Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling held their marquee January 4th event Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling ’21 to much critical acclaim. In this review, we will dive into the top matches on the card.
Results:
Suzume def Arisu Endo.
Yuna Manase & Moka Miyamoto def Haruna Neko & Pom Harajuku.
Miu Watanabe, Mirai Maiumi & Nao Kakuta def Raku, Aja Kong & Mizuki
One Month Name Change Match: Hyper Misao def Shoko Nakajima.
100 gacha capsules tied to the ropes. 10 winning capsules and the first to obtain two winning capsules wins the match. No pins, no submissions and the loser must change their name for a month to whatever the winner decides. Shoko and Misao also happen to be connected with a length of rope. There were a few technical difficulties but as soon as the match kicks off, Misao is opening gacha capsules. Shoko gets the first winning capsule after tying Misao to the corner. Once the fight spills to the outside, Misao gains the upper hand finding a winning capsule to bring it to one a piece. A failed 619 attempt caused Shoko to get the rope wrapped around her feet allowing Misao to find the winning capsule for the victory.
The match did have a few actual wrestling spots that stuck out such as Shoko and Misao each hitting a slam from the top rope straight onto Shoko’s Kaiju toys but it was a pure comedy match that Misao excels at, which despite language barriers is fun to watch.
NEO Biishiki-gun (Sakisama & Mei Saint-Michel) def Hikari Noa & Sena Shiori.
This match was a good example of the chemistry both of the teams possess not only as a unit but as individuals. NEO Biishiki-gun utilised a lot more tag moves in comparison which added to the faster pace they were going with. Throughout the match, Sakisama used her strong kicks to take down both Noa and Shiori much to the delight of the crowd. Mei used her metal tray causing Noa slip, one of the many stunts the team pulled to gain the advantage. From Noa and Shiori, they each had plenty of solo spots that made them stand out, a variety of high speed offence and high risk moves. It wasn’t enough as Mei made Shiori tap out.
Before heading to the back, Sakisama got onto the mic to say they aren’t satisfied and want to move onto something bigger, possibly hinting at a tag title shot.
Miyu Yamashita def Maki Ito via KO
One of, if not the most anticipated match of the card started off with Miyu showcasing her technical wrestling ability and spent most of her time pummelling Ito with the strong kicks she possesses. However, Ito managed to hit a huge draping DDT before locking in a variant of the Boston crab to target Miyu’s lower back. Throughout the entire match there was a lot of emphasis on wearing down Miyu to at least attempt to lessen the power behind her kicks.
Maki pulled off a lot of impressive moves to prove to the fans that she can hang with Miyu’s skill level. That paid off because the crowd was absolutely electric throughout the entirety. However, despite her best efforts, Maki threw up one too many middle fingers causing Miyu to hit her with a stiff kick knocking her out completely.
This match was one of the best of the night. Even better with Miyu showing Maki respect once she came back around from the KO kick.
Princess Tag Championship Match: BAKURETSU Sisters (Nodoka Tenma & Yuki Aino) def Team Toyo (Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu)
With Kamiyu looking to become double champion, Team Toyo started off by isolating Aino, getting a lot of tag team offence in. Despite Team Toyo trying to pick the pace up, the sisters weren’t having any of it. Bakuretsu Sisters isolating Mahiro for the most part kept the pace slower allowing them to hit their power moves. When Team Toyo hit the spine buster/big boot combo it looked like we were going to get new champions but it wasn’t enough. Tenma hit the killswitch on Mahiro for the pin and retained the titles for a successful first defense.
While it wasn’t a bad match by any means, it did a nice job of transitioning the red hot crowd from Miyu/Maki to the main event.
Princess of Princess Championship Match: Rika Tatsumi def Yuka Sakazaki NEW CHAMPION
The main event between two friends who have been in the company from day one tells you how emotional this is going to be.
The first portion of the match was very technical and transition heavy as each woman battled to get the upper hand. Rika spent a lot of time working Yuka’s leg, cutting down her high flying ability. No matter how many times Yuka tried to pick up the pace, a more aggressive Rika put a stop to it immediately.
The fight spilling to the outside added a big dynamic layer to the fight. Showing how badly each woman wanted to win. Rika trapping Yuka’s leg in the guard rail as she unleashed her attack only added to the damage but Yuka pulling it back and using the environment herself gave some hope to her fight.
Attempting to hit one of her springboard moves wasn’t enough for Yuka, tweaking that targeted knee left space for Rika to apply a leg lock. Pain and anguish written all over both of their faces in the dying moments. Yuka tapped, ending her 400+ day reign but it was nothing but respect between the two friends.
Overall, this was a fun show to watch from top to bottom. Each match had it’s story and if you’ve never watched TJPW before it’s a great introduction, especially with the English commentary adding context for people who don’t speak Japanese.
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