TJPW City Circuit Winter ~ Yokohama ~ (4/3/23) Review
MagiRabbi Vs The Dream Team
Front Matter
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March is a big month for Tokyo Joshi. Not only is Grand Princess their latest biggest show yet, but they’re heading across the pond to make their much-delayed American debut. Before all of that, though, they took a short trip to Yokohama for their penultimate show before the big one, where, among other things, the Sugar Rabbits had to deal with some nonsense.
Daisy Monkey (Suzume & Arisu Endo) defeated Wakana Uehara & HIMAWARI
That bee is getting too smart for her own good. Do you know how she countered HIMAWARI’s flurry of dropdowns? She stopped running! Who told her you were allowed to do that?
An exciting young tag team having a sub-10-minute match with a couple of rookies is second only to two grumpy veterans beating up said rookies as my platonic ideal of an opener. We all know what will happen (I could have plotted this out fairly accurately before it had even started), but that does nothing to affect my enjoyment. I don’t want to describe it as comfort food because it was too snappy and quick to match that description, but it fills a similar hole.
All of which is to say that these teams gave me everything I wanted. HIMAWARI and Wakana fought hard, getting the occasional moment where their enthusiasm allowed them to take control, but they never stood a chance. The best they could hope for was a spirited showing before falling to defeat. They would deliver exactly that in an unsurprising but enjoyable opener.
Verdict: It Was What I Wanted
Yuki Aino defeated Hikari Noa and Kaya Toribami in a three-way
Towards the end of last year, I wrote a series of reviews in which I bemoaned Kaya Toribami getting stuck in a rut. After coming out the blocks fast, her development had stalled, and while that happens to everyone (you can’t constantly improve), it caused a lot of her matches to blend into one. Thankfully, one of the small joys of the opening act of 2023 is Kaya’s escape from that particular purgatory. It’s not that she’s doing anything vastly different, but she is doing it all that little bit better. In turn, her performances are starting to pop again, helping her to pick up some momentum (even in defeat).
Outside of that, the main joy of this three-way was Hikari ‘Master Manipulator’ Noa. She spent the first few minutes directing Yuki Aino around the ring, deploying her strength for nefarious purposes (if we count Noa winning the match as nefarious). It was a fun bit, as it took Aino a worrying amount of time to figure out what was going on (no one ever said wrestlers were intelligent), and had poor Kaya getting treated like a punching bag as Aino worked her way towards that particular realisation.
It all made for another fun match that joined the opener as solid, enjoyable undercard wrestling. That’s a genre which should always be appreciated.
Verdict: Good, Clean(ish) Fun
Mizuki defeated Pom Harajuku
There is something of the Shakespearean tragedy to Pom Harajuku. Yes, she’s a genius, but her plans always include (at least) one fatal flaw. Facing off against our potential next Princess of Princess champion, she came to the ring wearing a soft turtle shell on her back to protect her from being stomped on. It was an incredible piece of planning, and it worked, at least for a little bit. Unfortunately, Mizuki then realised she could kick her in the stomach instead. It’s tough being a Pom.
Once that enjoyable silliness was over, this turned into, somewhat surprisingly, a rather back-and-forth wee match. You could argue that having Pom put up a competitive showing against Mizuki ahead of her title challenge is a bit weird, but TJPW don’t tend to squash people, and Pom rules, so shut up. It also proved a perfect example of how Pom might never be a traditionally great wrestler but can hold her own when paired with someone of Mizuki’s quality. In fact, she’s often what makes these matches so entertaining, as the introduction of the turtle shell proved.
Sadly, I never really bought into Pom winning, as much as I would have loved to see it, but I still had a lot of time for it all. It’s probably not your typical warmup for a big title challenge, but our Pom put Mizuki through her paces, keeping her sharp. Plus, assuming Yuka was watching backstage, doing some last-minute scouting, she now knows that if she is going to deploy the turtle shell tactic, she’ll need one for her front too.
