Dramatic DDT

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO JOSHI PRO ’23”, 04/01/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
1,111 Fans – Super No Vacancy

1. HIMAWARI Debut Match: Yuki Aino defeated HIMAWARI with the Venus DDT (6:05).
2. Wakana Uehara Debut Match: Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano defeated Arisu Endo & Wakana Uehara when Miyamoto submitted Uehara with the Rashomon (9:15).
3. Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami defeated Raku, Pom Harajuku & Haruna Neko when Kakuta pinned Neko with the Shiden Kai (8:36).
4. New Year Special Match: Shoko Nakajima and Hyper Misao both win when they grabbed the “Hit” (14:53).
5. Princess Of Princess Title Next Challenger Decision Battle Royal: Mizuki defeated Rika Tatsumi, Maki Itoh, Yuki Kamifuku, Hikari Noa and Suzume (16:58).
5a. Yuki Kamifuku eliminated Hikari Noa by Ring Out (4:52).
5b. Maki Itoh eliminated Yuki Kamifuku by Ring Out (6:20).
5c. Mizuki eliminated Rika Tatsumi with an Assisted School Boy (8:02).
5d. Maki Itoh eliminated Suzume with the Itoh Punish (10:40).
5e. Mizuki eliminated Maki Itoh with the Cutie Special (16:58).
6. International Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) defeated Trish Adora with the Tear Drop (10:34).
*V2 for Miu Watanabe.
7. Princess Tag Team Titles: Max The Impaler & Heidi Howitzer defeated Saki Akai & Yuki Arai (c) when Max pinned Arai after the Master Blaster (11:29).
*Reiwa AA Cannon fails in V4. The Wasteland War Party becomes the 11th Princess Tag Team Champions!
8. Princess Of Princess Title: Yuka Sakazaki (c) defeated Miyu Yamashita with the Magical Girl Chicken Dude (16:08).
*V2 for Yuka Sakazaki.

On this date three years ago, Yuka Sakazaki successfully defended the Princess Of Princess Title against Miyu Yamashita at the annual 4th January Korakuen Hall show. Three years later and the result repeated itself. Sakazaki had to pull out her most dangerous moves to beat her most dangerous opponent and expect the same to be given to her. She did a Brainbuster outside the ring only for Yamashita to fire back with a German Suplex on the floor. Yamashita also did the Avalanche Attitude Adjustment and hit the Skull Kick clean. Sakazaki kicked out though and also survived the Crash Rabbit Heat aimed at the back of her head. She fought back using the Magical Merry-Go-Round. A strike exchange caused Yamashita’s kick and Sakazaki’s elbow strike to clash with each other. Sakazaki got the upper hand by using a Rolling Elbow, keeping Yamashita down long enough for the Magical Girl Chicken Dude to find its target and end the match.

While Yamashita was being taken out of the ring with Maki Itoh’s help, Sakazaki said she can do the match again. Yamashita responded by bowing and sticking her fist out with a scream before leaving. Sakazaki then thanked everyone for coming to see the show on a busy 4th January. She now has to talk to her next challenger. It’s the other Magical Sugar Rabbit and her closest friend Mizuki! It’s a match that Sakazaki admits she does not want to do. Mizuki said she felt like she was being left behind while watching Sakazaki get stronger. But she spent the last year working hard and gaining confidence in herself. She is emotional about the match but wants to surpass Sakazaki and be the one who wins the Princess Championship from her. Sakazaki accepts her challenge and wants the match to happen at “GRAND PRINCESS ’23” in Ariake Coliseum on 18th March!

A monster team have defeated Reiwa AA Cannon and taken the Princess Tag Team Titles for themselves! Max The Impaler left a big impact when they invaded Tokyo Joshi Pro last year. Their returning presence is now further strengthened with Heidi Howitzer joining along and together The Wasteland War Party can call themselves champions in Japan! The champions found their usual attacks ineffective with Saki Akai’s Triangle Choke not being strong enough along with the Double Rookie Award not being enough to put down the challengers. The most dread filled moment came when Yuki Arai’s Finally kick was caught by Max and the SKE48 idol was blown away with a Lariat. The end came when the War Party joined up and hit a combined body press called the Master Blaster to get the pinfall. There is still hope left for Reiwa AA Cannon. Akai said shen she looked into Arai’s eyes after the match she could see the fire was not gone from her. Arai said she wants to do her best with Akai in the Max Heart Tournament so they can challenge for the titles again. Backstage Howitzer said the result went exactly how she expected. She also thinks the pink belts look good on her & Max. They will look forward to seeing who TJPW throws their way to try and get their championship back.

Things went better for Miu Watanabe in her title defence. She was able to beat Trish Adora to retain the International Princess Title. Adora twisted the champion several ways including with a Cattle Mutilation. But Watanabe powered out of it and found a way to use the Giant Swing. Adora caught a second wind until it was knocked out of her with a Double Sledgehammer strike and the Laserbeam. The Tear Drop came afterwards and Watanabe achieved her second title defence. She was happy to win against a foreign opponent who is unlike anyone she has fought before. As long as she has the championship, she thinks it will be her ticket towards wrestling in America. Now she just has to learn English. Adora praised Watanabe for being a wonderful champion and the better fighter today. She is confident she will return to TJPW someday.

