Miyu Yamashita Stands Alone
Thoughts on TJPW WRESTLE PRINCESS IV
If there’s one name to discuss when talking about Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW), it’s Miyu Yamashita.
Yamashita is the most decorated wrestler in TJPW history, having spent the past eight years at the top of the promotion, putting on classic matches and being in the main event spotlight. Her status as the promotion’s top wrestler became even more evident on Monday night, when she captured the TJPW Princess of Princess Championship, making her the only talent in the promotion’s history to do so four times.
Monday marked day 1,066 in the promotion’s history which included Yamashita holding their major title. With today’s show, WRESTLE PRINCESS IV, being the final major TJPW event of the year, it is likely that Yamashita will carry the belt into 2024 and extend that long combined title reign number of hers.
Yamashita’s win on Monday came at the expense of Mizuki’s title reign. Despite being a long-time big name in the promotion, Mizuki was experiencing a run with the promotion’s top belt for the first time ever. It was a campaign that delivered great matches, including her March win over Yuka Sakazaki to earn the belt, and a 24-minute TJPW match of the year contender against Maki Itoh in July. Mizuki served as a great champion for the promotion during this time and became a name that people looked to for consistent high-quality main event epics.
That standard was met in her last appearance of this title run on Monday. The 21-minute clash in the WRESTLE PRINCESS IV main event saw Mizuki throw everything she could at Yamashita, but still not do enough to put away the experienced challenger.
Mizuki was able to land her two biggest moves — the Cutie Special and the Whirling Candy – for a near fall at around the 20-minute mark of this match. She then went back to a move utilized frequently earlier in the contest, a double stomp, soaring down from the top rope onto the torso of Yamashita. But even that wasn’t enough to get the win.
Yamashita countered another Cutie Special, then got the best of a striking sequence where she was able to land a running knee. She then connected with the Crash Rabbit Heat, a move that Mizuki narrowly avoided earlier in the bout due to collapsing, and that was enough to put an end to the contest.
This physical and fast bout — two themes you could argue were seen in Mizuki’s recent title match with Itoh as well — had many highlights along the way. Yamashita hit a fireman’s carry takeover to Mizuki on the floor in the opening minutes, just barely landing on the thin matting outside of the ring. The slick and lethal-looking kicks from Yamashita were on display all match, but Mizuki was able to counter them as well. A particular highlight of the match was in the 14th minute, when Mizuki took a head kick while from Yamashita on the top rope but remained on the ropes and caught a tired and bent over Yamashita with a double stomp to the back.
The beginning of Yamashita’s fourth reign puts her back in the spotlight in TJPW after being out of the promotion’s focus for a decent chunk of the year. Yamashita spent a large portion of March to June traveling North America, competing in a whole load of independent promotions. This included IMPACT Wrestling, ROH, DEFY, and others. She also appeared in London, England at an EVE Pro Wrestling card, where she captured their main title, which she still possesses.
Yamashita quickly sprung back into the TJPW spotlight this summer by winning the Tokyo Princess Cup. She stunned in the first round with an upset over Miuzki, then went on to beat Moka Miyamoto, Yuki Arai and Yuki Kamifuku to get another shot at Mizuki, except with the belt on the line this time.
Yamashita winning on Monday was a big result for TJPW’s history. I was personally of the belief that it would have been the better move to keep the belt on Mizuki. Instead of giving Yamashita a fourth title run, they could emphasize the strength in Mizuki’s current momentum by beating Yamashita despite the fact that she has gained the title three times before.Â
However, the result on Monday was still enjoyable. It was a way for Yamashita to assert her dominance in TJPW’s history books, and to fully declare herself as back in the promotion after traveling around the world earlier in the year. And considering how well Mizuki’s run went, there’s no doubt that we will see her back in a major title position again sometime soon. It would be a mistake to not do that.
For now, the focus is fully on Yamashita, but she totally deserves it. She was out of the TJPW title picture for more than a year. She traveled the world in 2023 before coming back to her home and reclaiming the spotlight. It’s finally her moment again, just like it has been many times since she first stepped foot in a TJPW ring one decade ago.
