DDT Around The World – October 2025

This month’s article feels like it is the most jam packed one I’ve ever written. Konosuke Takeshita is part of a big angle going on with Kazuchika Okada in AEW that is definitely going to result in a singles match between the two before the end of the year. Too bad the storyline they’re doing is the dreaded “Can They Get Along?” tag team gimmick. The stuff that I find fun is seeing the clumsy balancing act AEW is doing trying to handle Takeshita while he is the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion alongside a strongly protected Okada who is completely divorced from New Japan by now. I just cannot see a Takeshita Vs Okada match take place inside a New Japan ring at this point, whether it’s at the Tokyo Dome or for NJPW’s next attempt at running in the American market. This match is happening in AEW but if the IWGP Title is somehow involved we are all going to be flung headfirst into the salt mines.

There’s no drama to worry about over in Mexico this month. Shoko Nakajima went over there on behalf of Major League Wrestling. There was a slightly awkward moment when an interviewer unaware of the politics between Tokyo Joshi Pro and Stardom put Nakajima on the spot to talk about the other Japanese wrestlers she would be teaming with but it sounds like she handled the situation well. Once that was out of the way, everything Nakajima did over in Mexico looked like fun with five consecutive days of matches to wrestle in across various venues. MLW definitely found a way to get some good sounding news out there by praising their champion’s work during the tour. How often news reports about MLW sound like fluffy press releases will always annoy me (you’re telling Salina de la Renta is taking on an even bigger role behind the scenes yet again?!?) but whatever. I guess I shouldn’t let this stuff bother me.

There was also the return to action for Maki Itoh this month. Now unemployed, she went and had her first match since leaving TJPW. She has a big tour of America coming up this month so I’ll cover that but as for Japan, I’m going to wait and see what she does before I continue writing about her. If she ends up joining another company either full time or as a regular I don’t see much point to pay attention to it from a DDT/TJPW point of view. The same might go for her American bookings if I’m just writing about GCW month after month with no change in the status quo. Kyushu Pro and TAJIRI in particular were really happy with how Itoh’s match went so I can see that place becoming a regular spot for her. It’s funny that Rossy Ogawa went out of his way to tell everyone that Marigold is not interested in bringing her in. I think the reason he did that was to jump ahead of his reputation for poaching wrestlers from other companies. While the Marigold roster has been improving during their second year, suggesting that Itoh isn’t good enough to be in that locker room is nonsense when you see who they’ve already taken in.

Speaking of Marigold, there’s one other thing I want to talk about before diving into the rest of the article. Bryan Alvarez reported on Wrestling Observer Live yesterday that there are tentative plans by WWE to send female NXT wrestlers over to Japan next year much like they’ve been doing with male wrestlers this year. Alvarez doesn’t know which promotion WWE will be working with but guesses it would be Marigold while follow up reports also include NOAH, likely because of the “MONDAY MAGIC” series that usually books joshi matches and is getting expanded in 2026. I actually wouldn’t rule out the idea of TJPW getting to book an NXT wrestler or two out of this if only because of how WWE’s relationship with NOAH is currently going. It’s not like TJPW and AEW are doing much together anyway. Crazier things have happened so I’m just preparing myself for if I ever wake up to news that it’s actually happening.

Oh and TJPW is going back to Texas next Spring but I’ll write about that once more solid info comes out. Tokyo Story USA knows what they’re doing. Same goes for GCW because it looks like DDT and TJPW will be part of The Collective at WrestleMania Week again next year.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “COLLISION”, 04/10/2025
RP Funding Center, Lakeland, Florida, USA

1. MxM TV Casting Call: Mansoor, Mason Madden & Johnny TV (w/ Taya Valkyrie) Vs Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, & Josh Alexander (w/ El Clon)

Video starts at 1:39:30 for the match
MLW “SLAUGHTERHOUSE”, 04/10/2025
Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) Vs HIMAWARI

AEW “DYNAMITE – TITLE TUESDAY”, 07/10/2025
Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

1. Double Jeopardy Eliminator Match: Bandido & Brody King Vs Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita

A birthday celebration for Don Callis!

AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 18/10/2025
Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

1. AEW World Tag Team Titles: Bandido & Brody King (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita & Kazuchika Okada

KYUSHU PRO “OGORI CITIZEN’S FESTIVAL 2025”, 19/10/2025
Ogori City Lifelong Learning Center, Fukuoka, Japan

1. Jet Wei, One☆Kyushu & Princess Pistachio Vs Maki Itoh, TAJIRI & Charles Crowley

Women’s Pure Title Tournament participants Deonna Purrazzo & Yuka Sakazaki stand off ROH TV 10/23/25

CMLL “VIERNES ESPECTACULAR”, 24/10/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Grand Prix de Amazonas: Persephone, La Catalina, Olympia, Skadi, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis, India Sioux, Lluvia & La Jarochita Vs Kanji, Diamante, Shoko Nakajima, Hazuki, Koguma, Mina Shirakawa, Skye Blue, Julia Hart & Thekla

CMLL “DOMINGO FAMILIAR”, 26/10/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Kira & Skadi Vs Diamanté & Shoko Nakajima

Video starts at 38:27 for the main event
CHOCOPRO “CHOCOPRO #484”, 27/10/2025
Ichigaya Chocolate Square, Tokyo, Japan

1. Emi Sakura Vs Mizuki

Video starts at 44:29 for the match
CMLL “DIA DE MUERTOS”, 27/10/2025
Arena Puebla, Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, Puebla, Mexico

1. Match Relámpago Internacional de Amazonas: Kira Vs Shoko Nakajima

CMLL “DIA DE MUERTOS”, 28/10/2025
Arena Coliseo, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

1. Persephone & Zeuxis Vs Diamanté & Shoko Nakajima

Okada & Takeshita stare each other down, Don Callis introduces new painting | AEW Dynamite, 10/29/25

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Results

AEW “COLLISION”, 02/10/2025 (Aired 04/10/2025)
RP Funding Center, Lakeland, Florida, USA

1. MxM TV Casting Call: Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, & Josh Alexander (w/ El Clon) defeated Mansoor, Mason Madden & Johnny TV (w/ Taya Valkyrie) when Fletcher pinned Mansoor with the Sheer Drop Brainbuster (3:05).

Everyone loves doing open challenges lately, huh? The unit known as MxM TV put one together under the guise of a casting call and it was answered by The Don Callis Family. Together the trio of Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher & Josh Alexander Suplexed their opponents around while helping each other when Johnny TV or Mason Madden tried to make a comeback. Fletcher then sealed the deal on Mansoor with a Sheer Drop Brainbuster for the victory. El Clon just hung around at ringside for the vibes it seems like. It’s a bit difficult being an evil doppelganger when the person you’re the opposite of has to go away because of an injury that you didn’t cause.

MLW “SLAUGHTERHOUSE”, 04/10/2025
Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA

1. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima (c) defeated HIMAWARI with the Diving Senton (12:22).
*V4 for Shoko Nakajima.

Gotta give MLW some credit. They’re getting a good amount out of Nakajima’s working relationship with them. Her latest defence of the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title was against HIMAWARI so the match itself was what you would typically get in TJPW anyway. Nakajima retained the title, went on to Mexico to represent MLW and has another title defence coming up in her home promotion again later this month.

ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, 07/10/2025 (Aired 23/10/2025)
Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

1. Yuka Sakazaki & Alex Windsor defeated Aleah James & Billie Starkz when Windsor pinned James with the Pumphandle Half Nelson Driver (7:45).

A possible glimpse into the future was shown before the match even began when Yuka Sakazaki’s entrance cut off Deonna Purrazzo’s post-match celebration from the previous bout. The two of them are in opposite sides of the ROH Women’s Pure Title Tournament bracket so if they were to face off in that it would be in the final. When that moment passed, Sakazaki went on to team with Alex Windsor to beat Aleah James & Billie Starkz. While Windsor has toured with TJPW in the past, I don’t think she was ever in the same match with Sakazaki until here. Starkz got some licks in on the team while James even pushed them into each other to create an opening. But James & Starkz ended up on different pages and their teamwork broke down when Starkz started yelling at her partner. She then abandoned James when Windsor applied a Sharpshooter and James reached out for help. Sakazaki stood confused on the ring apron but hey, a win’s a win.

AEW “DYNAMITE – TITLE TUESDAY”, 07/10/2025
Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

1. Double Jeopardy Eliminator Match: Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Bandido & Brody King when Okada pinned Bandido with the Rainmaker (12:04).

Someone was coming out of this match getting a title shot of some sort. Okada & Takeshita fought Brodido in a tag match full of champions. Takeshita did the hard work of dealing with Brody King but had a trickier time fighting Bandido once more. Okada grabbed hold of Bandido from the ring apron but took the full brunt of Takeshita’s Jumping Knee Strike after Bandido broke himself free. Bandido tried to capitalize but his injured shoulder prevented him from giving Takeshita the 21 Plex. Takeshita gave him a Reverse Rana but Okada then blind tagged himself in to finish off Bandido with the Rainmaker. Okada & Takeshita had won the match but they weren’t on good terms with each other in the aftermath.

ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, 08/10/2025
Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

1. Alex Windsor & Yuka Sakazaki defeated Taya Valkyrie & Robyn Renegade (?:??).

This match hasn’t aired yet but it is nice to see Windsor & Sakazaki establishing a tag team together. The only substantial thing that might come out of it though is a challenge for the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Titles once that thing is up and running. Robyn Renegade’s been wrestling without her sister for a while now and just seems to be thrown together with Taya Valkyrie every now and then.

VIP “SETTING THE BAR 11”, 10/10/2025
The Haltom Theater, Haltom City, Texas, USA

1. VIP Women’s Title – 3 Way Match: Vert Vixen defeated Maya World (c) and Kaya Toribami (12:06).
*Maya World fails in V3. Vert Vixen becomes the 3rd VIP Women’s Champion!

The flag has been planted in Texas. Now it’s time for the slow process of TJPW spreading out from there. Kaya Toribami was sent over to VIP Wrestling to continue this mission, taking part in a 3 Way Match with the VIP Women’s Title on the line. The champion Maya World was dethroned but sadly for Toribami the title change was not for her. Instead Vert Vixen won the match to become the new champion.

VGM “FIGHT VGM FIGHT WRESTLING STARS MEET AND GREET & PRO WRESTLING MATCH”, 18/10/2025
Full House, Liangxi, Wuxi, China

1. Rika Tatsumi defeated HIMAWARI with the Missile Hips (?:??).

HIMAWARI also travelled to China this month with Rika Tatsumi by her side. The two of them had a TJPW offer match at the latest Fight VGM Fight show. Again it was pretty much the kind of singles match they would have back home.

AEW “WRESTLEDREAM”, 18/10/2025
Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

1. AEW World Tag Team Titles: Bandido & Brody King (c) defeated Konosuke Takeshita & Kazuchika Okada when Bandido pinned Okada with the 21 Plex (27:26).
*V5 for Brodido.

By the time Takeshita had his next match in AEW he had won the IWGP Title in New Japan! The news didn’t exactly make Okada feel thrilled and now the two of them had to be on the same page for a rematch against Brodido, this time with the AEW World Tag Team Titles on the line. A similar situation to last time occurred where Okada held onto Bandido from behind with Takeshita standing in front of them. This time Okada tried doing the Rainmaker but Bandido ducked and Takeshita got hit with the big Clothesline instead! Okada found it kind of funny while Don Callis was left speechless on commentary. Okada paid the price in the end because Bandido used the 21 Plex on him to get the big victory.

KYUSHU PRO “OGORI CITIZEN’S FESTIVAL 2025”, 19/10/2025
Ogori City Lifelong Learning Center, Fukuoka, Japan

1. Maki Itoh, TAJIRI & Charles Crowley defeated Jet Wei, One☆Kyushu & Princess Pistachio when Itoh submitted Pistachio with the Itoh Deluxe (17:38).

I’m not going to write about Itoh’s matches in Japan that often anymore but this was her first match back since leaving TJPW (and was booked when she was still with the company) so I might as well include it here. She was at Kyushu Pro to team with TAJIRI and the British carnival wrestler Charles Crowley. Their opponents were Kyushu Pro’s own One☆Kyushu alongside two wrestlers from Taiwan, Jet Wei & Princess Pistachio. The match was built around Itoh as the star although Pistachio got to get some cheers over her at points by trying to out-cute her. Itoh got to submit Pistachio with the Itoh Deluxe while her partners held back the other team with their own submission holds.

CMLL “VIERNES ESPECTACULAR”, 24/10/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Grand Prix de Amazonas: Persephone, La Catalina, Olympia, Skadi, Reyna Isis, Zeuxis, India Sioux, Lluvia & La Jarochita defeated Kanji, Diamante, Shoko Nakajima, Hazuki, Koguma, Mina Shirakawa, Skye Blue, Julia Hart & Thekla (56:44).
1d. Shoko Nakajima eliminated India Sioux with the Northern Lights Suplex (29:54).
1i. La Catalina eliminated Shoko Nakajima with the One-Winged Angel (41:24).

What a trip this turned out to be. Nakajima went to Mexico as a representative of MLW for CMLL’s annual October series that is marketed around women’s wrestling. Nakajima was there as a member of The World team taking on Team Mexico in the Grand Prix de Amazonas torneo de cibernetico. The MLW connection meant she was able to wrestle in the same match as Hazuki & Koguma in ways that bypass the politics that still exist between Stardom and TJPW. Her status also might have given her the stronger booking because Nakajima was able to score an elimination on India Sioux while the FWC pair were both taken out of the match quite early on. Nakajima was beaten around the middle portion thanks to La Catalina (the “Cata-Cata-Cata-Catalina” chorus of her song is difficult to get out of my head whenever I hear it).

CMLL “SÁBADOS DE LUCHA LIBRE”, 25/10/2025
Arena Coliseo, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. CMLL Vs ROH & MLW: Diamanté & Shoko Nakajima defeated Kira & Candela (11:56).

The rest of Nakajima’s week was spent travelling around CMLL’s main haunts. Diamanté became her partner in crime for most of these shows as the two became an ROH/MLW aligned tag team for the tour. Things got off to a good start with them beating Kira & Candela in Arena Coliseo.

CMLL “DOMINGO FAMILIAR”, 26/10/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Kira & Skadi defeated Diamanté & Shoko Nakajima when Kira pinned Diamanté after a Power Bomb Assisted Senton and Skadi pinned Nakajima with a Double Arm Backbreaker (?:??).

Diamanté & Nakajima were back in Arena Mexico the next day for a show that used Formula 1 style marketing because the Mexican Grand Prix was being held that weekend. Their tag match against Kira & Skadi was only held for one fall instead of the traditional Best 2 out of 3 rules. It was fun to see Nakajima fight someone much bigger than her. That is until she was broken in half with a Backbreaker for part of the finish.

