And Now I’m Almost Caught Up

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “CLIMB OVER ’23”, 22/04/2023
Osaka Edion Arena #2

1. Shoko Nakajima, Haruna Neko & Kaya Toribami Vs Mahiro Kiryu, Wakana Uehara & Toga
2. 3 Way Match: Hyper Misao Vs Raku Vs HIMAWARI
3. Vert Vixen Vs Moka Miyamoto
4. Yuki Kamifuku, Yuki Aino & Yuki Arai Vs Maki Itoh, Hikari Noa & Shino Suzuki
5. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki (c) Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku

A contract signing was held for the Princess Tag Team Titles a few days ago. The Magical Sugar Rabbits and Pom Harajuku arrived to the building on time but Max The Impaler was nowhere to be seen. The three of them signed the contract anyway and gave comments about the upcoming match. Yuka Sakazaki said if Max does not show up for the title match then Harajuku will be too weak to wrestle by herself. Mizuki thinks the match will have to go ahead as a 2-On-1 Handicap match, which she thinks is convenient for her & Sakazaki. Harajuku was certain that Max would eventually show up and she was proven right. Max burst into the room, took a bite out of the contract, threw the remains at MagiRabi and then grabbed Harajuku and carried her out of the room. Sayuri Namba picked up the remains of the contract and declared it to be an official signature from Max so the title match will go ahead.

The potential next challengers could be coming out of the Daydream Vs Daisy Monkey match.

The trio known as Yuki Yuki Yuki are back teaming together to wrestle in front of a crowd for the first time. I don’t think they figured out who the team captain is yet.

Nao Kakuta is not on the show due to a schedule conflict. Also the teenagers Haru Kazashiro and Runa Okubo were not booked in order to avoid the burden of having to wrestle in Osaka and Tokyo on back to back days.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE UNIVERSE MEMBERS ONLY SHOW – PURE TOKYO JOSHI PRO WRESTLING 8”, 23/04/2023
Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall

1. Maki Itoh & Toga Vs Vert Vixen & Hikari Noa
2. Kaya Toribami Vs Max The Impaler
3. Shoko Nakajima, Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro Vs Raku, Shino Suzuki & Runa Okubo
4. Special Rules 5 Way Match: Rika Tatsumi Vs Miu Watanabe Vs Hyper Misao Vs Arisu Endo Vs HIMAWARI
5. Special Rules Match: Yuka Sakazaki Vs Moka Miyamoto
6. Costume Change Match: Mizuki, Yuki Kamifuku & Pom Harajuku Vs Suzume, Mahiro Kiryu & Haruna Neko

Everybody in the main event will be wrestling in somebody else’s costume.

Max The Impaler and Vert Vixen get to be the first foreign wrestlers to participate in Tokyo Joshi Pro’s fan club shows. Unless you count all of those last minute replacement gimmicks that always show up when somebody else gets unusually sick…

BASARA “BASARA 217 ~TAKAGARI 16~”, 30/04/2023
Takashimadaira Ward Community Center

1. Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino Vs Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Daichi Kazato
2. KUBITO Vs Masahiro Takanashi
3. Isami Kodaka & Daiki Shimomura Vs Lil’ Kraken & Leo Isaka
4. FUMA Vs X
5. Elimination 6-Man Tag Match: Takumi Tsukamoto, Yasu Urano & Fuminori Abe Vs Ryota Nakatsu, SAGAT & Akiyori Takizawa

Banana Senga’s schedule is preventing him from appearing in BASARA again until May so Takumi Tsukamoto has to keep himself busy until then. Tsukamoto leads Yasu Urano & Fuminori Abe to take on Sparky in an Elimination Tag Match.

A mystery opponent awaits for FUMA.

Lil’ Kraken & Leo Isaka are still teaming together like they promised after they failed to win the IRON FIST Tag Titles.

GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO FIRE EMBLEM ’23”, 02/05/2023
Takashimadaira Ward Community Center

0. 5 Minute Exhibition Match: Riara Vs Moeka Haruhi
1. Gatoh Move Offer Match: Chie Koishikawa Vs Tokiko Kirihara
2. Special Single Match: Ami Manase Vs Marika Kobashi
3. Special Tag Match: Moeka Haruhi & YuuRI Vs Tomoka Inaba & HisokA
4. Special Single Match: Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Tae Honma

The next Ganbare☆Joshi show sees the return of Ami Manase and Marika Kobashi for a match between the two. Ami’s sister and the GanJo GM Yuna Manase will be in attendance.

