It happened. It’s now done. AEW finally made it to Konosuke Takeshita’s match with Kazuchika Okada and got Takeshita out of The Don Callis Family. At last we can move on with our lives and wait to see if Takeshita’s babyface turn will turn out to be more than just a lateral move. His wife Yuka Sakazaki got some more screentime on ROH this month including a PPV main event. MAO & Yoshihiko brought Kazuma Sumi along on their latest adventure in France, giving Sumi some invaluable overseas experience away from DDT. Chris Brookes gave Munetatsu Nakamura a similar opportunity with a wild weekend over in Manila. Will the summer provide even more wrestling to follow around the globe or can we all take a break for the World Cup? Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s being ruined by American corporate greed and so on but Blue Lock seems to be timing their latest story arc to climax by the time the final takes place so that gives me something to look forward to after Ireland failed to qualify. Also getting to watch South Korea Vs Czech Republic at 3am is the kind of football sicko behavior that’s been missing in my life for a while.
AEW “COLLISION”, 30/05/2026 Propst Arena At Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) Vs Daniel Garcia
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Results
ROH “SUPERCARD SHOWDOWN”, 09/05/2026 (Aired 14/05/2026) SoFi Center, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA
1. Athena, Billie Starkz & Marina Shafir defeated Yuka Sakazaki, Maya World, Lacey Lane when Athena pinned Lane after the Swanton Bomb from Starkz
So Ring Of Honor taped a few matches at the same indoor golf course AEW was at last month and they didn’t let Yuka Sakazaki loose around the place? That was a missed opportunity. Instead her warmup match for Survival Of The Fittest also involved some of the other participants Athena, Billie Starkz and Maya World. However a lot of Sakazaki’s time in this match was spent wrestling with Marina Shafir and also building up the hot tag to Lacey Lane. She also hit a big dive out of the ring onto Shafir and World but that left Lane fighting on her own. Starkz gave Lane the Swanton Bomb but not before Athena blind tagged herself in so she could get the pinfall and take the glory for herself.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 13/05/2026 Harrah’s Cherokee Center, Asheville, North Carolina, USA
1. AEW World Title: Darby Allin (c) defeated Konosuke Takeshita with the Coffin Drop (15:29). *V5 for Darby Allin.
Even though Takeshita’s match with Okada was already on the schedule, he was given a big detour a few weeks before the show by getting an AEW World Title shot. It was the latest defence in Darby Allin’s eventful title run where he crammed in many title defences into one month. Takeshita couldn’t get the job done fast enough so El Clon ran down to distract the ref while Don Callis handed Takeshita the Dynamite Diamond Ring to use as a weapon. Takeshita refused to use it and threw it away. Too bad moral victories don’t win you championships because Allin made his comeback after that which included a Coffin Drop to the outside and also the Scorpion Death Drop on top of the steel steps. He hit another Coffin Drop outside the ring but Takeshita wouldn’t be beaten that way. He tried to make a comeback of his own but Allin cut it off with the Scorpion Death Lock, keeping Takeshita down long enough to land one more Coffin Drop for the win.
ROH “SUPERCARD OF HONOR”, 15/05/2026 Wicomico Youth And Civic Center, Salisbury, Maryland, USA
1. ROH Women’s World Title – Survival Of The Fittest Match: Athena (c) defeated Maya World, Trish Adora, Zada Steel, Yuka Sakazaki and Billie Starkz (26:12).
1a. Athena eliminated Zayda Steel with a Rope-Assisted School Boy (5:01).
1b. Yuka Sakazaki eliminated Trish Adora with the Magical Merry-Go-Round (15:39).
1c. Billie Starkz eliminated Yuka Sakazaki with the Avalanche Star 10 (17:27).
1d. Maya World eliminated Billie Starkz with a Jackknife Pin (21:47).
1e. Athena eliminated Maya World with the O-Face from the Ladder (26:12). *V36 for Athena.
This turned out to be a mess of a match. It turned into a Hardcore Match midway through because of the whole “No DQs In In X Way Match” booking cliche so Sakazaki got to do an American style plunder match for once. She also scored an elimination by pinning Trish Adora with the Magical Merry-Go-Round. Her time in the match came to an end a few minutes later when some high risk fighting ended with Sakazaki taking Starkz’s finisher from the top rope.
BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “MNL”, 23/05/2026 Sari Sari Makati, Makati, Philippines ??? Fans
1. Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes defeated Hotdog De San Jose & Super P when Sabre submitted San Jose with a Manjigatame (?:??).
2. Main Ronn, Joya & Robienne Sane defeated Demonyitang Daniella Cavite, Crystal & Max Liwanag when Joya pinned Cavite with the Cutter (?:??).
3. Emman & “Mad Kat” Karina defeated Trainee Kenzo & Trainee Kiko when Emman pinned Kiko with the Styles Clash (?:??).
4. Jonathan Johnson defeated Munetatsu Nakamura with a Bridging Pin (?:??).
5. Jake De Leon & Shivam defeated Black Kat & Lifeguard Jack when De Leon pinned Black Kat with the Jumping Super Kick (?:??).
GCW/BZW “NOW OR NEVER”, 23/05/2026 Espace Isabelle de Hainaut, Rue de Saint-Quentin, Bapaume, France
1. BZW Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Tag Match: MBM & Ultima Sombra defeated MAO & Yoshihiko (c) and Jimmy Lloyd & Jeffrey John when MBM pinned Yoshihiko with the Reincarnation Reversal (15:27). *MAO & Yoshihiko fail in V8. Rivality become the 7th BZW Tag Team Champions!
2. DDT Universal Title – 3 Way Match: Kazuma Sumi (c) defeated Gringo Loco and Leedz Lewis when Sumi pinned Lewis with the Reverse 450 Splash (14:22). *V2 for Kazuma Sumi.
Kazuma Sumi’s goal of defending the DDT Universal Title overseas finally came to pass this month. MAO got him booked for the BZW collab show with GCW in France. His match wasn’t an easy task at all because he had to fight the former Universal Champion Gringo Loco as well as French wrestler Leedz Lewis in a 3 Way bout where he could lose the title without being pinned. Sumi made the most of his moment and pinned Lewis with the Reverse 450 Splash to keep the belt and impress the fans in attendance. He said afterward that he now has a great sense of accomplishment because he can go do his style of wrestling anywhere in the world. He is eager to compete overseas again and spread his name around the planet.
The same success wasn’t there for MAO & Yoshihiko. Their year and a half long reign as BZW Tag Team Champions finally came to an end in a 3 Way Tag against a BZW team and a GCW team. Everybody brawled out of the venue and Yoshihiko did a dive off of a truck to put Jimmy Lloyd through a table. Rivality brought the belts back to their home promotion in the end when MBM found a counter to Yoshihiko’s finishing move, reversing the pin into one of his own for the three count. MAO feels happy that he got to wreak havoc in four different countries while holding the belts with Yoshihiko. His next goal in BZW is to win a singles championship so then some day DDT can hold a show in Europe!
DXCN “DAKILA II”, 24/05/2026 Brawl Pit Bulusan, Quezon City, Philippines
1. 4 Way Match: Robin Sane defeated Jonathan Johnson, Shaheen and Munetatsu Nakamura (?:??).
2. Dexcon World Title: Jake De Leon (c) defeated Chris Brookes (?:??). *V5 for Jake De Leon.
Another packed weekend in the Philippines is in the books for Brookes. He wasn’t able to come back to Japan with another championship because Jake De Leon was able to defend his Dexcon World Title against him. Munetatsu Nakamura was also part of the Dexcon weekend, taking part in a high flying 4 Way Match where Robin Sane picked up the win over Shaheen.
AEW “DOUBLE OR NOTHING”, 24/05/2026 Louis Armstrong Stadium, New York City, New York, USA
1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Kazuchika Okada (c) with the Raging Fire (19:01). *Kazuchika Okada fails in V10. Konosuke Takeshita becomes the 13th AEW International Champion!
Being at the show live I can tell you the building was very excited to see Okada Vs Takeshita happen with the match graphic on the pre-show getting one of the largest pops out of the lineup. The match was fantastic even with the Don Callis drama at ringside happening midway through. Callis tried to play neutral by telling Okada not to risk injuring Takeshita. While Okada reluctantly followed that instruction, Takeshita did not do the same when Callis gave him the same order. It still took a lot for Takeshita to finally beat Okada, countering the Rainmaker with his own Lariat and then hitting a big Elbow Strike when the Wagamama only got a one count. But when he finally used the Raging Fire there was no fight left in Okada to kick out and Takeshita became the new AEW International Champion! The sweet taste of victory was quickly spoiled when The Don Callis Family all looked to turn on Takeshita after the match. Kyle Fletcher made his big return from injury to hug Takeshita only to turn on him with a backstabbing attack, confirming that our guy is now kicked out of the Family.
AEW “COLLISION”, 30/05/2026 Propst Arena At Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
1. AEW International Title: Konosuke Takeshita (c) defeated Daniel Garcia with the Raging Fire (14:27). *V1 for Konosuke Takeshita.
Takeshita had to get over the heartbreak of ProtoShita being split up by having his first International Title defence against Daniel Garcia. A wrestler like Garcia has some tricks up his sleeve, like countering Takeshita’s top rope Clothesline into an Arm Drag to the canvas where he then applied the Sharpshooter. Takeshita blocked a rolling cradle that would have set up another submission hold, turning it over to a German Suplex. The big Elbow Strike after that set up the Raging Fire and Takeshita got his first defence in the bag, all while Jon Moxley was watching on from the commentary table. Members of The Don Callis Family ran into the ring to attack Takeshita after the match while outside the ring the Death Riders and Shane Taylor Promotions all suddenly appeared to brawl with each other. If that wasn’t chaotic enough, The Conglomeration entered the fight and cleared the room so it was only them and Takeshita left in the ring. So we end the month with Takeshita finding a new bunch of friends (or an old friend in Mike Bailey’s case).
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Upcoming Appearances
EVE “EVE 150: HISTORY MAKERS RULE BREAKERS!”, 05/06/2026 Big Penny Social, London, England
1. EVE International Title: Kris Statlander (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
Right, let’s get things out of the way before the World Cup starts. Miyu Yamashita returns to EVE very soon hoping to win gold there again, this time fighting Kris Statlander from AEW for the EVE International Title. As much as I would love to see a result here that follows up from Yamashita’s match with Jamie Hayter last time around, I’m not sure if that’s something EVE is planning for.
WXW “DRIVE OF CHAMPIONS 2026”, 06/06/2026 Turbinenhalle 1, Oberhausen, Germany
1. Ahura & Jun Akiyama Vs 1 Called Manders & Thomas Shire
Germany welcomes Jun Akiyama for the weekend where he will meet Ahura to team up against Cowboy Way.
CMLL “FANTASTICA MANIA 2026”, 19/06/2026 Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs X
It is CMLL’s turn to host “FANTASTICA MANIA” and Konosuke Takeshita will be there on behalf of New Japan.
SETUP “HELLRAISER”, 27/06/2026 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. Hardcore Unsanctioned Anything Goes Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Jonathan Johnson
The travelling is not ending yet for Daisuke Sasaki. A few weeks after he is done with Best Of The Super Jr. he will be going over to Thailand for a SETUP show. Jonathan Johnson threw out a challenge recently to prove he is one of the best wrestlers in his corner of the world. Sasaki answered his challenge and wants it to be unsanctioned so anything goes!
I haven’t gotten around to looking into what happened on Tokyo Joshi Pro’s two European shows outside of the basic results. All I know is Miyu Yamashita has more plans coming up to wrestle across the world this year. While she doesn’t have to wait long until she packs her suitcase again, Daisuke Sasaki is emptying his after finishing up his month long journey across North America. He found a few more places in America to wrestle in before he made the trip back home.
It’s a little hard to tell if the summer is going to get busier for overseas bookings. Is there much of an appetite for international wrestling when the World Cup is going to be on? CMLL is counting on it and Konosuke Takeshita has at least one date with them in June. I’m going to curse out the company if they use their AI poster art to make him look like a Captain Tsubasa drawing.
LUCHA WRESTLING PURORESU “LUCHA LIBRE MEXICANA”, 19/04/2026 Xander Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Drago, Genio del Aire & Torito Negro Vs Doble Cara, Daisuke Sasaki & Ultimo Maldito
Video starts at 1:48:50 LABOR OF LOVE “THE EXHIBITION”, 25/04/2026 Icebox Project Space, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. Anything Goes: Big Callux Vs Daisuke Sasaki
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Results
LUCHA WRESTLING PURORESU “LUCHA LIBRE MEXICANA”, 19/04/2026 Xander Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Drago, Genio del Aire & Torito Negro defeated Doble Cara, Daisuke Sasaki & Ultimo Maldito when Drago pinned Sasaki with the Tail Of The Dragon (?:??).
Sasaki is one of the more likely DDT wrestlers to go in search of lucha libre when he travels over to the Americas. He didn’t go visit Mexico this time around but he got down there close enough by getting a lucha booking in LA. While there he got to lock horns with Drago as part of a trios match. Sasaki and his rudo partners beat down the other team and held Torito Negro in the Kaientai pose. Genio del Aire tried to make a big counter attack by doing a jumping Hurricanrana to Ultimo Maldito from the human tower only to crash on top of his own head and neck in a disasterous looking botch. Drago inspired the tecnico team’s comeback and both of his partners Moonsaulted out of the ring onto Doble Cara & Maldito. That left Sasaki to duke it out with Drago but he was whipped around into the Tail Of The Dragon llave pin, losing the match to the veteran luchador.
EVE/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “EVE X TJPW”, 25/04/2026 Big Penny Social, London, England ??? Fans
1. EVE International Title Next Contender Tournament – Round 1: Shoko Nakajima defeated Hollie Barlow (?:??).
2. EVE International Title Next Contender Tournament – Round 1: Miyu Yamashita defeated Aliss Ink (?:??).
3. Rhio defeated Hyper Misao (?:??).
4. Session Moth Martina & Aliss Ink defeated Lucy Sky & Yuki Aino when Martina pinned Sky (?:??).
5. EVE International Title Next Contender Tournament – Final: Miyu Yamashita defeated Shoko Nakajima (?:??).
The complete results will eventually be found here once I get around to watching the show.
LABOR OF LOVE “THE EXHIBITION”, 25/04/2026 Icebox Project Space, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. Anything Goes: Big Callux defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Black Hole Slam (?:??).
The final stopping point for Sasaki was at The City Of Brotherly Love. Too bad Sasaki hates love because all it ever did was hurt him. The Philly indie scene isn’t what it used to be and hasn’t been for a very long time. But Labor Of Love has popped up to try and find its place in a world that has long since moved on from the days when the corner of Swanson and Ritner St was considered the centrepoint of the American indies. Sasaki went to Philadelphia for a fight with Big Callux where before the match the stipulation was revealed to be Anything Goes. Callux brought along a bag of gifts for Sasaki that included a Gritty toy. Sasaki ripped it in half and threw the remains into the crowd! Callux then gave Sasaki a bouquet of roses but Sasaki just attacked him with them. More fighting broke out with a chair, a chain and also a hockey stick being used as weapons. Sasaki got into the hockey vibes by putting on a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey to piss off the Philly fans even more. He tried to put Callux in the Crossface Lock with the chain to assist him but Callux powered out of it. Sasaki then got the upper hand by unmasking Callux as a distraction to hit him over the head with the chair and then Pedigree him onto it. Callux kicked out though and threw Sasaki from the top rope onto the chair laid out in the middle of the ring. He then hit the Black Hole Slam to win the match, much like how the Philadelphia Flyers went on to win the series against the Penguins in the NHL playoffs a couple of days later.
SAJ/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SAJ X TJPW”, 26/04/2026 Centro Sport Cesate, Milan, Italy
1. Mirko Mori, Nico Inverardi & Adriano Vs Goro, Merak & Spencer
2. Yuki Aino Vs Irene
3. Shoko Nakajima Vs Kanji
4. Sebastian De Witt Vs Miyu Yamashita
5. SAJ & ASCA Tag Team Titles: Mike Bird & Crimi (c) Vs Rhio & Cory Zero
6. SAJ Openweight Title: Lupo (c) Vs Kouga
Similar to the other TJPW show, I have to go seek out video of this show and when I do, you will find the proper report here.
