Challengers Defeat Champions in Massive Preview Tag at TJPW Spring Tour Next Door in Shinjuku

By Noah Leatherland

TJPW were in Shinjuku FACE on their Spring Tour, with a huge eight-woman tag in the main event. Ahead of next month’s TJPW Stand Alone event, the team of title challengers defeated the champions to win some early momentum.

The full suite of champions assembled on one side of the ring. The Princess of Princess Champion Yuki Arai, the International Princess Champion Suzume and the Princess Tag Team Champions Miu Watanabe and Rika Tatsumi formed a formidable unit. They came up against their respective challengers, Yuki Kamifuku, Mahiro Kiryu, Mizuki and Uta Takami.

While it was an opportunity for everyone to get a feel for their upcoming opponents and win some mental points heading into Stand Alone, Kiryu proved to be the biggest winner. Kiryu landed a big spinebuster on Suzume and scored a pinfall on the International Princess Champion.

Tempers flared after the match, with Mizuki and Tatsumi getting into it after the bell. Watanabe intervened and carried Mizuki all the way to the back. Luckily, Mizuki was rescued by a devastating ice cream attack from Takami.

In their post-match comments, Suzume and Arai were both very forthcoming with their emotions following the loss:

Suzume: Ah… I mean, fighting Kiryu is one thing, but I’m just so happy to be lining up with everyone here as part of the champion’s team. So, knowing I let everyone down like that really does make me so frustrated.

 

Arai: That’s not true. It really isn’t.

 

Suzume: No, I mean, with both the champions and the challengers being so amazing, I just don’t want to lose to anyone. We’ve got the same match-up again next week, but I’m definitely not going to lose.

 

Arai: We’ll be fighting together next week, won’t we?

 

Suzume: Yeah.

 

Arai: Well, I also had a preliminary bout with Kamifuku-san, and somehow I just couldn’t get my game going at all this time. I felt like I was constantly on the back foot against her and didn’t get many chances to land my own shots. I felt like I took quite a beating. Even though I managed to win the title match at Ryogoku Kokugikan last time, in the International title bout, I was still left feeling frustrated. Memories of crying my eyes out at the end have really come flooding back today. I feel a strong sense of crisis that if things carry on like this, it’ll end up the same way. I’m pulling myself together, thinking, ‘Well, there’s still next week.’ The more Kamifuku polishes her visual image, the more I, Arai, want to kick her. I want to make sure I convey that feeling properly in the match.

(Quotes translated via DeepL)

TJPW Stand Alone takes place on June 7th in Korakuen Hall.

Here are the full results for TJPW Spring Tour Next Door in Shinjuku:

• Raku def. Kira Summer (8:06)
• Pom Harajuku def. Mifu Ashida (5:56)
• Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro def. Arisu Endo & Shion Kanzaki (9:19)
• Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao def. HIMAWARI & Ren Konatsu (12:07)
• Miyu Yamasahita & Sakura Hattori def. Toga & Chika Nanase (11:21)
• Mahiro Kiryu, Yuki Kamifuku, Mizuki & Uta Takami def. Suzume, Yuki Arai, Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi (15:20)