Kamino Injured, TJPW Moving Ahead, HYPE! King Of DDT Final, GanJo Vs JTO

May 8, 2023

BASARA “BASARA 218 ~TAKAGARI 17~”, 13/05/2023
Takashimadaira Ward Community Center

1. SAGAT & Lil’ Kraken Vs Yasu Urano & Fuminori Abe
2. Isami Kodaka, Daiki Shimomura & Minoru Fujita Vs KUBITO, Daichi Kazato & Tsutomu Oosugi
3. FUMA Vs Ryota Nakatsu
4. IRON FIST TAG Titles: Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino (c) Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Antonio Honda
5. Union MAX Title: Banana Senga (c) Vs Takumi Tsukamoto

Busy news day. BASARA announced Masato Kamino has a torn meniscus in his left knee so he will be out of action for a while. No decision has been made yet over the IRON FIST TAG Titles that Kamino holds with Takato Nakano.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE TOUR IN SPRING ’23”, 13/05/2023
Shizuoka Act City Hamamatsu

1. Hyper Misao & Shino Suzuki Vs Nao Kakuta & Toga
2. 3 Way Match: Hikari Noa Vs Arisu Endo Vs Kaya Toribami
3. Moka Miyamoto Vs Haru Kazashiro
4. Miu Watanabe Vs HIMAWARI
5. Rika Tatsumi Vs Wakana Uehara
6. Shoko Nakajima, Suzume & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku
7. Mizuki & Yuki Arai Vs Maki Itoh & Yuki Kamifuku

It was already announced before today that Yuka Sakazaki would be missing this show because she will be spending a month wrestling overseas.

13th May is Wakana Uehara’s birthday so her present is a match against Rika Tatsumi.

Haru Kazashiro gets her first singles match and will also be debuting her entrance song.

Haruna Neko is missing the show because of a knee injury.

Runa Okubo is not on the show due to “academic reasons”.

DDT/ONLY WE “ONLY WE X DDT SPECIAL! ~YUJI HINO 20TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT~”, 14/05/2023
Chiba TKP Garden City

1. Hideki Okatani Vs Rukiya
2. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Shunma Katsumata, Yusuke Okada & Kazuma Sumi
3. Hiroshi Yamato & Yuya Koroku Vs Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada
4. Pheromones Vs DISASTER BOX!: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata
5. Special Tag Match: MAO & Toy Kojima Vs Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Shinya Aoki, Yuki Ueno & Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Ryota Nakatsu & Yuki Ishida
7. Yuji Hino Debut 20th Anniversary Match: Yuji Hino, Jun Akiyama & Yukio Sakaguchi Vs Tetsuya Endo, HARASHIMA & Yuji Okabayashi

The aftermath of last weekend showed Yuki Iino in an overwhelming “Sexy” state, one that even Danshoku Dieno was taken aback by. Dieno promises that Iino has calmed down now and his “Sexy” levels are back to where they were from before.

Add Hiroshi Yamato to the guest list celebrating Yuji Hino’s 20th Anniversary.

DDT “KING OF DDT 2023 FINAL!!”, 21/05/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

0. Dark Match: Yuki “Sexy” Iino & Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Akito & Rukiya
0. Dark Match: Toru Owashi, Makoto Oishi, Antonio Honda, Kazuki Hirata & Kazuma Sumi Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Saki Akai, Soma Takao, Yuni & Yuki Ishida
1. King Of DDT 2023 – Semi Final: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Yuki Ueno
2. King Of DDT 2023 – Semi Final: Jun Akiyama Vs Chris Brookes
3. BURNING Vs DAMNATION T.A!: Tetsuya Endo, Kotaro Suzuki & Yusuke Okada Vs Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON
4. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yuji Hino, Sanshiro Takagi, HARASHIMA & Naruki Doi Vs MAO, Toy Kojima, Yuya Koroku & Takeshi Masada
5. DDT Extreme Title: Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Hideki Okatani
6. King Of DDT 2023 – Final: X Vs X

The King Of DDT is down to four men. The crown will go to either Jun Akiyama, Chris Brookes, Yuki Ueno or last year’s winner Kazusada Higuchi.

