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Post by Dawnbr3ak3r on Feb 9, 2022 6:52:23 GMT
Really enjoyed how lighthearted and entertaining that Pomu Harajuku video was!! 😄 She has some nice moves too like that run rebound knee kick and the running leg drop. And of course, the jovial drums 🥁 I really like Raku's sleepy personality and train aficionado status too!! It's kind of crazy to me cause a few months ago I created a Joshi edit who loves trains. That isn't like the most common character trait, LOL 🚂 It looks like a really fun promotion to follow! 👏 Yeah, most of Pomu's offense revolves around shin kicks. It's a very goofy gimmick, a-la Orange Cassidy, but it works really really well in the context of TJPW. A lot of the girls use some facet of their real life interests and incorporate it into their characters somehow. Some of them might play a character unlike their real selves -- Sakisama is portrayed by Saki Akai, who also portrays other characters and wrestlers in DDT. She's considered a separate, unrelated character and despite wrestlers and fans mentioning that they look similar, they insist that they're not the same person. It's very fun like that. Pomu Harajuku has a strong interest in the Harajuku subculture in Japan. The epicenter of that stylistic culture is the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo. Her outfit borrows heavily from The Checkers, a 1980s ska band. Her character was "born" in 2018 (when she debuted), effectively making her three years old. She's essentially wrestling with the imagination of a child. She's inviting us into her world, where we get to see things from her perspective. That's not something made so easily apparent and you really only pick up on it if you do the research or really pay attention to her character changes over time. Other wrestlers exhibit a similar development. Raku is referred to as a "Train God" by fans. She loves trains. Every show she has a "Train of the Day". Her moves are all named after trains or has train elements incorporated into it. "Doctor Yellow" is the name of her Running Neckbreaker. "Kagayaki" is the name of her Slingblade. The Oyasumi Express (Oyasumi literally means "Good night") is the name of her trampling sequence, which she often includes her teammates in. Her Code Red Bomb is named the "Smile Train" and the "Hurricane Turn", a Crossarm Backslide, is named for a train that runs in Alaska. She sings lullabies to put her opponents to sleep. I don't know if the Brain Chops are inspired by Giant Baba, but it's safe to assume so considering other wrestlers on the roster share moves with other historical wrestling figures - Rika Tatsumi is directly inspired by Tatsumi Fujinami and Marika Kobashi, while being entirely unrelated to Kenta Kobashi, incorporates many of his famous spots into her move-set - The chops, leg drop, and a rolling DVD, which is similar enough to the Burning Hammer. TJPW is my favorite promotion because I like everyone on the roster in some propensity. Maki Itoh and Miyu Yamashita are some of the most unanimously popular wrestlers on the roster, but they're the bottom two in terms of my personal favorites. They do nothing wrong, but they're just not as relatable for me or I don't find them as interesting as the others. Nobody gets lost in the shuffle and everyone on the roster interacts with each other. Zyuria/Julia Nagano, a new recruit for the promotion, is set to debut at the Grand Princess event at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in March. It's not certain who her opponent will be, but I'm wagering she'll be facing one of the younger members of the roster. TJPW also builds their wrestlers from the ground up. A new debut will lose almost all of her matches for a year or more, but she'll face off against 98% of the roster in that time. This builds character and relationships with the rest of the roster. The only real exception to the "rule" is Yuki Arai - She's a celebrity megastar, basically. She's a member of the idol group SKE48. She debuted last year and is wildly popular. She's also really really good for her level of experience, only having debuted for the company 8 months ago. Her current story arc has her playing the role of the rookie who "flies too close to the sun" facing the veterans of the roster. It gives her ample opportunity to display her tenacity despite likely being on the losing end. That's the kind of storytelling I enjoy. Everyone is interacting with each other and they have individual characters, so there's a pretty good chance there's something for everyone. There is also no "pure" tag team division. The teams are made up (through storyline advancement) similarly with how WWE would throw two random wrestlers together and call them a team. The only teams that aren't "thrown together" are the Bakuretsu Sisters and NEO Biishiki-gun, the latter being the ultimate "evil" adversary group in the promotion. Also - TJPW doesn't do face-heel dynamics very often at all. Everyone on the roster is a variant shade of grey. Depending on how you look at it, Sakisama is not truly evil, despite being portrayed as the most evil character on the roster. Yuka Sakazaki and Mizuki employ "chaotic" tactics against their opponents, which makes them appear "heelish", but they're cheery like babyfaces. Hyper Misao is the "Hero of Peace and Love in TJPW", but uses dirty tactics in most of her matches. Anyways, I've gushed enough for one post. I could go on and on about this for days, lol. |
