TJPW Summer Sun Princess '23 (8/7/23) Review
Summer Is Here And TJPW Are Back In Ota City
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写真家さん、ここにイメージが写すことが許可しなければ聞いて下さって私は大至急除きます (ツイターの @FlupkeDiFlupke です)。ありがとうございます！
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Summer Sun Princess has been a long time going, as the last few months of TJPW have all been a bit stop-start. A combination of injuries and upper carders spending time in America left the roster somewhat imbalanced, forcing rookies to step up into spots they might not have expected to be in. They did well, but it hasn’t stopped Tokyo Joshi from feeling like they have been playing with half a deck for a while now. Summer Sun Princess didn’t completely change that, it’s a glance at what a future without Yuka will look like, but the bulk of the roster was back, and it was time to celebrate the summer.
I’m not sure why Rika Matsumoto, the voice actor of Ash from Pokemon, was on commentary, but it did lead to Namba bursting into tears as she donned her own Ash cap pre-show. Who knew she was such a big Pokemon fan? We also got to hear the Up Up Girls play ‘Rock It Now’ on a TJPW show for the first time (I believe they debuted it at their own show a bit back), and, I have to admit, it didn’t immediately blow me away. It’s certainly not the instantaneous banger ‘Babyface’ is. At least they also smashed through ‘Upper Kick’, so we got one of the hits. The newest member Uta then joined them to kick off the show, and I’ve already been charmed by her slightly awkward but incredibly endearing social media. As illustrated by her responding to Miu calling her cute the other day by repeatedly yelling ‘I love you’ back at her.
Daisy Monkey (Suzume & Arisu Endo) defeated Karate Pals (Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano)
Endo and Suzume opening up a big TJPW show with a sneaky banger is becoming the norm, although we’re probably at the point where you can drop the sneaky part of that description. Daisy Monkey excel in this role, proving time after time that if you give them the stage, they will deliver. I probably wouldn’t put this one down as the best of the genre, but it was still a fantastic way to kick things off.
Particularly impressive was how they worked with Juria Nagano, who was returning after nearly six months out with a hand injury. Early on, we saw Suzume getting a bit mean with her, which is something she’s been slowly introducing into her interactions with rookies. However, even as she did some work on Juria’s legs, she was smart enough never to go too far with it, preventing Nagano from needing to sell too much. It meant when it came time for the karate nurse to pull out those incredible kicks (which still rule) as part of her comeback, you weren’t snapped out of the action and could enjoy her dishing out a beating.
Add in that both members of Daisy Monkey have strong chemistry with Moka Miyamoto, and this was never going to go badly. Nagano aside, everyone involved is technically solid but is also starting to develop the kind of flash that stands out on these big stages (and Nagano turned up with her flash pre-installed). It added up to an impressive opener and put another tick in the increasingly impressive column of successes for Daisy Monkey.
Verdict: A Really Good Opener
Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko, HIMAWARI & Shino Suzuki defeated Kaya Toribami, Toga, Haru Kazashiro & Runa Okubo
The wee cat is back! Haruna Neko has been out since she tweaked her knee in May, so it was lovely to see her return to the ring and usher some rookies through a busy tag match.
When you get this many inexperienced wrestlers together, you have to temper your expectations, especially when there is roughly the same amount of people as there are minutes to play with. Everyone got a quick chance to show what they could do, but there wasn’t much to get your teeth into, as even the more expanded sequences generally stuck to the basics. I don’t want to downplay anything they did, this group is doing exceptionally well for their experience level, but if you’re looking for something complex, you’re in the wrong place.
Still, even in that environment, Haru and HIMAWARI had a strong closing stretch, in which the teenager continued to suggest that she is one to keep an eye on. This early in her career, she’s still limited in what she can do, but TJPW is quietly slipping her into more prominent spots, and I can see why. She’s more expressive than most wrestlers her age and is tapping into the rhythm of the action. It was the highlight of a fairly standard outing that did a decent job of highlighting its young wrestlers.
Verdict: Solid
Ryo Mizunami & Nao Kakuta defeated Venyu (ASUKA & Yuki Kamifuku)
The Venn diagram of a Venyu entrance is just a circle with the words horny and gay written in it, which you’ve got to give your full support to. Aniki and Kakuta, meanwhile, brought the party right up until Venyu jump-started this thing by attacking them from behind. After two enjoyable but small-scale openers, those entrances made it feel like we were getting into the big show proper.
