TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW CITY CIRCUIT ’23 ~FIRST ATTACK ON HIROSHIMA~”, 09/09/2023 Hiroshima Industrial Hall West Exhibition Hall 2nd Exhibition Hall 223 Fans
1. Yuki Aino defeated HIMAWARI with the Venus DDT (8:14).
2. Mahiro Kiryu defeated Kaya Toribami with the Spinebuster (7:09).
3. Yuki Kamifuku defeated Toga with the Famouser (7:24).
4. Yuki Arai, Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Mizuki, Wakana Uehara & Shino Suzuki when Arai submitted Suzuki with the Scorpion Deathlock (10:57).
5. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe defeated Miyu Yamashita & Moka Miyamoto when Watanabe pinned Miyamoto after the Daydream Eternity (13:34).
6. Princess Tag Team Titles 1st Qualifier ~ 3 Way Tag Match: Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta defeated Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao and Raku & Pom Harajuku when Kakuta pinned Nakajima with the Shiden Kai (12:28).
One team has booked their place on the “WRESTLE PRINCESS IV” card by qualifying for the vacant Princess Tag Team Titles match. Free WiFi defeated two other teams in a 3 Way match where it was first fall to a finish. No tags were needed in the match so it became a free for all of double team moves and mixed combinations. RakuPom used their new move La La La Pop~♪ ♪ on Nao Kakuta but they were taken out by Kyoraku Kyomei. Things were looking good for Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao until Kakuta caught Nakajima’s 619 and carried her into the Shiden Kai while Hikari Noa blocked Misao from breaking it up. The win for Free WiFi means they are now one step away from winning the vacant titles.
Kakuta admitted she pushed herself hard because if her team lost today who knows when they would get another chance? Noa pointed out that because the roster size in Tokyo Joshi Pro is increasing rapidly there are actually fewer opportunities to fight for championships. She knows she can rely on Kakuta to take advantage of the opportunities when they do come by. Nakajima echoed those opinions, saying this could have been her last chance to become tag champions with Misao which is something she wanted to achieve for a long time. Misao told her it wasn’t their last chance and they’ll continue to move forward together their own way. Raku said when she was travelling to Hiroshima for the show she had a dream where she won this match. When she woke up she felt satisfied and already thought it was time to go home. Meanwhile Pom Harajuku was just being loud because she was upset she didn’t win.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW CITY CIRCUIT ’23 ~AUTUMN TOUR OPENING ROUND~”, 03/09/2023 Tokyo Otemachi Mitsui Hall 295 Fans
1. Toga defeated Shino Suzuki with the Rock Bottom (6:13).
2. Yuki Aino defeated Haru Kazashiro with the Venus DDT (7:21).
3. Moka Miyamoto, HIMAWARI & Wakana Uehara defeated Haruna Neko, Kaya Toribami & Runa Okubo when Miyamoto submitted Okubo with the Rashomon (11:09).
4. Hikari Noa defeated Yoshiko Hasegawa with the Blizzard Suplex (7:45).
5. Mizuki defeated Juria Nagano with the Diving Foot Stomp (9:35).
6. 8-Woman Tag Match: Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao, Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu defeated Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe, Raku & Pom Harajuku when Nakajima pinned Harajuku with the Diving Senton (21:01).
Four of the teams involved in the Princess Tag Team Titles mini-tournament were thrown into an 8-Woman Tag Match. It wasn’t until the show itself when Daydream found out they were teaming with RakuPom while Kyoraku Kyomei were with Toyo Mates. Both sides had trouble teaming with each other either by arguing over what moves to use or missing their double team moves altogether. Raku & Pom Harajuku did show off their new move the La La La Pop~♪ ♪ which is a Cross-Arm Double Facecrusher. However Hyper Misao caught Harajuku and set her up for Shoko Nakajima to hit the Diving Senton for the win.
Nakajima thinks Kyoraku Kyomei are in perfect condition to become the next Princess Tag Champions. Misao said it’s time for them to move forward because she doesn’t want to miss any more opportunities at winning the title. Yuki Kamifuku remembers it was a year ago when she and Mahiro Kiryu got a title shot and she is still proud of that match. She doesn’t want to team with anyone else but Kiryu and whenever she did she never thought they were as good a tag partner as her. Miu Watanabe wants to win the tag titles and wait for The Magical Sugar Rabbits to return, otherwise she and Rika Tatsumi will go beat up Tetsuya Koda. Raku & Harajuku think they need more power to succeed so they are going to eat more grilled meat.
A new documentary series starting this month on Tokyo Joshi Pro’s Youtube channel will be focused on five of TJPW’s younger wrestlers. “Next Generation” is being produced by the same crew behind Yume Pro Wrestling. It will run for five weeks with episodes dedicated to Arisu Endo, Wakana Uehara, Haru Kazashiro, Shino Suzuki and Moka Miyamoto. All five were chosen because none of them have won a championship yet.
As always with this article I start off thinking it is going to be a lighter month than the last until it grows and grows. There are always extra bookings on the horizons whenever the boys and girls from DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro go abroad. August was dominated by two stories in my mind. Konosuke Takeshita wrestling The Golden Lovers in Wembley and Maki Itoh being all over GCW even more so than usual. Other things of note include TJPW announcing its return to America while dipping its toe into China, MAO becoming fast friends with El Desperado and Miyu Yamashita finding herself in ChocoPro territory by virtue of being EVE’s champion. Maybe next month’s article will be the one that finally slows down a little bit.
AEW “DYNAMITE 200”, 02/08/2023 Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida, USA
1. Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia
WRESTLING REVOLVER “HEAT EM UP”, 03/08/2023 Calumet Center, Dayton, Ohio, USA
1. Lucha Street Fight: Gringo Loco Vs Konosuke Takeshita
Video starts at 39:54. MDRN NMD/GATOH MOVE “CHOCO NIGHT GRAPS!”, 29/08/2023 The Bread Shed, Grosvenor St., Manchester, England
1. Masahiro Takanashi Vs Kid Lykos
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Results
AEW “DYNAMITE 200”, 02/08/2023 Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida, USA
1. Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia when Jericho pinned Garcia after a Bat Attack from Don Callis (12:21).
As I feared, Takeshita’s storyline with Don Callis was pretty much hijacked by Chris Jericho to set up his own angle with Takeshita’s manager. Takeshita & Jericho teamed up under Callis’s recommendation against two people close to Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia. Callis knocked out Garcia with a baseball bat behind the ref’s back and Jericho made the choice to pin him for the victory.
WRESTLING REVOLVER “HEAT EM UP”, 03/08/2023 Calumet Center, Dayton, Ohio, USA
1. Lucha Street Fight: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Gringo Loco with the Diving Senton (14:39).
Takeshita showed up in Wrestling REVOLVER as a short notice replacement for Jon Moxley. His appearance made up for Takeshita’s own cancelled booking with the promotion back in June. Here Takeshita faced Gringo Loco in a Lucha Street Fight. By coincidence one of Loco’s big moves is the Himawari Bomb that Sanshiro Takagi also uses. Takeshita kicked out of the move and then countered a top rope version into a Poison Rana. Loco kicked out of the Powerdrive Knee so Takeshita then took a page out of Moxley’s book by giving Loco the Paradigm Shift. From there Takeshita won with the Diving Senton.