CHOCOPRO “CHOCOPRO #484”, 27/10/2025
Ichigaya Chocolate Square, Tokyo, Japan

1. Emi Sakura Vs Mizuki ended in a Time Limit Draw (15:00).

This year marks 30 years in the business for Emi Sakura. A big show at Shinjuku FACE was planned for her by ChocoPro at the end of the month and Sakura had wanted Mizuki to have been a part of it. Unfortunately the scheduling didn’t work out to get her on for that show so instead Sakura and Mizuki got to have a match together a couple of days earlier in ChocoPro’s home venue of Ichigaya Chocolate Square. It was their first singles match against each other in over two years and I think it is the first to happen in Japan since 2014! The two fought to a 15 minute draw with Sakura using her surroundings to get the upper hand while Mizuki eventually adapted to the unusual environment. In the final seconds Mizuki landed a Diving Cross Body but Sakura rolled her over for a nearfall. She was then in the middle of applying La Magistral Cradle when the time expired and the match ended. Mizuki offered a handshake afterwards but Sakura got the last laugh by slapping it away.

CMLL “DIA DE MUERTOS”, 27/10/2025
Arena Puebla, Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, Puebla, Mexico

1. Match Relámpago Internacional de Amazonas: Kira defeated Shoko Nakajima with the German Suplex (7:40).

The CMLL series turned spooky for the rest of the week because they were all Day Of The Dead themed. Nakajima got into the spirit of things by wrestling her match wearing a skeleton shirt. Would have been nice if Kira wore her Togepi outfit too but she already used it two days earlier. The singles match was the Lightning match of the show, which is the format CMLL uses for midcard singles bouts held within a 10 minute time limit. Thankfully for Nakajima it was early enough in the card where she wasn’t offered up as a sacrifice to the Aztec gods for losing the match. That fate was kept for Hazuki & Koguma one match later.

CMLL “DIA DE MUERTOS”, 28/10/2025
Arena Coliseo, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

1. Persephone & Zeuxis defeated Diamanté & Shoko Nakajima when Persephone pinned Nakajima with a Rope-Assisted Crucifix Pin and Zeuxis pinned Diamanté with a Cradle (?:??).

Nakajima’s tour with CMLL came to an end with a chance for her to fight the Grand Prix de Amazonas winner Persephone before going home. Again the tag match was held to one fall only and things went south for the visitors. Diamanté had her pin on Zeuxis countered around into her getting pinned instead. Meanwhile Nakajima got to hit the Diving Senton onto Persephone but was then rolled back into a Crucifix Pin. Persephone also clasped onto the bottom rope with her own feet to get added leverage for the three count.

AEW “COLLISION – FRIGHT NIGHT”, 29/10/2025 (Aired 01/11/2025)
Bert Ogden Arena, Edinburg, Texas, USA

1. Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Max Caster & Anthony Bowens (?:??).

Tensions are only getting worse between Okada and Takeshita. With pro wrestling being what it is, the only answer is to keep them teaming together until things boil over! In fact, AEW thought it was a wise idea to stick them against The Acclaimed, another tag team that cannot get along with each other. If you play the odds that way then surely one side will resolve their problems, right? It’s the kind of logic that might get Fulham some points over Liverpool this season.

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Upcoming Appearances

ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, ??/11/2025
???, USA

1. ROH Women’s Pure Title Tournament – Round 1: Serena Deeb Vs Yuka Sakazaki

This tournament is really going at a snail’s pace, huh? I heard someone say the matches are purposely being kept back for PPV so I dunno, maybe we’re finally going to see this happen at “FINAL BATTLE” in another month’s time. Serena Deeb didn’t fall into an inter-dimensional vortex somewhere, right?

GCW “YOU WOULDN’T UNDERSTAND”, 07/11/2025
The Webster, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Kerry Morton

If we remember what happened at the Clusterfuck this year, Kerry Morton made it known he is not a fan of idol music when he interrupted The Up Up Girls. He went on a rather foul mouthed rant about them too. He should probably be careful if he pulls that same stunt on Itoh. She can swear with the best of ’em.

GCW “MASSACRE IN MAINE”, 08/11/2025
Yarmouth Amvets, Yarmouth, Maine USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs KJ Orso

Itoh’s already throwing insults at the former Fuego del Sol, telling KJ Orso he should have kept his mask on.

GCW “GREEN MOUNTAINS AND ME”, 09/11/2025
Barre Elks Lodge, Barre, Vermont, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

No match for Itoh has been announced yet but she will be there in Vermont.

SETUP/IWA THAILAND “A NEW DAWN”, 14/11/2025
TOKYO SQUARE In Itabashi

1. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title – 3 Way Bangkok Death Match: Matcha (c) Vs Ram Kaichow Vs Pom Harajuku
2. IWA Japan SETUP World Tag Team Titles: Andruew Tang & Jake De Leon (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami Vs Kappa Kozo & Kappa Jr.
3. Double Main Event I – Ace Vs Ace: Shivam Vs HARASHIMA

Let’s see how much of a payoff there is for SETUP’s working relationship with DDT and TJPW when they touch down in Japan.

DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “LOVE & PEACE”, 15/11/2025
JioSpace, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

1. MYPW Sponsored Match: Wonder Boy & Miles Karu Vs Fienic Rose & ‘Love Warrior’ Syawal
2. Marika Kobashi & Kira Summer Vs Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami
3. Sanshiro Takagi, Shinichiro Kawamatsu & Emman Azman Vs Chris Brookes, Shota & Jack Alexander
4. Miu Watanabe, Yuki Arai & Raku Vs Yuki Kamifuku, Mifu Ashida & Poppy Shay

The combined DDT and TJPW show in Malaysia will also be featuring performances by the KLP48 idol group. One of their members Suzuha Yamane has spent time rehearsing with The Up Up Girls because she has never performed while standing inside a wrestling ring before.

HOG “SUPERCLASH”, 15/11/2025
Suffolk Credit Union Arena, Brentwood, New York, USA

1. Shayna Baszler Vs Maki Itoh

As brave of a fighter that Itoh has become in recent years, there are still some opponents who can scare her. Shayna Baszler is one who Itoh admits will have to bend some rules just to have a chance at beating her. She has probably accepted her fate over what will happen in House Of Glory and at least asked Baszler not to destroy her face.

WXW “25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR”, 21/11/2025
Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany

1. Dani Luna Vs Miyu Yamashita

Yamashita’s big fortnight in Europe kicks off in Germany for wXw. Her match with Dani Luna was already announced last month…

WXW “25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR”, 22/11/2025
Gruenspan, Hamburg, Germany

1. Ahura Vs Miyu Yamashita

… but her second match with wXw is completely different. I remember seeing Ahura for the first time back in 2019 when he had a breakout weekend as part of The Pretty Bastards when they won the World Tag Team Festival that took place right as the pandemic lockdowns began. He’s become something of a top guy for wXw since then, particularly this year when he reached the final of 16 Carat Gold and then just recently winning the first König der Catcher tournament. He’s a good opponent for Yamashita to fight.

GCW “DREAM ON”, 22/11/2025
American Dream, East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Zayda Steel

A lot is going on for Zayda Steel lately, including an appearance on the EVOLVE brand that WWE decided to revive because they don’t have enough development systems in place apparently (I know, I know, it’s to take up more TV deals while also shutting out the competition). Itoh will keep her busy in New Jersey.

REVPRO “LIVE IN COVENTRY”, 23/11/2025
HMV Empire, Coventry, England

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Kanji

Now the result of this match is going to be interesting. The Undisputed British Women’s Title that belongs to Revolution Pro is currently among the dozen championship belts in Mercedes Moné’s collection. It’s a cool storyline, I think it’s great that Moné is doing this but I’m also relieved that TJPW hasn’t been involved with it because I’d rather not have an absentee championship in the promotion right now especially after what went on with the International Princess Title. Anyway, RevPro have been clearly signaling that Kanji is going to eventually challenge Moné and maybe even be the one to take the title away from her for this promotion’s big payoff to the storyline. Kanji facing Yamashita is a good way to build up some credibility on her road to becoming No. 1 Contender. But there’s a wild card that can be played here. Moné doesn’t keep it a secret how much she likes training with Yamashita and the TJPW crew whenever she gets the chance to. She’s even said in a Q&A that she would have liked to wrestle in TJPW but there’s just never been a time when the two sides could work something out. So what if instead Moné finally gets to wrestle Yamashita outside of Japan, like in England where Yamashita already has some cachet over there because of her history with EVE? You can say I’m coping all you want, what I just did now was put in the effort explaining why this match is appealing.

JCW “HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS”, 23/11/2025
The Mecca, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, USA

1. Queen Aminata Vs Maki Itoh

The original plan for Itoh on this JCW show was to team up with Matt Tremont & Bam Sullivan for a 6-Person Tag Match. Plans changed for the better because now she’s getting a singles match against Queen Aminata instead! We’re going to get headbutts that will shake the building to its core.

WPE/QPW “EPISODE 2”, 28/11/2025
Salle Albert Marquet, La Frette-sur-Seine, France

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Still not match revealed for Yamashita in France yet but Queens Pro Wrestling did advertise a meet and greet with her and Cara Noir together. Seeing that graphic without the context made me do a double take because that would be a unique match-up.

SAJ “FINAL BOUT 4”, 29/11/2025
Magnete, Via Adriando, Milan, Italy

1. Maki Itoh Vs X
2. Miyu Yamashita Vs JJ Gale

I’ve seen JJ Gale wrestle a couple of times in RevPro. He’s decent, definitely a big guy for Yamashita to try and knock down. He also has a tour of Japan coming up with ZERO1 at the end of the year. I thought SAJ would have Itoh’s match decided by now too. Still feels kind of odd she’s only doing this one booking for a European trip unless it’s just for some extra holiday money.

PROGRESS “VENDETTA 3”, 30/11/2025
Electric Ballroom, Camden, London, England

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

So the current PROGRESS Women’s World Champion is Rayne Leverkusen, a name that might sound familiar if you remember she did a tour with DDT a few years back. However Session Moth Martina is challenging her for the title in November and I know she still wants to have a match with Yamashita after the previous time in EVE was cancelled. That’s two ideas for possible opponents Yamashita can get on this show.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN BANGKOK”, 13/12/2025
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

I don’t think there’s been any new updates on TJPW’s Thailand show this month. The current lineup is Miu Watanabe, Yuki Kamifuku, Arisu Endo, Shoko Nakajima, Miyu Yamashita, Raku, Pom Harajuku, Suzume, Yuki Arai, Kaya Toribami, Shino Suzuki, Uta Takami, Matcha and Alexis Lee.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25” Results

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25”, 21/07/2025
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium
1,384 Fans

1. HIMAWARI & Ren Konatsu defeated Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami when HIMAWARI pinned Takami with the Sunflower Tempest (10:06).
2. Andreza Giant Panda & Raku defeated Kyoko Inoue & Pom Harajuku when Andreza pinned Harajuku with the Andreza Press (9:41).
3. Wakana Uehara, Toga, Mifu Ashida & Kira Summer defeated Yuna Manase, Mahiro Kiryu, Kaya Toribami & Chika Nanase when Uehara submitted Nanase with the Banana Pillow (11:27).
4. 3 Way Tag Match: Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro defeated Yuki Kamifuku & VENY and Arisu Endo & Jada Stone when Aino pinned Endo with the UBV (12:09).
5. Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Emi Sakura defeated El Desperado & Maki Itoh when Sakura pinned Itoh with the Queen’s Gambit (12:36).
6. Special Single Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Billie Starkz with the Crash Rabbit Heat (15:45).
7. International Princess Title: Moka Miyamoto defeated Suzume (c) with the Korokan (12:55).
*Suzume fails in V6. Moka Miyamoto becomes the 14th International Princess Champion!
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) defeated Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe when Nakajima pinned Watanabe with the Diving Senton (25:32).
*V3 for Kyoraku Kyomei.
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) defeated Yuki Arai with the Cutie Special (21:35).
*V3 for Mizuki.

If Mizuki gets to have her way then the entire summer is going to belong to her. She got one step closer to achieving that goal by successfully defending the Princess Of Princess Title today and cutting down the rising star Yuki Arai in the process. Arai relied heavily on Big Boots and similar attacks while Mizuki fired back in kind with Diving Stomps and heavy Dropkicks that resemble those kinds of stomps. Arai switched to putting Mizuki in the Scorpion Death Lock and even tried catching Mizuki’s arm to stop her from reaching the ropes. But Mizuki would rope break out of it and block the Finally to hit a Run-Up Double Stomp. From there Mizuki did the Whirling Candy for a two count. Arai was spent but kept trying to fight back until Mizuki caught her with the Cutie Special, hit her with a Missile Dropkick and drop her with another Cutie Special to win the match.

After the match Mizuki stuck her hand out to help Arai get back up and the two hugged. Arai left the ring and Mizuki thanked the fans for coming to the show as well as the fans who watched the stream from home. She said Arai is tough like Superman and by fighting her she could feel how amazing she is. The baton was passed through everyone in Tokyo Joshi Pro today from the very first match to the main event and Mizuki was happy to run with it at the end. If Arai is Superman, Mizuki is the Princess Of Princesses and she next wants to go win the Tokyo Princess Cup as the reigning Princess Champion! Arai admitted she kind of knew Mizuki was too high of a hurdle for her today. As much as she wanted to win the Princess Title her first time challenging for the belt made her realize she still can’t reach it yet. She also knows this wasn’t a once in a lifetime chance and she has time to become someone good enough to wear the belt around her waist someday. When that day comes she will challenge with confidence and would be happy if it’s Mizuki she has to beat to become champion.

Turns out it’s going to take more than just sasumata poles to take the Princess Tag Team Titles away from Kyoraku Kyomei! For the last month Daydream have been using sasumatas to torture the champions and get into their heads. Hyper Misao’s first counter measure was to promise she wouldn’t use her Hero Spray in the match and place it down on the mat. She then pulled out a second can and immediately sprayed Daydream with it. When the fight went around ringside Miu Watanabe used the sasumata to hook onto Shoko Nakajima and carry her up high before throwing her down to the floor. She and Rika Tatsumi also used the poles to swing and spin their opponents around in the ring. Misao then had to bring out her second counter measure, the Hyper Mobile! She ended up crashing it into Mahiro Kiryu but then Kyoraku Kyomei and Daydream charged into each other like it was a joust! Both teams wiped each other out so it was all even when the action moved back into the ring. Daydream tried to both do top rope moves on seperate corners but Kyoraku Kyomei countered it with their own Avalanche moves. Daydream did the Daydream Eternity on Nakajima by Misao broke the count at two. Nakajima then countered Watanabe’s Tear Drop into a Hurricanrana and did the Northern Lights Suplex only for Tatsumi to break the pin. The champions then got the upper hand when Nakajima gave Watanabe the Double Arm DDT while Misao used Vanitas on Tatsumi. That left the coast clear for Nakajima to climb the top turnbuckle and hit the Diving Senton on Watanabe for the win. Nakajima was worried the match would end in a time limit draw but she thinks her strength was the difference maker that pushed Kyoraku Kyomei towards victory. Tatsumi is disappointed that Daydream couldn’t win but she at least thinks her and Watanabe showed how good they would look as models advertising the sasumata poles.