And I hadn’t considered it coming in, but this match was an easy win. ASUKA and Aniki are no strangers to each other and quickly got down to laying into every blow (to the point where Kamiyu wanted nothing to do with it, having already made the mistake of stealing Aniki’s entrance gear and paying the price). They weren’t alone either, as Nao and Kamiyu have always enjoyed booting each other in the face. It had started as a party but quickly dissolved into violence, a different but (in these circumstances) no lesser form of fun.
If there is a criticism, it’s that I would have quite liked it to go a bit longer, as it felt like they had a few more minutes of beating each other up to give. Still, it’s always better to leave people wanting more, and considering this was the third match of a long card, they gave us a lot. Now, how do we get ourselves a Kakuta vs ASUKA match?
Verdict: Great Entrances Followed By Great Violence
Vert Vixen defeated Hikari Noa to retain the Defy Women’s Title
When this match was at its best, it positioned Hikari as the plucky underdog trying to find a way past the bigger and stronger Vixen. It’s the role that Noa is best suited to, her scrappy offence serving as a perfect counterpoint to someone who can out-muscle her at every turn. She’s also the ideal opponent for Vert Vixen to throw about the place, as she’s small and bendy enough to sell everything like it’s killed her.
It was a shame then that they never quite stuck to that story. There were too many moments here where Hikari was in control, even throwing Vixen across the ring by her hair. I wanted to feel like Noa was fighting for her life, desperately leaping into flash pins or firing away with dropkicks, and while I got some of that (particularly towards the end), there was too much other stuff for it to hit hard. It felt like somewhere along the line, the desire to make it a fair and equal match got in the way of the story they should have been telling.
The bulk of this was good. It just needed a little focus to turn it into something more than that. If Noa and Vixen got another go at it, I suspect they’d iron out the creases, and I hope they get that opportunity someday. In the here and now, this was a decent match but not one that will stick with me for long.
Verdict: Good, But I Think They Have A Better One In Them
Kyoraku Kyomei (Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao) defeated Aja Kong & Raku and Max The Impaler & Pom Harajuku in a three-way tag match
What a gorgeous collection of oddballs. When you put this many glorious people together, the actual wrestling becomes kind of irrelevant. All I need is for them all to exist in the same space. Sure, a bit of Max and Aja going at it would also be nice, and it predictably ruled, but I got just as much of a kick out of seeing Aja finding herself armed with Raku’s pillow. Not to mention Raku bopping Pom on the head with Aja’s bin! Those simple moments of nonsense make these TJPW matches magical, and this one had won me over before the bell even rang.
However, the stars of this match (as much as there can be individual stars in something this wonderful) were Kyoraku Kyomei. Misao and Shoko came into this knowing that they were outgunned, and amongst all the nonsense, it became the story of them trying to figure out a way to even the odds. Spray cans, bikes and countless other tricks were deployed, as the narrative of the action consistently returned to them trying to find a way through the madness. It didn’t always go to plan. At one point, they accidentally managed to get Aja and Max on the same side, but luckily for them, those two hosses were incapable of resisting the temptation to bash into each other for too long.
It was chaos, but the kind of stunning, nonsensical chaos that makes my heart grow two sizes. I love that people like Max and Aja are willing to indulge in this side of wrestling, and in Pom, Raku, Shoko and Misao, you had the perfect people to construct the framework around them. I had a lovely time, and if we get a hundred more variations of this match, I suspect I’ll have a lovely time with them too.
Verdict: Perfect
Nyla Rose defeated Miu Watanabe
We’ve seen this story before. Miu is used to being the strongest person in the ring, able to throw her TJPW peers around with ease, so Koda and co go out and find someone bigger and badder than her. With her power negated, it’s up to Watanabe to find a way past the roadblock dropped in front of her.
And I think Nyla Rose was a solid choice for the role of roadblock. Outside of those initial Riho matches, I haven’t seen much of her, but she makes Miu look small and has a meanness that you won’t often see in TJPW. When the two of them stand side-by-side, it’s not hard to imagine that the wee hoss would struggle to take her down, and Miu did a fantastic job of selling how intimidating she found Rose. It made it easy to believe that she had a mountain to climb.
It was a story that they then followed well, Miu initially struggling before finally getting Nyla up for a slam and opening up the path to victory. Unfortunately, it didn’t all come together, as the Giant Swing (which I suspect was meant to be the jewel in the crown of the match) barely got going before Miu’s strength gave out. However, even with that mistake, they did a lot of stuff right, and Nyla was generous in letting Watanabe throw her about. My problems don’t stem from the action but a general sense that TJPW (and DDT) are far too giving in this relationship with AEW. Rose isn’t, to the best of my knowledge, currently being pushed, so why is she coming over and beating someone who is? Mizuki will lose in five minutes on their YouTube show (despite being the champ), and yet TJPW is still happy to give Rose the win on one of their biggest events of the year.
