TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW SPRING TOUR 2025 IN SAPPORO”, 26/04/2025 Hokkaido Sapporo Sun Plaza 281 Fans – No Vacancy
1. HIMAWARI defeated Chika Nanase with the Half Crab Hold (6:19).
2. 3 Way Match: Kaya Toribami defeated Mahiro Kiryu and Uta Takami when Toribami when Toribami pinned Takami with an Inside Cradle (7:00).
3. Raku & Pom Harajuku defeated Kira Summer & Ivy Steele when Raku submitted Steele with the Front Neck Lock (8:58).
4. Yuki Aino defeated Yoshiko Hasegawa with the Venus DDT (7:49).
5. Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara & Mifu Ashida defeated Haru Kazashiro, Toga & Shino Suzuki when Kamifuku pinned Suzuki with the Famouser (13:23).
6. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao defeated Rika Tatsumi & Haruna Neko when Misao pinned Neko with the Hypami Returns (10:37).
7. Mizuki, Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Miu Watanabe, Yuki Arai & Moka Miyamoto when Mizuki pinned Miyamoto with the Diving Foot Stomp (14:07).
For her first match in Japan as a full time pro wrestler, Yuki Arai was announced as the “Genius Girl” with SKE48 no longer attached to her nickname. She was on the losing side of the main event though. Her & Miu Watanabe were taken down by Daisy Monkey so Mizuki could pin Moka Miyamoto with the Diving Foot Stomp. Suzume & Arisu Endo were really happy because today was their first time wrestling in Hokkaido (although Suzume went there with Tokyo Joshi Pro one time previously as a trainee). Watanabe & Miyamoto looked on the bright side and complimented Arai on her new costume.
Suzume knows her next challenger for the International Princess Title is HIMAWARI who is currently on a winning streak. Even before she became No. 1 Contender Suzume could see gleams in the eyes of the younger wrestlers and that is pushing her to keep defending the title. She promised not to let her guard down against HIMAWARI.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW SPRING TOUR 2025 IN SAPPORO”, 26/04/2025 Hokkaido Sapporo Sun Plaza
1. 3 Way Match: Mahiro Kiryu Vs Kaya Toribami Vs Uta Takami
2. HIMAWARI Vs Chika Nanase
3. Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Kira Summer & Ivy Steele
4. Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara & Mifu Ashida Vs Haru Kazashiro, Toga & Shino Suzuki
5. Yuki Aino Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa
6. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Rika Tatsumi & Haruna Neko
7. Mizuki, Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Miu Watanabe, Yuki Arai & Moka Miyamoto
Before Golden Week begins there is a Tokyo Joshi Pro show happening in Hokkaido tomorrow. Everyone is back in Japan as long as you do not include Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh. They have their own stuff going on in America for a while yet.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GOLDEN WEEK FAN APPRECIATION DAY 「EAST」”, 03/05/2025 Saitama Kasukabe Fureai Cube
1. Miu Watanabe & Uta Takami Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa & Kaya Toribami
2. Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki Vs Wakana Uehara, Kira Summer & Chika Nanase
3. Rika Tatsumi & Toga Vs Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro
4. Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Raku Vs Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko & Ivy Steele
5. Mizuki, Pom Harajuku & Arisu Endo Vs Matcha, Alexis Lee & Nor ‘Phoenix’ Diana
6. VPW Women’s Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Viva Van
7. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs HIMAWARI
Then it’s onto the two Golden Week shows. First up is the one in Saitama where Suzume will defend the International Princess Title against HIMAWARI after everything that was set up last week. Yuki Kamifuku is only defending the VPW Women’s Title against Viva Van so she risks splitting up the Asian Double Crown if she loses.
The three visiting guests from Southeast Asia are all teaming together. What do Matcha, Alexis Lee & Nor ‘Phoenix’ Diana all have in store for TJPW during their stay? I wish SEA Storm actually was their group name. It’s a cool name.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GOLDEN WEEK FAN APPRECIATION DAY 「WEST」”, 05/05/2025 Osaka Edion Arena #2
1. TJPW RUSH! Osaka Special Team Competition 5 Vs 5 Knockout Match: Mizuki, X, X, X & X Vs Suzume, X, X, X & X Other Participants: Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe, Pom Harajuku, Arisu Endo, HIMAWARI, Haru Kazashiro, Shino Suzuki and Uta Takami
2. Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko & Toga Vs Moka Miyamoto, Kira Summer & Ivy Steele
3. Ryo Mizunami & Mifu Ashida Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa & Kaya Toribami
4. Wakana Uehara Vs Chika Nanase
5. 3 Way Match: Yuki Kamifuku Vs Yuki Aino Vs Yuki Arai
6. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title: Raku (c) Vs Nor ‘Phoenix’ Diana
7. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Matcha & Alexis Lee
It is confirmed that Kyoraku Kyomei are the defending Princess Tag Team Champions going up against Matcha & Lee.
The TJPW RUSH! match was such a success at the end of last year that they’re bringing it back. It is a 5 Vs 5 Team Gauntlet Match with 2 Count Pinfalls and 5 minute time limits. Any match that ends in a time limit draw restarts with 1 Count sudden death rules. This time it is an Osaka themed competition with Mizuki captaining the Takoyaki team and Suzume captaining the Kushikatsu team. Their teammates will first be determined by a lottery and then the captains get to put their match entry in order.
Should any of the RUSH! wrestlers not get to take part because their team wins early, they will be added into Match #5 with all of the Yuki’s. The 3 Way Match will turn into a tag team match if only one person is added. If two are added then it will become a 5 Way Match, three added will be a 6-Woman Tag, etc.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “KANDA MYOJON CULTURAL EXCHANGE CENTER PRESENTS THIS IS JAPAN”, 19/04/2025 Tokyo Kanda Myojin Hall 215 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. International Princess Title Next Challenger Irregular Tournament – Round 1: Haru Kazashiro, HIMAWARI, Chika Nanase & Uta Takami defeated Toga, Mifu Ashida, Kira Summer & Ivy Steele when Kazashiro pinned Summer with a Spinning Leg Lock (12:36).
2. Moeka Haruhi defeated Pom Harajuku with a Roll Up (10:48).
3. Kaya Toribami defeated Tabata with the Sento Choryu (5:41).
4. International Princess Title Next Challenger Tournament – Semi Final: HIMAWARI & Uta Takami defeated Haru Kazashiro & Chika Nanase when Takami submitted Nanase with the Koala Clutch (11:44)
5. Kakeru Sekiguchi defeated Yoshiko Hasegawa with the Shiden Kai Taught By Nao Kakuta (8:31).
6. Ryo Mizunami & Moka Miyamoto defeated Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko wen Mizunami pinned Neko with a Spear (10:37).
7. International Princess Title Next Challenger Irregular Tournament – Final: HIMAWARI defeated Uta Takami with the Modified Jackhammer (8:03).
With half of the Tokyo Joshi Pro roster off on a Las Vegas adventure, it was up to the other half to keep things going back in Japan. There was an important matter of deciding who the next challenger for the International Princess Title was going to be. Eight wrestlers from the 2023 and 2024 Classes were put through an unusual tournament format to whittle the group down to one person left standing. Round 1 was an 8-Woman Tag Match with everyone on the winning side advancing to the next stage. Haru Kazashiro scored the pin for her team to send them through. The semi final then split those four into two tag teams. HIMAWARI & Uta Takami advanced thanks to Takami getting her first ever submission win after Chika Nanase gave up to the Koala Clutch. The final ended with HIMAWARI using a Modified Jackhammer (she later named it the Sunflower Tempest) to beat Takami and become No. 1 Contender. She will get her title shot against Suzume on 3rd May.
Moka Miyamoto was happy to team up with Ryo Mizunami and take some of her power for herself. Mizunami was curious to see what the crowd was like for today’s show and liked the energy coming from the TJPW fans. Haruna Neko probably wished the energy wasn’t there because Mizunami beat her chest red. Mahiro Kiryu also described fighting Mizunami is like being hit with a mass of energy.
There was a special nod Kakeru Sekiguchi gave to Nao Kakuta when she used the Shiden Kai to beat Yoshiko Hasegawa. She learned the move from Kakuta and used it as thanks for bringing her into TJPW. It was also used as a special send off for Hasegawa’s upcoming retirement. Hasegawa hopes they will meet in the ring again one more time. Then she won’t let her get away with a win again!
Sayuri Namba announced she will be releasing her own photobook in late May.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE UNIVERSE MEMBERS ONLY SHOW – PURE TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 9”, 13/04/2025 Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall 258 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Yuki Kamifuku defeated Chika Nanase with the Famouser (4:28).
2. Kira Summer defeated Ivy Steele with the Samoan Drop (6:00).
3. Hyper Misao, Hyper Mahiro & Hyper Moka defeated Yuki Caras, Mil Nekocaras & La Kuruka when Misao pinned Nekocaras with La Magistral Cradle (10:00)
4. Academic And Athletic Match: Miu Watanabe & Uta Takami (3) defeated Miyu Yamashita & Arisu Endo (2).
5. Werewolf Death Match – 2 Count Fall Rules: Kaya Toribami (Werewolf) & Maki Itoh (Werewolf) defeated Shoko Nakajima (Citizen), Rika Tatsumi (Citizen) & Shino Suzuki (Citizen/Fortune Teller) (15:01).
5a. Maki Itoh eliminated Shino Suzuki with a School Boy (7:00).
5b. Rika Tatsumi eliminated Maki Itoh with a School Boy (11:25).
5c. Kaya Toribami eliminated Shoko Nakajima with a School Boy (15:01).