There was one title change on the show and it came when Moka Miyamoto defeated Suzume for the International Princess Championship! Suzume added a rope walk Flying Facecrusher to her moveset and followed it up with the low range Ring A Bell. But when she jumped from the ropes to do the Spring Ring A Bell, Miyamoto dodged it and connected with the Zero Fighter Kick. Suzume was helpless from there and got pinned with the Korokan afterward for the title change. Miyamoto happily cried over winning her first championship especially because it happened two days before the 5th anniversary of her debut match. She is also pleased that the move she originally created for her first title challenge was what won her the match today. She is now looking forward to defending the title against foreign challengers so she can show them Japanese pro wrestling. Suzume is sad to see her title reign stop here when she feels like she is at her strongest. But having the title expanded her world and the reason she won it is because everyone believed in her. She knows she will bounce back from this and not miss out on the hot summer ahead.

The return of Billie Starkz to Japan also meant the return of the big move heavy style of wrestling you’d see on the American indies. Miyu Yamashita was happy to fight that way too even if she ends up getting a bit of a headache from it afterwards. At one point Starkz lifted her up at ringside and did a running Alabama Slam into the ring apron that saw Yamashita almost smack her head off of the edge. Yamashita returned the favour by giving Starkz the Attitude Adjustment from the ring apron to the floor. Back in the ring Starkz started getting frustrated when a Swanton Bomb and Tombstone Piledriver would not put Yamashita away. She then tried lifting her up for the Sugoi Driver but Yamashita slipped off behind her and applied a Sleeper Hold. Starkz used the Alabama Slam again to throw Yamashita into the corner and went for another Sugoi Driver but it was countered into a Victory Roll that led to Yamashita German Suplexing Starkz into the turnbuckles! Yamashita then hit the Crash Rabbit Heat in the middle of the ring to pin Starkz for the three count. Backstage Yamashita said today was the first time in three months she’s been in a TJPW ring and in that time she spent a lot of her tour with Starkz. She’s amazed at what Starkz has accomplished while only being 20 years old and enjoys fighting her, even when she does some crazy unexpected things. She wants Starkz to wrestle in TJPW again and suggested they even team up here. Starkz calls Yamashita one of her best opponents. Also as much as she was happy to wrestle on TJPW’s Dallas show, she said nothing can replace the feeling of wrestling on a TJPW show in Japan.

A lot of effort went into the entrances for the intergender tag match. TeaDK walked out dressed like royalty and being accompanied by servants. Meanwhile Maki Itoh made sure El Desperado got the full NEO Itoh Respect Army experience when the two of them danced to “Setsunairo”! Things went badly for TeaDK from the start. Desperado caught a Big Boot from Chris Brookes and threw his foot right into Emi Sakura’s face, causing her to get a nose bleed. Then Desperado and Brookes fought all the way up to the second floor to do the stretched rubber band spot on Itoh back in the ring. Brookes then introduced Itoh to Bunbun and the puppet gave her the middle finger. Itoh grabbed Bunbun and threw him out of the ring in response. Sakura was able to put Desperado in the Romero Special but Brookes used a Piledriver to get rid of him. Sakura then beat down Itoh with a Double Arm Backbreaker and Short-Range Lariat. Itoh showed resistance by sticking up her middle finger but Sakura then finished her off with the Queen’s Gambit to pin her. Backstage Sakura said the NEO Itoh Respect Army put 100% into their entrance but when the bell rang they didn’t give it their all. She also said Brookes didn’t do his share of the work either so this win was all entirely thanks to herself! Itoh praised Despy for the entrance and called him a great idol along with being a great IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion. She is now thinking of uniting all of the NEO Itoh Respect Army together so they can release a debut CD together.

Everyone had to watch their backs for the 3 Way Tag Match. Arisu Endo and Haru Kazashiro started off the match exchanging chain holds until Yuki Kamifuku eye raked the both of them. She then called VENY in so VENYU could work over Kazashiro until Endo & Jada Stone took control. Kazashiro continued taking the brunt of the attacks until she could tag in Yuki Aino. VENY got time in the ring with Stone and Kazashiro that ended with a triple down and tags to their partners. The two members of the Tokyo Joshi Tokusatsu Club then turned it up a notch with Aino giving Stone & Endo a Double Side Suplex. Things broke down with VENY doing a Moonsault onto Stone outside the ring while Kamifuku tried to finish off whoever she could find. But Kazashiro came in to give her the Fisherman Suplex. That left Aino in the ring with Endo. Aino countered the Ju no Okite into a Running Bulldog and then used the UBV on Endo to pin her. Kazashiro said this was her first 3 Way Tag match and she didn’t know what to do during the chaos. Aino praised the other teams for being strong and admitted some luck went their way. But they’re going to use this positive power to do more. VENYU were annoyed because they thought this was going to be an easy win. VENY is also noticing the last few times she’s been teaming with Kamifuku they’ve been losing. She doesn’t get invited to TJPW much so when she does she wants to get a belt! Kamifuku told her they can go to Ginza if she wants to look for a new belt.

Some new looks were on display for the 8-Woman Tag Match. Kaya Toribami and Chika Nanase had new costumes while Toga wore a fancy pair of sunglasses that look similar to the ones Kira Summer wears. Yuna Manase showed up with a new title belt to go along with the Kitsune World Title. Yesterday she won the Daily Sports Tag Team Title over at a PURE-J show. She accidentally dropped that belt to the floor during her ring entrance. Mahiro Kiryu’s once per match apology was her saying sorry for bringing a hot woman like Manase here when it’s already so hot every day. The match came down to Nanase lifting up Wakana Uehara into the Inari Torii Kai only for Mifu Ashida to kick her from behind. Uehara later jumped onto Nanase and rolled her into the Bannana Pillow to make her give up. Toga said her team had a good mix of power and flexibility to win. The wrestlers with power made up for those who didn’t have any and it went the other way with flexibility. Toga & Uehara were also happy to wrestle Manase who had already graduated from TJPW years before they debuted. They were able to show her some of TJPW’s new faces that have popped up while she was gone. Manase thought she had gotten stronger after winning another championship yesterday but she wasn’t able to help her teammates today. She learned she will still have to become even stronger.

Pom Harajuku showed up with her face painted to match Kyoko Inoue’s design but when it was time for their tag match to begin, their opponents decided to take a nap in the ring. Harajuku convinced Inoue they should go straight for the pin but Raku rolled the both of them on top of Andreza Giant Panda for a nearfall. Raku & Andreza then piled themselves on top of them for another nearfall. Inoue was then put to sleep by the power of Raku’s eyemask and lullaby but Harajuku woke her up by screaming. Inoue tried attacking Andreza with Mongolion Chops but Andreza knocked her back with his own version of the move as well as a Spinning Back Fist. Andreza also swatted Harajuku away at points but she was able to knock him down with a Missile Dropkick to the back. Raku gave Inoue a Russian Leg Sweep with an assist from Andreza pushing them over. Andreza then knocked out Harajuku with a Headbutt and pinned her with the Andreza Press. Raku said her team spent most of the day sleeping which is why they were able to win. Andreza’s handler Ossan Tiger agreed because Andreza slept for more than 10 hours, the perfect amount. Harajuku was upset not because she lost but because Inoue wasn’t looking when she was doing her best. Next time she will show Inoue just how cool she is.

The rookie Ren Konatsu got to be on the winning side of a tag team match for the first time. She has HIMAWARI to thank for that. Konatsu was taken out by Shino Suzuki late in the match leaving HIMAWARI to fight Uta Takami. She broke out of the Koala Clutch to give Takami the Princess Drop. Then after that she pinned Takami with the Sunflower Tempest. HIMAWARI was happy to be in the opening match at Ota Ward Gymnasium again because she wanted to make up for losing the opening match at “GRAND PRINCESS ’25” back in March. She also wanted to lead Konatsu for her first big event match of her career. Konatsu only just debuted but she said she has a strong desire to liven things up. Takami is disappointed she lost but appreciates getting to experience all kinds of emotions like happiness, frustration and fun! She hopes some day she will go on a bus tour across Japan with Suzuki for a wrestling trip together.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25” Preview

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25”, 21/07/2025
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

1. HIMAWARI & Ren Konatsu Vs Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami
2. Andreza Giant Panda & Raku Vs Kyoko Inoue & Pom Harajuku
3. Yuna Manase, Mahiro Kiryu, Kaya Toribami & Chika Nanase Vs Wakana Uehara, Toga, Mifu Ashida & Kira Summer
4. 3 Way Tag Match: Yuki Kamifuku & VENY Vs Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro Vs Arisu Endo & Jada Stone
5. Special Tag Match: El Desperado & Maki Itoh Vs Chris Brookes & Emi Sakura
6. Special Single Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Billie Starkz
7. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Moka Miyamoto
8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
9. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Yuki Arai

Welcome to the middle point of the year and the second of three visits to Ota Ward Gymnasium in 2025. As we enter part two in this trilogy of big venue events for Tokyo Joshi Pro this year I’m trying to figure out if a three act story can be pieced together in regards to the company’s top champion. It’s either going to be that or the inauguration of their next ace. A successful tour of Texas earlier this month has provided a gust of momentum for TJPW going into the show and perhaps even a fresh group of eyes looking towards the event, at least internationally. On the undercard a lot of the wrestlers are focusing on the upcoming Tokyo Princess Cup. Even a few of the champions have set up goals to win the tournament while holding their titles. That’s if they make it out of Ota Ward with the belt still in their hands of course. Then once the Cup is done with the road will take TJPW back here for “WRESTLE PRINCESS VI” in September. Now let’s see if this really is going to be Act II of a year long story.

1. HIMAWARI & Ren Konatsu Vs Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami

I don’t know what it is about the new rookie but whenever I look into Ren Konatsu’s eyes I see the crazy vibes of MAO hiding deep in there somewhere. This is way, way down the line by the way because she hasn’t even entered her third month as a pro wrestler yet. All I’m saying is it only takes the little sheep toy clipped to her belt to start whispering ideas into her head and next thing you know she’s using her opponents to smash plastic boxes into pieces. If the sheep suddenly gets replaced with a Labubu then we’re really going to see some trouble down the line.

I thought TJPW had something going on for HIMAWARI and Shino Suzuki by making them team up every now and then going back to the previous Ota Ward show. Instead they are going to be opponents here. HIMAWARI is teaming with Konatsu and is the only one in this match who qualified for the Princess Cup. Suzuki’s failure to get past the prelimary rounds may become a pivotal point in her career because she is now seeing how little progress she’s been making in her three years as a wrestler. Uta Takami meanwhile has her whole future ahead of her and had a big role on this year’s “HYPE!” show. Maybe she’s the one I should be worried about possibly turning crazy instead of Konatsu.

2. Andreza Giant Panda & Raku Vs Kyoko Inoue & Pom Harajuku

A potential monster bout ended up changing its plans but in doing so brings in a brand new joshi legend into the TJPW ring for the first time. Max The Impaler was supposed to return to Japan so they could team up with Pom Harajuku again. Unfortunately according to TJPW Max has health issues preventing them from being able to travel for the show so that put a stop to Pompaler getting back together for now. Harajuku’s new tag partner is the fearsome and face painted Kyoko Inoue! I wonder if United Japan Pro Wrestling is the reason why we’re getting this appearance? Inoue is the founder and current president of World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana based in Kanagawa. The joshi group recently joined UJPW as a supporting member and TJPW is already a member so the connection is there to be made.

There might be a jealous Up Up Girl in the locker room once Inoue is in the ring because one of the highlights of her classic matches was always the Giant Swing. Will she be the one to do it to Andreza Giant Panda? The last time Andreza showed up in TJPW he went viral for getting bonked over the head with a Pico Pico Hammer. This place is starting to get too dangerous for him. For Raku though she’s been living a dream ever since her last visit to Ota Ward. Back in March she beat Harajuku to win the SETUP All Asia Women’s Title, her first proper championship reign. While she no longer holds the belt things are just going swimmingly for her lately. This match is just going to be another trip inside her sleepy wonderland. Maybe she’ll bring the Buc-ee toy she bought in Texas with her for Andreza to play with.

3. Yuna Manase, Mahiro Kiryu, Kaya Toribami & Chika Nanase Vs Wakana Uehara, Toga, Mifu Ashida & Kira Summer

Time to throw a mixture of women into the ring, shake it back and forth and see who comes out of it the last ones standing. Yuna Manase pays another visit to TJPW. While she’s been rocking the Ganbare☆Joshi division over in Ganbare☆Pro in Japan, she’s also been flying the flag for Kitsune over in America as their top champion. Mahiro Kiryu was settling into a new tag team with Haruna Neko until Neko got injured yet again so she’s sort of just been floating around at the moment. Kaya Toribami finally had something of a level up by getting to challenge for the MLW Women’s Featherweight Title last month and putting in a pretty good performance. She also has a new costume ready to debut for this show so maybe things are looking up for the bird. Chika Nanase is starting to move up into the next phase of her young career. Where she goes from here is anyone’s guess.

Over on the other team Wakana Uehara is progressing at a nice pace. She has a named tag team as part of Ober Eats, got to challenge for a championship and at this point is pretty much guaranteed to be part of the crew for every USA tour. As long as she keeps her appetite, I see good things coming for her in the future. The times Toga has mostly been standing out lately is from whenever she gets to play an ikemen role of some sort. In regular matches though she’s had a few setbacks lately. Mifu Ashida’s win-loss record since coming here hasn’t been great either. She’s been a bit busy doing other things lately but a time like now is always a good place to start turning things around. Kira Summer has been seeing the growth of women’s wrestling in Asia and Australia this year. It is motivating her to join in and play her part in helping it grow even more.

4. 3 Way Tag Match: Yuki Kamifuku & VENY Vs Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro Vs Arisu Endo & Jada Stone

Ober Eats is one of the new teams to appear on the scene this year but Yuki Kamifuku is going back to one of her favorite choices in her wardrobe. She is bringing VENY back so VENYU can team up together again! VENY has spent the year ruling over SEAdLINNNG with a five month reign as Beyond The Sea Champion. Once that title run came to an end she’s been going from place to place in the joshi scene with TJPW becoming her next brief stop. Yuki Aino is fresh off of coming out as the main character of this year’s “HYPE!” show. The lesson she learned coming out of it is she will never be alone in TJPW and that might finally be what leads her out of the maze she’s been stuck in ever since her sister Nodoka Tenma graduated. I’m probably going to be writing that opinion again and again until the end of time.