DREAMWAVE “SUMMER SPECTACULAR 2023”, 04/08/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Dreamwave Women’s Title Qualifying Scramble: Zayda Steele defeated Brittnie Brooks, Maki Itoh, B3CCA, Kaia McKenna and Shazza McKenzie when Steele pinned McKenzie after the It’s Brittnie Bitch from Brooks (8:08).
Itoh entered Dreamwave’s 6-Woman Scramble in the hopes of qualifying for their new Women’s Championship. It was first fall to a finish but the ring soon emptied when some of the women, Itoh included got thrown out. She didn’t factor into the finish but would soon find out she had another chance.
DREAMWAVE “THOSE SUMMER NIGHTS”, 05/08/2023 Knights of Columbus, LaSalle, Illinois, USA
1. Dreamwave Women’s Title Qualifying Scramble: Brittnie Brooks defeated Maki Itoh, B3CCA, Kaia McKenna, Maggie Lee and Shelly Benson when Brookes pinned Lee with the It’s Brittnie Bitch (8:08).
The second chance didn’t work out any better for her. Another 6-Woman Scramble was held the next night with some of the same women involved. Itoh tried to submit two opponents at once by giving them a Double Half Crab but it left her vulnerable to a Super Kick. She went to recover outside the ring and couldn’t climb back in time to break the pin.
GCW “NO SIGNAL IN THE HILLS”, 11/08/2023 Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. 4 Way Match: Steph De Lander defeated Allie Katch, Maki Itoh and Masha Slamovich when De Lander pinned Itoh with the Fireman’s Carry Facebuster (11:53).
Okay maybe multi-person free for alls are not Itoh’s forte. This one was a bit crazy though. Masha Slamovich had Allie Katch beaten when all of a sudden Blake Christian jumped into the ring and attacked her. Itoh took exception and threw punches at Christian, opening herself up to Steph De Lander giving her an F5-like move to win.
PWG “MYSTERY VORTEX”, 13/08/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
Here’s something I never thought I’d write. Maki Itoh did a balcony dive at a PWG show! It’s been rare to see PWG holding shows nowadays but last month they held one of their signature events “MYSTERY VORTEX” where nothing is advertised before hand and fans only know what the matches are when they happen. Itoh was involved in a bizarre mixture of wrestlers in a 6-Person Tag Match. She teamed with Evil Uno & Aramis to beat Masha Slamovich, Peter Avalon & Látigo in a match mixing together AEW, lucha libre and women’s wrestling talent.
Takeshita was also on the show too, beating Rey Horus. I’d call him a PWG regular at this point if they ran shows more often.
KOPW “THE NEW ERA OF CHINESE PRO WRESTLING III”, 19/08/2023 Tianyue Sports City, Nanhai Foshan, Guangdong, China
1. Mizuki defeated Nao Kakuta with the Cutie Special (?:??).
TJPW made their first steps into China when Mizuki and Nao Kakuta were invited to take part in King Of Pro Wrestling. They faced each other in a non-title match and won over the crowd with their back and forth action.
NJPW “LEC PRESENTS ALL STAR JR FESTIVAL USA 2023”, 19/08/2023 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. El Desperado & MAO defeated Nick Wayne & Jordan Oliver when Desperado pinned Oliver with the Pinche Loco (19:14).
The All Star Jr. Festival proved to be such a good idea in Japan that they brought the show over to America. MAO was invited along and got to team with El Desperado. The two of them bonded by playing Dragon Quest V on the flight to America so their team name was DQV. They fought a tag team MAO lost to earlier this year, The East West Express. Both Nick Wayne & Jordan Oliver performed Stereo Springboard Cutters to their opponents but both only got a two count. MAO got rid of Wayne by spiking him onto the canvas with a Spinning Headscissors and Desperado pinned Oliver with the Pinche Loco.
GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 1”, 19/08/2023
The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh defeated Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander when Gage & Itoh pinned Cardona & De Lander each with the Kokeshi (11:57).
Months of fights between Maki Death Kill and Deathmatch Royalty led to a climactic battle between them finally happening. Itoh & Nick Gage were finally going to get their hands on Matt Cardona & De Lander with nothing in their way to stop them. Cardona & De Lander made a big entrance out of it, arriving at the venue in the Ecto-1 and wearing Ghostbusters outfits. For you see tonight they were the Deathmatch Busters! The joke blew up in their faces because Maki Death Kill sliced the two of them apart with pizza cutters! Cardona & De Lander tried to Pedigree Gage & Itoh onto thumbtacks but they were both Back Body Dropped onto the pile instead. Gage & Itoh then delivered stereo Kokeshi Headbutts to win the match and possibly put an end to the feud.
IMPACT/NJPW “MULTIVERSE UNITED”, 20/08/2023 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. Scramble Match: Chris Sabin defeated Kevin Knight, Frankie Kazarian, BUSHI, YOH, Rich Swann, MAO and El Desperado when Sabin pinned YOH with the Cradle Shock (8:06).
MAO was involved even further with the international Jr. Heavyweight Division action the next night. Impact and New Japan held a co-promoted event and MAO was thrown into an 8-Man Scramble match to open the show. He tried joining forces with Desperado again but the numbers game still proved to be too much for the two of them. Instead Chris Sabin ended up being the last man standing. Well, at least until BUSHI blinded him with Poison Mist after the match.
GCW “HOMECOMING – PART 2”, 20/08/2023 The Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
1. Maki Itoh defeated B3CCA with the Itoh Deluxe (9:21).
In the first of two singles matches they have coming up together, Itoh beat B3CCA in GCW. Will the result be the same when they have a rematch at MLW next month?
ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 25/08/2023 Roundhouse, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
1. Maki Itoh defeated Charli Evans with the Itoh Deluxe (18:03).
Itoh’s next focus in GCW was their tour of Australia with the Renegades Of Wrestling promotion. On Night 1 Itoh defeated Charli Evans and revealed a new word she learned that Aussies like to call other people. I’m not going to type it out here. It’s difficult enough trying to keep this blog from getting caught in web filters.
ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 26/08/2023
Melbourne Pavilion, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
1. ROW Women’s Title: Aysha (c) defeated Maki Itoh with a Double Arm DDT (12:58). *V3 for Aysha.
The second night featured Itoh challenged Aysha for the ROW Women’s Title. Itoh had the champion beat when she made her tap out to the Itoh Deluxe but Aysha’s cronies at ringside kept distracting the referee so it wouldn’t be seen. Itoh let go of the hold to chase them off but turned around into a Double Arm DDT, stealing the win for Aysha.
GATOH MOVE “CHOCOPRO”, 26/08/2023 The Yard Theatre, London, England
Just including this result because Masahiro Takanashi is a DDT guy as well as a ChocoPro regular. I have more to talk about the second show of the double header.
EVE/GATOH MOVE “CHOCOPRO X EVE SUPER SHOW”, 26/08/2023 The Dome, Tufnell Park, London, England
1. EVE Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) defeated Emersyn Jayne with the Crash Rabbit Heat (19:39). *V8 for Miyu Yamashita.
2. Mei Suruga & Masahiro Takanashi defeated Kanji & Kid Lykos when Suruga pinned Kanji with the Maple Model (11:25).
Being the EVE Champion got Miyu Yamashita to appear on a ChocoPro branded show for the first time. She opened up the show with a title defence against Emersyn Jayne. That match was supposed to happen in July but travel problems for the challenger prevented that from happening. It finally went ahead here and the match turned out to be a violent one. Yamashita was slammed onto the front row of chairs outside the ring and Jayne ended up getting busted open. Jayne did kick out of the Skull Kick, being one of the few people to do so. But Yamashita followed it up with the Crash Rabbit Heat to remain the champion.
