Fans of Tokyo Joshi Pro were invited to submit their votes for TJPW’s best matches of 2023. This year there were votes from over 380 fans worldwide and over 120 matches received votes.
TJPW Best Bouts 2023
1. 10th Anniversary Special 10-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, Yuka Sakazaki, Rika Tatsumi & Mizuki Vs Miu Watanabe, Yuki Arai, Suzume, Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo 1st December @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
228 pts
2. International Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi 18th March @ Ariake Coliseum
194 pts
3. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita 9th October @ Tokyo Tama Mirai Messe
179 pts
4. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Maki Itoh 8th July @ Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
145 pts
5. Princess Of Princess Title: Yuka Sakazaki (c) Vs Mizuki 18th March @ Ariake Coliseum
121 pts
6. Miracle Heart Catch Shuffle Tag Tournament Final: Rika Tatsumi & Arisu Endo Vs Yuki Aino & Mahiro Kiryu 25th May @ Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall
109 pts
7. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta 9th October @ Tokyo Tama Mirai Messe
91 pts
8. Tokyo Princess Cup – Final: Miyu Yamashita Vs Yuki Kamifuku 13th August @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
86 pts
9. Tokyo Princess Cup – Semi Final: Miyu Yamashita Vs Yuki Arai 12th August @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
64 pts
10. Saki Akai Vs Yuki Arai 27th October @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
54 pts
11. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Final: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao 11th February @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
53 pts
12. Tokyo Princess Cup – Semi Final: Rika Tatsumi Vs Yuki Kamifuku 12th August @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
51 pts
13. Special Single Match: Aja Kong Vs Yuki Arai 18th March @ Ariake Coliseum
46 pts
14. Yuka Sakazaki Graduation Special 3 Way Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Shoko Nakajima Vs Yuka Sakazaki 6th December @ Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall
39 pts
14. Next Generation Tournament ’23 – Final: Wakana Uehara Vs HIMAWARI 1st December @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
39 pts
16. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Nao Kakuta 15th April @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
32 pts
17. Moka Miyamoto Vs Arisu Endo 11th February @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
29 pts
17. Debut 10th Anniversary Memorial Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Shoko Nakajima 17th August @ Shin-Kiba 1st RING
29 pts
19. Fluorescent Lighttube Death Match: Hikari Noa Vs Sawyer Wreck 1st May @ Shin-Kiba 1st RING
26pts
20. Tokyo Princess Cup – Quarter Final: Shoko Nakajima Vs Rika Tatsumi 29th July @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
25 pts
20. Princess Tag Team Titles: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta (c) Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku 1st December @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
25 pts
Honorable Mentions
These five matches just missed out on making the Top 20.
22. Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino Vs Miu Watanabe & Yuki Arai 9th October @ Tokyo Tama Mirai Messe
23. Special Single Match: Shoko Nakajima Vs Yoshihiko 25th May @ Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall
24. Princess Of Princess Title: Yuka Sakazaki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita 4th January @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
25. 1 Vs 2 Handicap Match: Mizuki Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe 11th June @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
25. Tokyo Princess Cup – Quarter Final: Yuki Arai Vs Arisu Endo 29th July @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Happy new year! December featured plenty of CyberFight related appearances in North America. Tokyo Joshi Pro held its second show in USA. They also had two seperate championship matches happening within minutes from each other in two different countries. Konosuke Takeshita remains stuck in AEW limbo, Maki Itoh wrapped up the latest leg of her US bookings, Shota paid a visit to California and MAO partied hard as the end of 2023 counted down to midnight.
So what is there new to expect in 2024 when it comes to international stuff for DDT and its family? I think the focus will be what Yuka Sakazaki will get up to. I will continue following her career using these articles. If she sticks within AEW/ROH then it won’t be much work to see what she gets up to every month. But I want to see her spread out to some of the indies. At least go to Deadlock Pro every now and then. She owes them a match anyway.
Video starts at 11:02. MPW “THE LONG NIGHT”, 08/12/2023
MPW Academy, Chatsworth, California, USA
1. Miggy Rose & Michael Hopkins Vs Shota & J2 Mattioli
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 08/12/2023 Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
1. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal Vs Powerhouse Hobbs & Konosuke Takeshita
DREAMWAVE “GOOD AS GOLD”, 09/12/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita & Emi Sakura Vs Zayda Steel & Maggie Lee
SKYFIRE PRO “NAVIDAD NIGHTMARE”, 10/12/2023 Bay City Brewing Co., San Diego, California, USA
1. Rebel Storm Vs Shota
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023 The Vermont Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA 400 Fans – Super No Vacancy
7. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly
Video starts at 16:20. MPW “NAUGHTY OR NICE 2023”, 15/12/2023 MPW Academy, Chatsworth, California, USA
1. Shota Vs Jr Mattioli
PANDEMONIUM PRO “HOLIDAY IN LA”, 17/12/2023 Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita
CIRCLE 6 “BARROOM BLITZ”, 31/12/2023 Knucklehead Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) Vs Nate Webb
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Results
BLACK LABEL PRO “SLAMILTON”, 02/12/2023 Berwyn Eagles Club, Berwyn, Illinois, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated Rachel Armstrong with the Itoh Deluxe (11:22).
Let’s begin with a show that has become an annual event for Black Label Pro. Six months ago Rachel Armstrong had a match here against Miyu Yamashita so now it was Itoh’s turn to see what the fuss is all about. A naïve Armstrong fell for Itoh’s crocodile tears act but took control using her speed and agility. A Northern Lights Suplex in particular came very close to getting her the win. But Itoh had control for most of the match, trapping Armstrong in the Itoh Special and then building her way up to the Itoh Deluxe to make her tap out.
GCW “WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE?”, 03/12/2023 Roulette Intermedium, Brooklyn, New York, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated Mike Bailey with a Cradle (16:14).
Is this the upset of the year? Mike Bailey learned the hard way not to kick Itoh in the head because it is as hard as iron! When the shock of that wore out, Bailey took her seriously, even pulling out the Flamingo Driver that Itoh kicked out of. His frustration led to his undoing because when he grabbed Itoh’s legs to do a Boston Crab, Itoh twisted over and cradled Bailey for the flash pin! Itoh had to console Bailey after the match because he burst into tears over the result.
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 06/12/2023 (Aired 08/12/2023) Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
1. Powerhouse Hobbs & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal when Hobbs pinned Daniels with The World’s Most Dangerous Slam (8:38).
What was looking to be Takeshita’s only match of the month was teaming up with Powerhouse Hobbs to beat Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal after the latter tried standing up to The Don Callis Family. During the month Don Callis announced that his unit will now be using “Family Rules” for their tag team matches against Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega going forward, which is just their name for Freebird Rules. The storyline they’re doing is falling apart though because Omega is now out of action indefinitely with diverticulitis.
MYSTERY WRESTLING “MYSTERY WRESTLING 5”, 07/12/2023 Centre Aydelu, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
1. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) defeated Jody Threat (?:??). *V3 for Max The Impaler.
There was a surprise International Princess Title match for the fans at this month’s Mystery Wrestling show. Evil Uno runs these events every couple of months, airs them live on his Twitch channel and keeps the VOD on his Patreon. Max The Impaler was brought in for a match against Jody Threat and agreed to put the championship on the line. TJPW gave their authorization and recognizes the result as an official title defence.
MLW “ONE-SHOT”, 07/12/2023 Melrose Ballroom, Queens, New York, USA
1. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) defeated Delmi Exo with the Skull Kick (9:13). *V2 for Miyu Yamashita.
2. MLW World Featherweight Title: Janai Kai (c) (w/ Salina de la Renta & Jesus Rodriguez) defeated Maki Itoh with the Modified Dragon Sleeper (7:27). *V2 for Janai Kai.
Both Itoh and Yamashita were at MLW’s final show of the year, each in a championship match. Itoh was given a big title match against Janai Kai for the MLW World Featherweight Title. She had an unfair disadvantage though because Kai had both Salina de la Renta and Jesus Rodriguez (the former Ricardo Rodriguez from WWE) in her corner to interfere when needed. There was also an unexpected run-in from the masked wrestler Ichiban that distracted Itoh long enough for her to miss a Diving Headbutt. If that wasn’t bad enough, Matt Striker on commentary completely did not understand Itoh’s gimmick. Maybe he had good intentions by trying to put Itoh over as a fighter to be taken seriously but he’s been so bad as a colour commentator for so long he should not get the benefit of the doubt.
Yamashita was at the show to defend the Princess Of Princess Title against Delmi Exo. Her opponent is a former MLW Featherweight Champion and brought her best fight to the match. Yamashita kicked out of the Ocean Cyclone Suplex and got Exo up to the top rope for an Avalanche Attitude Adjustment. Yamashita kept the pressure up and Exo was helpless by the time she was beaten with the Skull Kick. The result helps establish Yamashita’s current title reign being about taking on opponents from around the world. Her next challenger will be back in TJPW on 4th January against Masha Slamovich.
DREAMWAVE “UPRISING”, 08/12/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Shazza McKenzie with the Skull Kick (10:59).
Over to DREAMWAVE where Yamashita appeared on a weekend of shows for them. The first one was an all women’s event where Yamashita beat Shazza McKenzie in a rematch from their ROH bout from earlier this year. DREAMWAVE later announced they will be spinning off a new all women’s wrestling promotion called Uprising: Women’s Athletes so don’t be surprised to see Yamashita show up there in 2024.
MPW “THE LONG NIGHT”, 08/12/2023 MPW Academy, Chatsworth, California, USA
1. Miggy Rose & Michael Hopkins defeated Shota & J2 Mattioli when Rose & Hopkins pinned Mattioli with a Sunset Flip & Body Press (?:??).
Shota spent the month of December travelling over to America again for a short tour. Just like last year, Shota found went to the obscure end of the US indies including Millennium Pro Wrestling who welcomed him back with open arms. Shota teamed with one of his opponents from the last excursion, J2 Mattioli to take on a team called 24K. Sadly the team lost when Miggy Rose & Michael Hopkins used a double team Sunset Flip to pin Mattioli. Afterwards Mattioli apologised to Shota for losing and then challenged him to a singles match for the following week. Shota accepted and shook his hand.
DREAMWAVE “GOOD AS GOLD”, 09/12/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Miyu Yamashita & Emi Sakura defeated Zayda Steel & Maggie Lee when Sakura pinned Steel with the Double Arm Backbreaker (8:02).
There was a small change to the match when one of the original opponents Zamaya was bumped up to the semi-main event for the DREAMWAVE Women’s Title. So Yamashita & Emi Sakura instead found themselves teaming up against Zayda Steel and Zamaya’s replacement Maggie Lee. A lot of the match was Steel & Lee working on Yamashita so Sakura can get the hot tag. Still it’s not everyday you get to see Sakura & Yamashita teaming together. They won when Sakura gave Steel the Double Arm Backbreaker and Yamashita gave Lee the Attitude Adjustment, leading to a double pin.