Aino will be teaming with Haru Kazashiro who continues to grow into a future high card player for the promotion. Once she gets her final year of high school out of the way, the sky’s the limit for how far she will go in the ring. She is already developing the ring smarts to gradually figure out how to perfect the Fisherman Suplex but a 3 Way Tag Match like this is probably too chaotic an environment to show that off. The third team is a fitting mixture of pep and spark. Arisu Endo has been taking a back seat for her Daisy Monkey’s partners success. She hasn’t been letting that dampen her spirits. Jada Stone is now well accustomed to TJPW but it looks like she has a new place to call home. She was recently offered a contract by TNA so I’m not sure if she will continue to do tours here. If this is close to the end then she’s certainly made good use of her time in TJPW.

5. Special Tag Match: El Desperado & Maki Itoh Vs Chris Brookes & Emi Sakura

Are there as many wrestlers out there who are currently living out their dreams like El Desperado has? He gets to fulfill his most violent desires by having several deathmatches with Jun Kasai, pals around with the likes of MAO and Chris Brookes especially when it comes to the more sleazy indies style of wrestling. There’s nobody else in New Japan who is quite as in sync with the current wrestling scene than good ol’ Despy. Now he gets to tick off another line in his bucket list by getting to team with Maki Itoh! The two got to know each other in America two years ago when they were both booked on the same GCW show. The idea was thrown around for them to team up. Now that it’s happening it finally occurred to Despy that he has to learn Itoh’s song and dance in order to be accepted into the Itoh Respect Army. Rehersals so far have not been promising. Brookes was at least able to pull the dance off so the current IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion has no excuse. Come on man you used to carry a guitar around. Surely you can carry a tune too?

TJPW brought Despy & Itoh together because they needed a poison pairing that could match the same level as TeaDK. Brookes & Emi Sakura teamed up in TJPW last March for “GRAND PRINCESS ’24” and it didn’t go according to plan for them. They lost to The Magical Sugar Rabbits and blamed each other over the result. Time healed those wounds so they are teaming up again to give TJPW another go. Sakura has had several matches with Sakura over the years, most of them in an AEW ring. Thankfully they haven’t needed to staple each other over and over like Brookes and Despy do whenever they fight. Oh God, don’t let Itoh arm herself with a stapler!

6. Special Single Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Billie Starkz

One of Miyu Yamashita’s toughest rivals on her excursions to America is Billie Starkz. When it comes to their previous matches Starkz has beaten Yamashita more than the other way around. It’s a friendly rivalry though and the two of them even had something of a good tag team going on during Yamashita’s recent stay in GCW. So when Yamashita heard that Starkz would love nothing more than to wrestle in Japan again she got TJPW to set this match up.

So yeah, that’s pretty much it. Not a lot of story to set this up and it remains to be seen if this is just a one off attraction match to have for the big show. Yamashita only has one championship left to win in TJPW to have achieved every single accomplishment available to her. If anything her winning this match would be done to establish her as the favorite for the Princess Cup. A win for Starkz here though should be followed up on. A younger wrestler beating Yamashita in her home promotion is worth a title shot of some sort down the line. We don’t really need to worry about locker room politics either because it’s become pretty clear recently that Yamashita has some sort of deal in place with AEW/ROH.

7. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Moka Miyamoto

Now we get into the big three matches of the show. The three championships are all currently on a reliable group of wrestlers so where the belts go from here is a good question to think about. If Suzume was to lose the International Princess Title here she would have left a good mark as champion. Her reign has been a little bit different than the others thanks to a pair of defences against Jada Stone, one in Japan and the rematch in America. It’s unusual for someone to defend a Princess Title against the same challenger twice in one reign. It’s also not that common for the IP Champion to defend the belt overseas when that’s meant to be the whole bloody point of it! When it’s all said and done, Suzume will have a good argument towards having one of the more defining runs as IP Champion. She’s already said she feels like she has evolved from a bee into a hornet because of this title. Her ultimate goal is to become queen bee of TJPW!

Her challenger Moka Miyamoto has also become attached to the belt but it’s becoming for a pretty bad reason. This is going to be her third time challenging for the IP Title after failing to win it twice before. It is the title she wants most because she believes having an international championship is the best way for her to spread Japanese culture across the world. Part of that culture is Japan’s technology and Miyamoto thinks there has to be some kind of Japanese technology out there that is good for getting rid of hornets! The two traded wins with each other during the Texas tour so it’s all even going into Ota Ward.

8. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe

Okay where do sasumata poles stand on the police brutality scale because they’re going to be mentioned a lot in this part of the preview and the girls have already used them to literally crucify Tetsuya Koda. The existence of these things have been the blight of Kyoraku Kyomei’s last couple of weeks. Other than that things are going great for the Princess Tag Team Champions. The big kaiju Shoko Nakajima was let loose in MLW and she quickly acquired the MLW Women’s Title. Meanwhile Hyper Misao lived through the stress of putting together the third annual “HYPE!” show and came out of it in one piece. They were looking forward to their next crazy adventure with the Princess Tag Titles but weren’t ready for how it would be set up.

One year ago the headline match of “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’24” was the battle of Daydream between Rika Tatsumi and Miu Watanabe. In the aftermath the two appeared to have gone their separate ways and they went almost a year without teaming up again. That was until a month ago when Daydream reunited and ambushed Kyoraku Kyomei with sasumata poles, demanding a title shot. The champions agreed to the match because Daydream are the kind of strong team they’re looking to beat. Ever since then Tatsumi & Watanabe have been attacking Nakajima & Misao with sasumata poles in their preview matches. Kyoraku Kyomei reached their breaking point over it and stole the sasumatas away from their challengers. They then tried to properly recycle them under the watchful eye of GM Koda until Daydream appeared to try and take their weapons back by force. That led to Nakajima & Misao taping the poles to Koda like a crucifix but Daydream were able to take him back too. Now that the weapons are back in the challengers’ hands they have the advantage going into the title match. Will the champs decided to fight fire with fire or will they have something else under their sleeves to foil Daydream’s plan?

9. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Yuki Arai

This is going one of two ways. Either we are firmly in Mizuki’s era as the dominant Princess Of Princess Champion where she will headline all of the Ota Ward shows or TJPW decides now is the time to crown Yuki Arai as their new top draw. Mizuki has already toppled Watanabe (to win the belt), Tatsumi and Yamashita (the two defences) in this title reign. If she beats Arai here I see her holding onto the belt for a long time to come so she can have her definitive main event run in the promotion. Arai meanwhile made the choice to go all in on having pro wrestling be her career so while she has all the time in the world to achieve the final piece of the TJPW Grand Slam, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the company strike now while the iron is hot.

History doesn’t paint a clear picture for how this is going to go. Arai won the Princess Tag Titles on her first try and Mizuki was one of the champions back then. Arai was involved with the finish but it was Saki Akai who pinned Mizuki for the victory. When it comes to the International Princess Title however Arai failed to win it twice before becoming champion on her third attempt (hey, that’s a good sign for Miyamoto). This main event is her first time fighting for the Princess Of Princess Title. Only a select few have held the title and none were ever able to beat the champion on their first try. But that’s just the kind of record a wrestler booked like Arai would go on to break, right? After all, this is the idol who only needed one Finally Axe Kick to beat the unstoppable Max The Impaler and earned an endorsement from Meiko Satomura. She’s been groomed since day one to become the promotion’s next ace and her quick success is evidence of it.

Arai is not taking this moment for granted. It’s her first big match since graduating from SKE48. When she juggled her idol career with her wrestling career she felt like she wasn’t as good as everyone else in TJPW. But now that she’s fully focused on just wrestling she is eager to go challenge all of her seniors and eventually take the lead of the promotion. Mizuki has a goal in mind to win the Princess Cup while she holds the Princess Title. She has already proved that princesses are stronger than monsters. But are they stronger than successful pop singers?

Guests For Yoppy’s Graduation, Despy Is Showing Up Everywhere Lately, Kyoko Replaces Max

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25!”, 05/07/2025
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. 12th Tokyo Princess Cup Preliminary League – Round 2: Wakana Uehara Vs Shino Suzuki
2. 12th Tokyo Princess Cup Preliminary League – Round 2: Haru Kazashiro Vs Ivy Steele
3. Mahiro Kiryu, Toga & Chika Nanase Vs Arisu Endo, Uta Takami & Ren Konatsu
4. Yoshiko Hasegawa & Kaya Toribami Vs HIMAWARI & Riara
5. Yuki Kamifuku, Mifu Ashida & Kira Summer Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Pom Harajuku
6. Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Suzume Vs Yuki Arai, Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Moka Miyamoto

Tomorrow’s Tokyo Joshi Pro show is sold out!

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “YOSHIKO HASEGAWA GRADUATION EVENT – NONFICTION”, 08/07/2025
Shinjuku FACE

1. 3 Way Match: Raku Vs Mahiro Kiryu Vs Shino Suzuki
2. 12th Tokyo Princess Cup Preliminary League – Round 2: Pom Harajuku Vs HIMAWARI
3. 12th Tokyo Princess Cup Preliminary League – Round 2: Moka Miyamoto Vs Kaya Toribami
4. Maki Itoh, Mifu Ashida & Ren Konatsu Vs Kira Summer, Chika Nanase & Ivy Steele
5. Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Yuki Aino Vs Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe & Toga
6. Mizuki, Suzume, Arisu Endo & Haru Kazashiro Vs Yuki Arai, Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara & Uta Takami
7. Yoshiko Hasegawa Graduation Commemorative Match ~ 1 Vs 27 Handicap Match: Yoshiko Hasegawa Vs Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao, Suzume, Rika Tatsumi, Maki Itoh, Yuki Kamifuku, Yuki Aino, Miu Watanabe, Raku, Pom Harajuku, Mahiro Kiryu, Moka Miyamoto, Arisu Endo, Yuki Arai, Kaya Torbami, Wakana Uehara, HIMAWARI, Toga, Shino Suzuki, Haru Kazashiro, Mifu Ashida, Kira Summer, Chika Nanase, Uta Takami, Ren Konatsu & Ivy Steele

Nao Kakuta will be at Yoshiko Hasegawa’s graduation show as a special guest commentator. Another special guest will be Teppei Arita, a Japanese comedian who has written several books about pro wrestling and also hosts his own Youtube series about current stories from around the industry. In fact Hasegawa was interviewed on a recent episode that was uploaded last week.

BASARA “BASARA 283 ~UTAGE~”, 08/07/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Daiki Shimomura Vs Takeru Inoue
2. Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi & Gouma Ryu Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
3. Daichi Kazato & Munetatsu Nakamura Vs SAGAT & Minoru Fujita
4. Isami Kodaka & Ryota Nakatsu Vs Takumi Tsukamoto & Takato Nakano
5. Ryuichi Sekine, FUMA & Ayumu Honda Vs Masato Kamino, Lil’ Kraken & Fuminori Abe

Last month Ayumu Honda joined forces with Hyakusho Ikki even though he didn’t really want to. Blame Trans-Am ★ Hiroshi for that. We’ll see how much of a united force they can be in a few days time.

GANBARE☆PRO “WILD AT HEART 2025”, 19/07/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Moeka Haruhi & Yuna Manase Vs Makoto & Chika
2. YuuRI Vs Mio Shirai
3. Yumehito Imanari & Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Masaaki Mochizuki & Ken Ohka
4. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Mizuki Watase & Shigehiro Irie (c) Vs Toru Sugiura & Munetatsu Nakamura

High hopes are fueling Toru Sugiura & Munetatsu Nakamura’s challenge for the Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles. Nakamura would have gotten injured by Mizuki Watase last month if it wasn’t for Sugiura throwing in the towel. Watase gets needing to preserve yourself for the big title match but he and Shigehiro Irie want the challengers to not say die once the actual match takes place.

Bad tension is building up between YuuRI and Mio Shirai. Will it spill over into something worse when they have their singles match?

Chika is coming over from Pro Wrestling Evolution.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25”, 21/07/2025
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

1. Andreza Giant Panda & Raku Vs Kyoko Inoue & Pom Harajuku
2. Special Tag Match: El Desperado & Maki Itoh Vs Chris Brookes & Emi Sakura
3. Special Single Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Billie Starkz
4. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Moka Miyamoto
5. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
6. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Yuki Arai

What’s the most chaotic pair of opponents you can find for Chris Brookes & Emi Sakura? How about El Desperado & Maki Itoh! The two originally met in America while working the same GCW show and have been tweeting back and forth for a while about teaming up. Now looks like the perfect time to make it happen. Itoh wants Desperado to learn the Itoh Respect Army dance for their entrance. He didn’t expect that to be part of the deal.

TJPW say a health issue is preventing Max The Impaler from participating at “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25” so Pom Harajuku needs a new tag team partner. Luckily for her TJPW has decided to bring in Kyoko Inoue as the replacement! The joshi legend currently wrestles for Diana, a promotion that just so happened to join the UJPW recently so I wonder if that new connection helped put this deal together.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GARAFES DASH!! ~UENO KITEKITE DAI SAKUSEN~”, 26/07/2025
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Miu Watanabe, Haru Kazashiro & Uta Takami Vs Yuki Arai, Raku & Shino Suzuki

Yuki Arai will wrestle at a Garafes show for the first time.

BASARA “BASARA 285 ~CONTINUATION IS POWER~”, 03/08/2025
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. GRACE PROJECT Sponsored Match: Toru Sugiura, Captain Grace, Shigehiro Irie & Daiki Shimomura Vs Tomoya Hirata, Mizuki Watase, Ultra Soki & HIROYA
2. Special Tag Match: Isami Kodaka & El Desperado Vs Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino
3. Union MAX Title: Ryota Nakatsu (c) Vs X

A couple of weeks after Despy appears in TJPW he will then show up in BASARA to team with Isami Kodaka. The two of them were specifically put together for Aijin Tag to fight against.

The Grace Group bus company have their own independent wrestling promotion called GRACE PROJECT. They don’t really have their own roster, save for Captain Grace who is the man in charge of the whole thing. Instead their shows are filled with indie wrestlers from across Japan including those who compete in BASARA. So a lot of familiar faces are showing up in their offer match for the show.

SUPER JAPAN “SANSHIRO TAKAGI 30TH ANNIVERSARY PROJECT ~SUPER JAPAN PRO WRESTLING HATAAGE-SEN”, 19/08/2025
Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage

1. Special Single Match: Yasu Urano Vs Mikiya Sasaki
2. Special Single Match: TAKA Michinoku Vs MIKAMI
3. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Brahman Yuji, Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei Vs Fuminori Abe, Takuya Nomura & Ippanjin Munenori Sawa

Looks like Sanshiro Takagi and The Brahman Brothers are going to get their way. For one night Yuji Nagata is going to become Brahman Yuji! That’s bad news for Astronauts and Munenori Sawa because Nagata does look like he has a good bowling arm.