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Upcoming Appearances
ROH “SUPERCARD OF HONOR”, 15/05/2026 Wicomico Youth And Civic Center, Salisbury, Maryland, USA
1. ROH Women’s World Title – Survival Of The Fittest Match: Athena (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Trish Adora Vs Billie Starkz Vs Persephone Vs Maya World
All of the competitors have been confirmed and it’s official. Yuka Sakazaki is among the six wrestlers entering Ring Of Honor’s annual Survival Of The Fittest elimination match. Athena’s reign as ROH Women’s World Champion has reached preposterous levels of record breaking in terms of length. Seriously is this the longest running championship reign with so few highlights to exist in modern times?
BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “MNL”, 23/05/2026 Sari Sari Makati, Makati, Philippines
1. Hotdog De San Jose & Super P Vs Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes
The first match announced for the show has Chris Brookes teaming up with Zack Sabre Jr. again, bringing SchadenTekkers over to the Philippines. Super P has found a sort of familiar looking super friend in Hotdog De San Jose which means together they are Team SuperHotdog!
GCW/BZW “NOW OR NEVER”, 23/05/2026 Espace Isabelle de Hainaut, Rue de Saint-Quentin, Bapaume, France
1. BZW Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Tag Match: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs MBM & Ultima Sombra Vs Jimmy Lloyd & Jeffrey John
It’s the biggest risk of danger yet for MAO & Yoshihiko in their travels around Europe. They are stuck in the middle of the BZW Vs GCW battle coming up in France and both sides want to take the BZW Tag Team Titles away from them. In the 3 Way Match BZW are sending in Rivality. They are familiar faces to the champions because MBM & Ultima Sombra did a tour in Japan with DDT last year. GCW will be represented by Jimmy Lloyd & Jeffrey John. Gotta be honest they’re not really sending their best into the fight here. Like they have Nick Gage & Vipress teaming up in one of the other matches. That team sounds like a threat!
DXCN “DAKILA II”, 24/05/2026 Brawl Pit Bulusan, Quezon City, Philippines
1. 4 Way Match: Jonathan Johnson Vs Robin Sane Vs Shaheen Vs Munetatsu Nakamura
2. Chris Brookes Vs X
It’s likely that Munetatsu Nakamura will be part of the Baka Gaijin in Manila show as well but for now he’s just been announced for the Dexcon show happening the next day. Even if this turns out to be his only match of the weekend it is still his first overseas expedition which is exciting enough by itself.
AEW “DOUBLE OR NOTHING”, 24/05/2026 Louis Armstrong Stadium, New York City, New York, USA
1. AEW International Title: Kazuchika Okada (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Here we go, here we go, here we go! Shenanigans spoiled the previous singles match Takeshita had with Kazuchika Okada and let’s face it, shenanigans will likely happen again. But stakes are still high and the feud is finally heading towards its breaking point. Surely this has to be the blowoff with one of them getting kicked out of The Don Callis Family at the end, right?
EVE “EVE 150: HISTORY MAKERS RULE BREAKERS!”, 05/06/2026 Big Penny Social, London, England
1. EVE International Title: Kris Statlander (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
The tournament that Yamashita won at the EVE x TJPW show made her the No. 1 Contender for the EVE International Title. She held their main championship during her big push there back in 2023. Is history going to repeat itself when she fights Kris Statlander from AEW for EVE’s other singles title?
WXW “DRIVE OF CHAMPIONS 2026”, 06/06/2026 Turbinenhalle 1, Oberhausen, Germany
1. Ahura & Jun Akiyama Vs 1 Called Manders & Thomas Shire
Is Ahura still going to be in wXw by the time this match happens? He was at the WWE European tryout this past week.
CMLL “FANTASTICA MANIA 2026”, 19/06/2026 Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
1. Konosuke Takeshita Vs X
Takeshita heads back to Mexico this summer when CMLL holds their version of the “FANTASTICA MANIA” series with New Japan.
Only a few days left until WrestleMania Week and there’s a lot to talk about before we even get there. Konosuke Takeshita’s feud with Kazuchika Okada is making some progress but still moving at a glacial pace. Don Callis dangled a carrot in front of Okada promising him a rematch with Okada, this time with the AEW International Title on the line. But it can only happen as long as they team up to beat The Young Bucks. The way Callis sees it, Takeshita and Okada together can be compared to the relationship Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen had together in the Chicago Bulls.
Last month it was Texas, this month it was Vancouver. Tokyo Joshi Pro is continuing to lay their flag in places across North America with their second tour of the year in that region finishing up in Las Vegas this week. Fingers crossed that their travels to and from everywhere go off without a hitch this time.
Our favorite troublemaker Daisuke Sasaki has been making towns during his stay in North America. Some GCW dates here, a few ROH matches there and he even found some work up in Canada. He’ll be in Vegas too for some matches and debauchery. Apparently Mizuki Watase is currently in Vegas right now too but I can’t for the life of me find any information regarding whether or not he will be wrestling there during his stay.
1. Darby Allin, Bandido & Jack Perry Vs Andrade El Ídolo, Mark Davis & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis)
AEW “DYNASTY”, 12/04/2026 Rogers Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
1. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson Vs Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita
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Results
GCW “LAST CALL”, 03/04/2026 FSW Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Daisuke Sasaki defeated Marcus Mathers with La Mistica Crossface Lock (14:58).
Sasaki made it to Las Vegas a little bit early for a GCW show happening separately away from The Collective. I wouldn’t be surprised if GCW originally booked the venue on this date back when WrestleMania was still scheduled for New Orleans. Sasaki heeled it up for his match against Marcus Mathers, targeting his opponent’s knee and attacking it with a chair. The match came close to being called off at points for the sake of Mathers’s health but he toughened it out and fought back. Sasaki didn’t waver from his gameplan though until a ref bump gave him the opportunity to give Mathers a Low Blow. He got away with it and made Mathers submit afterward.
GCW “MANIAC”, 04/04/2026 Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. GCW World Title: Atticus Cogar (c) defeated Daisuke Sasaki with the Brain Hemorrhage (8:04). *V14 for Atticus Cogar.
The next evening in Los Angeles, Sasaki challenged Atticus Cogar for the GCW World Title. The champion was already looking past Sasaki by walking out to the match wearing an entrance outfit that resembled Hayabusa, his scheduled title challenger for WrestleMania Week. Sasaki didn’t care and attacked Cogar with a chair from the get go. He also used the chair to block Cogar from doing a dive out of the ring. He then took a high risk by doing the Super Elbow Drop onto Cogar from the top rope to the first row, hurting his leg upon landing. Cogar fought back by digging his skewers into Sasaki’s head from the Electric Chair position and also using them to stab his way out of the Crossface Lock. He dug them in one more time before pinning Sasaki with the Brain Hemorrhage finisher.
ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, 06/04/2026 WJCT Studios, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
1. AR Fox defeated Daisuke Sasaki (?:??).
2. Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying Match: Yuka Sakazaki defeated Viva Van (?:??).
3. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Matt Menard (?:??).
During the latest ROH tapings there were qualifying matches for their annual Survival Of The Fittest match that will be held at the next PPV. Yuka Sakazaki booked her spot in the match after beating Viva Van.
I don’t have much details about what Takeshita and Sasaki did at the ROH taping other than the results of their matches. Takeshita beat Matt Menard while Sasaki lost to AR Fox. If there is any context to add to those matches we’ll find out when they eventually air on ROH’s weekly show.
1. Andrade El Ídolo, Mark Davis & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) defeated Darby Allin, Bandido & Jack Perry when Andrade pinned Perry with the DM (11:38).
With tension between Takeshita and Okada reaching higher than ever, Don Callis wanted to prove both men can be on the same page no matter how much they disliked each other. The reputation of The Don Callis Family itself was being harmed by this situation so Callis relied on Andrade El Ídolo of all people to be the glue that would keep the group sticking together. When he wasn’t busy flirting with women in the front row, Andrade lived up to his end of the bargain while Mark Davis helped Takeshita throw around the opposition. Bandido was there as a last minute replacement for Brody King but the change did not stop the Family from getting the win. Andrade attacked Darby Allin after the match while Jack Perry was put in a vulnerable position as well. The Young Bucks ran down to save the day until Okada followed them down to stop them. However he then got into a fight with Okada and they had to be pulled apart only for more chaos to break out with Bandido and The Rascalz doing dives onto everybody.
MYSTERY WRESTLING “VANCOUVER PREMIERE – DAY 1”, 11/04/2026 Great Canadian Hastings Racecourse & Casino, Vancouver, BC, Canada
1. 4 Way Match: Nicole Matthews defeated Alexia Nicole, Amira and HIMAWARI when Matthews pinned HIMAWARI after a Stunner from Nicole (?:??).
2. All The Marbles – Mystery Wrestling World Title: London Lightning (c) defeated Daisuke Sasaki with The Smallest Package Ever (?:??). *V2 for London Lightning.
Another title shot came Sasaki’s way when he travelled over to Canada. He was the surprise challenger for London Lightning over at Mystery Wrestling, although 95% of the lineup is usually a surprise because that’s the promotion’s whole gimmick. Especially on this particular show because there were wrestlers from DDT, TJPW, New Japan, Dragon Gate and NOAH all appearing up and down the card. For even more silliness, Mystery Wrestling’s championship is not just represented by a title belt but also a bag of marbles. Which means every time there is a title bout, the match is also “For All The Marbles!” For some reason the referee for the title match was very lenient towards Low Blows because Sasaki kept attacking Lightning’s groin without getting punished for it. Lightning gave him a taste of his own medicine before giving him the Smallest Package Ever to win the match and remain champion.
The TJPW appearance on this show happened because they had booked the venue with Mystery Wrestling for a doubleheader. Evil Uno’s promotion took the afternoon slot and then TJPW kicked off their Vancouver tour in the evening. That led to a crossover where HIMAWARI took part in the opening 4 Way Match. The three other wrestlers Nicole Matthews, Alexia Nicole and Amira were also booked for the TJPW show anyway so the ladies all had a busy day of wrestling. Unfortunately HIMAWARI took the pinfall when she took a Stunner from Alexia Nicole. Matthews then knocked Nicole out of the ring so she could steal the victory for herself.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “VANCOUVER PREMIERE – DAY 1”, 11/04/2026 Great Canadian Hastings Racecourse & Casino, Vancouver, BC, Canada 400 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Yuki Kamifuku defeated Shino Suzuki with the Famouser (8:14).
2. Amira defeated Uta Takami with the Squirrel’s Strongest Slam (6:52).
3. Sakura Hattori & Toga defeated Raku & Pom Harajuku when Hattori pinned Harajuku with the Kitchokagome (9:44).
4. Suzume defeated Alexia Nicole with the Ring A Bell (7:11).
5. Nicole Matthews & Liiza Hall defeated Miyu Yamashita & HIMAWARI when Matthews pinned HIMAWARI with the Roll The Dice (12:51).
6. J-Rod & Miu Watanabe defeated Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara when J-Rod pinned Uehara with the Ultimate Spear (13:05).
AEW “DYNASTY”, 12/04/2026 Rogers Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
1. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson defeated Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita when Matt pinned Okada after the Meltzer Driver (20:10).
Things went haywire between Takeshita and Okada when they tried to team up against The Young Bucks. Okada didn’t take things seriously and briefly dressed up like a Young Buck himself to make fun of them. Things fell apart when Okada and Takeshita started fighting each other until Matt Jackson got between them. A PowerDrive Knee from Takeshita targeting Matt hit Okada by mistake. Then Okada stopped Takeshita from doing the Raging Fire so he could give Matt the Rainmaker instead. Unfortunately Matt ducked and Takeshita took the hit! The Bucks wore down Okada with Super Kicks and the BTE Trigger then set him up for the Meltzer Driver. Takeshita grabbed Nick Jackson from ringside but then had second thoughts about stopping him. He decided to leave Okada hanging and let the Bucks beat him with their finisher. Takeshita only got back into the ring after the match to flip off Okada. Backstage Takeshita gave Okada and Callis a sarcastic apology to rub further salt into the wound.
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WrestleMania Week Appearances
PODER~! “PODERMANIA~!”, 15/04/2026 Horseshoe, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. International Tag Team Match: Amira & Lil Marz Vs Toga & Jazzy Yang
It feels like WrestleMania Week is starting off earlier than ever this year. The first place you can find a TJPW wrestler in action will be at the annual “PODERMANIA~!” women’s wrestling show where Toga is teaming up with Jazzy Yang, the daughter of former WCW and WWE wrestler Jimmy Yang.
PANDEMONIUM PRO “WHATEVER, FOREVER”, 15/04/2026 Bizarre Bar, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Jiah Jewell Vs Daisuke Sasaki
Around the same time Daisuke Sasaki kicks off his week in Vegas by facing Jiah Jewell over at Pandemonium Pro.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS 2026”, 16/04/2026 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara Vs Toga & Uta Takami
2. Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Alexis Lee, HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki
3. Special 3 Way Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Mizuki Vs Miu Watanabe
4. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Sakura Hattori
5. Princess Tag Team Titles: Jessie McKay & Cassie Lee (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao
6. Princess Of Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs J-Rod
A preview of the show will be posted soon.
“DEATH VEGAS INVITACIONAL”, 16/04/2026 Horseshoe, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. The Rigged Roulette – House Rules Hardcore Match: Gedo & Daisuke Sasaki Vs Joey Janela & Gringo Loco
Sasaki has walked up to the table at the “DEATH VEGAS INVITACIONAL” and placed down his chips. Standing next to him is Gedo from NJPW while over on the other side of the roulette wheel is Joey Janela & Gringo Loco. It is Hardcore rules but does the roulette theming of the name suggest something like Weapon Rumble rules being added to the equation?
GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XV”, 17/04/2026 Horseshoe, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Janai Kai
At the moment the only GCW related match going with DDT or TJPW on is Miyu Yamashita fighting Janai Kai in a Bloodsport match. However there is always the Clusterfuck match that happens near the end of the week so you can never count out somebody here showing up over there.
PRIDESTYLE “OUT OF THIS WORLD”, 17/04/2026 Bizarre Bar, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special Single Match: Taniya Vs Miu Watanabe
With that being said, the last TJPW related match to look forward to in Vegas is Miu Watanabe taking on Taniya at one of the PrideStyle shows. Taniya holds the promotion’s women’s title but this has not been advertised as a title match.
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Upcoming Appearances After WrestleMania Week
EVE/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “EVE X TJPW”, 25/04/2026 Big Penny Social, London, England
1. EVE International Title Next Contender Tournament – Round 1: Shoko Nakajima Vs Hollie Barlow
2. EVE International Title Next Contender Tournament – Round 1: Miyu Yamashita Vs Aliss Ink
3. Rhio Vs Hyper Misao
4. EVE International Title Next Contender Tournament – Final: X Vs X
The veteran chunk of TJPW have more travelling to do at the end of the month for some co-promoted shows in Europe. TJPW has a mini tournament going on with EVE to determine the No. 1 Contender for the EVE International Title. Both Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima are entering that while Hyper Misao and Yuki Aino will be involved in non-tournament bouts. Misao’s opponent was just announced to be Rhio. A lot has changed with her since she last appeared in a TJPW ring.
SAJ/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SAJ X TJPW”, 26/04/2026 Centro Sport Cesate, Milan, Italy
1. Mirko Mori, Nico Inverardi & Adriano Vs Goro, Merak & Spencer
2. Shoko Nakajima Vs Kanji
3. Session Moth Martina & Flamingo Vs Hyper Misao & El G
4. Sebastian De Witt Vs Miyu Yamashita
5. SAJ Openweight Title: Lupo (c) Vs Kouga
The next day TJPW goes to Italy where they will work with SAJ Wrestling. Misao’s match has now been announced, putting her across the ring from Session Moth Martina. The only previous time they were in the same match was as a tag team back in 2022. The way these European matches are being announced I get the feeling that nobody knows what to do with Aino until everyone else is sorted out first.