EWF “PRO WRESTLING LUCHA LIBRE”, 09/12/2023 VFW Post 8737, San Bernardino, California, USA
1. EWF Vs The World: Kid Noah defeated Shota (?:??).
An outdoor show held in December doesn’t sound that pleasant even if it’s in California. Shota wrestled twice outdoors during the tour. The first one was at Empire Wrestling Federation where he lost to Kid Noah.
GCW “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM 2”, 09/12/2023 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Johnny Game Changer & Taya Valkyrie defeated Nick Gage & Maki Itoh (17:42).
Itoh’s last GCW appearance of the year had Maki Death Kill back together to take on the husband and wife team of Johnny Game Changer & Taya Valkyrie. The match went from a normal two vs two tag into a brawl with chairs and doors being used as weapons. Valkyrie put Nick Gage through one of the doors and then tried giving Itoh the Road To Valhalla. Itoh countered it into a Roll Up but Valkyrie then blocked the counter and grabbed onto Itoh’s tights to pin her for the three count. Itoh demanded a singles match against Valkyrie afterwards.
SKYFIRE PRO “NAVIDAD NIGHTMARE”, 10/12/2023 Bay City Brewing Co., San Diego, California, USA
1. Rebel Storm defeated Shota with the Thunderstruck (?:??).
Shota’s second outdoor match of the month was for Skyfire Pro Lucha Libre. He tried his best to outwrestle his opponent but Rebel Storm stopped him in his tracks with a Headbutt followed by the Twist Of Fate that he calls Thunderstruck.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023 The Vermont Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA 400 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku defeated Rika Tatsumi & Amira when Harajuku pinned Amira after the Wasteland War Justice with Max (10:20).
2. Trish Adora defeated Moka Miyamoto with the Lariat (8:42).
3. Mizuki defeated Sandra Moone with the Cutie Special (10:21).
4. Miu Watanabe defeated Hyan with the Tear Drop (8:33).
5. Princess Tag Team Titles: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta (c) defeated Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie when Noa pinned McKenzie with the Blizzard Suplex (9:42). *V3 for Free WiFi.
6. Taya Valkyrie defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Road To Valhalla (10:47).
7. Special Tag Match: Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly defeated Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh when Slamovich pinned Yamashita with the White Knight Driver (18:00).
MPW “NAUGHTY OR NICE 2023”, 15/12/2023 MPW Academy, Chatsworth, California, USA
1. J2 Mattioli defeated Shota with the Playmaker Lariat (?:??).
The match between Shota and Mattioli was a mostly friendly back and forth match between the two. Mattioli ended up using his Playmaker Lariat to win, capping off a year he was really happy with.
PANDEMONIUM PRO “HOLIDAY IN LA”, 17/12/2023 Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Keita defeated Shota (?:??).
2. Miyu Yamashita defeated Mike Bailey with the Skull Kick (?:??).
Okay so this month we found out that Bailey’s weakness is Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers. He lost to Itoh in GCW and here in Pandemonium Pro he lost clean to Yamashita! There were no tears in this one, instead these two tried to kick the tar out of each other!
Shota completed his USA tour by making Pandemonium Pro his final stop. Originally he was going to face Vinnie Massaro but that guy is busy living it up on a NOAH tour right now. So Shota was given the newcomer Keita as a replacement opponent. Keita made the most of this opportunity and beat the more experienced Shota.
AEW “WORLDS END”, 30/12/2023 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, USA
1. Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Sting & Darby Allin defeated Ricky Starks, Big Bill, Powerhouse Hobbs & Konosuke Takeshita when Guevara pinned Starks with a Shooting Star Press (15:42).
What a mess this storyline has turned out to be. Omega falling ill meant that he and Jericho couldn’t go ahead with challenging Ricky Starks & Big Bill for the AEW World Tag Team Titles so they had to throw in The Don Callis Family, Sting, Darby Allin and the return of Sammy Guevara to make it an 8-Man Tag Match. Takeshita was not part of the lineup when the match was made but then a day later AEW swapped him into the match and took Kyle Fletcher out. Then on the day of the show allegations of Jericho’s past behavior resurfaced online from Nick Hausman as part of Jericho’s online spat with a lawyer with a that could not have been handled any more uglier than it did. Almost everybody except the alleged victim is coming out of it as a bunch of massive scumbags. So come to the part of the show when the match happened and there was an uncomfortable atmosphere that could be felt through the screen as the match went on. I wish I could instead focus on Takeshita getting to wrestle Sting and throw Allin around like he’s Yoshihiko but everyone watching was in a bad mood over what emerged throughout the day.
CIRCLE 6 “KING OF THE DEATHMATCHES”, 30/12/2023 Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. King Of The Deathmatches – Round 1 – Ultraviolent Baptism: Bobby Beverly defeated MAO with the Fisherman DDT (?:??).
How about taking part in a deathmatch tournament to bring out the end of the year? MAO entered the King Of The Deathmatches that was being held by Circle 6 and faced Bobby Beverly in the 1st Round. MAO brought along chairs and plastic boxes but soon smashed lighttubes over his opponent. He also put Beverly through a bunch of chairs with a Double Arm Piledriver and used high flying moves but couldn’t get the win. A triple Low Blow spot that also included the referee brought the match back to an even fight. Wooden skewers were stabbed into each other’s heads and Beverly smashed MAO with lighttubes before pinning him with the Fisherman DDT.
CIRCLE 6 “BARROOM BLITZ”, 31/12/2023 Knucklehead Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) defeated Nate Webb with the Diving Radio Silence from the Bar Counter (?:??). *V3 for MAO.
MAO stuck around in Circle 6 on New Year’s Eve so he could defend the DDT Universal Title against Spyder Nate Webb. The match went outside to Santa Monica Blvd so they could fight on the street as traffic drove by.
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Upcoming Appearances
MLW “KINGS OF COLOSSEUM”, 06/01/2024 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. Moka Miyamoto Vs Nao Kakuta
2. MLW World Featherweight Title: Janai Kai (c) Vs Hyper Misao
TJPW’s working relationship with MLW continues into the new year. Hyper Misao has been selected to be Kai’s next challenger for the MLW Featherweight Title.
Also happening on the show is a TJPW offer match between Moka Miyamoto and Nao Kakuta. Miyamoto is only just now starting to wrestle abroad while Kakuta has already done it a few times in 2023. The two matches here are a little glimpse of what TJPW in Philadelphia will look like next April.
GCW “NO COMPADRE”, 12/01/2024 Thalia Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Maki Itoh, Effy & Allie Katch Vs Matt Cardona, Steph de Lander & Broski Jimmy
Itoh and Bussy all share grudges with Matt Cardona & Steph de Lander so it was inevitable that Maki Death Bussy would join forces to take on Deathmatch Royalty. The latest development in the story is Cardona forced Jimmy Lloyd to become his new disciple in GCW, turning Lloyd into Broski Jimmy.
GCW “56 BIRDZ”, 13/01/2024 Valley Dale Ballroom, Columbus, Ohio, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Tony Deppen
The day after that Itoh will take on Tony Deppen in a first time match. GCW at times have promoted Deppen as their gatekeeper. A win for Itoh here could be a sign of things to come for her in GCW.
F1RST “WRESTLEPALOOZA – NIGHT 2”, 14/01/2024 First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
No match announced yet for Itoh’s appearance at F1RST.
SPW “CHAMPIONS NEVER YIELD 2”, 19/01/2024 Foo Chow Building, Singapore
1. Mizuki Vs Alexis Lee
2. SPW Southeast Asia Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Da Butcherman & Dr. Gore
In November 2022 CDK defeated The Horrors to win the SPW Southeast Asia Tag Team Titles. Now after more than a year later comes the rematch. Dr. Gore got to wrestle in Japan for a little while and gain some experience while Da Butcherman kept himself busy in Singapore. There is a chance the match might not go ahead because Chris Brookes had surgery this month to remove a tumor from his abdomen. At the time of writing there is no decision made yet on when he can start wrestling again. But even if he can’t make the trip, Masahiro Takanashi still will.
SPW’s own Alexis Lee continues to be the opponent of choice for joshi coming into Singapore. She lost the Queen Of Asia Title to Yuki Kamifuku last month but is looking to bounce right back with a win against Mizuki.
SETUP “BANGKOK SHOWDOWN”, 20/01/2024 The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand
1. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi (c) Vs Kevin Weng & Pondhub Vs Anont Alonzo & Mister Suchart
If CDK can go ahead with travelling together in January then they have a tough challenge waiting for them in Thailand. SETUP is making them defend the IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles in a 3 Way Match against St. John Innocent College and THE GOOD DEAL. CDK won the titles from THE GOOD DEAL in an impromptu match bck in October. But even though the former champions are getting a rematch, they have to share it with St. John Innocent College. That kind of multi-man chaos is an environment that CDK benefits from.
GCW “LOOK AT ME”, 26/01/2024 Egypt Shrine Center, Tampa, Florida, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
What will await Itoh in Florida next month?
BZW “X”, 03/02/2024 Salle Jacques Brel, Faches-Thumesnil, France
1. Yoshihiko Vs X
2. MAO Vs X
MAO is coming to France and he’s brining Yoshihiko with him! Also Minoru Suzuki and KUSHIDA are booked for the show too. Banger Zone Wrestling won’t know what hit them.
TNT EXTREME “MERSEYSIDE MASSACRE”, 04/02/2024 Hanger34, Liverpool, England
1. Yoshihiko Vs X
Yoshihiko heads over to Liverpool the next day for TNT Extreme. Surely not by itself though.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’24”, 04/01/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Toga Vs Moka Miyamoto, Juria Nagano & Kaya Toribami
2. Raku, Ram Kaichow & Pom Harajuku Vs HIMAWARI, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo
3. Mizuki Vs Nao Kakuta
4. Shoko Nakajima Vs Hyper Misao
5. Riho Vs Shino Suzuki
6. Aja Kong Vs Wakana Uehara
7. Special Single Match: Rina Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh
8. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) Vs Yuki Arai
9. Princess Tag Team Titles – 3 Way Match: Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Masha Slamovich
An emergency press conference was held by Tokyo Joshi Pro today attended by Tetsuya Koda and Nao Kakuta. Koda announced that Hikari Noa is currently in poor health and will not be able to wrestle on the first week of TJPW shows in 2024. It is currently unknown when Noa will return to the ring. Because of this situation Free WiFi have today relinquished the Princess Tag Team Titles. Kakuta is disappointed to vacate the titles but accepts the decision and is ready to work hard with a new mindset in 2024. She doesn’t know when Noa will be back but when she returns the two of them will think about the future of Free WiFi together.