Riara is taking part in another Exhibition match against Moeka Haruhi three days before her pro debut.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “YES! WONDERLAND ’23”, 05/05/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Yuki Arai Debut 2nd Anniversary Match: Yuki Arai & Maki Itoh Vs Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima
2. International Princess Title: Rika Tatsumi (c) Vs Suzume
3. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Sawyer Wreck

Suzume thought it was impossible she would ever be a pro wrestler but Rika Tatsumi inspired her to do it. Now Suzume thinks it is impossible to beat Tatsumi and become the International Princess Champion. She’s done the impossible with the former so maybe she can do it again with the latter!

Yuki Arai fought against and lost to Maki Itoh in her debut match two years ago. They will now be tag partners for Arai’s 2nd Anniversary match. Their opponents are Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima doing a Miraclians reunion.

GANBARE☆PRO “LOVE PHANTOM 2023”, 05/05/2023
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Riara Debut Match: YuuRI Vs Riara
2. Shuichiro Katsumura & Moeka Haruhi Vs Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE
3. Ganbare☆Pro Vs Sento Minzoku: Ken Ohka, Shinichiro Tominaga & Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Isami Kodaka, Minoru Fujita & Daiki Shimomura
4. Special Tag Match: Shota & Soma Takao Vs Dan The Dad & Kody Lane
5. Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Nao Kakuta
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles Tournament – Final: Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yumehito Imanari Vs Hikaru Sato & Tyson Maeguchi
7. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Mizuki Watase (c) Vs Keisuke Ishii

Nao Kakuta has been announced as Yoshiko Hasegawa’s opponent!

GANBARE☆PRO “INHERENT VICE 2023”, 06/05/2023
Takashimadaira Ward Community Center

1. GanJo Special Tag Match: YuuRI & Riara Vs Moeka Haruhi & HARUKAZE
2. Hong Kong International Policeman Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa
3. Special Single Match: Shuichiro Katsumura Vs Takuya Wada

Former Shooto and Pancrase champions are facing against each other in Ganbare☆Pro! For years now Shuichiro Katsumura has been wrestling under the GanPro banner but Takuya Wada has been a recent addition to the roster.

BASARA “BASARA 218 ~TAKAGARI 17~”, 13/05/2023
Takashimadaira Ward Community Center

1. Union MAX Title: Banana Senga (c) Vs Takumi Tsukamoto

When Senga is ready to return to BASARA he will put the Union MAX Title on the line against Tsukamoto. Senga found out he gets paid more money as a champion so he wants to earn enough money to get a hair transplant in Turkey (because it’s cheaper there than in Japan). Tsukamoto wants to be the MAX Champion again so he can try to break his tied record for the most title defences.

GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO RESTART ’23” Results

GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO RESTART ’23”, 01/04/2023
Yokohama Radiant Hall
154 Fans

0. Exhibition Match: Riara Vs Moeka Haruhi ended in a Time Limit Draw (5:00).
1. Gatoh Move Offer Match: Sayaka Obihiro defeated Chie Koishikawa with the Verse (10:10).
2. Special Tag Match: Ami Manase & Moeka Haruhi defeated Marika Kobashi & Echika Miyabi when Manase pinned Miyabi with the Diving Senton (17:27).
3. Special Single Match: YuuRI defeated Yoshiko Hasegawa with the Swanton Bomb (11:42).

The restart of Ganbare☆Joshi took place today with YuuRI and Yoshiko Hasegawa both stepping up to give the brand a new lease of life. YuuRI’s slight edge in experience was the deciding factor and she defeated Hasegawa in the main event. YuuRI admitted after the match that she injured her ankle during training yesterday and took painkillers in order to go through the match today. The win gives her a big confident boost which she will need when she goes over to JUST TAP OUT on 9th April. On that day YuuRI is facing Tomoka Inaba with the Queen Of JTO Title on the line. Inaba then made a surprise appearance!

Inaba said she was here to see how YuuRI was doing since leaving JTO a year and a half ago. She is impressed to see how much YuuRI has grown but Inaba has grown a lot too. She is warning her challenger that the match will be under JTO rules and YuuRI will get hurt if she goes into it half-heartedly. YuuRI was left angry by those words. She promised to take the title away from Inaba and bring it over to GanJo!

