Miu Watanabe Reminds Yuki Arai Why She’s The Champion at TJPW First Sparkle

By Noah Leatherland

TJPW arrived in Aioi Hall for their next step towards GRAND PRINCESS. Miu Watanabe and Yuki Arai clashed in tag team action, with Watanabe earning a statement win ahead of their Princess of Princess Championship match.

Watanabe was joined by Yuki Aino and Haru Kazashiro, while Arai’s trio was filled out by Arisu Endo and Shino Suzuki. When Watanabe and Arai got in the ring together, the champion made a quick target of her challenger’s back. Ultimately, that work proved critical. Just shy of the 20 minute mark, Watanabe locked Arai into a Canadian Backbreaker submission. Arai had no choice but to tap out.

Speaking after the match, Watanabe commented on how she is using these preview matches to learn more about her opponent:

Today I wanted to delve deeper, so I pushed myself and came out on top. I’m sure this result resonates profoundly within Yuki Arai’s heart. There are still a few things I’m curious about, so I’ll keep exploring those areas while striving to push each other to ever greater heights.

Meanwhile, Arai’s confidence seems to have taken a hit, but sees the value in this loss:

After that first preliminary bout at Korakuen, I felt I could actually hold my own. I wanted to keep closing the gap, build my confidence—but today I couldn’t do anything at all. With less than 30 days until Ryogoku, this loss hurts too much. Plus, my back is just killing me… I haven’t fought against Miu’s techniques very often. Having fought her again, I realise once more that she’s my senior, her career is different, and the power and weight of her techniques are different too. I can only take comfort in the fact that I was able to experience that properly in the preliminary bout. It’s frustrating, but I suppose it’s good that I’ve been able to gauge the gap between myself and Miu at this stage, in my own way.

(Quotes translated via DeepL)

Miu Watanabe defends the Princess of Princess Championship against Yuki Arai at TJPW GRAND PRINCESS on March 29th at the Ryogoku Kokugikan.

Here are the full results for TJPW First Sparkle at Aioi Hall, courtesy of purolove.com:

• Toga def. Chika Nanase (6:16)
• Hyper Misao def. Uta Takami & Kira Summer (8:28)
• Suzume & Ren Konatsu def. HIMAWARI & Shion Kanzaki (10:51)
• Mizuki def. Mahiro Kiryu (9:57)
• Yuki Kamifuku, Wakana Uehara & Mifu Ashida def. Rika Tatsumi, Raku & Pom Harajuku (9:04)
• Miyu Yamashita & Kaya Toribami def. Shoko Nakajima & Sara Phoenix (13:13)
• Miu Watanabe, Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro def. Yuki Arai, Arisu Endo & Shino Suzuki (19:19)