The 4th January show has been rebooked over the news. The vacant Princess Tag Titles will now be on the line in a 3 Way Match. Daisy Monkey are still involved because they are the No. 1 Contenders. Daydream have been added to the match as well as the team of Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino. It looks like Kakuta is moving away from tag wrestling to focus on the singles division because her new match is against Mizuki. The two rookies Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo are now teaming together along with HIMAWARI while Raku & Pom Harajuku get to welcome Ram Kaichow back into the fold.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW INSPIRATION”, 06/01/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. Pom Harajuku Vs Kuishinbo Kamen
2. Miyu Yamashita & Yuki Aino Vs HIMAWARI & Toga
3. Battle Royal To Win The Right To Challenge The Princess Of Princess Champion: Mizuki Vs Rika Tatsumi Vs Shoko Nakajima Vs Maki Itoh Vs Yuki Kamifuku Vs Miu Watanabe
4. Special Single Match: Masha Slamovich Vs Max The Impaler
The death match a few days later between Noa and Masha Slamovich has been cancelled. Slamovich will now face Max The Impaler in a regular wrestling bout to headline the show. Miyu Yamashita takes Max’s original spot in Match #2.
Merry Christmas! I’m giving this another go despite how bad my predictions for 2023 went. What do I think is in store for DDT, Tokyo Joshi Pro, Ganbare☆Pro, BASARA and maybe even CyberFight as a whole? It’s a tricky challenge this time because whenever I try guessing how 2024 will turn out, all I see is murkiness. There’s a weird contradiction in my thoughts about where wrestling is right now. On the one hand there is a status quo where all the companies around the world are positioned that I do not see changing anytime soon. But then there are changes within the companies themselves, some that are so unexpected that I have no idea what the entire scene will look like this time next year. Like of course WWE will be the top company on the planet but what does it turn into next as it finally moves away from Vince McMahon’s ideas and has the most fan goodwill it has probably ever had? AEW badly fell apart this year but the Continental Classic tournament is providing a nice set of building blocks to rebuild the company with. The problem is will Tony Khan want to use those blocks? It doesn’t help that the loudest podcasters in the room are constantly telling everyone that AEW should be more like WWE in the storyline department. That is my biggest pet peeve with wrestling at the moment, by the way. Whenever I hear people say every wrestling show should be a three ringed circus with something for everybody they’re really just saying “go be like WWE”. It’s the same voices that reject other companies for doing things differently.
And then there is Japan’s wrestling scene still trying to re-establish themselves post-pandemic. It’s mostly alright with some brief moments of greatness but there’s not a lot that has really caught my imagination this year compared to the 2010s. Show attendances week to week isn’t inspiring much hope in me either. It seems like homecoming shows and retirement matches can bring in crowds but outside of that a lot of companies are getting dwindling crowd numbers which has me worried. New Japan and Stardom will be fine as long as they can manage themselves properly. 2023 definitely gave Stardom a lot of lessons about show scheduling and injuries but they seem to be learning from it. All Japan discovering success again should also be a sign that there is still an audience out there in Japan that pro wrestling can appeal to. Now let’s see if this United Japan Pro Wrestling alliance is actually going to mean anything substantial.
Before I give you my predictions for 2024, here is how my 2023’s predictions went. Not very good it turns out.
DDT
✓. Mike Bailey wrestles a match in DDT again.
X. KANON outperforms Daisuke Sasaki.
X. Yuya Koroku becomes the next wrestler from DDT’s new generation (debuted 2020 onwards) to win a championship.
✓. Tetsuya Endo struggles to reclaim the top position in DDT.
X. Dramatic Dream Gate is revived.
The first one was by far the easiest prediction to make. It is basically the free spot on a bingo card. DDT going to America guaranteed that Mike Bailey would be on one of their shows. Although I do think the New Japan appearances he also made this year means he’s fully done with DDT in Japan. KANON is slowly getting pushed but I wouldn’t put his work above Daisuke Sasaki’s in 2023. Hideki Okatani was the breakout in the new generation, not Yuya Koroku like I expected. Tetsuya Endo is definitely struggling and I’ll get back to that point later. No Dramatic Dream Gate revival because DDT worked with All Japan instead of Dragongate.
Tokyo Joshi Pro
X. At least 3 women who originally came from Actwres girl’Z will appear in TJPW and at least 1 of them becomes a regular roster member.
X. An outsider wins the Princess Of Princess Title.
X. Maki Itoh gets to No. 1 on a iTunes or Spotify chart somewhere in the world.
X. A woman from Sakisama’s past comes back to haunt her.
X. Sasha Banks appears at Grand Princess ’23.
Oh so now Actwres girl’Z gets their act together and stops leaking talent left, right and centre! TJPW’s roster growth all came from training their own rookies and bringing in foreign wrestlers. An outsider did become champion but it was Max The Impaler winning the International Princess Title, not the Princess Of Princess Title. No idea how to look up music chart data but if Maki Itoh got No. 1 somewhere we would have heard about it. My Sakisama fantasy booking was inspired by the rumour of CyberFight wanting to sign Maya Yukihi. If Mercedes Moné does end up going back to WWE then the hype surrounding her for an entire year was an absolute waste of time for everyone else involved.
Ganbare☆Pro Wrestling
✓. Some of the wrestlers Shota worked with in America get booked for Ganpro.
X. Keisuke Ishii wins the Spirit Of Ganbare Title.
1/2✓. Ganpro creates a tag team championship and builds it around mixed tag wrestling.
X. Ganbare☆Joshi runs their own show in Korakuen Hall.
X. Kota Ibushi wrestles a match in Ganpro.
Shota’s American excursion got the likes of Dan The Dad and Kody Lane booked in Japan. Keisuke Ishii did get a Spirit Of Ganbare Title but lost that match to Mizuki Watase in one of Ganpro’s best matches of the year. We did get the Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles created and it does allow intergender teams. However it has not been the focal point of the title’s existence yet so I only got it half right. No standalone Ganbare☆Joshi show in Korakuen Hall yet but I think it is only a matter of time before it happens. Who on earth would have guessed Kota Ibushi’s first match back would be in GCW?
Miscellaneous
X. Gake no Fuchi Joshi crosses over with Baka Gaijin + Friends.
X. AEW will host another event in Japan with DDT & TJPW involvement.
X. CyberFight adds another promotion to their portfolio.
X. A brand new puroresu console game gets announced.
✓. BASARA does something new and different.
I’m kind of surprised Miyako Matsumoto hasn’t shown up in Baka Gaijin + Friends yet. It seems like her kind of wrestling but I can’t tell what goes through her mind on most days. AEW seems to have developed less interest in the Japanese scene while they go through something of an identity crisis heading into the fifth year of their existence. No new wrestling brand for CyberFight but there is the United Japan Pro Wrestling brand attaching the big wrestling companies together. No new puroresu game which makes me sad. AEW: Fight Forever is fine and I bet has a good base to create a better sequel. Will that happen though? The last prediction is also the best one for me. BASARA made Banana Senga their champion! That was definitely something new and different.
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So yeah, let’s ignore all that and get on to next year’s predictions. I came up with 20 predictions for 2024 spread across four categories. Five for DDT, five for Tokyo Joshi Pro, five for Ganbare☆Pro and five guesses that apply to anything attached to BASARA and the CyberFight promotions. I’m also listing them in order from easy to hard, likely to unlikely, mild to spicy, etc. I came up with these predictions using booking patterns, reading tea leaves and coming up with ideas that are just as creative as they are plausible.
DDT
Prediction: Naomi Yoshimura returns from injury and gets a singles push.
It’s been over a year since Naomi Yoshimura last wrestled a match. What’s promising though is his regular appearances seconding the other wrestlers in Harimao. There’s also glimpses on his social media of him training in the DDT dojo again. It at least suggests he will be back in the ring sooner or later. When Yoshimura took time off to recover from a herniated disc he said he wanted to reclaim the KO-D Tag Team Titles for Harimao when he returns. I think too much time has past for that to be his only goal. He should instead focus on catching up with Yuki Ueno. My fingers are crossed he is able to come back, stay healthy and win some accomplishments by himself.
Prediction: Kento Miyahara will be at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024”.
At no point this year did I expect DDT and All Japan to be doing inter-promotional matches with each other. What a great thing that turned out to be though. Adding a few DDT Vs AJPW matches on shows here and there spiced up the midcard for both companies. It had history to play off of because of Jun Akiyama’s involvement. It is helping Yukio Naya develop into the heavyweight DDT wants him to be thanks to the feud with The Saito Brothers that will likely continue in AJPW. Eruption got to start their new chapter without Saki Akai by winning the All Asia Tag Team Titles and giving Yukio Sakaguchi an achievement he can now share with his father. Eruption also entered the Real World Tag League which gave Hideki Okatani some valuable experience. I want this working relationship to continue in 2024 and I know the best place where it can reach its climax. DDT will likely have a big guest for their Sumo Hall show in July. Bring on over AJPW’s biggest star Kento Miyahara to liven up the place! He would be a great singles match opponent for somebody like Yuki Ueno or Kazusada Higuchi. He’s definitely someone who Ueno should learn from about how to be a showman in the ring.
Prediction: Sanshiro Takagi fights Hiroshi Tanahashi in a battle of the presidents!
This week New Japan announced Hiroshi Tanahashi has become the new president of the company. Now he has a lot more in common with Sanshiro Takagi. Now Tanahashi has an awkward history with DDT but that was years ago and I’m sure it’s all water under the bridge. But just in case there’s still some bad blood there is always the wrestling ring right there for them to settle their differences. Two presidents of different wrestling companies having a match against each other is the kind of idea Takagi would jump on and I think Tanahashi would be game for it. United Japan Pro Wrestling is going to need something a little bit novel to put on their Budokan Hall card in the summer. Why not this in the midcard?
Prediction: Somebody (or something) from WWE wins the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title.
WWE looking to carve out their place in Japan is a topic that gets brought up a lot online. This year finally saw the company make their move when they signed a broadcasting deal with ABEMA and also got increased presence in Shukan Puroresu magazine. There were also points throughout the year when Shinsuke Nakamura would pop up. He headlined a big show for NOAH as the final opponent for The Great Muta. He also filmed a special message for Saki Akai that was shown to her during her retirement ceremony. If that’s not enough, on the day I am writing this paragraph All Japan are teasing that the mystery challenger for a Triple Crown title match on 3rd January could be coming from NXT. So if WWE in Japan really is happening, we might as well have some fun with it before everything gets ruined again. DDT will be in Philadelphia during Wrestlemania week and that usually means the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title will be going along for the ride. It’s only a matter of time before somebody in the WWE gets to win the championship for even the briefest of moments. Now I’m not expecting Cody Rhodes to win it in front of 50,000 people to finish the story. But somebody involved with the company hanging out at WrestleCon and taking their chance to win a 24/7 title just to amuse themselves? That sounds more likely. This prediction also applies to any item, prop or official piece of merchandise tied to WWE. If a Jey Uso “Yeet” shirt becomes champion then it counts!