None of that is the fault of the wrestlers, and I generally try to avoid giving a shit about booking decisions because it’s boring, but this match felt like it was building to Miu overcoming Nyla and picking up a statement victory. Instead, at the last minute, they swerved to the right, and Nyla put Watanabe away without that much trouble. It was a frustrating downer of an ending to something that I had enjoyed until that point.
Verdict: Annoying Ending, Good Match
Miyu Yamashita defeated Sawyer Wreck to retain the Eve Title
There were a lot of similarities between this match and the last, as Sawyer Wreck towers over Miyu Yamashita. However, despite their similar names, Miyu is a very different wrestler from Miu. She has the earned confidence of having spent years at the top, and while Wreck is an intimidating force, Yamashita has met worse. From the start, she looked to cut Sawyer down to size, kicking away at her legs and taking her off her feet.
It meant that it was Wreck, not Miyu, who had to find a way into the action, and she did that by turning it into a fight, dragging it to the outside and getting some chairs involved. That was her domain, and it pushed The Ace out of her comfort zone, forcing her to try and brute force her way out of the situation. Gloriously, she decided the best way to do that was through an act of ridiculously stupid badassery, as she kicked her way through a steel chair to get at Sawyer. It was as dumb as it was cool and a reminder that Miyu is a total badass.
Sadly, there were quite a few flaws alongside the chair kicking. I don’t know if it was an attempt to adjust to the larger building or what, but some of Wreck’s emoting descended into a variety of classic WWE monster grunts, all of which felt slightly out of place. It’s also clear that while she’s an impressive force on offence, she’s not as comfortable on the back foot, and a lot of the in-between stuff wasn’t quite there. However, on the whole, it worked. With Miyu having been out of the picture for a while, it was a decent way to give her a dominant Ace performance without sliding her straight into the main event, and she looked incredible as she booted Wreck down to size. Between that and her winning a fight with a chair, I came away willing to forgive the flaws.
Verdict: Flawed, But With Some Highs
NEO Biishiki-gun (Sakisama & Mei Saint-Michel) defeated Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara
Here’s NEO Biishiki-gun to rival Venyu for the gayest entrance on the show. At this point, we all know what a Bii-gun match looks like, with Sakisama bringing elegance and Mei Saint-Michel being a bloody nuisance. It’s a simple formula, but it works, and with rumours swirling that Sakisama might be returning to France permanently, it is one we should appreciate while we can. How many more chances do we have to see Mei do a clearly choreographed dance routine with her plate to distract the referee?
The beauty of that formula, though, is that it’s one which others can flourish within the confines of. Arai and Wakana were the clear underdogs here, but they more than held up their end of the bargain, bringing the fight to Bii-gun in a way that more experienced teams have struggled to do. Wakana was particularly impressive, as this was the biggest match of her career so far, and she proved she could step up to that level. She was smart enough to stay within her comfort zone, but everything looked crisp, and watching her grow increasingly frustrated with Mei’s antics was incredibly enjoyable. I was unsure of her when she debuted, as I found her presentation a touch cold, but this was the final flourish in her winning me over.
It was Arai who made the strongest impression, though. Sakisama appeared to have her eye on the young idol, and when they got a chance to tee off on each other, the big boots flowed thick and fast. However, the one she delivered to Mei in the corner had the biggest impact of all, as it lifted wee Saint-Michel off her feet, holding her up in the air for a second or two before letting her drop back to earth. She seemed inspired by the crackling tension coming off of Sakisama, even pulling out her sometimes tag-team partner Saki Akai’s finisher, and I hope that’s something they get to explore further before Bii-gun return to Versailles.
All things said, if you are a Bii-gun hater, then you’re probably not going to be won around by this. For fans of beauty and elegance, it was a taste of that magic, with a strong showing from two young wrestlers to back it up. I don’t know how many of these we have left, but I plan to enjoy them all while I can, and the more plate-based antics they bring with them, the better.
Verdict: The Only Good Aristocracy
Rika Tatsumi defeated Yuki Aino to retain the International Princess Title
If you want to beat Rika Tatsumi, you have to come prepared for an onslaught. In the early portion of this match, I was worried that Yuki Aino was being blown away. Rika (who was sporting new gear) went straight for the throat (literally) before settling into her customary attack on the leg. Aino seemed to be getting bludgeoned out of the action, struggling to make her mark as Tatsumi forced her onto the back foot.