6. Costume Change Match: Mizuki, Suzume, Pom Harajuku & Yoshiko Hasegawa defeated Wakana Uehara, HIMAWARI, Hyper Haru & Toga when Mizuki pinned Haru with the Cutie Special (12:10).
After skipping 2024, the annual Tokyo Joshi Pro show that is only open to Wrestle Universe members was brought back this year. It is the show where once a year things in TJPW are not as they should be. The main event was an 8-Woman Tag where everyone was given a different wrestler’s costume and they were encouraged to behave like the person they dress up as. One team consisted of Wakana Uehara as Miyu Yamashita, HIMAWARI as Shoko Nakajima, Haru Kazashiro as Hyper Misao (temporarily renaming herself Hyper Haru) and Toga as Haruna Neko. The other team were all dressed up as The Up Up Girls! That meant Mizuki was Shino Suzuki, Suzume was Raku, Pom Harajuku was Uta Takami and Yoshiko Hasegawa was Miu Watanabe. The Fake Up Up Girls even dance to “I Don’t Want To Lose” to get themselves motivated and it helped them get the win.
It turns out you can apply the game of Werewolf to pro wrestling. It was a 5 Way Match where the five competitors were unknowingly split into two sides. Three of them were Citizens and two were Werewolves. Two Count Pinfalls were in effect and the first side to eliminate two players from the other team would win. Every three minutes the match would pause so everyone could deduce who the Werewolves were before going back to fighting. There was also a bonus Fortune Teller role given to one of the Citizens where they were allowed to nominate one person and be told if they were a Werewolf or not. Suzuki was the Fortune Teller and she made Maki Itoh reveal she was a Werewolf. Itoh then eliminated Suzuki but was beaten by Rika Tatsumi shortly after that. With one Werewolf left, Tatsumi was heavily suspected to be one because according to Nakajima, Tatsumi normally behaves like a Werewolf. However Kaya Toribami then rolled up Nakajima from behind to pin her, revealing she was the other Werewolf all along and the Werewolf team had now won the match!
Four of the most athletic wrestlers in TJPW were put into a tag match that tested their brain power as much as their physical abilities. After every 1 Count Pinfall, the winner would be asked an elementary school question. Whichever team gets three questions right first would win. Nobody understood the rules at first but eventually figured them out. They also got a bunch of questions wrong. Gradually the two teams had 2 points each and scrambled to get 1 Count pins. Takami got one on Yamashita and scored the final point to get the win for herself and Watanabe. It was not Yamashita and Arisu Endo’s brightest moment that’s for sure.
I don’t know what Hyper Misao did but she convinced Mahiro Kiryu & Moka Miyamoto to take up the capes and masks to become superheroes just like her. However two of their opponents Yuki Aino & Haruna Neko pulled out of the match on short notice due to stomach pains and were replaced by the luchadoras Yuki Caras & Mil Nekocaras. They teamed up with Raku who seemingly disappeared during the match only to be replaced by a dancing skeleton. No it wasn’t La Parka, it was La Karuka! The lucha trio took over until Nekocaras failed to do the 619 and injured her legs from bouncing off the ropes. Misao pinned her with La Magistral Cradle to give the superheroes the win.
More international flair was brought to TJPW in the match before that. Ivy Steele fought Kira Summer in a match pitting Great Britain against Australia. Summer entered the ring dressed in a bush costume while carrying a stuffed koala toy. She offered Steele some Vegemite before the match but Steele refused because she didn’t want to eat it. Summer forced her to taste it while the wrestled causing Steele to kick away the koala toy in anger. Summer got some payback by beating her with the Samoan Drop.
Compared to everything else on the show, Yuki Kamifuku versus Chika Nanase was quite normal. Kamifuku teased Nanase by calling her so uninteresting it’s almost pitiful. Nanase was fired up to fight her but Kamifuku was the one standing tall in the end.
What a month it’s been already and we’re not even halfway through yet. It’s the busiest time of the year for American wrestling with WrestleMania coming up next weekend and the carnival of shows that exist around it. DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro will be deep in the mix with shows held under The Collective banner along with some outside bookings scattered around the Paradise of Las Vegas. Then there is no rest for the wicked afterwards because the months leading into summertime will be very busy for the likes of Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh. The international exchange will even be seen in Japan with Deadlock Pro running a tour over there and YuuRI getting involved in a big lucha libre show. Plus one of the big rivalries happening in Southeast Asia may finally come to an end if Yuki Kamifuku defeats Alexis Lee one more time.
But I’m burying the lede here. Shoko Nakajima won a championship in MLW! She has become the latest TJPW wrestler to win a title belonging to a foreign company and we may possibly add another person to that somehow growing list at the end of the month. Meanwhile Konosuke Takeshita is already turning April 2025 into a memorable period. He squashed an age old beef with one of Japan’s modern legends and has started a tournament run that will at least produce a few great matches if he doesn’t make it all the way.
Video starts at 22:53 for Match #1. Go to 1:12:00 for Match #2. MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025 Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA
1. HIMAWARI Vs Janai Kai
2. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Delmi Exo (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima
8th match Backstage 4/11/25 | Windy City Riot 2025
AEW “COLLISION”, 12/04/2025 MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Quarter Final: Brody King (w/ Julia Hart) Vs Konosuke Takeshita
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Results
AEW “COLLISION”, 02/04/2025 (Aired 05/04/2025) Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois, USA
1. Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii (w/ Rocky Romero) when Fletcher pinned Ishii with the Sheer Drop Brainbuster (13:47).
Takeshita had to miss the “DYNASTY” PPV because he had other priorities with New Japan that weekend but he was able to fit in an AEW tag match right before he left. He and Kyle Fletcher are really catching on as a tag team lately and they were really put through the grinder against Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii. They tried to give Ishii a Super Bomb from the corner but Ishii countered it into a Frankensteiner on Fletcher. Takeshita came to help Fletcher give Ishii a Sheer Drop Brainbuster for a nearfall and then clashed with Hobbs. Ishii’s face was bloody at this point but he was still fired up to fight. Fletcher didn’t care though and he used a Tombstone Piledriver followed by another Brainbuster for the victory.
MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025 Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA
1. Janai Kai defeated HIMAWARI with the Tornado Kick (7:28).
2. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima defeated Delmi Exo (c) with the Diving Senton (9:17). *Delmi Exofails in V2. Shoko Nakajima becomes the 5th MLW Women’s World Featherweight Champion!
Well would you look at that, MLW went all the way with Nakajima and made her their women’s champion! The 619, Double Arm DDT and Diving Senton put Delmo Exo away and now Nakajima can add the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title to her collection.
Also HIMAWARI did not in fact get abducted or murdered by CONTRA Unit. She made it back to Japan in one piece. Janai Kai still beat her pretty handily but I’d still call it a successful MLW excursion.
NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025
Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA
4,674 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi with the Raging Fire (20:37).
It was an emotional battle that’s been over a decade in the making. Takeshita was not only fighting Hiroshi Tanahashi in a rematch from their DDT bout from 2014 but he was defending DDT’s honour over the disrespect Tanahashi gave to them in 2015. Due to the added importance that this will be Tanahashi’s final wrestling match in America before he retires it was made the main event of the show ahead of the IWGP World Heavyweight Title bout. The two had counters for each other’s finishers but Takeshita surprised everyone by doing his own High Fly Flow. Everyone was then in even more shock when Tanahashi kicked out at one! Takeshita nailed Tanahashi with several Wagamama knee strikes before giving a big shout to HARASHIMA by hitting the Somato. After that he used the Raging Fire to get the win.
Backstage Takeshita said he was all anger before this match but now that it is over, his revenge on Tanahashi has ended and he now for the first time respects him. There is one thing that Takeshita couldn’t do to Tanahashi and that was take away the last of his light. He wishes to see Tanahashi keep that light shining until his retirement. He was then interrupted by El Phantasmo who complained about Takeshita not showing respect until now. He still remembers their match at last year’s G1 Climax and he wants to challenge him to a rematch, this time with the NEVER Openweight Title on the line. Suddenly Phantasmo was then attacked from behind by Rocky Romero. Whatever it is that’s going on between them has nothing to do with Takeshita. At least for now.
AEW “COLLISION”, 12/04/2025 MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Quarter Final: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Brody King (w/ Julia Hart) with the Powerdrive Knee (12:18).
The 4th annual Owen Hart Cup is packed this year on both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Count Takeshita among them on the men’s side. His opening round match was against Brody King from The Hounds Of Hell. Even a guy like Takeshita gets a bit worried when he hears King barking nearby. It took several Powerdrive Knee strikes to break down King and the final two needed Takeshita to pull his kneepad down for extra damage to finally put his opponent down for the count.
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WrestleMania Week Appearances
PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025 Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Masha Slamovich Vs MAO
2. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe
Let’s get crazy. The first piece of involvement in Wrestlemania Week from DDT and TJPW both take place at the same show. Miu Watanabe makes a rare outside appearance from TJPW to take on Maya World while one of her later upcoming opponents Masha Slamovich takes a trip on MAO’s wild ride. Or maybe it’s MAO going on Slamovich’s wild ride.
WRESTLECON “MARK HITCHCOCK MEMORIAL SUPERSHOW”, 17/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Mickie James Vs Maki Itoh
Who knows what else WrestleCon has in store for their big event of the week and if it applies here. They have a mystery 10-Man Tag Match on the card which was used to promote TJPW in a previous year. Itoh might meet her match in more ways than one when she faces off against Mickie James. But the worst thing James could do is go in their and underestimate Itoh.
WEST COAST PRO “VEGAS VACATION”, 17/04/2025 Meet Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. MAO Vs Jiah Jewell
It will be the second match of the day for both MAO and Jiah Jewell.
GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XIII”, 17/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Charlie Dempsey Vs Shinya Aoki
2. Nattie Neidhart Vs Miyu Yamashita
This year’s Bloodsport went through a slight overbooking problem with some fighters but it hasn’t affected the two matches here that I care about. Bless GCW and Josh Barnett for having conflicting stories over who is actually booking the show when it was time to explain why previously announced talent were being left off the final card. Friendship aside, Nattie Neidhart doesn’t want to be used as a stepping stone by Yamashita but Yamashita doesn’t want Neidhart to take her lightly either. Are we going to get MMA Shinya Aoki or DDT Shinya Aoki when he fights Charlie Dempsey?
BZW “VIVA LAS VEGAS”, 17/04/2025 Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Marcus Mathers & Alec Price
Alec Price has found a replacement partner to challenge MAO & Yoshihiko for the BZW Tag Team Titles. With Cole Radrick out of action, Marcus Mathers is going to take his place.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Rika Tatsumi, Shino Suzuki & Vert Vixen Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Viva Van
2. Yuki Arai Vs Arisu Endo
3. Maki Itoh & Zara Zakher Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
4. Special Single Match: Masha Slamovich Vs Miu Watanabe
5. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Jada Stone
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
7. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
I’ll aim to have my guide for the TJPW Las Vegas show posted either late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning Las Vegas time.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Nick Wayne, Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma Sumi Vs Gringo Loco, Marcus Mathers & Tyler Bateman
2. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
3. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
4. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
5. wXw Unified World Wrestling Title: 1 Called Manders (c) Vs Yukio Naya
6. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Yoshihiko
Same with my guide for the DDT Las Vegas show. You’ll pretty much know I arrived safe and sound when the articles get posted.
WRESTLECORE “FEAR & WRESTLECORE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. ELP Vs Maki Itoh
Well so much for El Phantasmo and Maki Itoh joining forces as The Cutest Tag Team In The World. They’re not getting along so they’re going to fight each other instead.
PRIDESTYLE “OUT OF THIS WORLD”, 18/04/2025 Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
0. Yoshihiko’s Super Special Open Challenge: Yoshihiko Vs X
1. G-Sharpe Vs MAO
A new booking for MAO over at PrideStyle. If his opponent G-Sharpe looks a little familiar it may be because you might recognize him when he wrestles under a mask as Hyperstreak. There is a group called The Cartel de Los Villanos who have been feuding with G-Sharpe over in PrideStyle and they are the ones who hired MAO to fight him.
A bonus attraction will be happening before the show officially starts. That’s right, Yoshihiko is throwing out an open challenge! Who will dare step foot against “The Grave Digger Doll From Hell”?
GRAPHOUSE “FOR VEGAS, BY VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Fergusons Downtown, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Lazarus Vs MAO
MAO’s Friday night comes to a close with a brawl against Lazarus near Fremont Street. Someone convince MAO to Moonsault off of the Vegas Vic neon sign.
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Rika Tatsumi & Antonio Honda Vs Kidd Bandit & Shota
2. 3 Way Match: MAO & Yoshihiko Vs Jimmy Lloyd & Alec Price Vs Jack Cartwheel & Kazuma Sumi
3. Special Tag Match: Mance Warner & Shunma Katsumata Vs John Wayne Murdoch & Matt Tremont
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Ilusion & Dark Sheik Vs Super Crazy, Marcus Mathers & Shoko Nakajima
5. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Masha Slamovich Vs Shinya Aoki & Miyu Yamashita
What the hell kind of Fire Pro random card is this?
GCW “CLUSTERF*CK FOREVER”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Clusterfuck Match: Yoshihiko Vs X
Yoshihiko is among the many, many competitors announced for the Clusterfuck so far but nobody else from DDT or TJPW has declared they will be in it. It’s likely a bunch of the talent will already be flying home by the time this show takes place.
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Upcoming Appearances After WrestleMania Week
AEW “DYNAMITE – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 16/04/2025 MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Semi Final: Will Ospreay Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Ok this is during WrestleMania Week but isn’t actually part of it so let’s stick it here. It’s now on to the semi finals for Takeshita where is next opponent is quite a doozy. It’s the rematch against Will Ospreay!
DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 1”, 24/04/2025 Shinjuku FACE
1. Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA Vs LaBron Kozone & Calvin Tankman
2. DPW Women’s World Title: Dani Luna (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi
The hype train’s not stopping once WrestleMania is done. The schedule is going to get even more packed heading into the summer! DPW is heading back to Japan and has some familiar wrestlers taking part on their shows. Rika Tatsumi is getting a shot at the DPW Women’s World Title on the first night. The champion Dani Luna is coming out of a violent feud with Hyan over the belt which included title defences in Street Fights and Dog Collar matches. Sounds like she’ll be ready to handle Tatsumi’s madness. Meanwhile Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA are teaming up to take on two of DPW’s mainstays. LaBron Kozone is currently the DPW National Champion which just so happens to be the first DPW championship that his teammate Calvin Tankman won in the company.
DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 2”, 25/04/2025 Shin-Kiba 1st RING
1. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs Calvin Tankman & Kazuma Sumi
2. Emi Sakura, Chris Brookes, Mei Suruga & Baliyan Akki Vs Miyuki Takase, Kevin Ku, Dominic Garrini & Ryo Mizunami
Then on the second night Brookes joins team ChocoPro to fight a mix of joshi and Violence Is Forever… Joshi Is Forever? Violence Is Joshi? Miyuki Takase & Ryo Mizunami Plus Two?
Tankman finds himself in the ring surrounded by DDT wrestlers. It will be a match of big man and little man teams when Tankman teams with Kazuma Sumi to fight the Harimao pair of Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida.
HOG “ISOLATION”, 25/04/2025 NYC Arena, New York City, New York, USA
1. HOG Heavyweight Title: Mike Santana (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Will Takeshita bring an end to Mike Santana’s 16 month reign as House Of Glory’s champion?
BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025 The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Leyla Hirsch
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh Vs Davey Bang & August Matthews
You know, this is one of those shows that feels like it just takes forever to get to.
MEXICO KANKO/CMLL/LADYS RING “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Mexican Tourist Belt – The Road To Studying In Mexico 5 Way Match: Yuki Mashiro Vs Honoka Vs YuuRI Vs SONYA Vs CoCo
2. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr.
I heard this show has a Street Fighter 6 product placement match. Makoto and Hikaru Shida are cosplaying as R. Mika & Yamato Nadeshiko to fight a pair of masked Zangief wrestlers. It would be funny if The Gief #1 and The Gief #2 were other members of DAMNATION T.A.
I missed that YuuRI was booked for this show a month ago. She’s taking part in a 5 Way match where the winner will be crowned the second Mexican Tourist Belt Champion. Whoever holds possession of the belt is given the right to go study in Mexico thanks to the show sponsors. YuuRI’s opposition in the match are the freelancer Yuki Mashiro, Honoka from WAVE, SONYA from the Costa Rica Wrestling Embassy (CWE) and CoCo from MY WAY.
TOP TALENT “LIVE AT MIDWAY MUSIC HALL”, 02/05/2025 Midway Music Hall, Edmonton, Canada
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
Yamashita is going to be visiting Canada a few more times during this excursion. Top Talent Wrestling is the latest promotion over there to book her.
HOODSLAM “PHANTASMAGORIA”, 02/05/2025 Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Itoh is getting her ass back to Hoodslam!
GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025 Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita
Itoh believes she cannot lose to Yamashita in GCW. Anywhere but over there!
GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025 Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) Vs Maki Itoh
One day later she gets her chance to win the GCW World Title from Effy. Only one person missing from making it a full Maki Death Bussy reunion.
HOG “WAGING WAR”, 09/05/2025 Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
Just have to wait and see who House Of Glory wants to put Yamashita against. It didn’t work out so well for her there last time.
NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA
1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X
It hasn’t been made official at the time of writing but it’s looking like Takeshita will defend the NEVER Openweight Title against El Phantasmo at this show. Unless Romero does something else to ELP and changes the situation.
MAPLE LEAF PRO “NORTHERN RISING”, 10/05/2025 Mattamy Athletic Centre, Toronto, Canada
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Sereena Deeb
North American promoters really have a type of opponent in mind for Yamashita this time around, eh? She’ll have to deal with the wrestling expertise of Serena Deeb for her return to Maple Leaf Pro.
GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025 RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Tony Deppen
Yamashita’s journey through GCW continues.
GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025 Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA
1. Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita
Once again, they meet at last.
MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025 Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China
1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin Vs Alexis Lee & Big Sam
The end of May will be a dramatic period for Yuki Kamifuku and Alexis Lee. This match in Middle Kingdom Wrestling has now become the warmup for what happens in Singapore Pro Wrestling one week later.
SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025 Magnete, Milan, Italy
1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Alexis Lee
The stakes have been risen to the extreme. Lee is wagering her pro wrestling career to get one last chance at winning back the Queen Of Asia Title from Kamifuku. If she loses this time then she is done for!
KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025 Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase
Hey since Darkness Revolution are now down a member in Marigold maybe Nagisa Nozaki will consider replacing Bozilla with Yuna Manase.
KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025 South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Yuna Manase Vs X
Yamashita’s match on this show will be a singles match with an opponent yet to be determined.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 1”, 10/07/2025 POST, Houston, Texas, USA
Does the T in TJPW now stand for Texas? On the weekend when AEW runs “ALL IN TEXAS” TJPW will be holding three shows in the Lone Star State.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 2”, 11/07/2025 POST, Houston, Texas, USA
Two of the shows are going to be in Houston.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS”, 13/07/2025 The OC, Forney, Texas, USA
The third show is happening… not in Dallas but they’re calling it Dallas anyway. Is this like years ago when WWE would be in New York State and only mention on air that they’re somewhere near New York City?