Prediction: Tetsuya Endo should go on an overseas excursion.
This is not so much of a prediction but more a piece of advice. After thinking of ways for Tetsuya Endo to get out of the current position he is in, the best idea I can come up with is for him to go wrestle overseas for a while. Whether that is a several month stay in America or going on weekend trips to Europe every couple of months, he badly needs a change of pace in a new surrounding. Get him in there with Gringo Loco in GCW, have Shigehiro Irie show him the (lack of) sights in Oberhausen during a wXw tournament weekend, book him on ROH so he can travel around with the AEW crew, seat him in the front row behind the commentary table at an NXT taping. He should go broaden his horizons because the direction DDT put him in as Kenta Kobashi’s protégé is not working.
Tokyo Joshi Pro
Prediction: Somebody from the 2023 Class scores a pinfall on a TJPW veteran.
We got six rookies in 2023 and they have all been fun to watch as they learn on the job and figure out who they want to be. Wakana Uehara winning the New Generation Tournament shows that TJPW have faith in her becoming an important part of the roster if she sticks with them. HIMAWARI had her character down flat from day one and her match against Uehara in the final is a great example of how to create a dramatic match with limited movesets. Toga is capturing everyone’s hearts one big Elbow Smash at a time (although really you should thank Hikari Noa for selling that move like a champ), Shino Suzuki has the bonus advantage of being in The Up Up Girls and we might end up with a future generational rivalry between Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo as they learn different wrestling styles separate from each other. Talent development for TJPW needs to be coming quick and fast if there is a need to replace the likes of Yuka Sakazaki. Young blood needs to be beating veterans eventually and it is more likely to happen than you think. Remember, TJPW holds a couple of one day tournaments throughout the year with matches that end in 2 Count pinfalls. That’s where you can see Uehara suddenly beat Mahiro Kiryu or Toga only needing to roll up Kaya Toribami for two seconds to get her hand raised. I don’t expect it to be on the level of Arisu Endo pinning Shoko Nakajima out of nowhere but somebody from the 2023 class is going to get a moment in the spotlight her senpai’s expense in 2024.
Prediction: Mizuki Vs Rika Tatsumi finally happens… in the Tokyo Princess Cup.
When Mizuki’s reign as the Princess Champion ended there was one thing that left me completely baffled. Why was there never a title defence against Rika Tatsumi? One of the longest running pieces of character lore in TJPW is Tatsumi’s crush on Mizuki going all the way back to 2018 when Tatsumi wanted to banish the Forbidden Three rules the in-house roster had to follow because nobody was sure if “No Boyfriends” also meant “No Girlfriends”. Fast forward to 2023 and we got a very good 2-Vs-1 Handicap Match between Daydream and Mizuki where Tatsumi battled those feelings in order to beat her crush. Nothing ever came out of it and to be fair it never intended to be more than an emergency replacement match due to Sakazaki getting injured. TJPW also has an odd thing where some of their big singles matches only ever happen in the Tokyo Princess Cup, either as a 1st Round match to eliminate a top contender early or as a random drawing in the final stages of the tournament. So I think if we ever do get Mizuki Vs Tatsumi, it will be at the Princess Cup instead of a big singles title bout.
Prediction: Maki Itoh wins the GCW World Heavyweight Championship.
I think odds are really good for Maki Itoh to win one of GCW’s championships next year given she is one of the bigger attractions for the group nowadays. Her winning the tag team titles with Nick Gage is an obvious direction to go. But I want to go all in for this prediction. GCW has Blake Christian as their long term heel world champion and groundwork has been laid down for a Blake Vs Gage title match down the road. But we’ve been there, done that with Gage as the top babyface champion for GCW. This is a company that doesn’t mind doing wacky novelty booking with their titles. So how about Itoh unexpectedly gets a title match with Blake, maybe Money In The Bank style and she shockingly beats him for the GCW Title? It would be the peak of her run with the company, that’s for sure.
Prediction: Aja Kong takes on a regular role in TJPW.
Just like how Jun Akiyama became a coach in DDT, I’d like to see Aja Kong do something similar in TJPW. She has been a guest for so many shows at this point it’s not like she would be a stranger to everyone there. Whether it is coaching the youngsters, becoming a matchmaker or just keeping a stern eye on Tetsuya Koda so he won’t lose focus Kong would have a wealth of knowledge to offer the company. And maybe then we get a payoff for her rivalry with Max The Impaler.
Prediction: Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh remain with TJPW for the year.
I’m testing fate with this one, aren’t I? Miyu Yamashita has done almost everything there is to do in TJPW and Maki Itoh spends so much time in America she’s currently divorced from what’s going on in her home promotion. And yet I just don’t believe both of them are ready to graduate from TJPW like Yuka Sakazaki did. At least not in the next 12 months. Yamashita and Itoh will definitely have plenty of American bookings for everyone to look forward to in 2024. But leaving TJPW to focus on that entirely? I don’t think so. They will still have TJPW as their home base.
Ganbare☆Pro
Prediction: Ken Ohka Wins The Spirit Of Ganbare Title From Isami Kodaka
The ways that Ken Ohka and Isami Kodaka have been booked in GanPro this year makes this in my opinion the likeliest prediction to come true. Kodaka is cleaving through the roster with title defence after title defence while Ohka, the main guy behind all of GanPro, has been kept away from the title picture for over a year and a half. Ohka is always fighting from the bottom as the underdog so him never winning the Spirit Of Ganbare Title would fit how he books himself. However that’s not how pro wrestling works and there is bound to be a day when he finally gets his hands on his own promotion’s championship.
Prediction: The Ganbare☆Climax returns.
The last time GanPro held a tournament called the Ganbare☆Climax was in 2021 and that was to crown their first SOG Champion. It would be nice to see it come back to determine a No. 1 Contender during the year. GanPro held tournaments for the Young Ganbare Cup and the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Titles this year but they both felt like one-offs. That clears up the schedule for a single elimination tournament to happen whenever they want.
Prediction: Yuna Manase returns from injury and feuds with YuuRI.
One of the key additions to GanPro this year was the relaunch of the Ganbare☆Joshi division built around YuuRI, Yoshiko Hasegawa and Riara. Sadly Yuna Manase was relegated to a GM role while she recovers from her ACL injury. YuuRI in particular put in the work to become the face of the GanJo division in her absence. So let’s say that Manase is able to wrestle again in 2024. Would she be willing to play second fiddle to YuuRI? Or will history continue to be a circle and Manase now finds herself as the veteran unwilling to let the new generation surpass her? Wouldn’t that be interesting given Manase’s feud with Yuu Yamagata a few years ago was over the same idea? YuuRI still has a lot to prove and the dynamic could make Hasegawa and Riara choose sides until the matter is resolved. Build it up to one big singles match and it could end up being a lot of fun to follow.
Prediction: A mixed gender tag team wins the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Titles.
I admit this is just a repackaged prediction I made last year about the SOG Tag Titles being built around intergender wrestling. There’s only been one title defence so far featuring a mixed gender team and that was when Lethal Weapon (Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE) were the challengers. I like seeing them team together but I fear that match in August was their only chance, at least while Ground Absolute hold the belts/trophies. There are always other people in GanPro for HARUKAZE to team with and also Banny Oikawa is now with GanPro mostly to do mixed tags. I bet it is only a matter of time before it happens.
Prediction: A Stardom wrestler appears on a Ganbare☆Joshi show.
Another factor of GanJo’s return this year was seeing that roster interact with wrestlers from TJPW, Ice Ribbon, Marvelous, Diana and more. YuuRI even brought over Ice Ribbon’s main championship for a title defence on a GanJo show. Now let’s add Stardom to the list through the UJNW connection. Stardom and TJPW will probably stay being icy towards each other but Yuna Manase and YuuRI both got to wrestle on a Stardom show in 2022. I see talk online about how cool it would be if all the joshi companies get together in 2024 for a major arena show to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of “BIG EGG UNIVERSE”. Something like that was kind of done in 2022 to celebrate 60 years of Korakuen Hall and even then that had some bruised egos coming out of it when Shukan Puroresu only put Starlight Kid on the front cover at the expense of everyone else involved who were not associated with Stardom. Also TJPW stayed away from the show too which again, some icy relationships are probably going on there. So let’s keep this prediction on a much smaller level and just say a Stardom wrestler shows up at a GanJo event.
Miscellaneous
Prediction: A DDT wrestler makes a full time jump over to BASARA.
Appearances from Kazusada Higuchi during the last quarter of 2023 helped freshen up BASARA a little bit. They’re not a company I expect much change from going forward but they could do with adding another full timer to their roster. Even though they are independent there is history with a DDT wrestler deciding they are better off jumping over to BASARA (or Union Pro before that) so they can play a bigger role at shows. It could be a veteran who already wrestles in BASARA and no longer seeing themselves being relevant in DDT (*cough*Soma Takao*cough*) or maybe one of the younger, less experienced wrestlers are looking for a change of pace. Ilusion for example seems to get along with that group well. Someone from that age group would turn into a rival for Munetatsu Nakamura too if that were to happen.
Prediction: Konosuke Takeshita wrestles in the main event of an AEW PPV.
It is really annoying to see Konosuke Takeshita being wasted in The Don Callis Family storyline. It is also annoying that the next step of the angle is the group using Freebird rules that will obviously set up Sammy Guevara’s return to TV rather than giving more focus to Takeshita or Powerhouse Hobbs for that matter. So what is it that has me thinking Takeshita can be in a PPV main event next year? Just the numbers game, really. AEW are adding more PPVs to their schedule so that should be more opportunities for new title challengers. Also if this storyline continues without Kenny Omega and just becomes the Family feuding with Chris Jericho there is can be something like a new Anarchy In The Arena happening to close out one of the PPVs.
Prediction: Yuka Sakazaki becomes the first ROH Women’s TV Champion.
Sakazaki is getting ready for the next chapter in her pro wrestling life. Given how AEW presents their women’s division, she is probably going to get more time in ROH instead. She already had her shot at Athena and the regular ROH Women’s Title but the group now has something new to fight for. A brand new ROH Women’s TV Title was recently revealed and Sakazaki would make a great choice to be its first champion.
Prediction: Baka Gaijin + Friends runs a show at Shin-Kiba 1st RING.
When I wrote a preview for the “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2023” main event I compared the Baka Gaijin + Friends shows to DDT’s Beer Garden shows. There’s a warm vibe and fun atmosphere to these matches that take place in such a small venue. I think the series has become popular enough that Chris Brookes can go from 50 fans in ARENA Shimokitazawa to a triple digit attendance in Shin-Kiba 1st RING, the place where DDT hosted Beer Garden for many years. See it like Gatoh Move running ChocoPro in Ichigaya on the regular and then every once in a while they move up to a place where a full scale wrestling ring can be set up. As long as the drinks still flow the crowd will be with them all the way.
