TJPW Princess Cup (12/8/23) Review
It's Semi-Final Time!
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And then there were four, but a mighty four it is. Miyu Yamashita, Rika Tatsumi, Yuki Arai and Yuki Kamifuku. A mixture of the old guard and the new, with only one able to be the winner of this year’s Princess Cup. Who was going to the final? Let’s find out.
Wakana Uehara, Toga & Runa Okubo defeated HIMIWARI, Shino Suzuki & Haru Kazashiro
It didn’t take long for TJPW’s current crop of rookies to win my heart. They’re an odd little group, but they seem to have bonded quickly, and in the build-up to this show, they were all excited at the opportunity that this match represented. While they’ve had plenty of chances to wrestle each other, this was the first time they were being left alone together without adult supervision.
As you’d expect, it was all kept relatively simple, but that didn’t mean there weren’t some exciting moments. From Runa thumping her pal Haru with a forearm to Shino’s fantastic extended sleeper spot, where she was desperately clinging to Toga, determined not to let go, everything got a bit heated. You could feel the desire to prove themselves, and when Toga pinned Shino with that awesome-looking Uranage, it clearly meant a lot to her.
However, the jewel in the rookie crown is Wakana vs HIMAWARI, which is starting to feel like this generation’s Suzume vs Arisu. They’re not on that level yet, but they’ve got chemistry, and their styles mesh well. Everyone in this match got the space to shine, but their sections felt a step above, and I suspect it’s HIMAWARI and Uehara who will be entrusted with leading this generation into the future.
Verdict: The Rookies Look Good!
Suzume defeated Juria Nagano
From day one, the rule with Juria has been simple. Give her something to kick, and she’ll shine. Ask her to do the other stuff, and, well, it probably won’t be a disaster, but there’s a chasm between that and her strengths. The question has always been whether she has the motivation and ability to lessen that gap.
And judging by the evidence of this match, she does. Paired up with the bee, it was one of the more rounded performance of Nagano’s career (she does still get lost at times), as she looked more comfortable when Suzume brought this to the mat and pulled her into the wrestling side of pro wrestling. Has she suddenly become a grappling wizard? No, not at all, but there was more of a sense that she was an active participant rather than someone being led by the hand through the basics.
It also doesn’t mean those kicks aren’t still the best thing about a Nagano match. They’re a constant threat, with the fans coming to life when they thought Suzume was in danger of having her head removed. On this occasion, it wasn’t to be, as she deployed a bit of that pro-wrestling strategy to sneak out and hit the Ring-a-Bell, but that ability to boot someone into next week will always be there, and it’s a hell of a weapon for Nagano to have. If she can continue to improve on the rest of it, she’ll have all the potential in the world.
Verdict: Nagano’s Figuring It Out
Yuki Aino, Raku, Pom Harajuku & Haruna Neko defeated Hyper Misao, Hikari Noa, Nao Kakuta & Kaya Toribami
We’ve got some nonsense on our hands. The stipulation here was that everyone had to finish a kakegori (basically flavoured ice) before they were allowed to join the action. To throw another wrinkle in there, however, they also drew straws to decide the size of their snack, with Pom drawing the short (or long, depending on your point of view) one and getting the biggest treat.
It meant we had the first match I’ve ever seen where someone took advantage of an opponent suffering from brain freeze to deliver a series of brain chops. That’s just the kind of psychology that all these modern spot monkeys can’t dream of understanding. But when you have a wrestling genius like Raku around? A whole new world opens up to you. Who knew that eating ice could be such a game-changer?
Somehow, it also meant we built to a genuinely heroic conclusion, where a suffering Pom finally entered the match and had the fans chanting her name as she tried to battle the dual discomfort of brain freeze and eating too much. There are many ways to get over in wrestling, but Pom consistently finds some of the more out-there ones, and god bless her for it. She’s the best, and this was a really fun match.
Verdict: Chop The Brain
NEO Biishiki-gun (Sakisama & Mei Saint-Michel) defeated Mizuki & Mahiro Kiryu
Sakisama has always had a twinkle in her eye for Mizuki, a situation that Mei Saint-Michel was not at all impressed by. Thankfully, it worked out for the rest of us, as she and Mizuki are a natural fit and adding a bit of jealous spite into that was no bad thing. As Chris Brookes pointed out on commentary, it was almost like they had some shared influence in their training, but it’s hard to see how that could have happened when Mei learnt to wrestle under Sakisama in France.
That flirtation between Mizuki and Sakisama also let the usual Bii-gun match structure morph just a bit, as Sakisama seemed almost reticent to hurt Mizuki. As for the object of her affection, she was stuck somewhere between confused and intrigued by the attention, sometimes using it to her advantage and at others seemingly oddly enticed by it. It added a nice little wrinkle to proceedings, facilitating some wonderful shenanigans while also giving the action a strong throughline to bounce off of before culminating with Mizuki accepting a rose after the match.
Sadly, Mahiro didn’t receive similar treatment, but that gave us something fun in its own right, as she had a defiant final stretch that forced Sakisama to work to put her away. It was yet another highlight moment in Kiryu’s impressive year, as while I never bought that she could win, I did feel that she was pushing Sakisama harder than the aristocrat would have imagined, forcing her to pull out some of the big guns.
Plus, you had the more straightforward joy of Mizuki mixing it up with two great wrestlers. Everything else was there to elevate a guaranteed hit, and it did a fantastic job of doing so.