What can I write about a Yasu Urano Vs Mikiya Sasaki match? Nothing much.

Kuroshio TOKYO Japan will also be on the show.

The Future Of MatchMake And Agent, New Summer Sun Princess Matches, HARASHIMA’s 24th Anniversary

M&A “SANSHIRO TAKAGI 30TH ANNIVERSARY PROJECT ~MATCHMAKE & AGENT SUBTITLE TBD~”, 25/06/2025
Shinjuku FACE

1. Special Single Match: Fuminori Abe Vs Shota
2. Special Tag Match: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan & Momoka Hanazono Vs Ippanjin Munenori Sawa & Mio Shirai
3. Special Single Match: Momo Kohgo Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa
4. Special Tag Match: Rika Tatsumi & Antonio Honda Vs Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei
5. Special Single Match: Suwama Vs Muscle Sakai
6. Special Single Match: Yuji Nagata Vs Ken Ohka

At the opening of the show tomorrow, Sanshiro Takagi will make an important announcement about the future of MatchMake & Agent Pro Wrestling. There is a third M&A show booked for August and the original plan was to hold it on a bi-monthly basis for the rest of the year. Maybe Takagi has a bigger location for one of them?

BASARA “BASARA 282 ~UTAGE AKA – HIEN~”, 25/06/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Masato Kamino Vs Shota Kofuji
2. Isami Kodaka & Shiori Asahi Vs Yasu Urano & Hagane Shinno
3. Daiki Shimomura & Takato Nakano Vs Thanomsak Toba & Tyson “Ultimate” Maeguchi
4. Ryota Nakatsu Vs Takeru Inoue
5. Iron Fist Tag Team Titles: Ryuichi Sekine & FUMA (c) Vs Lil’ Kraken & Akira Jo

Tomorrow’s BASARA show has an Iron Fist Tag Team Titles match as well as Takeru Inoue’s return from injury.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25”, 21/07/2025
Tokyo Ota Ward Gymnasium

1. Andreza Giant Panda & Raku Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
2. Emi Sakura & Chris Brookes Vs X & X
3. Special Single Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Billie Starkz
4. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Moka Miyamoto
5. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
6. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Yuki Arai

Three new matches have been added to “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25”. First Miyu Yamashita wants Billie Starkz to come back to Japan and decided the best way to make it happen is to challenge her for a match at this show. Next, Emi Sakura & Chris Brookes will reunite as TeaDK to take on a tag team to be determined. Last but not least, Pompaler are about to meet their match. Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku are going to face the similar mismatched pair of Andreza Giant Panda & Raku!

There will be a total of 10 matches taking place on the show.

DDT “SANKO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD. OME PRESENTS HARASHIMA RETURNS HOME! ~WE’RE HOLDING A SHOW IN OME! WHY? BECAUSE IT’S MY HOMETOWN!~”, 27/07/2025
Sumitomo Metal Mine Arena Ome Sports Hall 1

1. HARASHIMA Debut 24th Anniversary Match – Special 6-Man Tag Match: HARASHIMA, Togi Makabe & Yasu Urano Vs Shinya Aoki, Shuji Ishikawa & Akito

Some of HARASHIMA’s closest friends in wrestling are all coming over to celebrate the 24th anniversary of his debut match. The big name of the bunch is his old pal from college Togi Makabe! It will be Yasu Urano’s first time being in the ring with him. Shinya Aoki, Shuji Ishikawa & Akito will be facing the three of them from across the ring.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW SPRING TOUR 2025 FINAL” Results

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW SPRING TOUR 2025 FINAL”, 22/06/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku KFC Hall
365 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House

1. 12th Tokyo Princess Cup Preliminary League – Round 1: Wakana Uehara defeated Kira Summer with the Banana Pillow (6:56).
2. 12th Tokyo Princess Cup Preliminary League – Round 1: Ivy Steele defeated Toga with the Modified Pumphandle Slam (8:33).
3. Yoshiko Hasegawa defeated Uta Takami with the Muffler Hold (7:17).
4. Raku & Shino Suzuki defeated Maki Itoh & Ren Konatsu when Raku pinned Konatsu with the Doctor Yellow (9:03).
5. Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Moka Miyamoto & Kaya Toribami when Suzume pinned Miyamoto with the Ring A Bell (11:49).
6. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe defeated Shoko Nakajima & Chika Nanase when Tatsumi submitted Nanase with the Dragon Sleeper (12:33).
7. Mizuki, Hyper Misao, Yuki Aino & Pom Harajuku defeated Yuki Arai, Mahiro Kiryu, HIMAWARI, Haru Kazashiro when Harajuku pinned Kazashiro with the Pom de Justice (12:21).

Today was Sayuri Namba’s graduation from Tokyo Joshi Pro. But before her last day with the company was done, Hyper Misao had a request for her in the main event. Misao asked Namba to do her own superhero introduction but it was all so Misao could stick a spray can in her hand and force her to blind the other team with it. Namba was too scared to stop and ended up spraying the can towards everybody. Mizuki & Yuki Aino brought the ring bell and hammer into the ring and held them out for Namba to officially start the match while Misao was pinning Haru Kazashiro. Namba rang the bell and Kazashiro kicked out at two. The match got more serious when Mizuki and Yuki Arai fought each other while HIMAWARI was able to handle what Misao was giving her. Misao blinded Kiryu with the spray and tagged out to Pom Harajuku. She screamed in Mahiro Kiryu’s face and Kiryu told her to shut up afterward. Instead of apologizing, she instead tagged in Kazashiro. The match broke down into all eight wrestlers fighting in the ring. Mizuki’s team got the upper hand with all four of them hitting signature moves on their opponents. Harajuku then gave Kazashiro the Pom de Justice to get the win.

Harajuku had tears of joy because she got to do the post-match winner’s call today. She invited Namba into the ring but Namba said Pom crying is going to make her cry too. Harajuku said she is sad Namba is graduating but she is doing it with a goal for the future and that will motivate Harajuku to push herself towards her own goals. Namba noticed that Harajuku was wearing the costume from her debut match seven years ago. She then talked about starting out in TJPW around the same time as when Harajuku, Kiryu and Haruna Neko were trainees so to her it is like they are all the same age. The time Namba spent in TJPW is a treasure she will cherish forever and she owes it to everyone in the company for making it such a sparkling time. She was gifted with a bouquet by Aino and Raku. Suzume and Kiryu then gave her a commemorative album. Kiryu wanted to wipe the tears away from Namba’s face but used a water-soluble tissue that left bits of paper behind so Aino had to carefully clean them off Namba. Everyone then gathered in the ring around Namba so they could all announce her name together to officially end her career as TJPW’s ring announcer. Nao Kakuta also appeared for Namba’s final group photo.

It’s been over a year since Daydream last teamed up together and they haven’t skipped a beat together. Rika Tatsumi thought it didn’t feel that long since they last teamed up but Miu Watanabe didn’t agree with her. What they do agree on is their chemistry was perfect as always. Tatsumi can see how much Watanabe has evolved away from her while Watanabe knows she can match up to Tatsumi’s needs better than anyone else. Daydream also used the sasumata poles to trap Shoko Nakajima again and Chika Nanase got caught in one this time too. Nakajima expected Daydream to do something unexpected and they exceeded her expectations today. Nanase worked hard to help her but Nakajima thinks she needs Misao with her to beat Daydream. She was asked by a reporter if she will come up with a countermeasure for the sasumata poles and she thinks it would be pointless to do so. Kyoraku Kyomei might bring a hidden weapon of their own or they might do the unthinkable and fight Daydream fair and square.

Suzume scored a clean pin on her upcoming challenger Moka Miyamoto. During their tag match the International Princess Champion countered the Korokan into a Backslide that moved into a low Ring A Bell. She then used a Flying Facecrusher followed by a full power Ring A Bell to score the three count for Daisy Monkey. She was happy to win the match by herself and get revenge for Miyamoto recently pinning her earlier this month. She was even happier to hear Namba announce her as the winner one last time. Miyamoto knows she is lacking a lot of things and said she will analyze them more heading into the title match.

There is a little sheep doll that Ren Konatsu clips to her belt and it caught Raku’s attention. She thinks it matches her outfit better so she took it off Konatsu and used it to power up her lullaby, sending Konatsu to sleep. She then used the doll on Maki Itoh while Shino Suzuki held her in place but the lullaby sent both of them to sleep too. Raku then accidentally turned the doll on herself, resulting on all four wrestlers napping in the ring. Fumirin counted a quadruple pin of everyone but they all woke up and kicked out at two. Raku then threw the doll out of the ring.

Yuki Kamifuku missed the show because of a foot injury. The 3 Way Match she was booked for instead became just Yoshiko Hasegawa against Uta Takami.

Despite a few delays the 1st Round in the Tokyo Princess Cup preliminary league has been completed in time. Today featured the last two matches of the opening round. Ivy Steele comes out of this competition with the biggest upset so far by beating Toga. It took Steele blocking the Rock Bottom and hitting a Snap Enzuigiri to Toga to get out of harm’s way. Steele then used a Spinning Pumphandle Back Drop to get the win. Steele said losing to Toga before prepared her for today and made her work hard for the victory. Toga thought she would win today but realizes that was a bit arrogant of her to think that way. In the other match Wakana Uehara made Kira Summer submit to the Banana Pillow. Uehara doesn’t know who to expect in Round 2 but she wants to beat whoever it is to qualify for the Princess Cup. Summer tried to be more aggressive than usual but it didn’t work this time. She wants to continue getting more aggressive so the next time she will win.

It was announced that TeaDK, the team of Chris Brookes & Emi Sakura will return to TJPW for “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’25” on 21st July. Their opponents are to be determined.

DDT Around The World – Late April 2025

What a month. Felt like the moment WrestleMania Week ended the wrestling world just kept going. Konosuke Takeshita was involved with the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament in AEW and when that came to an end he very quickly established a new tag team with Josh Alexander. Then in Japan some DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro wrestlers took part in Deadlock Pro’s weekend in the country’s capital. There was also some lucha libre action happening in Tokyo a few days later. Back in America Maki Itoh got her face painted again in a very nice and very evil manner. Then the very busy month came to an end with Miyu Yamashita stepping foot back inside AEW after a two or three year absence.

Yamashita is going to have a packed schedule in May. Itoh has a few things coming up but she will be back in TJPW in the middle of the month. Yamashita though has plenty on her plate and the AEW appearance came about at a good time to replenish some interest in her. What’s included below is not the complete schedule she posted on her Twitter account. There are plenty more dates coming up over the next few months but some haven’t been announced by the promotions yet so I left them out just to save some space. Our old pal Yuka Sakazaki got her first booking on the indies in quite a while too. Another thing to keep an eye on is just where will Keigo Nakamura land for his indefinite overseas excursion. Apparently wherever he’s going he is has gone travelling over there already. If he is indeed still going to wrestle I’ll do my best to keep track of it in these articles.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “DYNAMITE – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 16/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Semi Final: Will Ospreay Vs Konosuke Takeshita

AEW “COLLISION – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 17/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita Vs Rocky Romero & Tomohiro Ishii

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 23/04/2025
Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

1. Will Ospreay & Brody King Vs Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 30/04/2025
Chartway Arena, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

1. AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator Match: Toni Storm (w/ Luther) Vs Miyu Yamashita

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Results

AEW “DYNAMITE – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 16/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Semi Final: Will Ospreay defeated Konosuke Takeshita with the Stormbreaker (21:43).

A highly anticipated rematch in the Owen Hart Cup saw Takeshita clash with Will Ospreay once again. Ospreay looked to have had Takeshita’s number until Takeshita purposely collapsed to avoid taking the Hidden Blade. Takeshita even caught Ospreay in mid-air with an Elbow Strike only for Ospreay to kick out at one and hit the Hidden Blade from out of nowhere. Takeshita kicked out at one as well leading to a role reversal where Ospreay used the Bastard Driver into the German Suplex and Takeshita responded with a Hidden Blade of his own. More counters came with Ospreay turning the Raging Fire into a Hurricanrana that then switched into the Styles Clash. Takeshita countered another Hidden Blade with a Backslide into a Powerdrive Knee but Ospreay flipped over a Lariat and lifted Takeshita into the Stormbreaker, winning a hard fought match that booked his spot in the final.

AEW “COLLISION – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 17/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Rocky Romero & Tomohiro Ishii when Alexander pinned Ishii with a Power Bomb (10:18).

There wasn’t much time for Takeshita to lick his wounds but The Don Callis Family are already regrouping with a new addition to the unit. AEW’s newest signing Josh Alexander has taken on Don Callis’s management services and made to team with Takeshita. They won their first match as a tag team but one of the reasons it happened was because Rocky Romero ended up abandoning Tomohiro Ishii and left him to the wolves. Alexander & Takeshita rocked Ishii with a Double Roaring Elbow then Alexander finished him off with a Power Bomb. There was then more drama when Trent Beretta made his return after the match and attacked Ishii with Romero. Callis gave a wrench to Beretta and he used it to knock Ishii out.

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 23/04/2025
Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

1. Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Will Ospreay & Brody King when Alexander pinned King after the Assisted C4 Spike (13:08).

Winning ways continued for The Don Callis Family when they took on Takeshita’s two opponents from the Owen Hart Cup. It was a heck of a task getting there though. Brody King ran through them like a tank while Ospreay and Takeshita had unfinished business from their match last week. The Family needed Lance Archer to distract the ref in order to turn the tables. Even then it took a lot fo Alexander & Takeshita to put King away. It eventually took Takeshita helping Alexander lift King up for the C4 Spike to finally put the big boy away.

DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 1”, 24/04/2025
Shinjuku FACE

1. Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA Vs LaBron Kozone & Calvin Tankman ended in a Draw (?:??).
2. DPW Women’s World Title: Dani Luna (c) defeated Rika Tatsumi (?:??).
*V3 for Dani Luna.

I couldn’t get any proper results from DPW’s two shows in Japan since they’re usually pretty good at keeping things under wraps until the matches get uploaded to their streaming service. But some scraping through Twitter I was able to piece together some things. Rika Tatsumi failed in her bid to win the DPW Women’s Title from Dani Luna. Also the DPW Vs DDT match went to a draw, I assume of the time limit kind. One of the big spots was HARASHIMA going to do the Somato on LaBron Kozone only to get ran over in midair with the Pounce from Calvin Tankman.

DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 2”, 25/04/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Calvin Tankman & Kazuma Sumi defeated Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida (?:??).
2. Emi Sakura, Chris Brookes, Mei Suruga & Baliyan Akki defeated Miyuki Takase, Kevin Ku, Dominic Garrini & Ryo Mizunami (?:??).

On Night 2 Chris Brookes was part of a ChocoPro team against a USA/Japan alliance representing DPW. Meanwhile Tankman got thrown in with some DDT wrestlers for a tag match between two pairs of big man and little man. Tankman is remaining in Japan for a ZERO1 tour but who knows, maybe DDT will come calling while he’s there.