Prediction: The 2024 New Year’s Eve Shuffle Tag Tournament lasts past midnight again.
It used to be that the final show of the year in Korakuen Hall goes beyond midnight into the early hours of the new year. It hasn’t been that way for a while because of restrictions coming out of the pandemic. Unfortunately I think a reason why this year’s edition still has an early evening start is because the show is not much of a draw anymore. But I want to be proven wrong so Korakuen fans get to count down the new year in the middle of a semi-final tag team match again.
Prediction: Yuka Sakazaki gets arrested for assaulting Mickey Mouse at Disney World.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023 The Vermont Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA 400 Fans – Super No Vacancy
1. Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku defeated Rika Tatsumi & Amira when Harajuku pinned Amira after the Wasteland War Justice with Max (10:20).
2. Trish Adora defeated Moka Miyamoto with the Lariat (8:42).
3. Mizuki defeated Sandra Moone with the Cutie Special (10:21).
4. Miu Watanabe defeated Hyan with the Tear Drop (8:33).
5. Princess Tag Team Titles: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta (c) defeated Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie when Noa pinned McKenzie with the Blizzard Suplex (9:42). *V3 for Free WiFi.
6. Taya Valkyrie defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Road To Valhalla (10:47).
7. Special Tag Match: Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly defeated Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh when Slamovich pinned Yamashita with the White Knight Driver (18:00).
The second Tokyo Joshi Pro event to be held in America this year was a co-promoted effort along with the west coast company Prestige Wrestling. The main event was a preview for 4th January with Miyu Yamashita and Masha Slamovich in the ring together. In the match 121000000 was working well as a team against MK Ultra. Yamashita & Maki Itoh got rid of Killer Kelly with a Jumping DDT followed by a German Suplex. But Masha Slamovich ducked Yamashita’s Skull Kick and landed a Backspin Kick of her own. She then scored the pin on Yamashita by giving her the White Knight Driver.
MK Ultra soaked in the victory as they welcomed the audience into their world. Slamovich warned Yamashita she will use the same move to beat her for the Princess Of Princess Title on 4th January. Yamashita got on the microphone and told Slamovich she is going to kick her ass in Tokyo! Before things could get heated up even further, Itoh grabbed everyone’s attention and called down everyone to the ring for a group photo to close out the show. Backstage Yamashita admitted the match exposed her weakness which is her overconfidence. She’s wrestled against Slamovich that she now knows how to avoid the Skull Kick. Itoh pointed out that Slamovich is wrestling in a death match for GCW at the end of the year so there is a chance she could be weak going into the title bout.
If you had a bad time watching the iPPV feed of the show then Hikari Noa takes the blame for that. The fans in attendance though were happy with the Free WiFi they got. Noa & Nao Kakuta are feeling invincible after their third successful defence of the Princess Tag Team Titles. Noa avoided a Double Brainbuster from Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie, leaving them open for Kakuta to give them a Double Facebuster. Free WiFi then hit McKenzie with Sandwich Thrust Kicks and she was then pinned with the Blizzard Suplex. Noa said she would have definintely lost if she was alone at the end but she held on thanks to Kakuta and the support of the fans. Kakuta said Free WiFi are feeling invincible because they will enter 2024 as champions. Kai takes part of the blame for losing because the match was a team effort. She said this won’t be the last time you’ll see Demon Hearts in TJPW.
DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 IN OSAKA”, 09/12/2023 Osaka Azalea Taisho Hall
1. Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yuki Iino & Rukiya
2. Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi Vs Akito & Kazuma Sumi
3. Chris Brookes, Antonio Honda & Takeshi Masada Vs MAO, Toy Kojima & Ilusion
4. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Kazuki Hirata (0) Vs Rei Saito (2)
5. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Yukio Naya (6) Vs KANON (2)
6. All Asia Tag Team Titles: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani (c) Vs Jun Akiyama & Yusuke Okada
7. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Kazusada Higuchi (2) Vs HARASHIMA (2)
8. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Yuki Ueno (3) Vs Tetsuya Endo (2)
The D-Oh Grand Prix continues tomorrow. A Block still has everyone in the race so it’s only fair to have Yuki Ueno Vs Tetsuya Endo and Kazusada Higuchi Vs HARASHIMA be the top two matches of the show. But over in B Block Yukio Naya is one more step towards cleaning up the entire group if he beats KANON. The Kazuki Hirata Vs Rei Saito match is pretty much just for pride at this point. Not that Hirata has that much pride to begin with but you know what I mean.
Eruption are also back from the Real World Tag League looking to shake off their middle of the table finish. They might have a long line of challengers forming up in front of them so they need to retain the All Asia Tag Team Titles against BURNING if they have any intention of dealing with that.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’24”, 04/01/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Aja Kong Vs Wakana Uehara
2. Rina Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh
3. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) Vs Yuki Arai
4. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Masha Slamovich
Last night in the space of about half an hour there were two Tokyo Joshi Pro title matches taking place in North America. Over in Quebec, Canada Max The Impaler had a surprise International Princess Title defence at the Mystery Wrestling show put together by Evil Uno. Max defeated Jody Threat in the semi-main event. Word of the match reached back to TJPW and they officially recognize it as Max’s third successful title defence. That now means if Max beats Yuki Arai on 4th January they will tie the current record for most IP Title defences in a single reign at four wins.
Then as soon as that match had finished Miyu Yamashita was entering the ring in New York, USA to defend the Princess Of Princess Title against Delmi Exo at an MLW show. She won that match to earn her second defence in this latest title run. Maki Itoh was also on the show but she lost to Janai Kai in a match for the MLW World Featherweight Title. I’ll write more about the matches on the next DDT Around The World article at the start of next month.
DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2024 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 05/01/2024 Shinjuku FACE
1. Something by HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi, Kazuki Hirata, etc.: X Vs X
2. KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles: Yuki Ueno, MAO, Shunma Katsumata, Toy Kojima & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi, Antonio Honda, Takeshi Masada & Mecha Mummy
The three main members of DISASTER BOX are all putting their heads together to book something for DDT’s first visit to Shinjuku FACE in 2024. Whatever it is the three of them will be involved along with others.
1. Legendary Hostess Vs The Toughest Girl In Osaka: Riara Vs Momoka Hanazono
When Ganbare☆Pro heads to Osaka in the new year Riara takes on Momoka Hanazono. This joshi wrestler’s nickname may not match with all of the flowers and bubbles she surrounds herself with but it is still accurate. Hanazono has a background in rugby before becoming a pro wrestler.
HARASHIMA, Soma Takao, Ilusion, Tyson Maeguchi and Banny Oikawa will all be on the show.
DDT “NEW YEAR FAN APPRECIATION DAY!”, 20/01/2024 Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX
1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: MAO, Shunma Katsumata & Toi Kojima Vs Bryan Keith, Soma Takao & Shota
Three days of DDT appearances await for Bryan Keith in the new year. He makes his Japanese wrestling debut here by teaming with ROMANCE DAWN against The 37KAMIINA. Keith was an opponent for Shota during Shota’s US excursion last year.
DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2024 TOUR IN SHINAGAWA”, 21/01/2024 Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX
1. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) Vs Bryan Keith
The next day Keith gets the match MAO has been demanding. The DDT Universal Title is on the line for this rematch from West Coast Pro during the summer. Keith won the first battle and MAO wants revenge! What happens to a bounty hunter when it’s time for them to repay a debt?
DDT “SWEET DREAMS! 2024”, 28/01/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Naruki Doi
Keith’s third and last appearance on this tour will be at Korakuen Hall near the end of the month.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 10TH ANNIVERSARY PERFORMANCE ~YUKA SAKAZAKI GRADUATION SPECIAL~”, 06/12/2023 Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall 294 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House
1. Japanese I Quit Match: Yuka Sakazaki & Rika Tatsumi defeated Antonio Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi when Sakazaki made Honda say “I Give Up” (9:23).
2. Wakana Uehara, Shino Suzuki & Runa Okubo defeated HIMAWARI, Toga & Haru Kazashiro when Uehara submitted Kazashiro with the Sleeper Hold (9:57).
3. Miu Watanabe, Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami when Watanabe pinned Toribami with the Tear Drop (10:37).
4. Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta, Mizuki & Moka Miyamoto defeated Hyper Misao. Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku when Mizuki pinned Harajuku with the Cutie Special (11:15).
5. Yuka Sakazaki Graduation Special 3 Way Match: Yuka Sakazaki defeated Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima when Sakazaki pinned Nakajima with an Elbow Butt (17:45).
6. Special Match: Yuka Sakazaki Vs Mizuki ended in a Time Limit Draw (3:00).
Today Yuka Sakazaki said goodbye to Tokyo Joshi Pro, ending her decade long attachment to the promotion that grew up with her. Her debut match was held inside Kitazawa Town Hall so it was only fitting that her graduation from TJPW took place there as well. She had a busy day that began with a unique tag team match. Rika Tatsumi teamed up with Sakazaki against male wrestlers Antonio Honda and Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi. All four have history together as part of a music group called DPG (Dramatic Perfect Group) that opened up the doors for both Sakazaki and Tatsumi to join TJPW and become pro wrestlers.
Honda got on the microphone before the match began and introduced everyone to the final showdown of DPG. It was going to be a Japanese I Quit Match where the match would only end when a wrestler gives up while speaking Japanese. Honda kept teasing he would give up when he was put in a hold only to change the subject and say something else. Hiroshi did the same but swerved into singing. Sakazaki ended up putting Honda in a Heel Hold while Tatsumi applied the Figure 4 Leg Lock to Hiroshi. Honda kept yelling at Hiroshi over and over not to give up. Honda himself then gave up. After the match Sakazaki said it is thanks to Honda and Hiroshi that she and Tatsumi were able to become who they are today. Tatsumi said she is glad she became a pro wrestler. Honda and Hiroshi agreed because pro wrestling is the best!
Sakazaki’s second match of the show was her graduation match in the main event. It was a 3 Way Match between the three longest serving members of TJPW: Sakazaki, Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima. It could be the last time Sakazaki fought both Yamashita and Nakajima so there was plenty of time shared in the ring against each of them. Yamashita rolled out of the way from the Magical Girl Chicken Dude but immediately became the target of Nakajima’s Diving Senton. Yamashita was a non-factor from that point on. Sakazaki and Nakajima fought their hearts out against each other until they were spent. The match ended with a hug between the two, Sakazaki saying “Thank you” and then knocking out Nakajima with an Elbow Strike. She hugged her again while pinning her for the three count.
