DDT Around The World – June 2025

Okay where do we start when it comes to July? Do we go with Konosuke Takeshita’s adventures in Mexico, Miyu Yamashita falling foul to the Missouri athletic commission or Maki Itoh voicing a character in Punch Punch Forever? Or how about Tokyo Joshi Pro being used to prop up Major League Wrestling’s shrinking women’s division? Yuka Sakazaki is starting to get more than one booking a month so more of that would be appreciated. Also is Takeshita’s team with Kyle Fletcher only called Protoshita because it makes everyone smirk when they say it out loud?

Oh, and we’re finally starting to find out what sort of deal Yamashita is on over in America. On the surface she’s going around the country like a freelancer and some media back in Japan highlights that is what makes her US work different from the joshi who work full time with WWE or AEW. Except we’re now seeing Yamashita pop up in Ring Of Honor again and her being pulled from one of TJPW’s Texas shows just so happens to line up with the ROH PPV taking place that same day.

Speaking of the Texas tour, that will be the big story for next month. TJPW’s decisions when it comes to the American market are going to pay off well by the sounds of it. Two of the Texas shows have sold out and according to the promoters the third will become the promotion’s highest selling USA show in their history. If the Wrestle Universe live streams go off without a hitch then even more American tours will be planned for the future so TJPW can make some dollars while the fans back in Japan still get to watch it on a reliable service. Given how much the scene suddenly exploded with joshi influenced companies over the last few years, nothing beats the real thing in the end.

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Videos

Konosuke Takeshita In AEW Playlist

MLW “WAR CHAMBER”, 07/06/2025
Cicero Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, USA

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

AEW “COLLISION – SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER”, 11/06/2025
Theater Of The Clouds At Moda Center, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Daniel Garcia Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer & Hechicero

Video starts at 1:20:06 for the match
JCW “REC.SPORTS.PRO.WRESTLING”, 12/06/2025
The Hall, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Jordan Blade

LLL “BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE – NIGHT 1”, 13/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Stormi Renee

CMLL “MARTES POPULARES – CMLL Vs AEW Y ROH”, 17/06/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, Averno & Euforia Vs Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Rocky Romero & Hechicero

AEW “DYNAMITE – GRAND SLAM MEXICO”, 18/06/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Bandido, Templario, Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Adam Cole, Brody King & Daniel Garcia Vs Volador Jr., Hechicero, Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer & Dax Harwood

AEW “COLLISION”, 21/06/2025
accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington, USA

1. Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Daniel Garcia & Bandido Vs Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 25/06/2025
accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington, USA

1. 4 Way For The #1 Spot In The Casino Gauntlet At All In Texas: Konosuke Takeshita Vs Mark Briscoe Vs Roderick Strong Vs Bandido

Video starts at 28:22 for the match
MLW “SUMMER OF THE BEASTS”, 26/06/2025
Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Wakana Uehara Vs Yuki Kamifuku

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Results

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

1. VertVixen & Yuka Sakazaki defeated Charity King & AQA when Sakazaki pinned King with the Magical Girl Splash (16:55).

It’s been around four months since Sakazaki last wrestled and even then it was on a cruise ship. It wasn’t until this month she was back wrestling on land. She showed up to New Texas Pro wearing an all new black outfit to to team up with VertVixen. She needed to shake off the ring rust fast because she started the match fighting against the much larger Charity King. But King quickly learned that Sakazaki is no weakling. AQA, who was returning to wrestling after a three and a half year absence helped King wear down Vixen until Sakazaki hot tagged herself in to even the odds. AQA stopped her momentum in a sort of unintentional way when she jumped up for a Hurricanrana and Sakazaki collapsed beneath her. The match broke down to where Vixen gave AQA the Blue Thunder Bomb and Sakazaki went on to pin King with the Magical Girl Splash.

AEW “COLLISION – FYTER FEST 2025”, 04/06/2025
Mission Ballroom, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita & Hechicero defeated Bandido, Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd when Fletcher pinned Magnum with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster (14:16).

The lucha flavour was strong in AEW this month even before they made it over to Mexico. Don Callis has had it up to here with both Bandido and The Outrunners so he challenged them to fight The Don Callis Family but with a twist. Protoshita would be involved but so too would the Family’s newest member, the CMLL luchador Hechicero! Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd tried to play mind games by coming out wearing their own pink luchador masks and being introduced as Los Outrunners. The plan didn’t work and Protoshita dealt them the killing blows to win the match.

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

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Zara Zakher with the Skull Kick (10:39).
2. Vipress & Hudson Envy defeated Nagisa Nozaki & Yuna Manase when Envy pinned Manased with a Rolling Koppo Kick (18:07).

If Yuna Manase was expecting a warm welcome back to Kitsune by everybody there she was in for a rude surprise. Vipress & Hudson Envy have gold in their sights and saw Manase as a target to get into the promotion’s title picture. Also it turned out Nagisa Nozaki wasn’t exactly on Manase’s side either because she attack her with a chair during the main event! However she also attacked Vipress with the same chair and seemingly only wanted to join forces with Envy. Dark Sheik ran in to chase after Nozaki while Tae Honma wanted to help Manase out. However her Missile Dropkick missed Envy and hit Manase instead. Envy then hit Manase with the Rolling Koppo Kick to get the win for her team. Honma checked on Manase afterwards and handed her over the Kitsune World Title. There’s still trust between the two but they have a title match coming up the next day.

Yamashita was also involved for both of Kitsune’s shows that weekend. Zara Zakher wanted to out-strike her late in their match but Yamashita shrugged off her chops and knocked her down with an Elbow Strike. Zakher got a second wind using a German Suplex and a Clothesline. She even backflipped out of the way from the Skull Kick to give her a Stunner for the nearfall. Yamashita got her back with a Knee Strike to the back of the head and put her down for the count with the Skull Kick. Yamashita pulled back her handshake to Zakher after the match, telling her instead she wants another singles match with her.

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

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Kidd Bandit with the Skull Kick (16:31).
2. Kitsune World Title – Triple Threat Match: Yuna Manase (c) defeated Tae Honma and Hudson Envy when Manase pinned Honma with the Suzuki Dynamic (17:07).
*V1 for Yuna Manase.

The next night’s main event was thrown for a loop when Envy added herself into the Manase Vs Honma match midway through it! Earlier in the show Envy won a Nine Tails Rumble which granted her a Kitsune Title shot whenever she wanted. So she pulled out the ref while he was counting Manase pinning Honma and cashed in to try and steal the title for herself. However Honma kicked out of her pin to keep the now Triple Threat going. Manase survived to the end and used the Suzuki Dynamic to pin Honma for a successful title defence. She purposely used that move to win as her way of contributing to Honma’s retirement from pro wrestling happening later this year.

Yamashita ended her Kitsune weekend going two for two. She seemed to enjoy picking Kidd Bandit apart but didn’t expect to be hit with a Leaf Hurricane Kick. Just like with Zakher the day before, Bandit wanted to get into a striking duel with Yamashita but it led to her doom when she missed a second Leaf Hurricane and was blown away with the Skull Kick.

ROH “ROH ON HONORCLUB”, 11/06/2025 (Aired 19/06/2025)
Adrian Phillips Theater At Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Brooke Havoc with the Skull Kick (3:33).

Now it’s starting to become clearer. Yamashita made an unexpected return to ROH for a quick victory over Brooke Havoc. Her opponent got cocky with a Dropkick and wasn’t aware that Yamashita stood back up behind her to deliver some kicks. Havoc got some chances back with a Superman Elbow Strike as well as a Sunset Flip counter to the Attitude Adjustment. But Yamashita caught her handstand, kicked her down and pinned her with the Skull Kick.

AEW “COLLISION – SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER”, 11/06/2025
Theater Of The Clouds At Moda Center, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer & Hechicero defeated Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Daniel Garcia when Alexander pinned Strong with a German Suplex (11:56).

Bloody hell it’s like The Don Callis Family is gaining new members every week! They had an 8-Man Tag Match against Paragon & Daniel Garcia but RPG Vice were hanging around at ringside to make it more like 6 Vs 4. Things broke down as they tend to do with Paragon & Garcia all locking in submission holds. Lance Archer powered out of Kyle O’Reilly’s Guillotine Choke by charging him into Garcia’s Sharpshooter on Josh Alexander and then stomping on Adam Cole to break Takeshita free from a Figure 4 Leg Lock. Takeshita also got a cheap shot in by hitting Roderick Strong with an Elbow Strike, allowing Alexander to pin him with a German Suplex.

JCW “REC.SPORTS.PRO.WRESTLING”, 12/06/2025
The Hall, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Jordan Blade with the Skull Kick (11:13).

A fired up Jordan Blade offered Yamashita something different from her previous opponents this month. Blade is a grappler with a focused ground game that put Yamashita on defence a lot more than usual. She also had some impact with using a Saito Suplex and also countering a Front Neck Lock into a Fisherman Suplex. But the temptation to get into a strike battle got into Blade’s head and led to Yamashita turning the tables on her. Blade got her head straight and went back to using grounded submissions. By this point it became a fight of endurance with both wrestlers getting groggy and throwing sloppy strikes. Blade tried to hit a Spinning Back Fist but she got hit back with the Skull Kick for the finish.

LLL “BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE – NIGHT 1”, 13/06/2025
The Oriental Theater, Denver, Colorado, USA

1. Abadon defeated Maki Itoh (11:00).
2. Miyu Yamashita defeated Stormi Renee with the Crash Rabbit Heat (?:??).

Oh hey we got a match finish that wasn’t the Skull Kick. Yamashita instead used the Crash Rabbit Heat to put away Stormi Renee.

Fans at Lucha Libre & Laughs got some bonus TJPW representation when Maki Itoh showed up unannounced for the weekend! She lost to Abadon on the first night but things went better on Night 2.

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

1. Maki Itoh defeated Mo Magee with the Itoh Deluxe (?:??).
2. Dark Sheik defeated Miyu Yamashita (?:??).

The next night Dark Sheik powered herself up by fighting Yamashita while dressed as Vertigo from the X-Men. Turns out that wasn’t a bad plan because she got to beat Yamashita. Itoh meanwhile made sure she would leave Denver as a winner when she beat Mo Magee.

CMLL “MARTES POPULARES – CMLL Vs AEW Y ROH”, 17/06/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, Averno & Euforia defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, Rocky Romero & Hechicero when Gran pinned Romero with an Avalanche Landslide (17:11).