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Post by OrochiGeese on Feb 10, 2022 7:30:16 GMT
Thank you for that really informative post!! 💡 Yeah, most of Pomu's offense revolves around shin kicks. It's a very goofy gimmick, a-la Orange Cassidy, but it works really really well in the context of TJPW. A lot of the girls use some facet of their real life interests and incorporate it into their characters somehow. Some of them might play a character unlike their real selves -- Sakisama is portrayed by Saki Akai, who also portrays other characters and wrestlers in DDT. She's considered a separate, unrelated character and despite wrestlers and fans mentioning that they look similar, they insist that they're not the same person. It's very fun like that. I was thinking Orange Cassidy too but like you said, Pomu's moves make more sense in the context of the overall promotion. Like you get Cassidy doing shin kicks to a guy who one week ago was hitting some 1% rare move that Kobashi would cringe at...and now he's selling the shin kicks. It's a little jarring. But Pomu works within her promotion and it makes a ton of sense. I like the fact they work their real life interests into their characters. Comes across as more authentic and not just a random gimmick that Vince gave them cause he didn't like how they greeted JBL backstage. Raku is referred to as a "Train God" by fans. She loves trains. Every show she has a "Train of the Day". Her moves are all named after trains or has train elements incorporated into it. "Doctor Yellow" is the name of her Running Neckbreaker. "Kagayaki" is the name of her Slingblade. The Oyasumi Express (Oyasumi literally means "Good night") is the name of her trampling sequence, which she often includes her teammates in. Her Code Red Bomb is named the "Smile Train" and the "Hurricane Turn", a Crossarm Backslide, is named for a train that runs in Alaska. She sings lullabies to put her opponents to sleep. I became a little more familiar with Japanese train lines over the past year and actually recognize some of those! That's the kind of storytelling I enjoy. Everyone is interacting with each other and they have individual characters, so there's a pretty good chance there's something for everyone. There is also no "pure" tag team division. The teams are made up (through storyline advancement) similarly with how WWE would throw two random wrestlers together and call them a team. The only teams that aren't "thrown together" are the Bakuretsu Sisters and NEO Biishiki-gun, the latter being the ultimate "evil" adversary group in the promotion. Yeah, I always like wrestling when the wrestlers are not being held apart by some invisible feud lines. Like even if there isn't an imminent match, I think it's cool if there is interaction between wrestlers. That's always how I've done my e-feds. It's fun to see two characters interact who haven't necessarily been in matches with each other. At the least, it can be entertaining. At most, it can build long term stories. Also - TJPW doesn't do face-heel dynamics very often at all. Everyone on the roster is a variant shade of grey. Depending on how you look at it, Sakisama is not truly evil, despite being portrayed as the most evil character on the roster. Yuka Sakazaki and Mizuki employ "chaotic" tactics against their opponents, which makes them appear "heelish", but they're cheery like babyfaces. Hyper Misao is the "Hero of Peace and Love in TJPW", but uses dirty tactics in most of her matches. The more individual personalities are able to be shown, the more shades of grey are likely. I prefer that over traditional face/heel lines that often become obstacles to storytelling anyway: especially in the US. Anyways, I've gushed enough for one post. I could go on and on about this for days, lol. I like hearing about it!! And I plan to check this promotion out more too 😄 |
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Post by Dawnbr3ak3r on Feb 10, 2022 9:01:25 GMT
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Post by OrochiGeese on Feb 11, 2022 6:40:33 GMT
Awesome!! Thank you very much for the links!! 😄
Is there any one specific match that you could think of that you would recommend to a new fan?