After the match Sakazaki said when she was putting her final TJPW match together her first thought was to do a singles bout with Nakajima. But she wanted Yamashita to be part of it too so it became a 3 Way instead. Nakajima said she never wanted to lose to Sakazaki which is why she worked so hard. Sakazaki is leaving but Nakajima still lost to her today so now she gets to keep that motivation to always become a better wrestler. She also warned Sakazaki not to catch a cold in America. Yamashita described Sakazaki like an older sister or mother figure to her. She would always get mad when Yamashita does badly but she was also always there when Yamashita got sad or depressed. They always feel linked together so even if Yamashita leaves her alone from now on she still feels like she can help her. If things ever get tough for Sakazaki, Yamashita can always fly over to support her.
Sakazaki then invited one more special person to join her in the ring. Mizuki has been holding in her emotions for as long as she could but still is not happy to see Sakazaki leave TJPW. She wants the two of them to continue teaming together and being in the same ring. Sakazaki said the schedule meant they couldn’t have one more match against each other but they could do it today even if it was just for one minute. Tetsuya Koda then announced over the speakers they have enough time for a three minute match!
The two shook hands and did everything they could against each other within three minutes. Mizuki hit the Diving Foot Stomp while Sakazaki gave her the Magical Merry-Go-Round off of the top rope. They spent the final seconds of their short match hitting each other with Elbow Strikes until Mizuki landed the Whirling Candy and went for the pin. She was at a 2 count when the bell rang, ending the match in a draw. Yamashita, Nakajima and Tatsumi all got in the ring to join the hug Sakazaki and Mizuki were giving each other.
The graduation ceremony began and Sakazaki received gifts from the entire TJPW roster. Everyone then gathered together for a final group photo with her. Sakazaki told them today made her realize how lucky she is to come from TJPW. She hopes everyone will continue to support her and in return wants everyone to continue supporting TJPW for many years to come. She shook hands and hugged every member of the roster one by one as they left the ring until she was the last one left. Also after the show Sakazaki stood at the exit and high fived everyone in the audience as they left the venue.
Backstage Sakazaki had a few more comments when interviewed by the wrestling media. She wanted to thank Sanshiro Takagi for accepting her into TJPW. As already mentioned, she was originally just going to do a match with Nakajima but wanted to include Yamashita. She also couldn’t leave Mizuki out of her final match no matter how short it was. She is proud of everyone in TJPW and thinks each woman is a treasue who should continue to live their lives believing in themselves. The only regret she had during the road to graduation was never getting to defend the Princess Tag Team Titles against Mickey Mouse at DisneyLand. But as long as she is a wrestler that dream may still someday come true.
Two new matches were revealed for the Ittenyon show at Korakuen Hall on 4th January. Max The Impaler’s opponent for the International Princess Title match was revealed to be Yuki Arai! This match is happening exactly one year after Max pinned Arai to win the Princess Tag Titles from her. Now one year later and Arai has the chance to get revenge by taking the IP Title away from Max.
The other match is Wakana Uehara’s reward for winning the Next Generation Tournament. She is going one on one against Aja Kong! It sounds like a daunting task but since the match is happening on the anniversary of Uehara’s debut, she wants to show everything she’s learned over the last year to Kong in the ring. The two already have a history together because Kong was a guest trainer on the Yume Pro Wrestling series that set up Uehara’s entry into wrestling and TJPW.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 10TH ANNIVERSARY PERFORMANCE ~WE ARE TJPW~”, 01/12/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 714 Fans
1. Kaya Toribami, Toga & Runa Okubo defeated Juria Nagano, Shino Suzuki & Haru Kazashiro when Toga pinned Kazashiro with the Rock Bottom (9:12).
2. Random Official Weapon Rules: Yuki Aino & Raku defeated Hyper Misao & Mahiro Kiryu when Aino pinned Kiryu with the Venus DDT (10:58).
3. Next Generation Tournament ’23 – Final: Wakana Uehara defeated HIMAWARI with the Modified Sleeper Hold (12:08).
4. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) defeated Viva Van with the Famouser (10:43). *V1 for Yuki Kamifuku.
5. Princess Tag Team Titles: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta (c) Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku when Kakuta pinned Harajuku with the Shiden Kai (12:13). *V2 for Free Wi-Fi.
6. 10th Anniversary Special 10-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, Yuka Sakazaki, Rika Tatsumi & Mizuki (2) defeated Miu Watanabe, Yuki Arai, Suzume, Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo (1).
6a. Arisu Endo (1) pinned Shoko Nakajima (0) with a School Boy (7:20).
6b. Yuka Sakazaki (1) pinned Moka Miyamoto (1) with the Magical Merry-Go-Round (13:16).
6c. Miyu Yamashita (2) pinned Miu Watanabe (1) with the Skull Kick (10:07).
On this day ten years ago Tokyo Joshi Pro held their “Flag Raising” launch show at Kitazawa Town Hall. Today the promotion was in Korakuen Hall to celebrate the 10th anniversary of that event. The headline bout was a celebration of TJPW’s current leaders and the next class that’s been chasing after them. It was a Best 2-Out-Of-3 Falls 10-Woman Tag Match with the Senior class (who all held the Princess Of Princess Title at some point) on one side against the Junior class on the other. Each participant got a moment in the spotlight by getting to do their ring entrances by themselves.
The first fall was an upset with the junior team getting one over on the seniors. Rika Tatsumi got jealous of seeing Mizuki doing teamwork with Yuka Sakazaki instead of herself. She purposely got in the way of their moves so Mizuki could do double team stuff with her instead. Shoko Nakajima took centre stage and targeted Arisu Endo but missed a 619 and was shockingly pinned by Endo with a School Boy! The crowd reacted loudly to the unexpected result while the rest of the Juniors piled on Endo to congratulate her.
The second fall had Daisy Monkey fight tooth and nail against The Magical Sugar Rabbits while Tatsumi fought Miu Watanabe in a Daydream showdown. It came down to Moka Miyamoto doing her best against Sakazaki. She gave her the Korokan but missed a Falling Chop onto the canvas. Sakazaki took advantage and pinned Miyamoto with the Magical Merry-Go-Round to even the score.
The third and final fall had both teams go all out. Yuki Arai tried to finish off Nakajima with the Rookie Award but Sakazaki cut her off and together The Miraclians gave her a Double 619. The fall was decided in the battle between Miyu Yamashita and Miu Watanabe. Yamashita was about to finish her off when Suzume rained down with the Mikazuki Meteor Shower. Nakajima got rid of her with a Topé Suicida and MagiRabi did more damage to the Juniors by doing the Toy Story 4 dives onto everyone. Watanabe kept fighting and hit Yamashita with one Double Sledgehammer Strike after another. But one too many sent Yamashita into the ropes and she rebounded with the Skull Kick to knock Watanabe down and out for the winning pinfall.
The winning team celebrated after the match. Nakajima said this might be the last time all five of them will be together but it was the best. Tatsumi told her not to say it’s the end. She’s happy she got to team up against some truly amazing people to celebrate TJPW’s 10th Anniversary. Mizuki said she is glad to have met everyone and thanked Sakazaki most of all for being here. Yamashita then invited the entire roster into the ring to join them. She said everyone who came here today loves TJPW and in its 11th year there will be more debuts and more excitement for the fans. Sakazaki then thanked the fans for supporting TJPW and the entire group closed out the show together.
Free WiFi had to defend the Princess Tag Team Titles against an unstoppable monster. And also Max The Impaler. A game of chase broke out early in the match with Pom Harajuku trying to outrun the champions. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta caught up and cut her off from both sides before taking her back down to the ring. Max evened the odds by throwing Harajuku onto Free WiFi. Harajuku then returned the favour by doing a Spinning Headscissors on her own partner to send Max slamming into Kakuta with a Cannonball onto the turnbuckle. But Pompaler missed the Wasteland War Justice, opening up a counter attack by the champs. It ended with Kakuta pinning Harajuku with the Shiden Kai for a successful title defence. Both members of Free WiFi praised each other for getting themselves through the match against such a scary opponent. They meant Max that time, not Pom. Next they want to promote themselves in America and would like to do a title defence over there if they can.
The reign of the new Queen Of Asia Champion is off to a good start. Yuki Kamifuku put the title on the line against Viva Van after taking a liking to her when they recently teamed together. While the two get along over how good looking they are, the focus soon turned to fighting as both had their eyes on the championship. Kamifuku pulled off a Superplex and applied the Manjigatame but Van powered out of it and slammed her into the turnbuckle. Kamifuku recovered though and landed the Famouser to remain champion. Van was impressed and said she couldn’t have asked for a better match to have for her first time in Korakuen Hall. Kamifuku said if there is ever an Asian 6-Woman Tag Team Title she would like to join forces with Van and one other person Charlie’s Angels style to fight for it. As for the Queen Of Asia Title, she wants to defend it in places like Thailand and the Phillipines.
The winner of the Next Generation Tournament is Wakana Uehara! She defeated HIMAWARI in dramatic fashion to win the rookie playoff. The match was built around HIMAWARI’s used of the Half Crab against Uehara’s Sleeper Hold. There were times when both women had to fight long and hard to reach for rope breaks. Uehara won out in the end when she grabbed the arm HIMAWARI reached out with and pulled it back to apply more pressure to the Sleeper Hold. It was too tight for HIMAWARI to escape from and she had to tap out. Uehara said the winner’s medal she received is now her precious treasure because this was her first tournament. She next wants to have a singles match with Shoko Nakajima because she admires her the most. HIMAWARI was upset over losing, feeling she didn’t try hard enough. She promised to do her best and avenge this loss.
TJPW decided to do their own version of a Scramble Bunkhouse Death Match. Hyper Misao, Mahiro Kiryu, Yuki Aino and Raku all had to stand in opposite ends of the venue and after a countdown they ran down to the ring. Inside the ring were four mystery boxes, each one containing an item related to one of the wrestlers. Whichever item the wrestler got, they were allowed to use it as a weapon. However they were barred from using the other weapons even though they were items that originally belonged to them. Kiryu pulled out a pillow, Misao pulled out a plastic fan with Raku’s face on it, Aino pulled out Misao’s spray can and Raku had a paper bag with a box of yokan inside. The end result was chaos after Yukinori Matsui got blinded with the spray. He then landed on the pillow and fell asleep. Raku fed Matsui the yokan to wake him up and he was all fired up to do his job! Aino won the match for her team by pinning Kiryu with the Venus DDT.
Kaya Toribami and Juria Nagano led teams of the rest of the 2023 class in the opening bout. Toga & Runa Okubo both brought power to the match with Elbow Strikes and Shoulder Blocks respectively. Shino Suzuki tried to break things up but was taken out for her troubles. Haru Kazashiro went to the well once too often with her Low Altitude Cross Body and took Toga’s big Elbow Strike to the head. Toga then dropped her with the Rock Bottom for the win.