One of ChocoPro’s victories on the show against EVE happened when Masahiro Takanashi & Mei Suruga defeated Kid Lykos & Kanji. It was one of the rare times men got to wrestle on an EVE show too.
The show also left with a question of what could have been because Marika Kobashi was planned to compete as an EVE representative. She is currently staying in Scotland but her flight to London was cancelled and she was unable to make it to the show. Part of her apology included regret over not being able to see Yamashita again so I wonder if she was meant to wrestle her instead of Jayne?
I was at this show by the way. Although I admit leaving during the main event in order to catch my train back to the hotel so I missed Emi Sakura’s surprise induction into EVE’s Hall Of Fame at the end.
ROW/GCW “GCW VS RENEGADES OF WRESTLING”, 27/08/2023 Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
1. Maki Itoh defeated Allie Katch with the I.S.D. (11:03).
Itoh bounced back from her failure to win a title by taking on GCW’s own Allie Katch on the final night of the Australian tour. It was another clean victory for Itoh. She seems to have Katch’s number every time they face each other.
AEW “ALL IN LONDON”, 27/08/2023 Wembley Stadium, London, England
1. Jay White, Juice Robinson & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) defeated The Golden Elite Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Adam Page when Takeshita pinned Omega with a School Boy (20:28).
I was at this show too! Getting to see Takeshita live in front of 80,000+ people in Wembley was great especially since my first time seeing him was in front of 330 people somewhere in Saitama back in 2016. That I got to see him mix it up with The Golden Lovers was a bonus. Even the result went Takeshita’s way. He countered Kota Ibushi’s Kamigoye with a sick looking Jumping Knee Strike of his own. Then when Kenny Omega was dealing with Bullet Club Gold, Takeshita rolled him up with a School Boy to steal the win.
MDRN NMD/GATOH MOVE “CHOCO NIGHT GRAPS!”, 29/08/2023 The Bread Shed, Grosvenor St., Manchester, England
1. Masahiro Takanashi defeated Kid Lykos with the Takatonic (?:??).
ChocoPro’s trip to England ended with a collaboration show alongside Modern Nomad Pro Wrestling. Takanashi took on Lykos again, this time in a singles match and at a venue where there was no wrestling ring. It was a mat wrestling show similar to ChocoPro’s own events in Ichigaya.
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Upcoming Appearances
GCW “SAY YOU WILL”, 01/09/2023 Grand Sports Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs X
GCW advertised Maki Death Kill as showing up in the show but they won’t be wrestling together. Gage is facing El Hijo del Vikingo while Itoh’s match on the show has not been announced yet.
OTT “WRESTLERAMA”, 02/09/2023 The Warehouse Red Cow, Dublin, Ireland
1. Session Moth Martina & Miyu Yamashita Vs Debbie Keitel & Anita Vaughan
Yamashita is heading over to my neck of the woods in Ireland for OTT. She’s looking forward to it and I bet Itoh told her stories about what Session Moth Martina is like. Debbie Keitel & Anita Vaughan will be there to stop the party though.
MLW “FURY ROAD”, 03/09/2023 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1. B3CCA Vs Maki Itoh
Funny stuff that MLW announced this match first then GCW went and did it anyway.
AEW “ALL OUT”, 03/09/2023 United Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1. Kenny Omega Vs Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis)
It was announced during the “ALL IN” post-show scrum that Omega and Takeshita will face each other this weekend in Chicago at “ALL OUT”.
GCW “CRUSHED UP”, 10/09/2023 Roulette Intermedium, New York City, New York, USA
1. Maki Itoh Vs Killer Kelly
Itoh’s last match of her current tour is a one on one meeting against Killer Kelly.
PRESTIGE “THE RESPECT ISSUE”, 24/09/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
1. Trish Adora Vs Shoko Nakajima
When Itoh is back in Japan, Shoko Nakajima tags out to be the next one going over to America. It’s all to build up TJPW’s big plan with Prestige as you will see at the bottom of this post.
REPUBLIC OF LUCHA “ROL VI VI VI: LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS”, 30/10/2023 Republic Of Lucha, South Pasadena, California, USA
1. Konosuke Takeshita, Penta el Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix Vs Shun Skywalker, Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf
Now isn’t this quite interesting? Takeshita from DDT and Shun Skywalker from Dragongate being pitted against each other. We also have the Lucha Brothers and La Rebelion involved in the match too.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO/PRESTIGE “COMBAT PRINCESS USA”, 14/12/2023 Globe Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA
TJPW with the help of Prestige is coming back to Los Angeles this December! Announced for the show so far are Itoh, Yamashita, Rika Tatsumi, Mizuki, Taya Valkyrie, Masha Slamovich, Killer Kelly and Sandra Moone.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “HAPPY SUMMER VACATION! ~TJPW SUMMER VACATION 2023~”, 26/08/2023 Osaka Hanamizuki Hall 237 Fans
1. Kaya Toribami defeated Runa Okubo with the Bird Cage (5:46)
2. 3 Way Match: Mahiro Kiryu defeated Haruna Neko and Shino Suzuki when Kiryu pinned Suzuki with the Spinebuster (5:37).
3. Hikari Noa & Toga defeated Hyper Misao & Haru Kazashiro when Noa pinned Kazashiro with the Running Neckbreaker Drop (10:40).
4. Special Single Match: Rika Tatsumi defeated Demonio Dos with the Missile Hip (10:06).
5. Chu! Summer Party Death Match 2023: Mizuki & HIMAWARI defeated Shoko Nakajima & Pom Harajuku when Mizuki pinned Harajuku with the Diving Foot Stomp into the Pool (14:36).
6. Yuki Aino, Raku & Moka Miyamoto defeated Miu Watanabe, Suzume & Wakana Uehara when Aino pinned Uehara with the Venus DDT (15:40).
The summer theme led to a crazier show than usual. Everybody in the main event were too busy warming up to see what happened in the Summer Party Death Match so they were confused to find themselves stepping into a soaking wet wrestling ring. After the match Yuki Aino said today feels like the last day of summer and thanked the fans to coming to see them. Meanwhile Moka Miyamoto was still trying to figure out what happened before their match. Backstage Miu Watanabe told everyone she had a nice summer but she feels like she is now tired of it. She warned the audience not to get heatstroke while Suzume & Wakana Uehara were busy wishing everyone a happy summer. Raku said now that summer is over she wants to go eat ice cream.
The messy ring was caused by the Summer Party Death Match where all items related to summer were allowed. Everyone was dressed for the summer and armed with buckets of water, water balloons, firework sparklers and more. Shoko Nakajima also gathered together a pile of kaiju toys in the ring for everyone to get slammed into (she explained she used to watch kaiju movies in the cinema during her summer vacations so that meant the toys counted as legal weapons). Rika Tatsumi and Demonio Dos ended up getting involved in the match when everyone brawled out of the ring. That led to Mizuki diving onto everyone from the top of a truck. Back in the ring HIMAWARI smashed a watermelon over Nakajima’s head. A kiddie pool filled with water was then put in the ring. Mizuki knocked Pom Harajuku into the pool, placed a piece of watermelon over her head, climbed the top turnbuckle and hit the Diving Foot Stomp into the pool for the win. Mizuki & HIMAWARI ate the remaining pieces of watermelon to celebrate. HIMAWARI said she was happy to be part of a fun match like this because she’s only been here for over half a year. She wants to do it more. Nakajima complained that you shouldn’t hit people over the head with watermelons.