AEW’s stay in Arena Mexico started a day early when Takeshita was among the AEW wrestlers booked for CMLL’s Tuesday show at the venue. You know maybe this was all meant to be. Even though this was Takeshita’s CMLL debut, he had a very thin attachment to the company already because he had held the KO-D Tag Team Titles multiple times back when it was also a certified CMLL championship. Does that actually mean anything? No but it’s nice to find even the slightest of reasons to connect things. The Don Callis Family fitted in nicely as the rudos for the match while Team CMLL the tecnicos by default even though Ultimo Guerrero, Gran Guerrero, Averno & Euforia usually all tend to be on the rudo side. The match was also only set for one fall instead of CMLL’s traditional Best 2 Out Of 3 rules. So there were a lot more pinfall breakups than you would expect in a CMLL match, although everyone still figured out how to pace it like the latter. Takeshita landed face first from Ultimo Guerrero’s Super Gourdbuster and Gran Guerrero used his own top rope move to pin Rocky Romero.

AEW “DYNAMITE – GRAND SLAM MEXICO”, 18/06/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

1. Bandido, Templario, Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Adam Cole, Brody King & Daniel Garcia defeated Volador Jr., Hechicero, Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer & Dax Harwood (w/ Stokely) when Atlantis pinned Harwood with an Inside Cradle (15:47).

Things got even crazier the next night when AEW hosted “DYNAMITE” in Arena Mexico. A planned 12-Man Tag Match was changed into a 14-Man Tag Match mixing CMLL and AEW wrestlers all together. Plus the world got to learn just how much the hardcore CMLL fans do not like Atlantis Jr., which gets his father Atlantis caught in the crossfire too. Takeshita was taken out by a Templario dive late in the match, Bandido did the same to wipe out Volador Jr. and Brody King saved the biggest dive of them all for the end which Takeshita took alongside Hechicero. The match then came down to Atlantis fighting Dax Harwood and taking the victory with an Inside Cradle, much to the annoyance of the hardcores in attendance.

GCW “BANGIN’ IN LITTLE ROCK”, 20/06/2025
The Hall, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita defeated Blake Christian with the Skull Kick (15:04).

I wonder if this was another sign that Yamashita has an AEW/ROH deal under wraps. Blake Christian is a regular over in that circle and while he’s not protected over there, he is placed on a high pedestal over in GCW. Plus Yamashita likes to do new things over in that company. Like pull out a door from under the ring and have Christian dive into it, crushing her beneath it! Christian then threw everything he had at her including a Springboard 450 and also a Handspring Ace Crusher. However Yamashita stumbled back up and took a lucky swing, knocking her opponent out with the Skull Kick. Christian crumbled to the mat and Yamashita rolled on top of him for the pin. Yamashita offered a handshake afterwards but Christian gave her the middle finger and walked out. However he reconsidered and went back into the ring to shake her hand after all.

AEW “COLLISION”, 21/06/2025
accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington, USA

1. Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, Kyle Fletcher & Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Stokely) defeated Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Daniel Garcia & Bandido when Harwood pinned Strong after the Shatter Machine (11:52).

The aftermath of Arena Mexico brought Protoshita back in the sights of Paragon, Garcia & Bandido. At least this time they had both members of FTR fighting alongside them. FTR scored the win for the team and everyone decided to beat down the faces afterwards until The Outrunners arrived to chase them off.

AEW “DYNAMITE”, 25/06/2025
accesso ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington, USA

1. 4 Way For The #1 Spot In The Casino Gauntlet At All In Texas: Mark Briscoe defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Roderick Strong and Bandido when Briscoe pinned Strong with the Froggy Bow (11:05).

Now that the road towards “ALL IN TEXAS” is getting clearer, Takeshita starting making his plans to enter the much lauded Casino Gauntlet Match. Mark Briscoe was now added to the mix as four men battled to become the No. 1 entrant in the match. The Casino Gauntlet is an Aztec Warfare/Thunderbastard style match that only lasts for one fall so entering early gives you the advantage to win rather than entering late because you get the chance to win before many of the other participants show up. The danger of having a one fall match was shown here when Bandido threw away Takeshita with the 21 Plex, Strong gave Bandido the End Of Heartache and Briscoe surprised Strong from the top rope with the Froggy Bow to get the win.

MLW “SUMMER OF THE BEASTS”, 26/06/2025
Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York, USA

1. Yuki Kamifuku defeated Wakana Uehara with an Inverted Famouser (7:24).

TJPW’s working relationship with MLW grew with the American group hosting “The Battle Of The Idols” between Yuki Kamifuku and Wakana Uehara. The two Ober Eats partners had a standard match with each other. The only unusual thing was Kamifuku winning the match with an Inverted version of the Famouser instead of the regular one, possibly because Uehara couldn’t get herself in the right position. Kamifuku’s win was enough to get the attention of Shotzi Blackheart who walked to the ring after the match for her first appearance in the promotion. The two women even threw out the idea of them having a match together somewhere down the road.

REAPER “REAPER RISING – A KING’S CORONATION”, 27/06/2025
The Pit, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

1. Janai Kai defeated Miyu Yamashita by Pinfall (?:??).

How’s this for a match finish over at Reaper Wrestling. Yamashita and Janai Kai keep kicking the hell out of each other, Kai hits the Hurricane Kick, Yamashita hits back with the Skull Kick and Kai falls on top of her to get the pin.

METALMANIA “2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY”, 28/06/2025
Stage 722, Portland, Oregon, USA

1. Miyu Yamashita Vs Janai Kai

Yamashita and Kai faced each other again the next night at METALMANIA. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find the result of the match. The only thing I could see online is a clip of the two kicking each other. They didn’t just do the same match from the day before again, did they?

SPARK “IGNITE TEXAS”, 29/06/2025
Baytown Community Center, Houston, Texas, USA

1. Yuka Sakazaki & Raychell Rose defeated SAKI & Kaia McKenna when Sakazaki pinned McKenna with the Magical Merry-Go-Round (11:25).
2. SPARK Joshi Pacific Title – 3 Way Match: Airica Demia defeated VertVixen (c) and Miyu Yamashita when Demia pinned Vixen after the Skull Kick from Yamashita (13:37)
*VertVixen fails in V1. Airica Demina becomes the 3rd SPARK Joshi Pacific Champion!

We finally get to the end of the month with SPARK Joshi holding its latest show in Texas. I haven’t seen the show yet so I don’t have much info on the matches other than how they finished. Yamashita came close to winning the SPARK Joshi Pacific Title when she used the Skull Kick on the champion Vert Vixen. However the third person in the match Airica Demina took Yamashita out of the way to steal the pin and win the championship instead.

Elsewhere on the card Sakazaki had her second match of the month by teaming with Raychell Rose to beat SAKI & Kaia McKenna. Sakazaki even scored the pin on McKenna by doing the Magical Merry-Go-Round on her.

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Upcoming Appearances

BZW “LES JEUX SONT FAITS”, 05/07/2025
Casino Barrière de Lille, Lille, France

1. BZW Tag Team Titles: MAO & Yoshihiko (c) Vs Danny Black & Joe Lando

Texas will be the main point of interest next month but first we have something going on in France to pay attention to. MAO & Yoshihiko are heading back to Banger Zone Wrestling to defence the BZW Tag Team Titles. The CPF team of Danny Black & Joe Lando are their latest challengers.

GCW “THE TOP PLAY”, 05/07/2025
The Webster Theatre, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

1. Alec Price, Jordan Oliver & Marcus Mathers Vs Miyu Yamashita, Megan Bayne & Billie Starkz

The GCW Tag Team Titles match didn’t go ahead this month for reasons I will cover at the end of this article. However Yamashita & Billie Starkz will get their hands on YDNP next month for an intergender trios match. Megan Bayne adds firepower to their team while Marcus Mathers comes to the aid of the champions.

This weekend looks to be the end of Yamashita’s latest tour. Her tweet schedule also mentions a booked in New Jersey on 6th July. JCW will be holding a show there on that date but they haven’t promoted Yamashita for it yet and I don’t see where she can fit on such a packed card that’s currently being advertised. I also haven’t been able to find any other shows taking place in the area that day so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

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

1. 3 Way Match: Yuki Kamifuku Vs Raku Vs Vert Vixen
2. Yuki Arai Vs Kaylia Capri
3. Miu Watanabe Vs Wakana Uehara
4. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Moka Miyamoto & Shino Suzuki
5. Special Single Match: Miyu Yamashita Vs Maki Itoh
6. Mizuki & Pom Harajuku Vs Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao

The word coming from TJPW and their American promotors is this Texas tour will be a big success.

ROH “SUPERCARD OF HONOR”, 11/07/2025
Esports Stadium Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA

1. ROH World Title: Bandido (c) Vs Konosuke Takeshita

I have high hopes this will be one of the matches of the weekend. Don’t even have to call it a sleeper. The last month of matches where Bandido went to battle with The Don Callis Family has all led to Takeshita challenging him for the ROH World Title! Can Takeshita become the second Japanese wrestler after Takeshi Morishima to hold the belt?

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

1. Wakana Uehara Vs Shino Suzuki
2. Arisu Endo Vs Kaylia Capri
3. Yuki Kamifuku Vs Pom Harajuku
4. Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao Vs Miu Watanabe & Vert Vixen
5. Maki Itoh Vs Raku
6. Mizuki & Suzume Vs Yuki Arai & Moka Miyamoto

The first two shows in Houston have both sold out.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN DALLAS PRESENTED BY NEXTSHARK & QUERI”, 13/07/2025
The OC, Forney, Texas, USA

1. Hyper Misao & Shino Suzuki Vs Raku & Pom Harajuku
2. Moka Miyamoto Vs Alejandra Quintanilla
3. Yuki Arai Vs Maya World
4. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara
5. Shoko Nakajima Vs Miu Watanabe
6. Yuka Sakazaki & Billie Starkz Vs Miyu Yamashita & Vert Vixen
7. Special Single Match: Mizuki Vs Maki Itoh

And the “Dallas” show is apparently going to end up becoming TJPW’s biggest drawing show in America ever!

SETUP “UNDER PRESSURE”, 26/07/2025
The Circus Studio, G Village, Bangkok, Thailand

1. Chris Brookes Vs X

Some late summer travelling for Chris Brookes. First he’ll be going back to Thailand for a SETUP show. Ram Kaichow will be there too.

BAKA GAIJIN + FRIENDS “VOL. MNL”, 22/08/2025
The Social House, Makati, Philippines

1. Takeshi Masada Vs X
2. Chris Brookes Vs X

Then a month later Brookes is going over to the Philippines and he’s bringing Takeshi Masada with him. Dexcon will be holding a weekend tripleshot of shows, the first of which will be Baka Gaijin + Friends!