Hideki Okatani was offered a DDT Extreme Title match by Shunma Katsumata after he beat him in Round 1 of the tournament. Katsumata said he will come up with a match stipulation that will show off Okatani’s true self to the fans.

BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. FIVE: THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL”, 23/05/2023
Tokyo ARENA Shimokitazawa

1. Special Single Match: Takayuki Ueki Vs Mecha Mummy
2. Special Tag Team Match: MAO & Mei Suruga Vs Chie Koishikawa & Hagane Shinno
3. Special Single Match: Hyper Misao Vs Chris Brookes
4. Special Single Match: Drew Parker Vs Masahiro Takanashi

A wacky mix of new faces join the Baka Gaijin + Friends fun. Hyper Misao, Hagane Shinno and Mecha Mummy all get to experience the action over there inside ARENA Shimokitazawa.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “HYPER MISAO PRODUCE – HYPE!”, 25/05/2023
Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall

1. Hyper Misao II Audition: Miu Watanabe Vs Raku Vs Yuki Kamifuku Vs Suzume Vs Moka Miyamoto Vs HIMAWARI
2. Special Single Match: Shoko Nakajima Vs Yoshihiko
3. THE FIRST HYPE!: Rika Tatsumi & Arisu Endo Vs Yuki Aino & Mahiro Kiryu

Hyper Misao came up with all of these matches. The rights to become the 2nd generation Hyper Misao are on the line in the opener, Shoko Nakajima fights Yoshihiko for the first time ever and the main event comes off as a random tag match but it is two pairings Misao wants to see fight each other.

GANBARE☆PRO “GANBARE☆PRO WRESTLING PLAYERS ASSOCIATION PERFORMANCE”, 28/05/2023
Tokyo Oji BASEMENT MON☆STAR

1. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title Next Challenger: Isami Kodaka Vs Munetatsu Nakamura

An upset from the weekend saw Ganbare☆Pro’s rookie Munetatsu Nakamura pin Isami Kodaka in a 6-Man Tag Match. When Kodaka later asked Mizuki Watase for a title shot, he was turned down for that reason. Watase then came up with the idea to put Kodaka and Nakamura in a No. 1 Contender’s match to determine who he defends the Spirit Of Ganbare Title against at Ota Ward Gymnasium this July.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “STICK OUT ’23”, 11/06/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe

Even though Sakazaki will be leaving Tokyo Joshi Pro at the end of the year, she still wants to hold onto the Princess Tag Team Titles with Mizuki for as long as possible. Her next match in Japan won’t be until this show so it was decided The Magical Sugar Rabbits will defend the belts against Daydream.

GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO MILON’S SECRET CASTLE ’23”, 17/06/2023
Tokyo GEN Sports Palace

1. GanJo Vs JUST TAP OUT! Special Tag Match: YuuRI & Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Sumika Yanagawa & Misa Kagura

Two “assassins” are being sent over to Ganbare☆Joshi by JUST TAP OUT to continue the growing rivalry between the two brands. Both Sumika Yanagawa & Misa Kagura have been with JTO since 2020 and are familiar with YuuRI from her time there. Yoshiko Hasegawa is the odd one out in this match.

Miyako Matsumoto and Alex Lee will both be on the show and this time they are actually booked for it.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’23”, 08/07/2023
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

1. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Maki Itoh

A promise was made two years ago that when Mizuki would become the Princess Of Princess Champion then she would give Maki Itoh a title shot. Itoh has come to collect and Mizuki decided it is a big enough match for Ota Ward Gym. Itoh is dedicating her next tour of American bookings to prepare for the title match.