Tatsumi was given an opponent as crazy as her so she could really unleash herself without putting the rest of Tokyo Joshi Pro in danger. She’s fought Demonio Uno before so this time she took on Demonio Dos. The two quickly took their match out of the ring where Tatsumi found the company bus parked next to them. Tatsumi took the chance to get into the driver’s seat and try to run Dos over! However she does not understand how to drive stick and couldn’t get the bus started. Dos dragged Tatsumi out of the bus and back to the ring where they fought even more. A ref bump led to one of the turnbuckle pads being removed. Tatsumi hit Dos with the pad and then followed up with the Missile Hip, pinning the monster for the three count once the referee recoved. After the match Tatsumi offered a handshake, believing this whole ordeal was just her way of trying to make a new friend. Dos kicked her instead and the two started fighting again. Which explains why they reappeared during the Summer Party Death Match. Backstage Tatsumi claimed this was also an International Princess Title match and should count as her 5th successful defence. TJPW have not confirmed that.
Hyper Misao tried to attack her opponents with fireworks because she wanted it to be her last memory of this summer. Hikari Noa stopped her by swinging a chair at the fireworks. Noa then tried to use the fireworks herself but the referee prevented her from doing so.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW INSPIRATION”, 17/08/2023 Shin-Kiba 1st RING 222 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Mahiro Kiryu defeated Pom Harajuku with the Spinebuster (7:12).
2. Saki Akai, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo defeated HIMAWARI, Toga & Shino Suzuki when Akai pinned HIMAWARI with the Rookie Award (12:07).
3. Mizuki defeated Aiger with the Aquamarine (9:47).
4. Debut 10th Anniversary Memorial Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Skull Kick (19:53).
Today is the 10th anniversary of Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima’s pro wrestling debut. The two of them had done a handful of exhibition matches in Tokyo Joshi Pro’s early preview events before their “flag raising” show in 2013 but their official debut happened in Sumo Hall for DDT on this date ten years ago. In that debut match they teamed together and lost to Chikage Kiba & KANNA, the two other women from TJPW’s first class who have long since graduated from wrestling. To celebrate the 10th anniversary Yamashita and Nakajima faced each other in the latest “TJPW INSPIRATION” show.
Given the short nature of the show’s length their main event had a 20 minute time limit. With seven seconds left to go, Yamashita pinned Nakajima with the Skull Kick. Nakajima said she wanted to cherish her 10 years in TJPW because Yamashita and Maki Itoh both travel often while Yuka Sakazaki will be graduating soon. Nakajima thought everyone would stay together forever but knew if she didn’t fight Yamashita again she would regret it. Now that they’ve had the match she doesn’t want to do it again for another 10 years. Yamashita said there’s been times they hadn’t gotten along but Nakajima is like family to her. All of TJPW is like that to her. No matter where she goes or what she does, that will never change.
There were some more comments to take note of. During the show closing speech Yamashita made a mistake regarding the date of their debuts (she thought it was on 13th August) which the audience caught. Backstage she said she currently holds championships from England (EVE) and America (Spark Joshi) so she wants to add the Princess Of Princess Title and fight in even more places. Nakajima brought up Saki Akai’s quote about deciding to retire as a flower that still blooms beautifully. Nakajima wants to be the opposite and keep wrestling until she dries up and returns to the soil as mulch.
For the first time in about 8 years Mizuki had to step into the ring and fight Aiger. The joshi ghost was a terrifying threat not just to Mizuki but also the wrestlers seconding at ringside (which included SAKI) and the referee Daisuke Kiso. Aiger brought out a chain to use as a weapon but Mizuki used it against her, setting up the Aquamarine for the finish. Mizuki was relieved with the result and thinks it proves how much she has grown in the last 8 years. She used the Aquamarine because the first time she won a match was with that move. As for Aiger, the story is she will soon disappear in September alongside Mizuki Endo’s retirement.
One of the things Akai wanted to accomplish before she retires is to spend time in the ring with TJPW’s new generation of wrestlers. She ticked that off today by teaming with the teenagers Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo against HIMAWARI, Toga & Shino Suzuki. Arai praised her two partners and thinks if she wasn’t already holding the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles with Eruption, she could have gone after the belts with these two instead. Their three opponents today all cried with tears of joy backstage for getting to wrestle with Akai.
For once somebody was apologizing to Mahiro Kiryu instead of the other way around. One day Pom Harajuku broke the key to the dojo and blamed it on Kiryu. In search of forgiveness, Harajuku brought a package into the ring and said it is for Kiryu. But when she handed it over to her, Harajuku launched an ambush to start the match with the upper hand. Kiryu took control and kneeled on top of Harajuku. But instead of her usual apology, Kiryu instead opened the package to reveal rice crackers inside. She got to eat one of the crackers while wrestling and went on to win the match. She thanked Harajuku for the crackers afterward.
None of The Up Up Girls were at the show today so Sayuri Namba brought Moka Miyamoto into the ring to hype up the card at the beginning of the show.
DDT “SAKI AKAI 10TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR IN KORAKUEN!!”, 13/08/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 816 Fans
0. Dark Match: Yuya Koroku defeated Rukiya with the Modified Triangle Lancer (7:14).
1. Special Single Match: KANON defeated Hideki Okatani with the Vietnam Driver II (8:04).
2. Diya Diamond Presents 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Yusuke Okada defeated Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida & Takeshi Masada when Naya pinned Masada with the World’s Best Back Drop (9:19).
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – marcheur Presents Battle Royal: Naruki Doi defeated Sanshiro Takagi (c), HARASHIMA, Yuki “Sexy” Iino, Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno, Antonio Honda, Akito and Kazuma Sumi (14:37).
3a. Naruki Doi eliminated Sanshiro Takagi (c) with a Cradle (6:58). *Naruki Doi becomes the 1,573rd champion.
3b. Antonio Honda eliminated Kazuma Sumi by Ring Out (11:41).
3c. Naruki Doi (c) eliminated Antonio Honda by Ring Out (11:59). *V1 for Naruki Doi.
3d. HARASHIMA eliminated Yuki “Sexy” Iino and Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno by Double Ring Out (13:24).
3e. Naruki Doi (c) eliminated HARASHIMA by Ring Out (13:54). *V2 for Naruki Doi.
3f. Naruki Doi (c) eliminated Akito with the Bakatare Sliding Kick (14:37). *V3 for Naruki Doi.
4. Jemile Fran Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima defeated Kyusei Sakisama, Chris Saint Laurent & Martha when Ueno pinned Sakisama with a Cradle (9:58).
5. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi defeated Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul (c) when Oishi pinned Paul with the Jikiden Tornado Clutch (11:13). *DAMNATION T.A fails in V1. Ω becomes the 78th KO-D Tag Team Champions!
6. DDT Extreme Title – Weakness Explosion!! Activation Conditions Are Up To You! Fall & Escape = Ghost & Balloon Explosion Death Match: Kazuki Hirata (c) defeated Yukio Sakaguchi with the Miracle One Shot Cradle from a huge balloon explosion (14:27). *V2 for Kazuki Hirata.
7. Nivea Body Wash Presents Saki Akai Debut 10th Anniversary Match Vol. 2 ~ Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Saki Akai, Maya Yukihi & Asuka defeated Takumi Iroha, Rina Yamashita & Shoko Nakajima when Akai pinned Nakajima with the Quetzalcoatl (19:01).
