Yuki Arai and Miyu Yamashita Collide at TJPW Next Door in Yokohama

By Noah Leatherland

TJPW are on the road to Summer Sun Princess, make a stop at the Yokohama Radiant Hall on their Spring Tour. With Yuki Arai set to defend her Princess of Princess Championship at next month’s big event, she clashed in trios action against her upcoming challenger, Miyu Yamashita.

Arai teamed with Yuki Aino and Haru Kazashiro, while Yamashita found formed a trio with Sakura Hattori and Kira Summer. With the high stakes for their upcoming match at TJPW Summer Sun Princess, Arai and Yamashita both embraced the chance to get in the ring with one another.

Arai’s will to win was just too strong in Yokohama. Despite Yamashita’s best attempts to save Kira Summer from the champion’s finishing blow, Arai dispatched of the Pink Striker and locked in the Scorpion Deathlock for the victory.

Speaking in the post-match comments, Arai was not allowing herself to get carried away with the win, with work still to be done:

Since this was the first preliminary bout, I couldn’t quite shake the memory of being knocked out in an instant by Yamashita last year. To be honest, I was wondering if I might get scared again today, but once I stepped into the ring, I felt that sense of ‘It’s going to be fine, I can do this’ all over again. However, I did end up taking quite a few of Yamashita’s attacks, so I’d like to use the time between these preliminary bouts to hone my own skills and work hard so that I can land each blow with real impact.

Meanwhile, Yamashita reflected on the loss, which has only seemed to spur her on even more:

Arai’s eyes and every single move he made gave me serious chills. It’s begun. I thought to myself, ‘It’s really started now.’ It was absolutely brilliant. Right at the very end, I thought I’d step in and finish it off, but I ended up getting beaten myself. Next up is Nagoya. The preliminary bout’s already been arranged, so I’m determined to make sure I win that one. It’s begun, hasn’t it? I won’t be stopping until July. Just watch this space.

(Quotes translated via DeepL)

TJPW Summer Sun Princess is set for July 18th, with TJPW’s next stop on the tour in Nagoya set for June 21st.

Here are the full results for TJPW Next Door in Yokohama, courtesy of purolove.com:

• Yuki Kamifuku def. Shion Kanzaki (6:52)
• Toga & Uta Takami def. HIMAWARI & Mifu Ashida (10:03)
• Mizuki def. Arisu Endo and Pom Harajuku (7:22)
• Suzume & Mahiro Kiryu def. Wakana Uehara & Chika Nanase (11:00)
• Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & Raku def. Miu Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi & Ren Konatsu (14:55)
• Yuki Arai, Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro def. Miyu Yamashita, Sakura Hattori & Kira Summer (11:41)