WWE WrestleMania is the biggest professional wrestling event of the year, and every city hosting the show is set to host fans from all over the world, and with that, lots of promotions capitalize this by putting up several shows during the weekend, including TJPW presenting a show during WrestleMania Weekend for the third year in a row, this time at the Palm Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In order to prepare for this milestone, it is worth remembering the first of these U.S. shows: TJPW Live in Los Angeles, including the showcase match a day prior and some tips for Meet & Greets if you have the chance to attend the show.

Background and official announcement

In 2020, TJPW announced “TJPW is Coming to America with DDT”, which would have been its first show outside Japan, set to be held in Tampa Bay, Florida, during Wrestlemania Weekend. However, the global pandemic struck and TJPW (and most promotions) was forced to cancel the event, leaving lots of fans disappointed. No new U.S. shows were announced for the next two WrestleMania Weekends.

It wasn’t until late 2022 that rumors began circulating claiming TJPW was in talks to hold a show at the Globe Theater during the 2023 WrestleMania Weekend. The rumors had some credibility to them given that Yuka Sakazaki performed there in the summer of that year, wrestling Masha Slamovich at PWG Nineteen.

During Tokyo Joshi Pro ’23, Sayuri Namba made the official announcement: TJPW Live in Los Angeles on Friday March 31st. TJPW will finally be present at WrestleMania Weekend as part of Wrestlecon, making Western fans excited to see the promotion in the U.S. for the first time ever.

Building the card

In February 2023, the tickets went out on sale, with some of them selling out pretty quickly, even before the card was announced, which was a good sign for things to come. Wrestlecon also announced that all roster members will be present at the Meet & Greet event during the weekend.

In March 2023, they presented the card for the LA show, featuring 15 TJPW wrestlers and five guests, with the main event being 121000000 vs. Magical Sugar Rabbits.

Two big events took place before the U.S. show: The Max Heart Tournament, won by 121000000, and Grand Princess, in which Rika Tatsumi won the International Princess title from her tag team partner Miu Watanabe, 121000000 bested Wasteland War Party to become Princess Tag Team champions, and Mizuki defeated Yuka Sakazaki to win the Princess of Princess title. A few weeks before the event, it was announced that TJPW will have a show case match at the Mark Hitchcock Memorial show on Thursday March 30th. The match was the fifth one of the night and it saw Hyper Misao, Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima, Yuki Aino & Yuki Kamifuku defeat Free WiFi, Hakuchumu & Raku. For what was likely the least anticipated match for most fans in attendance, all girls were well received by everyone at the venue, especially Miu, who won over everyone by performing a double giant swing on Mizuki and Shoko.

The big day is here

As soon as the doors of the Globe Theater opened, fans began crowding the venue, while the theme songs of the wrestlers were playing in the background and the merch table displayed commemorative shirts. At exactly 12:00 pm, Sayuri Namba welcomed the crowd doing her best to speak English while being showered by cheers and applause. When she said “Do you know how we open our shows?” the fans erupted knowing the UpUpGirls were about to come out.

It’s funny how people are so used to watching UUG performed before the show that sometimes they don’t pay too much attention or even skipped the opening song, but when you get to watch them live you sing your heart out alongside them. Finally, Miu asked the crowd to start the show by shouting the famous “Starto!”

The opener saw Daisy Monkey facing Free Wi-Fi; dueling chants accompanied this competitive match, with Free Wi-Fi getting the upper hand at the beginning using some dirty tactics, even getting some boos from the crowd, but Suzume and Arisu Endo went for the comeback with their high speed offense, but it was the team of Hikari Noa and Nao Kakuta who got the win when they hit a tag team move on Endo.

Yuki Kamifuku vs Janai Kai was next; Kamiyu tried to trick Kai by speaking in English just to poke her in the eyes, but it was ultimately the martial artist who won this surprisingly short match.

The third match was Hyper Misao teaming with Trish Adora to face Yuki Aino and Raku; the superhero handed Adora a mask before the match and named her an honorary hero for the day, which helped them get the victory at the end, at least, the crowd got to witness the Oyasumi Express.

In the upper card, Wasteland War Party defeated the team of Miu Watanabe and Shoko Nakajima; the highlight of this match was Miu getting the loudest chant of the night.

In the first of two title matches, Rika Tatsumi defended her recently won International Princess championship against Billie Starks; the White Dragon’s smart offense contrasted well with Starks’ unpredictability, giving fans a solid nine-minute match that ended with a flying hip attack by Tatsumi.

After 121000000’s win at Grand Princess, the main event was now a Princess Tag Team title match in which Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh put their titles on the line against the former two-time champions Mizuki and Yuka Sakazaki. The four girls had the match of the night by far, displaying incredible chemistry and high risk moves, with the final sequence having Mizuki hitting a Diving Double Foot Stomp on Itoh to win the Tag titles for the third time, ending a two-week title reign to the surprise of the champions and the fans.

To close the show, all 20 wrestlers and Sayuri Namba came out to the ring and thanked the fans, who gave a standing ovation and asking them to come back soon.

Tips for Meet & Greets

• Learn some Japanese: even when some of the wrestlers learn some words in English, be sure to memorize at least some basic phrases in Japanese like Konnichiwa (Hello), Hajimemashite (Nice to meet you), Onegaishimasu (Please) and Arigatou (Thank you). The girls will appreciate the effort.
• Bring cash: almost all Meet & Greets require you to pay in cash, so be sure to have it on you.
• Spell out your name: some names can be hard to understand for Japanese people, so it will be useful if you have an image of your name on your phone.
• Be respectful: they will be nice if you are nice to them. They like to chat with fans, but sometimes the girls can have long lines of fans wanting to meet them, so try to be quick if that’s the case. Don’t make unwanted advances and always ask first if they’d like to be touched.