It came a couple of days early but Saki Akai celebrated the 10th anniversary of her debut pro wrestling match in DDT. With her retirement coming up later this year, Akai is getting several matches dedicated to her decade in the business and today gathered together a lot of women she has attachments with. In the main event Akai teamed up with Maya Yukihi & Asuka, two women who have been her biggest opponents in DDT over the last two years. Their opponents were a trio of wrestlers who all debuted in the same year as Akai. It was the first time Takumi Iroha, Rina Yamashita & Shoko Nakajima all teamed together. Iroha & Yamashita quickly thought up a move where they gave Nakajima a Double Splash Mountain onto Akai. Asuka Moonsaulted onto Iroha & Yamashita outside the ring and Akai rolled out of the way from Nakajima’s Diving Senton. Akai then hit the Rookie Award and pinned Nakajima with the Quetzalcoatl.
Akai thanked the other wrestlers for accepting her invitation, knowing how busy all of their schedules are. She wanted to show the fans all of the wonderful friends she made outside of DDT over the years. She knows they will all continue to shine a light on pro wrestling when she’s gone so everyone should keep watching them. She isn’t sure how many more matches she has left until her retirement but she is going to hone her strength and run all the way to the end. Asuka said she wished the three of them had teamed together sooner and wonders if they could have chased after one of the KO-D championships together. Yamashita overheard that idea and told them they should do it anyway, even if it’s for the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles. Her advice to Akai is to be greedy from this point until the end because she isn’t finished yet. Yukihi feels lucky she got to do her rivalry with Akai in DDT because she didn’t expect Akai’s retirement announcement to come when it did. Akai described all of the women are a fun loving group of people with good hearts.
Kazuki Hirata’s bizarre ideas to even the playing field against his opponents are working for him. The DDT Extreme Champion is normally scared of having to fight Yukio Sakaguchi but this time he got to turn the tables against him. Hirata’s stipulation for the match was to add ghosts and balloons whenever there was a kickout or rope break. Sakaguchi hates the sound of balloons bursting and also fears ghosts so we got the unlikely sight of Sakaguchi being submissive to Hirata and fleeing in fear whenever a ghost chased after him! Sakaguchi tried to fight his fears and found his spots to kick the hell out of Hirata. But by this point there were three ghosts in the ring haunting him with one popping a gigantic balloon right in his face. The fright made Sakaguchi walk right into the Miracle One Shot Cradle and Hirata got the win.
Once all of the ghosts vanished, Sakaguchi calmed down and handed the Extreme Title over to Hirata. He then attacked him a little bit and walked off. Hirata got on the microphone, said he was feeling mentally exhausted and now wants to know who his next challenger is. Naruki Doi walked out carrying the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title he won earlier in the show. Doi said his title win makes him feel more absorbed into DDT and he now wants to win the Extreme Title to become fully immersed in the company. He especially wants to beat Hirata for the belt because Hirata is the DDT wrestler who best expresses what the company is all about. Hirata refused but Hisaya Imabayashi ignored him. A double title match between Hirata and Doi will take place on 9th September. If Doi loses the Iron Man Title before that date then the match will just be for the Extreme Title. Hirata then tried to pin Doi to win the Iron Man Title but only got a two count. Doi chased him back to the locker room.
The KO-D Tag Team Titles aren’t ready to settle down with a team yet. DAMNATION T.A’s reign ended in their first defence, losing the belts to Ω. The champions tried to isolate Makoto Oishi and also get KANON involved to interfere for them. Yuji Hino came in to make a difference but his attempt to Fuckin’ BOMB MJ Paul was cut off by Daisuke Sasaki. That left Oishi to deal with Paul by himself. Paul threw Lariats at him but Oishi caught him with the Jikiden Tornado Clutch for the flash pinfall and title change. Hino praised Oishi for winning the KO-D Tag Titles under his own strength, calling it a miracle. Oishi was too exhausted to respond so Hino encouraged the audience to give him a round of applause.
KANON then entered the ring demanding a title shot but not as a member of DAMNATION T.A. There is another wrestler out there he considers a mentor. Hino thought he meant TAKA Michinoku but KANON said it is actually someone else because TAKA is busy. KANON’s partner is going to be Minoru Fujita! Imabayashi granted the request and booked the title match for 9th September. KANON helped Oishi back up to his feet, shook his hand… and then gave him a Clothesline before leaving.
Before Match #4 could begin it was announced that Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi were not at the show because they were both too hungover to wrestle. Then “The Rose Of Versailles” began to play and what appeared to be NEO Biishiki-gun walked out. Martha was there but instead of Yukio Saint Laurent we got Chris Saint Laurent instead. Also Sakura Hirota was nowhere to be seen, seemingly replaced in the match by Kyusei Sakisama. Despite their appearance looking weirder than usual, they were still NEO Biishiki-gun through and through. The 37KAMIINA had to deal with the unit’s antics. “Saint Laurent” jabbed an injection needle into Yuki Ueno’s neck, Martha was a nuisance towards MAO and Toy Kojima ended up suffering a Kancho attack involving Martha’s mop. “Sakisama” used the Academy Award finisher on Ueno but her glamorous pin was reversed and Ueno posed on top of her for the three count instead. The 37KAMIINA celebrated with their sponsored prize after the match until all of NEO Biishiki-gun gave them Kancho attacks and took the prizes for themselves.
Doi won the Iron Man Title pretty early in the Battle Royal. In fact him pinning Sanshiro Takagi to become champion was the first elimination in the match. Doi then had to fight through the rest of the field to survive. He still got caught up in the Pheromones experience with Kazuma Sumi, fell for Antonio Honda’s Gongitsune joke and outsmarted HARASHIMA. All that was left for him was a battle with Akito that ended with the DOI 555 and the Bakatare Sliding Kick. Doi promised to raise the value of the Iron Man Title then immediately had to fight off Sumi. That was when he realised the title is defended 24/7. He will stick to his promise anyway even if there’s a risk of him losing it in another company. Rukiya then tried to pin him so Doi kicked him away.
The 2nd match was overshadowed by the appearance of Evolution from All Japan. During the week Suwama told Tokyo Sports he had tickets for this show and was going in order to confront Jun Akiyama over a grudge held going back to Akiyama’s time as AJPW president. Suwama sat in his seat along with other Evolution members Hikaru Sato & Dan Tamura to see Akiyama’s team beat Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida & Takeshi Masada. Then after the match Evolution approached the ring, throwing aside Yuya Koroku and Rukiya who were trying to block them. Naya then wanted to stand in Suwama’s way but Suwama said he isn’t here for him. Suwama asked “useless former president” Akiyama why he is going to do an Exploding Death Match soon when he hated the idea of Suwama doing one six years ago? He then challenged Akiyama to come to Yoyogi on 8th September when AJPW is running a show there. He can even bring along Takagi so they can do a big Evolution Vs DDT match! Akiyama called the idea crazy but agreed to do it. He then told Suwama to stop making decisions without the AJPW president’s approval! Backstage Sato told DDT to send their icons like Dieno or HARASHIMA because as a former KO-D Openweight Champion and winner of a DDT General Election himself, he thinks he should be a DDT icon too. Tamura said he wants Yusuke Okada to come over because they have unfinished business from Okada’s time in AJPW.
KANON is sticking with the Vietnam Driver II as his new finisher, using it to beat Hideki Okatani in their first singles match against each other. KANON said the match left him more tired than he expected but that’s probably because of the summer heat. Okatani didn’t like the result and warned KANON he will beat him the next time they meet.