There were newsworthy announcements spread across the show. One was the announcement that Maki Itoh will face Rina Yamashita at the Ittenyon Korakuen show on 4th January. They have fought each other before in America for GCW and this will be the first time the match takes place in Japan.
The next TJPW PPV broadcasting on Wrestle Universe will be released on 10th December. It is the first ever Aquarium Pro Wrestling match! The event was taped at Hakkeijima Sea Paradise in Yokohama.
TJPW will be joining DDT at The Collective in Philadelphia next year for Wrestlemania Week! “TJPW LIVE IN PHILLY” takes place at Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium on 5th April, 2024.
Okay so where did things stand during November? Konosuke Takeshita’s work in America was still as a background player in the Don Callis storyline. The rivalry between him and Chris Jericho was mostly focused in Japan for DDT. But with that said there was still the rest of the month for AEW to give him stuff to do and there was nothing to show for it. Shoko Nakajima got to stomp her way to America briefly but just like every American monster movie it was only for a little while. Maki Itoh seems to be booked stronger and stronger in GCW as the months go by. She won all of her matches in America this month! I think there’s going to be some gold on her way in the future. Speaking of gold there is plenty of championship news to talk about for this month.
Sadly for Miyu Yamashita she lost some of her gold after her latest appearance in England. The global triple crown she held a few months back is now long gone and she’s back to just being a champion in Japan. The International Princess Title got to be defended overseas and even made a cameo on NWA programming. The belt was also handled by James Mitchell a lot which makes me hope it got a deep clean before it was transported back to Japan. Yuki Kamifuku has always behaved like a queen and now she gets to be called one thanks to the title she won in Singapore.
So with all of this now out of the way let’s hope December ends the year with a few high notes. Tokyo Joshi Pro has their show with Prestige coming up, Shota is doing a winter excursion and MAO is spending New Year’s with the dodgy bunch of friends you’d wish your kid wouldn’t hang out with.
DAIKAIJU PRO “VOL. 1 – THE KAPPAS WALK AMONG US”, 04/11/2023 White Eagle, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
1. Shoko Nakajima Vs VENY
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 15/11/2023 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA
1. Like A Dragon Street Fight: Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Paul Wight Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Powerhouse Hobbs & Brian Cage
EVE “WRESTLE QUEENDOM – SHOW 2”, 19/11/2023 The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England
1. EVE Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Safire Reed
SPW “VIVA LA LUCHA!”, 24/11/2023 Foo Chow Building, Singapore
1. Queen Of Asia Title: Alexis Lee (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku
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Results
GCW “PLEASE, BUDDY”, 03/11/2023 Pop’s Nightclub, Sauget, Illinois, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated Shazza McKenzie with the Itoh Deluxe (8:37).
Itoh can sing, she can dance, she can even carve open human skulls with a pizza cutter. But she cannot do the splits like Shazza McKenzie. The Australian used the splits as a defensive maneuver and then challenged Itoh to match it. Itoh struggled but it didn’t matter because McKenzie then kicked her aside and took control of the match. Itoh recovered and locked in the Itoh Deluxe to make her opponent tap out.
DAIKAIJU PRO “VOL. 1 – THE KAPPAS WALK AMONG US”, 04/11/2023 White Eagle, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
1. VENY defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Moonsault Press onto the pile of Kaiju Toys (12:04).
When you have a promotion called Daikaiju Pro who else is more fitting to headline their first show than the girl nicknamed Big Kaiju? Nakajima brought out a bag filled with kaiju toys that she wanted to use in her match against VENY but the referee wouldn’t allow her to use them. At least he was polite enough to stand up one of the toys on the apron. VENY wasn’t there to play games either. She spat water in Nakajima’s face while beating her down and later hit a big Moonsault onto her outside the ring. A second Moonsault missed its target allowing Nakajima to get her second wind. Things went haywire after VENY accidentally knocked out the ref with a slap. Nakajima had her beaten with the Northern Lights Suplex but no ref was there to count it. Nakajima took advantage by bringing in the bag of kaiju toys and throwing VENY onto them with a Top Rope Hurricanrana. The ref recovered but VENY kicked out of the pin. Nakajima then got a taste of her own medicine by being slammed onto the pile of toys with a Hurricane Driver. She kicked out of a Michinoku Driver but VENY finished her off with the Moonsault Press on top of the toys.
GCW “¿SI OR NO?”, 04/11/2023 Center Stage, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
1. Maki Itoh, Effy & Allie Katch defeated Jordan Oliver, Davey Bang & August Matthews when Itoh, Effy & Katch all pinned Matthews with a Triple Kokeshi Headbutt (11:29).
The trio known as Maki Death Bussy won again in their second outing as a team. Their opponents Young, Dumb & Bros tried to used fast paced team moves to their advantage until Allie Katch cleared house with her power. Effy then tagged in Itoh so the three of them could hit a Kokeshi Headbutt all at the same time for the win.
EVE “FRIDAY NIGHT’S ALRIGHT FOR FIGHTING”, 10/11/2023 Big Penny Social, Walthamstow, London, England
1. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) defeated Kasey (10:36). *V1 for Max The Impaler.
The International Princess Title was defended in England for the first time in over a year when Max The Impaler stepped foot into EVE once more. EVE got permission from TJPW to have Max put the title on the line against the “Monster Of Chaos” Kasey. It was a risk to do this title defence when there was already one scheduled for Max when they returned to Japan. But it turned out not to be a problem for the champion and they left EVE with the title still over their shoulder.
AEW “DYNAMITE”, 15/11/2023 Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA
1. Like A Dragon Street Fight: Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Paul Wight defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Powerhouse Hobbs & Brian Cage when Omega pinned Cage with the One-Winged Angel (21:01).
Takeshita went full Goro Majima for AEW’s sponsorship with Sega and the new Lika A Dragon game. All that was missing was him calling Kenny Omega “Kenny-chan” while stalking him from every nook and cranny inside the building. The Street Fight was a full tribute to the street fights you get in the game including attacks involving bicycles, people getting slammed onto cars and shop signs getting smashed to bits. This was the kind of natural environments The Golden Lovers developed in and is a recommended throwback to the crazy Falls Count Anywhere Matches they used to get up to in DDT. Kota Ibushi cycling around ringside hitting people with a pipe until Brian Cage decapitated him with a Lariat is something wrestling will always need. Also Powerhouse Hobbs seemed to have killed Paul Wight in the parking lot and it didn’t matter towards the result. AEW really needs to fix that kind of story telling. Anyway, Omega dropped Kyle Fletcher with the One-Winged Angel to deliver a happy ending for this substory.
GCW “GOING AND GOING”, 17/11/2023 Washington Hall, Seattle, Washington, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated Nicole Matthews with the I.S.D. (9:19).
A first time meeting between Itoh and Nicole Matthews meant it was time for Matthews to discover first hand just how hard Itoh’s head is. She based her attacks around Cravates and Knee Strikes to the head. When that didn’t work she pushed the referee into the ropes to knock Itoh off balance from the top turnbuckle. However Itoh kicked out of a Northern Lights Suplex and lured Matthews back over to the corner. She gave her a Draping DDT onto the ring apron, a Tornado DDT on the floor outside the ring and then the I.S.D back in the ring for the victory.
HOODSLAM “RED”, 18/11/2023 Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA
1. Sawyer Wreck & Maki Itoh defeated Dark Sheik & Vipress when Itoh pinned Sheik with the I.S.D. (17:02).
When Itoh was last in Hoodslam she lost a match to Vipress thanks to interference from Dark Sheik. Itoh got her revenge this month by bringing along Sawyer Wreck so they could beat the two of them together. The match transformed into a chicken fight with Itoh sitting on Wreck’s shoulders and Vipress sitting on Sheik’s. Itoh toppled down the opposing tower with her Headbutts. Communication between Sheik & Vipress broke down and the two turned on each other. From that point they were easily picked off with Itoh hitting Sheik with the I.S.D. and Wreck Choke Slamming Vipress for the double pin.
EVE “WRESTLE QUEENDOM – SHOW 1”, 19/11/2023 The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England
1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Chantal Jordan with the Skull Kick (12:27).
Two matches in one day awaited Yamashita for EVE’s last major event of the year. The afternoon match was pretty rudimentary. She beat Chantal Jordan with the Skull Kick, no questions asked.
EVE “WRESTLE QUEENDOM – SHOW 2”, 19/11/2023 The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England
1. EVE Title: Safire Reed defeated Miyu Yamashita (c) with a Rolling Cradle (15:35). *Miyu Yamashita fails in V9. Safire Reed becomes the 21st EVE Champion!
The second show at night however brought an end to Yamashita’s year long reign as EVE Champion. The up and comer Safire Reed beat her in a big upset to win the title! Yamashita’s title run ends as the fifth longest in EVE’s history and also has the most successful title defences on record in a single reign. I can’t imagine this will be the last time we’ll see her in EVE too so what she and maybe more from TJPW will do with them in the future is something to watch out for.
LLL “DEEP HURTING”, 22/11/2023 The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA
1. 3 Way Match: Maki Itoh defeated Lilith Grimm and Stormi Renee (?:??).
Itoh was back in Lucha Libre & Laughs, beating Lilith Grimm and Stormi Renee in a 3 Way Match.
SPW “VIVA LA LUCHA!”, 24/11/2023 Foo Chow Building, Singapore
1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku defeated Alexis Lee (c) with the Diving Famouser (?:??). *Alexis Lee fails in V5. Yuki Kamifuku becomes the 5th Queen Of Asia Champion!
In a rematch from January of this year, Kamifuku had a second chance of taking the Queen Of Asia Title from Alexis Lee. This time she succeeded and has brought the title championship back to Japan! The belt is managed by Singapore Pro Wrestling so they will need to sign off on any title defences Kamifuku will want to do in TJPW.
GCW “WRESTLECADE WEEKEND”, 24/11/2023 Benton Convention Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated Kylie Alexa with the I.S.D. (5:08).
There was no Kenzie Paige on the show. Instead Itoh had to take on Paige’s sister Kylie Alexa. No matter. Itoh beat her anyway.
AEW “RAMPAGE”, 29/11/2023 (Aired 01/12/2023) Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Takeshita ended his month winning a squash match with the rest of The Don Callis Family.
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Upcoming Appearances
BLACK LABEL PRO “SLAMILTON”, 02/12/2023 Berwyn Eagles Club, Berwyn, Illinois, USA
1. Rachel Armstrong Vs Maki Itoh
Itoh will still be in America while TJPW celebrates their 10th anniversary. December for her begins with Itoh taking on Rachel Armstrong in Black Label Pro.
GCW “WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE?”, 03/12/2023 Roulette Intermedium, Brooklyn, New York, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Mike Bailey
Here’s a matchup so nutty it has to be done a week sooner! GCW originally booked a match between Itoh and Mike Bailey for their show in LA on 9th December. It had to be cancelled because Bailey had a scheduling conflict. So rather than wait until next year to do the match it’s been pushed forward to the Brooklyn show on the 3rd instead.