ROH “SUPERCARD OF HONOR”, 15/05/2026 Wicomico Youth And Civic Center, Salisbury, Maryland, USA
1. ROH Women’s World Title – Survival Of The Fittest Match: Athena (c) Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Trish Adora Vs Billie Starkz Vs Persephone Vs Maya World
The Survival Of The Fittest match is a 6-Way Elimination bout. Last one standing is the winner and will leave with the ROH Women’s World Title. All of the challengers Athena will have to face were decided at the already mentioned ROH TV taping. Not only will Sakazaki mix it up with Athena, Billie Starkz and Trish Adora again but she also gets to fight Persephone and Maya World for the first time unless things during the match get way too chaotic.
BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “MNL”, 23/05/2026 Sari Sari Makati, Makati, Philippines
1. Chris Brookes Vs X
The Baka Gaijin and their friends are going back to the Philippines. This time it is Chris Brookes and Zack Sabre Jr. being involved.
GCW/BZW “NOW OR NEVER”, 23/05/2026 Espace Isabelle de Hainaut, Rue de Saint-Quentin, Bapaume, France
1. MAO & Yoshihiko Vs X & X
It will be a Baka Gaijin show without MAO though because he’s going on his own weekend trip to France with Yoshihiko in tow.
DXCN “DAKILA II”, 24/05/2026 Brawl Pit Bulusan, Quezon City, Philippines
1. Chris Brookes Vs X
The Manila weekend is being set up with Dexcon.
WXW “DRIVE OF CHAMPIONS 2026”, 06/06/2026 Turbinenhalle 1, Oberhausen, Germany
1. Ahura & Jun Akiyama Vs 1 Called Manders & Thomas Shire
I like the sound of this one! Jun Akiyama’s big appearance in Germany for wXw has him teaming with the promotion’s current MVP Ahura to take on Cowboy Way. Akiyama got to fight 1 Called Manders during GCW’s Japan tour last year and Manders was the wXw Unified World Champion at that time.
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Postponed Appearances
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “LOVE & PEACE 2026 SPRING SUPPORTED BY TIF ASIA TOUR – DAY 1”, 09/05/2026 JioSpace, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “LOVE & PEACE 2026 SPRING SUPPORTED BY TIF ASIA TOUR – DAY 2”, 09/05/2026 JioSpace, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
This May’s planned return to Malaysia for DDT and TJPW has been postponed because of “changes in international affairs”. They can say that again. A lot of preparation needed to host the two shows have become difficult for the organizers to get together due to the current state of the world around them so the shows have been postponed for the time being. Every party is acting like they will be rescheduled when things settle down and the safety of everyone involved can be guaranteed but who knows how long that will take to happen.
Happy new year! I’m currently in Japan while this is being posted and there’s barely anything to talk about this month, so the article is all nice and easy to write up this time! Konosuke Takeshita’s adventures in the Continental Classic will be posted as a separate article. Yuka Sakazaki’s sole match in December actually happened last month and I didn’t notice (I bet many of you didn’t notice either). Tokyo Joshi Pro had a successful debut in Thailand which again has already been written about and details have emerged about their return to Texas next year. There is an update for Tokio in Mexico as he risked his identity in a mask match for the very first time and lost it all. With a new year coming up in we have Miyu Yamashita’s visit to England next March for what is going to be an eventful week for EVE, a unusual part of the wrestling scene coming to Japan with Chris Brookes along for the ride.
Eat, laugh, and shop! Miu, Raku, Kamifuku, Kira and Ashida take a leisurely food tour of Kuala Lumpur on their day off.
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Results
ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, 26/11/2025 (Aired 04/12/2025) Fishers Event Center, Fishers, Indiana, USA
1. ROH Women’s Pure Title Tournament – Semi Final: Billie Starkz defeated Yuka Sakazaki with a Rope Assisted School Boy (10:43).
I’m confused because it turns out this match was actually already recorded last month but I couldn’t find any reference of it on the show spoilers online back then. That’s on me for not doing a good enough job looking for them and I’m not going back to rewrite last month’s article. Anyway, Sakazaki was knocked out of the ROH Women’s Pure Title Tournament by Billie Starkz in a match that was more of a grindfest compared to what we would be used to seeing from both women. It had a real flat finish too with the two striking back and forth until Sakazaki bounced off the ropes and fell into a School Boy where Starkz used the ropes for leverage for the three count. All of Sakazaki’s allowed rope breaks were used up by that point so it was all fair for Starkz to give herself the extra leverage and win off of it. Starkz would go on to lose the final against Deonna Purrazzo at the PPV.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN BANGKOK”, 13/12/2025 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand 327 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Yuki Kamifuku defeated Uta Takami with the Famouser (7:57).
2. Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Yuki Arai & Shino Suzuki when Suzume pinned Suzuki with the Ring A Bell (11:08).
3. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) defeated Alexis Lee with the Diving Senton (9:05). *V6 for Shoko Nakajima.
4. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami (c) defeated Raku & Pom Harajuku when Yamashita pinned Raku with the Skull Kick (14:27). *V1 for Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami.
5. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) defeated Matcha with the Spinning Tear Drop (17:47). *V3 for Miu Watanabe.
ARENA PEPE CISNEROS “VOLUMEN 1 – 13 ANIVERSARIO LUCTUOSO DE PEPE CISNEROS”, 28/12/2025 Arena Pepe Cisneros, Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico
1. Máscara Vs Máscara: Ratzinger defeated Tokio with a Crushed Rolling Cradle (?:??).
Our suspicions have been confirmed. The Japanese luchador Tokio who had suddenly appeared in Mexico earlier this year has been unmasked and revealed to be Keigo Nakamura! He wagered his mask against the one belonging to a luchador named Ratzinger just days before the year came to an end. A duel of back and forth cradles led to the finish with Ratzinger blocking a Rolling Prawn Hold and pressing himself down on top of Tokyo to pin him for the three count. Tokio allowed Ratzinger to remove the mask off his head and show his face to the crowd. Is this the end of his days in Mexico or will he continue to wrestle there unmasked for a while longer?
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Upcoming Appearances
EVE “WOMEN BEHAVING BADLY #IWD2026”, 06/03/2026 Big Penny Social, London, England
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
It seemed the folks over at EVE made a little slip up on their website at the start of the month by prematurely announcing that Yamashita will be going there in March. Or was it a slip up after all? Well, yes it was but the bigger news was yet to come.
EVE “WRESTLE QUEENDOM VIII”, 08/03/2026 Indigo At The O2, London, England
1. Jamie Hayter Vs Miyu Yamashita
Yamashita’s above appearance was booked for EVE’s regular monthly show in London and that just so happens to take place two days before EVE holds “WRESTLE QUEENDOM VIII”, one of their most ambitious events ever. It didn’t take long for her to have plans made for the big show itself because Jamie Hayter from AEW has challenged her to a match!
PPW “HARDCORE FRIDAY THE 13TH”, 13/03/2026 TOKYO SQUARE In Itabashi
1. Chris Brookes Vs Gabriel Queen
A Polish hardcore wrestling promotion named PpW Ewenement Wrestling is going to hold a show in Japan for the very first time with some help from Big Japan next March. One of their stars Gabriel Queen threw out a challenge for the show and is getting a match against Chris Brookes!
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW TEXAS STAMPEDE”, 17/03/2026 – 22/03/2026 Austin/Dallas/Houston, Texas, USA
TJPW returns to Texas next March with a bang! They will host a tour across the state containing four shows within a 6 day period. Two days will be spent in Austin for the South By Southwest festival, one day will be in Dallas and another day will be in Houston. That’s the only information we have for now, more will be revealed soon.
Normally I put together a hastily written intro for these articles but this month I’m starting with some housekeeping. You may notice that not everything that happened in November related to this series has been included in this post. That is because I will be writing up a separate post about Konosuke Takeshita’s matches in this year’s Continental Classic tournament over in AEW. I really enjoy writing about a DDT wrestler’s journey through a round robin tournament and felt it will be better to chart Takeshita’s C2 run that way instead of mixing it in with everyone else. So at some point at the end of the year you can expect to read about “Konosuke Takeshita’s C2 Adventure”!
Next it’s back to the regular programming. Maki Itoh went to wrestle in America again, Tokyo Joshi Pro made more moves with the Southeast Asian scene, Miyu Yamashita trekked off to Europe and Yuka Sakazaki popped up in Ring Of Honor. With all of that now out of the way it will be a much more quiet end to 2025 than I expected with not much on the horizon for now. There may come a time when I get to pause this series if there are no other bookings to follow outside of Takeshita with AEW, Itoh with GCW and the annual WrestleMania Week of shows. I’ll see if that bridge is worth crossing if I ever get to it.
AEW “SATURDAY TAILGATE BRAWL – FULL GEAR”, 22/11/2025 Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, USA
1. CMLL World Trios Titles: Mistico, Mascara Dorada & Neon (c) Vs Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita & Hechicero
Match #2 starts at 12:18. Match #4 starts at 41:58. Match #5 starts at 58:52. SETUP/IWA THAILAND “A NEW DAWN”, 14/11/2025 TOKYO SQUARE In Itabashi 270 Fans
2. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – 3 Way Bangkok Death Match: Matcha (c) Vs Ram Kaichow Vs Pom Harajuku
4. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Andruew Tang & Jake De Leon (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami Vs Kappa Kozo & Kappa Jr.
5. Double Main Event I – Ace Vs Ace: Shivam Vs HARASHIMA
HOG “SUPERCLASH”, 15/11/2025 Suffolk Credit Union Arena, Brentwood, New York, USA
1. Shayna Baszler Vs Maki Itoh
Video starts at 1:48:12. JCW “HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS”, 23/11/2025
The Mecca, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, USA
1. Beastman Body Slam Challenge: Beastman Vs Juni Underwood, Jeffrey John, Emil Jay, Ryan O’Neill, Jimmy Lloyd, Gabby Forza & Maki Itoh
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Results
GCW “YOU WOULDN’T UNDERSTAND”, 07/11/2025 The Webster, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated Kerry Morton with a School Boy (10:11).
The start of Itoh’s GCW tour could have ended very badly for her if it wasn’t for some help from an unlikely ally. Kerry Morton controlled most of the match and acted obnoxious to Itoh throughout it. He even took Itoh’s pizza cutter and threatened to use it against her when Kerry’s father Ricky Morton approached the ring telling him to stop. Kerry pushed his dad away from the ring apron but Ricky pushed him back, right into a School Boy from Itoh that got her the three count.
GCW “MASSACRE IN MAINE”, 08/11/2025 Yarmouth Amvets, Yarmouth, Maine USA
1. KJ Orso defeated Maki Itoh with the Step Up Double Stomp (9:46).
Itoh showed her perseverance in a match with KJ Orso that she almost could have won. Orso resorted to cheap tricks like using the rope to leverage his pin but he was caught by the ref. Itoh took her shot and tried to put Orso in the Itoh Special but he got out of it by raking Itoh’s eyes and then followed it up by hitting the Step Up Double Stomp for the win. Orso wanted to hurt Itoh even worse with a chair attack after the match but Joey Janela came to the rescue and chased Orso off.
GCW “GREEN MOUNTAINS AND ME”, 09/11/2025 Barre Elks Lodge, Barre, Vermont, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated Selena Hekate with the Itoh Deluxe (6:03).
This GCW show was being held in Vermont where the local promotion Green Mountain Wrestling got involved with the card. Selena Hekate was Itoh’s opponent, wanting to represent the territory against The Cutest In The World. She ended up getting a Headbutt and DDT for her troubles before Itoh tapped her out with the Itoh Deluxe.
SETUP/IWA THAILAND “A NEW DAWN”, 14/11/2025 TOKYO SQUARE In Itabashi 270 Fans
2. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – 3 Way Bangkok Death Match: Matcha (c) defeated Ram Kaichow and Pom Harajuku when Matcha pinned Harajuku with the Saito Suplex (9:52). *V3 for Matcha.
4. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami defeated Andruew Tang & Jake De Leon (c) and Kappa Kozo & Kappa Jr. when Toribami pinned Kozo with the Sento Choryu (9:23). *RGT fails in V1. Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami become the 15th IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Champions!
5. Double Main Event I – Ace Vs Ace: HARASHIMA defeated Shivam with the Somato (12:17).
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GOOD LIFE PRESENTS LOVE & PEACE”, 15/11/2025 JioSpace, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia ??? Fans – Unannounced
1. MYPW Sponsored Match: Fienic Rose & ‘Love Warrior’ Syawal defeated Wonder Boy & Miles Karu when Rose pinned Boy with the Atomic Love Bomb (11:35).
2. Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami defeated Marika Kobashi & Kira Summer when Suzuki pinned Summer with a Belly-To-Belly Suplex (9:45).
3. Sanshiro Takagi, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Emman Azman defeated Chris Brookes, Shota & Jack Alexander when Kawamatsu pinned Shota with the Axe Bomber (15:19).
4. Miu Watanabe, Yuki Arai & Raku defeated Yuki Kamifuku, Mifu Ashida & Poppy Shay when Watanabe pinned Ashida with the Tear Drop (11:37).
HOG “SUPERCLASH”, 15/11/2025 Suffolk Credit Union Arena, Brentwood, New York, USA
1. Shayna Baszler defeated Maki Itoh by Referee Stoppage with the Kirifuda Clutch (11:17).
She got choked out but at least Itoh didn’t get her face wrecked by Shayna Baszler. She didn’t take Itoh seriously at first until Itoh got a few slaps to the face on target. Baszler hit her back but dropped her guard for the crocodile tears routine. Once she got back in control, Baszler wrenched Itoh’s arm over and over but then she made the mistake of throwing Itoh head first into the turnbuckle. That fired Itoh up for a comeback, leading to a scramble on the mat as Itoh got Baszler in a Rear Naked Choke instead of the other way around. A falling Head Kick from Baszler backfired as Itoh stumbled into the ropes and from the rebound hit a Kokeshi Headbutt for a nearfall. Itoh then scored big with a Tornado DDT and the Stunner but still couldn’t put Baszler away. Instead grabbed Itoh into a Rear Naked Choke and turned it into the Kirifuda Clutch to squeeze the life out of her until the ref called for the match.
ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB – BLACK FRIDAY”, 19/11/2025 (Aired 28/11/2025) Agganis Arena, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1. ROH Women’s Pure Title Tournament – Round 1: Yuka Sakazaki defeated Serena Deeb with the Magical Merry-Go-Round (10:31).
After all that wait, was it worth it in the end? Eh, maybe. The ROH Pure Wrestling ruleset is still something Sakazaki isn’t purposely taking into consideration for her tournament matches but if there was any opponent to make it a factor, it was Serena Deeb. Except she ended up getting foiled by the very rules she was supposed to excel in. Deeb was the one who used up all of her rope breaks in the match and then she made the big mistake of trying to push Sakazaki around with some disrespectful slaps to the head like she wasn’t worth her time. That made Sakazaki go into mini-terminator mode and hit her back with some big Elbow Strikes. Deeb almost turned things around by blocking the Magical Girl Splash but Sakazaki dropped her with the Magical Merry-Go-Round and got the three count. Deeb actually got her foot on the rope but since she ran out of rope breaks, it couldn’t stop her from getting pinned.
WXW “25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR – DAY 1”, 21/11/2025 Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany
1. Dani Luna defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Luna Landing (16:51).
You don’t usually get to see Yamashita get involved with some deep crowd brawling past the first couple of rows but when an environment like wXw gives you a chance to shake things up, you should take it. Dani Luna got to hit her back just as hard though while the German fans filled the room with their football chants. She even had the Return Crash scouted, turning the move into a bouncing Blue Thunder Bomb off the ropes for a nearfall. Yamashita missed the Skull Kick but held onto Luna with a Sleeper Hold to wear her down. However despite getting a Buzzsaw Kick in, Yamashita was lifted back up onto her opponent’s shoulders and was given the Luna Landing (Fireman’s Sitout Bomb) to give Lina a very impressive victory.