Koroku and Rukiya probably thought their dark match was the only physicality they would both experience today. Then Evolution came along and beat them up later in the show. In the match itself Rukiya tried to win with a Running Elbow Strike but Koroku took him down into a Modified Triangle Lancer to win by submission.
Chris Brookes has been appointed as the sales manager for “DDT BIG BANG 2023” at Ota Ward Gymnasium on 9th September. Also announced was Mei Suruga being at the 30h September show in Kyoto KBS Hall. That show is part of Akai’s countdown towards her retirement.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO PRINCESS CUP”, 13/08/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 657 Fans
1. Hikari Noa defeated Runa Okubo with the Blue Racer (5:13).
2. 3 Way Match: Nao Kakuta defeated Haruna Neko and HIMAWARI when Kakuta pinned HIMAWARI with the Shiden Kai (8:04).
3. Raku & Pom Harajuku defeated Shino Suzuki & Haru Kazashiro when Raku pinned Kazashiro with the Doctor Yellow (7:40).
4. Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano defeated Hyper Misao & Kaya Toribami when Nagano pinned Toribami with the Whirlwind Kick (8:58).
5. Yuki Arai & Mahiro Kiryu defeated Wakana Uehara & Toga when Arai submitted Uehara with the Sasori-Katame (10:18).
6. Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima & Suzume defeated Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Yuki Aino when Mizuki pinned Watanabe with the Cutie Special (15:31).
7. Tokyo Princess Cup – Final: Miyu Yamashita defeated Yuki Kamifuku with the Skull Kick (15:57).
The tenth edition of the Tokyo Princess Cup has brought closure to one of the longest running curses in Tokyo Joshi Pro. That’s right, Miyu Yamashita has finally won the tournament! Her victory in the final ended Yuki Kamifuku’s strong run but it wasn’t without a fight. Kamifuku used the Reverse Famouser she debuted yesterday, a Superplex, the Manjigatame and also some good old Eye Pokes to her advantage. But Yamashita fought back with German Suplexes, the Return Crash and the Skull Kick. That last move would have won the match if it wasn’t for Kamifuku’s long leg reaching over to cause a rope break. Kamifuku had one last gasp that led to her missing the Famouser. Yamashita quickly capitalised with the Crash Rabbit Heat to the back followed by another from the front to win the final.
Yamashita told the fans it’s taken 10 years but she finally won the Princess Cup. However she still has big ambitions for the future and is moving straight on to the next one. She called down Mizuki to the ring and told her she wanted to win this tournament so she could challenge her for the Princess Of Princess Title with pride. Mizuki admitted she is frustrated she lost to Yamashita in the 1st Round. Her pro wrestling life is the exact opposite of Yamashita but she respects her a lot. Mizuki accepted the challenge and the title match will take place at “WRESTLE PRINCESS IV” on 9th October. Yamashita requested a handshake afterward but Mizuki declined with a shake of her head.
Backstage Yamashita repeated her points. She has thought about winning the Princess Cup for the last ten years but the championship Mizuki has is more important to her. She also praised Kamifuku and is really glad to have fought her in the final. When a reporter pointed out that Yamashita has won both of TJPW’s annual tournaments this year, she said she can now add “Tournament Wins” to her special skills column. Kamifuku revealed that right after the match she received a LINE message from Aja Kong that said “You did your best.” Kamifuku still does not like competing in tournaments but understands she has to enter them and do her best.
Mizuki kept her skills sharp in the semi-main event by scoring the pinfall on Miu Watanabe in a 6-Woman Tag Match. Suzume took out Yuki Aino with the top rope Facebuster, Rika Tatsumi got rid of her with the Twist Of Fate and Shoko Nakajima bowled out who was left with a Topé Con Hilo. Back in the ring Mizuki unleashed the Whirling Candy on Watanabe and pinned her with the Cutie Special.
Yesterday’s fortunes were switched around for a few people in Match #5. Toga was coming in fresh off of winning a match by herself for the first time and Wakana Uehara was on the winning team with her. Yuki Arai on the other hand had to bounce back from her semi-final loss while Mahiro Kiryu is dealing with the hand she’s dealt with like always. Toga used her new Rock Bottom finisher again on Kiryu but the match came down to Uehara against Arai. A Big Boot from Arai led to her submitting Uehara with the Scorpion Deathlock.
The first time meeting between Hyper Misao and Juria Nagano saw the two facing off for a Karate duel. Misao then immediately threw away that idea and strangled Nagano with her cloak instead. Nagano had her Karate Tag partner Moka Miyamoto to count on though and together they kicked away Misao. Kaya Toribami stepped in and got a nearfall on Nagano with the 2nd Rope Twisting Senton. But Nagano hit her with a flurry of strikes, finishing her off with the Whirlwind Kick for the three count.
There was some confusion during the morning over Pom Harajuku. A couple of hours before the show began, TJPW announced she would be absent for various reasons and the card would be changed in response to that. The new card had Aino replacing Harajuku so Aino would have ended up wrestling twice. However Sayuri Namba then announced during the show opening introductions that Harajuku was here and will be wrestling her match after all, just a little later than scheduled. In the match itself Harajuku had a handle on Shino Suzuki while Raku beat Haru Kazashiro with the Doctor Yellow.
The last of the summer vibes were cherished in the 3 Way Match. Nao Kakuta stood on HIMAWARI like a surfboard, tied Haruna Neko’s tail to the rope to immobilise her and then pinned HIMAWARI with the Shiden Kai.
Hikari Noa won her match by using the Blue Racer submission hold for the first time in a while. She locked the move in on Runa Okubo and pulled her away from the ropes. Stuck in the center of the ring with nowhere to go, Okubo gave up.
TJPW is heading back to America this December for a co-promoted show with Presitge Wrestling! The two promotions are putting together “COMBAT PRINCESS USA” at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles on 14th December. The names announced so far are Mizuki, Rika Tatsumi, Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Taya Valkyrie, Masha Slamovich, Killer Kelly and Sandra Moone.
Maki Itoh Vs Nyla Rose was announced for “WRESTLE PRINCESS IV” on 9th October.
The vacant Princess Tag Team Titles will crown new champions at “WRESTLE PRINCESS IV”. Details will be announced at a later date.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TOKYO PRINCESS CUP”, 12/08/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 525 Fans
1. Wakana Uehara, Toga & Runa Okubo defeated HIMAWARI, Shino Suzuki & Haru Kazashiro when Toga pinned Suzuki with the Rock Bottom (9:25).
2. Suzume defeated Juria Nagano with the Ring A Bell (6:05).
3. It’s Summer Vacation! Eat Shaved Ice And Enter 8-Woman Tag Match: Yuki Aino, Raku, Pom Harajuku & Haruna Neko defeated Hyper Misao, Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Kaya Toribami when Harajuku pinned Toribami with the Pom de Justice (9:58).
4. Sakisama & Mei Saint-Michel defeated Mizuki & Mahiro Kiryu when Sakisama pinned Kiryu with the Academy Award (13:53).
5. Shoko Nakajima & Miu Watanabe defeated Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo when Nakajima pinned Miyamoto with the Northern Lights Suplex (13:21).