HOG “ISOLATION”, 25/04/2025
NYC Arena, New York City, New York, USA

1. HOG Heavyweight Title: Mike Santana (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita ended in a No Contest when Charles Mason interfered (15:57).
*V14 for Mike Santana.

Well that kind of felt like a waste of time. The HOG Heavyweight Title was on the line and neither Mike Santana nor Takeshita were in a position to take a loss. So Charles Mason came out and ruined the whole thing. Santana had Takeshita pinned with the Spin The Block Roaring Lariat but Santana pulled the ref out of the ring mid-count and attacked Santana to stop the match. Takeshita tried to come to the rescue but Mason fled the ring unharmed. Santana and Takeshita raised each other’s hands to everyone afterward.

BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025
The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Leyla Hirsch with the Skull Kick (?:??).
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh defeated Davey Bang & August Matthews when Danhausen pinned Matthews and Itoh pinned Bang with the Double Kokeshi (?:??).

The latest American tours for Itoh & Yamashita kicked off over in Black Label Pro. Itoh joined forces with Danhausen once again to reunite Very Cute, Very Evil Makihausen. Itoh had the face fully painted to match her tag partner and be battle ready to go against Bang And Matthews. Itoh was in grave danger when Davey Bang & August Matthews combined to hit the Spears Tower on her but Danhausen broke the pin. When they tried the same move on Danhausen he paused them with a Curse that resulted in Itoh tripping them over. The two then filled their opponents’ mouths with jars of teeth before kicking them in their faces. Itoh & Danhausen then finished them off with Stereo Kokeshi Headbutts.

This month saw Leyla Hirsch return to action, now as a freelancer. Yamashita got to be one her of first opponents back and didn’t show much ring rust with her performance. She tried wearing down Yamashita with an Ankle Lock but Yamashita fired back with strikes that took a lot out of her opponent. Hirsch then missed a Moonsault and charged right into the Skull Kick for the finish.

MEXICO KANKO “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
2,714 Fans

1. Mexican Tourist Belt – The Road To Studying In Mexico 6 Way Match: Yuki Mashiro defeated Honoka, YuuRI, SONYA, CoCo and Yoshiko Hasegawa when Mashiro pinned Hasegawa with a Modified Suplex Hold (?:??).
Order Of Elimination: SONYA, CoCo, Honoka, YuuRI, Yoshiko Hasegawa.
2. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr. ended in a Draw when El Hijo del Octagon and Pantera Jr. pinned each other from a Romero Special (?:??).

The warm vibes of lucha libre were in the air surrounding Sumo Hall for a sponsored show put together by the Mexico Kanko tourism company. Daisuke Sasaki was thrown in with some luchadors for a tag match. Naturally Sasaki was on the rudo side teaming with Pantera Jr. to take on the supposedly family pair of Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon. Sasaki stepped in to stop Octagon from doing dive from the top turnbuckle. But the match ended up going to a draw when Pantera put El Hijo del Octagon in the Romero Special. The move leaned both luchadors back onto their shoulders resulting in a double pinfall. After some arguing over the finish, all four wrestlers raised each others hands in the ring.

A sixth woman was added to the Mexican Tourist Belt match. Yoshiko Hasegawa may be retiring from wrestling soon but she didn’t want to miss a chance to win a holiday to Mexico! She came close to winning too, eliminating YuuRI and making it to the final two with Yuki Mashiro. She tried to win using the Fisherman Buster but Mashiro got the better of her and won the match with a Modified Suplex.

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 30/04/2025
Chartway Arena, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

1. AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator Match: Toni Storm (w/ Luther) Vs Miyu Yamashita

Right at the end of the month Yamashita wound up in a familiar place. She came back to AEW for the first time since 2022 (or maybe 2023 if you want to count ROH). She was here to repeat what she did back then and that was to fight the AEW Women’s World Champion and beat her to get a title shot. We’re far past the days of Thunder Rosa though. It’s Toni Storm’s time now, which also happens to rewind the clock back one century thanks to her Timeless gimmick. Yamashita got into the swing of things by literally kicking Storm’s ass around the ring as well as kicking away the loyal butler Luther. She also hit the Skull Kick but was too fatigued to make the pin in time. I couldn’t tell if she broke the pin herself or if Storm kicked out of it because both looked like they happened at the same time. Storm made a comeback and avoided the Crash Rabbit Heat to throw Yamashita over to the corner with a German Suplex. She then landed the Running Hip Attack and pinned Yamashita with the Storm Zero. The booking sounds like it was a one time thing for Yamashita during this latest stay in the States. But she promised if she ever comes back to AEW she will kick someone else’s head in!

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Upcoming Appearances

TOP TALENT “LIVE AT MIDWAY MUSIC HALL”, 02/05/2025
Midway Music Hall, Edmonton, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Ava Lawless

May starts off with Yamashita and Itoh going in separate directions for a while. Yamashita will be in Canada to face Ava Lawless in her Top Talent Wrestling debut.

HOODSLAM “PHANTASMAGORIA”, 02/05/2025
Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Meanwhile Itoh returns to a Hoodslam that is currently in chaos. But when is it ever quiet over there?

GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025
Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita

The next day 121000000 are back together but this time as opponents. Can Itoh finally beat Yamashita one on one for the first time ever?

GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025
Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. JCW World Title: Masha Slamovich (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) Vs Maki Itoh

Then soon after that the two of them have the chance to both become champions in the GCW sphere on the same night. While Itoh faces Effy for the GCW World Title, Yamashita gets in the ring again with Masha Slamovich in a bid to take away her JCW World Title. Slamovich just recently pinned Yamashita at the “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW” show which seems to be what set this title match up. At the moment this looks to be Itoh’s last booking before she goes back to Japan. Her TJPW return will be on 11th May.

HOG “WAGING WAR”, 09/05/2025
Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Indi Hartwell Vs Miyu Yamashita

Yamashita gets another match with someone who knows what it’s like to wrestle in WWE. This time it is the Indi Hartwell, the former NXT Women’s Champion (bet some of you forgot she held that title for a month) turned TNA’s latest signing.

NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. NEVER Openweight Title: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA (c) Vs El Phantasmo

It’s now been confirmed that Takeshita will defend the NEVER Openweight Title against El Phantasmo at New Japan’s next USA show. This is also happening a week after they face each other in Japan with the NJPW World TV Title on the line. Does Rocky Romero get involved after the ambush he committed on ELP last month?

MAPLE LEAF PRO “NORTHERN RISING”, 10/05/2025
Mattamy Athletic Centre, Toronto, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Serena Deeb

Yamashita is just bouncing back and forth between Canada and America during this trip. Serena Deeb will want to be the road block that stops her.

MLW “AZTECA LUCHA”, 10/05/2025
Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois USA

1. Shoko Nakajima Vs X

After winning the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title earlier this month, Shoko Nakajima is set to return to MLW for their next “AZTECA LUCHA” taping. Nothing has been announced yet for what her match is going to be. Could it be a title defence against a luchadora from CMLL?

GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025
RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Tony Deppen

Itoh will be long gone home by this time so GCW could become Yamashita’s for the taking in her absence. Beating the promotion’s gatekeeper Tony Deppen would send her in the right direction.

GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025
Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA

1. Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita

What kind of momentum will be following Yamashita by the time she fights Billie Starkz again?

MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025
Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China

1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin Vs Alexis Lee & Big Sam

Could this be the penultimate chapter of the rivalry between Yuki Kamifuku and Alexis Lee?

SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025
Via Dante 72, Sporting Cesate, Milan, Italy

1. Irene Vs Miyu Yamashita Vs Session Moth Martina

A change of venue for Yamashita’s debut in Italy due to an electrical problem in the original building. She is also finally going to face Session Moth Martina after their scheduled match in EVE back in March got cancelled. One week later Martina got to team with Italian wrestler Irene at the most recent SAJ Wrestling show. I haven’t seen it so I don’t know if anything happened as a reason to make them opponents here or if this is just three wrestlers who want to have some fun in the ring.

SPW “MAYHEM”, 30/05/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Alexis Lee

If all goes wrong for Kamifuku in May she could end up losing both the VPW Women’s Title and the Queen Of Asia Title!

NEW TEXAS PRO “BAT CITY”, 01/06/2025
Empire Control Room, Austin, Texas, USA

1. Yuka Sakazaki Vs X

Finally Sakazaki gets to wrestle somewhere again! I don’t know if her lack of ring time lately is AEW/ROH not wanting to book her or if there’s an undisclosed injury of some sort holding her back but she’s making a reappearance on the American indies with New Texas Pro as her first stop.

KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025
Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Zara Zakher
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase

The first singles meeting between Yamashita and Zara Zakher. They fought each other once before in a Princess Tag Team Titles match back in January. Yamashita pinned Zakher in that match. Will she do it again?

KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025
South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Kitsune World Title: Yuna Manase (c) Vs Tae Honma

This October Tae Honma is going to retire from pro wrestling. One of her last big singles matches will be in America when Yuna Manase defends the Kitsune World Title against her.

LLL “BUT THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE NIGHT 2”, 14/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Dark Sheik Vs Miyu Yamashita

Yamashita returns to Lucha, Libre & Laughs for two nights but only one of them has a match announced so far. She faces Dark Sheik on Night 2. Nothing yet on what match she will get on Night 1.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 1”, 10/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

Four wrestlers are currently confirmed for TJPW’s big tripleshot in Texas.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 2”, 11/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

Yamashita and Itoh will be there as will Miu Watanabe and Suzume. So far that’s all of the official announcements.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS”, 13/07/2025
The OC, Forney, Texas, USA

Psst… the English website promoting the show also lists Yuki Arai, Mizuki, Hyper Misao, Shoko Nakajima, Pom Harajuku, Moka Miyamoto, Shino Suzuki, Raku and Arisu Endo as all “awaiting confirmation” to be on the show. I guess they could go and confirm them all but as we saw with Harajuku this month they might be making sure everything is absolutely ready for them all to travel first.

DDT Around The World – Early April 2025

What a month it’s been already and we’re not even halfway through yet. It’s the busiest time of the year for American wrestling with WrestleMania coming up next weekend and the carnival of shows that exist around it. DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro will be deep in the mix with shows held under The Collective banner along with some outside bookings scattered around the Paradise of Las Vegas. Then there is no rest for the wicked afterwards because the months leading into summertime will be very busy for the likes of Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh. The international exchange will even be seen in Japan with Deadlock Pro running a tour over there and YuuRI getting involved in a big lucha libre show. Plus one of the big rivalries happening in Southeast Asia may finally come to an end if Yuki Kamifuku defeats Alexis Lee one more time.

But I’m burying the lede here. Shoko Nakajima won a championship in MLW! She has become the latest TJPW wrestler to win a title belonging to a foreign company and we may possibly add another person to that somehow growing list at the end of the month. Meanwhile Konosuke Takeshita is already turning April 2025 into a memorable period. He squashed an age old beef with one of Japan’s modern legends and has started a tournament run that will at least produce a few great matches if he doesn’t make it all the way.

Now let’s all go to Vegas.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

AEW “COLLISION”, 05/04/2025
Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois, USA

1. Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii (w/ Rocky Romero) Vs Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita

Video starts at 22:53 for Match #1. Go to 1:12:00 for Match #2.
MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025
Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA

1. HIMAWARI Vs Janai Kai
2. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Delmi Exo (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima

8th match Backstage 4/11/25 | Windy City Riot 2025

AEW “COLLISION”, 12/04/2025
MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Quarter Final: Brody King (w/ Julia Hart) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

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Results

AEW “COLLISION”, 02/04/2025 (Aired 05/04/2025)
Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois, USA

1. Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita defeated Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii (w/ Rocky Romero) when Fletcher pinned Ishii with the Sheer Drop Brainbuster (13:47).

Takeshita had to miss the “DYNASTY” PPV because he had other priorities with New Japan that weekend but he was able to fit in an AEW tag match right before he left. He and Kyle Fletcher are really catching on as a tag team lately and they were really put through the grinder against Powerhouse Hobbs & Tomohiro Ishii. They tried to give Ishii a Super Bomb from the corner but Ishii countered it into a Frankensteiner on Fletcher. Takeshita came to help Fletcher give Ishii a Sheer Drop Brainbuster for a nearfall and then clashed with Hobbs. Ishii’s face was bloody at this point but he was still fired up to fight. Fletcher didn’t care though and he used a Tombstone Piledriver followed by another Brainbuster for the victory.

MLW “BATTLE RIOT VII”, 05/04/2025
Thunder Studios Arena, Long Beach, California, USA

1. Janai Kai defeated HIMAWARI with the Tornado Kick (7:28).
2. MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title: Shoko Nakajima defeated Delmi Exo (c) with the Diving Senton (9:17).
*Delmi Exofails in V2. Shoko Nakajima becomes the 5th MLW Women’s World Featherweight Champion!

Well would you look at that, MLW went all the way with Nakajima and made her their women’s champion! The 619, Double Arm DDT and Diving Senton put Delmo Exo away and now Nakajima can add the MLW Women’s World Featherweight Title to her collection.

Also HIMAWARI did not in fact get abducted or murdered by CONTRA Unit. She made it back to Japan in one piece. Janai Kai still beat her pretty handily but I’d still call it a successful MLW excursion.

NJPW “WINDY CITY RIOT”, 11/04/2025
Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois, USA
4,674 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Hiroshi Tanahashi Last Match In The USA Final Road ~Kinship~: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi with the Raging Fire (20:37).

It was an emotional battle that’s been over a decade in the making. Takeshita was not only fighting Hiroshi Tanahashi in a rematch from their DDT bout from 2014 but he was defending DDT’s honour over the disrespect Tanahashi gave to them in 2015. Due to the added importance that this will be Tanahashi’s final wrestling match in America before he retires it was made the main event of the show ahead of the IWGP World Heavyweight Title bout. The two had counters for each other’s finishers but Takeshita surprised everyone by doing his own High Fly Flow. Everyone was then in even more shock when Tanahashi kicked out at one! Takeshita nailed Tanahashi with several Wagamama knee strikes before giving a big shout to HARASHIMA by hitting the Somato. After that he used the Raging Fire to get the win.

Backstage Takeshita said he was all anger before this match but now that it is over, his revenge on Tanahashi has ended and he now for the first time respects him. There is one thing that Takeshita couldn’t do to Tanahashi and that was take away the last of his light. He wishes to see Tanahashi keep that light shining until his retirement. He was then interrupted by El Phantasmo who complained about Takeshita not showing respect until now. He still remembers their match at last year’s G1 Climax and he wants to challenge him to a rematch, this time with the NEVER Openweight Title on the line. Suddenly Phantasmo was then attacked from behind by Rocky Romero. Whatever it is that’s going on between them has nothing to do with Takeshita. At least for now.