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Posted by JamieOD

Yuka Sakazaki Graduating From TJPW This December

May 8, 2023

A press conference was held by Tokyo Joshi Pro today with both Tetsuya Koda and Yuka Sakazaki in attendance. The big new coming out of the event is Sakazaki’s announcement that she will be graduating from TJPW on 1st December at the promotion’s 10th Anniversary show in Korakuen Hall. She will continue her pro wrestling career but it will happen overseas because she is also going to relocate to America in 2024. Sakazaki said it was a difficult decision to make but wanted it to happen during a big milestone which is why she picked the 10th Anniversary as her final match in the company. Koda said Sakazaki has several overseas tours scheduled for the rest of this year starting with an expedition to USA from 13th May to 4th June. These tours are being done to help Sakazaki prepare for her move to America next year so she will have limited appearances with TJPW for the rest of 2023.

Therefore Koda announced that The Magical Sugar Rabbits will defend the Princess Tag Team Titles against Daydream on the 11th June Korakuen show. This is going to be Sakazaki’s next match in Japan due to her busy schedule. Even though Sakazaki is leaving TJPW, she is still determined to hold onto the Tag Titles with Mizuki and continue their latest championship reign. When asked what caused Sakazaki to make this decision, she said she knew the day would come when she would have to leave the company and the last 10 years have gone in a blink of an eye. TJPW is special to her but she feels she could not stay there forever for that very reason. She loves pro wrestling and wants to continue doing it as she enters the next stage in her life. But if she was to continue wrestling in Japan for other promotions it would interfere with TJPW which is why she is choosing to relocate and wrestle in America instead. She is undecided if she will ever wrestle in Japan again but if she does it will 100% not be for another joshi promotion.

Sakazaki said there are still things she wants to do in TJPW before she finishes up there. She said there is one particular story she wants to finish up but did not explain what it is. Even though there are 7 months left in 2023, her busy schedule means it is more like three and a half months for her. When she consulted with Mizuki about her decision, Mizuki’s response was she didn’t want Sakazaki to leave her. But Mizuki supports the decision and the two intend to stay as Princess Tag Champions for as long as they can so they can bring the belts to Disneyland together. Sakazaki would also like to invite an AEW wrestler over for a match at “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’23” in Ota Ward Gymnasium on 8th July. She thinks it would be a good opportunity for Japanese AEW fans to see one of the company’s wrestlers up close and in person.

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A day like this was always going to come eventually. Yuka Sakazaki is now the biggest name yet in TJPW’s history to leave the company after being there for almost the entirety of its lifetime. Really it’s just Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima left that are ahead of her seniority wise with Rika Tatsumi right behind her. What amazes me and keeps this story a positive one is Sakazaki’s decision to continue wrestling and to go do it in America. As TJPW approaches the 10th Anniversary of their launch event it is astounding to look back and see how it has grown. There’s a list a mile long of all the different DDT offshoots and spinoffs that only lasted a few years at best (heck DDTeeeen!! wasn’t even that long ago). When TJPW first started in 2012 I didn’t expect it to be any different. NOZOMI came and went. They replaced her with a bunch of young trainees and I thought they would only last a few years then vanish like so many wrestlers of any gender have done over the years. Instead we got Yamashita, Nakajima, Sakazaki & Tatsumi successfully holding up the fort as the company matured and the roster grew. Now TJPW has carved out a pretty nice spot for themselves in a wrestling landscape. It’s good enough to be the No. 2 women’s promotion in Japan and they’ve produced several wrestlers who are now able to make a name for themselves in America. Sakazaki will likely call AEW her home next year, Yamashita is in big demand on the US indies and Maki Itoh will have probably taken over GCW by the time she is done with them. All that’s missing now is for WWE to poach Hyper Misao so she can keep watch over the NXT parking lot.

So yeah, good news, feeling a bit emotional. I’m not looking forward to typing this all again whenever Yamashita, Nakajima and/or Tatsumi calls it a day.

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