I’ll write more about this in next week’s DDT Around The World article but congratulations go out to Shoko Nakajima for winning the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Championship in America on Saturday! That’s the good news. The bad news is her and HIMAWARI are currently stranded in America because according to their tweets their flight home was delayed for half a day and then cancelled. Hopefully that gets sorted out quickly.
DDT “D GENERATIONS 1”, 08/04/2025 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage
1. Oji Shiiba Vs Yuni
2. Special Single Match: Daichi Kazato Vs Keigo Nakamura
3. Munetatsu Nakamura & Ali Najima Vs Takeshi Masada & Yuki Ishida
4. Special Tag Match: Soma Takao & Shota Vs Yuya Koroku & Kazuma Sumi
5. Special Single Match: Shigehiro Irie Vs Daichi Sato
6. Special Single Match: Keisuke Ishii Vs To-y
There will be a press conference involving Keigo Nakamura taking place during tomorrow’s show. He hinted it will be about a big challenge he wants to take on and he would like to talk about it in front of his supporters.
M&A “SANSHIRO TAKAGI 30TH ANNIVERSARY PROJECT ~MATCHMAKE & AGENT~”, 09/04/2025 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage
1. Shota Vs Mikiya Sasaki
2. 3 Minutes Impact: Shigehiro Irie Vs Ryoma Tsukamoto
3. Special Tag Match: Yumiko Hotta & Miku Kanae Vs Mio Shirai & Saran
4. Special Single Match: Jun Kasai Vs Maki Itoh
5. Special Tag Match: Yuji Nagata & Kuroshio TOKYO Japan Vs Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei
6. Special Single Match: Andreza Giant Panda Vs Poison Sawada JULIE
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura (c) Vs Hikaru Sato & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa
After getting through their first KO-D Tag Team Titles defence, Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura decided their goal as champions is to break the record for most defences. The current record is 12 wins as held by Sanshiro Takagi & Munenori Sawa. Knowing it is a long road ahead, Astronauts quickly came up with the idea to put the titles on the line in their next match which just so happens to be against the SEX-MEN of Sawa & Hikaru Sato on a show that Takagi is booking.
DDT “MENTAI WARS”, 12/04/2025 Fukuoka Nishitetsu Hall
1. Kazuma Sumi Vs Ilusion
2. Jun Akiyama, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Soma Takao & Yukio Naya
3. HARASHIMA, Azul Dragon & Kazuki Hirata Vs Toru Owashi, Akito & Yuki Ishida
4. Special Single Match: Hideki Okatani Vs Keigo Nakamura
5. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Danshoku Dieno & Takeshi Masada Vs Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y
6. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs MAO & KANON
A new alliance has been formed in DDT. It turns out MAO has been wanting to team up with KANON for quite some time and now is the time for them to join forces like some sort of Strange Love Connection. They’re going straight for the enemy because their first opponents as a tag team is against Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul from DAMNATION T.A.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “KANDA MYOJON CULTURAL EXCHANGE CENTER PRESENTS THIS IS JAPAN”, 19/04/2025 Tokyo Kanda Myojin Hall
1. International Princess Title Next Challenger Tournament: HIMAWARI Vs Toga Vs Haru Kazashiro Vs Mifu Ashida Vs Kira Summer Vs Chika Nanase Vs Uta Takami Vs Ivy Steele
1a. Round 1: X, X, X & X Vs X, X, X & X
1b. Round 2: X & X Vs X & X
1c. Final: X Vs X
One day after the International Princess Title is being defended in America, the next No. 1 Contender will be decided back in Japan. An unusual tournament format will be used in a series of matches between wrestlers from the 2023 and 2024 classes. The first match will be an 8-Woman Tag Match with the two teams randomly selected by lottery. The winning team will move onto the next round where they will randomly split into two teams for a regular tag team match. The winning team from that will reach the final where the two remaining wrestlers face each other to become the No. 1 Contender. The date of the winner’s title shot depends on the result of the Suzume Vs Jada Stone title match happening in Las Vegas.
DDT “KANDA MYOJON CULTURAL EXCHANGE CENTER PRESENTS LAS VEGAS SERIES ~JITSUGETSU~”, 19/04/2025 Tokyo Kanda Myojin Hall
1. Yuki Ueno & To-y Vs Danshoku Dieno & Soma Takao
2. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada Vs HARASHIMA & Daichi Sato
3. DDT Extreme Title: Super Sasadango Machine (c) Vs Kazuki Hirata
The card for DDT’s show in Japan during the American trip is starting to take up shape. Super Sasadango Machine’s has his first DDT Extreme Title defence coming up and Kazuki Hirata is the challenger.
The voice actor Tetsu Inada will be attending both shows in Japan that weekend as an ambassador. He doesn’t know what that role entails but he will do whatever it takes to make Kanda Myojin just as exciting as Las Vegas for a weekend!
DDT “KANDA MYOJON CULTURAL EXCHANGE CENTER PRESENTS LAS VEGAS SERIES ~NESHIN~”, 20/04/2025 Tokyo Kanda Myojin Hall
1. Twilight Rouge Cup Battle Royal: X Vs X
The second show will feature the voice actress Sumire Uesaka as a special guest. She will be there to promote her pop-up café called Twilight Rouge. As part of the collaboration, the café is sponsoring a battle royal on the show.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW SPRING TOUR 2025 IN SAPPORO”, 26/04/2025 Hokkaido Sapporo Sun Plaza
It’s been six years since Tokyo Joshi Pro last held a show in Sapporo.
DDT “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 12 ~GIVE IT TO THE CLOUDS THE MOUNTAIN CUCKOO~”, 17/05/2025 Osaka City Sumiyoshi Civic Center
1. Special 6-Man Tag Match ~Laughter Leads To Hell~: Kuishinbo Kamen, Shunma Katsumata & Ram Kaichow Vs Kikutaro, Antonio Honda & No Name
Konosuke Takeshita will be at the show.
DDT “KING OF DDT 2025 FINAL!!”, 25/05/2025 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. King Of DDT 2025 – Semi Final: X Vs X
2. King Of DDT 2025 – Semi Final: X Vs X
3. Special Single Match: Minoru Suzuki Vs Danshoku Dieno
4. King Of DDT 2025 – Final: X Vs X
Who knew that one of Danshoku Dieno’s biggest desires was to get into the fight of his life against Minoru Suzuki? The two of them fought to a double countout in yesterday’s tag match after Suzuki demanded Dieno to take things seriously. Dieno is willing to do that and completely drop his Danshoku moveset in order to get a singles match against Suzuki. For the moment this match has nothing to do with Suzuki’s DDT Universal Title. We’ll have to wait and see how his match with Yoshihiko goes in Vegas.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SPRING FESTIVAL DEBUT IN UENO!”, 02/04/2025 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage 136 Fans
1. Suzume & Haruna Neko defeated Toga & Chika Nanase when Suzume pinned Nanase with the Ring A Bell (10:00).
2. Maki Itoh & Yuki Kamifuku defeated Kira Summer & Ivy Steele when Itoh submitted Steele with the Itoh Deluxe (9:37).
3. 3 Way Match: Arisu Endo defeated Miu Watanabe and Uta Takami when Watanabe pinned Takami with the Waterwheel Drop (8:03).
4. Miyu Yamashita & Moka Miyamoto defeated Wakana Uehara & Mifu Ashida when Yamashita pinned Ashida with the Attitude Adjustment (10:22).
5. Rock ‘N’ Roll Tag Death Match: Rika Tatsumi & Mahiro Kiryu defeated Antonio Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi when Tatsumi pinned A.YAZAWA with a Backslide Pin (9:45).
6. Spring Sports Day Special 10-Woman Tag Match: Mizuki, Yuki Aino, Raku, Haru Kazashiro & Shino Suzuki defeated Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao, Kaya Toribami, Yoshiko Hasegawa & HIMAWARI.
6a. Ball Throwing Match: Mizuki, Yuki Aino, Raku, Haru Kazashiro & Shino Suzuki (5) defeated Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao, Kaya Toribami, Yoshiko Hasegawa & HIMAWARI (2). – Red Team 1 – 0 White Team.
6b. Three-Legged Wrestling – 2 Count Fall Rules: Shoko Nakajima & Yoshiko Hasegawa defeated Haru Kazashiro & Shino Suzuki with a Double Backslide Pin (1:56). – Red Team 1 – 1 White Team.
6c. Baton Relay: Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao, Kaya Toribami, Yoshiko Hasegawa & HIMAWARI defeated Mizuki, Yuki Aino, Raku, Haru Kazashiro & Shino Suzuki. – Red Team 1 – 2 White Team.
6d. Final Single Match ~ Special Rules: Raku defeated Hyper Misao with the Hurricane Turn (5:12).
The main event was a team based challenge involving three games that mixed pro wrestling with a school sports festival. After the three games were completed, the team with the most points were given an advantage for the final round. The first game involved both teams rushing to fill their basket with the most amount of balls. Mizuki from the Red Team and Hyper Misao from the White Team carried the basket and their teammates all tried to throw balls at them. Right before the time expired, Mizuki kicked over Misao’s basket resulting in her team winning five balls to two.
The second game was a wrestling match where two pairs of wrestlers had their legs tied together Three-Legged Race style. The Red Team was Haru Kazashiro & Shino Suzuki while the White Team were Shoko Nakajima & Yoshiko Hasegawa. They struggled to wrestle while being tied together but the White Team were able to roll up the Red Team for the victory.