MLW “ONE-SHOT”, 07/12/2023 Melrose Ballroom, Queens, New York, USA
1. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Delmi Exo
2. MLW World Featherweight Title: Janai Kai (c) Vs Maki Itoh
When Yamashita was announced for MLW a war of words broke out online between her and Delmi Exo. This year Exo held the women’s titles from both MLW and wXw at the same time. She no longer has either so she now has her sights set on the Princess Of Princess Title. Yamashita appreciated the challenge but turned it down because she already has her next defence scheduled for 4th January. Exo wasn’t happy with the response and sent insulting messages to Yamashita until the champion decided to accept the challenge and put Exo in her place. It all sounds well and good for a storyline but I’m a little worried MLW will pull off some bullshit when nobody is looking. They’ve done a phantom title change before with one of the AAA championships during the pandemic and tried to play it off as a misunderstanding over wires getting crossed. Call me skeptical but you should only ever trust Court Bauer as far as you can throw him.
In September Itoh lost a No. 1 Contender match to B3CCA so you may be wondering why she is still getting an MLW World Featherweight Title shot against Janai Kai? It’s because B3CCA has since gotten a knee injury and will be on the shelf for a few months. Can Itoh make the most of this unexpected opportunity?
DREAMWAVE “UPRISING”, 08/12/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Shazza McKenzie Vs Miyu Yamashita
Please don’t let Sean Ross Sapp interfere in this match.
MPW “THE LONG NIGHT”, 08/12/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Miggy Rose & Michael Hopkins Vs Shota & J2
Shota is adding dates for his winter tour of America. The earliest match scheduled for him now is at Millenium Pro Wrestling. He will team with a former opponent from last year’s excursion, J2 Mattioli. Their opponents are a team called 24K.
DREAMWAVE “GOOD AS GOLD”, 09/12/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
Well, well, well, what do we have here? Yamashita and Emi Sakura in the same ring on the same team at the same time? They were on opposite sides once before and that was on a DPW show during the summer. Now we get to see how they will fare when they on the same page. Zayda Steel & Zamaya could be in for a rough night if their opponents gel together really well.
EWF “PRO WRESTLING LUCHA LIBRE”, 09/12/2023 VFW Post 8737, San Bernardino, California, USA
1. EWF Vs The World: Shota Vs Noah
Just like last year Shota’s trip to America has him showing up in some real obscure places on the independents. Empire Wrestling Federation is one of them and they have a wrestler called Noah ready to fight him.
GCW “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM 2”, 09/12/2023 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh Vs Johnny Game Changer & Taya Valkyrie
GCW has gone full blown wacky over what they’re replacing Itoh Vs Bailey in LA with. That show is now getting Maki Death Kill against Johnny Game Changer & Taya Valkyrie!
SKYFIRE PRO “NAVIDAD NIGHTMARE”, 10/12/2023 Bay City Brewing Co., San Diego, California, USA
1. Rebel Storm Vs Shota
Shota’s opponent when he comes over to Skyfire Pro is Rebel Storm.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Rika Tatsumi & Amira Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
2. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta Vs Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie
3. Moka Miyamoto Vs Trish Adora
4. Mizuki Vs Sandra Moone
5. Shoko Nakajima Vs Taya Valkyrie
6. Miu Watanabe Vs Hyan
7. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly
The full card for “COMBAT PRINCESS USA” is here. Prestige have gathered together Masha Slamovich, Killer Kelly, Hyan, Taya Valkyrie, Sandra Moone, Trish Adora, Janai Kai, Shazza McKenzie (replacing an injured Johnnie Robbie) and Amira to represent their side in a bunch of inter-promotional matches against TJPW.
PANDEMONIUM PRO “HOLIDAY IN LA”, 17/12/2023 Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Vinnie Massaro Vs Shota
2. Mike Bailey Vs Miyu Yamashita
It’s neat to see Vinnine Massaro get to wrestle in NOAH earlier this week. I bet that was a big thrill for him.
CIRCLE 6 “KING OF THE DEATHMATCHES”, 30/12/2023 Don Quixote, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. MAO Vs X
I’m not sure if MAO is entering the actual King Of The Deathmatch tournament or if he’s there in a separate attraction match.
GCW “NO COMPADRE”, 12/01/2024 Thalia Hall, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
Itoh has her first 2024 dates with GCW ready to go.
GCW “56 BIRDZ”, 13/01/2024 Valley Dale Ballroom, Columbus, Ohio, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
So far Itoh has Maki Death Kill and Maki Death Bussy under her list of alliances in GCW. Where does she go next?
DDT returns to America next year as part of The Collective in Philadelphia during Wrestlemania week. Sanshiro Takagi said on Twitter he would also like to do a Falls Count Anywhere match at the Philadelphia Museum Of Arts stairway from the Rocky movie if he is part of the crew travelling over.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 10TH ANNIVERSARY PERFORMANCE ~WE ARE TJPW~”, 01/12/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Juria Nagano, Shino Suzuki & Haru Kazashiro Vs Kaya Toribami, Toga & Runa Okubo
2. Hyper Misao & Mahiro Kiryu Vs Yuki Aino & Raku
3. Next Generation Tournament ’23 – Final: HIMAWARI Vs Wakana Uehara
4. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Viva Van
5. Princess Tag Team Titles: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta (c) Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
6. 10th Anniversary Special 10-Woman Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima, Yuka Sakazaki, Rika Tatsumi & Mizuki Vs Miu Watanabe, Yuki Arai, Suzume, Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo
A press conference was held today for the two title matches taking place tomorrow. There was a contract signing for the Princess Tag Team Titles but Max The Impaler did not show up on time. Free WiFi and Pom Harajuku went ahead with signing the contract and giving their opinions about the match. Harajuku said this is her second time challenging for the title and she wanted to be stronger this time. She came up with an idea to buy an expensive pair of high heeled shoes to make her taller and feel bigger. At this point Max arrived at the building and stormed into the room looking to fight Nao Kakuta. Max then smeared ink onto the contract with their thumb (that counts as a signature) and left with Harajuku. Hikari Noa talked about her idea of taming Max the same way she tames her big pet dog at home. Kakuta thinks they shouldn’t leave their guard down against Harajuku so their plan should be to keep Pompaler apart from each other. Free WiFi are feeling the pressure of being the defending champions at the 10th Anniversary show. Meanwhile Pompaler went to the Kanda Myojin Shrine to get their fortune told. The fortune they got was a great one, predicting they will win easily tomorrow.
Yuki Kamifuku and Viva Van were also at the press conference to talk about the Queen Of Asia Title Match. Van spoke about being a Vietnamese-American wrestler coming to Japan to make history. While she is proud to be a part of Tokyo Joshi Pro’s 10th Anniversary show and got along with Kamifuku when they teamed together last weekend, she is also a belt collector and here to win. Kamifuku talked about wrestling in other Asian countries this year. She is steadily becoming fulfilled about what she wants to do as a wrestler. Her goal now is defending the Queen Of Asia Title as a proper champion in order to raise its value while spreading the word of TJPW across the continent. She thinks Van is gorgeous and is looking forward to the match because it will be between two beautiful Asian women. She is worried about damaging her nails though.
The 10-Woman Tag main event is Best 2-Out-3 Falls with a 60 minute time limit.
DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 IN SHINJUKU DAY 1”, 02/12/2023 Shinjuku FACE
1. Special 8-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, Toy Kojima, Takeshi Masada & Kazuma Sumi Vs Jun Akiyama, Yuki Iino, Yusuke Okada & Rukiya
2. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Tetsuya Endo (0) Vs HARASHIMA (0)
3. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – A Block: Kazusada Higuchi (0) Vs Daisuke Sasaki (0)
4. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Chris Brookes (0) Vs KANON (2)
5. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: MAO (2) Vs Kazuki Hirata (0)
6. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – B Block: Yukio Naya (2) Vs Rei Saito (2)
7. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Soma Takao & Shota (c) Vs Toru Sugiura & Akito
The KO-D Tag Team Titles have never been held by Akito and he wants to change that fact. Toru Sugiura is one of his longest known friends going back to their days in Nagoya where they got their starts at separate wrestling groups in the area. Seeing ROMANCE DAWN win the tag titles made Akito jealous because he is currently not in a unit or teaming with a close friend. That’s why he chose Sugiura to be his partner for the title match. If they become champions then Akito wants to do a tag title defence in a similar style to a DDT Extreme Title defence.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 10TH ANNIVERSARY PERFORMANCE ~YUKA SAKAZAKI GRADUATION SPECIAL~”, 06/12/2023 Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall
1. Wakana Uehara, Shino Suzuki & Runa Okubo Vs HIMAWARI, Toga & Haru Kazashiro
2. Miu Watanabe, Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami
3. Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta, Mizuki & Moka Miyamoto Vs Hyper Misao. Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku
4. Yuka Sakazaki & Rika Tatsumi Vs Antonio Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi
5. Yuka Sakazaki Graduation Special 3 Way Match: Yuka Sakazaki Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Shoko Nakajima
TJPW will be saying goodbye to Yuka Sakazaki with not one but two matches on her graduation day. First Sakazaki teams with Rika Tatsumi for a tag match against Antonio Honda & Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi. All four people used to be together in an entertainment group called DPG (Dramatic Perfect Group). The group were also involved with the TJPW launch show ten years ago so it is a fitting way to send Sakazaki off. However she will have a second match in the main event against the other two longest serving members of TJPW. It’s a 3 Way Match against Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima!
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Rika Tatsumi & Amira Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
2. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta Vs Janai Kai & Shazza McKenzie
3. Moka Miyamoto Vs Trish Adora
4. Mizuki Vs Sandra Moone
5. Shoko Nakajima Vs Taya Valkyrie
6. Miu Watanabe Vs Hyan
7. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Masha Slamovich & Killer Kelly
Johnnie Robbie is out injured and has to miss the show next month. Shazza McKenzie is coming in as Janai Kai’s new tag partner against Free WiFi.
DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 THE FINAL”, 03/01/2024 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1. Special Tag Match ~ Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima
2. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – Final: Winner Of A Block Vs Winner Of B Block
The last time Shunma Katsumata wrestled was in May when he defended the Extreme Title against Hideki Okatani. That was the match where he injured his ankle and was out of action for eight months. When Katsumata returns on 3rd January Okatani will be there waiting for him so they can continue where they left off. It’s a tag match though so Katsumata will be with The 37KAMIINA teammate Toy Kojima while Okatani is there as part of Eruption with Yukio Sakaguchi.
Rei Saito is guaranteed to be on the show whether he makes it to the D-Oh Grand Prix final or not.
Posted by JamieOD 
Dramatic DDT 