{"id":84830,"date":"2021-02-12T15:00:34","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T20:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=84830"},"modified":"2021-02-12T13:50:57","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T18:50:57","slug":"preview-joshi-japan-bracket-first-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/02\/12\/preview-joshi-japan-bracket-first-round\/","title":{"rendered":"Preview: AEW &#8211; Women&#8217;s Tournament Japan Bracket First Round (2\/14\/21)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>All Elite Wrestling is currently running a women&#8217;s tournament to crown a number one contender for the AEW Women&#8217;s World Champion\u00a0<strong>Hikaru Shida<\/strong>.\u00a0 While the USA side of the bracket kicked off on last week&#8217;s <em>AEW Dynamite\u00a0<\/em>the Japanese side will be fought on YouTube this Monday.\u00a0 Let&#8217;s take a look at the lineup for the first round of Japan bracket action.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Yuka Sakazaki vs Mei Suruga<\/strong><\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The first rounds of the Japan bracket kick off Monday, Feb 15th as <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/YukaSakazaki?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@YukaSakazaki<\/a> takes on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mei_gtmv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Mei_gtmv<\/a>!<br \/>Which wrestler will advance to the semifinals?<br \/>WATCH via our Official YouTube Channel \u27a1\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ORePd797wl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/ORePd797wl<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fFNaycuhVD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/fFNaycuhVD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AEW\/status\/1359985566343983104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 11, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Two very similar wrestlers will clash in the first round of the tournament.\u00a0 Both Sakazaki and Suruga are energetic high flyers who have endeared themselves to their home promotions audience.\u00a0 For Sakazaki that is\u00a0<strong>Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling<\/strong>, for Suruga that is\u00a0<strong>Gatoh Move<\/strong>.\u00a0 While AEW fans have seen Sakazaki in action before this is their first time seeing <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/02\/21\/joshi-watch-mei-suruga\/\" target=\"_self\">Mei Suruga<\/a>.\u00a0 With all eyes on her Suruga will no doubt deliver a stellar performance here.<\/p>\n<h2>Aja Kong vs Rin Kadokura<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/imgur.com\/soPV6ht\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"source: imgur.com\" src=\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/soPV6ht.jpg?1\" alt=\"\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Joshi legend Aja Kong steps into the ring with WAVE tag team champion Rin Kadokura.\u00a0 Kadokura of\u00a0<strong>Marvelous\u00a0<\/strong>will have a tough time putting away the legendary performer as Kong has only tasted defeat in singles competitions three times in the last three years.\u00a0 While Kadokura is talented and has proven herself time and again she is going to have a hard time putting away a bona fide legend like Kong.\u00a0 Keep an eye on this one though as it could be match of the night if all goes well<\/p>\n<h2>Emi Sakura vs Veny<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/imgur.com\/AxvidKl\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"source: imgur.com\" src=\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/AxvidKl.jpg?1\" alt=\"\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Gatoh Move founder and long-time veteran Emi Sakura takes on the prodigious Veny in a first time ever matchup.\u00a0 The two will actually team up on an upcoming <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/02\/10\/preview-gatoh-move-chocopro-89-best-bros-vs-emi-sakura-and-veny-2-13-21\/\" target=\"_self\">Gatoh Move event<\/a>.\u00a0 Sakura is a name that AEW fans should know by now as she has competed for the women&#8217;s championship on pay-per-view.\u00a0 Veny on the other hand comes in as a relative unknown, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/06\/16\/pridemonth-asuka-veny-the-genderless-artist\/\" target=\"_self\">Veny<\/a> is just 22-years-old but is an absolute prodigy of pro wrestling.\u00a0 She has the ability to deliver great matches no matter the opponent but also has a very visible charisma that earmarks her as a star.\u00a0 The winner of this one may just be a finalist in the making.<\/p>\n<h2>Maki Itoh vs Ryo Mizunami<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/imgur.com\/43GofxI\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"source: imgur.com\" src=\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/43GofxI.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>90% of Maki Itoh fans are about to see her wrestle for the first time as she takes on Ryo &#8220;Aniki&#8221; Mizunami in an interesting clash.\u00a0 Mizunami is a veteran, having debuted all the way back in 2005 for <strong>GAEA Japan<\/strong>, she is an energetic and charismatic performer with a hard-hitting style that is entertaining to watch.\u00a0 This hard-hitting style meets the hardest head in wrestling as Maki Itoh aims to upset the veteran.\u00a0 Itoh has recently been doing some of the best work of her career in\u00a0<strong>Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling\u00a0<\/strong>as she has moved beyond just being the girl with the hard head.\u00a0 The winner of this one is absolutely up in the air as Itoh goes in as the fan-favorite to win the tournament but Mizunami has been in AEW before and has been a free agent since leaving <strong>Pro Wrestling WAVE\u00a0<\/strong>in 2019.\u00a0 Mizunami seems more likely to get the win and possibly win the whole tournament as she isn&#8217;t tied down to any one company like Itoh is.<\/p>\n<p>Make sure to check out the first round of the Japan bracket on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/AEW\/videos\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">AEW&#8217;s YouTube channel<\/a> this Monday at 7 pm\/ 6pm central.<\/p>\n<p>[pickup_prop id=&#8221;4860&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p><em>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a> 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.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Looking to talk wrestling, pro football, or any number of sports? Head on over to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/boards\/index.php\" target=\"_self\">LWOS Boards<\/a>\u00a0to engage in conversation with fellow fans!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All Elite Wrestling is currently running a women&#8217;s tournament to crown a number one contender for the AEW Women&#8217;s World Champion\u00a0Hikaru Shida.\u00a0 While the USA side of the bracket kicked off on last week&#8217;s AEW Dynamite\u00a0the Japanese side will be fought on YouTube this Monday.\u00a0 Let&#8217;s take a look at the lineup for the first [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2013,"featured_media":84836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4677,6,2192],"tags":[7470,7183,7326,1671,4337,2897,4165,5830,7282,6745,6107,4171],"class_list":["post-84830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aew","category-north-america","category-wrestling","tag-aew-joshi-bracket","tag-aew-preview","tag-aew-womens-world-championship-eliminator-tournament","tag-aja-kong","tag-emi-sakura","tag-joshi","tag-maki-itoh","tag-mei-suruga","tag-rin-kadokura","tag-ryo-mizunami","tag-veny","tag-yuka-sakazaki"],"modified_by":"Alex Richards, LWOF Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2013"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}