It was a year of celebrating, basking in joy, and looking back at its first 10 years of existence, but 2023 for Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling was also a year of new frontiers.
TJPW found many a way to honor the past, from its 10th anniversary in Korakuen Hall to a tournament where the wrestlers fought on mats just as they first did a decade ago. We may remember this year, however, more for the unfamiliar places it ventured.
Twice over, TJPW put on shows in America. First, at WrestleMania weekend, and then secondly during a collaboration with Prestige Wrestling dubbed Combat Princess.
Both events had a special buzz about them, a sense that we may be seeing the start of something special as TJPW looks to expand its audience, to evolve beyond its current niche.
TJPW crowned a first-time Princess of Princess Champion in Mizuki. In giving the white-clad dropkicking sprite a shot at the top of the card, the company found itself another main-eventer.
More of them are poised to follow.
Arisu Endo took a leap in her development. A whole host of rookies rocked it all year. TJPW also further mixed things up by booking fresh faces from abroad. Trish Adora and Vert Vixen were among the new foreigners brought in to be a part of this unique circus.
Arrivals and Departures
Saki Akai’s retirement is a double loss. Not only do we not get any more Akai matches in TJPW, but her alter-ego Sakisama is gone now, too. The French aristocrat remains one of the stronger characters in company history.
She wasn’t around as regularly in recent years, but Akai hanging it up for good means we had to say goodbye to the leader of NEO Biishi-Gun and all the shenanigans that always surrounded her.
Yuka Sakazaki isn’t retiring, but she exited as well. She left in style, giving us some great, emotional matches on her way out, but it didn’t hurt any less to see her go. One of TJPW’s cornerstones “graduated” from the company. She’ll be wrestling in America a lot more moving forward.
The same goes for Maki Itoh who has become more of a GCW wrestler than a TJPW star. Of her 84 matches in 2023, only 35 were with Tokyo Joshi Pro.
Yamashita was gone for much of the year, too, wrestling everywhere from Houston to London, Ring of Honor to Impact. Had she not won the Princess of Princess Championship in October, one might assume that she was set to go the way of Yuka and Maki and focus more on wrestling in the States. For now, though, it looks as though she’s back to being the TJPW top dog.
Despite some of the bigger stars’ schedule becoming more sporadic, the roster was deeper than it has been for years. Thank the game-changing class of rookies.
HIMAWARI, with her bubbly energy and weaponized ponytail had a strong year. The newest member of the UpUpGirls, Shino Suzuki debuted in 2023 and has looked solid so far. Toga joined the TJPW party, as well. She’s a big, strong bruiser with a forearm like a sledgehammer. She showed all kinds of potential early on.
Wakana Uehara stood out among all those rookies, looking like the most complete package of the bunch.
Add the teenagers that have appeared for the company, Haru Kazahiro and Runa Okubo, and TJPW is looking set for the years ahead. The company will have its share of options when it comes to pushing new talent, but history says it will be overly patient and overly reliant on its established names.
Future So Bright: TJPW’s 2023 Rookie Class
Tournaments and Championships
The year’s tournaments sure as hell had their share of surprises.
In January, TJPW commemorated its 10th anniversary with the Princess of the Decade tourney, a one-night event where matches ended with a two-count and had a five-minute time limit. It was a fun, effective concept that played homage to the promotion’s roots by wrestling on a mat again, stripping down the presentation.
The shocker of that night saw Mahiro Kiryu knock Miyu Yamashita out in the third round.
Rika Tatsumi won in the finals against Shoko Nakajima, allowing The White Dragon to add to her long list of accolades. Tatsumi (alongside Miu Watanabe) also made it to the semi-finals of the Max Heart Tag Team Tournament.
Anyone hoping for fan favorites Daisy Monkey and Free Wi-Fi out to show out in the third edition of the Max Heart got a hearty helping of disappointment early. Both teams were ousted in the second round. Instead, this tourney was all about Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh. Yamashita broke her streak of unsuccessful tournament runs with her and Itoh’s win over Hyper Misao and Shoko Nakajima.
This is a newer tournament that is a welcome addition to the TJPW calendar. It regular produces high-quality tag matches (check out the finals as well as Saki Akai and Yuki Arai vs. Raku and Yuki Aino from Jan. 15). It celebrates TJPW’s usually strong tag division. And it’s gaining prestige with every year, especially after having big names in Miyu and Maki win this time out.
The Tokyo Princess Cup, meanwhile, had the stunner of all stunners. Not only did Miu Watanabe go out in the quarterfinals after having a magnificent run in 2022, but Yuki Kamifuku of all people marched into the finals.
Kamiyu is many things, but she is no legitimate contender. Watanabe fans had to be twisted up inside seeing Kamifuku in the finals trying to conquer the end boss Yamashita rather than their favorite powerhouse.
Again, Yamashita ended up being the lead story here. She won the Princess of Princess Cup for the first time in her career, a victory which earned her a POP title shot versus Mizuki.
So yes, after Yamashita took down Mizuki, The Pink Striker was again on top, as she has been so many times before, but this was also a freshness to the Princess of Princess Championship scene. Mizuki winning the crown in March marked the first time someone not named Nakajima, Sakazaki, or Yamashita was the top champ since May of 2021. TJPW, thankfully, put a fresh face in the spotlight and it worked beautifully.
The International Princess Championship had its bright spots, too, but not until after a letdown.
Watanabe’s reign (that began in October 2022) was surprisingly underwhelming. It felt at first as if this rising star would use the secondary title as a launchpad into superstardom. But she had just three title defenses and her time with the strap was mostly unmemorable.
