It was announced at a book signing today that Sanshiro Takagi will be taking over Gake no Fuchi Pro Wrestling, the one woman wrestling company previously created by Miyako Matsumoto. This is a business move that Takagi is personally involved with and has nothing to do with DDT, Tokyo Joshi Pro or CyberAgent.
But let’s talk about it anyway.
Gake no Fuchi Pro was set up by Matsumoto in 2011 when she felt her wrestling career was at a crossroads. She decided to form her own company to challenge other wrestlers who were in a similar position, thinking about their futures as if they were standing on a cliff edge (hence where Gakenofuchi/Gake No Fuchi comes from). At times the company was associated with Ice Ribbon and it continued running a few shows a year up until 2016. The show format involved Matsumoto taking on an opponent (male or female) in a series of five challenges, only some of which were pro wrestling related. Some examples of opponents include Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, The Great Sasuke, Tsukasa Fujimoto, Emi Sakura and Minoru Suzuki.
The company has been given a slightly new name of Gake no Fuchi Joshi Pro Wrestling, switching it to strictly women’s pro wrestling. Matsumoto will continue to play a leading role in the company and the first show will be held on Christmas Eve at Saitama Wrestle Battle Hall. DDT referee Daisuke Kiso and BASARA ring announcer Rikiya Shindo will be there to perform their duties.
While Takagi is pleased with the developments going on with Tokyo Joshi, he wanted to do something more in the joshi scene as it gains popularity. When Matsumoto left Ice Ribbon back in July and appeared at “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2019” only hours later, they began to talk. Takagi felt Matsumoto created something with Gake no Fuchi Pro that works with his style of Cultural Pro Wrestling so they ended up striking a deal together. Matsumoto believes she could have brought back Gake no Fuchi Pro on her own but she is happy to have Takagi backing her.
A few ground rules had to be put down during the announcement. Matsumoto talked about signing wrestlers from other companies but Takagi told her this isn’t the Showa era anymore. They have to follow the laws behind contracts. Matsumoto also brought up the wide range of contacts Takagi has in the business. She wants her first match to be against Asuka from WWE so she expects Takagi to get in touch with her. Takagi confirmed that he sent Asuka a DM on Twitter. He also admitted he did not follow Matsumoto on Twitter until today. Matsumoto would also like to get Rika Tatsumi and Maki Itoh involved. However Tokyo Joshi’s GM Tetsuya Koda had already made it clear that he does not want Tokyo Joshi and Gake no Fuchi Joshi to interact with each other.
Dramatic DDT 