TJPW WRESTLE PRINCESS IV Results
Runa Okubo def. Haru Kazashiro (5:17)
HIMAWARI, Kaya Toribami & Arisu Endo def. Riara, Yoshiko Hasegawa & HARUKAZE (12:08)
Moka Miyamoto def. Juria Nagano (6:29)
Shino Suzuki, Raku & Aja Kong def. Toga, Wakana Uehara & Hyper Misao (11:04)
Yuki Arai & Miu Watanabe def. Yuki Aino & Ryo Mizunami (13:11)
Yukio Saint Laurent, Martha, Mei Saint-Michel & Saki-sama def. Pom Harajuku, Suzume, Shoko Nakajima & Antonio Honda (14:46)
Nyla Rose def. Maki Itoh (12:21)
Nao Kakuta & Hikari Noa def. Mahiro Kiryu & Yuki Kamifuku (Vacant TJPW Princess Tag Team Championships) (13:37)
Max The Impaler def. Rika Tatsumi (TJPW International Princess Championship & NWA World Women’s Television Championship) (15:20)
Miyu Yamashita def. Mizuki (TJPW Princess of Princess Championship) (21:25)
Monday Notebook
Quick programming note! I’ll be back tomorrow to talk all about NJPW Destruction in Ryogoku! I thought I’d give TJPW the spotlight first since they have less big events in a year and honestly deserve more attention on this blog. Also, I only had so much time to watch wrestling today (sorry!)
Max The Impaler is the new TJPW International Princess Champion. They dethroned Rika Tatsumi in a 15-minute match that was pretty enjoyable. I personally hoped Tatsumi would win and earn an NWA title, giving her a reason to head to the U.S. and work there more. But as I wrote before, either outcome here was a win. We’re going to get more Max in TJPW, which is awesome.
Nao Kakuta and Hikari Noa won the vacant TJPW Princess Tag team Championships in a match against Mahiro Kiryu and Yuki Kamifuku. This was a fun match, and giving the belts to Kakuta and Noa — the more established duo — was the right choice.
Monday was the last time that we will see the faction NEO Bishiiki-gun. The alter ego group is closing up shop due to their leader, Saki-sama (Saki Akai) retiring from professional wrestling next month. The final match with NEO Bishiiki-gun was not anything entirely interesting, but it was nice to see the group, in their cool and unique aura, one last time.
I do hope that the end of NEO Bishiiki-gun does not stop us from seeing Mei Saint-Michel (Mei Suruga) in TJPW again. She is one of my favorite freelancers in the joshi scene, and it would genuinely be great to see her in the promotion on a more regular basis.
The match that I recommend from the first half of this card has to be the tag win for Yuki Arai and Miu Watanabe over Yuki Aino and Ryo Mizunami. This was such a hard-hitting match where everyone brought their A-game. I don’t think you’ll regret checking that one out if you haven’t already.
TJPW revealed some dates for their 2024 schedule today. Most noteworthy out of them all is that on March 31st, GRAND PRINCESS ‘24 will take place at Ryogoku Kokugikan! It’ll be the promotion’s second-ever time at the venue — the first was GRAND PRINCESS ‘22.
It was announced during TJPW WRESTLE PRINCESS IV that TJPW will have a showcase match during DDT’s Ultimate Party 2023 card at Ryogoku Kokugikan on November 12th.
Yuki Arai, Moka Miyamoto and Shino Suzuki will face Suzume, Arisu Endo and Wakana Uehara. This is certainly an interesting matchup to make as a showcase for the promotion. It’s quite clearly picking young and rising talents instead of the usual top names you see in TJPW. It’s a big spotlight for all of them.
Also announced Monday was the news that Fight Club Finland Finnish Heavyweight Champion Regina Rosendahl will work TJPW’s October 20th, 21st and 27th shows. It’s worth noting that she wrestled Max The Impaler recently!