The third game was a full relay race around the venue split into five parts. It started with Kaya Toribami pinning Yuki Aino with under 1 Count Rules to get a three second headstart. Then Mizuki and Hasegawa had a strawberry eating contest. The rules weren’t fully fleshed out which meant Toribami and Aino joined in to help their partners (and eat some free strawberries). After that Suzuki and Nakajima had a sack race from one end of the aisle to the other. Part 4 was a scavanger hunt between Kazashiro and HIMAWARI where they both went looking for a specific person carrying a yellow towel. The final challenge was a race to get past Tetsuya Koda in order to reach the finish line. Hyper Misao used the Hyper Mobile to speed past Raku, crash into Koda and then cross over the finish line to win the relay for the White Team.
All of that led into the grand finale. It was a singles match between a chosen member from each team and what we got was Raku from the Red Team against Misao from the White Team. Since the White Team had more points, Misao only needed a 1 Count Pinfall to win while Raku needed to score a 2 Count Pinfall. Every wrestler from the two teams interfered. If that wasn’t chaotic enough, Misao armed herself with the hero spray and Raku used her pillow as a weapon. Raku ended up turning the spray on Misao to blind her before using the Hurricane Turn to get the 2 Count pin. Team Red had become the winners of the sports festival!
Match #5 was changed when Antonio Honda was unable to wrestle because of his chronic love sickness. He was replaced by A.YAZAWA and the match was turned into a Rock ‘N’ Roll Death Match! Rika Tatsumi prepared herself for the match by bringing her guitar along with her. She also strangled YAZAWA with his own suspenders. He recovered when “Paint It Black” played over the speakers. Everyone danced while they wrestled for a while. The music system malfunctioned midway through the match and started playing other genres. All four joined together when “Swan Lake” played then started fighting again when it was over. Tatsumi & Mahiro Kiryu were able to pin Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi at the same time with stereo Backslide Pins for the victory.
Pom Harajuku wasn’t at the show because she was feeling unwell. Her scheduled opponent Miu Watanabe was instead added to Arisu Endo Vs Uta Takami to make it a 3 Way Match.
It was announced that Matcha and Alexis Lee will both be returning to Tokyo Joshi Pro for Golden Week. They will be on the 3rd and 5th May shows.
Buckle up, folks. There is a lot to talk about this month, next month and probably even going into the summer. Konosuke Takeshita is no longer the AEW International Champion. That was to be expected but I am pleasantly surprised he has remained on AEW TV since then and is still winning matches for The Don Callis Family. He remains being protected in the booking so it looks like AEW has something in mind for him down the line even if it’s just building him up to put someone else over. Also in news that is kind of AEW related Yuka Sakazaki is now on the lookout for more wrestling bookings. Sumie Sakai is helping her out on that end but it sounds like Sakazaki will still need AEW’s permission to go ahead with whatever offers come her way.
Next let’s talk about Maki Itoh and Miyu Yamashita. Once the Las Vegas shows are done Itoh will be staying in America until 11th May while Yamashita won’t be coming back to Japan until 21st July for “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25”. I was taken aback by the negative response to the news that both of them will be taking another extended hiatus from Tokyo Joshi Pro to wrestle overseas again. I get the frustration in a way. People think both of them are looking for contracts from WWE or AEW. Itoh has brought up stuff like that in past English interviews but I’m not entirely sure Yamashita has the same goal in mind. There was a public talk event sometime ago where Yamashita revealed she spent a lot of money to go follow one of her favorite K-Pop bands on a US tour and she seems to enjoy when she’s not being relied upon by TJPW to be a company ace. Maybe I’m wrong but I don’t think the two of them keep taking these options in the search for deals that may never come their way. Of course I may also just be blind to what could possibly be some tryout matches coming up next month.
That brings us up to next month’s chaos that is Wrestlemania Week. I can’t wait for this! Too many wrestling shows going on non-stop in Las Vegas for a solid week. Now that’s my kind of holiday! DDT and TJPW don’t have full cards out for their shows yet and I have the feeling one or two more promotions will be booking the likes of MAO and Itoh before we get there. So many shows are going on during the week that I can’t help but wonder if it will just take one badly made political decision somewhere to throw half the shows into chaos.
And if that’s not enough it turns out there will be even more wrestling shows going on through the year after Wrestlemania is finished. Yeah that took me by surprise too. Anyway next month expect me to write up three separate Around The World articles. One for everything that happens before WM Week, one for the week itself and one for the rest of April after that. If the next month doesn’t burn me out something fierce than nothing will.
1. Yuki Kamifuku & The Statement defeated Alexis Lee & Da Butcherman when Statement pinned Butcherman with an Uppercut (?:??).
The latest chapter in the Southeast Asian rivalry between Yuki Kamifuku and Alexis Lee was a little different this time around. Recently in Singapore Pro Wrestling Lee was stabbed in the back by Andruew Tang, or as he prefers to be called now, The Statement. Lee wanted payback and joined forces with one of Statement’s rivals Da Butcherman to get it. Statement called in Kamifuku to back him up so they can become the royal pair who will rule over SPW together with iron fists. An intense tag match resulted in the referee getting knocked out and Statement being saved by a tag team called The Midnight Bastards. The team attacked Butcherman with chairs and held him in place for Statement to knock him out with an Uppercut. Statement & Kamifuku both stood tall over their rivals holding their championships before leaving. Lee swore revenge and promised to take back the Queen Of Asia Title from Kamifuku!
EVE “WOMEN BEHAVING BADLY”, 07/03/2024 The Big Penny Social, London, England
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Lucia Lee with the Skull Kick (12:48).
Plans in EVE changed for Yamashita when her original opponent Session Moth Martina pulled out of the show due to illness. Instead Yamashita was given Lucia Lee as her new opponent. For Lee it was a chance on short notice to step up against Yamashita and prove she can go toe to toe against her. Despite the good effort, Yamashita knocked her over with the Skull Kick anyway.
RCW “MARCH MADNESS”, 08/03/2024 Casinet de Hostafrancs, Barcelona, Spain
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Amale with the Skull Kick (15:16).
The next day Yamashita was in Spain to wrestle on an RCW show for the first time since October 2022. Her opponent was “The French Hope” Amale, formerly from NXT UK. She sent Yamashita crashing through the front row of chairs with a Topé Suicida and the two soon found themselves brawling around ringside. Back in the ring Amale kicked out of an Avalanche Attitude Adjustment and almost scored the win with a Small Package. But when Yamashita kicked out she quickly had her opponent in her sights and hit the Skull Kick for the victory.
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Anita Vaughan with the Crash Rabbit Heat (13:32).
Yamashita’s busy European weekend ended in Germany where she showed up during wXw’s final day of the annual 16 Carat Gold tournament. She didn’t take part in the 16 Carat tournament itself, instead she fought Anita Vaughan who was already eliminated from the competition by that point. Yamashita made it three wins for three but she needed to use the Crash Rabbit Heat this time to end the weekend with a clean sweep.
AEW “REVOLUTION”, 09/03/2025 Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. AEW International Title: Kenny Omega defeated Konosuke Takeshita (c) with a Cradle (28:30). *Konosuke Takeshita fails in V9. Kenny Omega becomes the 11th AEW International Champion!
That’s the end of Takeshita’s first championship reign in AEW. With thoughts of Hajime no Ippo on their mind and also their gear, Takeshita and Kenny Omega went hell for leather in their rematch from September 2023. Omega’s ribs were violently targeted due to his recent bout with diverticulitis and Takeshita got a little help from Don Callis here and there too. But Omega overcame the odds and kept kicked out of the Powerdrive Knee. Takeshita avoided the One-Winged Angel yet when he went for the Raging Fire, Omega countered it into an Inside Cradle. Only getting a nearfall, Omega then switched to more types of cradle pins until he kept Takeshita’s shoulders down long enough for the three count.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 12/03/2025 Save Mart Center At Fresno State, Fresno, California, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Max Caster with the Raging Fire (1:30).
Takeshita wasted no time in getting back to work after his title loss. Max Caster held the latest in his open challenges and tried to talk Takeshita out of it when he walked down to the ring with a purpose. Caster asked if Takeshita was actually here to invite him into The Don Callis Family? When he suggested he could use that position to beat Omega, Takeshita attacked him and quickly won with the Raging Fire.
BZW “WAR AT THE CAPITAL”, 16/03/2025 Claridge, Brussels, Belgium
1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) defeated Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II when Yoshihiko submitted Lykos & Lykos II with a Double Half Crab Hold (?:??). *V3 for MAO & Yoshihiko.
I missed when this was announced last month. MAO & Yoshihiko travelled back to Banger Zone Wrestling this month, this time to defend the BZW Tag Team Titles in Belgium. The challengers were the two troublemakers from Lykos Gym in England: Kid Lykos & Kid Lykos II. They weren’t prepared for Yoshihiko to do a balcony dive onto them nor did they expect the dark spirit that sometimes follows Yoshihiko around to show up and Moonsault onto them either. Lykos II made the big mistake of yelling insults towards Yoshihiko. When he tried to Headbutt it only he felt the impact. Yoshihiko was then able to trap both members of Lykos Gym in a Double Half Crab Hold and made both of them tap out at the same time!
AEW “COLLISION – SLAM DUNK SATURDAY”, 19/03/2025 (Aired 22/03/2025) Liberty First Credit Union Arena, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita, Brian Cage & Lance Archer defeated Mark Briscoe, Powerhouse Hobbs & Rocky Romero when Takeshita pinned Romero with the Raging Fire (11:22).