WXW “25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR – DAY 2”, 22/11/2025 Gruenspan, Hamburg, Germany
1. Ahura defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Salamandra (17:17).
Ahura took Yamashita lightly at first, placing her on the top turnbuckle and giving her some words. But Yamashita pushed him back, paint brushed his head and then kicked it to show she should be taken seriously. She continued to kick the hell out of him while Ahura tried to take breaks to stop himself from losing control of the match. Soon Ahura was bleeding from the mouth but he soon took advantage a gave Yamashita a big Power Bomb. She recovered and fought back to set up the Skull Kick but Ahura dodged it to roll out of the ring again. Ahura then dug his thumb into Yamashita’s eye from the ring apron but Yamashita made another comeback to give him the Attitude Adjustment from the second rope. She went for the Crash Rabbit Heat only for Ahura to catch her and Power Bomb her into the ropes so she would bounce right into a big Lariat. He was then able to win by using the Salamandra, which I can best describe as a Fireman’s Carry that twists into a Spinning Emerald Flowsion. Yamashita slapped away Ahura’s offer for a handshake after the match but it was only so she could offer him the handshake instead.
GCW “DREAM ON”, 22/11/2025 American Dream, East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated Jeffrey John with the I.S.D (5:40).
Unfortunately Itoh’s last GCW match of the month had to be changed. Her original opponent Zayda Steel was unable to make the show so Itoh instead took on “The Babushka Baron” Jeffrey John. He’s called that because he wears a babushka during his matches you see. He gave Itoh a Death Valley Driver but she kicked out of it. He then tried to Superplex her off the top rope but Itoh Headbutted him back down and gave him the I.S.D off the turnbuckles to win the match.
AEW “SATURDAY TAILGATE BRAWL – FULL GEAR”, 22/11/2025 Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, USA
1. CMLL World Trios Titles: Mistico, Mascara Dorada & Neon (c) defeated Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita & Hechicero when Mistico submitted Hechicero with La Mistica (13:44). *V3 for El Sky Team.
Well this was a mess. Takeshita returned to AEW after finishing up his DDT dates and walked right into a championship match with other members of The Don Callis Family. They were challenging El Sky Team, the reigning CMLL World Trios Titles but were a man down when Kazuchika Okada didn’t show up due to alleged travel issues according to Don Callis. Things turned out better for the challengers when Hechicero attacked Mistico and seemed to have injured his shoulder before the match even began, sending one third of the champions out of the match to get medical attention. Then when Mascara Dorada & Neon were making a comeback, Okada finally arrived in the parking lot and walked out of his sportscar in full gear (…ohhhhh, I get it!) right down to ringside to enter the match. He kept unapologetically getting in Takeshita’s way and purposely gave him the Rainmaker while Mistico made a triumphant return to action. El Sky Team were now a united force while The Don Callis Family were all on opposite pages, allowing Mistico to win by making Hechicero tap out to La Mistica.
REVPRO “LIVE IN COVENTRY”, 23/11/2025 HMV Empire, Coventry, England
1. Kanji defeated Miyu Yamashita (?:??).
Yamashita’s next country to visit was a return to England where she made her Revolution Pro debut. It ended in defeat to Kanji, continuing her growing losing streak on this tour. It’s not a result to be ashamed of though, Kanji is one of the bright prospects in the current United Kingdom scene and RevPro seem to have a solid direction in mind for her heading into 2026.
JCW “HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS”, 23/11/2025 The Mecca, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, USA
1. Beastman Body Slam Challenge: Maki Itoh defeated Beastman with the Body Slam.
Another of Itoh’s big matches planned for the month didn’t go ahead. Queen Aminata was out of action with an injury so Itoh decided to enter Beastman’s Body Slam Challenge instead. After a list of different wrestlers all tried and failed to Body Slam the giant opponent, Itoh looked like she was not going to fare any better. She tried doing a Diving Cross Body to weaken Beastman but was caught in midair and slammed onto the mat. Beastman then climbed the ropes attempting to jump onto Itoh when Thomas Shire ran into the ring to make the save. He knocked Beastman down with a Lariat, giving Itoh the opening to successfully Body Slam her opponent like she was Ahmed Johnson slamming Yokozuna in 1995. Her celebration was immediately cut short when Mad Dog Connelly ran into the ring and Clotheslined her, leading Connolly and Shire to start brawling as their match was next.
WPE/QPW “EPISODE 2”, 28/11/2025 Salle Albert Marquet, La Frette-sur-Seine, France
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Lauriana (?:??).
From one princess to another. Yamashita’s visit to France had her go face to face with “Princess” Lauriana. I couldn’t find much information on how the match went other than Yamashita won.
SAJ “FINAL BOUT 4”, 29/11/2025 Magnete, Via Adriando, Milan, Italy
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Luke Jacobs with the Skull Kick (?:??).
2. Maki Itoh defeated Flamingo with the Itoh Deluxe (?:??).
Did 121000000 become two ships passing by during one night in Milan? The SAJ Wrestling show had both Itoh and Yamashita on the card, making it the first show to have both of them on since Itoh left TJPW. If they had interactions it wasn’t in the ring because Itoh was busy beating up a wrestler named Flamingo.
Yamashita on the other hand had a big change in plans. Her original opponent JJ Gale was not on the show due to reasons I could not make out from the translation but she was given another British brute of a wrestler to take on instead, Luke Jacobs. She even got to beat him clean! It’s a bit of a funny result because she got to beat the previous PROGRESS World Champion one day before she actually made her PROGRESS debut.
PROGRESS “VENDETTA 3”, 30/11/2025 Electric Ballroom, Camden, London, England
1. Alexxis Falcon defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Off With Her Head (?:??).
Yamashita’s European vacation ended London for her debut in PROGRESS. Things were going mostly well for her against Alexxis Falcon until she took her opponent’s finisher, a Shellshock style Swinging DDT that was given to Yamashita while she was draped on the ropes. She kicked out of it the first time but Falcon was able to pull of the move again, this time getting the win with it.
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Upcoming Appearances
ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, 03/12/2025 Fishers Event Center, Fishers, Indiana, USA
1. ROH Women’s Pure Title Tournament – Semi Final: Billie Starkz Vs Yuka Sakazaki
OK so we’re sprinting into the home stretch for this tournament. Sakazaki meets Billie Starkz in the ring once again with a spot in the grand final on the line. Should Sakazaki win she will be facing either Deonna Purrazzo or Queen Aminata a couple of days later at the ROH PPV. There the ROH Women’s Pure Champion will finally be crowned.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN BANGKOK”, 13/12/2025 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Uta Takami
2. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Yuki Arai & Shino Suzuki
3. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami (c) Vs Raku & Pom Harajuku
4. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs Alexis Lee
5. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Matcha
Wait, is this the last upcoming thing I have on the list outside of Takeshita’s C2 schedule? Oh my God I might get to take it easy next month! The girls in TJPW won’t be taking it easy though. Three title matches are on the cards for their Thailand debut along with a few other matches to look forward to.
This month’s article feels like it is the most jam packed one I’ve ever written. Konosuke Takeshita is part of a big angle going on with Kazuchika Okada in AEW that is definitely going to result in a singles match between the two before the end of the year. Too bad the storyline they’re doing is the dreaded “Can They Get Along?” tag team gimmick. The stuff that I find fun is seeing the clumsy balancing act AEW is doing trying to handle Takeshita while he is the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion alongside a strongly protected Okada who is completely divorced from New Japan by now. I just cannot see a Takeshita Vs Okada match take place inside a New Japan ring at this point, whether it’s at the Tokyo Dome or for NJPW’s next attempt at running in the American market. This match is happening in AEW but if the IWGP Title is somehow involved we are all going to be flung headfirst into the salt mines.
There’s no drama to worry about over in Mexico this month. Shoko Nakajima went over there on behalf of Major League Wrestling. There was a slightly awkward moment when an interviewer unaware of the politics between Tokyo Joshi Pro and Stardom put Nakajima on the spot to talk about the other Japanese wrestlers she would be teaming with but it sounds like she handled the situation well. Once that was out of the way, everything Nakajima did over in Mexico looked like fun with five consecutive days of matches to wrestle in across various venues. MLW definitely found a way to get some good sounding news out there by praising their champion’s work during the tour. How often news reports about MLW sound like fluffy press releases will always annoy me (you’re telling Salina de la Renta is taking on an even bigger role behind the scenes yet again?!?) but whatever. I guess I shouldn’t let this stuff bother me.
There was also the return to action for Maki Itoh this month. Now unemployed, she went and had her first match since leaving TJPW. She has a big tour of America coming up this month so I’ll cover that but as for Japan, I’m going to wait and see what she does before I continue writing about her. If she ends up joining another company either full time or as a regular I don’t see much point to pay attention to it from a DDT/TJPW point of view. The same might go for her American bookings if I’m just writing about GCW month after month with no change in the status quo. Kyushu Pro and TAJIRI in particular were really happy with how Itoh’s match went so I can see that place becoming a regular spot for her. It’s funny that Rossy Ogawa went out of his way to tell everyone that Marigold is not interested in bringing her in. I think the reason he did that was to jump ahead of his reputation for poaching wrestlers from other companies. While the Marigold roster has been improving during their second year, suggesting that Itoh isn’t good enough to be in that locker room is nonsense when you see who they’ve already taken in.
Speaking of Marigold, there’s one other thing I want to talk about before diving into the rest of the article. Bryan Alvarez reported on Wrestling Observer Live yesterday that there are tentative plans by WWE to send female NXT wrestlers over to Japan next year much like they’ve been doing with male wrestlers this year. Alvarez doesn’t know which promotion WWE will be working with but guesses it would be Marigold while follow up reports also include NOAH, likely because of the “MONDAY MAGIC” series that usually books joshi matches and is getting expanded in 2026. I actually wouldn’t rule out the idea of TJPW getting to book an NXT wrestler or two out of this if only because of how WWE’s relationship with NOAH is currently going. It’s not like TJPW and AEW are doing much together anyway. Crazier things have happened so I’m just preparing myself for if I ever wake up to news that it’s actually happening.
Oh and TJPW is going back to Texas next Spring but I’ll write about that once more solid info comes out. Tokyo Story USA knows what they’re doing. Same goes for GCW because it looks like DDT and TJPW will be part of The Collective at WrestleMania Week again next year.
AEW “COLLISION”, 04/10/2025 RP Funding Center, Lakeland, Florida, USA
1. MxM TV Casting Call: Mansoor, Mason Madden & Johnny TV (w/ Taya Valkyrie) Vs Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, & Josh Alexander (w/ El Clon)
Video starts at 1:39:30 for the match MLW “SLAUGHTERHOUSE”, 04/10/2025 Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA
1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs HIMAWARI
AEW “DYNAMITE – TITLE TUESDAY”, 07/10/2025 Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
1. Double Jeopardy Eliminator Match: Bandido & Brody King Vs Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita
A birthday celebration for Don Callis!
AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 18/10/2025 Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
1. AEW World Tag Team Titles: Bandido & Brody King (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kazuchika Okada
KYUSHU PRO “OGORI CITIZEN’S FESTIVAL 2025”, 19/10/2025 Ogori City Lifelong Learning Center, Fukuoka, Japan
1. Jet Wei, One☆Kyushu & Princess Pistachio Vs Maki Itoh, TAJIRI & Charles Crowley
Women’s Pure Title Tournament participants Deonna Purrazzo & Yuka Sakazaki stand off ROH TV 10/23/25
CMLL “VIERNES ESPECTACULAR”, 24/10/2025 Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
1. Grand Prix de Amazonas: Persephone, La Catalina, Olympia, Skadi, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis, India Sioux, Lluvia & La Jarochita Vs Kanji, Diamante, Shoko Nakajima, Hazuki, Koguma, Mina Shirakawa, Skye Blue, Julia Hart & Thekla
CMLL “DOMINGO FAMILIAR”, 26/10/2025 Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
1. Kira & Skadi Vs Diamanté & Shoko Nakajima
Video starts at 38:27 for the main event CHOCOPRO “CHOCOPRO #484”, 27/10/2025 Ichigaya Chocolate Square, Tokyo, Japan
1. Emi Sakura Vs Mizuki
Video starts at 44:29 for the match CMLL “DIA DE MUERTOS”, 27/10/2025 Arena Puebla, Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, Puebla, Mexico
1. Match Relámpago Internacional de Amazonas: Kira Vs Shoko Nakajima
CMLL “DIA DE MUERTOS”, 28/10/2025 Arena Coliseo, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
1. Persephone & Zeuxis Vs Diamanté & Shoko Nakajima
Okada & Takeshita stare each other down, Don Callis introduces new painting | AEW Dynamite, 10/29/25
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Results
AEW “COLLISION”, 02/10/2025 (Aired 04/10/2025) RP Funding Center, Lakeland, Florida, USA
1. MxM TV Casting Call: Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, & Josh Alexander (w/ El Clon) defeated Mansoor, Mason Madden & Johnny TV (w/ Taya Valkyrie) when Fletcher pinned Mansoor with the Sheer Drop Brainbuster (3:05).
Everyone loves doing open challenges lately, huh? The unit known as MxM TV put one together under the guise of a casting call and it was answered by The Don Callis Family. Together the trio of Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher & Josh Alexander Suplexed their opponents around while helping each other when Johnny TV or Mason Madden tried to make a comeback. Fletcher then sealed the deal on Mansoor with a Sheer Drop Brainbuster for the victory. El Clon just hung around at ringside for the vibes it seems like. It’s a bit difficult being an evil doppelganger when the person you’re the opposite of has to go away because of an injury that you didn’t cause.
MLW “SLAUGHTERHOUSE”, 04/10/2025 Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA
1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) defeated HIMAWARI with the Diving Senton (12:22). *V4 for Shoko Nakajima.
Gotta give MLW some credit. They’re getting a good amount out of Nakajima’s working relationship with them. Her latest defence of the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title was against HIMAWARI so the match itself was what you would typically get in TJPW anyway. Nakajima retained the title, went on to Mexico to represent MLW and has another title defence coming up in her home promotion again later this month.
ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, 07/10/2025 (Aired 23/10/2025) Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
1. Yuka Sakazaki & Alex Windsor defeated Aleah James & Billie Starkz when Windsor pinned James with the Pumphandle Half Nelson Driver (7:45).
A possible glimpse into the future was shown before the match even began when Yuka Sakazaki’s entrance cut off Deonna Purrazzo’s post-match celebration from the previous bout. The two of them are in opposite sides of the ROH Women’s Pure Title Tournament bracket so if they were to face off in that it would be in the final. When that moment passed, Sakazaki went on to team with Alex Windsor to beat Aleah James & Billie Starkz. While Windsor has toured with TJPW in the past, I don’t think she was ever in the same match with Sakazaki until here. Starkz got some licks in on the team while James even pushed them into each other to create an opening. But James & Starkz ended up on different pages and their teamwork broke down when Starkz started yelling at her partner. She then abandoned James when Windsor applied a Sharpshooter and James reached out for help. Sakazaki stood confused on the ring apron but hey, a win’s a win.
AEW “DYNAMITE – TITLE TUESDAY”, 07/10/2025 Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
1. Double Jeopardy Eliminator Match: Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Bandido & Brody King when Okada pinned Bandido with the Rainmaker (12:04).
Someone was coming out of this match getting a title shot of some sort. Okada & Takeshita fought Brodido in a tag match full of champions. Takeshita did the hard work of dealing with Brody King but had a trickier time fighting Bandido once more. Okada grabbed hold of Bandido from the ring apron but took the full brunt of Takeshita’s Jumping Knee Strike after Bandido broke himself free. Bandido tried to capitalize but his injured shoulder prevented him from giving Takeshita the 21 Plex. Takeshita gave him a Reverse Rana but Okada then blind tagged himself in to finish off Bandido with the Rainmaker. Okada & Takeshita had won the match but they weren’t on good terms with each other in the aftermath.
ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, 08/10/2025 Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
This match hasn’t aired yet but it is nice to see Windsor & Sakazaki establishing a tag team together. The only substantial thing that might come out of it though is a challenge for the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Titles once that thing is up and running. Robyn Renegade’s been wrestling without her sister for a while now and just seems to be thrown together with Taya Valkyrie every now and then.
VIP “SETTING THE BAR 11”, 10/10/2025 The Haltom Theater, Haltom City, Texas, USA
1. VIP Women’s Title – 3 Way Match: Vert Vixen defeated Maya World (c) and Kaya Toribami (12:06). *Maya World fails in V3. Vert Vixen becomes the 3rd VIP Women’s Champion!
The flag has been planted in Texas. Now it’s time for the slow process of TJPW spreading out from there. Kaya Toribami was sent over to VIP Wrestling to continue this mission, taking part in a 3 Way Match with the VIP Women’s Title on the line. The champion Maya World was dethroned but sadly for Toribami the title change was not for her. Instead Vert Vixen won the match to become the new champion.
VGM “FIGHT VGM FIGHT WRESTLING STARS MEET AND GREET & PRO WRESTLING MATCH”, 18/10/2025 Full House, Liangxi, Wuxi, China
1. Rika Tatsumi defeated HIMAWARI with the Missile Hips (?:??).
HIMAWARI also travelled to China this month with Rika Tatsumi by her side. The two of them had a TJPW offer match at the latest Fight VGM Fight show. Again it was pretty much the kind of singles match they would have back home.
AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 18/10/2025 Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
1. AEW World Tag Team Titles: Bandido & Brody King (c) defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Kazuchika Okada when Bandido pinned Okada with the 21 Plex (27:26). *V5 for Brodido.
By the time Takeshita had his next match in AEW he had won the IWGP Title in New Japan! The news didn’t exactly make Okada feel thrilled and now the two of them had to be on the same page for a rematch against Brodido, this time with the AEW World Tag Team Titles on the line. A similar situation to last time occurred where Okada held onto Bandido from behind with Takeshita standing in front of them. This time Okada tried doing the Rainmaker but Bandido ducked and Takeshita got hit with the big Clothesline instead! Okada found it kind of funny while Don Callis was left speechless on commentary. Okada paid the price in the end because Bandido used the 21 Plex on him to get the big victory.
KYUSHU PRO “OGORI CITIZEN’S FESTIVAL 2025”, 19/10/2025 Ogori City Lifelong Learning Center, Fukuoka, Japan
1. Maki Itoh, TAJIRI & Charles Crowley defeated Jet Wei, One☆Kyushu & Princess Pistachio when Itoh submitted Pistachio with the Itoh Deluxe (17:38).
I’m not going to write about Itoh’s matches in Japan that often anymore but this was her first match back since leaving TJPW (and was booked when she was still with the company) so I might as well include it here. She was at Kyushu Pro to team with TAJIRI and the British carnival wrestler Charles Crowley. Their opponents were Kyushu Pro’s own One☆Kyushu alongside two wrestlers from Taiwan, Jet Wei & Princess Pistachio. The match was built around Itoh as the star although Pistachio got to get some cheers over her at points by trying to out-cute her. Itoh got to submit Pistachio with the Itoh Deluxe while her partners held back the other team with their own submission holds.
CMLL “VIERNES ESPECTACULAR”, 24/10/2025 Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
1. Grand Prix de Amazonas: Persephone, La Catalina, Olympia, Skadi, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis, India Sioux, Lluvia & La Jarochita defeated Kanji, Diamante, Shoko Nakajima, Hazuki, Koguma, Mina Shirakawa, Skye Blue, Julia Hart & Thekla (56:44).
1d. Shoko Nakajima eliminated India Sioux with the Northern Lights Suplex (29:54).
1i. La Catalina eliminated Shoko Nakajima with the One-Winged Angel (41:24).
What a trip this turned out to be. Nakajima went to Mexico as a representative of MLW for CMLL’s annual October series that is marketed around women’s wrestling. Nakajima was there as a member of The World team taking on Team Mexico in the Grand Prix de Amazonas torneo de cibernetico. The MLW connection meant she was able to wrestle in the same match as Hazuki & Koguma in ways that bypass the politics that still exist between Stardom and TJPW. Her status also might have given her the stronger booking because Nakajima was able to score an elimination on India Sioux while the FWC pair were both taken out of the match quite early on. Nakajima was beaten around the middle portion thanks to La Catalina (the “Cata-Cata-Cata-Catalina” chorus of her song is difficult to get out of my head whenever I hear it).
CMLL “SÁBADOS DE LUCHA LIBRE”, 25/10/2025 Arena Coliseo, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
1. CMLL Vs ROH & MLW: Diamanté & Shoko Nakajima defeated Kira & Candela (11:56).
The rest of Nakajima’s week was spent travelling around CMLL’s main haunts. Diamanté became her partner in crime for most of these shows as the two became an ROH/MLW aligned tag team for the tour. Things got off to a good start with them beating Kira & Candela in Arena Coliseo.
CMLL “DOMINGO FAMILIAR”, 26/10/2025 Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
1. Kira & Skadi defeated Diamanté & Shoko Nakajima when Kira pinned Diamanté after a Power Bomb Assisted Senton and Skadi pinned Nakajima with a Double Arm Backbreaker (?:??).
Diamanté & Nakajima were back in Arena Mexico the next day for a show that used Formula 1 style marketing because the Mexican Grand Prix was being held that weekend. Their tag match against Kira & Skadi was only held for one fall instead of the traditional Best 2 out of 3 rules. It was fun to see Nakajima fight someone much bigger than her. That is until she was broken in half with a Backbreaker for part of the finish.
CHOCOPRO “CHOCOPRO #484”, 27/10/2025 Ichigaya Chocolate Square, Tokyo, Japan
1. Emi Sakura Vs Mizuki ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).
This year marks 30 years in the business for Emi Sakura. A big show at Shinjuku FACE was planned for her by ChocoPro at the end of the month and Sakura had wanted Mizuki to have been a part of it. Unfortunately the scheduling didn’t work out to get her on for that show so instead Sakura and Mizuki got to have a match together a couple of days earlier in ChocoPro’s home venue of Ichigaya Chocolate Square. It was their first singles match against each other in over two years and I think it is the first to happen in Japan since 2014! The two fought to a 15 minute draw with Sakura using her surroundings to get the upper hand while Mizuki eventually adapted to the unusual environment. In the final seconds Mizuki landed a Diving Cross Body but Sakura rolled her over for a nearfall. She was then in the middle of applying La Magistral Cradle when the time expired and the match ended. Mizuki offered a handshake afterwards but Sakura got the last laugh by slapping it away.
CMLL “DIA DE MUERTOS”, 27/10/2025 Arena Puebla, Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, Puebla, Mexico
1. Match Relámpago Internacional de Amazonas: Kira defeated Shoko Nakajima with the German Suplex (7:40).
The CMLL series turned spooky for the rest of the week because they were all Day Of The Dead themed. Nakajima got into the spirit of things by wrestling her match wearing a skeleton shirt. Would have been nice if Kira wore her Togepi outfit too but she already used it two days earlier. The singles match was the Lightning match of the show, which is the format CMLL uses for midcard singles bouts held within a 10 minute time limit. Thankfully for Nakajima it was early enough in the card where she wasn’t offered up as a sacrifice to the Aztec gods for losing the match. That fate was kept for Hazuki & Koguma one match later.
CMLL “DIA DE MUERTOS”, 28/10/2025 Arena Coliseo, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
1. Persephone & Zeuxis defeated Diamanté & Shoko Nakajima when Persephone pinned Nakajima with a Rope-Assisted Crucifix Pin and Zeuxis pinned Diamanté with a Cradle (?:??).
Nakajima’s tour with CMLL came to an end with a chance for her to fight the Grand Prix de Amazonas winner Persephone before going home. Again the tag match was held to one fall only and things went south for the visitors. Diamanté had her pin on Zeuxis countered around into her getting pinned instead. Meanwhile Nakajima got to hit the Diving Senton onto Persephone but was then rolled back into a Crucifix Pin. Persephone also clasped onto the bottom rope with her own feet to get added leverage for the three count.
1. Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Max Caster & Anthony Bowens (?:??).
Tensions are only getting worse between Okada and Takeshita. With pro wrestling being what it is, the only answer is to keep them teaming together until things boil over! In fact, AEW thought it was a wise idea to stick them against The Acclaimed, another tag team that cannot get along with each other. If you play the odds that way then surely one side will resolve their problems, right? It’s the kind of logic that might get Fulham some points over Liverpool this season.
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Upcoming Appearances
ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, ??/11/2025 ???, USA
1. ROH Women’s Pure Title Tournament – Round 1: Serena Deeb Vs Yuka Sakazaki
This tournament is really going at a snail’s pace, huh? I heard someone say the matches are purposely being kept back for PPV so I dunno, maybe we’re finally going to see this happen at “FINAL BATTLE” in another month’s time. Serena Deeb didn’t fall into an inter-dimensional vortex somewhere, right?
GCW “YOU WOULDN’T UNDERSTAND”, 07/11/2025 The Webster, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Kerry Morton
If we remember what happened at the Clusterfuck this year, Kerry Morton made it known he is not a fan of idol music when he interrupted The Up Up Girls. He went on a rather foul mouthed rant about them too. He should probably be careful if he pulls that same stunt on Itoh. She can swear with the best of ’em.
GCW “MASSACRE IN MAINE”, 08/11/2025 Yarmouth Amvets, Yarmouth, Maine USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs KJ Orso
Itoh’s already throwing insults at the former Fuego del Sol, telling KJ Orso he should have kept his mask on.
GCW “GREEN MOUNTAINS AND ME”, 09/11/2025 Barre Elks Lodge, Barre, Vermont, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
No match for Itoh has been announced yet but she will be there in Vermont.
SETUP/IWA THAILAND “A NEW DAWN”, 14/11/2025 TOKYO SQUARE In Itabashi
1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – 3 Way Bangkok Death Match: Matcha (c) Vs Ram Kaichow Vs Pom Harajuku
2. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Andruew Tang & Jake De Leon (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami Vs Kappa Kozo & Kappa Jr.
3. Double Main Event I – Ace Vs Ace: Shivam Vs HARASHIMA
Let’s see how much of a payoff there is for SETUP’s working relationship with DDT and TJPW when they touch down in Japan.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “LOVE & PEACE”, 15/11/2025 JioSpace, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
1. MYPW Sponsored Match: Wonder Boy & Miles Karu Vs Fienic Rose & ‘Love Warrior’ Syawal
2. Marika Kobashi & Kira Summer Vs Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami
3. Sanshiro Takagi, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Emman Azman Vs Chris Brookes, Shota & Jack Alexander
4. Miu Watanabe, Yuki Arai & Raku Vs Yuki Kamifuku, Mifu Ashida & Poppy Shay
The combined DDT and TJPW show in Malaysia will also be featuring performances by the KLP48 idol group. One of their members Suzuha Yamane has spent time rehearsing with The Up Up Girls because she has never performed while standing inside a wrestling ring before.
HOG “SUPERCLASH”, 15/11/2025 Suffolk Credit Union Arena, Brentwood, New York, USA
1. Shayna Baszler Vs Maki Itoh
As brave of a fighter that Itoh has become in recent years, there are still some opponents who can scare her. Shayna Baszler is one who Itoh admits will have to bend some rules just to have a chance at beating her. She has probably accepted her fate over what will happen in House Of Glory and at least asked Baszler not to destroy her face.
… but her second match with wXw is completely different. I remember seeing Ahura for the first time back in 2019 when he had a breakout weekend as part of The Pretty Bastards when they won the World Tag Team Festival that took place right as the pandemic lockdowns began. He’s become something of a top guy for wXw since then, particularly this year when he reached the final of 16 Carat Gold and then just recently winning the first König der Catcher tournament. He’s a good opponent for Yamashita to fight.
GCW “DREAM ON”, 22/11/2025 American Dream, East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Zayda Steel
A lot is going on for Zayda Steel lately, including an appearance on the EVOLVE brand that WWE decided to revive because they don’t have enough development systems in place apparently (I know, I know, it’s to take up more TV deals while also shutting out the competition). Itoh will keep her busy in New Jersey.
REVPRO “LIVE IN COVENTRY”, 23/11/2025 HMV Empire, Coventry, England
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Kanji
Now the result of this match is going to be interesting. The Undisputed British Women’s Title that belongs to Revolution Pro is currently among the dozen championship belts in Mercedes Moné’s collection. It’s a cool storyline, I think it’s great that Moné is doing this but I’m also relieved that TJPW hasn’t been involved with it because I’d rather not have an absentee championship in the promotion right now especially after what went on with the International Princess Title. Anyway, RevPro have been clearly signaling that Kanji is going to eventually challenge Moné and maybe even be the one to take the title away from her for this promotion’s big payoff to the storyline. Kanji facing Yamashita is a good way to build up some credibility on her road to becoming No. 1 Contender. But there’s a wild card that can be played here. Moné doesn’t keep it a secret how much she likes training with Yamashita and the TJPW crew whenever she gets the chance to. She’s even said in a Q&A that she would have liked to wrestle in TJPW but there’s just never been a time when the two sides could work something out. So what if instead Moné finally gets to wrestle Yamashita outside of Japan, like in England where Yamashita already has some cachet over there because of her history with EVE? You can say I’m coping all you want, what I just did now was put in the effort explaining why this match is appealing.
JCW “HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS”, 23/11/2025 The Mecca, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, USA
1. Queen Aminata Vs Maki Itoh
The original plan for Itoh on this JCW show was to team up with Matt Tremont & Bam Sullivan for a 6-Person Tag Match. Plans changed for the better because now she’s getting a singles match against Queen Aminata instead! We’re going to get headbutts that will shake the building to its core.
WPE/QPW “EPISODE 2”, 28/11/2025 Salle Albert Marquet, La Frette-sur-Seine, France
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
Still not match revealed for Yamashita in France yet but Queens Pro Wrestling did advertise a meet and greet with her and Cara Noir together. Seeing that graphic without the context made me do a double take because that would be a unique match-up.
SAJ “FINAL BOUT 4”, 29/11/2025 Magnete, Via Adriando, Milan, Italy
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
2. Miyu Yamashita Vs JJ Gale
I’ve seen JJ Gale wrestle a couple of times in RevPro. He’s decent, definitely a big guy for Yamashita to try and knock down. He also has a tour of Japan coming up with ZERO1 at the end of the year. I thought SAJ would have Itoh’s match decided by now too. Still feels kind of odd she’s only doing this one booking for a European trip unless it’s just for some extra holiday money.
PROGRESS “VENDETTA 3”, 30/11/2025 Electric Ballroom, Camden, London, England
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
So the current PROGRESS Women’s World Champion is Rayne Leverkusen, a name that might sound familiar if you remember she did a tour with DDT a few years back. However Session Moth Martina is challenging her for the title in November and I know she still wants to have a match with Yamashita after the previous time in EVE was cancelled. That’s two ideas for possible opponents Yamashita can get on this show.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN BANGKOK”, 13/12/2025 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
I don’t think there’s been any new updates on TJPW’s Thailand show this month. The current lineup is Miu Watanabe, Yuki Kamifuku, Arisu Endo, Shoko Nakajima, Miyu Yamashita, Raku, Pom Harajuku, Suzume, Yuki Arai, Kaya Toribami, Shino Suzuki, Uta Takami, Matcha and Alexis Lee.
The Texas tour is just a sweet memory now and it’s one that will be looked back on fondly. Unless the financial details say otherwise it has to be seen as a resounding success. One that could open some eyes around the industry. Tokyo Joshi Pro being the first ones in joshi to find a way to break into the American market even a little bit should highlight the audience that’s out there. It’s the nerd crowd, the otaku crowd, the anime crowd, whatever you want to call them. I always thought it would be a slam dunk for Bushiroad to strike up a deal with Crunchyroll to localize the weekly episodes of “We Are STARDOM!!” for their streaming service. The sudden explosion of global popularity for Uma Musume last month had me gesturing wildly thinking CyberFight should go talk to Cygames and do something. Then I was told such an idea is completely off the table, at least in regards to crossing over with that franchise in particular. I’m just saying maybe Wrestle Angels or Ring☆Dream can come back to life as a licensed product.
