Tag team wrestling made waves across the joshi scene this month.
A Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship match sizzled. A clash for the Goddess of Stardom titles entertained. The TJPW tag champs, an unexpected pairing with Miyu Yamashita, and the badass combo of Miku Kanae and Rina all gave us memorable action in June.
Our writers spotlighted these bouts and more in a look back at the month that was in joshi. Read on for match recs from Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling, STARDOM, Sendai Girls, and elsewhere.
Chihiro Hashimoto & MIRAI vs. Miku Kanae & Rina, Freelance – T-HEARTS Runaway Queen Yumiko Hotta 41st Anniversary (June 5)
Four badasses flat out beating on each other. A true showcase of toughness. The kind of visceral, heart-on-the-mat stuff that made me fall in love with joshi wrestling.
Everything is delivered with such a deep intensity, even something as banal as a shoulder block.
And everyone gets a shine here. Hashimoto, a frontrunner for Joshi Wrestler of the Year, was her usual great self. Miku Kanae has been tearing it up during a breakout year and was plenty of fun here. MIRAI’s been putting in strong work across the joshi scene and this was more of that. But Rina was the star of this show.
Her kicks, her presence, her absolute fire was the foundation of this match. She doesn’t wrestle nearly enough, so we really have to savor her performances when we get them.
The stars aligned for this one.
Recommended by: Ryan
Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi vs. Mizuki & Uta Takami, TJPW – Stand Alone ‘26 (June 7)
Daydream’s first and second (current) reign with the Princess Tag Team titles are more than five years apart, so it’s understandable that there would be a new batch of talent to challenge them.
Mizuki is an old foe of Miu and Rika, and this new alliance with Uta has brought a really fun dynamic for the tag team division in TJPW, and even though the youngest of the Up Up Girls has barely three years of experience, she didn’t feel out of place being around three former Princess of Princess champions. Daydream’s excellent chemistry was on point as always, Mizuki was her wonderful self and Uta showed why the Sugar Rabbit was right to take her under her wing. The final stretch saw the champions double-teaming Uta, despite Mizuki’s efforts, and getting the victory to retain their titles.
Let’s just hope Uta is learning everything she can from Mizuki, so we can see her hold a title in the near future.
Recommended by: Fernando
Chihiro Hashimoto vs. Ryo Mizunami, Sendai Girls – SENJO 20th Anniversary Tour in Shinjuku FACE ~ The Sky Is The Limit (June 7)
At the same time Stand Alone was taking place, Sendai Girls were at Shinjuku as part of their 20th Anniversary tour, and the main event of that show was a Sendai Girls Championship match between champion Chihiro Hashimoto and challenger Ryo Mizunami.
Looks like Ryo wasn’t content with just holding the Sendai Girls Tag Team titles with Manami, setting her sights on the promotion’s top prize. There was just one obstacle, the powerhouse Ace, Chihiro Hashimoto. Knowing what both women are capable of, a hoss fight was expected, and that’s exactly what we got. Powerful moves, power counters and, of course, powerful chops filled the match, but one powerful German Suplex by Chi-Hashi put an end to this battle, with the champion retaining her title.
Recommended by: Fernando
Saya IIda vs. Rina, STARDOM – STARDOM in UTSUNOMIYA (June 7)
This is a house show match you shouldn’t skip out on.
Rina and Saya Iida pump this contest full of drama and intensity. There’s a visceral nature to the fight that makes it easy to invest in. Saya nails Rina with some scintillating chops. Rina has plenty of nastiness in her offense, too.
This match features a touch of H.A.T.E. interference, just enough to tilt the odds in Rina’s favor, but it doesn’t overdo the heel antics.
The final third builds on the momentum the wrestlers created early and the near-falls sucked me in. Big-time performance from two big-time performers.
Recommended by: Ryan
Ryo Mizunami & Manami vs. Mika Iwata & Miyuki Takase, Sendai Girls – SENJO 20th Anniversary Tour In Sendai Pit ~ The Sky Is The Limit (June 13)
Just a week prior, Ryo was challenging Chihiro Hashimoto, and while she wasn’t successful, she still had the Sendai Girls Tag Team championships with Manami, which they defended against Red Energy.
