TJPW Max Heart Tournament Round 2 Results

By: Jeff Brown

TJPW returned to Club eX in the Shinagawa Prince Hotel for day 2 of Max Heart Tournament 4. The first round saw Hyper Misao & Shoko Nakajima, aka Kyoraku Kyomei, win in the main event, and Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano pulled off an upset by beating Toga and Miyu Yamashita. The show started with the Up Up Girls featuring Uta (in place of Hikari Noa) performing “Babyface.”

Here are the results and impressions of the tournament matches.

Raku & Pom Harajuku vs Daisy Monkey (Arisu Endo & Suzume)

This was a fun outing that included Raku and Pom using a foam train, but Raku got serious and even used a crucifix pin for a great near-fall. Pom is really good at enduring a lot of punishment, as well as the trademark playground lunacy of the company. Endo and Suzume are both prime for greatness this year and, not surprisingly, get the win when Suzume hits the Ring A Bell on Pom.

Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara vs Mizuki & Shino Suzuki

Using the previous day’s match with Yamashita and Toga against Moka and Juria as a template, Arai and Wakana isolated Shino to their advantage. Mizuki was great in the match, but it was mostly Shino. Arai had that sadism back on display when targeting Shino, and Wakana really works over a body part in a throwback to Greg the Hammer Valentine or Ronnie Garvin, which adds a nice variety to this diverse roster. Shino had one of the best performances of her career. Wakana slams out of a sleeper and puts on her version, which includes bending Shino back for the tapout.

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👑東京女子プロレス「第4回“ふたりはプリンセス”Max Heartトーナメント」
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Kyoraku Kyomei (Hyper Misao & Shoko Nakajima) vs Daydream (Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe)

Absolutely fantastic tag match that is a calling card of this company. Misao didn’t try any pre-match skullduggery, and it was a clean start between Miu and Shoko. Within a few minutes, Misao did use her patented cold spray to gain the advantage, but that was the exception here, as both teams brought their very best. The action spilled out to the floor a few times as all the stops were pulled out.

This was wrestled like it was the finals, and honestly, each team felt worthy of a tag title shot in the end. All four are very strong pieces for TJPW as their landscape is changing in 2024, and Misao was especially out to prove she can go at the main event level when called upon. Shoko is so good with perfect timing that it’s almost easy to take her for granted since she isn’t always in the title picture. Miu is at another level and ready for her title shot against Yamashita at Grand Princess. The war of attrition ended when Rika countered a Vanitas attempt from TJPW’s hero and landed the Twist of Fate for the victory.

It was a really great start to the tournament, with TJPW reminding everyone they can do dramatic big matches as well as anyone. The 27th is the next round and will be the semi-finals.

Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara vs Daydream (Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe)

Juria Nagano & Moka Miyamoto vs Daisy Monkey (Arisu Endo & Suzume)

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