DXCN “???”, 23/08/2025
Philippines

1. Takeshi Masada Vs X
2. Chris Brookes Vs X

I can’t find any info on what the second Dexcon show of the weekend will be other than Brookes and Masada should both be on it.

GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 1”, 23/08/2025
Showboat Hotel Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

Itoh returns to GCW in August for a doubleshot weekend.

DXCN “PEKSMAN”, 24/08/2025
Brawl Pit Bulusan, Quezon City, Philippines

1. Takeshi Masada Vs X
2. Chris Brookes Vs X

The third Dexcon show will be built around local wrestlers taking on the international guests.

GCW “HOMECOMING – NIGHT 2”, 24/08/2025
Showboat Hotel Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

1. Maki Itoh Vs X

There will likely be a lot more GCW bookings coming for Itoh as usual.

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Cancelled Appearances

WAFFLE HOUSE “GOOD FOOD FAST”, 15/06/2025
Waffle House, Colorado, USA

While Itoh was in Colorado for Lucha Libre & Laughs, she went to a Waffle House fully expecting the place to live up to its online reputation. Unfortunately for her no fights or other bad doings took place while she was there. Instead she got to experience the kind of Waffle House that the late Anthony Bourdain once waxed lyrically about.

GCW “TAKE A PICTURE”, 22/06/2025
The Truman, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

1. GCW Tag Team Titles: Jordan Oliver & Alec Price (c) Vs Miyu Yamashita & Billie Starkz

Yamashita found herself in the centre of controversy during the month when GCW were running a show in Missouri. The state’s athletic commission refused to give Yamashita a license to wrestle on the show because she has no social security number. GCW argued that she has all of the required documents as well as a valid working visa needed to qualify for a license. They also pointed out that Yamashita has wrestled in Missouri several times previously without any trouble. I can back up that claim because this very series of articles has records of her wrestling in St. Louis, Missouri twice in 2023: once for ROH in March and then for Glory Pro in May. Unfortunately this couldn’t change the commission’s mind and Yamashita wasn’t allowed to wrestle that evening.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW PRISM ’24” Results

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW PRISM ’24”, 09/06/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
707 Fans

1. Suzume & Arisu Endo defeated Runa Okubo & Haru Kazashiro when Suzume pinned Kazashiro with the Ring A Bell (8:34).
2. Chika Nanase defeated Uta Takami with the Inari Dorii (5:12).
3. Nao Kakuta & SAKI defeated Raku & Pom Harajuku when Kakuta pinned Harajuku with the Shiden Kai (8:59).
4. Aja Kong, Yuki Kamifuku & Kira Summer defeated Maki Itoh, Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami when Kamifuku pinned Toribami with the Famouser (11:46).
5. Special Single Match: Hikaru Shida defeated Moka Miyamoto with the Falcon Arrow (9:40).
6. Shoko Nakajima, Mizuki, Rika Tatsumi & Yuki Aino defeated Wakana Uehara, HIMAWARI, Toga & Shino Suzuki when Tatsumi pinned Uehara with the Twist Of Fate (14:51).
7. International Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) defeated LA Taylor with the Finally (10:09).
*V3 for Yuki Arai.
8. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) defeated Vert Vixen with the Tear Drop (17:17).
*V2 for Miu Watanabe.

Vert Vixen came back to Tokyo Joshi Pro in order to be Miu Watanabe’s second challenger of the Princess Of Princess Title. In the leadup to the match Watanabe unveiled a new submission hold she calls the Reverse Paradox in order to keep her opponent guessing. Maybe it was a mistake to reveal the move too early because Vixen had it scouted today, avoiding the move and being able to rope break out of it once Watanabe got to apply it correctly. Watanabe had to rely on her usual move set which turned out to be the right decision in the end. Her barrage of Laserbeam throws and Double Hammer strikes weakened Vixen enough for the Tear Drop to finish her off.

The two bowed and shook each other’s hands after the match. When Vixen left the ring, Rika Tatsumi entered it to challenger her Daydream partner for the Princess Title! Tatsumi always thought that the match would happen some day but only thinking about it would never make it happen. So she is asking Watanabe directly and didn’t even wait for her to answer. It is happening at “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’24” in Korakuen Hall on 20th July! Watanabe said she always wanted to defend the title against Tatsumi and she definitely won’t lose to her. She still remembers when Tatsumi won the International Princess Title from her last year. She closed out the show by asking the fans “Do you like Tokyo Joshi Pro?” The fans responded with “We love it!”

Speaking of the International Princess Title, Yuki Arai scored her latest defence of the belt by beating English wrestler LA Taylor. The newcomer to TJPW used her size advantage by doing a Fall Away Slam, Lariats and a Michinoku Driver. Her size also made it difficult for Arai to use the Full Nelson and Sharpshooter but she was eventually able to lock in the hold. She also used a Backslide Pin nearfall to hit Taylor with a short range Rookie Award. Taylor was dazed by the move so Arai hit the Finally next to win the match. Arai said she has held the IP Title for half a year now and while she wants to continue defending it, she is not satisfied with only holding one title. She wants to find out if she can win back the Princess Tag Team Titles again with somebody other than Saki Akai! She would be happy to find a new tag partner who can help her improve. Backstage Taylor said it was a dream come true to have the paper ribbons thrown for her during the match introductions.

Tatsumi led a senpai team to victory against the Class Of 2023 in an 8-Woman Tag Match. Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI used their High Speed Combined Brainbuster on Tatsumi and Uehara followed up with the BANANA PILLOW submission hold. Tatsumi escaped and hit her with a Hip Attack while Yuki Aino got rid of Shino Suzuki with the Side Suplex. After that Shoko Nakajima & Mizuki hit dives onto everyone out of the ring and Tatsumi pinned Uehara with the Twist Of Fate. Toga said everyone in her team grows after every fight but their senpais are always growing at a rapid rate too so the gap never closes. She hopes they can catch up to them some day while also becoming a wall for the juniors below them.

Moka Miyamoto was given a big match against AEW wrestler Hikaru Shida. She dodged some of Shida’s attacks to hit her with the Zero Sen Kick and also use the Rashomon. Shida reached the ropes and rallied back, hitting Miyamoto with a big Elbow Smash and using the Falcon Arrow to get the three count. Shida said backstage it’s been two years since she was last in TJPW and back then she thought if Miyamoto showed a little more enthusiasm she could become a really good wrestler. She didn’t expect her to grow so much since then and is glad to discover how much of a threat she has turned into. Also next time she gets invited back to TJPW, Shida wants to show everyone a different side of her. Although Miyamoto lost the match she is happy to show her growth and wants to challenge for a championship in the future.

It was an intimidating sight when Aja Kong’s team all showed up in matching face paint. Meanwhile Maki Itoh’s team all entered the ring with matching twintail hairstyles (apparently Itoh forced them to do it). When Mahiro Kiryu got the upper hand against Kira Summer, Kiryu used her Apology Knee Drop to apologise for beating the Aja Kongs of the world so easily. The real Kong didn’t forgive her. Kong also hit Itoh with a steel can but Itoh’s iron head withstood the blow and she Headbutted Kong in return. Kong almost hit Yuki Kamifuku with the can by accident but pulled back at the last moment. Kaya Toribami tried to take advantage of the crossfire but Kamifuku took care of her and won the match with the Famouser. Backstage Itoh, Kiryu & Toribami all complained that they couldn’t tell which opponent was the real Aja Kong.

SAKI was confused to see Raku & Pom Harajuku lie down to sleep in front of her before their match began. She decided to join in but fell for RakuPom’s trap even though Nao Kakuta tried to stop her. Later SAKI used an Atomic Drop on Harajuku and then gave Raku an Atomic Drop. That set Kakuta up to pin Harajuku with the Shiden Kai. Kakuta said she was happy to team up with SAKI in Japan after their plan to do it at the TJPW USA show had to be cancelled. Harajuku complained the Atomic Drop hurts so bad she can’t sit down and feels like she’s been split in two!

In a match where both wrestlers were fighting for their first win, Chika Nanase defeated Uta Takami. She used a Modified Full Nelson called the Inari Dorii to win by submission. It was a move she used once before in an incomplete form but today she debuted the finished version. Nanase is happy to win but wants to aim higher. Takami thought she was going to shine brightly and win today but admits she became a complete mess instead. Losing has only fired her up even more though and she will cherish every day to work hard so she can win next time.

The show began with a non-title match where Daisy Monkey took on Runa Okubo & Haru Kazashiro. The result was no surprise with Arisu Endo taking out Okubo with a Diving Mt. Tsuruga and Suzume pinning Kazashiro with the Ring A Bell. They enjoyed being in the opening match again because it’s like being the first batter in a baseball game. They feel like they are in top form now and are confident they can defend the Princess Tag Titles against anyone.

It was announced that “WRESTLE PRINCESS V” will be held at Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall on 22nd September.

Nakajima will be getting a match at “SUMMER SUN PRINCESS ’24” that she has always wanted. She will have a singles bout against Aja Kong! Nakajima has experienced beatings from Kong before in places like Sumo Hall as well as beneath the cherry blossom trees of Shinjo Village. She believes this match will be meaningless if she cannot use this opportunity to beat Kong! Meanwhile Kong said she will be training alone in the mountains to prepare for the match. If she doesn’t she won’t be able to compete against Nakajima.

Will Kazato Get Crowned? TJPW Prism Full Card, MAO Wants To Be The Focus Of Ryogoku

BASARA “BASARA 249 ~UTAGE~”, 28/05/2024
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. Ryuichi Sekine, Fuminori Abe & Gaia Hox Vs FUMA, KUBITO & Yasu Urano
2. SAGAT Vs Gouma Ryu
3. Isami Kodaka, Takato Nakano & Masato Kamino Vs Lil’ Kraken, Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
4. Iron Fist Tag Team Titles: Ryota Nakatsu & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Takumi Tsukamoto & Judomaster
5. Union MAX Title: Minoru Fujita (c) Vs Daichi Kazato

Tomorrow is the big day for Daichi Kazato. Is it his destiny to win the Union MAX Title from Minoru Fujita?