Mizuki earned her No. 1 Contendership by beating five opponents in a mini Rumble. Hikari Noa and Maki Itoh started off slow until Yuki Kamifuku entered the ring. The three of them stopped fighting each other and all ganged up on Rika Tatsumi after she joined the match. That alliance ended when Noa climbed the top rope and was Dropkicked out of the ring by Kamifuku for the first elimination. Tatsumi finally got some help when Mizuki made her way into the fight but again it was a short lived pairing. Kamifuku then turned on Itoh but made the mistake of charging her near the ropes. Itoh made sure that Kamifuku went over the top rope to the floor to knock her out of the match. Suzume was the last entrant and she helped Mizuki and Itoh pin Tatsumi by piling on top of them. Itoh dodged the Ring A Bell from Suzume and trapped her in the Itoh Punish for the next elimination. That left Itoh and Mizuki as the final two. They went back and forth until Mizuki hit Itoh with a Spinning Back Elbow. That allowed her to do the Cutie Special, pinning Itoh and making Mizuki the next in line for a Princess Title shot.

The annual Shoko Nakajima Vs Hyper Misao match is always an oddity but this time it may have gotten its oddest finish yet. Three toy rabbits were left hanging above the ring with a piece of paper included in each of them. Only one of them was the correct rabbit and grabbing that would win the match. The other two included stipulations that would come into effect if either wrestler grabbed them. Nakajima placed a ladder on top of Misao and climbed up to grab a rabbit. She picked the wrong one and the match turned into Rabbit Lumberjack Rules. Several wrestlers came down to the ring wearing rabbit ears and armed with hammers to attack anyone who left the ring. Both Nakajima and Misao felt their wrath. Misao then climbed the ladder but the rabbit she grabbed turned the match into Hardcore rules where dangerous weapons are now allowed. Nakajima brought in a box of kaiju toys and emptied it in the ring. She later paid the price when Misao slammed her on top of the pile of toys. Misao also crashed her Hyper Bike into her outside the ring. Both of them climbed back up the ladder and grabbed the one rabbit left at the same time. Yukinori Matsui couldn’t decide who won the match so instead of calling it a tie he declared both of them the winners! Misao couldn’t understand if that was possible until Nakajima explained they got three cute rabbit toys out of it. Both of them are happy to win their first match of the year before the Max Heart Tournament begins. Too bad they spent the rest of the day being chased after by the Rabbit Lumberjacks.

Raku began her new year leading Pom Harajuku & Haruna Neko in the Goodnight Express on their opponents. Harajuku tried to continue that momentum by hitting Mahiro Kiryu 108 times only to lose count, allowing Kiryu to escape. Raku & Harajuku cleared the ring of Kiryu & Kaya Toribami. It was all up to Haruna Neko but victory slipped away from her paws. Nao Kakuta got the win for her team after pinning Neko with the Shiden Kai.

Two wrestlers made their pro debuts on the show. Idol Wakana Uehara had already wrestled before on the Yume Pro Wrestling show last year. She decided to go pro and teamed with Arisu Endo on the 2nd anniversary of Endo’s debut. Uehara used Body Slams, Sleeper Holds and Dropkicks during her time in the ring. Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano used double team kicks to get rid of Endo. Miyamoto then put Uehara in the Rashomon to make the rookie give up. Miyamoto praised both of her opponents for their growth while Nagano said Uehara showed great guts. Uehara said she admires Shoko Nakajima the most and hopes to have a high flying battle against her someday.

The other debut was HIMAWARI who took on Yuki Aino in the opener. HIMAWARI repeatedly tried to knock down her opponent with Shoulder Blocks. Her momentum was stopped with a Side Suplex and Aino then finished her off with the Venus DDT. Aino hadn’t seen HIMAWARI train before this match so did not know what to expect from her. But she saw HIMAWARI has passion and enjoyed doing the back and forth Shoulder Blocks with her. HIMAWARI said her debut felt special because it happened at the start of TJPW’s 10th year. She wants to help the company grow from here on out by being a wrestler who makes fans laugh and feel moved.

Five announcements were given out by Sayuri Namba at the beginning of the show. The biggest one is that TJPW will be going to America this Spring! “TJPW LIVE IN LOS ANGELES” will take place at the Globe Theater in LA on 31st March as part of the WrestleCon end of the week’s festivities. Around 12 to 15 women from the roster along with foreign talent will be taking part on the show. TJPW was originally meant to have their US debut in Florida back in 2020 but the trip was cancelled because of the Covid pandemic.

The second biggest announcement was the introduction of a new trainee. Toga is a 19 year old from Kanagawa. She promised to do her best and make her debut in a TJPW ring.

All four members of The Up Up Girls performed a musical number together before the opening match. They announced the unit will be holding another audition for new members this year.

The other two announcements were merchandise related. Miu Watanabe and Suzume are the next two wrestlers to collaborate with Idolmaster Cinderella Girls. Watanabe’s costume will be given to Aya Kirino and Suzume’s costume will be given to Aki Yamato. The other merch announcement is the publication of a TJPW fan book releasing nationwide in Japan on 30th March. Early copies will be available to buy at “GRAND PRINCESS ’23”.