TJPW Kicks Off Tokyo Princess Cup 13 in Shizuoka, Big Stars Move Onto Second Round

By Noah Leatherland

Fresh off of Summer Sun Princess, TJPW has got the ball rolling on their annual Tokyo Princess Cup tournament. With the first day of action in Shizuoka, the opening round saw many of the promotion’s top names picking up their first wins.

The tournament began with Momo Sato making her singles debut, having made her first proper TJPW appearance at Summer Sun Princess in a tag team with Shion Kanzaki. Sato’s big occasion did not prove to be a fruitful one, as she was quickly dispatched by Toga.

Kanzaki was next up, also making her first appearance in the Tokyo Princess Cup. She was taking on the International Princess Champion, Suzume. Coming in with the momentum of defeating Wakana Uehara at TJPW Summer Sun Princess, Suzume maintained her winning ways. The champion locked Kanzaki into her Hachinosu Eight Knot submission and forced a tap.

Uehara came up against Mifu Ashida in the first round. Ashida appealed to Uehara’s hungry side, tempting her with rice balls, and promised that Uehara could have them if she took part in a cheerleading contest. The contest turned out to just be a ploy for Ashida to get a sneak attack on her opponent. However, Uehara battled back and landed the Sushi Tornado for the three count, and then took the rice balls.

The next bout was much more serious business as Arisu Endo took on Sakura Hattori. Endo felt the wrath of Hattori’s ninja training, but fought hard in retaliation. In the end, it was Endo that emerged victorious, landing the Juu no Okite to put her masked opponent away and advance to the second round.

Raku and Mizuki were next up, with Raku’s pillows coming into play from the very start. Even with Raku shoving a carrot pillow in Mizuki’s mouth, Mizuki fought past all the antics and hoisted Raku over with the Cutie Special for the three count.

One half of the Princess Tag Team Champions, Miu Watanabe took her first steps in the tournament with a bout against Ren Konatsu. Depsite Konatsu trying to stick and move, she could not escape Watanabe’s power. Konatsu found herself strung up in the Canadian Backbreaker and was forced to submit, advancing Watanabe into the next round.

Miyu Yamashita suffered a big loss in the main event of TJPW Summer Sun Princess, but the Tokyo Princess Cup could be her route back to challenging for the Princess of Princess Title again. She was drawn against Uta Takami. Takami showed a lot of fight up against her senior, but Yamashita’s deadly strikes beat her down. Yamashita ended the bout with her fireman’s carry slam gaining her the pinfall.

To round off the first part of the Tokyo Princess Cup, the reigning champion Yuki Arai took on Haru Kazashiro. Kazashiro put on a good showing against TJPW’s top champion, however, she could not do enough to put Arai away. Just shy of ten minutes into the match, Arai locked in her signature Scorpion Deathlock and forced Kazashiro to submit.

The winners from this opening day of action will all go on to face opponents who had first round byes. The second round will take place on July 25th and July 30th.

Here are the full results for TJPW Tokyo Princess Cup Day 1:

• Shoko Nakajima, Hyper Misao & HIMAWARI def. Yuki Kamifuku, Yuki Aino, Pom Harajuku (8:34)
• Rika Tatsumi def. Mahiro Kiryu and Chika Nanase (10:06)
• Tokyo Princess Cup First Round: Toga def. Momo Sato (5:12)
• Tokyo Princess Cup First Round: Suzume def. Shion Kanzaki (8:48)
• Tokyo Princess Cup First Round: Wakana Uehara def. Mifu Ashida (7:37)
• Tokyo Princess Cup First Round: Arisu Endo def. Sakura Hattori (10:48)
• Tokyo Princess Cup First Round: Mizuki def. Raku (8:44)
• Tokyo Princess Cup First Round: Miu Watanabe def. Ren Konatsu (11:50)
• Tokyo Princess Cup First Round: Miyu Yamashita def. Uta Takami (8:27)
• Tokyo Princess Cup First Round: Yuki Arai def. Haru Kazashiro (9:40)