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Post by Dawnbr3ak3r on Feb 11, 2022 8:29:34 GMT
Awesome!! Thank you very much for the links!! 😄 Is there any one specific match that you could think of that you would recommend to a new fan? I never recommend just one match because the promotion has so much to offer. I usually drop a handful of matches to provide a sample of the breadth of the content they provide. As I mentioned previously, you're getting a mixture of workrate and shenanigans. You'll have a good idea of what you're getting once you're familiar with the roster. If you see Miyu Yamashita and Yuka Sakazaki in a singles match, it's probably going to be more serious. If you see eight wrestlers split into two teams, you're more than likely getting a lot of fun and silly shenanigans. They're not mutually exclusive, but it'll make sense as you progress through the history of the promotion. I like to provide a few English commentary matches so it's a bit easier to follow at first. Then it gets into the strongest competitors, then I mix those in with some of the lower card talent. I throw in some multi-person matches because that's where you get a lot of roster and character interactions. Multi-person matches serve a purpose and aren't always throwaway card filler as some pivotal story beats can develop during them. You also get to see them be less serious and have a little more fun than if there's a significant stipulation on the line, such as a title contest or "Decisive Battle" type match. Matches generally run anywhere between eight and 30 minutes, depending on who is involved and how many participants are in the match. They will all very much "get their spots in" if necessary. ~~~~~ Yuka Sakazaki VS Shoko Nakajima VS Mizuki to determine the #1 Contender for the PoP title from this past summer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U17xL02oQgThis match has English commentary. It features three of TJPW's strongest in-ring talent. Yuka and Shoko are two of the longest tenured members of the roster and Mizuki is absolutely no slouch. This one's all about speed. It's very reminiscent of lucha libre pacing.Yuka Sakazaki and Mizuki VS Shoko Nakajima and Raku: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTjLUvFLbocThis match has English commentary. It features all three of the previous wrestlers and introduces Raku. There's short English-only interview segments to start off. "That's-JPW" matches are designed to be quick sample engagements for the growing English speaking audience.Rika Tatsumi and Suzume VS Miyu Yamashita and Moka Miyamoto: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpUEWl2Dj_QThis match is another with English commentary. As with the previous match, it's a "That's-JPW" match. It introduces four new wrestlers. Rika and Miyu, two of TJPW's "Four Pillars" (Yuka and Shoko being the other two). Rika and Miyu are championship level competitors teaming up with Suzume and Moka Miyamoto, respectively. Suzume and Moka are lower midcard wrestlers looking for their big break.Matches from this point onwards will either have Japanese commentary or no commentary at all.
Rika Tatsumi VS Miyu Yamashita to determine who is the champion going into CyberFight Festival: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLDc6ktY3s4
Rika is champion heading into this match with Miyu as the challenger. The winner of the previous Triple Threat match faced the winner of this match at CyberFight's big event in July of last year. Words won't really do it much justice outside of this being what you can expect from a Championship match. This is also a rematch from years earlier, instead the champion and challenger roles are reversed here.Yuka Sakazaki and Mizuki (MagiRabi) VS Saki-sama and Dark Misao (NEO Biishiki-gun) from 2018: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O15X-tr5wkThis match features familiar faces of Yuka and Mizuki. It introduces the viewer to Saki-sama, the primary villainess of the promotion and her then underling, Misao. This one features storytelling and is recommended mostly for historical purposes. Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh VS Saki-sama and Mei Saint-Michel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlOLnKFwrnwThis match brings back Miyu Yamashita and introduces Maki Itoh. They face off against Saki-sama and her latest underling, Mei Saint-Michel. Miyu and Maki have been friends and rivals since Maki's debuting days. Miyu is considered by most to be the ace, and depending on how you look at it, a dueling ace alongside Yuka Sakazaki. Saki-sama, again is the primary villainess, and Mei is her maid-in-training. I don't remember if it's a title match or not. They don't tend to show entrances because of theme song copyright.Miyu Yamashita and Maki Itoh and Mizuki VS Rika Tatsumi and Suzume and Miu Watanabe: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IHNoVHy3Q4This match brings back Miyu, Maki, Mizuki, Rika and Suzume from previous matches. It introduces Miu Watanabe, the pink powerhouse idol to the new viewer. It's a fun 3 vs 3 matchup without any real stipulation.Rika Tatsumi and Miu Watanabe VS Pomu Harajuku and Yuki Aino: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYSknc8XE7URika and Miu are familiar faces and this match introduces Pomu Harajuku and Yuki Aino. Another standard-fare tag match that doesn't have any stipulation attached to it. Pomu does some of her best work in inconsequential tag team matches and Yuki Aino is a strong, Steiner-like powerhouse.