Thankfully, I needn’t have worried. Yuki picked her spots, quelling Rika’s attack with moments of power that slowly started to turn the tide. Whether it was hoisting her over the top and down to the floor, suplexing her from the apron to the ring or powering out of a sleeper, Aino was giving back as good as she got, setting up a thrilling final act where I had fully bought into the idea that the belt could go either way. There was a real sense of struggle as they went back and forth, beaten and bruised but refusing to stop fighting.
Unfortunately for Aino, if you’re getting into a war of attrition with Rika, you’re going to have to be incredible. She gave her all, limping across the ring to keep the fight going, but Tatsumi wouldn’t stop coming. She had an answer to every counter, and while Aino hit hard, Rika was always that bit meaner. However, this was easily the best big match of performance of Yuki’s career (and I liked her previous title shots more than most) and felt like definitive proof that she can hang at this level. By the end, despite my love for Rika as champion, she’d pulled me around to her side, and judging by the noise of the fans in the room, I wasn’t alone. She fell short but came mighty close as she did so, and I can’t imagine it will be the last time we see Aino in this spot.
Verdict: Brilliant
Mizuki defeated Maki Itoh to retain the Princess of Princess Title
Itoh vs Mizuki is a match dripping in history. For almost as long as they’ve both been in TJPW, their careers have intertwined, and while they’ve come together and apart over the years, they’ve always been just a step apart. It’s unfair to reduce Maki’s journey to a single idea, but if you were to do so, it’s that she is chasing Mizuki, doing everything she can to catch up with the person who, in her mind, has always been better than her. Now, she had the chance to face her in the main event of one of TJPW’s biggest shows of the year for the belt she’s never managed to win. It’s safe to say emotions were high.
And when you have that much history, it’s easy for a match to collapse under the weight. In fact, in the opening act, I started to worry that was what was going to happen. This wasn’t some meandering New Japan epic where they were going through the motions, but they were taking their time, feeling each other out, and never quite sparking the match into life. Itoh was a touch more aggressive, dropping Mizuki with a hanging DDT off the apron to the floor, but she never had enough to pull away, Mizuki always clinging on, keeping herself in the contest.
As we went on, though, that emotion began to unravel. There was a moment where both tumbled to the floor on opposites of the ring but crawled round to find each other on the outside, pulling each other up as all those years of aggression and petty anger started to unleash. As they wildly threw strikes, it didn’t matter what either had achieved because they needed to prove themselves against each other, hammering home blow after blow. What had felt like a slow burn suddenly accelerated into a flurry of violence, where neither was willing to budge an inch.
Neither ever did, but as has been the theme in every Itoh title shot, she made a mistake. With Mizuki trapped in the Itoh Punish, unable to reach the ropes, she readjusted, desperate to push it over the line by transitioning to the Itoh Special. However, when she did, Mizuki wriggled and scooched closer to the ropes, finding an avenue to escape and twist the match around. It wasn’t the end, but it was the beginning of it, as Itoh’s chances of getting the win started to drift away.
The actual finish was incredible, with a defiant Itoh kicking out on one from a double stomp but having nothing left. There was a brief flurry, a moment of defiance, but she couldn’t sustain it, and it was left to an emotional Mizuki to finish the job. It was beautiful and heartbreaking, and everything I want this kind of epic main event wrestling to be. These two old friends and rivals left everything in that ring, and while Mizuki was the winner, Itoh proved, hopefully to herself, that she deserved to stand next to her. Will she ever win the belt? Who knows, but she’s carved her name into TJPW history regardless.
Verdict: Beautiful
Overall Show
Right, to start with the obvious, there was a hell of a lot of good wrestling on that show. Even the stuff I didn’t love as much was still more than watchable, and they did a fantastic job of keeping it varied. However, it was a bit too long, and a couple of the matches (Miyu vs Wreck, Hikari vs Vert) felt unnecessary. Throw them on a Korakuen, and I’d have no complaints, but for a big show, there was just a tad too much TJPW vs a random foreigner with no real emotional stakes. Still, when you have a closing run that breathtaking, it’s easy to forgive the faults, and in Mizuki vs Itoh, we have a new match-of-the-year contender, so I’m not going to complain too much.
Watch Tokyo Joshi Pro: https://www.wrestle-universe.com/en/videos?labels=-tjpw.