The GanJo debut of Yuna Manase’s masked sister Ami Manase went off very well for her. Wearing her sister’s ring gear, Ami teamed with Moeka Haruhi to beat the P.P.P. Tokyo team of Marika Kobashi & Echika Miyabi. Ami herself got the pin and was excited to find out her sister was in the room to see it happen. Haruhi wants to send a message to Manase’s mother and that message is “Thank you for giving birth to Ami Manase!” Haruhi also said the spirits of Yuna Manase and HARUKAZE are both contained inside Ami. She wants to be by Ami’s side so they can conquer the world with GanJo together! Backstage, Ami told the reporters you won’t see her around much outside of GanJo because she is still in high school.

Sayaka Obihiro took a timeout from chopping Chie Koishikawa so she could congratulate GanJo on their restart.

The trainee from the cabaret world Riara went through an exhibition match with Haruhi before the show began. The match had a 5 minute time limit but Haruhi made Riara tap out with a minute left. However the purpose of this exhibition was to give Riara ring time so the two agreed to ignore the result and continue wrestling for the time left remaining. Riara tried fighting back with Elbow Strikes and a Dropkick but was put into another Crab Hold until the time ran out. Michiyoshi Mishima told Riara he will have a discussion with Ken Ohka to determine if she passed or failed the test. If she ends up passing then her pro debut will be happening sooner rather than later.

Yuna Manase attended the show but needed a crutch and a knee brace to move around with her injury. She announced that she was appointed the GM of GanJo. In this place GM stands for Ganbare Manager! Her role is to do her best to guide the joshi here just like her mentor Fuka did for her.

GanJo Restart Update

GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO RESTART ’23”, 01/04/2023
Yokohama Radiant Hall

0. Exhibition Match: Riara Vs Moeka Haruhi
1. Gatoh Move Offer Match: Sayaka Obihiro Vs Chie Koishikawa
2. Special Tag Match: Ami Manase & Moeka Haruhi Vs Marika Kobashi & Echika Miyabi
3. Special Single Match: YuuRI Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa

A press conference was held by Ganbare☆Joshi in Shibuya yesterday to announce the card for the brand’s restart on 1st April. The decision was made for YuuRI Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa to be the main event. Both women strongly appealed to be given the ball and carry GanJo in Yuna Manase’s absence so it is fitting for the two of them to face each other in the headline match. Hasegawa said GanJo welcomed her back into pro wrestling when she returned from injury and had no place to call home. She is aware that the wrestlers who carried GanJo in the past all had to overcome difficulties and smash through the walls built in front of them. YuuRI is Hasegawa’s first wall in her goal to make the brand exciting. YuuRI meanwhile realised she became overconfident after she earned her first win last October. So now she has to get over that and build up momentum by winning the first main event of the relaunch. The two of them are still working together to build the brand, no matter who wins. GanJo has several shows now scheduled for the rest of the year and they will be all women matches.

Manase sent in a video message because she was advised by her doctor to stay at home while she is recovering from her knee surgery. In the video Manase said she is sending somebody from her family to wrestle at the show on her behalf. The person is Ami Manase, Yuna’s younger sister who is a more energetic, powerful and happier woman than she is. A masked woman then entered the room and introduced herself as Ami. Michiyoshi Mishima looked at her and asked if she is really Rina Amikura because he recognises her voice and figure. Ami denied it and repeated she is Yuna’s sister who wants to wrestle on her behalf. Moeka Haruhi never knew Manase had a sister but she is more than happy to welcome her into GanJo. Ami explained she is wearing a mask because she still wants to keep some privacy. She had been secretly training and learned how to do the Lariat from her sister. She would also like to be called Amin, which just so happens to be Amikura’s nickname.

The GanJo trainee Riara is still training towards her eventual debut match. She praised the other wrestlers for always looking out for her during practice. One particular thing that kept Riara’s spirits up was when Haruhi sent a message telling her to look up instead of forward. Riara getting a five minute exhibition match against Haruhi has motivated her to fight with all of her strength even though she feels like she will be crushed under pressure. Haruhi told her she does not need to feel pressure. All she has to do is show what she has practiced, keep the sparkle in her eyes, convey her feelings in the ring and hit her with everything she has. With that said, Haruhi said the exhibition will show whether or not Riara will be ready to make her pro debut soon. If the trainee passes this test then 5th May at Korakuen Hall will likely be where she turns pro.