Hyper Misao and Shoko Nakajima and Mizuki VS Pomu Harajuku and Yuki Aino and Yuki Kamifuku: www.youtube.com/watch?v=REAuXl-KgaoWe see the return of Shoko and Mizuki, along with Pomu and Yuki Aino. Misao returns here as her standard gimmick of Hyper Misao (a superhero who cheats). This match takes place after her run as Dark Misao with Saki-sama. Yuki Kamifuku is often referred to as "Kamiyu", a portmanteau of "Yuki" and "Kamifuku" - It's easier to keep track of all three Yukis this way. This is a crash course 3 vs 3 match with no significant stipulation on the line.(Are you ready? I hope you're ready because you're gonna need to be...)Raku, Pomu Harajuku, Haruna Neko and Marika Kobashi VS Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki, Moka Miyamoto and Arisu Endo: www.youtube.com/watch?v=akDSmexCGuYThis is a mess of a list of names you've seen most of up to this point. Haruna Neko, Marika Kobashi and Arisu Endo are new names. Haruna is a cat. Marika is... kind of a cat and Arisu is a zebra. I also failed to mention before that Mizuki is a rabbit. Have at it. Another chaotic eight person match to cap off this list of recommendations.
~~~~~
If you want *more* content, you can peruse this playlist of more than *30* matches that I put together for a friend of mine who's a wrestling trainer and requested a list of matches for one of his students to reference. Big, Dumb TJPW Playlist: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUphdkFhcV0BHt3XS_jeQyQ4zRdiveeAPIt includes just about every match you've seen above, plus a whole slew of matches and wrestlers you likely haven't seen. There's so many matches here that I couldn't possibly tell you the names of all of them off the top of my head. I do know that it includes at least one match featuring every wrestler on the roster as of about six months ago. Think of it as a "Greatest Hits Collection". There's easily a solid evening's block of content here. Watch as much or as little as you want to. Matches are reasonably paced and nothing goes beyond the 30 minute mark unless there's promos or hype packages included, which I was careful to not include many of. Not enough? If you want ***MORE*** content? Frickin' sign up for Wrestle Universe for 10 dollars a month (You get a whole boatload of promotions including DDT, NOAH, and other assorted promotions under the CyberFight umbrella)! Was this a shill-post? Maybe. Are you mad about it? I doubt it. |
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Post by OrochiGeese on Feb 12, 2022 9:51:46 GMT
I never recommend just one match because the promotion has so much to offer. I usually drop a handful of matches to provide a sample of the breadth of the content they provide. Makes total sense 💡 As I mentioned previously, you're getting a mixture of workrate and shenanigans. You'll have a good idea of what you're getting once you're familiar with the roster. If you see Miyu Yamashita and Yuka Sakazaki in a singles match, it's probably going to be more serious. If you see eight wrestlers split into two teams, you're more than likely getting a lot of fun and silly shenanigans. They're not mutually exclusive, but it'll make sense as you progress through the history of the promotion. That's a very good rule of thumb. It will be easier once I become more familiar with them. Your big PM with their bios to hype up the matches will definitely help me there 👍 I like to provide a few English commentary matches so it's a bit easier to follow at first. Then it gets into the strongest competitors, then I mix those in with some of the lower card talent. I throw in some multi-person matches because that's where you get a lot of roster and character interactions. Multi-person matches serve a purpose and aren't always throwaway card filler as some pivotal story beats can develop during them. You also get to see them be less serious and have a little more fun than if there's a significant stipulation on the line, such as a title contest or "Decisive Battle" type match. Yeah, I like fun and comedy and that's what initially drew me to this promotion as well. But I will always appreciate a match with two strong competitors really showing their skills. Thank you for the AWESOME list with all of those links too 🏆 Awesome!!! 