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TJPW Grand Princess II Review – 3.18.23

1 year ago

TJPW Grand Princess II Review – 3.18.23

TJPW Grand Princess II Review – 3.18.23

By: Abid Chowdhury

From the moment Grand Princess II was announced, fans were left wondering which venue would host one of Tokyo Joshi-Pro Wrestling (TJPW)’s biggest shows of the year – a statement production at Ariake Coliseum. 1,513 fans would witness three championship title matches, and four special singles matches with an ongoing the theme of tag-team partners competing against one another.

Grand Princess ’23: Undercard Match #1

A fantastic way to kick off Grand Princess with a hot bout that featured tag partners Daisy Monkey (Arisu Endo and Suzume) competing with one another. This match was fast paced and if you blinked, you’d miss the action. In the end Suzume pinned Endo at 8 minutes and 48 seconds.

Grand Princess ’23: Undercard Match #2

In the second match, rookies Runa Okubo and Haru Kazashiro debuted alongside several of TJPW’s other growing talents. HIMAWARI, Mahiro Kiryu, Shino Suzuki and Wakana Uehara fought a heartwarming bout versus Haru Kazashiro, Kaya Toribami, Runa Okubo and Toga.

Mahiro Kiryu pinned Toga at 11 minutes and 23 seconds.

Grand Princess ’23: Undercard Match #3

Pom Harajuku, Raku and Yuki Aino fought Ram Kaichow from Triple-666 alongside partners FreeWifi (Hikari Noa and Nao Kakuta). The drama centered around Raku and Ram Kaichow. Ram’s character is the wife of Raku, and supposedly she has cheated on Raku on multiple occasions!

Raku was clearly not pleased with this adultery and wanted to teach her a lesson and fought against her apparent spouse. The match came to a close when Hikari Noa pinned Pom Harajuku at 10 minutes and 23 seconds. After the match backstage, on Raku’s instagram she posted a picture of Ram begging her for forgiveness.

Grand Princess ’23: Undercard Match #4

The next contest was the first of four special singles matches. A huge opportunity here as Moka Miyamoto went up against a real stud in “Aniki” Ryo Mizunami. Before the opening bell, fans were split over who to cheer for. As the match went on, fans switched from chanting for Mizunami to rooting for the underdog, Miyamoto.

It would not be enough, however, as Mizunami pinned Miyamoto via a diving leg drop at 11 minutes and 46 seconds. After the match Mizunami thanked Miyamoto for the match and said Miyamoto did her best. Mizunami and the fans applauded Miyamoto for her gutsy performance.

 

Grand Princess ’23: Undercard Match #5

Andreza The Giant Panda & Haruna Neko vs. two-time former Princess of Princess champion Shoko Nakajima alongside her partner, the heroic Hyper Misao. Nakajima and Hyper Misao had a game plan heading into this match, to keep Neko away from tagging in her partner Andreza. Andreza eventually had enough of the Shoko and Misao’s shenanigans and headbutted both on multiple occasions. In the closing stretch after Shoko Nakajima and Hyper Misao were able to separate Andreza from Haruna Neko, Shoko Nakajima pinned Neko at 10 minutes and 25 seconds.

Grand Princess: Undercard Match #6

This match featured the return of the villain unit Neobishki-gun (Mei Saint-Michel & Sakisama) in TJPW. They faced the team of a young Billie Starkz and her partner, the “Casual Beauty” Yuki Kamifuku. Neobishki-gun pinned Kamifuku at 13 minutes and 42 seconds in an entertaining match.

An announcement was made regarding the next big shows for TJPW starting with Summer Sun Princess, which will take place on July 8, 2023 from Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo. Wrestle Princess 4 will follow on October 9, 2023. And as part of TJPW’s 10th anniversary, “We Are TJPW” will take place on December 1st, 2023 at Korakuen Hall.

Special Singles Matches

Yuki Arai vs. Aja Kong

Arai came as focused as ever. She knew she was fighting an uphill battle in legend Aja Kong, and even then she took Aja to the limit. Arai hit her signature axe kicks multiple times but it was not enough to put down Aja Kong. Multiple nearfalls especially with Arai who kicked out of almost everything Aja threw at her. Aja after hitting a piledriver followed by her signature backdrop suplex was shocked by Arai kicking out. Followed by Arai with a kickout at 1 that shocked Aja further. Aja Kong finally pinned Arai at exactly 13 minutes. Aja after the match said to Arai that she wants to fight her again next time, in which Arai nodded agreeing to what Aja said to her. Despite losing the match, she came out as a winner in the eyes of the fans that praised her for her performance with a legend in Aja Kong.

International Princess Championship: Rika Tatsumi vs. Miu Watanabe (c)

This was Watanabe’s toughest challenge to date, competing against a challenger who is also her “DayDream” tag team partner in Tatsumi.

