TJPW
Yuka Sakazaki announced in a press conference on Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s official YouTube channel that she is graduating from the promotion. The 10th Anniversary Show of TJPW in Korakuen Hall on December 1st will be her final show as a TJPW Wrestler, and she will be based in the United States from 2024.
The Magical Girl said that it was a difficult decision to make, but she knew from the very beginning that this day will come, and the last 10 years have gone in a blink of an eye. The promotion is special to her, but that’s also the reason why she will leave TJPW. She wants to enter the next stage of her career and if she was to continue wrestling in Japan for other promotions it would interfere with TJPW, which is why she is choosing to relocate and wrestle in America instead. Yuka hasn’t decided yet if she will ever wrestle in Japan again, but if she does, she won’t wrestle in a Joshi Promotion. Her loyalty lies to TJPW, and she made it clear here even when she leaves the promotion.
The Manager of TJPW Tetsuya Koda said that Sakazaki will have limited appearances with TJPW for the rest of the year due to several excursions to the US being planned so Yuka can prepare her to move to the United States. The first one starts from May 13th to June 4th. While the “What Next?” isn’t officially answered yet, it is expected that Yuka Sakazaki joins All Elite Wrestling full-time, considering she already signed a contract there in 2019.
Koda also announced that Yuka Sakazaki and her Tag Team Partner Mizuki will defend the Princess Tag Team Championships against Rika Tatsumi and Miu Watanabe on the June 11th Korakuen Hall show, which is the next scheduled match in Japan for Sakazaki. It will be the second defense of the most dominant Tag Team that TJPW has ever seen. Yuka Sakazaki also would like to invite a Wrestler from AEW over to Japan to face her at Summer Sun Princess 23 on July 8th. It’s yet to be revealed who this wrestler will be.
Overall, Yuka Sakazaki leaving TJPW is a major story and shows the beginning of the end of the Four Pillars with Yuka being the first one graduating. But with that, a spot on the top of the Promotion gets open that the younger generation could capitalize on. Wrestlers like Miu Watanabe, Suzume, Yuki Arai, Arisu Endo will get more chances and can step up and prove why they should be on the top of Tokyo Joshi Pro. With one era ending, another will start.
Stardom
Stardom had its first major show after the All-Star Grand Queendom Show on Thursday. The Fukuoka crowd got three title matches and the homecoming of FWC & Maika.
The Empress Of Stardom, Maika teamed together with Giulia against Saya Kamitani & Utami Hayashishita. Maika showed a more aggressive side of herself after Himeka’s retirement which was on full display in this match here. The Donna del Mondo Member destroyed AphroditE whenever she had the chance and even was able to pin Utami with the Michinoku Driver II. It seems like that is scheduled for a major push.
The High-Speed Title run of AZM continues after she defeats Mei Seira in a fast-paced and great contest. It was the typical high-speed title match with many counters and great sequences. Seira showed a lot of potential, and it’s clear that she will hold the title down the line. At the end, she tapped out and AZM retained her title for the 12th time. After the match, Saki Kashima comes out and challenges once again for the High-Speed Championship. This time it will be a three-way match with Fukigen Death.
After the weird championship win at the Yokohama Arena show, MIRAI, and Ami Sourei faced former 2x Goddess of Stardom Champions Hazuki and Koguma in the hometown of FWC. This was possibly the best Tag Team match of New Eras. A good build Tag Team Match with a great ending stretch. Both teams gave everything to win this match, with the New Era, in the end, winning the match and walking out as the Champions. After the match, Momo Watanabe and Natsuko Tora officially announced that they want to challenge for the belts, which the Champions accepted.
In the Main Event, Mina Shirakawa made her first defense of her newly won Wonder Of Stardom Championship against her former Cosmic Angels Stablemate Natsupoi. The emotions were high in this match, with Poi being aggressive from the start, with the slap battle and even a German Suplex on the apron. Then Mina started to get control and destroyed Poi’s legs with kicks, dragon screws, and more. It was a fantastic bout that got better and better over time. Mina prevailed and retained her White Belt with the Figure Four Driver. Both were terrific in this match and showed why they deserve to be this high on the card. Mina’s Title run couldn’t have started much better. After celebrating with Club Venus, she picked up the Mic and challenged Tam Nakano to a Title vs Title Match which the World Of Stardom Champion accepted.
Marvelous
On the Marvelous 7th Anniversary show, Mio Momono challenged Chikayo Nagashima for the AAAW Singles Championship in the Korakuen Hall. After finishing her trial series, Mio went into the biggest match of her career more prepared than ever before, but she still went as the clear underdog in the match against the experienced Nagashima. The match itself was fantastic with Mio fighting from underneath against the two-time AAAW Champion. The 28-year veteran didn’t want to lose her title, but the heart of Mio Momono was too strong, and she was able to defeat Nagashima to win the most important Championship on the Joshi Indy Scene. Momono crowns herself the 16th AAAW Champion and wins her first-ever Singles Championship. A major moment for one of the best Women’s Wrestlers in the entire world.
The show also featured a major match-up between former Stardom Wrestler Unagi Sayaka, who is now on her Gyan Period against the Ace of Marvelous, Takumi Iroha that ended up being a great match with one of the best Unagi performances of her career. She’s improving a ton, and it’s visible in every major match-up that she has, but Iroha just was the better Wrestler on this day and defeated Sayaka. After the match, the former GAEA Wrestler Mayumi Ozaki made a surprise appearance and attacked Iroha and busting her open in the process. A feud between Marvelous and Ozaki-gun officially started with that. The first match is announced for June 11th in OZ Academy, where Iroha will team with Mio Momono against Mayumi Ozaki and a surprise partner.