📃 There's easily a solid evening's block of content here. Watch as much or as little as you want to. Matches are reasonably paced and nothing goes beyond the 30 minute mark unless there's promos or hype packages included, which I was careful to not include many of. I'm really looking forward to checking these matches up 😄 Not enough? If you want ***MORE*** content? Frickin' sign up for Wrestle Universe for 10 dollars a month (You get a whole boatload of promotions including DDT, NOAH, and other assorted promotions under the CyberFight umbrella)! Was this a shill-post? Maybe. Are you mad about it? I doubt it. Only thing I'm mad about is that you aren't getting paid by TJPW for your awesome promotion of them!! 😄 |
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Post by gotchism4life on Mar 12, 2022 12:36:42 GMT
It took me a while, but I am finally getting around to Lidet UWF. I watched the first two events, there big gaps in time. They had an event just last Saturday I need to check out.
I am also going to try to get into GLEAT as they are the "main brand." Also I read El Lindaman is the GLEAT G-Rex Champ. I liked him when I was watching Colega Pro.
But the new UWF is cool. Shrek from RIZIN appeared, Nakano from the Reborn UWF and UWFi has made appearances. At 57, he is now slimmer than in his UWFi days. Daichi Hasimoto has appeared on an event as have Minoru Tanaka, Minoru Suzuki and Hikaru Sao. Also, Daijiro Matsui signed, so that's a nostagia thing for me. In terms of younger fighters, I am liking Yu Iizuka.
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Post by Dawnbr3ak3r on Mar 15, 2022 8:18:29 GMT
TJPW's Grand Princess Show is happening this weekend, live on Wrestle Universe. It's shaping up to be a major WrestleMania-like event, for those unfamiliar with the promotion. The event celebrates the promotion's nine year history, starting in the dive bars of Akibahara and eventually expanding to running the Ryogoku Sumo Hall - One of, if not the only, times they've run in the arena. There is a lot of history behind the matches on this card and my limited explanation will never do it justice. This breakdown serves as a primer for the event. Several special guests, including Aja Kong and Angela (a musical act) will be in attendance for the show. There will be English commentary for those who have never seen the promotion before.
Card rundown in the spoiler: Princess of Princess Title - Shoko Nakajima (Challenger) VS Miyu Yamashita (Champion) This match as a lot of history behind it. Shoko and Miyu are the longest tenured wrestlers on the roster and have been with the promotion since 2013. Shoko and Miyu faced each other to determine the first ever Princess of Princess Champion, with Shoko losing the match. Miyu is the promotion's only three-time champion. Miyu's offensive includes multiple striking abilities, throws and submissions. Her Skull Kick is considered one of the most dangerous moves in the promotion. Shoko brings a lot of lucha and technical wrestling to the table. Shoko has the speed advanatage and will need to use that if she's going to pick up the victory. Miyu only has to survive. Many people are expecting a title change here as Miyu has defeated the likes of Rika, Yuka, Mizuki and Maki. If Miyu retains, she'll likely end up facing some of the wrestlers on the cusp of breaking into the upper echelon. No matter who wins, it'll be an absolutely momentous occasion in the promotion's entire history.  