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2024 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 05/06/2024
Shinjuku FACE

1. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuya Koroku Vs Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
2. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs Jun Akiyama & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
3. Special Tag Match: MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata
4. Daisuke Kiso Referee 14th Anniversary Match ~ Special Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs To-y & Yuni
5. CDK 5th Anniversary Match ~ Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul (c) Vs HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi

There is currently a dispute going on over who is going to be the referee for the KO-D Openweight Title match. Hisaya Imabayashi is leaning towards having Yukinori Matsui as the official, which is normally the case. However Sanshiro Takagi thinks Matsui is too strict and wants somebody who will give him more leeway to do what he wants. He agrees the match will still be held under normal rules though. Yuki Ueno is willing as the champion to fight Takagi under his conditions. However he would prefer the match to have a strict referee so he wants Matsui to be the first choice.

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2024 TOUR IN KYOTO”, 08/06/2024
Kyoto KBS Hall

1. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Toru Owashi & Ilusion
2. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs Takeshi Masada & Keigo Nakamura
3. MAO Vs Yuya Koroku
4. Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Shinichiro Kawamatsu Vs HARASHIMA, Kazusada Higuchi & Kazuma Sumi
5. Special Single Match: Chris Brookes Vs Kazuki Hirata
6. The 37KAMIINA Vs D.O.A!: Yuki Ueno, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs Jun Akiyama, Danshoku Dieno & Makoto Oishi

If losing in the King Of DDT semi-final wasn’t enough to annoy Chris Brookes, he now has to relive last year’s D-Oh Grand Prix when he was the only wrestler in his block to lose against Kazuki Hirata. There is probably no better time for Hirata to go for the upset win in a non-tournament rematch.

Keep an eye out for Yuya Koroku from this point onwards. He was the one to pin Poison Sawada JULIE over the weekend after being outnumbered for the finishing stretch of the match. I’m not saying he’s going to beat MAO next but we might be getting the start of something with him.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW PRISM ’24”, 09/06/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Runa Okubo & Haru Kazashiro
2. Chika Nanase Vs Uta Takami
3. Nao Kakuta & SAKI Vs Raku & Pom Harajuku
4. Aja Kong, Yuki Kamifuku & Kira Summer Vs Maki Itoh, Mahiro Kiryu & Kaya Toribami
5. Special Single Match: Hikaru Shida Vs Moka Miyamoto
6. Shoko Nakajima, Mizuki, Rika Tatsumi & Yuki Aino Vs Wakana Uehara, HIMAWARI, Toga & Shino Suzuki
7. International Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs LA Taylor
8. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Vert Vixen

The full card was revealed yesterday and here it is. Aja Kong returns to team with Yuki Kamifuku again and this time Kira Summer gets to join in. RakuPom have been chosen to be the final opponents for Nao Kakuta & SAKI’s tag team. Either Chika Nanase or Uta Takami will earn their first singles win at the other person’s expense. The rest of the card is the usual veteran versus new generation type of matches.

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2024 TOUR IN MATSUYAMA”, 09/06/2024
Ehime Matsuyama City General Community Center Special Exhibition Hall

1. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Yuya Koroku & Ilusion
2. Shunma Katsumata, Makoto Oishi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Sanshiro Takagi (w/ Cutie Elly The Ehime), Akito & Tsuruhimeka
3. Special Tag Match: Jun Akiyama & Santaro Ishizuchi Vs HARASHIMA & Takeshi Masada
4. Matsuyama Specialty Special Single Match: Danshoku Dieno Vs Bonjin Pulp
5. Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Imabari Taoru Mascaras Vs Chris Brookes & Kazuma Sumi
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & To-y Vs Yuki Iino, Kazusada Higuchi & Keigo Nakamura

Another person from Ehime Pro will be on the show but is not going to wrestled. Cutie Elly The Ehime will be in Sanshiro Takagi’s corner as his manager for Match #2 instead. She did the same at last year’s show in Matsuyama City.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM BATTLE”, 16/06/2024
TOKYO FM Hall

1. DDT Universal Title: MAO (c) Vs X

The Sumo Hall main event and KO-D Title shot is on the horizon but first MAO wants to defend his DDT Universal Title. His schedule prevents him from travelling overseas for the time being so he wants to defend the title against a wide range of wrestlers in Japan. He has begun searching for his first challenger and will choose one for a title match taking place at TOKYO FM Hall in a few weeks time.

Fuminori Abe will be on the show. That could be related to the title match or it might not.

DDT “WRESTLE PETER PAN 2024”, 21/07/2024
Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan

1. Special Single Match: KONOSUKE TAKESHITA Vs Masato Tanaka
2. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs MAO

MAO is now guaranteed to be part of the Sumo Hall main event. It will be either Yuki Ueno or Sanshiro Takagi who will be against him as the defending KO-D Champion. Takagi said he would defend the belt against MAO in a Weapon Rumble if he is the champ.

Next time Konosuke Takeshita is in DDT he will face Masato Tanaka in a rematch from March 2020. Tanaka successfully defended the KO-D Title against Takeshita back then in what was the last KO-D Title match held in front of an audience before the global pandemic shut everything down. Did anyone notice that this year’s Fire Festival tournament is the first one without Tanaka taking part in it? I know ZERO1 is a zombie promotion now but how can you have a Fire Festival without Tanaka in it?

Minoru Suzuki and El Desperado will be on the show.

Kakuta Gets To Team With SAKI One Last Time

GANBARE☆PRO “BOAT RACE G1 TODA PRIMROSE”, 01/06/2024
Saitama Boat Race Toda

0. CWP Offer Match: Sasaki Complete Jr. & Baraki Ueno Vs Daisuke®️ & TERU Oshima
1. Gabai Ji-chan & HARUKAZE Vs Yuna Manase & YuuRI
2. Choun-Shiryu & Shota Kawakami Vs Tsutomu Oosugi & Banana Senga
3. Ken Ohka & Rekka Vs Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Yumehito Imanari
4. Aja Kong, Shuichiro Katsumura & Kouki Iwasaki Vs Keisuke Ishii, Mizuki Watase & Tsuyoshi Okada

With Shinchiro Tominaga out of action with a ruptured Achilles tendon the main event of the Saitama Boat Race show has to be changed. Mizuki Watase and Kouki Iwasaki are swapping sides and Tsuyoshi Okada is coming in to even things out.

The Ganbare☆Pro debut of Daisuke®️ went off well so the promotion is giving CWP a dark match to show off more of their roster. Sasaki Complete Jr. is nicknamed the “Killing Machine” and has won multiple different CWP championships. Baraki Ueno is an esports athlete who likes to use the techniques he learns from fighting games. TERU Oshima looks up to Tominaga and followed his steps into joining CWP.

GANBARE☆PRO “WILD GAMBLE 2024”, 02/06/2024
Tokyo Takashimadaira Kumin Center

1. Hartley Jackson Vs Shota Kawakami
2. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title Next Challenger Time Staggered Battle Royal: Ken Ohka Vs Yuna Manase Vs Choun-Shiryu Vs Gabai Ji-chan Vs Baliyan Akki Vs Daisuke®️
3. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada (c) Vs Shigehiro Irie & Mizuki Watase

The rookie Shota Kawakami is getting thrown into the ring with a real heavyweight in the form of Hartley Jackson.

DDT “WHAT ARE YOU DOING 2024 TOUR IN SHINJUKU”, 05/06/2024
Shinjuku FACE

1. Kazusada Higuchi & Yuya Koroku Vs Yukio Naya & Keigo Nakamura
2. Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino Vs Jun Akiyama & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
3. Special Tag Match: MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Danshoku Dieno & Kazuki Hirata
4. Daisuke Kiso Referee 14th Anniversary Match ~ Special Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie Vs To-y & Yuni
5. CDK 5th Anniversary Match ~ Special Tag Match: Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi Vs Makoto Oishi & Shiori Asahi
6. KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul (c) Vs HARASHIMA, Akito & Yasu Urano
7. KO-D Openweight Title: Yuki Ueno (c) Vs Sanshiro Takagi

A rematch of last month’s KO-D Tag Team Titles bout has been added to the show. BURNING will face Jun Akiyama & Tomomitsu Matsunaga again but this time the titles are not on the line.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW PRISM ’24”, 09/06/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Nao Kakuta & SAKI Vs X & X
2. Special Single Match: Hikaru Shida Vs Moka Miyamoto
3. International Princess Title: Yuki Arai (c) Vs LA Taylor
4. Princess Of Princess Title: Miu Watanabe (c) Vs Vert Vixen

Last month in America Nao Kakuta and SAKI were meant to team up together on the “GCW VS TJPW” show. Plans changed when Kakuta fell ill and was unable to travel to the shows. Tokyo Joshi Pro wanted to make sure she gets to team with SAKI one more time before she retires so it will happen at Korakuen Hall next month. Their opponents will be announced soon.

GANBARE☆PRO “THE☆BAZAAR”, 16/06/2024
Saitama Musashino Bank Shin-Tokorozawa Branch Parking Lot

1. Ken Ohka, Mizuki Watase & Shota Kawakami Vs Keisuke Ishii, Yumehito Imanari & Rekka

An outdoor event in Shin-Tokorozawa has sponsored GanPro to put on a wrestling match for them. It will be free to watch for guests but may get cancelled if there is rainy weather on the day.

Video – Sayaka Unagi’s Adventures With The Iron Man Title

GCW/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GCW VS TJPW” Results

GCW/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GCW VS TJPW”, 06/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
672 Fans – No Vacancy

1. 3 Way Match: Suzume defeated SAKI and Pom Harajuku when Suzume pinned Harajuku with the Ring A Bell (7:54).
2. Session Moth Martina defeated Raku with the Codebreaker (5:56).
3. Arisu Endo defeated Shazza McKenzie with the Ju no Okite (7:29).
4. Steph De Lander defeated Hyper Misao with the Steph Five onto a bulk of Lipstick Cases (8:10).
5. Dark Sheik defeated Yuki Kamifuku with the Diving Leg Drop (7:43).
6. Mizuki defeated Allie Katch with the Cutie Special (7:35).
7. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe defeated Billie Starkz & Janai Kai when Watanabe pinned Kai after the Daydream Eternity (13:27).
8. Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Rina Yamashita, Masha Slamovich & Maki Itoh defeated Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino when Itoh submitted Aino with the Itoh Deluxe (21:01).