The rest of the summer feels like it will be a calm one for this series. Konosuke Takeshita is busy with the G1 Climax in Japan and the whispers have been unusually loud this time around suggesting that he is going to play a big role for the rest of New Japan’s year. I wonder where that’s coming from (Rocky Romero I am looking in your direction). Maki Itoh won’t be travelling back to America after all and I’m hoping there isn’t anything to worry about regarding that. The few bookings we know about happening in the next month or two mostly surround the Asian wrestling scene.
One more note, I was originally going to write about the GCW Japan tour in this post which is why the partial results are included at the end. However the shows wound up featuring a lot more DDT and TJPW talent than planned because some of the GCW wrestlers were unable to travel. So I will write a separate, more detailed post over the weekend covering those shows then linked them back here.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 02/07/2025 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA
1. Heroes Vs Villains: Bandido, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Nicolas Jackson & Matthew Jackson
Video starts at 2:02:42 for the match JCW “BORN (ALMOST) ON THE FOURTH OF JULY”, 06/07/2025 House Of Independents, Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA
1. Billie Starkz & Miyu Yamashita Vs Lena Cross & Megan Bayne
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 09/07/2025 Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, Texas, USA
1. Bandido & Brody King Vs Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita
ROH “SUPERCARD OF HONOR”, 11/07/2025 Esports Stadium Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA
1. Interim ROH Women’s World TV Title – Worldwide Wild Card 4 Way: Miyu Yamashita Vs Yuka Sakazaki Vs Persephone Vs Mina Shirakawa
2. ROH World Title: Bandido (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita
AEW “ALL IN TEXAS”, 12/07/2025 Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas, USA
1. Men’s Casino Gauntlet Match: Mark Briscoe Vs MJF Vs Ricochet Vs Bandido Vs Konosuke Takeshita Vs Mistico Vs Josh Alexander Vs Anthony Bowens Vs Roderick Strong Vs Brody King Vs Juice Robinson Vs Kota Ibushi Vs Beast Mortos Vs Max Caster
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Results
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 02/07/2025 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA
1. Heroes Vs Villains: Konosuke Takeshita, Nicolas Jackson & Matthew Jackson defeated Bandido, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly when Takeshita pinned O’Reilly with the Raging Fire (11:53).
Takeshita has done a sponsored match or two during his time in DDT so him being part of a match to promote the new Superman movie isn’t out of the ordinary for him. Having Roderick Strong use him as a Backbreaker device for Matthew Jackson though? That is out of the ordinary. His main target was Bandido so once Strong and Kyle O’Reilly were taken care of by The Young Bucks, Bandido was in a lot of trouble. He was caught by Takeshita and held in place for Nicholas Jackson to be launched into the air and then spike him down with Takeshita’s Bastard Driver. The Paragon pair came to the rescue and fought off the Bucks but O’Reilly was weakened with Super Kicks and knocked out by Takeshita’s Elbow Strike. More damage was done with an Powerdrive Knee/EVP Trigger combo and Takeshita then pinned him with the Raging Fire.
BZW “LES JEUX SONT FAITS”, 05/07/2025 Casino Barrière de Lille, Lille, France
1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) defeated Danny Black & Joe Lando when MAO pinned Black with the Cannonball 450 (?:??). *V6 for MAO & Yoshihiko.
It looks like no one in Europe can stop the combined powers of MAO & Yoshihiko, not even two Close Personal Friends. Yoshihiko went into the match already bandaged up to cover a head wound and took a heavy beating late in the match when Danny Black & Joe Lando put the boots to it. The damage looked to be too much and Yoshihiko had to be carried to the back due to injury concerns. However it reappeared up in the rafters above the ring and did a huge dive onto CPF below! Yoshihiko then went crazy doing Infinite Destroyers to both Black & Lando but the challengers got a second wind and both went to the top rope for one last big chance. But Yoshihiko leapt right up to them and did a Double Hurricanrana. MAO then did the Cannonball 450 out of nowhere onto Black while Yoshihiko held back Lando during the pinfall. With that result MAO & Yoshihiko remain the BZW Tag Team Champions.
GCW “THE TOP PLAY”, 05/07/2025 The Webster Theatre, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
1. Alec Price, Jordan Oliver & Marcus Mathers defeated Miyu Yamashita, Megan Bayne & Billie Starkz when Price pinned Starkz after an Inverted Razor’s Edge from Oliver (18:54).
Miyu Yamashita’s final weekend with GCW before returning to TJPW turned into a memorable one. She was part of a barnburner of a 6-Person Tag match that was getting recommended outside of the usual accounts that GCW would retweet just because they say nice things about the show. This was actually a great match! Billie Starkz and Jordan Oliver tried pinning each other with a back and forth Sunset Flip spot with Yamashita and Alec Price standing on opposite sides to kick them into the alternating pins. They then knocked each other down with stereo High Kicks. With Starkz & Yamashita busy against YDNP, that left Marcus Mathers and Megan Bayne to fight each other. Bayne countered a Tombstone into a Tombstone Destroyer but that would be her team’s last big move. YDNP took over from there, wiping everyone out with high risk moves. It ended with Price giving Bayne the 720 DDT, Mathers hitting the 450 Splash on Yamashita and Oliver dropped Starks from the turnbuckle to the middle of the ring with an Inverted Razor’s Edge.
JCW “BORN (ALMOST) ON THE FOURTH OF JULY”, 06/07/2025 House Of Independents, Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA
1. Billie Starkz & Miyu Yamashita defeated Lena Cross & Megan Bayne when Starkz pinned Cross with the Swanton Bomb (12:37).
It’s a shame that Starkz & Yamashita never got the chance to fight for the GCW Tag Team Titles but at least they got a win as a team under their belts. Bayne was on the opposite side for this match, teaming with Lena Kross, an Australian wrestler who very recently has become a free agent to watch out for. Yamashita knocked down Kross with the Skull Kick and Starkz took out Bayne with a Hurricanrana followed by a Suicide Dive. With nowhere to go, Kross was given the Attitude Adjustment by Yamashita and was then pinned with the Swanton Bomb by Starkz.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 09/07/2025 Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, Texas, USA
1. Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Bandido & Brody King when Takeshita pinned Bandido with the Raging Fire (13:19).
The go home match before Bandido and Takeshita’s big title fight was another successful showing for Protoshita. As usual Brody King turned out to be a troublesome opponent to deal with. That’s until he charged right into a security barrier at ringside and Kyle Fletcher then Big Booted him into the front row. Bandido used Takeshita’s momentum to do a top rope Moonsault onto Fletcher outside. However his big dive back into the ring was met with an Elbow Strike by Takeshita followed by the Raging Fire.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON NIGHT 1 PRESENTED BY NEXTSHARK & QUERI”, 10/07/2025 POST, Houston, Texas, USA 415 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Miu Watanabe defeated Wakana Uehara with the Canadian Backbreaker (7:24).
2. Yuki Arai defeated Kaylia Capri with the Scorpion Death Lock (7:35).
3. 3 Way Match: Vert Vixen defeated Yuki Kamifuku and Raku when Vixen pinned Raku with the Blue Thunder Bomb (7:08).
4. Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki when Suzume pinned Suzuki with the Ring A Bell (8:28).
5. Special Single Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Maki Itoh with the Skull Kick (14:00).
6. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao defeated Mizuki & Pom Harajuku when Misao pinned Harajuku with the I Am A Hero (11:39).
ROH “SUPERCARD OF HONOR”, 11/07/2025 Esports Stadium Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA
1. Interim ROH Women’s World TV Title – Worldwide Wild Card 4 Way: Mina Shirakawa defeated Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki and Persephone when Shirakawa submitted Yamashita with the Figure 4 Leg Lock (13:47). *Mina Shirakawa becomes the Interim ROH Women’s World TV Champion!
2. ROH World Title: Bandido (c) defeated Konosuke Takeshita with an Inside Cradle (29:25). *V3 for Bandido.
Match of the weekend? I’d argue so. After weeks of preview tag matches it was finally time for Bandido and Takeshita to fight tooth and nail over the ROH World Title. They did not disappoint. Takeshita thought he had it by setting up the Raging Fire that he used to pin Bandido just a few days earlier but this time Bandido countered it into a Small Package to get the three count and remain champion. I’ll take those five and 3/4 stars if nobody else wants them, thank you very much!
Welcome back 2019 TJPW it’s like you never left. There’s always something convoluted going on with a championship in Tony Khan’s universe. This time it surrounds the ROH Women’s World TV Title. The champion Red Velvet was not cleared to wrestle at the PPV so Khan decided to book a Worldwide 4 Way Match to crown an interim champion. And by worldwide he means three Japanese women and Persephone from Texas. Oh and those three Japanese women happen to be Yamashita, Yuka Sakazaki and Mina Shirakawa who all have history with each other from TJPW. I even had to go back and check if Persephone appeared on a “TJPW INSPIRATION” show in the past (she hasn’t). It all turned out to be Shirakawa’s big night in the end. She gave Yamashita a rare submission loss by making her tap out to the Figure 4 Leg Lock. She’s now the Interim ROH Women’s TV Champion and will no doubt have a unification match with Red Velvet down the line. Ok, maybe there’s some doubt. These things are often an avoidable mess that are somehow made unavoidable.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON NIGHT 2 PRESENTED BY NEXTSHARK & QUERI”, 11/07/2025 POST, Houston, Texas, USA 415 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Wakana Uehara defeated Shino Suzuki with the Banana Pillow (6:44).
2. Arisu Endo defeated Kaylia Capri with the Ju no Okite (7:35).
3. Yuki Kamifuku defeated Pom Harajuku with the Famouser (5:31).
4. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao defeated Miu Watanabe & Vert Vixen when Nakajima pinned Watanabe with the Locomotion Northern Lights Suplex (11:39).
5. Maki Itoh defeated Raku with the Itoh Deluxe (8:23).
6. Yuki Arai & Moka Miyamoto defeated Mizuki & Suzume when Miyamoto pinned Suzume with the Korokan (14:03).
AEW “ALL IN TEXAS”, 12/07/2025 Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas, USA
1. Men’s Casino Gauntlet Match: MJF defeated Roderick Strong after the Jay Driller from Mark Briscoe (34:52). Order Of Entries: Mark Briscoe, MJF, Ricochet, Bandido, Konosuke Takeshita, Mistico, Josh Alexander, Anthony Bowens, Roderick Strong, Brody King, Juice Robinson, Kota Ibushi, Beast Mortos and Max Caster
The last AEW thing Takeshita did before travelling off to the G1 was appear in the Casino Gauntlet match at “ALL IN TEXAS”. He entered right after Bandido so they continued where they left off from the night before. Then when Josh Alexander entered the match he and Takeshita pretty much annihilated Ricochet with a Doomsday Knee Strike. Kota Ibushi also showed up as a late entry which was nice of him. Neither he nor Takeshita were part of the finish though so they both left the match empty handed.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS PRESENTED BY NEXTSHARK & QUERI”, 13/07/2025 The OC, Forney, Texas, USA 2,540 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara when Suzume pinned Uehara with the Ring A Bell (10:24).
2. Moka Miyamoto defeated Alejandra Quintanilla with the Korokan (5:52).
3. Raku & Pom Harajuku defeated Hyper Misao & Shino Suzuki when Raku pinned Suzuki with the Doctor Yellow (10:43).
4. Yuki Arai defeated Maya World with the Finally (7:04).
5. Miu Watanabe defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Tear Drop (16:12).
6. Yuka Sakazaki & Billie Starkz defeated Miyu Yamashita & Vert Vixen when Sakazaki pinned Vixen with an Oklahoma Roll (20:36).
7. Special Single Match: Mizuki defeated Maki Itoh with the Cutie Special (17:13).
SETUP “UNDER PRESSURE”, 26/07/2025 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. IWA Japan SETUP World Title – 3 Way Match: Jonathan Johnson (c) defeated Chris Brookes and Andruew Tang when Johnson pinned Tang with the Swanton Bomb (?:??). *V1 for Jonathan Johnson.
There’s some new alliances being made over in Thailand. Chris Brookes went over to take part in a 3 Way Match for the IWA Japan SETUP World Title. However he failed to win the match and was left out in the cold while Jonathan Johnson pinned Andruew Tang to retain his championship. It was the aftermath that became newsworthy when Tang’s group Real Global Threat arrived to attack the SETUP roster (Ram Kaichow included among them)! Together Brookes and RGT beat Johnson to a bloody pulp and ended the show threatening to take over the company.
GCW “GCW JAPAN 2025 AT SHINJUKU FACE”, 28/07/2025 Shinjuku FACE
1. MAO defeated Atticus Cogar after a Super Kick/Praying Mantis Bomb Combo with Drew Parker (12:38).
2. Kazusada Higuchi defeated 1 Called Manders with the Claw Slam (14:01).
GCW “GCW JAPAN 2025 AT KORAKUEN HALL”, 30/07/2025 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. GCW Tag Team Titles: Alec Price & Jordan Oliver (c) defeated MAO & Rina Yamashita when Price pinned Yamashita after the Double Impaler DDT (?:??). *V13 for YDNP.
2. Atticus Cogar defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Headlock Driver (?:??).
3. Dark Sheik, Yoshihiko & Jeffrey John defeated Invisible Stan, Shota & Kikutaro when Sheik pinned Shota with the Diving Leg Drop (?:??).
4. Jun Akiyama defeated 1 Called Manders with the Wrist-Clutch Exploder Suplex (?:??).
5. Maki Itoh defeated Shotzi Blackheart with a Crab Hold (12:29).
6. Chris Brookes defeated Drew Parker with two Praying Mantis Bombs (23:16).
BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “MNL”, 22/08/2025 The Social House, Makati, Philippines
1. Fabio Makisig Vs El Katipunero
2. 3 Way Match: Nigel San Jose Vs Saint John Martin Vs Danny Zamora
3. International Dream Match: Crystal & Robin Sane Vs Patricia Ligaia & Dr. Gore
4. International Dream Match: Jake De Leon & Isaiah Valencia Vs Chris Bookes & Takeshi Masada
The full Baka Gaijin + Friends card for their show in the Philippines squeezes itself in here just in time.
DXCN “PEKSMAN”, 24/08/2025 Brawl Pit Bulusan, Quezon City, Philippines
1. Kiss Of Death Match: Jake De Leon Vs Takeshi Masada
2. International Dream Match: Robin Sane Vs Chris Brookes
There is a meet and greet event happening on the second day of Dexcon’s tripleheader weekend with matches scheduled to take place on them but I haven’t seen any that will involve Chris Brookes or Takeshi Masada yet.
APAC “SLAMFEST 2025”, 30/08/2025 Stadium Juara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1. APAC Women’s Title No. 1 Contender Fatal 4 Way: Crystal Vs Kira Summer Vs Tarlee Vs Mio Shirai
Here we go, Kira Summer gets to wrestle outside of Japan as a TJPW fighter for the first time! She’s heading to APAC in Malaysia to compete for a shot at their Women’s Championship. However she’s not the only Australian taking part because Tarlee is one of other wrestlers involved. Mio Shirai is travelling over from Japan too as one of the competitors. Crystal is a former APAC Women’s Champion and I think the only one of the four who has previously wrestled in the promotion.
MLW “FIGHTLAND”, 13/09/2025 Nytex Sports Centre, Dallas, Texas, USA
1. Shoko Nakajima Vs X
The next time Shoko Nakajima rampages her way back to MLW will be in September. No mention yet on if she will be defending the MLW Women’s Featherweight Title but given how things are going over there Shotzi Blackheart will eventually be built up as a challenger unless her arm injury delays things.