Princess Tag Title - Rika Tatsumi and Miu Watanabe (Challenger) VS Mizuki and Yuka Sakazaki (Champion) Rika Tatsumi and Miu Watanabe defeated Yuki Aino and Nodoka Tenma to win the MAX HEART Tag Team Tournament for a shot to face the champions for the title at Grand Princess. Rika and Miu have been champions before. Miu has improved a whole lot since the last them they went for the title. Rika is also a former Princess of Princess Champion and has the second highest amount of experience behind Yuka Sakazaki. Mizuki and Yuka Sakazaki are the current Tag Team Champions, defeating the former champions, NEO Biishiki-gun at Wrestle Princess II this past October. Rika has a mean streak in her and Miu has a strong power game and they will have to take advantage of it in order for her team to overcome the unpredictable chaotic nature of Mizuki and Yuka's offense. Rika and Miu could come away with the titles, but Yuka and Mizuki could retain just as easily. This could be the match of the night and will likely be my personal match of the night and the match I'm looking forward to the most -- I really enjoy these four independently and together they're likely to tear the entire house down.  International Princess Title - Yuki Arai (Challenger) VS Maki Itoh (Champion) Rising star Yuki Arai faces off against the fired-former idol, Maki Itoh. Maki Itoh is extremely popular and seeks to destroy Arai in this contest. Arai has developed a lot since their last encounter, so Maki can't take her lightly. If Maki messes around too much in this match, it could cause her to lose the match and her title. Arai has proved to be one of the most popular wrestlers, placing 3rd in ShuPro Magazine's Popularity poll behind Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito of NJPW and placing ahead of names like Tam Nakano of STARDOM, Okada of NJPW and Mutoh of NOAH fame. Arai is a member of the idol group SKE48. This match will likely be the most popular for those not familiar with TJPW as Maki has wrestled for AEW previously. Hikaru Shida VS Hikari Noa Hikaru Shida is another big challenge for Hikari Noa. Hikaru has worked for AEW since it's debut and has a bevy of matches under her belt. She recently returned to Japan to compete for theatre-based promotion, MAKAI. MAKAI mixes elements of fantasy and wrestling together to create a unique experience. It's worth seeking out if you're interested in that kind of thing. Hikari Noa has been developing into a "Deathmatch Princess" over the last year. She's been in multiple hardcore matches at past special events. Defeating Hikaru would be a monumental moment in her career. Rumors continue to bound that there may be a Hardcore division in TJPW, but no official statements have been made. NEO Biishiki-gun (Sakisama, Mei Saint-Michel, Martha and Yukio St. Laurent) VS Orange Devil Harajuku Express (Marika Kobashi, Raku, Pomu Harajuku, and Ramu Kaichow) Sakisama's court returns to TJPW to take down the team of Marika Kobashi, Pomu Harajuku, Raku and Ramu Kaichow. Ramu is a special guest in this match, often appearing for 666 Wrestling. She's feisty, so don't expect her to back down from anyone on the opposing team. Raku and Pomu have been staving off Sakisama and and Mei Saint-Michel for the better part of the last year - Since Sakisama and Mei make limited appearances, the story hasn't been as hot as a regular storyline might be. Martha is Sakisama's maid and Yukio St. Laurent is a member of her court who brings various syringes and scalpels to the battle. Raku and Pomu are pure chaos and the target of Sakisama's ire - We could see an attempt to capture one or the other, but it may not happen as Raku and Pomu are proving to be a very popular team with the fans. This is one of Marika's final matches before she retires to focus on her university studies. A return is not off the table. This will likely be one of the best matches of the show, with a card loaded with matches that could easily steal the entire show.  