Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW) return to Korakuen Hall on the 11th of February. Positive Chain looks like a stacked show with all three championships being defended. Including the first defence for the new Princess of Princess Champion Rika Tatsumi. The undercard also has some interesting matches.
With that out of the way, let’s get into the preview.
Positive Chain will stream live on the 11th of Febuary on Wrestle Universe.
Bell time is 11:30 JST (21:30 EDT, 18:30 PDT, 2:30 GMT)
Match 1: Moka Miyamoto & Marika Kobashi vs. Pom Harajuku & Haruna Neko
To kick us off we have a tag team match action
Miyamoto who debuted in the summer of last year will be looking to pick her first win. She has been part of teams that have won but will be looking to get the decisive fall herself. Miyamoto sill very much a rookie. She uses her background in Karate well.
Her partner recently returned to TJPW after a year out to focus on education. After leaving in the summer of 2019 Kobashi returned in October 2020. Kobashi is a former Princess Tag Team Champion. She is still trying to find where she fits into the card. She is had bad luck with injuries which caused her to miss a few shows last year. Kobashi also missed last months Korakuen Hall show due to Covid.
They take on the team of both Pom Harajuku and Haruna Neko.
Pom Harajuku who debuted in the later months of 2018. She may seem silly to people. One of her main offence weapons is shin kicks and her attire has a lot of patterns on it. However, Harajuku is quite a fun wrestler. She has a pretty cool moveset which includes a spinning headscissors and her finisher the Pom de Justice (a step up leg drop). She is always a highlight of these undercard tag matches.
Pom’ partner is Haruna Neko. Neko is the Japanese word for cat. And Neko does come out in a cat outfit. This sometimes gets her in trouble as her opponents grab her tail making it hard to move. Neko has a cool rolling lungblower/codebreaker. And with her being one of the smaller wrestlers on the roster she is good at being the underdog.
This match should be the typical fun TJPW match.
Match 2: Raku, Yuna Manase & Nao Kakuta vs Mahiro Kiryu, Hikari Noa & Sena Shiori
Next, we have 6 person tag action
Raku is a member of the Up Up Girls (TJPW’S residential Idol Group). Raku as well as being an idol is a big fan of trains. With one of her signature moves being the goodnight express. She is also a big fan of sleeping and sometimes goes to sleep in matches (this usually catches her opponent off guard). While she might not be at the level of the other UUG’s in terms of in-ring. It’s hard to root against her.
Yuna Manase returns to TJPW her. She was also drafted to fill in on last months Korakeun show. Manase left TJPW in the summer of last year as she wanted to go she more outside of TJPW and go on a journey of discovery. Manase now resides in Ganbare Pro (another company under the CyberFight umbrella). She has also turned up in Stardom and Act’Wres. Manase is a powerhouse. Using lariats and slams but is also very agile.
Nao Kakuta is a recent signing to Tokyo Joshi Pro. Coming in from Act’wres. Admittedly I don’t know a whole lot about her. However, she has looked very strong so far. she hasn’t been pinned or submitted since joining. Seems like TJPW have high hopes for her. We will see as the year goes on.
An interesting note is that Yuna Manase was Nao Kakuta’s trainer. So those two already know each other pretty well.
They take on the team of Mahiro Kiryu, Hikari Noa and Sena Shiori.
Mahiro Kiryu debuted in February 2019. She was an office worker before seeing a show and deciding to become a wrestler. Over 2020 Kiryu improved a whole lot. Even challenging for the International Princess Championship. Kiryu had a great showing at last months Korakuen Hall show in a title match for the Princess Tag Championships. Kiryu will be looking to continue to build on the strong showings
Hikari Noa is another member of the Up Up Girls. Noa loves deathmatches and wants to compete in one. Many would argue that Noa is the best in-ring competitor of the Up Up Girls. She had a lot of great matches last year. 2 of them made it onto the best of TJPW in 2020 DVD. Noa will be looking to build on that strong year and maybe even capture championship gold.
Sena Shiori made her debut last year on TJPW’s big January show. Since then she has been improving at a good rate. The Tokyo Space Ranger is the youngest member of the roster only being 19 years old. She has the potential to be a good asset for the company. We will see this year how high she will rise.
Expect shenanigans and some solid wrestling here from these six.
Match 3: Magical Sugar Rabbits (Mizuki & Yuka Sakazaki) vs Suzume & Arisu Endo
The Magical Sugar Rabbits are back teaming on a Korakuen Hall show. These two had what many people consider to be the best match TJPW had last year as they clashed for the Princess of Princess Championship.
