Dramatic DDT

It was announced today that Maki Itoh’s contract with Tokyo Joshi Pro had expired on 23rd August and after much discussions between the two sides, her contract was not renewed. Therefore the match she had on Saturday was her last appearance in TJPW. Itoh wrote two comments about the news, one in Japanese and one in English. Her Japanese comment includes mention of the first time she gave Sanshiro Takagi a headbutt during an Idol Lumberjack Death Match in DDT back in 2013 that started this entire journey. Below is the comment she wrote in English.

“With the Korakuen Hall show on August 23, 2025, my contract with TJPW has come to and end.

Back when I was struggling as an idol, it was Takagi who discovered me.

I wasn’t good at singing or dancing, and I was never that popular – but the one thing I was ever praised for was pro wrestling.

Thanks to TJPW, I was able to spend 8 years and 7 months growing and living alongside this company.

It’s all because of TJPW and everyone I’ve met along the way.

I’ll continue wrestling, so I’m sure we’ll meet again somewhere down the road!

I’ll never forget the gratitude I feel toward everyone who has supported me, and I’ll keep treasuring the experience and knowledge I gainsed here as I move forward.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you fuck you all!”

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I should have known something was up after Itoh’s match on Saturday when she lost clean to Yuki Arai in what was only their second ever singles match together. In TJPW it is uncommon for a kohai to beat their senpai in their second attempt but given how hard Arai is pushed I figured this was an exception to the rule. That made me ignore all of the other red flags that were raised. Miyu Yamashita looked upset while she helped Itoh walk to the back. Then Itoh’s post-match comments backstage was very brief. All she said was she gave it her all and everyone should be able to think for themselves. That kind of short but ominous promo after a big loss is usually the act of somebody who is about to leave the territory. The other big sign that completely went over my head was the pinky swear Itoh gave Arai instead of the middle finger. I didn’t realise this until I came across this tweet. When was the last time Itoh offered a pinky swear to someone? To Natsumi Maki after one of Maki’s final TJPW matches before she left to become Natsupoi in Stardom.

As for the actual news, it is an end that fans have been expecting for quite some time. Like for the last two or three years Itoh would spend good chunks of the year wrestling in North America and Europe instead of Japan. It meant whenever she was back in Japan she was mostly directionless wrestling in TJPW. Other than setting up 121000000 with Yamashita to take over the tag team division for a while, she never reached the same heights of 2021. Which brings me to explain something that Itoh’s biggest supporters never wanted to hear. Itoh “finished her story” in TJPW when she won the 2021 Tokyo Princess Cup. That was the end of her character arc. Even in the company canon that tournament victory was presented as the happy ending for her wrestling career because she finally found success under her own abilities. Everything afterwards is her either living “Happily Ever After” in Japan or adapting the Rated R remake of her gimmick in America. So for those who wished and waited for the day Itoh would win the Princess Of Princess Title, it was never going to happen barring any emergency decisions over injuries.

And it’s her success in America that probably led to this news becoming a reality. She has never kept it secret in English language interviews that she would love to sign a deal with one of the major American wrestling companies. It is also assumed by everyone by this point that the money she made overseas is more than what she makes with TJPW in Japan even if it’s just because of the Yen becoming weak against other currencies. According to TJPW’s side of the story they couldn’t come to terms with Itoh over a new deal and decided to part ways with her. In the immediate aftermath we’re seeing a lot of people like Takagi and the TJPW roster publicly wishing her the best and saying how much they will miss her. So at least on the surface this split doesn’t seem to have created any bad blood between the two sides. Time will tell that story.

So what now for Itoh’s future? She will continue to wrestle and since her departure is over a contract expiration, the word “graduation” was never used to describe what’s going on. More international bookings is the obvious answer. Her last tour was cancelled but the only bookings announced were two GCW shows that took place the same weekend that her contract expired. The timing of that explains why it got cancelled in order to give Itoh some kind of farewell match in TJPW. She has a booking in Italy happening this November and Yamashita will be there too. The promoters SAJ Wrestling are advertising that it will be her only European appearance but didn’t specify for what period of time.

Something that also caught my eye while digging into this story is Itoh has a booking with Kyushu Pro happening on 19th October in her hometown of Ogori City, Fukuoka. This was announced on 14th August and she was listed as a TJPW wrestler in the show’s marketing. This might just be a coincidence given how close the event is happening to Itoh’s home. But as former TJPW talent like Yuu, Sayaka Unagi and Marika Kobashi have shown there is a massive collection of indies out there in Japan to get bookings for even if they get way more obscure the further you move away from Tokyo.

But what if Itoh has eyes on getting to stages bigger than TJPW? Does she have a route that can lead her to Stardom, Marigold or some of the other known joshi promotions? AEW has ignored her for years now but if they eventually saw the light to sign Yamashita to a some kind of deal then there might always be that chance Itoh gets the call, even if it’s just for a one night ROH appearance. As for WWE they keep going back and forth over what kind of talent scouting they want to prioritize. They would get brownie points online for signing Itoh to even just a WWE ID deal but what is that worth really? A bunch of blue tick accounts pretending to know Itoh’s career highlights along with a new entrance song being produced by Def Rebel? Come on, she’s worth more than that.

One thing I want to end on is another story of timing. The same day Itoh has her last TJPW match was when we found out about Yamashita’s new leadership role that supposedly makes her now fully committed to the company. Yamashita is another person who it has been argued has grown out of TJPW and could go off to do other things. But while Itoh is now out of the company, Yamashita has taken the opposite path and will become even more entrenched, maybe even planting seeds to one day take on bigger management roles behind the scenes just like how Akito did it in DDT. I can’t help but wonder if such an opportunity could have ever been on the table for Itoh given her own seniority with the promotion. That probably isn’t her style though. Making money is what she wants and if TJPW couldn’t give that to her, that’s their problem. And it might be a bit alarming if it is their problem.