Nodoka Tenma VS Yuki Aino Real-life sisters Nodoka Tenma and Yuki Aino face off against each other for the one and only time in TJPW history. Nodoka debuted as Onii-san at the behest of Sanshiro Takagi and Aino debuted in 2018 separately. Both wrestlers have competed independently, but largely competed as the team Bakuretsu Sisters. As a team, they're very similar to the Steiner Brothers, so expect a lot of power and brawling. There will probably be some comedy spots in this match. It's going to be an emotional contest as this is Nodoka's final match before retiring to develop her own farm. Yuki Kamifuku ("Kamiyu") VS ASUKA/Veny Yuki Kamifuku and ASUKA collide in a match that pits the most beautiful of all of TJPW against each other. They competed as a team in the MAX HEART Tag Team Tournament being eliminated in the quarterfinals. Not much else has developed as far as I'm aware, and this feels like a match that fills the card. Everyone on the roster is participating in this show. The story will likely continue after this match. Sanshiro Takagi VS Hyper Misao Sanshiro Takagi has been around the block a few times. He's a parody of Stone Cold Steve Austin. He's essentially a goofier version of Stone Cold. Hyper Misao is the Protector of Peace and Love in Tokyo Joshi. This match relies on the bulk of Misao's promotional history dating back about four years now. In the interest of keeping things short: Misao was a shut-in hermit that seldom left home. She survived on a bag of chocolate puff snacks daily because they were high in calorie count and required the least amount of effort to consume. She encountered Takagi in a Rojo Street Matchup featuring Jun Kasai (her personal hero, cited as saving her life), sparking her destiny to become a professional wrestler. She debuted for TJPW and followed a long chain of losses before challenging Kasai in a Chocolate Death Match, where the participants could only win if they had consumed an entire bag of chocolate puffs. The match involved a lot of the familiar backstage brawl elements, including a bike collision, chair pyramid and stage dives from the crowd. Misao would go on to lose that match, but one thing is for certain: Not all heroes wear capes, but the good ones do.  GanJo Challenge - Nao and the Gang (Nao Kakuta, Mahiro Kiryu, Haruna Neko and Kaya Toribami) VS Team GanJo (Yuna Manase, Moeka Haruhi, HARUKAZE and YuuRi) Nao Kakuta leads her team into battle against Team GanJo in match where Yuna Manase issues an open challenge to anyone on the TJPW roster. Yuna Manase boasts that GanJo is the better team and will come out of the match dominating. Everyone in this match is pretty equal to their opposing analagous team member. Nao is the strongest on her team, where Yuna is the strongest on her team. Mahiro and Moeka are about equal in terms of ability and status on the card. Haruna is an underdog (despite being a cat) as is HARUKAZE. YuuRi has been on a long developing storyline from experienced newcomer to budding competitor. Kaya Toribami is TJPW's latest grass-roots rookie to be signed. This match could go either way and will likely serve as a showcase of what GanJo (short for Ganbare Joshi) has to offer outside of TJPW. Juria Nagano Debut Match - AriSuzu (Arisu Endo and Suzume) VS Moka Miyamoto and Juria Nagano Arisu Endo and Suzume are set to take on Moka Miyamoto and Juria Nagano in Juria's debut match. AriSuzu have been teaming for several months now and a budding rivalry with Moka Miyamoto has developed over the last several months. Juria Nagano makes her debut in this match. She's an accomplished karateka, an actress (starring some Kamen Rider media), and a neuroligical nurse-aid. She's amassed over 800K followers on social media, so her debut is expected to be a special event. We don't know if she'll be considered a special attraction (a la Yuki Arai), or if she'll be working her way from the bottom up. Arisu spent all of last year developing her skills and eventually won her first match at this year's Ittenyon event held on 1/4. Suzume has been hot and cold in her booking lately, but is the most experienced of the bunch in this match. 2022 has been a breakout year for Moka Miyamoto. This should be a good opening contest to get the show rolling. I wrote this up for OrochiGeese and anyone else that's new to Tokyo Joshi and might be interested in checking it out for the first time. Additionally: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DaYVYUEp1E
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Post by Nth on Apr 10, 2022 12:30:58 GMT
Looks like Shinjiro Otani just took a bad hit and is now in the hospital with a spinal injury of yet to be determined severity.