Yesterday Tokyo Joshi Pro were welcomed into The Collective as esteemed guests of GCW getting to put on their own show. Today’s show had GCW as the home team taking on the visitors from TJPW. The main event showed just how much of a GCW show it was by placing Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino into a rare hardcore wrestling environment. For Maki Itoh it is home away from home at this point. The same can be said for Rina Yamashita and even Masha Slamovich. Nakajima tried to keep things familiar to TJPW by bringing out her large sack of kaiju toys from Japan (she claims it cost her an extra 10,000 yen in luggage fees to bring them over). She ended up getting Body Slammed onto them by Rina. Team GCW brought out a door to slam Aino through but in true GCW fashion the door collapsed on itself before that could happen. They found a replacement board to put Aino through instead. One by one each wrestler from both sides got their shots in until Itoh dropped Aino with a DDT and made her submit to the Itoh Deluxe.

Daydream made up for yesterday’s defeat by beating the GCW pairing of Billie Starkz & Janai Kai today. Miu Watanabe called it a clear and sunny victory. The result was just what Rika Tatsumi needed to forget about yesterday. She now wants Daydream to wrestle all over the world so they will now wait for any offers to do so. The feeling wasn’t so bright for Starkz & Kai. They argued with each other over who’s fault it was they lost. They teamed up today but they are not a tag team as far as Starkz is concerned.

I put in the warning in the preview that Mizuki likes to bite her opponents. Allie Katch found that out the hard way. She not only bit Katch’s arms to counter her moves but her thighs and stomach as well! It got Katch so mad she wrecklessly missed a Cannonball attack allowing Mizuki to pin her with the Cutie Special. Katch said she was looking forward to this match but now that she knows how Mizuki really fights she will prepare for her more properly next time.

Yuki Kamifuku claims Dark Sheik won their match today based on wrestling style but in terms of sexiness, Kamifuku was the real winner. With that said, Kamifuku learned a lot this week from people who are a bit crazy. She wants to bring that kind of culture back with her to Fujisawa City while putting her own sexy twist on it.

The match between Hyper Misao and Steph De Lander went hardcore with the use of bamboo skewers, chairs and even a box full of lipstick cases all being used as weapons. De Lander was able to win by giving Misao the Steph Five onto the remains that were left laying on the canvas. This may not be the last time TJPW will see De Lander too. If she does come back it won’t be to make friends or happy memories. She wants to win more championships. Sadly for Misao she seemed to have injured her ankle during the match.

Arisu Endo got to wrestle a foreign opponent one on one for the first time and came out of it with a win. Shazza McKenzine was on Team GCW for this show due to the promotion’s support for her in the past. She wants to work hard so she gets to fight more TJPW wrestlers and finally beat them.

Are pop idols usually allowed to drink alcohol during performances? Don’t let those in charge of The Up Up Girls hear about what happened to Raku when she fought Session Moth Martina then. Martina offered Raku a drink but she chose to take a nap on her pillow instead. Martina then decided to slowly pour the beer into Raku’s mouth, causing her to get into a drowsy level of drunk. She eventually sobered up and got her second wind but Martina countered the Doctor Yellow with a Headbutt and pinned Raku with the Codebreaker. Raku couldn’t tell if she was dreaming or if she was drunk. What she could notice is she now feels even stronger! She would like to team with Martina next time either in America or Japan.

The opening match was a 3 Way with no actual GCW wrestlers on it due to a lot of plans changing along the way. Suzume ended up defeating SAKI and Pom Harajuku. It is a result that makes Suzume very happy because she proved she is strong enough to win matches by herself. SAKI was disappointed she couldn’t team with Nao Kakuta when that was the reason why she was booked on the show in the first place. She feels like she has been deceived because of that. Harajuku is annoyed she lost because she thinks of herself as an expert in 3 Way Matches. She still had fun wrestling in America and will definitely win a match the next time she comes over here.

Guide To TJPW In Philadelphia

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW LIVE IN PHILLY”, 05/04/2024
Penn’s Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Hyper Misao Vs Billie Starkz
2. Shoko Nakajima Vs “The Unbreakable” Rhio
3. Yuki Aino & Raku Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Viva Van
4. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Nao Kakuta & Zara Zakher
5. Mizuki & Vert Vixen Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku
6. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe

Back once again on American soil, Tokyo Joshi Pro is entering this year’s Wrestlemania Week as part of The Collective series of indie shows. This time around TJPW will be involved across two days: one show will be held on their own and the next day they have an inter-promotional event with GCW. It just goes to show how much DDT’s little sister has taken the international spotlight away from them in recent years. Looking at the Mania schedule this year, you can say that about the offerings of Japanese wrestling in general with the joshi shows getting more hype than what the other puroresu companies are sending over. These two shows will be happening only a few days after TJPW holds “GRAND PRINCESS ’24” at Sumo Hall so fans around the world will get to see the promotion take their next step coming out of such an important show. Have you seen the gifs of the Skull Kicks and Giant Swings? Are you curious to know curious to know why a foul mouthed ex-idol has so many simps or why that crazy woman in white likes to choke people so much? Would you like to see a superhero crash her bicycle? Do you write for a wrestling website and mistook this for a Stardom show? Are you wondering what ever happened to Hikari Noa? Well you won’t get an answer to that last question but for everything else, this guide is for you!

Where and when are the shows taking place?

Both shows will be held at Penn’s Landing Caterers Auditorium in Philadelphia. “TJPW LIVE IN PHILLY” is taking place on Friday, 5th April at 11:00am Eastern time. “GCW VS TJPW” will happen on Saturday, 6th April at 2:30pm Eastern time.

Where can I watch it online?

Both shows will air live on Triller TV (or FITE as it used to be called) with English commentary through the TrillerTV+ subscription service. The on-demand versions of both shows will be available to watch on Wrestle Universe a few weeks after the live broadcast.

Is this a proper TJPW show?

Yes. On paper I would put it on the level of their B shows when it comes to the card layout just without the matches built around the younger wrestlers and rookies. This is not like last year when they put together a lineup fitting for a Korakuen Hall show. What we have here fits in more for an event at Shinjuku FACE or Ryogoku KFC Hall. That’s not to say the show quality will be low or uninteresting. It’s more that you are getting to see TJPW at its status quo. The guest wrestlers booked have all appeared in TJPW over the past few years, some on a regular basis so none of the names stick out like a sore thumb. I assure you this will be as close to a genuine TJPW experience you can get without going over to Japan.

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1. Hyper Misao Vs Billie Starkz

It’s a super hero against a Minion In Training! Hyper Misao often delights the fans with her endless crazy ideas to protect love and peace in TJPW. But the chaos she creates is the same kind of environment Billie Starkz feels most at home in. The hero and villain in this match may be more alike then they both realize.

Hyper Misao – When love and peace is under threat in TJPW, you can always rely on Hyper Misao to come to the rescue. Just don’t be surprised if her plan to save the world turns out not to be as heroic as she looks. Sometimes she will get on the microphone, greet the audience with “Hello big children!” and reveal her plans to save the day. Other times she arrives to the ring riding on the Hypami Dramatic Dream combat bike. She has the talent to win fair fights but prefers using underhanded tactics like blinding her opponents with cold spray or crashing the Hypami DD into them. Hey, the Madame Web movie showed that vehicular manslaughter is a heroic trait so it’s acceptable for Misao to do it too!
Moves To Watch Out For: Hypami Returns (Final Cut), I Am A Hero (Diving Cross Body), Crossface Chickenwing, Vanitas (Double Arm Facebuster), Cold Spray Attack

Billie Starkz – Since the last time we saw her in TJPW, “Space Jesus” has gone from indie darling to a Minion In Training that you can rely on. Ring Of Honor is where you will find Starkz on most days but she still finds the time to pop up in GCW plus a few other indies every now and then. In fact this match kind of serves as a warm up for her because hours after this show is finished she will be competing in a tournament final to crown the first ever ROH Women’s World TV Champion.
Moves To Watch Out For: Swanton Bomb, Sugoi Driver (Double Legged One-Winged Angel sometimes on the ring apron), Starkz Driver (Tombstone Piledriver), Star 10 (CRII)

2. Shoko Nakajima Vs “The Unbreakable” Rhio

No, that’s not a typo for those seeing the second name and thinking of somebody else. This match is Japan versus England when one of TJPW’s most decorated wrestlers Shoko Nakajima takes on “The Unbreakable” Rhio, a rising female star from the British scene. Because when a kaiju is on the loose you need to put something unbreakable in the way to keep the rampage under control.

Shoko Nakajima – Meet the Big Kaiju, all 147cm of her! Nakajima has pretty much done it all in TJPW as one of the promotion’s longest serving wrestlers. Usually quick and speedy, she also has the strength to put away opponents with the Northern Lights Suplex. The Diving Senton she uses is nothing to sneeze at either. When put in Hardcore Match situations her favourite weapon is a pile of kaiju toys that she slams her opponents onto. She’s a Swiss Army Knife that can adapt to any kind of situation wrestling can throw at her.
Moves To Watch Out For: Northern Lights Suplex, Diving Senton, Unmanned Local Train Hold (Yurikamome submission hold), 619, Rider Kick (One-Legged Dropkick)

“The Unbreakable” Rhio – A working relationship between TJPW and British women’s promotion EVE opened the doors for Rhio to tour in Japan. She impressed with her power built on her background in Karate and Taekwondo. Since then she has been all over the European scene and has won the Women’s Championship in companies such as Progress and ICW (the Scottish one, not the chains one). She hasn’t been back to Japan since that tour but whenever a TJPW wrestler travels over to England you can count on her to be a likely opponent for them.
Moves To Watch Out For: Dreaded End (Neck Screw Hold), Package Piledriver, Pumphandle Bomb

3. Yuki Aino & Raku Vs Yuki Kamifuku & Viva Van

Here is a battle between sweetness versus seduction, love versus desire and naps versus partying. Among the many friendships that have formed within the promotion, Yuki Aino & Raku is one that has captured a lot of the fanbase’s attention. There’s just something about a sleepy trainspotting pop singer that people just can’t deny. The team facing them have quickly become friends too. Yuki Kamifuku & Viva Van were meant to be put together as opponents but admired each other’s beauty so much they got immediately got along. When Van wanted to come up with a team name for this match, Kamifuku came up with The Casual Vixens. Let’s see if that sticks.

