Wrestle Princess VI sang. A dazzling song with a pillow becoming champion and two princesses baring their teeth.
Ota City Gymnasium in Tokyo hosted the big Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling event, a night that featured three championship matches and some oddball comedy matches.
Arisu Endo and Priscilla Kelly battled over the vacant International Princess Championship. Ober Eats challenged Hyper Misao and Shoko Nakajima for the Princess Tag Team Championship. Mizuki fought like hell to fend off Miu Watanabe in their Princess of Princess Championship bout.
It all added up to entertaining action and a refresh of the title picture. TJPW marches forward from here with new main characters at the heart of its story.
Read on for a breakdown and rating of every match.
Suzume & Ren Konatsu vs. Uta Takami & Mei Suruga
Mei Suruga teamed up with her “sister” Uta and kicked off the show with a fun bout.
Everyone got a few moments to shine here with each wrestler taking the lead for a spell. It was a showcase of the potential of Ren and Uta, as well as a way to enjoy the athletic talents of Suzume and Mei.
This was at its best when Suzume took on Suruga. Their collisions were smooth, energetic, dynamic. TJPW really does need to run another singles match between them.
A few nice flips. Some splashes of comedy. Overall, some good stuff but nothing out of this world.
Manifesting Uta and Mei becoming a more regular tag team…
Rating: 6/10
Delayed Battle Royal: Pokotan vs. Shino Suzuki vs. Raku vs. vs. Mifu Ashida vs. Kira Summer vs. Mahiro Kiryu vs. Chika Nanase (DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Championship)
When DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Championship holder Pokotan started things off by flipping over into the ring and losing his mascot head, I thought that was an omen that we were in for some beautiful chaos. We did get some funny moments, but overall I felt let down by this delayed battle royal.
Chika punched Pokotan’s head clean off. Raku got big jealous of Ram Kaicho and Pokotan. Raku’s pillow won the DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Championship and that led to some amusing antics. The image of the ref wrapping the belt around the pillow’s “waist” got a legit lol out of me.
Mahiro Kiryu emerged with the DDT gimmick belt in the end.
Overall, though, this bout didn’t have as much energy as you’d expect. Things didn’t get as wacky as they could have. The match card shuffle that pulled Pom Harajuku out of this match and into a singles against Rika Tatsumi made the Wrestle Princess event overall better but it took some air out of this.
Rating: 4.5/10
Aja Kong vs. HIMAWARI
HIMAWARI came out swinging, with both fists and ponytail, but ran into the brick wall that is Aja Kong.
As you’d expect, the powerhouse dominated. She overwhelmed HIMAWARI with lariats, her trusty metal can, and her body weight. HIMAWARI showed a lot of fight in continually surviving it all and it made her look courageous which is what these Kong bouts do best.
The short contest also featured some creative, fresh ponytail-centered spots. Aja choking HIMAWARI with her own hair was quite the striking image.
A solid lower-card bout to get things rolling.
Rating: 5.75/10
Rika Tatsumi vs. Pom Harajuku (Flag Scramble Authorized Weapon Death Match)
Capture the Flag x toys as weapons x TJPW shenanigans.
Silly from the start, this was a blast. The action was frenetic and the spots were ridiculous. What a smart use of Pom’s skills. Pairing her antics with Tatsumi’s in-ring skills worked really well, giving us a ferocious hip attack in the same match as one with plastic balls rolling around the mat.
We saw everything from glow sticks to Tetsuya Koda play a role in this insanity.
A wrestling’s photographer’s dream. All the fun was had.
Rating: 7.75/10
Hiroyo Matsumoto & Yuki Arai vs. Toga & Haru Kazashiro
An interesting reunion here as Matsumoto trained Arai when the former idol was in the drama series Tofu Pro Wrestling. Their bond was clear onscreen even if their in-ring chemistry was a bit off as a duo.
For much of the early parts of the match, Matsumoto bullied Kazashiro, the vet toying with the teenager. That dynamic had some intrigue as a pretty standard tag match played out.
It was when Toga and Lady Godzilla started throwing hands that the bout really sparked, though. Their interactions were physical and intense, hopefully a precursor to a singles slugfest down the road.
A few cool moments popped up near the end of the contest with the Hiroyo-Arai team slapping on Scorpion Deathlocks in stereo and Kazashiro whipping out an inventive armbar/triangle choke combo.
