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.
