Unagi Sayaka Continues Epic Freelance Run with JTO Girls Title Win

Unagi Sayaka defeats Misa Kagura to become the second JTO Girls champion

By: Thom Fain

As the Kabuki-cho district buzzed with Saturday night fever outside the building, around 200 fans lined up at Shinjuku FACE to see the best joshi Just Tap Out has to offer – plus, of course, Unagi Sayaka.

Her opponent was the woman who walked into the night as JTO Girls Champ Misa Kagura. Unfortunately for her, the tone was set right away when she ran into a flurry of violent fists, a mouthful of chairs and a nasty submission hold in the opening minutes of the bout. The pair had better chemistry than one might expect with Kagura in just her fourth year of wrestling; her moves looked crisp, she looked believable on defense and brimming with self-confidence Kagura made fans of everyone on hand to support TAKA Michinoku’s upstart roster.

When the dust had settled it was Unagi who had outlasted Kagura in an intense exchange that included blow-for-blow strong style strikes and a nasty second rope back body drop that put both women down for a minute midway through forcing a ref count. Unagi hit her finish to win the title after about 15 minutes, putting an exclamation point on alpha status by asking her opponent to get off the mat and fasten the strap to her.

にっかんおーになったので🦖🔥
ここで#殿はご乱心1番金星
の新ビジュアルを公開します🦖🔥
今回のポスターは3種類🦖🔥
最強のポスターできた🦖🔥

明日は世界一楽しい日にします
みんなにとっても🦖🔥#ウナギ・サヤカ pic.twitter.com/976HTxvs3x

— ウナギ・サヤカ🐯🦊🦖unagi sayaka (@unapi0902) January 6, 2024

Unagi enters her second year of a freelance journey that has made her one of the poster girls of the independent life in Japan. She broke a 50-some odd year record for merch sales at Korakuen Hall last year, and made multiple trips to the U.S., even winning the Kitsune title at its inaugural event in LA.

Tomorrow, Unagi hosts her own Produce show for the very first time at Korakuen Hall. GLEAT and AJPW are supporting the show in various capacities, and a who’s who of freelance talent is booked to perform at the show, such as Minoru Suzuki, Konami, Masato Tanaka, COLOR’S, Prominence, and more.

All photos by Masahiro Kubota. Copyright Monthly Puroresu LLC.