Takeshita continued to rebuild his momentum by teaming with more members of The Don Callis Family. He, Brian Cage & Lance Archer all worked over Rocky Romero until Mark Briscoe got the hot tag. Briscoe had the numbers game against him but he held his own until it was time for Powerhouse Hobbs to get the big tag. But The Don Callis Family withstood the comeback. Cage & Archer took out Romero with a Choke Slam/Power Bomb combo and held his partners at bay so Takeshita could pin Romero with the Raging Fire.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 26/03/2025 Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita defeated Mark Briscoe with the Raging Fire (11:39).
There was unfinished business between Takeshita and Briscoe from Collision so they met in a singles match the following week on Dynamite. The episode was sponsored by The Minecraft Movie so the venue they were in ended up kind of looking like a Create-An-Arena you would download from the WWE 2K games. Briscoe took a high risk by running across the barricade outside the ring to jump onto Takeshita with a Diving Elbow Drop. Takeshita hit Briscoe with the Powerdrive Knee back in the ring but it got him a nearfall. Briscoe pulled out the Jay Driller that had Takeshita beat but a rope break stopped him from getting pinned for the three count. Takeshita stunned Briscoe with a Rolling Elbow before using the Raging Fire to win by the skin of his teeth.
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Upcoming Appearances
MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025 Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA
1. HIMAWARI Vs Janai Kai
2. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Delmi Exo (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima
There was a report from Fightful’s Patreon account during the month saying MLW has “big plans” in mind for Shoko Nakajima and HIMAWARI and the promotion hopes to get TJPW more involved with their women’s division. I’m a bit skeptical towards what that could be because the way wrestling media reports on MLW often comes across as Court Bauer trying to get his material over and everybody just taking him for his word. Big plans could mean anything from Nakajima beating Delmi Exo for the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title or Janai Kai literally murdering HIMAWARI on behalf of CONTRA Unit and right afterward MLW announces a working relationship with Stardom (go see how CIMA was written out of the company right before MLW aired a Dragongate trailer). Or the big plans might just be TJPW talent being used to put over the regulars MLW wants to push. Which at this moment in time is Exo, Kai and maybe Tara Zep. But hey, who knows. It looks like MLW’s working relationship with CMLL is legit. I’ll be happy to be proven wrong.
NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025 Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs KONOSUKE TAKESHITA
I recommend watching the Ace Vs Alpha video New Japan put on their Youtube channel (I included it in the video section above) because it shows Takeshita and Hiroshi Tanahashi talking about their previous match together as well as why Takeshita holds a grudge over how Tanahashi treated DDT in the past. It’s not the complete story of what happened back then because that is more HARASHIMA’s story to tell but it is suffice to build up their match happening next month.
PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025 Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Masha Slamovich Vs MAO
2. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe
Now we hit the busiest wrestling week of the year. Damn it really is a week long this time around with WWE going full throttle with their own schedule in Las Vegas from Tuesday to Tuesday. But enough about them, among the early shows kicking off the week is Pandemonium Pro where Miu Watanabe has a match against Maya World and now MAO will be there too for what is sure to be a crazy battle against Masha Slamovich! The two of them have packed schedules of their own so they better pace themselves.
WRESTLECON “MARK HITCHCOCK MEMORIAL SUPERSHOW”, 17/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Mickie James Vs Maki Itoh
It’s a match for the ages between two fierce opponents. One is a wrestling idol with grand ambitions of becoming a popstar who has in the past been unceremoniously fired in a humiliating fashion. The other is Maki Itoh. I know people who still have nightmares from the Revolution Pro show in London two years ago where a group of fans spent literally the entire match chanting “Hardcore Country” non-stop for Mickie James. I hope for my sake those same fans won’t be at this show.
WEST COAST PRO “VEGAS VACATION”, 17/04/2025 Meet Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. MAO Vs Jiah Jewell
MAO’s second show on the Thursday is against Jiah Jewell at West Coast Pro. Because when you think of local rivalries, you think of Miyagi Vs Louisiana.
GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XIII”, 17/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Charlie Dempsey Vs Shinya Aoki
2. Nattie Neidhart Vs Miyu Yamashita
Whenever Yamashita travels to America, Natalya invites her over to her private training facility in Florida to help teach her what she knows. They’ve apparantly become close friends over time but when Josh Barnett started putting the card together for Bloodsport, Natalya (under her non-WWE moniker Nattie Neidhart) publicly asked for Yamashita to be her opponent. Yamashita jumped at the idea and Barnett was happy to make it happen. This will be the second time Yamashita faces a WWE wrestler at Bloodsport, she lost to Shayna Baszler last July. Here she has the martial arts background advantage and Neidhart’s previous attempt at doing this kind of match with NXT Underground ended in a loss. Usually comparing the legitimate fighting pedigree of two fighters would tip off who wins these things but a main roster WWE wrestler losing on a non-WWE show would be an unusual turn of events. Eh, I’ll still bet a dollar on it.
Shinya Aoki’s announced opponent for the show is NXT wrestler Charlie Dempsey. I’d joke about Bloodsport turning into a WWE psy-op but to be fair Dempsey is a regular competitor on these shows and this will be his fourth fight in the series. Plus I don’t want to just write that he is William Regal’s son. From what I’ve seen he fits into this style of wrestling pretty well. Aoki should have fun tangling with him.
BZW “VIVA LAS VEGAS”, 17/04/2025 Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Cole Radrick & Alec Price
MAO ends his busy day with BZW hosting his third match. At least I think it’s his third show. It’s possible he’ll have a fourth somewhere but I haven’t seen anything yet. The match here is going to be changed too because of injury. MAO & Yoshihiko are supposed to defend the BZW Tag Titles against The Gahbage Daddies but unfortunately word came out a few days ago that Cole Radrick is out of action with a torn MCL and meniscus. No word yet on if Alec Price will still be in the match with a replacement tag partner or if a new team will get the title shot instead.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special Single Match: Masha Slamovich Vs Miu Watanabe
2. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Jada Stone
3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
4. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
Only a few weeks to go but the major matches have all been set up. Mizuki Vs Yamashita is the biggest match TJPW can do for the Princess Of Princess Title but it’s been done already in Japan so I can see why it would look fresher in America. Kyoraku Kyomei have their first defence of the Princess Tag Team Titles against Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara’s new tag team OberEats. There is a rematch of the International Princess Title when Suzume clashes with Jada Stone again, this time with Stone having the home field advantage. Plus Watanabe continues getting big opponents away from the title scene when she gets in the ring with Slamovich.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
2. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
3. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
4. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Yoshihiko
The lineup so far is a little more creative than what we got last year and I prefer it this way. Minoru Suzuki Vs Yoshihiko sounds like something GCW would book for “JOEY JANELA’S SPRING BREAK” but DDT needs something like that to stand out for themselves.
WRESTLECORE “FEAR & WRESTLECORE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Another outside booking for Itoh during Mania Week. No opponent has been confirmed by WrestleCore yet but El Phantasmo is trying to convince Itoh to team up with him so they can be The Cutest Tag Team Ever. He just so happens to be on this show too.
GRAPHOUSE “FOR VEGAS, BY VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Fergusons Downtown, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Lazarus Vs MAO
I think this is MAO’s last non-DDT related booking of the week. Unless…
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
As far as DDT and TJPW are concerned this will be the finale of their weekend. One match announced so far and it’s pretty cool looking. Takeshita & Slamovich teaming up against Aoki & Yamashita. It would be a shame if the show runs long and people start leaving during this match to head over to Wrestlemania.
GCW “CLUSTERF*CK FOREVER”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Clusterfuck Match: X Vs X
I’m adding this to the lineup because odds are good someone DDT or TJPW related ends up in the annual Clusterfuck. Yoshihiko was part of it last year and made it to the final three. In fact there’s already an ex-TJPW wrestler announced to be entering the match. Sayaka Unagi is taking part and I can only imagine what kind of eye opening crazy thing she would do in Las Vegas.
HOG “ISOLATION”, 25/04/2025 NYC Arena, New York City, New York, USA
1. HOG Heavyweight Title: Mike Santana (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Hey good on Mike Santana for taking a gamble on himself. The stuff he’s been doing on TNA and House Of Glory has been nothing to sneeze at so far. He now has a month to prepare for Takeshita because the two of them are set to fight with the HOG Heavyweight Title on the line.
BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025 The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Leyla Hirsch
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh Vs Davey Bang & August Matthews
Yamashita’s opponent Leyla Hirsch is fresh out of AEW and wants to show everyone how good she is in the ring.
CMLL/LADYS RING “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
1. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr.
Daisuke Sasaki will be missing the DDT show happening in Sapporo on the same day for this match.
GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025 Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita
The 121000000 split up match is happening but not in TJPW. It’s in GCW! In the nine previous times they’ve done this match, Yamashita has won eight of them and the odd result out was a time limit draw. Itoh has never beaten Yamashita in a singles match but this 10th attempt might be her best chance yet because she’ll have the GCW fans behind her. She’ll need a good result because the next day she has a match that will be just as important.
GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025 Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) Vs Maki Itoh
Itoh was originally supposed to get a GCW World Title match against Mance Warner during GCW’s Japan tour last August but a hand injury prevented it from happening. Now nine months later she finally gets her title shot but the champion now is someone completely different. Effy’s first reign as GCW Champ has seen him defend the belt against the weird and the wonderful. Can Itoh beat him to reach her ultimate form as the Queen of the Outlaws?
NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA
1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X
Just have to wait and see what Takeshita does next after the Tanahashi match.
GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025 RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Tony Deppen
Can Yamashita get a better match out of Tony Deppen than YAMATO could?
GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025 Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA
1. Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita
According to GCW this will be the first time ever Yamashita wrestles Billie Starkz. As long as you ignore the EVE match… and the St. Louis Anarchy match… and the SPARK match.
MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025 Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China
1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin Vs Alexis Lee & Big Sam
The Kamifuku Vs Lee rivalry now moves over to China for Middle Kingdom Wrestling’s 10th Anniversary show. Chinese wrestler Chen Wenbin and England’s Big Sam get mixed up in the action too.
SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025 Magnete, Milan, Italy
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
Italy will soon become the latest country Yamashita has wrestling in. Squash A Jobber Wrestling is the name of the promotion bringing her in which might be the least Italian name I’ve ever heard for a wrestling company.
KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025 Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase
We’re reaching into the summer for the end of this month’s article. Kitsune have a doubleshot going on with both Yuna Manase and Miyu Yamashita scheduled to be there. Manase is teaming with Nagisa Nozaki in Night 1 to take on Vipress & Hudson Envy. Yamashita’s match has not been announced yet.
KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025 South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Yuna Manase Vs X
Manase is still currently the Kitsune World Champion so it would make sense for her to have a title defence on the second show of the doubleshot.
DDT “WEDDING HALL PRO WRESTLING SPRING FESTIVAL IN SENTIR LA SAISON GIFU”, 30/03/2025 Gifu Sentir la Saison
1. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & Ilusion Vs JJ Furno, Yuni & Keigo Nakamura
2. Yuya Koroku Vs Yuki Ishida
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: MAO, Jun Akiyama & Yukio Naya Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Toru Owashi & Kazuma Sumi
4. SCHADENFREUDE International Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada Vs Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y
There are so many shows happening this weekend it would take up too much space to include the ones that haven’t been changed going into it. One of the wedding shows on Sunday now has its match order confirmed. This will also be the first match The 37KAMIINA having after MAO leaves the unit tomorrow.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW SPRING TOUR 2025 IN HIROSHIMA”, 05/04/2025 Hiroshima Industrial Hall
1. Kaya Toribami Vs Uta Takami
2. Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku Vs Mahiro Kiryu, Moka Miyamoto & Chika Nanase
3. Rika Tatsumi Vs Mifu Ashida
4. Miu Watanabe, Haru Kazashiro & Toga Vs Yuki Kamifuku, Kira Summer & Ivy Steele
5. Hyper Misao & Haruna Neko Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
6. Miyu Yamashita Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa
7. Mizuki & Wakana Uehara Vs Maki Itoh & Shino Suzuki
The cards for Tokyo Joshi Pro’s first weekend of shows in April were announced before Yoshiko Hasegawa’s announcement but they seem to be more fitting now in hindsight. Hasegawa wants to wrestle everybody on the TJPW roster before she retires and this match here with Miyu Yamashita will be a first time singles match between the two.
Both Shoko Nakajima and HIMAWARI will be missing the two shows because they will be wrestling in America for MLW that weekend.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW SPRING TOUR 2025 IN FUKUOKA”, 06/04/2025 Acros Fukuoka
1. 3 Way Match: Raku Vs Kaya Toribami Vs Shino Suzuki
2. Moka Miyamoto Vs Mifu Ashida
3. Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa & Chika Nanase
4. Rika Tatsumi & Toga Vs Kira Summer & Ivy Steele
5. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Miu Watanabe & Uta Takami
6. Mizuki & Aja Kong Vs Hyper Misao & Pom Harajuku
7. Miyu Yamashita, Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro Vs Maki Itoh, Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
The homecoming show for Yamashita and Maki Itoh has turned slightly bitter now that 121000000 have disbanded. The two of them will be on opposite sides of a 6-Woman Tag Match in the main event.
Aja Kong comes along to team up with Mizuki. Eh, I think Hyper Misao & Pom Harajuku can handle them.
DDT “MENTAI WARS”, 12/04/2025 Fukuoka Nishitetsu Hall
1. Kazuma Sumi Vs Ilusion
2. HARASHIMA, Azul Dragon & Kazuki Hirata Vs MAO, Toru Owashi & Akito
3. Jun Akiyama, Yuya Koroku & Daichi Sato Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Soma Takao & Yukio Naya
4. Special Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs KANON & Yuki Ishida
5. Special Single Match: Hideki Okatani Vs Keigo Nakamura
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Danshoku Dieno & Takeshi Masada Vs Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y
Does Hideki Okatani have any grief with the other wrestlers from his generation? He’s only been dealing with KANON so far although he hasn’t properly come back to action yet.
DDT “U1 CLIMAX EEL LOVING WRESTLERS BOX OFFICE”, 13/04/2025 “Unagi no Eki” Special Venue, Shibushi City, Kagoshima
1. KANON Vs Keigo Nakamura
2. Jun Akiyama & Yukio Naya, Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
3. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul, Hideki Okatani & Ilusion Vs MAO, Kazuki Hirata, Daichi Sato & Kazuma Sumi
4. Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs To-y
5. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada Vs Naomichi Marufuji & Yuki Ueno
6. Yamada Suisan Fish Army Vs Meat Alliance Army, The Final Showdown! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shishamo Power, Unagi Mask & Super Unagi Mask Vs Aja Kong, Shunma “EL TURKEY” Katsumata & Yuya “GIBIE” Koroku
New enemies are emerging to the surface in the seafood versus meat feud that DDT and Yamada Suisan dive into on an annual basis. Shunma “EL TURKEY” Katsumata wants revenge for the meat eating side losing last year’s battle so he went and recruited new teammates. One of them is Yuya “GIBIE” Koroku but the big weapon he’s bringing along is pro wrestling’s most dangerous carnivore Aja Kong! The trio of Shishamo Power, Unagi Mask & Super Unagi Mask are a well armed team at this point but this could be their biggest threat yet!
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special Single Match: Masha Slamovich Vs Miu Watanabe
2. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Jada Stone
3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
4. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
Vert Vixen has been added to the lineup. She was on last year’s TJPW USA shows in Philadelphia and Seattle.
DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
2. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
3. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
4. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Yoshihiko
The match made in hell! Minoru Suzuki said he will defend the DDT Universal Title against any challenger when he travels over to Las Vegas. Be careful what you wish for because Yoshihiko answered the challenge! The doll was already Vegas bound because of a Banger Zone Wrestling booking now it’s taking the gamble to leave with two championships (it still has the BZW Tag Team Titles with MAO).
DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025 Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
1. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Masha Slamovich Vs Shinya Aoki & Miyu Yamashita
Alright this is a good start for a card that needs to be as crazy as possible to attract a right crowd before Wrestlemania begins. Konosuke Takeshita has fought Shinya Aoki several times before. Same goes for Yamashita and Masha Slamovich. So let’s mix them all up together for a unreal tag team battle!
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GRAND PRINCESS ’25”, 16/03/2025 Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium 1,212 Fans
1. Yoshiko Hasegawa & Mifu Ashida defeated HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki when Hasegawa pinned Suzuki with the Diving Double Knee Attack (9:42).
2. Kakeru Sekiguchi, Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko & Ivy Steele defeated Kaya Toribami, Kira Summer, Chika Nanase & Uta Takami when Kiryu pinned Nanase with the Spinebuster (10:22).
3. Max The Impaler defeated Moka Miyamoto with the Lariat (5:00).
4. Aja Kong, Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara defeated Yuki Aino, Haru Kazashiro & Toga when Uehara submitted Kazashiro with the Banana Pillow (11:22).
5. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title: Raku defeated Pom Harajuku (c) with the Doctor Yellow (8:04). *Pom Harajuku fails in V2. Raku becomes the 3rd SETUP All Asia Women’s Champion!
6. Special Single Match: Willow Nightingale defeated Miu Watanabe with the Babe With The Power Bomb (10:15).
7. Special Single Match: Meiko Satomura defeated Yuki Arai with the Death Valley Bomb (11:49).
8. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) defeated Arisu Endo with the Spring Ring A Bell (14:28). *V2 for Suzume.
9. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao defeated Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) when Misao pinned Yamashita with the Hypami Returns (21:29). *121000000 fails in V5. Kyoraku Kyomei become the 18th Princess Tag Team Champions!
10. Princess Of Princess Title – STOMPING Presents: Mizuki (c) defeated Rika Tatsumi with the Modified Face Lock (21:14). *V1 for Mizuki.
Ok so maybe love isn’t always the answer. After many years in the making, Rika Tatsumi finally got to wrestle the love of her life Mizuki and was willing to risk it all to win the Princess Of Princess Title. Her gameplan was to target Mizuki’s legs and pick them apart with Dragon Screws, Kneebusters and the Figure 4 Leg Lock. But Mizuki’s resiliance meant she was able to withstand the pain and still use the Diving Foot Stomp to great effect. Tatsumi had another plan and that was to use the Hip Attack to counter the Whirling Candy. She used the Dragon Sleeper to continue wearing her opponent down but when she climbed the top rope, Mizuki followed her and delivered an Avalanche Cutie Special. She used more Foot Stomps to fight off the Dragon Sleeper and soon applied the Face Lock. Tatsumi tried rolling out of it but reached her breaking point when Mizuki modified the hold into a Crossface variant for the submission victory.