Tatsumi won it from her in March and got some real buzz going with the belt. She had standout showings against Billie Starkz and Yuki Aino.
Bring You Happy Surprises: An Interview with Rika Tatsumi
Max the Impaler took over for The White Dragon and ended the year defending the International Championship in both London and Canada. TJPW has never nailed down what it wants this championship to be, but it makes plenty of sense for it to the title that travels, that allows the champion to be an ambassador for the company.
Max, despite not being a full-time member of the roster, was also a tag champ in 2023. They and Heidi Howitzer looked absolutely unstoppable at first but their reign lasted less than two months. Max Heart winners Yamashita and Itoh knocked them off, only to drop the belts in LA 13 days later.
It was an odd year for the tag championships, one where big names claimed them but not much was made of any reign.
The Magical Sugar Rabbits won them but had to vacate them. Ditto for Free WiFi. Thanks to injuries and bad luck, 2023 did not deliver the kind of lengthy, impressive reigns we’re used to seeing.
Conclusion and Awards
Wrestler of the Year: Mizuki
Runners-Up: Rika Tatsumi, Miyu Yamashita
A Rabbit on the Mountaintop; An Interview with Mizuki
TJPW tasked Mizuki with being its top champion and lead star; The Magical Sugar Rabbit did not disappoint.
Mizuki’s run to the title and emotional win over Yuka Sakazaki was deeply satisfying. She was TJPW’s main character for a stretch, a believable and likable hero trying to do what she’d failed to do so often in the past.
Even when given less than top-notch challengers for her POP title early on, Mizuki looked and felt like a champ. She had the swagger and star power needed for the job. And then as she thrilled in action against the likes of Maki Itoh and Miyu Yamashita, she made TJPW look smart in rolling with her in the top spot, for once not leaning on one of the company’s original stars.
Match of the Year: Mizuki vs. Maki Itoh (July 8, Summer Sun Princess)
Runners-Up: Arisu Endo, Miu Watanabe, Moka Miyamoto, Suzume, and Yuki Arai vs. Mizuki, Shoko Nakajima, Yuka Sakazaki, Rika Tatsumi and Miyu Yamashita (December 1, We Are TJPW), Mizuki vs. Miyu Yamashita (October 9, Wrestle Princess 4)
The amount of passion and pathos these two created is even more impressive considering how little TJPW did to build it up. Itoh, gone for the much of the year, hopped back into her homebase and faced off against her old friend and rival.
This is a match rich with intensity, a slugfest where you can feel the emotional weight behind each blow to the face. The result was one of the best TJPW matches in recent years, a showcase of both Mizuki’s top-level prowess and just how far Itoh has come in the ring.
Your Love is a Murder; Mizuki vs. Maki Itoh
Show of the Year: TJPW Live in Los Angeles
Runners-Up: Grand Princess, 10th Anniversary-Yuka Sakazaki Graduation Special
TJPW didn’t just step onto American soil for the first time with its LA show during WrestleMania weekend, it emphatically stomped into this new territory.
The kooky and colorful brand of wrestling that is this company’s staple looked right at home at the Globe Theater. Daisy Monkey and Free WiFi showed off the buzzing energy of the tag division. Billie Starkz vs. Rika Tatsumi was stellar. And the show closed with a banger between 121000000 (Yamashita and Itoh) and the duo of Mizuki and Yuka Sakazaki.
More important than the match quality, though, it was Live in LA’s energy that most left its mark. This was a statement show, an important one in company history that showed that TJPW more than belongs at WrestleMania weekend, that it can thrive outside of its current bubble.
Hearts in the Sky; TJPW Live in LA
Most Improved: Arisu Endo
Runners-Up: Moka Miyamoto
While Suzume and Miu Watanabe lost some of their 2022 momentum in part because of lack of big opportunities, Endo rocketed in the other direction.
The central word in discussions about Endo had always been “potential.” That potential was realized more than ever in 2023. In June at TJPW Stick Out, she was the company’s plan B main event after an injury to Yuka Sakazaki and boy did she look good in that spot opposite Yuki Aino. She was also a key part to the great generation vs. generation 10-person tag at We Are TJPW. Endo was solid in many of her singles outings, performing with the kind of speed and spunk that suggests big things ahead.
Best Moment: Shoko Nakajima and Hyper Misao fighting a giant panda.
Runners-Up: Mizuki winning the Princess of Princess Championship, Arisu Endo’s first singles win
In a year where TJPW had a match involving time travel, a Summer Party match with water balloons abound, and a brawl inside an aquarium, it’s still that battle in March featuring Andreza Giant Panda that most stands out.
This was TJPW at its most ridiculous and fun. Shoko firing off a confetti cannon at the oversized mascot was hilarious. Throw in Nakajima and Misao wrangling the big beast with rope and Hyper Misao smacking it with a lightsaber, and you have the most memeable and memorable bit of goofiness of the year.
Who to watch for in 2024: Arisu Endo
Runners-Up: Wakana Uehara, Miu Watanabe
Endo’s position in the company hierarchy is shifting. For so long, the speedster was a pin-eater, but 2023 saw her earn her first singles win and then start beating low-tier wrestlers.
She’s arguably the most athletic member of the roster. She’s fun to watch and keeps getting better. TJPW may take its sweet time in truly showcasing her, but Endo is doing her part in forcing the company’s hand.
Whether as a solo act or as half of Daisy Monkey with Suzume, another on-the-brink star, Endo is poised to keep trending up. TJPW’s deeper roster, its stellar 2023 rookie class, and the undeniable talent of Miu Watanabe, though, will make sure any rise to the top won’t be without stiff competition.
Wrestle Inn 