Yuki Aino – It happened so long ago that it’s hard to remember Aino originally debuted in TJPW as a ring announcer before turning pro so she could team with her sister. Tag team wrestling remains her forte and she is one of few wrestlers in TJPW to have held tag title gold with different partners. Love and the fiery power it can bring is what drives her as you can see from the names she gives her moves below. She also adores the woman she gets to team with on the show.
Moves To Watch Out For: Venus DDT (Inverted DDT), UBV/Unlimited Burning Venus (Double Arm Side Buster), Full Nelson Of Love And Fire (Full Nelson Camel Clutch), Side Suplex

Raku – The first of two members from The Up Up Girls you will see on the show. The Up Up Girls are a pop idol group that created a pro wrestling spin off unit in TJPW. The members often perform songs at the start of the show before wrestling in matches later in the card. Raku’s entire personality can be summed down to naps and trains. She knows so much railway trivia she often has a Train Of The Day to tell the audience on every show. Will SEPTA be up to her standards? Her moveset is built around sending her opponents to sleep so she can run over them with the Oyasumi Express. Somehow this entire package has made her absolutely adored to the point where she may as well be God to some people.
Moves To Watch Out For: Doctor Yellow (Jumping Neckbreaker), Hurricane Turn (Cross-Arm Backslide Pin), Oyasumi Express (running on top of the opponent over and over), Good Night Sleeper, Poppo Chop! (Brain Chop)

Yuki Kamifuku – Also known by her nickname Kamiyu, she is “The Casual Beauty” of TJPW. She knows how to get under her opponent’s skin with harsh and catty opinions. But there is another side to her where she is loyal and sympathetic to her friends. She is also proud of her modelling background because her accomplishments in the ring is proof you do not need to be a die hard pro wrestling fan to succeed in the business. Grew up in Ohio during her junior high school years so she knows the most English out of the bunch. Also really loves Zac Efron and after watching “The Iron Claw” it is now her dream to wrestle a match with him. She is currently the Queen Of Asia Champion after winning the belt in Singapore last November.
Moves To Watch Out For: Famouser (Jumping Leg Drop), Big Boot, Yahoo 83cm (Headscissors DDT), Manjigatame, Thumb To The Eye

Viva Van – One of the more recent foreign guests in TJPW is nicknamed “The Hellbent Vixen”. This Vietnamese-American wrestler has gathered together a large amount of championships in recent times but her attempt to dethrone Kamifuku as the Queen Of Asia ended in failure. However even before that match took place the two of them got along anyway because of how good looking they both are. It’s no surprise the two of them are definitely happy they get to reunite in America. Kamifuku even suggested one time they go on the lookout for a third attractive Asian wrestler to join them so they can be a trio Charlie’s Angels style. But don’t let that kind of attitude fool you, Van has been climbing up the ranks high enough to get matches in AEW and AAA as well as New Japan’s USA shows.
Moves To Watch Out For: Hellevator (Electric Chair spun into a Power Bomb), Ocean Cyclone Suplex, Code Red, Meteora, Butterfly Suplex

4. Suzume & Arisu Endo Vs Nao Kakuta & Zara Zakher

When it comes to tag teams in TJPW you can expect a lot of creative team names. Some of the names have elaborate reasons behind them, others not so much. Daisy Monkey is so called because Suzume is like a flower and Arisu Endo is like a monkey. That’s it. Simple enough. Out of all of the pairings in TJPW currently Daisy Monkey have perhaps the closest bond together. The two of them are pretty much inseparable. It’s that kind of friendship that led to them finally winning the Princess Tag Team Titles recently. Facing them is the first time pairing of Nao Kakuta & Zara Zakher. This match will likely be Kakuta’s last time wrestling in America while Zakher’s wrestling career is really only just beginning.

Suzume – As sharp as a wasp, Suzume is the Daisy half of Daisy Monkey. She begun her career as a fast learner, only spending seven months in training before making her pro debut. Just on the looks of her aesthetic alone it is of no surprise that speed is the name of her game. As part of the Daisy Monkey team she has held a desire over the last two years (if not longer) to win the Princess Tag Titles so the two of them could reach the same level as the previous champions they fought and admired.
Moves To Watch Out For: Ring A Bell (RKO), Mikazuki Meteor Shower (Diving Cross Body), Twinkle (Twisting School Boy), Flying Facecrusher

Arisu Endo – The Monkey half of Daisy Monkey, please welcome Aizuwakamatsu City’s most cheerful tourism ambassador. She’s always ready to give fans the thumbs up with a smile. Endo also has a habit of constantly dying her hair in new ways, using every colour in the world you can think of. She has so much pride in where she comes from that she named many of her moves after local destinations and traditions. Together with Suzume, Daisy Monkey have established themselves as TJPW’s top tag team of the new generation.
Moves To Watch Out For: Ju no Okite (Hercules Cutter), Camel Clutch, Mt. Bandai (2nd Rope Springboard Dropkick), Tsuruga Castle (Guillotine Knee Drop)

Nao Kakuta – Soon to retire from pro wrestling, Kakuta gets a chance to say goodbye to her American fans. She was previously a kindergarten teacher, a social welfare director and a camp instructor before becoming a stage actress and pro wrestler. Her wrestling career begun in the original class of Actwres girl’Z before she jumped over to TJPW, where she will stay until this July when she graduates from the industry. There are not a lot of heels in TJPW but Kakuta’s wrestling style is closer to that line than pretty much the rest of the regular roster.
Moves To Watch Out For: Shiden Kai (Fireman’s Carry into a Stunner), Kamitaka (Cross-Legged Front Neck Lock), Tarantula Headscissors, Kenka Kick

Zara Zakher – This past February a new young wrestler from California was given a week long tour of Japan to compete in TJPW. With only a year of experience under her belt at that point, Zakher was thrown straight into the fire with both matches being against former champions. Short in frame but deceptively strong, Zakher had an impressive showing despite coming out on the losing end in both matches. She left enough of a good impression that TJPW fans get to see her again here in Philly.
Moves To Watch Out For: Control Z (Screw Bomb), Lariat, Standing Moonsault

5. Mizuki & Vert Vixen Vs Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku

Another international tag but this one with a far wilder selection of wrestlers involved. Mizuki joins forces with Vert Vixen for the first time ever. The two were opponents in America once before now everyone gets to see how well they fare as a team. Going against them is one of the most unlikely but heartwarming friendships you will ever find. What happens when you put a wasteland warrior like Max The Impaler with the childlike innocence of Pom Harajuku? You get a buddy-buddy tag team the likes of which would leave Pixar producers seething with jealousy because they hadn’t thought of it first.

Mizuki – The Popping Sugar Rabbit did not start her wrestling career in TJPW but she has established herself as one of the company’s all time best with multiple championship reigns and big show main events to her name. Don’t trust that smiling face of hers, she is vicious when she wants to be which is often. Constantly goes viral for using the Whirling Candy as well as Diving Double Stomps that leave those who see the moves locked in a state of inspiration and amazement. She doesn’t understand what U3+4 means but she is the closest pro wrestling can get to ever creating a real life Lili from Tekken. Just watch out for the biting. She can take the rabbit stuff a bit too literally sometimes.
Moves To Watch Out For: Cutie Special (Bridging Fall Away Slam), Whirling Candy (Spinning Cross Body Block), Diving Foot Stomp, Face Lock

Vert Vixen – Going from what I see online you can spell the name as either VertVixen or Vert Vixen. At last year’s American shows she made her DDT debut and took her first steps into the CyberFight universe. From there she did a month long tour in Japan with TJPW and returned in the summertime to defend the DEFY Women’s Championship, a title she still holds to this day. Obsessed with video games, her ring gear is often inspired by something gaming related. She is nicknamed Player One because Player One always wins!
Moves To Watch Out For: Game Over (Ki Crusher), Blue Thunder Bomb, Rolling Stunner, Sharpshooter

Max The Impaler – Puroresu has a history of bringing over wild rampaging warriors from the western world to cause chaos in their rings. Who could have guess TJPW of all companies would join in the tradition? Whenever “The Non-Binary Nightmare” comes over to TJPW you can expect a path of chaos being left in their wake. And yet Max has ended up becoming really well liked by the roster. Sure the times they rip the building apart gets management a little worried about future bookings with those venues but Max has become a part of the family at this point. And there is one wrestler more than anyone else who Max has established a strong attachment with.
Moves To Watch Out For: Welcome To The Wasteland (Canadian Backbreaker Drop), Short-Range Lariat, Body Block

Pom Harajuku – Bright and colourful costumes, loud screaming and plenty of kicks aimed at shins. Pom Harajuku’s fighting style can be most compared to that of a three year old throwing a temper tantrum. In recent years she has become the centre of Max The Impaler’s attention. Originally opponents in matches that more resembled a monster chasing down their prey, Max & Pom gradually developed respect for each other leading to them joining forces as a team called Pompaler. That is what happens when Max takes a liking to cute things and discovers just how effective it is to throw those cute things at other people. Even without Max, Harajuku can be a lot to handle by herself. And that’s just from the screaming.
Moves To Watch Out For: Pom de Justice (Step-Up Guillotine Leg Drop), Laforet Harajuku (Satellite Headscissors), Shin Kick, Denden Taiko (beating the opponent’s chest like a drum)

6. Special Tag Match: Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe

Similar to last year’s show the main event pits two of TJPW’s strongest ever tag teams against each other. 121000000 (pronounced “One To Million” because together their power increases from one to a million) consists of Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh. Both of them are feature players in the company yet in the last year they seem to spend more and more time wrestling overseas. Facing them is a team that can go by two names. Their Japanese name is Hakuchumu but I prefer using the English name Daydream. Together Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe are just as accomplished as their opponents and also have the edge of being the more established tag team. The match is also happening in the aftermath of “GRAND PRINCESS ’24” that just took place in Sumo Hall. Watanabe defeated Yamashita to become the new Princess Of Princess Champion in the main event and here they are fighting each other again. The result of this match may have the consequence of setting up the next Princess Title match back in Japan.