Verdict: Sakisama Has Her Eye On The Champ
Shoko Nakajima & Miu Watanabe defeated Arisu Endo & Moka Miyamoto
It’s easy to take wrestlers like these four for granted. If you send them out to fill a spot on the card, you can guarantee you’ll get something that’s (at the very least) good. If they’re in the mood, it might even be significantly better than that. Your Mokas and Shokos of the world are reliable hands, which sounds like I’m damning them with faint praise, but it is intended as the highest compliment. You can trust them.
However, that kind of reliability makes it hard to come up with something original to write about them, as while this was great, it was great in the ways you’d expect. The team of Shoko and Miu was intriguing, as they combined their speed and power. In contrast, Arisu and Moka were a tad more methodical as they battled to set up their dual submission holds, which they did manage to lock on in the home stretch. Unfortunately, when they did, Miu was able to power out of the Camel Clutch, driving Endo back into the corner and then freeing Shoko. Nakajima and Watanabe always felt like they always had one more weapon than their opponents, keeping them a step ahead as they built to the finish.
Sadly, we also got an injury here, as Arisu slipped going for her pop-up dropkick and came down hard. On the first watch, I thought she’d recovered well, transitioning to selling her back. Sadly, it was later announced she would miss the next day’s show with a back injury, so there must have been a degree to which she was simply hurt. Still, she made it to the end of the match, an action that I’m never sure whether to praise or condemn, and she managed to look good even when carrying an injury.
As did everyone else. These four gave me everything I wanted at this point in the card, with a few little bonus treats thrown on top. It never quite hit the level of TJPW’s best, as it lacked that emotional edge, but it was still some damn good wrestling, so there will be no complaints from me.
Verdict: Good Stuff
Miyu Yamashita defeated Yuki Arai in the Princess Cup Semi-Final
Much like Miyu’s second-round match against Moka, the question coming into this was whether Arai could find a way to rock the Ace. The idol may have made a big splash in her relatively short wrestling career, but TJPW is Miyu Yamashita’s ring, even if tournaments have never quite been her strong point. If you want to get past her, you have to do something special.
And Arai found some special. Early on, Yamashita went for the same AA on the apron that she’s used on Miyamoto, and Arai was ready for it, slipping off and booting her to the floor. It was a big enough spot to feel like a potential game changer, and from there, she found a route into the action. Arai tends to fall back on those big boots, using them like a safety blanket, but they’re a solid go-to, as their brute force simplicity brings its own excitement.
Plus, the deeper this went, the more Arai seemed to believe. When they started trading blows, she was hammering them home, and an extended spot where Miyu did everything to escape the Full Nelson Slam saw Yuki cling to it desperately, finally forcing it through. When she followed it up with the Sharpshooter, I doubt I was alone in thinking she’d found her way. The noise the fans in Korakuen were making certainly suggested they believed she had a chance when she connected with a Finally as Miyu was draped over the ropes.
That wasn’t enough, but it set up an incredible home stretch where Arai had Miyu on the back foot, repeatedly thwarting her attempts to find an opening for that Skull Kick and coming agonisingly close to getting the win herself. In the end, it was decided by the smallest mistake, a moment of hesitation from Arai, in which Miyu struck. Even calling it a mistake feels too harsh, as it was closer to a breath, but it was enough, and The Ace’s crown is secure for now.
However, this was the best match of Arai’s career so far and a pretty damn good addition to Miyu’s catalogue. Some people believe Arai’s push has seen her accelerate past her skill set, but if you’re somehow still thinking that after watching this, perhaps you’re the issue.
Verdict: Arai Does It Again
Yuki Kamifuku defeated Rika Tatsumi in the Princess Cup Semi-Final
With Rika Tatsumi’s love of attacking the leg, Yuki Kamifuku and her long limbs look like a perfect match for her. Like most of Rika’s matches against people below her in the pecking order, this revolved around Kamiyu’s attempts to combat the Tatsumi onslaught and whether she could find an answer to the vicious combination of Dragon Screws and Figure Fours.
There was one fairly obvious flaw with that plan, as Kamiyu is not one of wrestling’s great limb sellers. She did a bit of leg clutching, but when she was on offence, she, more often than not, forgot about it. However, she did do a fantastic job of selling what it is like to face Rika when she’s in this mood. There was a sense of urgency to everything Kamiyu did, as you got the impression she knew she only had so long before the constant attacks would become too much. It even caused her to pull out some flash pin variations, which I don’t think we’ve seen her do before, as she tried desperately to wrap this up.
And, in the end, it was something new that got the win, as she hit a leg lariat version of the Fameasser before following up with one off the turnbuckle. It was the kind of short, sudden attack that is perfect for slaying your monsters and helped Kamiyu pull off what has to go down as her second upset of the cup, except this time, she’s booked herself a place in the final.
If we’re being honest, the main event didn’t hit the heights of Arai vs Miyu, as the home stretch didn’t have that same wild sense of something special possibly happening. However, it was still great, and after a quiet period, I think Kamiyu is reminding everyone how brilliant she was during that International Princess run. Now, however, she has an Ace waiting for her, and she’ll need something even more special if she wants to make it three for three with those upsets.
Verdict: Very Good
Overall Show
Even with an undercard that was primarily thrown-together matches without much meaning behind them, that was an impressive TJPW Korakuen. The Princess Cup stuff was the main course, but between the rookies, ice eating, and Bii-gun meeting Mizuki, we got a lovely wide range of sides to go with it.
Watch Tokyo Joshi Pro: https://www.wrestle-universe.com/en/videos?labels=-tjpw.