Yuki Arai Taps Out Title Challenger Suzume at TJPW Ray of Hope in Ryogoku

By: Noah Leatherland

TJPW are on their fall tour leading into Wrestle Princess VII on October 3rd, with the most recent leg featuring a champion-studded main event. With a team of title holders facing their upcoming challengers, Yuki Arai gained some critical momentum as she forced Suzume to submit.

Arai teamed with the Princess Tag Champions, Rika Tatsumi and Miu Watanabe, and the Pro Wrestling EVE International Champion, Miyu Yamashita. Across the ring were their Wrestle Princess VII counterparts, Suzume, Yuki Aino, Haru Kazashiro and Arisu Endo. With less than two weeks until the big event, each woman looked to get some ring time with their future opponents, targeting one another in this eight-woman bout.

In the final moments, Suzume did manage to land her finishing Ring-a-Bell cutter on Arai, only for the following pin to be broken up. Following a melee involving the other six competitors, Arai countered another Ring-a-Bell attempt into a full nelson slam and then applied the Scorpion Death Lock. Leaning back on the hold, Arai forced Suzume to tap out, securing the win for her team.

Speaking after the bout, Arai was not getting ahead of herself despite the victory:

The champion team has won! I’ll be fighting Suzume in Ota Ward for the Princess of Princess belt. We’ve had plenty of preliminary bouts, but now that I’ve finally achieved a tangible result here, I feel both happy and a sense that it’s still not quite enough. I get the feeling that not just me, but Suzume too, had that look in her eyes that suggests she can do so much more. In the remaining preliminary bouts, I, Arai, intend to surpass Suzume-san once more—or as many times as it takes—win both of the remaining two preliminary bouts, and of course win in Ota Ward too. I’m looking forward to giving it my all then, so please do watch!

(Quotes translated via DeepL)

TJPW Wrestle Princess VII takes place in TOKYO EBARA WAVE Arena Ota on October 3rd.

Here are the full results for TJPW Fall Tour, Ray of Hope in Ryogoku, courtesy of purolove.com:

• Sakura Hattori def. Momo Sato (5:56)
• Shino Suzuki & Uta Takami def. Ren Konatsu & Shion Kanzaki (9:50)
• Pom Harajuku def. HIMAWARI & Raku (9:48)
• Wakana Uehara & Toga def. Chika Nanase & Kira Summer (10:28)
• Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao def. Mizuki & Yuki Kamifuku (12:21)
• Yuki Arai, Miu Watanabe, Rika Tatsumi & Miyu Yamashita def. Suzume, Arisu Endo, Yuki Aino & Haru Kazashiro (15:28)