Miyu Yamashita – The Pink Striker has been part of TJPW since they first ran events and is never far away from the Princess Title. She is such a major part of the company that her dominance has long become a big fish in a small pond scenario. The Skull Kick she uses is one of the most deadliest looking finishers around. In recent years she has taken time away from TJPW to wrestle in America and Europe just like her tag team partner. That trend continues because after this show takes place Yamashita will begin a fresh stay in America that will last from April until June.
Moves To Watch Out For: Skull Kick (Backspin High Kick to the head), Crash Rabbit Heat (Running Knee Kick), Attitude Adjustment, Return Crash (Triangle Kick off the turnbuckles)

Maki Itoh – A failed idol who won her way into the hearts of wrestling fans after she transformed into a foul mouthed psychopath with an endless appetite for fame. When she’s about to punch her opponent in the corner she always shouts “Who is the cutest in the world?” and the audience respond with “Itoh-chan!” She struggled for years to become a success in Japan only to start making it big in America wrestling for AEW and GCW. In fact, nowadays you’re more likely to see Itoh carving up opponents with a pizza cutter in GCW than you will trying to be a popstar in TJPW! She recently became the new GCW Extreme Champion. It’s only a matter of time before she takes over the whole place!
Moves To Watch Out For: Itoh Special/Deluxe/Punish (Variations of the Texas Cloverleaf), Flying Big Head (Diving Headbutt), I.S.D/Itoh Suicide DDT (Flying DDT from the top rope), The Cutest Knuckle Punch In The World

Rika Tatsumi – The White Dragon originally took her name and some of her moveset from Tatsumi Fujinami and she also developed hips as hard of diamonds thanks to some special training with Shiro Koshinaka. She is one of only two grand slam champions in TJPW, having won the Princess Title, the Princess Tag Titles and the International Princess Title. But turning into such a powerful creature eventually comes at a cost and she has gradually become a little bit crazy. When you step into the ring with Tatsumi she will find a way to strangle you. She claims it is just her way of making friends. She would also happily run her opponents over with the company tour bus if she knew how to drive it.
Moves To Watch Out For: White Dragon Sleeper, Twist Of Fate, Hip Attack, “Let’s Go!” Elbow Drop, Choking Opponents

Miu Watanabe – The second Up Up Girl appearing on the show and also the strongest. She has found the most success outside of the group by becoming the second ever grand slam champion along with headlining “GRAND PRINCESS ’24” in Sumo Hall just a few days ago. It is the first step towards an Up Up Girl’s ultimate goal of performing in the Nippon Budokan. Always full of energy, she uses big hand gestures to spell out L-O-V-E along with her theme song during her entrances. You need to see her doing the Giant Swing because she knows several ways to put opponents into the move. She’s no one hit wonder though. There are a variety of ways Watanabe gets to show off her strength in the ring. Everyone could see for years that she is TJPW’s next breakout star. It’s only just recently that the booking finally caught up to that opinion.
Moves To Watch Out For: Tear Drop (Modified Flapjack), Laserbeam (Overhand Chop to the chest), Giant Swing, Canadian Backbreaker, Swinging Backbreaker

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GCW/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GCW VS TJPW”, 06/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Suzume & Pom Harajuku Vs SAKI & Nao Kakuta
2. Session Moth Martina Vs Raku
3. Dark Sheik Vs Yuki Kamifuku
4. Steph De Lander Vs Hyper Misao
5. Shazza McKenzie Vs Arisu Endo
6. Allie Katch Vs Mizuki
7. Billie Starkz & Janai Kai Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
8. Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Rina Yamashita, Masha Slamovich & Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino

The next afternoon TJPW goes head to head against GCW with a show dedicated almost entirely to inter-promotion matches between the two companies. I’ve written about GCW before when DDT worked with them last year so if you don’t mind I’ll repeat my opinions of them here. GCW is a promotion I like but don’t love. I’ve gotten to attend a variety of their events before, most of them during WrestleMania week. They’re really fun to attend in person and I enjoy watching live on Triller whenever I get to chance to do so. Watching the shows on-demand a day or two later though isn’t the same because the energy never carries through the screen. It’s a promotion that does not give its viewers a lot of time to let things soak in because as soon as one show ends they go right into promoting their next events. It can make following them online a bit of a blur at times.

The “GCW Vs X” shows often come off feeling like the lesser event of their doubleshot weekends and I fear the same has happened here despite the admirable effort on GCW’s end to provide an all women’s lineup. It doesn’t help that this show will be on Saturday afternoon and ends only a couple of hours before the first night of WrestleMania opens its doors. I’ve been to other wrestling shows held the same day as WrestleMania in the past and the atmosphere was always poor because the majority of the crowd spends the show keeping an eye on the exits for the entire time. I’m trying to be polite here because the undercard has the potential to be atrocious. Matches #3 up to #6 could be an absolute slog to sit through if some of those style clashes don’t work out. The card was changed a little bit because Sawyer Wreck was originally part of it. A broken hand put her out of action and caused a small reshuffle which includes SAKI getting a last minute booking so she can team with Kakuta. I don’t know what how Allie Katch Vs Mizuki will turn out. That feels like a coin flip as to whether or not the match will be good.

There is something I like about the lineup and that’s the main event. Itoh being on the GCW side makes sense given how she’s been booked in both companies over the last two years. The GCW team consisting of three of their hardest pushed wrestlers against three of TJPW’s longest serving mainstays is a really good idea. And I don’t just mean GCW’s hardest pushed women. Itoh, Rina Yamashita and Masha Slamovich have been among the hardest pushed wrestlers out of the GCW roster in general. That trio is the GCW Ultraviolent Champion, the GCW Extreme Champion and the JCW Champion all joining forces together. Miyu and Masha are great in the ring together while Nakajima and Rina had some fun interactions teaming together during Saki Akai’s retirement road last year. The wild card of the match is Yuki Aino. She might just be there to eat the pin but stranger things have happened.

The penultimate tag match looks fine. I don’t have any complaints about it. I’m a little concerned that Billie Starkz & Janai Kai might be a little tired because of their busy schedules in Philadelphia that week. They both have a bunch of matches already booked and by the time this show happens Starkz will have had a crazy No Rules match with MAO on the DDT show, a possibly crazy match with Misao in TJPW and a championship match in ROH. That kind of schedule is sure to leave some bruises. But other than that they should do good against Daydream.

Last thing to note is the GCW side ran out of women so the opener is all TJPW, even before the card change was made to include SAKI. That is unless Suzume and Pom Harajuku were on the GCW side all along. Has Suzume been the third member of Los Macizos and Pom Harajuku part of the Second Gear Crew this entire time?!?

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There’s at least one other chance to see Maki Itoh during the week. Here is another show at The Collective she will be wrestling on.

GCW “JOEY JANELA’S SPRING BREAK 8”, 05/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Nick Gage & Maki Itoh Vs Danhausen & Ram Kaichow

While Itoh went back to Japan to wrestle for TJPW again, Gage went and teamed with Danhausen to challenge for the GCW Tag Team Titles. They lost and Danhausen blamed the result on Gage. That caused Gage to come up with a challenge. He and Itoh will fight Danhausen and a partner of his choice at some point during The Collective. All signs pointed towards the annual Spring Break show as the destination for the match. Then Joey Janela broke the news that Danhausen chose Ram Kaichow to be his teammate! Itoh and Kaichow have never crossed paths in the ring before because Kaichow’s TJPW appearances are often contained within the Rakuverse

GCW “JJSB: CLUSTERF*CK FOREVER!”, 06/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Clusterfuck Match: X Vs X

I’m including this because there are apparently going to be 88 contestants entering this year’s annual Clusterfuck Match so maybe a few TJPW entries could show up in it? Perhaps Itoh will have an Extreme Title defence on the card too.

A Painful Lottery, Bonno Dai Shacho Reunion, A Peak Into GanPro’s Future

Preview guides for this week’s American shows are coming right up. I will be travelling to America myself while the shows are going on but I’m not going to Philadelphia for my holiday. Results and any other updates will still be posted when I get the chance. It’s going to be an odd experience looking up highlights while I’m in the middle of a Knicks or Yankees game.

GCW/TOKYO JOSHI PRO “GCW VS TJPW”, 06/04/2024
Penns Landing Caterers Auditorium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

1. Suzume & Pom Harajuku Vs SAKI & Nao Kakuta
2. Session Moth Martina Vs Raku
3. Dark Sheik Vs Yuki Kamifuku
4. Steph De Lander Vs Hyper Misao
5. Shazza McKenzie Vs Arisu Endo
6. Allie Katch Vs Mizuki
7. Billie Starkz & Janai Kai Vs Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe
8. Special 6-Woman Tag Match: Rina Yamashita, Masha Slamovich & Maki Itoh Vs Miyu Yamashita, Shoko Nakajima & Yuki Aino

A broken hand prevents Sawyer Wreck from wrestling on the “GCW VS TJPW” show later this week. One small reshuffle later and we are now getting an Allie Katch Vs Mizuki match along with Nao Kakuta getting to team with SAKI so many years after they were last in the ring together over at Actwres girl’Z.

DDT “APRIL FOOL 2024”, 07/04/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. No Gamble FINAL!: Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Toru Owashi Vs X
2. Yuni & Yuya Koroku Vs Ilusion & Munetatsu Nakamura
3. 4 Way 6-Man Tag Match: Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs HARASHIMA, Yoshitatsu & Takeshi Masada Vs Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Naya & Hideki Okatani Vs Danshoku Dieno, Kazuki Hirata & Kazuma Sumi
4. D GENERATIONS CUP 2024 – Final: To-y Vs Rukiya
5. Special Single Match: Shinya Aoki Vs Chihiro Hashimoto
6. KO-D Tag Team Titles: Tetsuya Endo & Yuki Iino (c) Vs Jun Akiyama & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
7. Dramatic Dream Tag Match: Yuki Ueno & MAO Vs Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes
8. DDT Extreme Title – Good Luck!! Survival Deadly Weapon Omikuji Great Battle That Causes Pain: Shunma Katsumata (c) Vs Hi69

The DDT Extreme Title match will feature weapons placed in each corner of the ring determined by a lottery. It’s been hinted that the weapons are items that both Shunma Katsumata and Hi69 like to use. The match can only be won by pinfall or submission. Katsumata came up with the rules because he believes he has luck on his side. Hi69 intends to bring the Extreme Title back with him to NOAH if he wins it.

Hideki Okatani will be taking time off for injury after this show. He’s been wrestling while having a torn ACL in his left knee and needs reconstructive surgery for it. No timetable has been made for his return yet. His only message about the news is he will come back stronger.

DDT “DRAMATIC DREAM TOUR 2024 IN FUKUOKA”, 13/04/2024
Fukuoka Nishitetsu Hall

1. Sanshiro Takagi & Danshoku Dieno Vs Toru Owashi & Kazuma Sumi
2. Yukio Naya & To-y Vs Kazuki Hirata & Soma Takao
3. Tetsuya Endo, Yuki Iino & Yuya Koroku Vs Chris Brookes, Takeshi Masada & Tomomitsu Matsunaga
4. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Jun Akiyama & Rukiya
5. O-40 Title: Makoto Oishi Vs Azul Dragon
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: Yuki Ueno, MAO & Shunma Katsumata Vs Akito, HARASHIMA & Kota Umeda

This will be the last preview match for Yuki Ueno and Akito before their KO-D Openweight Title match takes place.

The opening 3 Way Match is now a tag team bout with the addition of Sanshiro Takagi to the mix.

