You don’t need a crystal ball to get a glimpse of what’s to come for Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling. Head to the Entetsu Hall in Hamamatsu, Shizuooka instead. A late 2022 show gave us all a hint of who is going to be the talk of the coming year.
With Maki Itoh and Yuki Kamifuku in Malaysia, and Miyu Yamashita with a rare underwhelmer, it was TJPW’s rising stars who led the way. The show opened with Suzume shining once more. Raku and Pom Harajuku were in the match of the night. Arisu Endo and Moka Miyamoto thrived.
There’s certainly some stuff on here I would not recommend to anyone but absolute teej diehards, but it’s an intriguing show because of all those flashes of greatness. If you want to look at the talent primed for a big year in 2023, you’ve come to the right place.
Suzume vs. Kaya Toribami
Solid opener with some fast-paced sequences and fun bursts of action. Starting a show off with some of your most athletic wrestlers is smart business. Bonus points for keeping things tidy with a sub-seven-minute runtime.
This is the third time Suzume has faced and beaten Toribami this year. There’s a chance there to develop a story about The Bird trying to overcome The Bee. So far, it’s been Suzume making it clear she’s a level above Kaya.
I’m a big fan of when the pecking order is clear, and one wrestler just has another’s number. Let’s see if Toribami’s struggles become a narrative focus.
Hyper Misao vs. Mahiro Kiryu
Misao made relatively quick work of Kiryu in a dominant, mostly shenanigans-free win. Aside from Misao claiming that Mahiro’s handshake injured her hand and then ambushing her when she was busy apologizing, there wasn’t much in the way of her trademark antics.
This wasn’t a major show in any way, so we’re not going to see Misao bring out the Hyper Cycle or anything. But I find myself approaching Misao’s matches waiting for what crazy thing she will do next. So, when there’s a mostly straight wrestling match like this from her, it’s a bit of a letdown.
Little does she know Misao is one of my main inspirations for trying to learn Japanese this year. Who knows what kind of jokes and word play I’m missing when she grabs the mic.
Hikari Noa vs. Haruna Neko
Neko is so frustrating.
She’s in the middle of a flurry with more gusto and speed than normal, and I’m jotting down a compliment in my notes when she clamps on one of the weakest looking headlocks I’ve ever seen. Her hands were barely touching Hikari’s head. Follow that up with a butt ugly hurricanrana, and I’m completely pulled out of the match.
Neko has been at this too long to not have developed more.
Skip this one. Skip all the Neko matches.
Yuka Sakazaki and Mizuki vs. Raku and Pom Harajuku
Can I interest you in a bit of chaos in these trying times?
The Magical Sugar Rabbits faced a surprisingly touch challenge here in a high energy bout. It had all the shenanigans you’d expect from Raku and Pom but with plenty of great saves and a frantic, intense pace.
Sakazaki, the real Cerebral Assassin, was good and ready for Raku’s lullaby attack, covering her ears and squealing as she wrestled.
Pom, meanwhile, has quietly had herself quite the year. She’s developed on the wrestling side of things, and this match is a showcase of that growth. She can hold her own when the comedy pauses and the go-go-go begins.
If you popped on this show just for Yamashita’s title defense, don’t pass over this.
Shoko Nakajima, Yuki Aino, Arisu Endo vs. Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe, Moka Miyamoto
Somebody forgot to tell these six women that there was a match after theirs because they came at this like they were the main event. An intense bout from start to finish.
Rika’s going to be the hot talking point because of all the unhinged choking she was doing, but Moka and Endo were the stars of this show. Their interactions and chemistry set the tone. Even with stars like Tatsumi, Shoko, and Miu on the same stage, they stood out.
Moka and Endo both ready to compete for 2023’s breakout star.
Miyu Yamashita vs. RHIO (Pro-Wrestling EVE Championship)
It’s a strange sensation to watch an underwhelming Yamashita singles match. Your brain thinks your eyes are lying and vice versa.
While it’s nice to have a different opponent in there against The Pink Striker, especially one who can match Miyu with power, that’s about the only appeal of this main event. They were clearly going for a grind-it-out pace to show how hard of a battle it was, but it came out lethargic instead.
The final stretch has a little more juice than the rest. Still, this isn’t in Yamashita top 30 matches this year.
Bangers are promised in the near future for Yamashita, though. She has a Jan. 4 Princess of Princess title match set against Yuka Sakazaki and the highly appetizing upcoming bout against Athena. Focus on those and forget this clunker existed. That’s my advice.
Next on the docket, TJPW hits us with Angel and Rabbit on Dec. 15.
Ryan Dilbert is a columnist for Wrestle Inn, the host of Flight of 5, co-host of the Ocean Cyclone Show, and a below-average social media user. You can find links to his work on his lin
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