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TJPW Tokyo Princess Cup 2023 Final Review

1 year ago
TPC23_Final_Featured

TJPW Tokyo Princess Cup 2023 Final Review

By: Mitchell Adams

After six fantastic shows over four gruelling weeks, it all came down to this. Miyu Yamashita vs. Yuki Kamifuku in the finals of Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s tenth annual Tokyo Princess Cup tournament.

Both women had had arduous runs in the tournament with Yamashita earning (in every sense of the word) victories against Mizuki, Moka Miyamoto, and Rika Tatsumi. While Kamifuku had to dig deep into her bag of tricks to put away the likes of Nao Kakuta, last year’s finalist Miu Watanabe and TJPW’s biggest rising star Yuki Arai. Make no mistake, at a time when TJPW seems to have lost much of the wind in their sails this match and the story both these incredible joshi’s told is something fans will be talking about for a good long while.

The match itself started red hot with Kamifuku breaking away from her normal strategy of getting her opponents off their game through her usual antics of flirting with the camera until she lands a sneak attack or her opponent grows frustrated and tries to attack her only to be countered by a fully prepared Kamifuki. Instead, the “Casual Beauty” quickly shoved the referee out of the way during the traditional pre-match checking of the wrestler’s ring gear and hit a brutal-looking running dropkick on Yamashita before the bell even rang. Many armchair experts had called this arguably the biggest match of Kamifuku’s career and it appeared as if she agreed with them and was ready to go above and beyond to get her hand raised.

 

Yamashita, perhaps uncharacteristically unprepared for the onslaught of offense Kamifuku rained upon her seemed to struggle at first and it took a fair while before she began landing some pretty severe kicks and suplexes. However, Kamifuku kept coming back harder and stronger landing some of the most impressive leg lariats and knee strikes she has ever thrown. From then on the match was a pendulum. First Yamashita then Kamifuku. Kamifuku then Yamashita. But eventually, Yamashita took full control of the match and began to hit a series of massive and devastating moves.

But no matter what Yamashita hit Kamifuku with she couldn’t get the three count. A death valley driver off the top rope…a two-count. A running spin kick to the face…another two-count. Yamashita’s trademark Skull Kick landed flush on the side of Kamifuku’s head…Kamifuku got a foot on the bottom rope forcing the break. It seemed like Yamashita was going to come up short in the Princess Cup as Kamifuku once again rallied and attempted to hit her fameasser finishing move. But Yamashita proved once again why she is the Ace of TJPW by countering it and hitting a vicious running knee strike for the victory. But take nothing away from Yuki Kamifuku as many will undoubtedly consider that performance as her greatest match to date.

After the match was said and done and Yamashita was presented with her trophy by the editor-in-chief of Tokyo Sports Magazine no less, she made her intentions known then and there. A challenge was laid out to the Princess of Princess Champion Mizuki for the main event of Wrestle Princess IV, which was of course accepted almost immediately. TJPW fans are sure to mark their calendars for October 9th now if they haven’t done so already!

 

Speaking of Mizuki, earlier in the night she along, with Shoko Nakajima and Suzume, took on Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe, and Yuki Aino in one of the best six-person tag team matches TJPW has presented in a very, very long time. If you are not only a Joshi fan but a fan of fast-paced pro wrestling in general you got a pure smorgasbord of action with this match. Shoko Nakajima hitting an over-the-top rope 619 and somersault plancha through the middle rope to the outside was a reminder to fans that the biggest little Kaiju has spent a significant amount of time wrestling in Mexico over the years. Suzume also demonstrated her bee-like grace and agility hitting several high-flying variations of bulldogs and DDT’s. Meanwhile, Mizuki reminded the world why she is known as the Popping Sugar Rabbit with her performance as well as giving fans a tease for a possible dream match between herself and International Princess Champion Rika Tatsumi. In the end, Mizuki got the pinfall on last year’s Tokyo Princess Cup finalist Miu Watanabe who never saw Mizuki and her Crash Rabbit Heat finishing move coming.

 

Full Match Results:

  • Hikari Noa def. Runa Okubo
  • Nao Kakuta def. Haruna Neko and HIMAWARI
  • Raku and Pom Harajuku def. Shino Suzuki and Haru Kazashiro
  • Moka Miyamoto and Juria Nagano def. Hyper Misao & Kaya Toribami
  • Yuki Arai & Mahiro Kiryu def. Wakana Uehara & Toga
  • Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima and Suzume def. Rika Tatsumi, Miu Watanabe and Yuki Aino .
  • Tokyo Princess Cup Final: Miyu Yamashita def. Yuki Kamifuku

Rapid Fire Takeaways:

  • In what has become a reoccurring theme with big TJPW events in the last few months the undercard was full of incredibly lacklustre matches.
  • Yuki Arai seems to be being positioned for a big push in the future.
  • TJPW has lost a great deal of steam in the last 12 months due to the promotions parent company CyberFight putting most of its focus (and funding) towards Pro-Wrestling NOAH.
  • Yuki Kamifuku looks to be TJPW’s new “sub-ace” behind Miyu Yamashita now that Yuka Sakazaki has left for AEW and Maki Itoh now spending most of her time working for various independent promotions in the United States

 

Date:

August 13, 2023

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