VGM “TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING CHINA TOUR”, 18/10/2025 Nanxiatang Cultural and Creative Park, Liangxi, Wuxi, China
1. HIMAWARI Vs X
2. Rika Tatsumi Vs X
For the third year in a row TJPW is working with a group called Fight VGM Fight to bring their talent over to China. All of the previous times TJPW sponsored matches have taken place in the country were done thanks to this relationship. Rika Tatsumi and HIMAWARI will be the next pair of wrestlers to go wrestle over there.
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Cancelled Appearances
GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 1”, 23/08/2025 Showboat Hotel Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 2”, 24/08/2025 Showboat Hotel Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
So Maki Itoh’s next tour of America has been cancelled with no reason given for why. I bet TJPW wished they would have known that in hindsight so they could have factored her into their plans for the Tokyo Princess Cup this year but those are the breaks I guess. The only bookings I found for this go around were the two GCW shows happening the same weekend as the Princess Cup final. She still wrestled on their Japan tour and GCW quietly deal with cancelled bookings all the time so there’s no trouble happening there. Could this have been visa related?
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25”, 21/07/2025 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium 1,384 Fans
1. HIMAWARI & Ren Konatsu defeated Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami when HIMAWARI pinned Takami with the Sunflower Tempest (10:06).
2. Andreza Giant Panda & Raku defeated Kyoko Inoue & Pom Harajuku when Andreza pinned Harajuku with the Andreza Press (9:41).
3. Wakana Uehara, Toga, Mifu Ashida & Kira Summer defeated Yuna Manase, Mahiro Kiryu, Kaya Toribami & Chika Nanase when Uehara submitted Nanase with the Banana Pillow (11:27).
4. 3 Way Tag Match: Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro defeated Yuki Kamifuku & VENY and Arisu Endo & Jada Stone when Aino pinned Endo with the UBV (12:09).
5. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Emi Sakura defeated El Desperado & Maki Itoh when Sakura pinned Itoh with the Queen’s Gambit (12:36).
6. Special Single Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Billie Starkz with the Crash Rabbit Heat (15:45).
7. International Princess Title: Moka Miyamoto defeated Suzume (c) with the Korokan (12:55). *Suzume fails in V6. Moka Miyamoto becomes the 14th International Princess Champion!
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) defeated Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe when Nakajima pinned Watanabe with the Diving Senton (25:32). *V3 for Kyoraku Kyomei.
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) defeated Yuki Arai with the Cutie Special (21:35). *V3 for Mizuki.
If Mizuki gets to have her way then the entire summer is going to belong to her. She got one step closer to achieving that goal by successfully defending the Princess Of Princess Title today and cutting down the rising star Yuki Arai in the process. Arai relied heavily on Big Boots and similar attacks while Mizuki fired back in kind with Diving Stomps and heavy Dropkicks that resemble those kinds of stomps. Arai switched to putting Mizuki in the Scorpion Death Lock and even tried catching Mizuki’s arm to stop her from reaching the ropes. But Mizuki would rope break out of it and block the Finally to hit a Run-Up Double Stomp. From there Mizuki did the Whirling Candy for a two count. Arai was spent but kept trying to fight back until Mizuki caught her with the Cutie Special, hit her with a Missile Dropkick and drop her with another Cutie Special to win the match.
After the match Mizuki stuck her hand out to help Arai get back up and the two hugged. Arai left the ring and Mizuki thanked the fans for coming to the show as well as the fans who watched the stream from home. She said Arai is tough like Superman and by fighting her she could feel how amazing she is. The baton was passed through everyone in Tokyo Joshi Pro today from the very first match to the main event and Mizuki was happy to run with it at the end. If Arai is Superman, Mizuki is the Princess Of Princesses and she next wants to go win the Tokyo Princess Cup as the reigning Princess Champion! Arai admitted she kind of knew Mizuki was too high of a hurdle for her today. As much as she wanted to win the Princess Title her first time challenging for the belt made her realize she still can’t reach it yet. She also knows this wasn’t a once in a lifetime chance and she has time to become someone good enough to wear the belt around her waist someday. When that day comes she will challenge with confidence and would be happy if it’s Mizuki she has to beat to become champion.
Turns out it’s going to take more than just sasumata poles to take the Princess Tag Team Titles away from Kyoraku Kyomei! For the last month Daydream have been using sasumatas to torture the champions and get into their heads. Hyper Misao’s first counter measure was to promise she wouldn’t use her Hero Spray in the match and place it down on the mat. She then pulled out a second can and immediately sprayed Daydream with it. When the fight went around ringside Miu Watanabe used the sasumata to hook onto Shoko Nakajima and carry her up high before throwing her down to the floor. She and Rika Tatsumi also used the poles to swing and spin their opponents around in the ring. Misao then had to bring out her second counter measure, the Hyper Mobile! She ended up crashing it into Mahiro Kiryu but then Kyoraku Kyomei and Daydream charged into each other like it was a joust! Both teams wiped each other out so it was all even when the action moved back into the ring. Daydream tried to both do top rope moves on seperate corners but Kyoraku Kyomei countered it with their own Avalanche moves. Daydream did the Daydream Eternity on Nakajima by Misao broke the count at two. Nakajima then countered Watanabe’s Tear Drop into a Hurricanrana and did the Northern Lights Suplex only for Tatsumi to break the pin. The champions then got the upper hand when Nakajima gave Watanabe the Double Arm DDT while Misao used Vanitas on Tatsumi. That left the coast clear for Nakajima to climb the top turnbuckle and hit the Diving Senton on Watanabe for the win. Nakajima was worried the match would end in a time limit draw but she thinks her strength was the difference maker that pushed Kyoraku Kyomei towards victory. Tatsumi is disappointed that Daydream couldn’t win but she at least thinks her and Watanabe showed how good they would look as models advertising the sasumata poles.
There was one title change on the show and it came when Moka Miyamoto defeated Suzume for the International Princess Championship! Suzume added a rope walk Flying Facecrusher to her moveset and followed it up with the low range Ring A Bell. But when she jumped from the ropes to do the Spring Ring A Bell, Miyamoto dodged it and connected with the Zero Fighter Kick. Suzume was helpless from there and got pinned with the Korokan afterward for the title change. Miyamoto happily cried over winning her first championship especially because it happened two days before the 5th anniversary of her debut match. She is also pleased that the move she originally created for her first title challenge was what won her the match today. She is now looking forward to defending the title against foreign challengers so she can show them Japanese pro wrestling. Suzume is sad to see her title reign stop here when she feels like she is at her strongest. But having the title expanded her world and the reason she won it is because everyone believed in her. She knows she will bounce back from this and not miss out on the hot summer ahead.
The return of Billie Starkz to Japan also meant the return of the big move heavy style of wrestling you’d see on the American indies. Miyu Yamashita was happy to fight that way too even if she ends up getting a bit of a headache from it afterwards. At one point Starkz lifted her up at ringside and did a running Alabama Slam into the ring apron that saw Yamashita almost smack her head off of the edge. Yamashita returned the favour by giving Starkz the Attitude Adjustment from the ring apron to the floor. Back in the ring Starkz started getting frustrated when a Swanton Bomb and Tombstone Piledriver would not put Yamashita away. She then tried lifting her up for the Sugoi Driver but Yamashita slipped off behind her and applied a Sleeper Hold. Starkz used the Alabama Slam again to throw Yamashita into the corner and went for another Sugoi Driver but it was countered into a Victory Roll that led to Yamashita German Suplexing Starkz into the turnbuckles! Yamashita then hit the Crash Rabbit Heat in the middle of the ring to pin Starkz for the three count. Backstage Yamashita said today was the first time in three months she’s been in a TJPW ring and in that time she spent a lot of her tour with Starkz. She’s amazed at what Starkz has accomplished while only being 20 years old and enjoys fighting her, even when she does some crazy unexpected things. She wants Starkz to wrestle in TJPW again and suggested they even team up here. Starkz calls Yamashita one of her best opponents. Also as much as she was happy to wrestle on TJPW’s Dallas show, she said nothing can replace the feeling of wrestling on a TJPW show in Japan.
A lot of effort went into the entrances for the intergender tag match. TeaDK walked out dressed like royalty and being accompanied by servants. Meanwhile Maki Itoh made sure El Desperado got the full NEO Itoh Respect Army experience when the two of them danced to “Setsunairo”! Things went badly for TeaDK from the start. Desperado caught a Big Boot from Chris Brookes and threw his foot right into Emi Sakura’s face, causing her to get a nose bleed. Then Desperado and Brookes fought all the way up to the second floor to do the stretched rubber band spot on Itoh back in the ring. Brookes then introduced Itoh to Bunbun and the puppet gave her the middle finger. Itoh grabbed Bunbun and threw him out of the ring in response. Sakura was able to put Desperado in the Romero Special but Brookes used a Piledriver to get rid of him. Sakura then beat down Itoh with a Double Arm Backbreaker and Short-Range Lariat. Itoh showed resistance by sticking up her middle finger but Sakura then finished her off with the Queen’s Gambit to pin her. Backstage Sakura said the NEO Itoh Respect Army put 100% into their entrance but when the bell rang they didn’t give it their all. She also said Brookes didn’t do his share of the work either so this win was all entirely thanks to herself! Itoh praised Despy for the entrance and called him a great idol along with being a great IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion. She is now thinking of uniting all of the NEO Itoh Respect Army together so they can release a debut CD together.
Everyone had to watch their backs for the 3 Way Tag Match. Arisu Endo and Haru Kazashiro started off the match exchanging chain holds until Yuki Kamifuku eye raked the both of them. She then called VENY in so VENYU could work over Kazashiro until Endo & Jada Stone took control. Kazashiro continued taking the brunt of the attacks until she could tag in Yuki Aino. VENY got time in the ring with Stone and Kazashiro that ended with a triple down and tags to their partners. The two members of the Tokyo Joshi Tokusatsu Club then turned it up a notch with Aino giving Stone & Endo a Double Side Suplex. Things broke down with VENY doing a Moonsault onto Stone outside the ring while Kamifuku tried to finish off whoever she could find. But Kazashiro came in to give her the Fisherman Suplex. That left Aino in the ring with Endo. Aino countered the Ju no Okite into a Running Bulldog and then used the UBV on Endo to pin her. Kazashiro said this was her first 3 Way Tag match and she didn’t know what to do during the chaos. Aino praised the other teams for being strong and admitted some luck went their way. But they’re going to use this positive power to do more. VENYU were annoyed because they thought this was going to be an easy win. VENY is also noticing the last few times she’s been teaming with Kamifuku they’ve been losing. She doesn’t get invited to TJPW much so when she does she wants to get a belt! Kamifuku told her they can go to Ginza if she wants to look for a new belt.
Some new looks were on display for the 8-Woman Tag Match. Kaya Toribami and Chika Nanase had new costumes while Toga wore a fancy pair of sunglasses that look similar to the ones Kira Summer wears. Yuna Manase showed up with a new title belt to go along with the Kitsune World Title. Yesterday she won the Daily Sports Tag Team Title over at a PURE-J show. She accidentally dropped that belt to the floor during her ring entrance. Mahiro Kiryu’s once per match apology was her saying sorry for bringing a hot woman like Manase here when it’s already so hot every day. The match came down to Nanase lifting up Wakana Uehara into the Inari Torii Kai only for Mifu Ashida to kick her from behind. Uehara later jumped onto Nanase and rolled her into the Bannana Pillow to make her give up. Toga said her team had a good mix of power and flexibility to win. The wrestlers with power made up for those who didn’t have any and it went the other way with flexibility. Toga & Uehara were also happy to wrestle Manase who had already graduated from TJPW years before they debuted. They were able to show her some of TJPW’s new faces that have popped up while she was gone. Manase thought she had gotten stronger after winning another championship yesterday but she wasn’t able to help her teammates today. She learned she will still have to become even stronger.
Pom Harajuku showed up with her face painted to match Kyoko Inoue’s design but when it was time for their tag match to begin, their opponents decided to take a nap in the ring. Harajuku convinced Inoue they should go straight for the pin but Raku rolled the both of them on top of Andreza Giant Panda for a nearfall. Raku & Andreza then piled themselves on top of them for another nearfall. Inoue was then put to sleep by the power of Raku’s eyemask and lullaby but Harajuku woke her up by screaming. Inoue tried attacking Andreza with Mongolion Chops but Andreza knocked her back with his own version of the move as well as a Spinning Back Fist. Andreza also swatted Harajuku away at points but she was able to knock him down with a Missile Dropkick to the back. Raku gave Inoue a Russian Leg Sweep with an assist from Andreza pushing them over. Andreza then knocked out Harajuku with a Headbutt and pinned her with the Andreza Press. Raku said her team spent most of the day sleeping which is why they were able to win. Andreza’s handler Ossan Tiger agreed because Andreza slept for more than 10 hours, the perfect amount. Harajuku was upset not because she lost but because Inoue wasn’t looking when she was doing her best. Next time she will show Inoue just how cool she is.
The rookie Ren Konatsu got to be on the winning side of a tag team match for the first time. She has HIMAWARI to thank for that. Konatsu was taken out by Shino Suzuki late in the match leaving HIMAWARI to fight Uta Takami. She broke out of the Koala Clutch to give Takami the Princess Drop. Then after that she pinned Takami with the Sunflower Tempest. HIMAWARI was happy to be in the opening match at Ota Ward Gymnasium again because she wanted to make up for losing the opening match at “GRAND PRINCESS ’25” back in March. She also wanted to lead Konatsu for her first big event match of her career. Konatsu only just debuted but she said she has a strong desire to liven things up. Takami is disappointed she lost but appreciates getting to experience all kinds of emotions like happiness, frustration and fun! She hopes some day she will go on a bus tour across Japan with Suzuki for a wrestling trip together.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25”, 21/07/2025 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1. HIMAWARI & Ren Konatsu Vs Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami
2. Andreza Giant Panda & Raku Vs Kyoko Inoue & Pom Harajuku
3. Yuna Manase, Mahiro Kiryu, Kaya Toribami & Chika Nanase Vs Wakana Uehara, Toga, Mifu Ashida & Kira Summer
4. 3 Way Tag Match: Yuki Kamifuku & VENY Vs Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro Vs Arisu Endo & Jada Stone
5. Special Tag Match: El Desperado & Maki Itoh Vs Chris Brookes & Emi Sakura
6. Special Single Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Billie Starkz
7. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Moka Miyamoto
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Yuki Arai
Welcome to the middle point of the year and the second of three visits to Ota Ward Gymnasium in 2025. As we enter part two in this trilogy of big venue events for Tokyo Joshi Pro this year I’m trying to figure out if a three act story can be pieced together in regards to the company’s top champion. It’s either going to be that or the inauguration of their next ace. A successful tour of Texas earlier this month has provided a gust of momentum for TJPW going into the show and perhaps even a fresh group of eyes looking towards the event, at least internationally. On the undercard a lot of the wrestlers are focusing on the upcoming Tokyo Princess Cup. Even a few of the champions have set up goals to win the tournament while holding their titles. That’s if they make it out of Ota Ward with the belt still in their hands of course. Then once the Cup is done with the road will take TJPW back here for “WRESTLE PRINCESS VI” in September. Now let’s see if this really is going to be Act II of a year long story.
I don’t know what it is about the new rookie but whenever I look into Ren Konatsu’s eyes I see the crazy vibes of MAO hiding deep in there somewhere. This is way, way down the line by the way because she hasn’t even entered her third month as a pro wrestler yet. All I’m saying is it only takes the little sheep toy clipped to her belt to start whispering ideas into her head and next thing you know she’s using her opponents to smash plastic boxes into pieces. If the sheep suddenly gets replaced with a Labubu then we’re really going to see some trouble down the line.
I thought TJPW had something going on for HIMAWARI and Shino Suzuki by making them team up every now and then going back to the previous Ota Ward show. Instead they are going to be opponents here. HIMAWARI is teaming with Konatsu and is the only one in this match who qualified for the Princess Cup. Suzuki’s failure to get past the prelimary rounds may become a pivotal point in her career because she is now seeing how little progress she’s been making in her three years as a wrestler. Uta Takami meanwhile has her whole future ahead of her and had a big role on this year’s “HYPE!” show. Maybe she’s the one I should be worried about possibly turning crazy instead of Konatsu.
