Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling is gearing up for one of its biggest shows of 2023. TJPW Grand Princess 23 is set to take place at the Ariake Colosseum and is loaded with huge matches as Yuka Sakazaki and Miu Watanabe defend their titles, while a pro wrestling legend does battle with the incredibly popular Yuki Arai. Let’s take a look at the card and key matches for the event.
TJPW Grand Princess 23 Card
One more week until #tjpwGP23!
The card is stacked with exciting matches.
Which match are you looking forward to?
Who do you think is going to be the MVP of the show?
Join #wrestleUNIVERSE, and enjoy this wonderful show together with fans around the world!#tjpw pic.twitter.com/rCuR7GqY9w
— TJPW 東京女子プロレス (@tjpw2013) March 12, 2023
- Suzume vs Arisu Endo
- Mahiro Kiryu, HIMAWARI, Shino Suzuki & Wakana Uehara vs Toga, Kaya Toribami, Kazeshiro & Runa Okubo
- Nao Kakuta, Hikari Noa & Ram Kaicho vs Pom Harajuku, Yuki Aino & Raku
- Ryo Mizunami vs Moka Miyamoto
- Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao vs Andreza Giant Panda & Haruna Neko
- Sakisama & Mei Saint-Michel vs Yuki Kamifuku & Billie Starkz
- Aja Kong vs Yuki Arai
- International Princess Championship: Miu Watanabe (c) vs Rika Tatsumi
- Princess Tag Team Championship: Wasteland War Party (Max The Impaler & Heidi Howitzer) (c) vs 1 to 1 million (Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh)
- Princess of Princess Championship: Yuka Sakazki (c) vs Mizuki
Suzume vs Arisu Endo
In the opener we have the two members of Daisy Monkey colliding. Murmurs are that this will end up as an unofficial number one contender match with the winner challenging for one of the top belts soon enough. Endo has a bit of momentum behind her after picking up her first singles victory at the last TJPW Korakuen Hall show, but Suzume is a more established name. Should Endo win it will be a big sign that her push isn’t slowing down anytime soon, but a Suzume win isn’t out of the question.
NEO Biishiki-Gun Returns
While Billie Starkz making her TJPW return is certainly notable, it is not as notable as the return of Sakisama and Mei Saint-Michel. The former tag team champions haven’t been seen all that much since losing their tag belts in late 2021, making just a handful of appearances since then.
This may be a one-off return for the duo but if it isn’t then the tag team division should be worried as Sakisama has a habit of taking over the division anytime she’s around.
Aja Kong vs Yuki Arai
While this understandably isn’t the main event, it probably should be. This right here is one of the biggest clashes TJPW has ever put on. Their preview tag match a few weeks ago had off-the-charts energy with Arai showing just enough heart to get everyone excited for their single match.
Arai is a member of popular group SKE48, she has taken to wrestling quite well and already has a tag title reign under her belt. If she continues to grow and dedicate herself to pro wrestling then there’s no reason why she can’t be a POP champion someday. Before she can reach that point though, she has to face one major test, and that is what awaits her at TJPW Grand Princess 23.
Aja Kong is a professional wrestling legend. Since the 90s she has been one of the most feared, most dominant women’s wrestlers in all of Japan. To this day it is still incredibly rare that anyone beats her in singles matches. Putting this unstoppable, monstrous force against a popular upstart is essentially pro wrestling 101.
Should Arai get the win she will have achieved something that nobody else in TJPW can match, and if she fails, we trust they will make sure she shows enough heart that the fans will love her either way.
Miu Watanabe vs Rika Tatsumi
Another tag team collides as Daydream meet in an International Princess Championship match. After her strong run in the 2022 Princess Cup, Miu Watanabe won the big one and dethroned Alex Windsor to capture the IP title in October. Since then she has defended it three times, proving that she deserves to be in the conversation for one of TJPW’s best.
Her title reign is under huge pressure however as her tag team partner Rika Tatsumi is one of the few wrestlers in TJPW who can claim to be a former Princess of Princess Champion. Tatsumi has climbed to the peak of TJPW before, so she no doubt has the pedigree to best Watanabe.
Establishing Watanabe as a major player is probably something TJPW should continue to do and letting her hold on to the belt would be the best way to do that, on the other hand, Tatsumi might just be the best wrestler they have so letting her represent them as IP Champion could be of major benefit.
Wasteland War Party vs 1to1000000
Yamashita and Itoh won the Max Heart Tournament to earn this opportunity after briefly questioning whether their team was viable. They are a great set of challengers for such a big show because Yamashita can beat pretty much anyone, which puts the War Party’s reign in doubt.
After seeing how the WWP tore Akai and Arai asunder it is hard to see anyone in TJPW stopping them any time soon. When you have two monsters atop the division they should be given time to dominate the division before finally being toppled, which is why we believe Howtizer and Impaler will retain here.
Regardless of the outcome, this could be a show stealer so keep your eyes on this one.
Yuka Sakazaki vs Mizuki
Another tag team collides as the Magical Sugar Rabbits meet in a rematch from Wrestle Princess 1. A lot of people believe that this is Mizuki’s time, she’s been around the top of the card in TJPW for years now but it is only within the last 2 or 3 years that she was locked down exclusively as part of the roster. Mizuki has had tag team success alongside Yuka but when it comes to the POP belt she has always been on the outside looking in.
What better way then, to win her first POP title than by beating her tag team partner in the main event of a major show? Well, there is no better way. But Yuka Sakazaki and the “better way” don’t always go together.
Sakazaki has been on an absolute tear over the last 9 months or so. She ruthlessly beat aside all of the competition to win the Princess Cup last year before deftly beating Shoko Nakajima for the title, she then disposed of Miyu Yamashita with relative ease in January. Sakazaki is in the zone right now, one that would feel wrong if it ended so early into her title reign. TJPW has put a lot of stock into this current run, and it may not end any time soon.
And that is why, this may not be Mizuk’s time. And if it isn’t Mizuki’s time then there has to be a change for her, because being Yuka’s fluffy teammate isn’t getting the job done.
TJPW Grand Princess 23 Start Times
Grand Princess will take place on Saturday March 18 with bell time being 3pm Japan time. This means that fans in the UK will have a 6am start time for the event, fans in the U.S. will have a 2am start time on the east coast thanks to daylight savings with 1am being the start time for those in the central time zone.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can see TJPW as well as Dramatic Dream Team, Ganbare, and more on WRESTLE UNIVERSE.
