with the winners advancing to the Quarterfinals. Both teams I want to make the Finals-Yuki Arai & Mifu Ashida and Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku-are in action today. Wasteland Pom Party lost in the Finals last year so hopefully it’s one better this year.
Today’s event will be held at Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama and can be watched LIVE on WRESTLE UNIVERSE and ABEMA (the new WRESTLE UNIVERSE live subscription package is required for the latter, the ABEMA add-on will not have on demand replays-that is only on standalone UNIVERSE). There will be no commentary. The event is a legit advance sellout. There are 6 matches planned total and the tournament matches have no time limit so this may be a longer house show event than normal, closer to 2 1/2 hours.
Today’s lineup (match order TBA):
Miu Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi & Sarah Phoenix vs. Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara & Toga
Yuki Aino, Haru Kazaahiro & Mahiro Kiryu vs. Suzume, Arisu Rndo & Shion Kanzaki
Max Heart Tournament Round 1:
HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki vs. Yuki Arai & Mifu Ashida
Raku & Ren Konatsu vs. Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
Kira Summer & Chika Nanase vs. Mizuki & Uta Takami
Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami
Refresh this page occasionally for the latest results.
Updates below will begin at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET. The UNIVERSE live stream is scheduled to begin 20 minutes before the event.
6:40 PM PT UPDATE: The live stream has begun. We should be going to the venue in 15-20 minutes although the UNIVERSE pre-start screen is showing a start time moved up 10 minutes. There is a DDT event at the venue after this today so they may need to finish up earlier than planned. (It didn’t start said 10 minutes early so that’s an error on the stream)
7 PM PT UPDATE: Live updates begin now.
We are LIVE from Yokohama Radiant Hall in Yokohama, Japan. There is no commentary.
The paid attendance will be announced after the event. It’s a legit advance sellout which, depending on the setup, should mean a minimum of 350. The venue’s full capacity for wrestling is just under 400. (UPDATE: The announced paid attendance-a legit advance sellout-was 273. Much lower than I anticipated)
The matches should begin in 10-15 minutes.
The matches begin at 7:15 PM PT/10:15 PM ET.
Match 1: Yuki Aino, Haru Kazaahiro & Mahiro Kiryu vs. Suzume, Arisu Rndo & Shion Kanzaki. 20 minute time limit. Oh, and Kiryu is still DDT Iron Man Heavymetalweight Champion so you know what that means…
Result: Yuki AIno, Haru Kazashiro & Mahiro Kiryu beat Suzume, Arisu Endo & Shion Kanzaki. Aino pinned Kanzaki after Venus DDT. Nobody tried immediately post-match to win the title from Kiryu…
Match 2: Miu Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi & Sarah Phoenix vs. Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara & Toga. 20 minute time limit
Result: Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara & Toga beat Mio Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi & Sarah Phoenix. Kamifuku pinned Phoenix after Fameasser.
Max Heart Tournament Round 1:
Match 3: Kira Summer & Chika Nanase vs. Mizuki & Uta Takami. No time limit
Result: Mizuki & Uta Takami beat Kira Summer & Chika Nanase. Takami beat Nanase with Koala Clutch. As a result, Mizuki & Takami advance to the Quarterfinals and will face Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro.
Match 4: Raku & Ren Konatsu vs. Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku. No time limit
Result: Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku beat Raku & Ren Konatsu. Max pinned Konatsu. As a result, Wasteland Pom Party advance to the Quarterfinals and will face Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi. Whoever wins that one could very well win the tournament.
Match 5: HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki vs. Yuki Arai & Mifu Ashida. No time limit
Result: Yuki Arai & Mifu Ashida beat HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki. Ashida pinned Suzuki with a German suplex hold. As a result, Arai & Ashida advance to the Quarterfinals and will face Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara.
Main Event: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami. No time limit
Result: Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami beat Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao. Toribami pinned Misao. As a result, Yamashita & Toribami advance to the Quarterfinals and will face Suzume & Arisu Endo. I figured if there was going to be an upset today, it would be here and that’s what happened. One of the usual big favorites is out. This could be the start-or continuation from the last couple months-of the impending big breakout year for Toribami.
Today’s event went much shorter than I expected, checking in at only 110 minutes.
The Quarterfinals are 1/25 at Ryogoku KFC Hall in Tokyo. Live streaming on WRESTLE UNIVERSE will begin on 1/24 at 11 PM PT/2 AM ET.
In other news, it was announced that “YES! Wonderland”, the annual Golden Week blowout event traditionally held on 5/4 at Korakuen Hall, will return after a hiatus last year in favor of an Osaka event.