AEW “COLLISION”, 12/04/2025
MassMutual Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Quarter Final: Konosuke Takeshita defeated Brody King (w/ Julia Hart) with the Powerdrive Knee (12:18).

The 4th annual Owen Hart Cup is packed this year on both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Count Takeshita among them on the men’s side. His opening round match was against Brody King from The Hounds Of Hell. Even a guy like Takeshita gets a bit worried when he hears King barking nearby. It took several Powerdrive Knee strikes to break down King and the final two needed Takeshita to pull his kneepad down for extra damage to finally put his opponent down for the count.

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WrestleMania Week Appearances

PANDEMONIUM PRO “THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS”, 17/04/2025
Fremont Country Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Masha Slamovich Vs MAO
2. Maya World Vs Miu Watanabe

Let’s get crazy. The first piece of involvement in Wrestlemania Week from DDT and TJPW both take place at the same show. Miu Watanabe makes a rare outside appearance from TJPW to take on Maya World while one of her later upcoming opponents Masha Slamovich takes a trip on MAO’s wild ride. Or maybe it’s MAO going on Slamovich’s wild ride.

WRESTLECON “MARK HITCHCOCK MEMORIAL SUPERSHOW”, 17/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Mickie James Vs Maki Itoh

Who knows what else WrestleCon has in store for their big event of the week and if it applies here. They have a mystery 10-Man Tag Match on the card which was used to promote TJPW in a previous year. Itoh might meet her match in more ways than one when she faces off against Mickie James. But the worst thing James could do is go in their and underestimate Itoh.

WEST COAST PRO “VEGAS VACATION”, 17/04/2025
Meet Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. MAO Vs Jiah Jewell

It will be the second match of the day for both MAO and Jiah Jewell.

GCW “JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT XIII”, 17/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Charlie Dempsey Vs Shinya Aoki
2. Nattie Neidhart Vs Miyu Yamashita

This year’s Bloodsport went through a slight overbooking problem with some fighters but it hasn’t affected the two matches here that I care about. Bless GCW and Josh Barnett for having conflicting stories over who is actually booking the show when it was time to explain why previously announced talent were being left off the final card. Friendship aside, Nattie Neidhart doesn’t want to be used as a stepping stone by Yamashita but Yamashita doesn’t want Neidhart to take her lightly either. Are we going to get MMA Shinya Aoki or DDT Shinya Aoki when he fights Charlie Dempsey?

BZW “VIVA LAS VEGAS”, 17/04/2025
Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Marcus Mathers & Alec Price

Alec Price has found a replacement partner to challenge MAO & Yoshihiko for the BZW Tag Team Titles. With Cole Radrick out of action, Marcus Mathers is going to take his place.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “QUERI PRESENTS TJPW LIVE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Rika Tatsumi, Shino Suzuki & Vert Vixen Vs Yuki Aino, Raku & Viva Van
2. Yuki Arai Vs Arisu Endo
3. Maki Itoh & Zara Zakher Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
4. Special Single Match: Masha Slamovich Vs Miu Watanabe
5. International Princess Title: Suzume (c) Vs Jada Stone
6. Princess Tag Team Titles: Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
7. Princess Of Princess Title: Mizuki (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita

I’ll aim to have my guide for the TJPW Las Vegas show posted either late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning Las Vegas time.

DDT “DDT GOES LAS VEGAS!”, 18/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Nick Wayne, Shunma Katsumata & Kazuma Sumi Vs Gringo Loco, Marcus Mathers & Tyler Bateman
2. Special Single Match: Antonio Honda Vs Santana Jackson
3. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Timothy Thatcher
4. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs MAO
5. wXw Unified World Wrestling Title: 1 Called Manders (c) Vs Yukio Naya
6. DDT Universal Title: Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs Yoshihiko

Same with my guide for the DDT Las Vegas show. You’ll pretty much know I arrived safe and sound when the articles get posted.

WRESTLECORE “FEAR & WRESTLECORE IN LAS VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. ELP Vs Maki Itoh

Well so much for El Phantasmo and Maki Itoh joining forces as The Cutest Tag Team In The World. They’re not getting along so they’re going to fight each other instead.

PRIDESTYLE “OUT OF THIS WORLD”, 18/04/2025
Swan Dive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

0. Yoshihiko’s Super Special Open Challenge: Yoshihiko Vs X
1. G-Sharpe Vs MAO

A new booking for MAO over at PrideStyle. If his opponent G-Sharpe looks a little familiar it may be because you might recognize him when he wrestles under a mask as Hyperstreak. There is a group called The Cartel de Los Villanos who have been feuding with G-Sharpe over in PrideStyle and they are the ones who hired MAO to fight him.

A bonus attraction will be happening before the show officially starts. That’s right, Yoshihiko is throwing out an open challenge! Who will dare step foot against “The Grave Digger Doll From Hell”?

GRAPHOUSE “FOR VEGAS, BY VEGAS”, 18/04/2025
Fergusons Downtown, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Lazarus Vs MAO

MAO’s Friday night comes to a close with a brawl against Lazarus near Fremont Street. Someone convince MAO to Moonsault off of the Vegas Vic neon sign.

DDT/TOKYO JOSHI PRO/GCW “DDT VS TJPW VS GCW”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Rika Tatsumi & Antonio Honda Vs Kidd Bandit & Shota
2. 3 Way Match: MAO & Yoshihiko Vs Jimmy Lloyd & Alec Price Vs Jack Cartwheel & Kazuma Sumi
3. Special Tag Match: Mance Warner & Shunma Katsumata Vs John Wayne Murdoch & Matt Tremont
4. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, Ilusion & Dark Sheik Vs Super Crazy, Marcus Mathers & Shoko Nakajima
5. Special Tag Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & Masha Slamovich Vs Shinya Aoki & Miyu Yamashita

What the hell kind of Fire Pro random card is this?

GCW “CLUSTERF*CK FOREVER”, 19/04/2025
Pearl Theater At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

1. Clusterfuck Match: Yoshihiko Vs X

Yoshihiko is among the many, many competitors announced for the Clusterfuck so far but nobody else from DDT or TJPW has declared they will be in it. It’s likely a bunch of the talent will already be flying home by the time this show takes place.

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Upcoming Appearances After WrestleMania Week

AEW “DYNAMITE – SPRING BREAKTHRU”, 16/04/2025
MGM Music Hall At Fenway, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

1. Owen Hart Foundation 2025 Men’s Tournament – Semi Final: Will Ospreay Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Ok this is during WrestleMania Week but isn’t actually part of it so let’s stick it here. It’s now on to the semi finals for Takeshita where is next opponent is quite a doozy. It’s the rematch against Will Ospreay!

DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 1”, 24/04/2025
Shinjuku FACE

1. Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA Vs LaBron Kozone & Calvin Tankman
2. DPW Women’s World Title: Dani Luna (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi

The hype train’s not stopping once WrestleMania is done. The schedule is going to get even more packed heading into the summer! DPW is heading back to Japan and has some familiar wrestlers taking part on their shows. Rika Tatsumi is getting a shot at the DPW Women’s World Title on the first night. The champion Dani Luna is coming out of a violent feud with Hyan over the belt which included title defences in Street Fights and Dog Collar matches. Sounds like she’ll be ready to handle Tatsumi’s madness. Meanwhile Chris Brookes & HARASHIMA are teaming up to take on two of DPW’s mainstays. LaBron Kozone is currently the DPW National Champion which just so happens to be the first DPW championship that his teammate Calvin Tankman won in the company.

DPW “SPIRIT RISING – NIGHT 2”, 25/04/2025
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida Vs Calvin Tankman & Kazuma Sumi
2. Emi Sakura, Chris Brookes, Mei Suruga & Baliyan Akki Vs Miyuki Takase, Kevin Ku, Dominic Garrini & Ryo Mizunami

Then on the second night Brookes joins team ChocoPro to fight a mix of joshi and Violence Is Forever… Joshi Is Forever? Violence Is Joshi? Miyuki Takase & Ryo Mizunami Plus Two?

Tankman finds himself in the ring surrounded by DDT wrestlers. It will be a match of big man and little man teams when Tankman teams with Kazuma Sumi to fight the Harimao pair of Kazusada Higuchi & Yuki Ishida.

HOG “ISOLATION”, 25/04/2025
NYC Arena, New York City, New York, USA

1. HOG Heavyweight Title: Mike Santana (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

Will Takeshita bring an end to Mike Santana’s 16 month reign as House Of Glory’s champion?

BLACK LABEL PRO “BLP AT SCX III”, 25/04/2025
The Wyndham, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Leyla Hirsch
2. Danhausen & Maki Itoh Vs Davey Bang & August Matthews

You know, this is one of those shows that feels like it just takes forever to get to.

MEXICO KANKO/CMLL/LADYS RING “LUCHA FIESTA ESPECIAL”, 27/04/2025
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Mexican Tourist Belt – The Road To Studying In Mexico 5 Way Match: Yuki Mashiro Vs Honoka Vs YuuRI Vs SONYA Vs CoCo
2. Octagon & El Hijo del Octagon Vs Daisuke Sasaki & Pantera Jr.

I heard this show has a Street Fighter 6 product placement match. Makoto and Hikaru Shida are cosplaying as R. Mika & Yamato Nadeshiko to fight a pair of masked Zangief wrestlers. It would be funny if The Gief #1 and The Gief #2 were other members of DAMNATION T.A.

I missed that YuuRI was booked for this show a month ago. She’s taking part in a 5 Way match where the winner will be crowned the second Mexican Tourist Belt Champion. Whoever holds possession of the belt is given the right to go study in Mexico thanks to the show sponsors. YuuRI’s opposition in the match are the freelancer Yuki Mashiro, Honoka from WAVE, SONYA from the Costa Rica Wrestling Embassy (CWE) and CoCo from MY WAY.

TOP TALENT “LIVE AT MIDWAY MUSIC HALL”, 02/05/2025
Midway Music Hall, Edmonton, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Yamashita is going to be visiting Canada a few more times during this excursion. Top Talent Wrestling is the latest promotion over there to book her.

HOODSLAM “PHANTASMAGORIA”, 02/05/2025
Continental Club, Oakland, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh is getting her ass back to Hoodslam!

GCW “CRAZY SCARY SPOOKY HILARIOUS”, 03/05/2025
Ukrainian Culture Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita

Itoh believes she cannot lose to Yamashita in GCW. Anywhere but over there!

GCW “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”, 04/05/2025
Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. GCW World Title: Effy (c) Vs Maki Itoh

One day later she gets her chance to win the GCW World Title from Effy. Only one person missing from making it a full Maki Death Bussy reunion.

HOG “WAGING WAR”, 09/05/2025
Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Just have to wait and see who House Of Glory wants to put Yamashita against. It didn’t work out so well for her there last time.

NJPW “RESURGENCE”, 09/05/2025
Toyota Arena, Ontario, California, USA

1. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs X

It hasn’t been made official at the time of writing but it’s looking like Takeshita will defend the NEVER Openweight Title against El Phantasmo at this show. Unless Romero does something else to ELP and changes the situation.

MAPLE LEAF PRO “NORTHERN RISING”, 10/05/2025
Mattamy Athletic Centre, Toronto, Canada

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Sereena Deeb

North American promoters really have a type of opponent in mind for Yamashita this time around, eh? She’ll have to deal with the wrestling expertise of Serena Deeb for her return to Maple Leaf Pro.

GCW “BIG TIME”, 17/05/2025
RJ Meyer Arena, Joppa, Maryland, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Tony Deppen

Yamashita’s journey through GCW continues.

GCW “RUN FOR IT”, 18/05/2025
Water Street Music Hall, Rochester, New York, USA

1. Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita

Once again, they meet at last.

MKW “BATTLE OF THE DECADE”, 24/05/2025
Dongxin Plaza, Beijing, China

1. Yuki Kamifuku & Chen Wenbin Vs Alexis Lee & Big Sam

The end of May will be a dramatic period for Yuki Kamifuku and Alexis Lee. This match in Middle Kingdom Wrestling has now become the warmup for what happens in Singapore Pro Wrestling one week later.

SAJ “HUNTER’S NET”, 24/05/2025
Magnete, Milan, Italy

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X

Italy awaits for Yamashita in May.

SPW “MAYHEM”, 30/05/2025
Foo Chow Building, Singapore

1. Queen Of Asia Title: Yuki Kamifuku (c) Vs Alexis Lee

The stakes have been risen to the extreme. Lee is wagering her pro wrestling career to get one last chance at winning back the Queen Of Asia Title from Kamifuku. If she loses this time then she is done for!

KITSUNE “GOING BACK TO SAN DIEGO”, 07/06/2025
Primal Compound, San Diego, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy Vs Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase

Hey since Darkness Revolution are now down a member in Marigold maybe Nagisa Nozaki will consider replacing Bozilla with Yuna Manase.

KITSUNE “8888”, 08/06/2025
South Gate, Los Angeles, California, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs X
2. Yuna Manase Vs X

Yamashita’s match on this show will be a singles match with an opponent yet to be determined.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 1”, 10/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

Does the T in TJPW now stand for Texas? On the weekend when AEW runs “ALL IN TEXAS” TJPW will be holding three shows in the Lone Star State.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN HOUSTON – NIGHT 2”, 11/07/2025
POST, Houston, Texas, USA

Two of the shows are going to be in Houston.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS”, 13/07/2025
The OC, Forney, Texas, USA

The third show is happening… not in Dallas but they’re calling it Dallas anyway. Is this like years ago when WWE would be in New York State and only mention on air that they’re somewhere near New York City?

Official TJPW Best Matches Of 2024

Fans of Tokyo Joshi Pro were invited to submit their votes for TJPW’s best matches of 2024. This year there were votes from over 360 fans worldwide and over 115 matches received votes. The winning match this year received the highest amount of votes ever in the history of this poll.

