TJPW Princess Cup First Round Roundup: Days 1, 2 & 3
The Most Important Tournament Of The Summer Begins
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The most important event in wrestling is upon us. Yes, it’s Princess Cup time. While most companies’ flagship tournaments seem to be ever-expanding, Koda and Co have gone the other way this year, limiting entrants to a lean sixteen, down from last year’s twenty. That’s given us a particularly exciting first-round draw, in which there are a few matches I could have easily envisioned as the final (including this show’s main event). So, let me guide you through the first three nights as we focus on the tournament and the best of the undercard.
Tales From The Undercard
Day one’s non-tournament offerings were uneventful, as the start of a long weekend and the sweltering heat of Tokyo seemed to have both the wrestlers and the fans taking it easy. There were a couple of decent rookie performances, with the opener proving a good indicator of where HIMAWARI, Wakana, Haru and Runa are, but the best performance was from Rika Tatsumi, who came out and woke everyone up by being terrifying in a way only she can.
Day two, meanwhile, featured one of Runa’s best performances yet, as she had a short but sweet showdown with Arisu. The standout, however, was Haru Kazeshiro, Hikari Noa and Shino Suzuki vs Pom Harajuku, Haruna Neko and HIMAWARI. Not only did that feature the fun of Hikari attacking Shino in an attempt to establish herself as Haru’s sole favourite, but Noa also proved to have good chemistry with HIMAWARI, leaving me wanting to see that showdown somewhere down the line. Elsewhere, Mizuki was not impressed at being teamed with Hyper Misao and followed Hikari’s lead by beating up her partner before Moka and Miyu hinted that they have the potential to do something special in their second-round match.
Day three’s undercard was the best of the lot, with the final non-tournament match seeing Rika unleash the chaos in an entertaining tag that planted the seeds nicely for Moka vs Miyu and Rika vs Shoko. Elsewhere, Haru continued her impressive development with her own strong showing against a member of Daisy Monkey, although this time it was Suzume rather than Arisu providing the challenge. After that, Raku and Pom’s pillow was pitted against Shino’s wee green flag in a delightful slice of nonsense. Then, to top it all off, Runa earned a hug from Mizuki as she kept her momentum going from the day before with another much-improved performance.
Moka Miyamoto defeated Hyper Misao in the Princess Cup First Round (15/7/23)
In a first-round stacked with matches that could go either way, Misao vs Moka felt like a foregone conclusion. Typically, Misao’s Princess Cup job is to be the one who upsets a big name or two, so it seemed unlikely that she would be on the end of a cupset herself. How wrong I was.
The construction of this match was spot on. Moka struck the first blow, proving herself one of the more tuned-in TJPW wrestlers by responding to Misao’s attempt to shake her hand with a punch to the gut. However, that moment of awareness almost seemed to force Misao to take this seriously. It was a surprisingly focused performance from PaMi as (early spray can aside) she played it almost entirely straight. There was even some arm-work, as you got the impression she wasn’t taking her passage to the next round as a given and wanted to make sure to do a professional job of it. It meant that by the third act, she was almost totally in control, putting in a dominant veteran performance that wasn’t the most exciting showing but felt like it was laying the ground for her to go deep into the competition.
And yet, as Misao herself has proven countless times over the years, one moment can change everything. She was the decoy, the target woman in the centre, who had everyone’s eyes on her as the world assumed the ball was aimed at her head. Meanwhile, Moka was sneaking in at the back post, ready to poke it home in a flurry of excitement. She didn’t win this because of a sustained comeback, but through a sudden gust of offence that caught Misao off-guard and gave her the opening to pin her shoulders to the mat for the three.
It made for a match that was good rather than great, but at the same time, executed brilliantly. Misao and Moka wanted to create a shock, and they nailed it, giving Moka easily the biggest singles victory of her career in a way that felt like she caught the trickster at her own game. Who knows how far she’ll go in this tournament, but she’s already got one scalp to her name, and with perennial tournament bungler Miyu in the next round, I’m already wondering if she could pick up another.
Verdict: Good Match, Great Construction
Miyu Yamashita defeated Mizuki in the Princess Cup First Round (15/7/23)
Mizuki has always hated wrestling Miyu Yamashita. You could go as far as saying that Yamashita terrifies her. Which, let’s face it, is fair enough. No one particularly likes being kicked in the head. However, at the start of this match, it felt like Mizuki had shaken that off. She looked more confident than in her previous meetings with Miyu, suggesting that holding the belt has let her put some of those fears behind her. Or at least that was the idea.