Rating: 6/10
Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami vs. Yuki Aino & Ryo Mizunami
Yamashita and Mizunami started things off, displaying good chemistry and reminding us how much Miyu thrives against powerhouse opponents. Matsumoto next?
Toribami and Yamashita were fluid as a team, showing off some strong double-team offense. They have teamed up a handful of times before and that experience showed.
Yuki Aino, sporting some striking new gear, looked formidable here. Her smiling wide after getting slugged in the mouth from Miyu was one of the lasting images of the match. She also surprisingly got Yamashita to tap out which is a big boost for her.
The burning question coming out of this bout is where does Yamashita go next? She’s without her tag partner and archrival with Maki Itoh officially out. She’s seemingly been slid out of the Princess of Princess title picture to make room for fresh faces. And now she’s kind of in booking purgatory, taking losses to elevate other folks. That can’t be the whole of the long-term plan, can it?
Rating: 6.5/10
Arisu Endo vs. Priscilla Kelly (International Princess Championship)
The International Princess Championship match didn’t have a build as much as it had a series of unfortunate circumstances. Moka Miyamoto had to vacate the title due to illness before she even defended it once. Then TJPW set up a bout between Arisu Endo and Jada Stone to decide a new champ, but Stone got hurt and wasn’t able to compete. In swooped Priscilla Kelly who was pulled from a match against Rika Tatsumi.
As for the action itself, it featured a lot of hard-hitting offense and an entertaining dynamic between a larger foe and an endearing babyface. The bigger Kelly doled out plenty of punishment while Endo fought back with big heart. A simple story told well.
You know a match is good when Baliyan Akki says “goddamnit!” a lot on commentary.
The ferocity of the bout left Endo with a nasty bloody nose. Her sneering with that red smeared all over her face only added to the drama.
A whiff of a dropkick to Kelly takes this down a notch but this will be most remembered for the sight of the popular Endo clutching singles gold against her chest.
Rating: 7.25/10
Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs. Wakana Uehara & Yuki Kamifuku (Princess Tag Team Championship)
Ober Eats’ second crack at the tag team titles came after the duo spent the last five months piling up wins.
Before this championship showdown, Misao mocked Wakana for the tooth she lost in a recent match. Uehara responded by taking a bite out of a burger and holding it out like some sort of magic talisman.
More shenanigans followed with Misao pulling out the Hyper Circle early and attacking folks with her trusty spray can. The action slowed down soon after, Shoko leaning on mat wrestling to wear down Wakana.
The overconfident champs could not keep down the challengers; Ober Eats kept battling back.
There was a good amount of action packed into this. Kyoraku Kyomei expertly mixed antics with ferocity. And we got a feel-good win with Wakana getting her first championship.
A solid ending to a strong tag title reign by TJPW’s resident menaces.
Rating: 7/10
Mizuki vs. Miu Watanabe (Princess of Princess Championship)
Watanabe had the chance here to regain the POP crown following her Princess Cup win. And what a title match she and The Popping Sugar Rabbit had in the main event.
Fluid, explosive, captivating.
Watanabe was confident and in control, looking very much like a champion. Mizuki was ferocious in response, stepping on Miu’s neck, flying at her like a bird of prey
The real drama kicked off after Mizuki started smashing on Watanabe’s hand. The challenger then spent much of the fight clutching her arm to her torso defensively. She pushed through the pain courageously, hitting Mizuki with that injured appendage, agony be damned.
This had great spots and counters all around, from a suplex on the ring apron to an avalanche power slam. And after hitting all her big moves, Miu unleashed a spinning version of her teardrop to make sure victory was hers.
A glorious way for Miu to become champion again. A moving showcase of Mizuki’s power. A serious contender for best TJPW match of the year.
The teej main event scene remains undefeated.
Rating: 9.75/10
This was the best Wrestle Princess event since the original in 2020.
Some of the lower-card stuff didn’t land for me, but the top matches came through. I’m intrigued by Ober Eats as champs, thrilled to see Endo get her moment in the sun, and still buzzing about Miu and Mizuki’s performances.
Pom Harajuku continues to have a strong year and make the most of her time onscreen. She and Rika should run that match because with some other absurd rules a la Misao and Shoko’s annual showdown.
TJPW is on a roll with its booking decisions. Endo was the obvious choice to take over for Moka. Ober Eats is a popular team that could have a fun run with the tag belts. And Miu on top is the smart move. She’s at her peak right now and needs to be showcased on center stage.
This show was proof of that, Watanabe delivering some of her best wrestling to date. All hail, Miu.
RESURA 