6. Tokyo Princess Cup – Semi Final: Miyu Yamashita defeated Yuki Arai with the Skull Kick (13:18).
7. Tokyo Princess Cup – Semi Final: Yuki Kamifuku defeated Rika Tatsumi with the Diving Famouser (12:39).
See what you can do when you put your mind to it? Yuki Kamifuku has spent this year’s Tokyo Princess Cup proving her doubters wrong and it’s taken her all the way to winning a Korakuen Hall main event for the first time! And she did it by beating Rika Tatsumi too, being the first person to pin her since January. Tatsumi tried to use submission holds but Kamifuku’s tall body allowed her to break out of the White Dragon Sleeper. Kamifuku then ran in to hit a Guillotine Drop and then climbed the second rope for a Diving Famouser to score the three count. Although Tatsumi lost, she still felt like she made a lot of progress in the tournament this year. She said she will use that experience for her future International Princess Title defences.
Joining Kamifuku in the final is Miyu Yamashita. Ten years into the tournament’s existence Yamashita has entered every single one and this is the first time she has reached the final. Yuki Arai gave her a tough challenge to make it here. It was one of the few times Yamashita took just as many kicks to the face than her opponent. Big Boots were a key part of Arai’s battle plan until Yamashita blocked the Finally, threw up a feint and hit her target with the Skull Kick to win. Still, Arai is proud over how far she made it this year. She noticed she has gone one round further than the year before in every Princess Cup she has entered so next year she is aiming to go even higher.
So tomorrow’s final has come down to Yamashita Vs Kamifuku. Yamashita admitted she didn’t expect Kamifuku would make it this far but she is looking forward to fighting her with everything on the line tomorrow. Kamifuku said she will prepare for the final the same way she does for any other match. She is going to paint her nails, get her hair treated and use her beauty to win! Backstage Kamifuku said she loves her fans and is grateful for their support. She wants everyone to follow her whether they like or hate her. Yamashita said she is well aware of her bad fortunes in this tournament over the years. But then she thinks about everybody she has fought and beaten as well as remembering Yuka Sakazaki finally winning the Princess Cup for the first time last year. Those thoughts are what pushed her not to fall apart here like she would have in years past.
The four wrestlers who were eliminated in the Quarter Finals were paired off for a tag team match. The result was Shoko Nakajima & Miu Watanabe taking on Moka Miyamoto & Arisu Endo. Watanabe ended up throwing Endo into Miyamoto and then Body Slammed the both of them at the same time. Nakajima then pinned Miyamoto with the Northern Lights Suplex. She was happy to win today because she is feeling all of the younger wrestlers starting to catch up on her. As Summer comes to an end, Watanabe said she will do her best in the Autumn.
The latest appearance of NEO Biishiki-gun featured Sakisama acting less disgusted towards her opponents than usual. That shouldn’t be surprising when you think about it because she always held a slightly higher opinion of Mizuki than she did for others. Her somewhat friendlier treatment towards her this time left Mei Saint-Michel feeling jealous. She got one over on Mizuki by dropping the metal serving tray over her head before Sakisama pinned Mahiro Kiryu. Then after the match Sakisama handed Mizuki her rose. Once everyone left ringside it was announced that NEO Biishiki-gun (including Martha & Yukio Saint Laurent) will return at “WRESTLE PRINCESS IV” on 9th October.
Both teams in the 8-Woman Tag match agreed to a special rule where everyone first had to eat a serving of shaved ice before they could enter the bout. There were different glasses of shaved ice placed on tables outside the ring so everybody drew chopsticks and had to eat the glass matching the colour they picked. Yuki Aino got to eat the smallest glass and entered the match almost immediately. She had to wait for Hyper Misao to finish her glass before the actual wrestling could begin. Nao Kakuta, Hikari Noa and Haruna Neko all followed to fill both teams up. Pom Harajuku had to eat the largest glass and that kept her out longer than everyone else. When she finally finished, she jumped in with the hot tag only to stop herself because she was suffering from brain freeze. But thanks to some teamwork with Raku, she was able to recover and pin Kaya Toribami for the win.
In a singles match Suzume got to take on Juria Nagano. Suzume dodged the Brazilian Kick, dropped Nagano with a Facebuster and pinned her with the Ring A Bell.
The 2023 class of rookies were all together in the opening 6-Woman Tag Match. The match gave the two teenagers Haru Kazashiro and Runa Okubo more time to develop their classmate rivalry. Wakana Uehara found herself fighting with HIMAWARI in the match a lot. But it was Toga who got all of the attention at the end by getting her first direct win in her young career! She broke out of Shino Suzuki’s Sleeper Hold and pinned her with a Rock Bottom. Both of them debuted on the same day so that particular result means a lot for them.
There will be two shows taking place in Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX on 15th October. The afternoon show will be “GO GIRL 4” and is for a women only audience. The evening event will be a regular show.
GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO BATTLE GAREGGA ’23”, 11/08/2023 Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall
1. Miyako Matsumoto Vs Banny Oikawa
2. Ice Ribbon Offer Match: Ibuki Hoshi & Kaho Matsushita Vs Yappy & Tsukina Umino
3. Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Sayaka Unagi
4. Sumire Natsu & Riara Vs Maya Yukihi & Alex Lee
5. ICEx∞ Title: YuuRI (c) Vs Ami Manase
The first time the ICEx∞ Title is defended in Ganbare☆Joshi takes place tomorrow. The Ice Ribbon schedule is doing wonders for YuuRI’s progress lately.
DDT “SAKI AKAI 10TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR IN KORAKUEN!!”, 13/08/2023 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
0. Dark Match: Yuya Koroku Vs Rukiya
1. Special Single Match: Hideki Okatani Vs KANON
2. Diya Diamond Presents 6-Man Tag Match: Jun Akiyama, Yukio Naya & Yusuke Okada Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida & Takeshi Masada
3. Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title – marcheur Presents Battle Royal: Sanshiro Takagi (c) Vs HARASHIMA Vs Naruki Doi Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino Vs Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Antonio Honda Vs Akito Vs Kazuma Sumi
4. Jemile Fran Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match: Chris Brookes, Masahiro Takanashi & Sakura Hirota Vs Yuki Ueno, MAO & Toy Kojima
5. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul (c) Vs Yuji Hino & Makoto Oishi
6. DDT Extreme Title – Weakness Explosion!! Activation Conditions Are Up To You! Fall & Escape = Ghost & Balloon Explosion Death Match: Kazuki Hirata (c) Vs Yukio Sakaguchi
7. Nivea Body Wash Presents Saki Akai Debut 10th Anniversary Match Vol. 2 ~ Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Saki Akai, Maya Yukihi & Asuka Vs Takumi Iroha, Rina Yamashita & Shoko Nakajima
The main event is now sponsored by Nivea. They have done a few sponsorship deals with CyberFight events every now and then thanks to Saki Akai. A few years ago she tweeted about what her skincare routine looks like as a pro wrestler which included the use of Nivea products. The tweet went viral, the company saw it and the two parties made contact with each other to do some business together.
In an interview on DDT’s website, Akai brought up the reasons why she chose the wrestlers in her main event. Her and Shoko Nakajima debuted around the same time and actually trained together despite Akai belonging to DDT and Nakajima being attached to the still in development Tokyo Joshi Pro. Akai knows how much TJPW separates itself from the rest of the joshi scene so she wanted to see Nakajima experience what it is like to wrestle with people from other promotions. Rina Yamashita is Akai’s favourite wrestler to have matches with, either as partners or opponents. She is excited to see where Yamashita’s career will go next. When Akai briefly got to wrestle in Stardom back in 2014, Takumi Iroha was the only person in the locker room to greet her. Akai became a fan of hers over the years and wanted to be in the same ring with her. Maya Yukihi is somebody Akai credits for making her the wrestler she is today because of how many times they wrestled each other in the first half of last year. Last but not least, Akai calls Asuka a genius who everyone can see is strong but also works very hard. Akai thinks the atmosphere created in her matches is wonderful and that she has everything important needed to be a wrestler.