Because while Mizuki was doing everything right, this is still Miyu Yamashita. The champ went after her leg in the early going, trying to take out her biggest weapon, but every time Miyu was in trouble, she brute-forced her way out. Kicks to the head, Attitude Adjustments on the apron, it was Yamashita at her bullying best. Perhaps it’s because she’s been in America for so long, but I’ve almost been lured into a false sense of security with Miyu, forgetting just how dominant she is. However, as she booted Mizuki around the ring, following up the apron AA with one from the second rope, you remembered why she is the Ace.
Mizuki still came close, a final flurry seeming to set her up for the win, only for her new ripcord elbow to be countered with a perfect Skull Kick, the move that’s already ended countless matches and will end countless more. It was a humbling, a dragging back down to earth and a reminder that if you hold the Princess of Princess Title but haven’t beaten Miyu Yamashita, you’re just keeping it warm for her until you do.
It was also a hell of a match, as they managed to get everything you’d expect from a big show main event into just over fifteen minutes without feeling like they were charging about the place, bouncing from move to move. On top of that, it was a lovely bit of storytelling, as Mizuki has clearly taken steps towards overcoming that hurdle but isn’t quite there yet. For what it’s worth, I don’t think Yamashita will win the tournament, but I suspect this sets her up to challenge for the title at Ittenyon, at which point, who knows what direction the result goes. In the here and now, the Ace is back.
Verdict: Fantastic
Shoko Nakajima defeated Suzume in the Princess Cup First Round (16/7/23)
Shoko vs Suzume has been a long time coming. They’ve had two previous singles matches, but one was three minutes long (it took place at the 10th-anniversary mat show), and the other was in 2020, so we’ve yet to see them face off since Suzume has come into her own. However, it’s been obvious to anyone paying attention that these two have a banger in them, and I’ve lost count of how often I’ve made that point when watching them on opposing sides of tag matches. It was nice to be proven right for once.
Right from the start, you could tell this would be special. The opening grappling was beautiful and urgent, a sense of struggle pervading every hold. It all felt like it meant something, a feeling that they brought over into the rest of the match, where Shoko slowly took control. It was a case of her experience coming to the fore as she caught Suzume entering the ring with a 619 to the back of the head before narrowing in on the neck, loosening it up for attack.
However, Suzume was never out of this. In last year’s tournament, we saw how effective she was when fighting on the counterattack, and this was no different. She excels at working from underneath, grasping for the tiniest opportunities, and is one of the few wrestlers on the roster who can match Nakajima for speed. There was a moment when Shoko got caught up in the ropes attempting a 619, and while I couldn’t tell you whether it was intentional or not, Suzume struck regardless, hitting a modified Ring-A-Bell as Nakajima tried to free herself. Whether it was planned or improvised is almost irrelevant because either would be fantastic in its own way.
By the closing minutes, it felt like the match was balancing on the edge. Shoko still had the advantage, the work she’d done throughout paying off, but as they battled back and forth between flash pins, it always felt like Suzume was seconds from the upset. She just needed one of those frantic exchanges to go her way. Sadly, it wasn’t to be, but the result was just one part of the story. Suzume stepped up to arguably the best all-around wrestler in the company and matched her step for step, keeping pace and almost stealing a victory. That’s a hell of an achievement, and while this year’s Princess Cup won’t be her’s, the Bee has plenty of time left to tick that particular box.
Verdict: Outstanding From Both
Rika Tatsumi defeated Raku in the Princess Cup First Round
I will go to war for Raku and my belief that she is a fantastic wrestler, but even I was a bit worried about this match following Suzume vs Shoko. While there was always the chance of a Bee win, this felt like a foregone conclusion, and I came in assuming it would be in the semi-main event slot. Thankfully, Rika and Raku proved me wrong, dropping a handy reminder that judging wrestling purely on whether a result is predictable or not is a silly thing to do.