Tatsumi has held the Princess Tag Team Championships multiple times and was the Princess of Princess Champion in 2021, but the International Princess Championship has eluded her thus far – with a win, Tatsumi would become the first ever TJPW Grand Slam champion.

Tatsumi dominated  early on using technical wrestling, with multiple submissions and a dragon screw leg whip to put Watanabe on the defensive. Tatsumi locked in the dragon sleeper and Watanabe was trapped, but her “fighting spirit” got her to the edge of the mat for a potential rope break. Tatsumi, being a sharp veteran, rolled Watanabe back to the center of the ring – and that is where her International Princess Championship reign would come to an end.

Tatsumi was crowned the new International Princess Champion, and the first TJPW Grand Slam champion after 18 minutes and 31 seconds through her dragon sleeper in a spectacular match. Afterwards, they both embraced and thanked each other for their match.

Princess Tag Team Championships: 1to1000000 (Maki Itoh & Miyu Yamashita) vs. Wasteland War Party (Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler)

Fan favorites Yamashita & Itoh earned the right to challenge for the tag titles after winning the Max Heart tag-tournament. But they were in for a tough contest, as the champions – Wasteland War Party – had a size and strength advantage, which they utilized early on as they just dominated the challengers. However as the match went on, the tide was turning in favor of the challengers. The fans were behind Yamashita and Itoh throughout the match.

“The cutest in the world” Itoh pinned the mighty Howitzer via a diving headbutt at 13 minutes and 42 seconds, giving us new TJPW tag-team champs. For the first in both of their careers, Itoh and Yamashita won the Princess Tag Team Championships.

On commentary tonight, DDT Pro stud Chris Brookes mentioned alongside his partner at the booth Shota: “The second title change tonight, we have one more title match. If this is going to be an omen, are we going to see all belts change hands tonight?”

Princess of Princess Championship: Mizuki vs. Yuka Sakazaki (c)

Mizuki challenged her best friend and “Magical Sugar Rabbits” tag partner, current Princess of Princess Champion (and sometimes All Elite Wrestling competitor) Yuka Sakazaki. Joshi puroresu fans would not walk away disappointed, as everyone in the building hung on the edge of their seats for this one. It was Mizuki’s fifth time challenging for the title, she lost four other challenges in some real heartbreakers. That begged the question, where would Mizuki turn from here if she lost again?

Sakazaki is in her third reign, and Mizuki has never pinned her. The last time she wrestled against Sakazaki was another Princess of Princess Championship match, at the inagural Wrestle Princess event in November 2020.

From the onset, Mizuki wanted to take the fight to the champ, but Sakazaki resisted her every maneuver. The champ was fixated on hitting a bodyslam outside of the ring to the concrete floor, but in a moment of compassion, changed her mind and placed Mizuki back on her feet. Mizuki took her friend’s kindness as an opportunity to turn the tide, hitting dropkick to the back of the champ as Sakazaki was walking away.

Understandably, Sakazaki completely snapped.

From here it was an emotional battle, dominated by the champion. But Mizuki showed her resiliency, fighting through visible pain throughout. A brainbuster to Mizuki on the outside would still create grief within Sakazaki, however, begging the question of whether she had what it takes to finish the job. Her tactic seemed to be winning the match via countout, but Mizuki did not give up.

Multiple nearfalls would ensue, and Sakazaki was left without much left in her repertoire, visibly exhausted. In the closing moments, Mizuki pinned Yuka Sakazaki after two cutie specials.

After 21 minutes and 2 seconds, Mizuki finally won the top prize in TJPW on her 5th attempt.  After the match, the pair embraced, as they along with the rest of the roster thanked everyone for coming to watch this pay per view show.

Full Results

1) Suzume defeats Arisu Endo (8:48)
2) HIMAWARI, Mahiro Kiryu, Shino Suzuki & Wakana Uehara defeat Haru Kazashiro, Kaya Toribami, Runa Okubo & Toga (11:23)
3) Free WiFi (Hikari Noa & Nao Kakuta & Ram Kaichow defeat Pom Harajuku, Raku & Yuki Aino (10:23)
4) Ryo Mizunami defeats Moka Miyamoto (11:46)
5) Kyoraku Kyomei (Hyper Misao & Shoko Nakajima) defeat Andreza The Giant Panda & Haruna Neko (10:25)
6) Neo Bishki-gun (Mei Saint-Michel & Sakisama) defeat Billie Starkz & Yuki Kamifuku (13:42)
7) Aja Kong defeats Yuki Arai (13:00)
8) International Princess Championship: Rika Tatsumi defeats Miu Watanabe, Title Change. (18:31)
9) Princess Tag Team Championship: 1to1000000 (Maki Itoh & Miyu Yamashita) defeat Wasteland War Party (Heidi Howitzer & Max The Impaler), Title Change. (13:42)
10) Princess of Princess Championship: Mizuki defeats Yuka Sakazaki, Title Change. (21:02)

Date:

March 18, 2023

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