Verdict: Pom’s Day Will Come
Yuka Sakazaki defeated Raku
Raku’s reputation as a user of magic and sorcery is getting so strong that the mere thought of it nearly led to Yuka Sakazaki’s downfall. The opening minutes saw the big champ on the run, unsettled by the idea of Raku lulling her off to sleep. Much like the previous match, this wasn’t your typical warmup for headlining the biggest show of the year, but that almost seemed to be the problem. Yuka knows how to deal with people booting her in the head; she’s less comfortable with Raku’s tricks.
Sadly for the Train God, Yuka’s success in the last few years has come from her realising that most situations can be solved by being hard as fuck. Yes, Raku is a being of immense, unknowable power, but Yuka Sakazaki knows how to hit people, and sometimes that’s more effective. Raku’s lullabies were potent, at one point causing Yuka to drift off as she prepared for the Magical Girl Splash, but Sakazaki eventually brute-forced her way past them, and even a god can struggle against that kind of aggressive simplicity.
I think you almost need to take this and the previous match as a pairing, as both halves of the main event of Grand Princess flexed their nonsense muscles ahead of their showdown. It’s the kind of thing that I’m sure someone out there has taken umbrage with, but it appeals directly to my sensibilities. If you can’t deal with turtle shells and magical lullabies, then you don’t deserve to main event shows, and while I was rooting for Pom and Raku, I’m glad TJPW’s big guns have passed that test.
Verdict: Yuka Fears Raku
Miyu Yamashita & Moka Miyamoto defeated Shoko Nakajima & Mahiro Kiryu
Most people in TJPW have teamed together regularly enough that they’ve picked up a degree of chemistry. Sure, they’re not all natural pairings, but they can get on the same page long enough to do a couple of moves together. At least, I thought that was the case. In the early goings, it turned out that Mahiro and Shoko might be reading from different books. It wasn’t just that their tandem offence wasn’t working, but when they tried to tag, their hands found only thin air. Thankfully, their misfortune was funny, so it wasn’t a total disaster.
When Shoko and Mahiro at least managed to ace swapping in and out of the ring, this match was your latest reminder that Nakajima is a fantastic wrestler. I’m typically not a fan of making things look easy, as I think wrestling should be hard, but Shoko is someone whose silky smoothness doesn’t kill my enjoyment. Yes, she makes the ridiculous look effortless, but she also sells her ass off and has a streak of chaos running through her offence, ready to show up at unexpected times.
Shoko was central to this being a decent showing. There were a couple of missteps (I don’t think Mahiro should be doing forearm exchanges, even if they are with Miyu), but there was enough fun stuff in there that they didn’t stop it from being enjoyable.
Verdict: Decent Stuff
Rika Tatsumi, Nao Kakuta & Hyper Misao defeated Miu Watanabe, Yuki Kamifuku & Haruna Neko
Miu and Rika’s last singles match was for the big belt and is probably the least heralded outing in a Tatsumi title reign that was near flawless in-ring (it still ruled). Now, a bit over two years later, they’ll do it again, and I wouldn’t bet against them stealing the show at Grand Princess. I’d even go as far as saying it’s what I’m most excited for on a card that features the wee cat teaming up with a giant panda.
And this didn’t hold back from teasing that showdown, giving Rika and Miu plenty of space to do their thing. We know they’ve got great chemistry as partners, but this was a reminder that they’re brilliant opponents, Rika’s violent tendencies meshing well with Miu’s power. If it comes down to a straight fight, Miu is always going to have the advantage, but for all Rika’s seemingly unhinged ways, she’s far too smart to let that happen. Here she negated some of Miu’s offence with that Diamond Ass, and I have no doubt she’ll come into that match with a plan.
Outside of those two, this was standard main event stuff, but (following the theme of this show) delivered in an entertaining style. Everyone else knew they were out there to be supporting players, giving Rika and Miu the time to hype their showdown, but also running interference so that we didn’t get to see everything. It was a role they were successful in, leaving me even more excited for Grand Princess than I was.
Verdict: Rika Vs Miu Will Rule
Overall Show
If you’re in a rush, watch the Raku and Pom vs MagiRabbi matches and the main event. The rest of it is enjoyable enough, but there is little that you need to see. However, it was a short, fast-paced show that never bored me, so if you’re looking for background noise or something light and frothy, it will serve you well.
Watch Tokyo Joshi Pro: https://www.wrestle-universe.com/en/videos?labels=-tjpw.