All Japan wrestler Suwama told Tokyo Sports yesterday he will be attending this show in order to confront Jun Akiyama. Back in 2017 Suwama took part in an Explosion Death Match with Atsushi Onita. Akiyama was the AJPW president at the time and he criticised Suwama for taking part in the match. So when Suwama heard about Akiyama accepting a challenge from Onita to take part in a similar death match next month, it drove him mad. Suwama is even blaming his failure to win the Triple Crown a few days ago on Akiyama’s hypocritical decision. He got himself a ticket for Korakuen Hall this Sunday to see where the old man Akiyama has been isolating himself all this time.
DDT “FIGHTING BEER GARDEN – DAY 1”, 16/08/2023 Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage
1. Yusuke Okada Vs Rukiya
2. Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON Vs Toy Kojima, Yuya Koroku & Takeshi Masada
3. The Scariest Event In History! Ghost Story New Numabukuro Death Match: Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno Vs Saki Akai Vs Yuni Vs Hideki Okatani Vs Kazuma Sumi (Ghost Story Reading Artist: Hisaya Imabayashi)
4. Blindfold Hidden Breast 4 Way Death Match: HARASHIMA Vs Kazuki Hirata Vs Antonio Honda Vs Yuki “Sexy” Iino
5. Special Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & X Vs MAO & Pokotan
6. YOROKOBI BREWERY Infomercial Match: Yuji Hino, Yukio Sakaguchi & Soma Takao Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio naya & Yuki Ishida
7. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Shigehiro Irie & Jun Akiyama
A few of DDT’s young generation take on DAMNATION T.A.
DDT “SOMA TAKAO LOCAL TRIUPMH! MEMORIES OF SUMMER VACATION 2023 TOUR IN OTA-KU”, 19/08/2023 Tokyo Ota Ward Industrial Plaza PiO Small Exhibition Hall
1. Jun Akiyama, Saki Akai & Antonio Honda Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yuki Ishida & Rukiya
2. Masamune & Yukio Naya Vs Hideki Okatani & Kazuma Sumi
3. DAMNATION T.A Vs The 37KAMIINA!: Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul Vs Yuki Ueno & Toy Kojima
4. Special Tag Match: Soma Takao & Shota Vs Yukio Sakaguchi & Kazuki Hirata
Special guest Masamune teams up with Yukio Naya for the first time. The pair will go against Hideki Okatani & Kazuma Sumi.
DDT “OSAKA BAY BLUES SPECIAL 2023”, 20/08/2023 Osaka Edion Arena #2
1. Osaka Specialty Special Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Tsutenkakka Vs Akito & Kazuma Sumi
2. BURNING Vs Harimao!: Jun Akiyama & Kotaro Suzuki Vs Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida
3. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Takeshi Masada Vs Shigehiro Irie & HARASHIMA
4. Special Single Match: Daisuke Sasaki Vs Yuki Ueno
5. Electric Explosion Bat & Board 6-Man Tag Death Match: Atsushi Onita, Yoshi Tatsu & Toy Kojima Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Hideki Okatani & Soma Takao
Before Onita gets his death match with Akiyama, he has another one to deal with coming up first. The type of death match happening in Osaka is an Electric Explosion Bat & Board 6-Man Tag Death Match. The explosions will be rigged to use three times more ammunition than the normal amount.
GANBARE☆PRO “TOKOROZAWA PARK TOWN SHOPPING STREET 2023”, 26/08/2023 Saitama Tokorozawa Park Town Shopping Street Special
1. GanPro Specialty Mixed 6-Man Tag Match: Shuichiro Katsumura, HARUKAZE & Riara Vs Shinichiro Tominaga, YuuRI & Yoshiko Hasegawa
2. ROMANCE DAWN Vs Japan-Australia Giant Duo: Shota & Soma Takao Vs Hartley Jackson & Gota Ihashi
3. Fresh Ariyama Presents Special 6-Man Tag Match: Ken Ohka, Keisuke Ishii & Seiya Morohashi Vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Mizuki Watase & Munetatsu Nakamura
The annual Ganbare☆Pro outdoor show held over at Tokorozawa street is set for the end of the month.
DDT “DRAMATIC EXPLOSION 2023”, 18/09/2023 Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall
1. Current Blast Death Match: Atsushi Onita Vs X
Shigehiro Irie and Shinya Ishida will both be on the show along with Minoru Suzuki.
TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW CITY CIRCUIT ’23 ~SHOKO NAKAJIMA LOCAL TRIUMPH~”, 05/08/2023 Niigata Dúo CEREZO 349 Fans – No Vacancy
1. Suzume defeated Runa Okubo with the Mikazuki Meteor Shower (5:36).
2. 3 Way Match: Hyper Misao defeated Haruna Neko and HIMAWARI when Misao pinned HIMAWARI with La Magistral Cradle (8:59).
3. Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta defeated Mahiro Kiryu & Toga when Kakuta pinned Toga with the Shiden Kai (9:12).
4. Mizuki, Shino Suzuki & Haru Kazashiro defeated Yuki Arai, Raku & Pom Harajuku when Mizuki pinned Harajuku with the Cutie Special (9:52).
5. Special Single Match: Aja Kong defeated Super Sasadango Machine with the Uraken (9:21).
6. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe defeated Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami when Tatsumi pinned Toribami with the Sliding Hip (12:27).
7. Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino defeated Miyu Yamashita & Arisu Endo when Nakajima pinned Endo with the Diving Senton (13:41).
This show is the first time Tokyo Joshi Pro held an event in Shoko Nakajima’s home prefecture of Niigata. Nakajima got to headline the show and score the winning fall in the main event. After the match she said it is fate the show took place in a year where special things are happening to her like. She can’t help but feel she is going to have a wonderful 10th Anniversary celebration later this month. Nakajima is from Tsunan Town and was even greeted by Tsunan’s mayor before her match. Other special guests in attendance included Nakajima’s nephew and new-born niece. But the show was so important to her she felt like everyone who came to see her became her relatives.
Aja Kong wanted to know why TJPW booked her against Super Sasadango Machine on their show but she never got an answer. The title of Sasadando’s PowerPoint presentation was “How To Beat Aja Kong In My First Match In Joetsu To Get More Respect In My Hometown”. He did a lot of research to figure out what advantage he could get against Kong. After holding meetings with author Go Yoshida he discovered Kong’s debut music CD back when she was part of the Jungle Jack with Bison Kimura. So he came up with a plan to play songs from the CD hoping it would cause mental damage to Kong. His second plan was to wear a stainless steel bowl as a helmet beneath his mask to defend himself from Kong’s steel can. If that wasn’t enough he also armed himself with an empty can of Kaki No Tane. None of the ideas worked although Kong was annoyed to hear herself singing for the first time in years. She told Sasadango after the match that she was a singing pro wrestler long before The Up Up Girls ever appeared so she isn’t ashamed of it. If the world wants her to record a remix of “Fire Scream” with The Up Up Girls then maybe it will happen!
Hyper Misao also has a lot of relatives living in Niigata. She claims the region is not a second hometown for her but more like a second “Gotham City”.
Posted by JamieOD 