These two teams have faced multiple times over the years, with this being the second time the promotions tag titles were on the line, and every time they work excellently with each other. However, I’d like to highlight Manami here, because even though she is an 8-year veteran at just 21, she still seems like she is paying her dues. Come on, give her something!
Mika Iwata finished the young star to capture the titles for the second time with the Osaka Phoenix.
Recommended by: Fernando
AZM & Miyu Amasaki vs. Koguma & Hazuki, Stardom – Nighter in Korakuen (June 14)
Even when I’m very selective with what I watch from Stardom nowadays, I knew this could deliver…and it did.
The Goddess of Stardom Championships were on the line in the main event of this Korakuen Hall show. The champions, Neo Genesis’ AZM and Miyu Amasaki (02line) faced FWC and everything just clicked. High Speed action was the name of the game, as one would expect from three former champions of that division; then you add the chemistry everything had with each other, and you get a super fun match that ended with the ever-reliable AZM Sushi, giving 02line their first successful defense.
Recommended by: Fernando
Ayame Sasamura vs. Honori Hana, SEAdLINNNG – Early Summer Games (June 16)
Sometimes you can tell by the opening tie-up that a match is going to be awesome.This Beyond the Sea Championship bout is a prime example. As soon as these two women locked up in the center of the ring, you could tell how intense and visceral this was going to be.
It’s a bout that’s rugged the whole way through. It’s all slaps and screams and stubbornness. It warmed my heart how hard Ayame and Honori hit each other.
They’re able to maintain momentum from bell to bell. There are also some great near-falls as everything comes to a close.
SEAdLINNNG has been sneaky good this year. Matches like this continue to demand that fans make that company a priority.
Recommended by: Ryan
Ren Konatsu & Yuki Arai vs. Miyu Yamashita & Shion Kanzaki, TJPW Spring Tour 2026 ~ Next Door In Nagoya (June 21)
For a match featuring Yuki Arai, the Princess of Princess champion, and Miyu Yamashita, the biggest star in TJPW, having the spotlight on the two rookies really tells us that the promotion is betting on the young stars.
Ahead of their title match at Summer Sun Princess ‘26, Yuki and Miyu teamed up with rookies Ren Konatsu and Shion Kansaki, respectively, and what better way to master your craft than hanging out with major stars such as them. Ren and Shion worked well alongside their respective partners until the final stretch of the match saw them being the legal women, and it all ended when Ren hit an impressive springboard missile dropkick, showing how she is improving her aerial skills.
The main event of TJPW’s big summer event is set to thrive, but keep an eye on these two young women because maybe, one day, they will also fight for that championship.
Recommended by: Fernando
Kakeru Sekiguchi, Maika Ozaki, Miyuki Takase & SAKI vs. Riko Kawahata, Rina Amikura & Yuko Sakurai, Marvelous Kingacha Season 2 Vol. 3 (June 26)
For a moment here, I remembered the good old times.
In the main event of this show, Marvelous featured not only seven AWG alumni, but they had a babyface Riko Kawahata, the best Riko Kawahata there is. Plus, Hikari Shimizu made an appearance too, so we had all COLOR’s members together again.
For such a big reunion, this match had a special stipulation: every few minutes, the AWG theme song would play at the arena, and all the participants had to dance the same choreography from their time in that promotion. Naturally, the music often caught them at the worst moments, like when Miyuki locked Riko in a figure four leg lock or Maika had Yuko in a torture rack hold. All was fun and games until the 20-minute time limit ended this match in a draw. However, for those who enjoyed the classic AWG, seeing all of them together again makes all of this worth it.
Recommended by: Fernando
Suzu Suzuki vs. Utami Hayashishita, STARDOM – Stardom Nighter in Korakuen (June 30)
Excellent first red belt defense from Suzu.
I quite enjoyed the level of intensity. Suzuki is one of the better brawlers in the business, and that’s on display throughout this one. While this has a lot of the usual dramatic flavor of many big STARDOM matches, the slugfest elements made it a refreshing change of pace.
Suzuki and Utami are an intriguing combo. Their styles gelled beautifully. There’s room too for things to get more violent and grand between these two in a rematch down the road.
Recommended by: Ryan
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