They did it by pitching the match to perfection. Everyone knows Rika is the more powerful wrestler, and they didn’t try to convince you otherwise. That Diamond Ass was flying in from every angle, and Raku was always coming from behind, but she followed Suzume's example in fighting from underneath brilliantly. Whenever she got the slightest opening, Raku launched herself at it, leaping into a Guillotine Choke or trying to bundle Rika over for the three. It got to the point where I completely forgot Tatsumi’s victory was a foregone conclusion, and I started to get excited, caught up in the feeling that the train god could push through and pull off the upset.
It wasn’t to be, but this is what makes tournament wrestling so special. You can only have one winner, and all those other big names have to fall off at some point, so the chances of a Raku pulling off the impossible are raised immeasurably. I’ve never struggled to get caught up in the emotion of a match, but stipulations like this allow even the most jaded to doubt what might be about to come and lets you fully invest in the action. And at the end of the day, what could be better than that? Wrestling is at its best when you care, and this was a match that made me care, which logically makes it the best.
Verdict: Raku Was Brilliant
Yuki Kamifuku defeated Nao Kakuta in the Princess Cup 1st Round (17/7/23)
Kamiyu and Nao have lit up many an undercard tag match, as their tendency to boot each other in the face is a violent delight. This match was no different. It did, admittedly, start slow, as, after a couple of stinging slaps, they settled into a somewhat uneventful groove. However, that was forgotten when they grasped hands and commenced the booting. They brought a nastiness to it that I’m sure isn’t actual spite (they have, after all, dressed up as horses together before) but might be mistaken for it in low light.
And out of all the tournament matches, this was perhaps the simplest, but that doesn’t make it the worst. These two kicked each other in the head. There were other bits and pieces, including a particularly twisty submission from Kakuta, but it always returned to that idea, and you felt that whoever was the most successful at head-kicking would probably pick up the win. You got the impression neither had much of a plan, but that’s what made it great. They’re going to do what they do until one of them can’t any more.
This time Nao got the worst of it, eating a Fameasser out of nowhere that didn’t get the win but inflicted the damage that set up the win. I was a tad disappointed with that, as I think Kakuta should be given as many singles matches as possible, but I’m never going to be gutted Kamiyu is going through. She’ll make sure to represent the booting-people-in-the-head contingent in the next round with pride, and I’m confident she’ll do a great job of it.
Verdict: Booting People In The Head Is Fun
Miu Watanabe defeated Yuki Aino in the Princess Cup First Round
With Yuki Aino coming off arguably the two best singles matches of her career and Miu being Miu, this was one of the matches that drew the eye in this first round. They’re two of TJPW’s powerhouses, and seeing them bash into each other is always going to be a good time.
But while that did happen, part of Yuki Aino’s levelling up has been her figuring out where she excels in the ring. Interestingly, that’s not necessarily when going full hoss mode. Much like she did against Rika at Ota Ward, she started this match on the defensive, Miu zeroing in on her back. It’s a match construction that works for Miu, as I don’t necessarily think she’s an incredible limb seller, but she is good at showing the wear and tear of the action and battling through to use her power to turn the tide. They built gradually to the human conkers, in other words, which arguably made it all the better when it came about.
Unfortunately, just as in the Tatsumi match, Aino did a lot right but couldn’t quite get it over the line. By the end, they were beating the shit out of each other, throwing bomb after bomb, but when Yuki went for the kill, Miu’s power proved too much. She muscled out of a UBV attempt, transitioning into the Teardrop and had seemingly hit it and got the pin before Aino could react. It was a great finish, as it not only put over Watanabe’s muscles but also made it feel like Aino slipped on a banana peel, caught off-guard right when it was time to go for the kill. It again left you feeling like she’d improved in defeat, and it’s hard to imagine anyone could have watched her recent run and not been left wanting to see more.
In the here and now, this was Miu’s moment, and she’ll be looking to go a step further than she did last year. Who knows if she’ll do it, but with how she’s performed over the last twelve months, you’d be hard-pressed to argue why she shouldn’t.
Verdict: Lovely Stuff
Overall Round
There is still one last set of matches to go before the first round wraps, but this is already the best opening to the Princess Cup yet. Yes, I would have liked to see people like Pom involved, but you can’t argue that TJPW stripping it all back hasn’t been successful, and it’s already led to some brilliant matches.
Watch Tokyo Joshi Pro: https://www.wrestle-universe.com/en/videos?labels=-tjpw.