Mizuki told the fans to give her a moment after the match so she could talk to Tatsumi. She’s not as nice as Tatsumi thinks she is but she is still glad to know Tatsumi always liked her. Today they got to know each other better which means Mizuki now loves Tatsumi even more. They hugged and Mizuki thanked the fans for spending this special day with Tokyo Joshi Pro. Backstage Mizuki said she had complicated feelings about the match that she didn’t really understand. She was worried Tatsumi would dislike her if she revealed everything about herself. But she still gave it her all because the championship is so important. She doesn’t know if they’ve become close enough to start teaming together or if she is better off keeping a comfortable distance away from Tatsumi again. Tatsumi admitted she thought her love for Mizuki was always one-sided but today there was a moment when their feelings connected. That’s enough to make her happy and have her looking forward to the future. She would love to team up with Mizuki a lot if it is possible.
Success was on the minds of Kyoraku Kyomei when they came face to face against 121000000. They brought their Max Heart Tournament trophies down to the ring with them and encouraged each other to keep shouting in order to win. That was the cue for Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao to launch an ambush but Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh were ready for them and easily fought back. The match went outside where Misao crashed the Hyper Mobile into Yamashita (who then bumped into Mahiro Kiryu). Itoh then knocked Misao off her bike with her microphone. She later gave Nakajima a Death Valley Driver and but Nakajima fired back with a Top Rope Frankensteiner. The focus switched to Yamashita against Misao where a High Kick from Yamashita knocked Misao’s mask off her face! Misao continued to fight with her face fully exposed but still needed Nakajima’s help until Itoh came to Yamashita’s aid. Nakajima was taken out with the Headbutt/High Knee combo. Misao took more strikes but suddenly countered Yamashita’s Attitude Adjustment into the Vanitas! She wore down Yamashita with the Crossface Chickenwing with a 619 from Nakajima added for more damage. Itoh tried to make the save but Nakajima cut her off from the ring apron with the Diving Senton. With the coast clear, Misao gave Yamashita the Hypami Returns and scored the three count!
Backstage Kyoraku Kyomei said they must be dreaming because they finally beat 121000000 to become the new Princess Tag Team Champions! Both Nakajima and Misao have held the title before but they were at very different point of their careers. Nakajima remembers becoming the first champion with Yuka Sakazaki and thinks they lost the belts before they could become the ideal tag team. Today was the ideal match she had in mind so she’s really happy to finally reach it. Misao felt like she was always chasing after Nakajima and 121000000 for all of the hard work they do to grow TJPW. She felt that way even more when she got injured last year. These are two of the oldest teams in TJPW so today felt like Kyoraku Kyomei’s last chance to fight 121000000 for a big prize. The rematch hurt more than the first match two years ago but it was also more fun for them. They now want to defend the titles in unconventional ways.
As for 121000000 it could be time to call it a day. It was Yamashita’s idea for the team to split up if they couldn’t reach ten successful title defences and they didn’t even make it to five. But she does not want to go ahead with it and will continue the team if Itoh wants her to. Itoh cannot imagine teaming with anyone other than Yamashita… but maybe now is the right time for them to separate for a while so they can become stronger. When the timing is right 121000000 will get back together as a much stronger tag team. Yamashita promised she will do her best to get them to reunite some day.
The battle of Daisy Monkey is now scored at Suzume 4 – 0 Arisu Endo. There was a Camel Clutch spot that put the International Princess Champion in danger. Endo was able to spin Suzume into the centre of the ring with the move but Suzume was still able to fight her way towards getting a rope break. Suzume was then able to counter the Mt. Bandai into a Flying Facecrusher and also the Ju no Okite into a small form Ring A Bell for a nearfall. Endo blocked another Ring A Bell and tried to set up the Ju no Okite again but Suzume slipped out and landed an Oscutter style version of her finisher. That version is called the Spring Ring A Bell and it got Suzume the win! Endo said their bond has deepened even more and she still wants the title because somebody she loves has it! Suzume said Daisy Monkey’s dream has come true. She knows many fans want to see Endo win a singles title and so does she. But she doesn’t want to lose her IP Title and showed her determination with that match. She wants to hold onto the belt forever to prove that it suits her best more than anyone else in the world. Next she wants to go defend it in America before taking it across the world.
The next step for Yuki Arai’s wrestling career was to take on Meiko Satomura all by herself. Arai was able to hit the Rookie Award, the Full Nelson Buster and also apply the Scorpion Death Lock. But she couldn’t take it all the way by hitting the Finally. Satomura had that finisher scouted and blocked every attempt. When she was on the offensive she used moves like the Cartwheel Knee Drop, an STF and the Death Valley Bomb on her way to victory. Satomura gave Arai a hug after the match and later talked about being surprised at how good of a fighter Arai is. She has the right mix of technique, feeling and star quality that other wrestlers do not have. Satomura is glad to have fought Arai just before her own retirement and believes she can carry the future of joshi wrestling on her shoulders. Arai said she felt frustrated because this will be her only match with Satomura. She’ll keep what she learned today in her heart to do her best as a pro wrestler. Her goal now is to become strong enough to make everyone believe she can beat Satomura!
Power was finally matched up against power when Miu Watanabe fought against Willow Nightingale. Head Locks turned to Shoulder Tackles which then turned to Power Slams. Watanabe pulled off the Giant Swing and hit some Batting Hammer strikes before putting Nightingale in the Reverse Paradox. Nightingale fought back using an Oklahoma Stampede as well as a top rope Brainbuster. She avoided the Tear Drop and ran the ropes to crash into Watanabe with the Pounce before using the Babe With The Power Bomb to get the win. Backstage Nightingale talked about how she used Wrestle Universe to watch Watanabe grow but it’s still completely different to actually being in the ring with her. She gets why the two of them get compared to each other and the match reminded her why pro wrestling is amazing. Watanabe is disappointed that she lost but she hopes to follow Nightingale back to America. She’ll even go stay at her house if she’s allowed.
The pressure of being in a major championship match can be draining so Raku decided to bring out a futon so she could take a nap in the ring during her entrance. It also has the bonus feature of being used like a cape for when Raku did a diving Loy Thesz Press onto Pom Harajuku. Raku’s constant nap attacks made Harajuku drowsy so she boosted herself with a bottle of Red Bull and grew wings out of her back! Harajuku was fired up until Raku caught her in the Front Neck Lock to squeeze the energy out of her. Harajuku did hit the Pom de Justice in response but couldn’t follow up with the cover right away. Raku was able to get her senses back and won with the Doctor Yellow to become the new SETUP All Asia Women’s Champion! She said she was able to have the most heart-to-heart match with Harajuku and wants to continue walking with her down the same path. Also now that she has a championship she wants to defend it in many places. Harajuku said she was sad to lose the title but became happy for Raku when she was given the belt. She also has wings now so the championship did change Harajuku into becoming a stronger fighter.
A new costume for Wakana Uehara was just the start of her day. She went on to win a 6-Woman Tag Match that also had Aja Kong & Yuki Kamifuku as her partners. Kong was so strong that Haru Kazashiro & Toga needed to work together to get her off her feet by doing a Rock Bottom/Missile Dropkick combo. Yuki Aino softened up Uehara and left it to Kazashiro to finish the job. But Uehara blocked the Fisherman Suplex and caught her opponent in the Banana Pillow to make her submit. Uehara thanked her two partners for teaming with her. Kamifuku pointed out they all wore glitter to connect as a team together. She also asked Kong if she will be available for her homecoming show on 11th May. There is also a cool bar that recently opened up there that she wants to take Kong to. Kong asked if she could challenge Kamifuku for the Queen Of Asia Title but Kamifuku tried to put her off the idea by making it sound like she’ll have to jump through a lot of hoops with her agency to make that happen. Meanwhile Aino gave an encouraging speech to Kazashiro & Toga. They shouldn’t think they are no good anymore just because they lost today. They are only just two years into their career so they should be thinking “I lost today but I will definitely win next time!”
Max The Impaler was too much of an immovable object for Moka Miyamoto to handle. She was able to knock Max down with the Zero Fighter Kick but when she applied the Rashomon, Max powered out of the move and shook her off. There was a Senton for a nearfall and then a Lariat that put Miyamoto down for the count. Max took Miyamoto’s ribbon after the match to take home as their newest trophy. They are matching it with the hair accessory they previously took from HIMAWARI. Miyamoto said she couldn’t find any weaknesses in Max so she will come up with more countermeasures so she can win the next time they fight.
Remember, Mahiro Kiryu is in the blue gear with the one leg exposed while Kakeru Sekiguchi is in the blue gear with the other leg exposed. Got it? Despite that useful piece of information, Uta Takami couldn’t tell them apart. That gave Haruna Neko the chance to attack while Takami was confused. Ivy Steele and Kira Summer were briefly pitted against each other. Kaya Toribami got to lead her team on the offensive and Chika Nanase wanted to score the win. But Neko stopped Nanase with a Neckbreaker Drop, setting Kiryu up to use the Spinebuster for the win. Toribami apologised to Nanase for not helping her enough. But when Takami apologised for mixing up Kiryu & Sekiguchi, Toribami told her she didn’t have to.
The first match of the day saw the “transfer student tag team” of Yoshiko Hasegawa & Mifu Ashida beat HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki. Hasegawa and Suzuki fought back and forth trying to apply the Muffler Hold and the Sleeper Hold respectively. HIMAWARI tried to break it off so Ashida took her out of the ring. That allowed Hasegawa to pin Suzuki with the Diving Double Knee Attack. HIMAWARI said she looked forward to fighting Ashida today because she is a type of wrestlers that didn’t previously exist in TJPW. Ashida called the result a new starting point so she and Hasegawa can get into the habit of winning more often.
Sayuri Namba announced TJPW will be part of a marketing campaign for a collaboration between the sports brand FILA and a Korean women’s clothing brand called OJOS. Mizuki and Maki Itoh have already taken part in photoshoots to be used in upcoming marketing material.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 