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Post by BakFu on Apr 10, 2022 13:59:13 GMT
God, I hope that’s just a stinger and that he recovers fully. These guys are too old to be taking stupid bumps like this (German to the turnbuckle). Otani has always been a favourite of mine from the golden era of NJPW, he should be happily retired and being a smart ass colour guy at most. 😕
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Post by Dawnbr3ak3r on Apr 11, 2022 1:46:46 GMT
I know it's not just Japanese wrestling, but it seems to happen more often with Japanese wrestling than anywhere else: People will irrationally shit on comedy wrestling and cite "real wrestlers" as their source when they say it's not as good as other forms of wrestling. It completely baffles me that people will say comedy wrestling isn't wrestling when wrestling is literally theatre. It's been theatre ever since people found out that it's predetermined. I don't know, it just bothers me when people can't get past "comedy" in wrestling as if wrestling is a legitimate sport. Sure, it takes athleticism, but the other side of that is artistry. You don't need to be a Triple-A athlete to succeed in professional wrestling. People argue that Yuka Sakazaki and Maki Itoh aren't legitimate wrestlers as if they haven't wrestled for a combined 14 years. Yuka started out acting in a comedy idol troupe. Maki Itoh is a wrestling idol - performs with LinQ now. Yuki Arai is a member of SKE48. Minoru Suzuki wrestled against Mecha Mummy. Team NOAH wrestled against Team DDT at Cyberfight Festival last year. Guys like Al Snow, Mark Henry and Ron Killings all had comedy as a part of their career. I could add Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle to that list; Eddie Guerrero too. Omega, Ibushi and frickin' Akiyama have wrestled Yoshihiko, a blow up doll. Those three guys are regarded as some of the business' best wrestlers. Are all of these people I've named not considered "real wrestlers" because they've utilized comedy? I don't understand. Point is: Wrestling is for everyone and should be for everyone because it doesn't have any labels. "Comedy wrestling", "deathmatch wrestling", "workrate wrestling". I don't know - Just call it professional wrestling.  |
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Post by Zealot on Apr 11, 2022 23:15:56 GMT
Throwing moves into the turnbuckle that don't offer reasonable protection on the wrestler taking the bump should be banned.
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Post by unimportantguy on Apr 20, 2022 10:28:42 GMT
Controversial take: Yuka Sakazaki and Maki Itoh both rule real hard so if people don't like them I think those people just suck.
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Post by Dawnbr3ak3r on Apr 20, 2022 11:22:06 GMT
Not really controversial. It gets controversial when people don't understand why they're good. Yuka Sakazaki is frickin' amazing and the fact that she has little to no athletic/sports background prior to wrestling makes it even more crazy to me. Incorporating all her silly comedy troupe gimmicks into her wrestling shows great creativity on her part. Maki Itoh isn't really my cup of tea, but she's a fantastic wrestler. Her whole schtick kinda falls flat because of the way she's presented to the Western audience. "I say bad words, haha. CHEER FOR ME!!" doesn't really do it for me. It's not exactly that anymore, but I just don't like the character much. Yuka is definitely one of my favorites lately, but Maki is not; For the reasons I stated. Yuka is considered one of the Four Pillars of TJPW, along with Miyu Yamashita, Rika Tatsumi, and Shoko Nakajima. It's argued among fans if Mizuki or Maki takes the role of "Jun Akiyama" as the "Fifth Pillar". Rika Tatsumi is my favorite joshi wrestler at the moment, but is closely followed by the rest of the TJPW roster. If Rika and Miu Watanabe faced off against Arisu Endo and Suzume, I'd cheer for the latter, despite how much I love Rika and Miu. Arisu debuted on the Ittenyon show last year, the first TJPW I ever saw and I've been following her career since. I treat TJPW a lot like a multi-season television series, where I follow the wrestlers as characters and see them develop from scratch. To that end, I'm also really surprised with how well Yuki Arai has taken to wrestling so well. Ironically, she's called Donald Duck by some fans, and she's taken to the business like a duck to water. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdvbN19AKSo -- Yuka Sakazaki VS Yuki Arai from last month's Korakuen show. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZfNrMDxb3M -- Yuka Sakzaki/Mizuki VS Arisu Endo/Suzume from February 2021. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cC5W31bROE -- Moka Miyamoto/Mahiro Kiryu VS Arisu Endo/Suzume from earlier this year. |
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Post by Zealot on Apr 23, 2022 23:49:25 GMT
Imagine the scenario: Booker: We really got to spice up this high school gym indie wrestling show. Who'd you wrangle? Some guy named Kobashi? That'll work. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRT6bwjEQcU |
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