2. Andreza Giant Panda & Raku Vs Kyoko Inoue & Pom Harajuku
A potential monster bout ended up changing its plans but in doing so brings in a brand new joshi legend into the TJPW ring for the first time. Max The Impaler was supposed to return to Japan so they could team up with Pom Harajuku again. Unfortunately according to TJPW Max has health issues preventing them from being able to travel for the show so that put a stop to Pompaler getting back together for now. Harajuku’s new tag partner is the fearsome and face painted Kyoko Inoue! I wonder if United Japan Pro Wrestling is the reason why we’re getting this appearance? Inoue is the founder and current president of World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana based in Kanagawa. The joshi group recently joined UJPW as a supporting member and TJPW is already a member so the connection is there to be made.
There might be a jealous Up Up Girl in the locker room once Inoue is in the ring because one of the highlights of her classic matches was always the Giant Swing. Will she be the one to do it to Andreza Giant Panda? The last time Andreza showed up in TJPW he went viral for getting bonked over the head with a Pico Pico Hammer. This place is starting to get too dangerous for him. For Raku though she’s been living a dream ever since her last visit to Ota Ward. Back in March she beat Harajuku to win the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title, her first proper championship reign. While she no longer holds the belt things are just going swimmingly for her lately. This match is just going to be another trip inside her sleepy wonderland. Maybe she’ll bring the Buc-ee toy she bought in Texas with her for Andreza to play with.
3. Yuna Manase, Mahiro Kiryu, Kaya Toribami & Chika Nanase Vs Wakana Uehara, Toga, Mifu Ashida & Kira Summer
Time to throw a mixture of women into the ring, shake it back and forth and see who comes out of it the last ones standing. Yuna Manase pays another visit to TJPW. While she’s been rocking the Ganbare☆Joshi division over in Ganbare☆Pro in Japan, she’s also been flying the flag for Kitsune over in America as their top champion. Mahiro Kiryu was settling into a new tag team with Haruna Neko until Neko got injured yet again so she’s sort of just been floating around at the moment. Kaya Toribami finally had something of a level up by getting to challenge for the MLW Women’s Featherweight Title last month and putting in a pretty good performance. She also has a new costume ready to debut for this show so maybe things are looking up for the bird. Chika Nanase is starting to move up into the next phase of her young career. Where she goes from here is anyone’s guess.
Over on the other team Wakana Uehara is progressing at a nice pace. She has a named tag team as part of Ober Eats, got to challenge for a championship and at this point is pretty much guaranteed to be part of the crew for every USA tour. As long as she keeps her appetite, I see good things coming for her in the future. The times Toga has mostly been standing out lately is from whenever she gets to play an ikemen role of some sort. In regular matches though she’s had a few setbacks lately. Mifu Ashida’s win-loss record since coming here hasn’t been great either. She’s been a bit busy doing other things lately but a time like now is always a good place to start turning things around. Kira Summer has been seeing the growth of women’s wrestling in Asia and Australia this year. It is motivating her to join in and play her part in helping it grow even more.
4. 3 Way Tag Match: Yuki Kamifuku & VENY Vs Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro Vs Arisu Endo & Jada Stone
Ober Eats is one of the new teams to appear on the scene this year but Yuki Kamifuku is going back to one of her favorite choices in her wardrobe. She is bringing VENY back so VENYU can team up together again! VENY has spent the year ruling over SEAdLINNNG with a five month reign as Beyond The Sea Champion. Once that title run came to an end she’s been going from place to place in the joshi scene with TJPW becoming her next brief stop. Yuki Aino is fresh off of coming out as the main character of this year’s “HYPE!” show. The lesson she learned coming out of it is she will never be alone in TJPW and that might finally be what leads her out of the maze she’s been stuck in ever since her sister Nodoka Tenma graduated. I’m probably going to be writing that opinion again and again until the end of time.
Aino will be teaming with Haru Kazashiro who continues to grow into a future high card player for the promotion. Once she gets her final year of high school out of the way, the sky’s the limit for how far she will go in the ring. She is already developing the ring smarts to gradually figure out how to perfect the Fisherman Suplex but a 3 Way Tag Match like this is probably too chaotic an environment to show that off. The third team is a fitting mixture of pep and spark. Arisu Endo has been taking a back seat for her Daisy Monkey’s partners success. She hasn’t been letting that dampen her spirits. Jada Stone is now well accustomed to TJPW but it looks like she has a new place to call home. She was recently offered a contract by TNA so I’m not sure if she will continue to do tours here. If this is close to the end then she’s certainly made good use of her time in TJPW.
5. Special Tag Match: El Desperado & Maki Itoh Vs Chris Brookes & Emi Sakura
Are there as many wrestlers out there who are currently living out their dreams like El Desperado has? He gets to fulfill his most violent desires by having several deathmatches with Jun Kasai, pals around with the likes of MAO and Chris Brookes especially when it comes to the more sleazy indies style of wrestling. There’s nobody else in New Japan who is quite as in sync with the current wrestling scene than good ol’ Despy. Now he gets to tick off another line in his bucket list by getting to team with Maki Itoh! The two got to know each other in America two years ago when they were both booked on the same GCW show. The idea was thrown around for them to team up. Now that it’s happening it finally occurred to Despy that he has to learn Itoh’s song and dance in order to be accepted into the Itoh Respect Army. Rehersals so far have not been promising. Brookes was at least able to pull the dance off so the current IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion has no excuse. Come on man you used to carry a guitar around. Surely you can carry a tune too?
TJPW brought Despy & Itoh together because they needed a poison pairing that could match the same level as TeaDK. Brookes & Emi Sakura teamed up in TJPW last March for “GRAND PRINCESS ’24” and it didn’t go according to plan for them. They lost to The Magical Sugar Rabbits and blamed each other over the result. Time healed those wounds so they are teaming up again to give TJPW another go. Sakura has had several matches with Sakura over the years, most of them in an AEW ring. Thankfully they haven’t needed to staple each other over and over like Brookes and Despy do whenever they fight. Oh God, don’t let Itoh arm herself with a stapler!
6. Special Single Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Billie Starkz
One of Miyu Yamashita’s toughest rivals on her excursions to America is Billie Starkz. When it comes to their previous matches Starkz has beaten Yamashita more than the other way around. It’s a friendly rivalry though and the two of them even had something of a good tag team going on during Yamashita’s recent stay in GCW. So when Yamashita heard that Starkz would love nothing more than to wrestle in Japan again she got TJPW to set this match up.
So yeah, that’s pretty much it. Not a lot of story to set this up and it remains to be seen if this is just a one off attraction match to have for the big show. Yamashita only has one championship left to win in TJPW to have achieved every single accomplishment available to her. If anything her winning this match would be done to establish her as the favorite for the Princess Cup. A win for Starkz here though should be followed up on. A younger wrestler beating Yamashita in her home promotion is worth a title shot of some sort down the line. We don’t really need to worry about locker room politics either because it’s become pretty clear recently that Yamashita has some sort of deal in place with AEW/ROH.
7. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Moka Miyamoto
Now we get into the big three matches of the show. The three championships are all currently on a reliable group of wrestlers so where the belts go from here is a good question to think about. If Suzume was to lose the International Princess Title here she would have left a good mark as champion. Her reign has been a little bit different than the others thanks to a pair of defences against Jada Stone, one in Japan and the rematch in America. It’s unusual for someone to defend a Princess Title against the same challenger twice in one reign. It’s also not that common for the IP Champion to defend the belt overseas when that’s meant to be the whole bloody point of it! When it’s all said and done, Suzume will have a good argument towards having one of the more defining runs as IP Champion. She’s already said she feels like she has evolved from a bee into a hornet because of this title. Her ultimate goal is to become queen bee of TJPW!
Her challenger Moka Miyamoto has also become attached to the belt but it’s becoming for a pretty bad reason. This is going to be her third time challenging for the IP Title after failing to win it twice before. It is the title she wants most because she believes having an international championship is the best way for her to spread Japanese culture across the world. Part of that culture is Japan’s technology and Miyamoto thinks there has to be some kind of Japanese technology out there that is good for getting rid of hornets! The two traded wins with each other during the Texas tour so it’s all even going into Ota Ward.
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
Okay where do sasumata poles stand on the police brutality scale because they’re going to be mentioned a lot in this part of the preview and the girls have already used them to literally crucify Tetsuya Koda. The existence of these things have been the blight of Kyoraku Kyomei’s last couple of weeks. Other than that things are going great for the Princess Tag Team Champions. The big kaiju Shoko Nakajima was let loose in MLW and she quickly acquired the MLW Women’s Title. Meanwhile Hyper Misao lived through the stress of putting together the third annual “HYPE!” show and came out of it in one piece. They were looking forward to their next crazy adventure with the Princess Tag Titles but weren’t ready for how it would be set up.
One year ago the headline match of “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’24” was the battle of Daydream between Rika Tatsumi and Miu Watanabe. In the aftermath the two appeared to have gone their separate ways and they went almost a year without teaming up again. That was until a month ago when Daydream reunited and ambushed Kyoraku Kyomei with sasumata poles, demanding a title shot. The champions agreed to the match because Daydream are the kind of strong team they’re looking to beat. Ever since then Tatsumi & Watanabe have been attacking Nakajima & Misao with sasumata poles in their preview matches. Kyoraku Kyomei reached their breaking point over it and stole the sasumatas away from their challengers. They then tried to properly recycle them under the watchful eye of GM Koda until Daydream appeared to try and take their weapons back by force. That led to Nakajima & Misao taping the poles to Koda like a crucifix but Daydream were able to take him back too. Now that the weapons are back in the challengers’ hands they have the advantage going into the title match. Will the champs decided to fight fire with fire or will they have something else under their sleeves to foil Daydream’s plan?
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Yuki Arai
This is going one of two ways. Either we are firmly in Mizuki’s era as the dominant Princess Of Princess Champion where she will headline all of the Ota Ward shows or TJPW decides now is the time to crown Yuki Arai as their new top draw. Mizuki has already toppled Watanabe (to win the belt), Tatsumi and Yamashita (the two defences) in this title reign. If she beats Arai here I see her holding onto the belt for a long time to come so she can have her definitive main event run in the promotion. Arai meanwhile made the choice to go all in on having pro wrestling be her career so while she has all the time in the world to achieve the final piece of the TJPW Grand Slam, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the company strike now while the iron is hot.
History doesn’t paint a clear picture for how this is going to go. Arai won the Princess Tag Titles on her first try and Mizuki was one of the champions back then. Arai was involved with the finish but it was Saki Akai who pinned Mizuki for the victory. When it comes to the International Princess Title however Arai failed to win it twice before becoming champion on her third attempt (hey, that’s a good sign for Miyamoto). This main event is her first time fighting for the Princess Of Princess Title. Only a select few have held the title and none were ever able to beat the champion on their first try. But that’s just the kind of record a wrestler booked like Arai would go on to break, right? After all, this is the idol who only needed one Finally Axe Kick to beat the unstoppable Max The Impaler and earned an endorsement from Meiko Satomura. She’s been groomed since day one to become the promotion’s next ace and her quick success is evidence of it.
Arai is not taking this moment for granted. It’s her first big match since graduating from SKE48. When she juggled her idol career with her wrestling career she felt like she wasn’t as good as everyone else in TJPW. But now that she’s fully focused on just wrestling she is eager to go challenge all of her seniors and eventually take the lead of the promotion. Mizuki has a goal in mind to win the Princess Cup while she holds the Princess Title. She has already proved that princesses are stronger than monsters. But are they stronger than successful pop singers?
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS PRESENTED BY NEXTSHARK & QUERI”, 13/07/2025 The OC, Forney, Texas, USA 2,540 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara when Suzume pinned Uehara with the Ring A Bell (10:24).
2. Moka Miyamoto defeated Alejandra Quintanilla with the Korokan (5:52).
3. Raku & Pom Harajuku defeated Hyper Misao & Shino Suzuki when Raku pinned Suzuki with the Doctor Yellow (10:43).
4. Yuki Arai defeated Maya World with the Finally (7:04).
5. Miu Watanabe defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Tear Drop (16:12).
6. Yuka Sakazaki & Billie Starkz defeated Miyu Yamashita & Vert Vixen when Sakazaki pinned Vixen with an Oklahoma Roll (20:36).
7. Special Single Match: Mizuki defeated Maki Itoh with the Cutie Special (17:13).
It’s been a tour to remember, one that could open up a whole new path for Tokyo Joshi Pro’s American efforts going forward. The third and final night of their Texas tour capped off with a record crowd in Forney near Dallas. Never before has TJPW drew over 2,500 fans for one of their own shows but a successful local marketing campaign along with an opportunity to give American fans a genuine trip into TJPW’s world without having to travel to Japan turned this tour into one of the most unexpected success stories coming out of a packed wrestling weekend.
The weekend came to a close with a big singles match that TJPW hasn’t put together in a while. Mizuki and Maki Itoh have history together going back to when they teamed up as the original Itoh Respect Army and their last singles match against each other was back in March 2023. The match back then was for the Princess Of Princess Title but the rematch here was a non-title affair. They still fought like crazy though because at one point Itoh gave Mizuki a DDT onto a table at ringside! Itoh would also use the Itoh Special, Stone Cold Stunner and Tornado DDT but couldn’t put Mizuki away with any of those moves. Itoh also used a Heabutt to block Mizuki’s Cross Body Block but Mizuki hit back with the Cutie Special. Mizuki then put Itoh stacked between the turnbuckles so she could do the Corner Foot Dive. After that she did another Cutie Special and that won her the match.
Mizuki thanked the fans after the match and said she loves Maki Itoh. He asked for a handshake but Itoh gave her a “Fuck you” instead. Itoh left the ring but had to be brought back in when all of the roster came out to end the show with a group photo. Backstage Mizuki said it was great timing to have the Itoh match today because it heated up her nerves for “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25” in Ota Ward Gymnasium next weekend. She loves Texas and wants to return here with the Princess Title still in her hand. Itoh was happy because she enjoys fighting with Mizuki and 2,500 fans came to see her which means her merch sales today were good. She wants to come back to Texas so she can eat more burgers and tacos.
Two days after Miyu Yamashita and Yuka Sakazaki fought each other (and Mina Shirakawa as well) at the Ring Of Honor PPV they were back at it in a tag match here. Yamashita also got to fight Billie Starkz again for a preview of their “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25” match next weekend. That made Sakazaki have to deal with Vert Vixen until the end. Starkz wiped out Yamashita with a Cannonball Dive at ringside. Sakazaki kicked out of Vixen’s Blue Thunder Bomb and returned fire with the Magical Merry-Go-Round. She then used an Oklahoma Roll to pin her for the win. Sakazaki afterwards referred to her and Starkz as Team AEW. Yamashita said she liked teaming with Vixen and would like it to happen again.
In a rematch of TJPW’s 2024 match of the year, Shoko Nakajima and Miu Watanabe faced off in the final preview of Kyoraku Kyomei Vs Daydream for the Princess Tag Team Titles. Watanabe crouched down to prevent Nakajima from doing the Northern Lights Suplex and instead turned it into the Giant Swing. Nakajima escaped from the Canadian Backbreaker to get over to the apron and hit a 619. However Watanabe caught her mid-move and gave her the Tear Drop to get the three count. Watanabe was happy to get revenge for Nakajima pinning her in Houston and thinks it was the zazen spiritual training she went through with Rika Tatsumi before the tour that made it happen.
The promoters for this tour Tokyo Story also have a hand in the gacha business working with Bandai Namco products. They had a gacha machine at the venue which Pom Harajuku decided to wheel down to ringside during her match. She tried to run over Shino Suzuki with the machine but Suzuki got out of the way and Raku got hit instead. Hyper Misao then attacked Harajuku with the Hero Spray and cycled around ringside on the Texas made Hyper Mobile.
The three members of The Up Up Girls on the tour performed “Upper Kick!” at the start of the show along with the Megami Maids from a local café group.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 