TJPW Best Bouts 2024

1. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Shoko Nakajima
06/05/2024 @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
312 pts

2. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Miu Watanabe
31/03/2024 @ Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
233 pts

3. Princess Tag Team Titles: Suzume & Arisu Endo (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh
22/09/2024 @ Chiba Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall
170 pts

4. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Ryo Mizunami
22/09/2024 @ Chiba Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall
118 pts

5. Princess Tag Team Titles: Ryo Mizunami & Yuki Aino (c) Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
31/03/2024 @ Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan
108 pts

6. “Futari wa Princess” Max Heart Tournament – Final: Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe Vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
10/02/2024 @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
86 pts

7. International Princess Title: Max The Impaler (c) Vs Yuki Arai
04/01/2024 @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
72 pts

8. Nao Kakuta Graduation Match: Nao Kakuta Vs Mizuki
25/07/2024 @ Shin-Kiba 1st RING
61 pts

9. International Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs Arisu Endo
08/09/2024 @ Nagoya International Conference Center Event Hall
60 pts

10. Next Generation Tournament ’24 – Final: Toga Vs Haru Kazashiro
22/11/2024 @ Shinjuku FACE
59 pts

11. Princess Tag Team Titles: Suzume & Arisu Endo (c) Vs Yuki Arai & Moka Miyamoto
20/07/2024 @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
53 pts

12. Toga Vs Shino Suzuki
06/05/2024 @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
40 pts

13. Tokyo Princess Cup – Final: Yuki Aino Vs Ryo Mizunami
25/08/2024 @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
39 pts

14. SETUP All Asia Women’s Title: Pom Harajuku (c) Vs Matcha
29/12/2024 @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
37 pts

15. Shoko Nakajima Vs Emi Sakura
22/09/2024 @ Chiba Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall
36 pts

16. Aja Kong Vs Raku
19/04/2024 @ Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall
33 pts

17. Special Tag Match: Miu Watanabe & Miyu Yamashita Vs Meiko Satomura & Shoko Nakajima
06/10/2024 @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
31 pts

18. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Rika Tatsumi
20/07/2024 @Tokyo Korakuen Hall
30 pts

19. Princess Of Princess Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) Vs Masha Slamovich
04/01/2024 @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall
29 pts

19. Nikichan Water Lumberjack Death Match: Miu Watanabe, Arisu Endo & HIMAWARI Vs Mizuki, Raku & Pom Harajuku
07/07/2024 @ Tokyo Ueno Park Outdoor Stage
29 pts

Honorable Mentions

These seven matches just missed out on making the Top 20.

21. Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki Vs Emi Sakura & Chris Brookes
31/03/2024 @ Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

21. Mei Suruga Vs Uta Takami
20/07/2024 @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall

23. International Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs Yuki Kamifuku
31/03/2024 @ Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

23. Princess Tag Team Titles: Suzume & Arisu Endo (c) Vs Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI
06/05/2024 @ Tokyo Korakuen Hall

23. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh (c) Vs Haru Kazashiro & Toga
01/12/2024 @ Tokyo Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX

26. Tokyo Princess Cup – Round 2: Ryo Mizunami Vs Haru Kazashiro
03/08/2024 @ Shinjuku FACE

26. Next Generation Tournament ’24 – Semi Final: Haru Kazashiro Vs Wakana Uehara
16/11/2024 @ Osaka Edion Arena #2

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE PRINCESS V” Results

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “WRESTLE PRINCESS V”, 22/09/2024
Chiba Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall
756 Fans

1. Haru Kazashiro defeated Runa Okubo with the Fisherman Suplex (6:25).
2. Yoshiko Hasegawa, Kaya Toribami & HIMAWARI defeated Kira Summer, Chika Nanase & Uta Takami when Toribami pinned Nanase with the Sento Choryu (10:13).
3. Kakeru Sekiguchi & Mahiro Kiryu defeated Wakana Uehara & Toga when Kiryu pinned Toga with the Spinebuster (9:41).
4. Ram Kaichow defeated Raku ny Pinfall (7:01).
5. Aja Kong, Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku defeated Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Aino & Shino Suzuki when Kong pinned Suzuki with the Back Drop (14:55).
*Special Referee: Shiori Aoki.
6. Emi Sakura defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Queen’s Gambit (13:47).
7. Xia Zhao & Mizuki defeated Yuki Kamifuku & VENY when Zhao pinned Kamifuku with the Thunder Strike (12:50).
8. International Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) defeated Moka Miyamoto with the Finally (15:33)
*V5 for Yuki Arai.
9. Princess Tag Team Titles: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh defeated Suzume & Arisu Endo (c) when Yamashita pinned Endo with the Crash Rabbit Heat (23:22).
*Daisy Monkey fails in V3. 121000000 becomes the 17th Princess Tag Team Champions!
10. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) defeated Ryo Mizunami with the Tear Drop (21:19).
*V4 for Miu Watanabe.

The power of Princess Aniki has met her match in Tokyo Joshi Pro! Today saw Miu Watanabe cement her Princess Of Princess Title reign by beating Ryo Mizunami in her fourth defence. It is also the first time Mizunami has been beaten in TJPW. Mizunami made it a fight to remember by throwing Chops and Leg Drops on the champion as well as slamming her into the corner post outside the ring. She even dared Watanabe to try and spin her around in the Giant Swing. It took some effort but Watanabe pulled off the move. She also had the strength to use the Swinging Backbreaker and Batting Hammer strikes. Mizunami was able to drop Watanabe with the HOT LIMIT but took too much damage to go for the pin. She later climbed the top rope but Watanabe followed and took her down with an Avalanche Tear Drop. She then used the normal version of her finisher twice but a stubborn Mizunami refused to stay lying down. Watanabe then lifted her into the Canadian Backbreaker but it turned out to be an Inverted Tear Drop instead. She then hit Mizunami from behind with a Batting Hammer to the back of the head, followed it with the Laserbeam chop and got the three count with one last Tear Drop.

Watanabe was happy to have won the match and defend the title in front of such a warm atmosphere today. She thanked Mizunami for being a tough opponent but the title means too much for her to lose it now. Backstage Mizunami said she Watanabe was stronger today, maybe because she has the pride of a champion. Mizunami believes her own wrestling career is not about how many times she won but how many times she got back up after she lost. She’s going to get back up from today’s defeat because she now has more reasons to fight in TJPW. Watanabe said with four successful defences under her belt she now has a lot more confidence to become a perfect champion who will make TJPW grow even bigger! The Canadian Backbreaker Tear Drop was an idea she thought of a long time ago but she instead focused on perfecting the regular version of the move. When she saw Mizunami keep on getting up it forced her to try out the new version. Since it helped lead her to victory she is thinking about using it more for the rest of her title reign.

121000000 have regained the Princess Tag Team Titles! Sadly it comes at the cost of Daisy Monkey’s reign. Some rusty teamwork from the challengers was taken advantage of by the champions using their speed. Arisu Endo ducked out of a sandwich attack causing Miyu Yamashita to knee Maki Itoh in the head by accident. Suzume gave Yamashita the Ring A Bell, Itoh came back to give Suzume a Stunner and Endo flipped her over with a Waterwheel Drop. Endo avoided the Attitude Adjustment to put Yamashita in the Camel Clutch while Suzume held Itoh down in a Sleeper Hold. Itoh was able to grab Yamashita’s hand giving her the encourgement to stand back up and use the Attitude Adjustment to throw Endo on top of Suzume to break up the two submission holds. 121000000 later used the DDT/German Suplex combo on Endo and Yamashita followed it up with the Skull Kick. Suzume was there to break the pin but she then ate the Headbutt/High Knee sandwich attack. Itoh kept her out of the picture so Yamashita could finish off Endo. There was one last gasp of life left from Endo but Yamashita stopped her with a Buzzsaw Kick and scored the pin with the Crash Rabbit Heat.

Yamashita & Itoh now get to re-do their tag title run that only lasted two weeks the first time around. Itoh admitted she’s never been more scared or sorry for herself than for this match but she got through it and won because Yamashita was by her side. Yamashita is ready to defend the titles right away. She already thinks there is one happening in two weeks time but Itoh told her nothing was decided yet. Itoh also welcomes Daisy Monkey to a rematch with the titles on the line. Suzume is obviously upset to lose the title but she thinks it is not going to be out of reach for her. Endo said Daisy Monkey will make their dream of becoming the strongest come true again.

A championship record was broken today when Yuki Arai defended the International Princess Title for the fifth time. That is now the most successful defences for one reign in the title’s history. Moka Miyamoto switched up her attacks by targeting Arai’s legs and then her arms. Arai used a Big Boot as a vital counter as well as the Scorpion Death Lock. Miyamoto would do her best to keep fighting but ultimately fell to the Full Nelson Buster followed by the Finally. Miyamoto was disappointed she couldn’t live up to everyone’s expectations and she is upset she couldn’t avenge the first time she lost to Arai three years ago. She still wants to grab every opportunity she can to wrestle for championships and be in big matches. She also wants to continue having matches with Arai both as opponents and as tag partners. Arai is happy with how much heart she is putting into her matches. She wants even more title defences so she can become a champion that nobody will ever beat! She also felt at home wrestling in Makuhari Messe because she often performs as an idol here away from TJPW.

Xia Zhao wanted to make an impact for her first time wrestling in Japan. The former WWE wrestler did just that by pinning Yuki Kamifuku and spoiling the VENYU reunion. Mizuki used the Whirling Candy to wipe out VENY and Zhao used a Cyclone Kick called the Thunder Strike to get the win on Kamifuku. After the match Zhao made a challenge for both the Queen Of Asia Title and the VPW Women’s Title, henceforth collectively known as the Asian Double Crown. Kamifuku wasn’t happy to find herself in this situation but she accepted the challenge for sometime down the road. Backstage Kamifuku also apologised to VENY for losing and wants to make it up to her by doing something overseas together. She explained she prefers to defend both of her titles together because if she was to lose, she would prefer to lose both belts at the same time. But if she wins she looks twice as cool for defending two titles at once. Zhao said it was a great honor to wrestle in Japan and have her first match here be in TJPW. She is sure the next time she comes back will be for the title match.

In the leadup to the match between Shoko Nakajima and Emi Sakura both women talked about their long history with each other unknown to most wrestling fans. However the kind words and friendly feelings were not on show when Sakura made it to the ring. She rejected Nakajima’s pre-match handshake. She also beat Nakajima’s chest red with Machine Gun Chops. The match went back and forth with nearfalls from Sakura using La Magistral Cradle and the Double Arm Backbreaker while Nakajima used the Northern Lights Suplex and Double Arm DDT. But Sakura took down Nakajima from the top rope and hit the Queen’s Gambit for the victory. Sakura offered to shake Nakajima’s hand after the match but this time Nakajima ignored it. That would lead to Sakura interrupting Nakajima’s post-match interview backstage. She taunted her for crying and accused Nakajima of being happy that she lost instead of being mad because she now has a new challenge to overcome. Sakura also said there is a new rookie in ChocoPro who just debuted and she admires Nakajima. Sakura would love to see Yawata Hiyori face her hero some day but she’s also sure Hiyori is upset that Nakajima lost today. Sakura suggested maybe they can both go cry with Hiyori together!

A match mixing team of monsters with an inexperienced celebrity referee was bound to be chaotic. Aja Kong & Max The Impaler made sure Pom Harajuku would go through the match with them whether she wanted to be there or not. Shiori Aoki (formerly from SKE48) wasn’t concerned about that because she wanted to focus on doing cartwheels while counting pinfalls. She also joined in line when Kong & Max used Harajuku as a jump rope for the other team to hop over. The match also turned into a brawl outside the ring but to give Aoki credit she got everyone back in by using fast counts. Things fell apart when Aoki stopped Kong from using the Steel Can as a weapon. While they were both holding it, Shino Suzuki pushed Kong and made her knock out Aoki with the can! Daisuke Kiso ran in as the substitute ref but he would also get knocked out. The fans chanted Aoki’s name to revive her and she was able to count Kong pinning Suzuki with the Back Drop. Aoki thinks she did a good job and took it seriously. This is supposed to be the last time she will be a wrestling referee but she is open to doing this again if she’s asked to. Yuki Aino thought her team would have won if Harajuku would have stopped running away from them. Kong & Max were also annoyed by that but Harajuku swears she was just wandering around a bit, not hiding. Rika Tatsumi blamed Suzuki over the loss and gave her an Airplane Spin backstage as punishment.

Raku and Ram Kaichow believe there is not enough romance in wrestling so they decided to treat their match against each other like a date. For example the opening lock-up spot instead turned out to be Raku giving Kaichow a hug. The fans then got upset at Yukinori Matsui whenever he tried to order the two to wrestle each other. They then went to a table set up outside the ring with cake and soft drinks for the happy couple to enjoy while Matsui started counting them out. Raku snuck back into the ring early while Kaichow decided to finish the cake in time to make it back by the 19 count. Kaichow finally decided to take the match seriously when Raku tried to pin her with the Oyasumi Express. After a few proper wrestling moves, Raku then sang Kaichow to sleep with a lullaby and decided to take a nap with her in the middle of the ring. Matsui started a 10 count and made it to 9 when Kaichow woke up and got back to her feet. But she was too sleepy to continue and fell on top of a still napping Raku. Matsui decided it looked like a pin and made the three count so Kaichow won the match. Raku was still asleep though so Kaichow gave her a little kiss to wake her up. Backstage Kaichow was still sleepy but was happy that their “wedding night” took place in the ring. But then she started thinking today was all a dream and she decided to go back to sleep.

The last time Kakeru Sekiguchi was in TJPW some people claimed she looks identical to Mahiro Kiryu. So TJPW decided to team the two of them together today. Any argument against the claim wasn’t helped by Wakana Uehara & Toga struggling to figure out who was who. Even worse, Sekiguchi also copied Kiryu’s Apology Knee Drop spot. But there was nothing for Kiryu & Sekiguchi to worry about after that because they went on to win the match. They properly introduced themselves to each other afterwards and told reporters there was always something that got in the way of them meeting each other until today. Sekiguchi told Kiryu that people think even their voices sound alike! The two had fun though and would like to team up again. Uehara described how the match felt like she was surrounded by handsome people. Toga thinks she is more handsome than either Kiryu or Sekiguchi so even though she lost the tag match, at least she won the battle of good looks.

Today was the first time all three members of the 2024 Class got to team together in a 6-Woman Tag Match. Meanwhile the other team all found something in common by wearing fluffy wrestling boots. Uta Takami was able to hit a Missile Dropkick on Kaya Toribami and Kira Summer followed up by using the Samoan Drop. Chika Nanase applied the Inari Torii but Toribami countered it into the Bird Cage while her teammates cleared the ring. Toribami then Arm Dragged Nanase into the centre of the ring so she could go to the ropes and hit the Sento Choryu for the three count. She admitted backstage she didn’t expect the other team to work together so beautifully. HIMAWARI pointed out they must have been fired to team up together for the first time. Yoshiko Hasegawa now knows what the heat is like from the 2024 Class and will have to work hard so she won’t lose to them.

Almost one year after their first singles match against each other it was time for Runa Okubo and Haru Kazashiro to face off for Round 2. This time it was Kazashiro who won the match by pinning Okubo with the Fisherman Suplex. She cried over the result but it wasn’t with tears of joy. She admits she made a lot of mistakes during the match doesn’t believe she gave it her all to deserve the victory. She would like to wrestle Okubo again and work harder so her next win will feel like a proper one.

A special tag match was announced for the next Korakuen Hall show on 6th October. Miu Watanabe & Miyu Yamashita will team up to take on Meiko Satomura & Shoko Nakajima! Satomura is planning to retire from pro wrestling next year but she was due to appear in TJPW one more time to settle some unfinished business with Yamashita. Watanabe is looking forward to it because the first TJPW show she attended after passing her audition for The Up Up Girls was the one where Satomura beat Yamashita in a singles match.