BASARA “BASARA 245 ~YOKOHAMA STORY~”, 20/04/2024
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. IRON FIST Tag Team Titles: Ryota Nakatsu & Kazusada Higuchi (c) Vs Isami Kodaka & Minoru Fujita

Both of The Brahman Brothers will be on the show. I mean, it would be weird at this point if only one of them got booked.

DDT “SPOILER FREE SHOW VOL. 1”, 21/04/2024
Kanagawa Tsurumi Fruit & Vegetable Market

1. Daisuke Sasaki & KANON Vs Kazuma Sumi & Yuni
2. 4 Way Match: Kazusada Higuchi Vs Yukio Naya Vs MJ Paul Vs Gota Ihashi
3. Different Martial Arts Special Tag Match: Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku Vs Akito Nishigaki & Hayabucha
4. 1 Vs 2 Special Handicap Match: Yuki Ueno Vs Kazuki Hirata & Antonio Honda
5. Special Tag Match: Yuki Iino & Takeshi Masda Vs Danshoku Dieno & Rukiya
6. Special 6-Man Tag Match: MAO, Shunma Katsumata & To-y Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Fuminori Abe & Chris Brookes

It’s a Bonno Dai Shacho reunion! Sanshiro Takagi & Fuminori Abe are together again. What will they get up to with Chris Brookes on their side? We won’t know until hours after the show ends because no spoilers are allowed!

GANBARE☆PRO “SPRING BREAKERS 2024”, 27/04/2024
Tokyo Kitazawa Town Hall

It won’t be until the end of the month when Ganbare☆Pro holds their first show as an independent promotion. They have a new website up and one thing I like about it is they promote all of the different shows their wrestlers are booked for across the scene. I won’t be writing about most of them but at least it’s evidence that everyone will be keeping themselves busy inbetween shows.

As for the new freelancers they are making plans too. Shota is heading over to America and has bookings waiting for him when he comes back. Yoshiko Hasegawa and Riara announced they are putting together their own indie show at Takashimadaira Kumin Center on 11th May. They will put out more details later this week and if it features plenty of GanPro or CyberFight wrestlers I might have to go cover it. Same with Banny Oikawa’s 5th Anniversary show taking place on 1st May. HARUKAZE, Yuna Manase and YuuRI are being booked for that along with Moeka Haruhi as a special guest ring announcer.

Ohka’s Double Title Challenge Against Katsumura, Manase’s Return From Injury

DDT “D-OH GRAND PRIX 2023 THE FINAL”, 03/01/2024
Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Daisuke Sasaki, KANON & MJ Paul Vs Soma Takao, Yuki Iino & Yuni
2. Jun Akiyama & Makoto Oishi Vs Yusuke Okada & Kazuma Sumi
3. Special Tag Match ~ Shunma Katsumata Return Match: Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani Vs Shunma Katsumata & Toy Kojima
4. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Kazuki Hirata Vs Sanshiro Takagi, Akito & Antonio Honda
5. Special Tag Match ~ DDT Vs AJPW: Kazusada Higuchi & Rukiya Vs Jun Saito & Rei Saito
6. New Year’s Gift Special Single Match: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan Vs Danshoku Dieno
7. The 37KAMIINA Vs SCHADENFREUDE International!: Yuki Ueno & MAO Vs Masahiro Takanashi & Antonio Honda
8. D-Oh Grand Prix 2023 – Final: Tetsuya Endo Vs Yukio Naya

This is the decided match order for DDT’s first show of 2024.

In good news Chris Brookes has been discharged from hospital after getting a tumor removed from his abdomen. No decision has been made yet on when he can return because he is recuperating in his own pace.

GANBARE☆PRO “2024 GANBARE☆THE FIGHT BEGINS”, 04/01/2024
Tokyo Itabashi Green Hall

1. YuuRI & Riara Vs Yoshiko Hasegawa & Kaho Matsushita
2. Hartley Jackson & HARUKAZE Vs Shigehiro Irie & Banny Oikawa
3. New Year Special 3 Way Match: Munetatsu Nakamura Vs Yuni Vs Ilusion
4. GanPro New Year Special 6-Man Tag Match: Keisuke Ishii, Yumehito Imanari & Mizuki Watase Vs Shota, Soma Takao & Shinichiro Tominaga
5. Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Title: Shuichiro Katsumura (c) Vs Ken Ohka

The big title win coming out of “BAD COMMUNICATION 2023” has caused some changes to Ganbare☆Pro’s first two shows of the new year. Shuichiro Katsumura now holds both Spirit Of Ganbare Titles and is being challenged twice by Ken Ohka. Matches already made with them involved have been moved around to accommodate the upcoming title matches. The first challenge is just for the SOG Title in Tokyo.

GANBARE☆PRO “GANPRO 2024 ROSIER”, 06/01/2024
Osaka 176BOX

1. Legendary Hostess Vs The Toughest Girl In Osaka: Riara Vs Momoka Hanazono
2. Banny Oikawa & YuuRI Vs HARUKAZE & Yoshiko Hasegawa
3. Yumehito Imanari & Tyson Maeguchi Vs Soma Takao & Mizuki Watase
4. Keisuke Ishii & Shota Vs Ilusion & Munetatsu Nakamura
5. Special Single Match: Shinichiro Tominaga Vs Tsuyoshi Okada
6. Spirit Of Ganbare World Tag Team Titles: Shuichiro Katsumura & Takuya Wada (c) VsHARASHIMA & Ken Ohka

The second challenge happens a few days later when Ohka teams up with HARASHIMA to fight Ground Absolute for the Spirit Of Ganbare Tag Team Titles.

GANBARE☆JOSHI “GANJO WINNING SHOT ’24”, 16/01/2024
Shin-Kiba 1st RING

1. SAKI Vs Banny Oikawa
2. Sumire Natsu & YuuRI Vs Yuu & Yoshiko Hasegawa

Fresh off of getting her first win in Ganbare☆Joshi yesterday, Yoshiko Hasegawa gets to continue her momentum by teaming up with Yuu for a match against Sumire Natsu & YuuRI.

Banny Oikawa has long looked up to SAKI so getting to wrestle her one on one will be something special for her.

GANBARE☆PRO “GANPRO 2024 DESIRE”, 23/02/2024
Yokohama Radiant Hall

1. Yuna Manase Return Match: Yuna Manase Vs X

After over a year of being away with injury, Yuna Manase is expecting to return to action on 23rd February. She has been out of action since last February in order to deal with a ruptured ACL and damaged meniscus in her left leg that she has had for years prior. Over that time Manase wasn’t able to wrestle for the rebooted GanJo division but was kept around in a GM role for the brand’s own shows. She has already decided on who she wants to face in her first match back but it has not been announced yet.

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW INSPIRATION” Results

TOKYO JOSHI PRO “TJPW INSPIRATION”, 17/08/2023
Shin-Kiba 1st RING
222 Fans – No Vacancy

1. Mahiro Kiryu defeated Pom Harajuku with the Spinebuster (7:12).
2. Saki Akai, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo defeated HIMAWARI, Toga & Shino Suzuki when Akai pinned HIMAWARI with the Rookie Award (12:07).
3. Mizuki defeated Aiger with the Aquamarine (9:47).
4. Debut 10th Anniversary Memorial Match: Miyu Yamashita defeated Shoko Nakajima with the Skull Kick (19:53).

Today is the 10th anniversary of Miyu Yamashita and Shoko Nakajima’s pro wrestling debut. The two of them had done a handful of exhibition matches in Tokyo Joshi Pro’s early preview events before their “flag raising” show in 2013 but their official debut happened in Sumo Hall for DDT on this date ten years ago. In that debut match they teamed together and lost to Chikage Kiba & KANNA, the two other women from TJPW’s first class who have long since graduated from wrestling. To celebrate the 10th anniversary Yamashita and Nakajima faced each other in the latest “TJPW INSPIRATION” show.

Given the short nature of the show’s length their main event had a 20 minute time limit. With seven seconds left to go, Yamashita pinned Nakajima with the Skull Kick. Nakajima said she wanted to cherish her 10 years in TJPW because Yamashita and Maki Itoh both travel often while Yuka Sakazaki will be graduating soon. Nakajima thought everyone would stay together forever but knew if she didn’t fight Yamashita again she would regret it. Now that they’ve had the match she doesn’t want to do it again for another 10 years. Yamashita said there’s been times they hadn’t gotten along but Nakajima is like family to her. All of TJPW is like that to her. No matter where she goes or what she does, that will never change.

There were some more comments to take note of. During the show closing speech Yamashita made a mistake regarding the date of their debuts (she thought it was on 13th August) which the audience caught. Backstage she said she currently holds championships from England (EVE) and America (Spark Joshi) so she wants to add the Princess Of Princess Title and fight in even more places. Nakajima brought up Saki Akai’s quote about deciding to retire as a flower that still blooms beautifully. Nakajima wants to be the opposite and keep wrestling until she dries up and returns to the soil as mulch.

For the first time in about 8 years Mizuki had to step into the ring and fight Aiger. The joshi ghost was a terrifying threat not just to Mizuki but also the wrestlers seconding at ringside (which included SAKI) and the referee Daisuke Kiso. Aiger brought out a chain to use as a weapon but Mizuki used it against her, setting up the Aquamarine for the finish. Mizuki was relieved with the result and thinks it proves how much she has grown in the last 8 years. She used the Aquamarine because the first time she won a match was with that move. As for Aiger, the story is she will soon disappear in September alongside Mizuki Endo’s retirement.

One of the things Akai wanted to accomplish before she retires is to spend time in the ring with TJPW’s new generation of wrestlers. She ticked that off today by teaming with the teenagers Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo against HIMAWARI, Toga & Shino Suzuki. Arai praised her two partners and thinks if she wasn’t already holding the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles with Eruption, she could have gone after the belts with these two instead. Their three opponents today all cried with tears of joy backstage for getting to wrestle with Akai.

For once somebody was apologizing to Mahiro Kiryu instead of the other way around. One day Pom Harajuku broke the key to the dojo and blamed it on Kiryu. In search of forgiveness, Harajuku brought a package into the ring and said it is for Kiryu. But when she handed it over to her, Harajuku launched an ambush to start the match with the upper hand. Kiryu took control and kneeled on top of Harajuku. But instead of her usual apology, Kiryu instead opened the package to reveal rice crackers inside. She got to eat one of the crackers while wrestling and went on to win the match. She thanked Harajuku for the crackers afterward.

None of The Up Up Girls were at the show today so Sayuri Namba brought Moka Miyamoto into the ring to hype up the card at the beginning of the show.