By any measurement you use, be it show-stealing matches or vehicular assaults, Shoko Nakajima and Hyper Misao are having one hell of a title reign.
The duo’s energy, athleticism, and madcap antics have made them one of the most entertaining elements of the Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling product this year. Since claiming the TJPW Princess Tag Team Championship, Nakajima and Misao (collectively known as Kyoraku Kyomei) have regularly been the stars of the show, becoming the flag-bearers for the brand.
They did it again at Summer Sun Princess, the queens of the inane emerging as the talk of that event.
It was an eventful, action-filled night. Moka Miyamoto won the first championship of her career, pinning Suzume to seize the International Princess title. Mizuki held off the rising Yuki Arai to keep the Princess of Princess Championship around her waist. El Desperado, Andreza the Giant Panda, and VENY all showed up to the big show at the Ota City gym. But the match and story that most pulled me in was Summer Sun Princess’ penultimate match: Shoko and Misao defending the tag titles against Miu Watanabe and Rika Tatsumi.
It was a match that proudly and emphatically went off the rails right away.
Miu and Rika knew they’d be in for a unfair fight given Kyoraku Kyomei’s routine disregard for the rules, so they made sure to bring in a pair of long, metal “man-catchers” to even things up. With the challengers wielding those weapons, the action got silly straight away.
The bout’s early stages also saw Misao nail her foes in the face with cold spray and the masked menace knocking over people with her Hyper Mobile. Per usual.
Then the match evolved into more of a traditional bout, one rife with drama. Shoko’s speed, Miu’s power, Misao’s craftiness, and Rika’s aggression made for electric action. Everything flowed. Everything felt big, important, a struggle between two cohesive, powerful teams.
Ramblings About Wrestling’s Stuart Iversen wrote of Shoko and Misao in his Summer Sun Princess review, “They’d caught me, wrapped me up in the emotion, and deposited me where I needed to be.”
This bout is the perfect example of what’s made Kyoraku Kyomei so fun to watch these past few months. They deliver action, comedy, memorable moments, energy.
They have transferred over the insanity of their annual gimmick matches against each other into two-on-two affairs. The partners have spent years battling each other in early January in bouts featuring everything from stuffed tigers to toy Godzillas scraping one’s flesh to mind-control. Whatever nutty zeal they created as opponents has helped make them an engrossing pair.
Nakajima and Misao had been teammates long before they fought their way to a showdown with Max the Impaler and Pom Harajuku in the Max Heart Finals in February, but that’s where things really kicked off.
Their history together, their individual experience, their chemistry as a team all began to collect major momentum when they looked to take a tournament win in Korakuen Hall.
One might have seen that lineup with Misao on one side and Pom on the other and assumed the big bout would just be a collection of shenanigans. There was a lot more to this team on this night and any night, though. Misao and Shoko demonstrated a unity that popped off the screen. They were as gutsy as they were goofy. They punctuated a well-told story with wacky comedy rather than build their entire performance around it.
When he reviewed the Max Heart Finals, RESURA writer Jeff Brown called the match “pure TJPW patented chaos” and “a wonderful spectacle.”
That’s spot on. In this match to decide the tournament winner and who gets a tag title shot, Kyoraku Kyomei gave us the image of Misao riding down the stairs in Korakuen Hall right next to Nakajima hitting a 619 to Pom’s face over the top rope. A veritable stew of wrestling ingredients that all blends together beautifully.
We saw Shoko/Hyper cook up a similar recipe at Grand Princess.
That night, Nakajima and Misao faced their biggest test, a challenge from former champs Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh. And on a show that featured a Meiko Satomura singles contest and Rika Tatsumi challenging Mizuki for the POP title, one could easily make the argument that the tag title bout was the best match of the night.
Itoh and Yamashita brought a welcome intensity to the contest. It was a fight filled with hard strikes and very little mercy. And the jesters thrived in that environment.
Misao helped amp up the emotion of the match with how she screamed and writhed as the result of the challengers’ attack. At one point, she lost her mask in the fray, only adding to the drama.
Nakajima, meanwhile, was butter-smooth, pumping the action with lucha-inspired offense. Her chemistry with Miyu elevated the match big-time.
Together, Kyoraku Kyomei had their best in-ring performance as a duo to date. Stepping up to the size of the moment.
They didn’t just survive 121000000; they prospered. Tenacious. United. Stars.
I saw the magic of this team in person when TJPW traveled to Houston in July. On NIGHT 1 of the two H-town shows, Nakajima and Misao faced Mizuki and Pom Harajuku in the main event, and well…they tore the house down.
The match was high-octane and fun, crackling with energy. The audience laughed when Misao got fooled by Pom’s beaver costume and was wowed when the action got ferocious and fast. I was surprised at first that TJPW put this on last after Yamashita vs. Itoh, but the tag champs delivered. It was an over-the-top bonanza, a feel-good circus.
And that’s what Kyoraku Kyomei has been all about.
They reliably provide the kinds of menace moments you’d expect while bringing it from an overall match quality standpoint, too.
The numbers bear that out. Shoko and Misao have had three matches rated 8.0 or higher on CageMatch.net in 2025:
- Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe-Summer Sun Princess
- Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Maki Itoh & Miyu Yamashita-Grand Princess
- Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Max the Impaler & Pom Harajuku-Max Heart Finals
While they continue to fend off new challengers and figure out new unscrupulous strategies to win, I find myself smiling through it all. I want to see more speedy attacks and more of Misao on her bicycle. I want to keep seeing Misao and Nakajima have as much of a blast out there as the crowd is.
This duo remains the epitome of what TJPW is—fun, unpredictable, unhinged.
May this reign go on for eons. Long live, Kyoraku Kyomei!
RESURA 