Sakazaki came out on top then and the two remain good friends.
After Wrestle Princess Mizuki announced that she had signed permanently to TJPW after being a freelancer.
AEW fans may recognize Yuka Sakazaki as she has appeared on dynamite and big events there.
Sakazaki was the Princess of Princess Champion up until last month when she lost to Rika Tatsumi.
The Magical Sugar Rabbits will bring their great teamwork and Chaotic energy into this match.
They take on the team of Suzume and Arisu Endo
Suzume debuted in the summer of 2019. She has a very high energy moveset. Lots of high-speed moves.including things like a springboard bulldog and a diving crossbody. Suzume has one of the more flasher and exciting movesets in TJPW.
Last month Suzume was tasked with guiding her partner in this match through her first-ever match. A huge show of faith from TJPW management. I think this is gonna be a big year for Suzume as she moves up the card.
Her partner for this match only debuted last month. Like previously stated these two were opponents at the last Korakuen show. This will be Endo’s first-ever 2 vs 2 tag match. It will be interesting to see how she gets on. So far she has been a really solid rookie. Endo will only improve as she continues to find out what works for her.
This should be a high energy tag match especially when either of the Sugar Rabbits and Suzume is in the ring
Match 4: Maki Itoh & Miyu Yamashita vs NEO Biishiki-gun(Sakisama & Mei Saint-Michel)
After being dormant for almost a year in TJPW.NEO Biishiki-Gun made their return in November of 2020. Sakisama had returned and with a new maid(in training). That maid being Mei Saint-Michel. After their win at last months, Korakuen show NEO Biishiki-Gun said they wanted more competition. Many people myself include thought they were talking about the Princess Tag champions. But first they got to go through this tough obstacle.
Last month Maki Itoh and Miyu Yamashita were beating the hell out of each other in a match of the year contender. Adding another fine chapter to their rivalry. This time they are unlikely teammates.
Itoh had requested to face NEO Biishiki-Gun in a handicap match. However that was turned down. Instead Itoh dragged Yamashita into this to tag with her. Thus the match was made.
At the January 31st show. Itoh and Yamashita had been victorious in a tag match. Itoh was talking about how strong they were after their match on January 4th. Then suddenly Mei Saint-Michel attacked Maki Itoh with her patented tray. Yamashita went to kick Mei but was blocked by the tray before Sakisama attacked.
Sakisama proclaimed that Yamashita and Itoh would kneel before them. This match is a powder keg and is gonna go off at Positive Chain. epxect hard hitting action when Yamashita and Sakisama in the ring. Mei Saint-Michel will bring shenanigans and Itoh will be well Itoh.
Match 5: Princess Tag Team Championship Match
Bakuretsu Sisters (Yuki Aino & Nodoka Tenma) (C) vs Tokyo Joshingers (Shin Ultra Shoko & Hyper Misao)
After winning the Princess Championships at Wrestle Princess. The Bakuretsu Sisters made their first defence of the titles last month at Korakuen hall. Beating Toyo University. This month they face a different type of challenge. The Bakuretsu sisters will be looking to hold on the tag belts for a while given it’s their first reign as champions.
On the other side stand a set of former Princess Tag Team Champions but under different personas. Shin Ultra Shoko (Shoko Nakajima) was one-half of the first tag team champions with Yuka Sakazaki.
Hyper Misao won the belts as the unmasked Misao when she was in NEO Bishikki-Gun.
Misao and Shoko fought last month in a loser changes name for a month. With Misao being the winner. They also fought in the same match last year with Shoko coming out on top. So Shoko Nakajima became Shin Ultra Shoko. The name change is supposed to be for a month so its unknown if Shoko will change back to Shoko Nakajima.
In a preview match, Nodoka Tenma took on Hyper Misao. This match was really fun with the hero Misao pulling out all sorts of dirty tricks. In the end, it was Tenma who was able to pick up the win.
While we should be expecting shenanigans from this match, mainly from the heroes. Tenma and Aino will bring strength and power. We should also get some good in-ring action. All 4 are good wrestlers in their own right. This should be a great tag team title match.
Match 6: International Princess Championship Match
Yuki Kamifuku (c) vs Mirai Maiumi
Kamiyu (Yuki Kamifuku) was one of the best stories in all of TJPW last year. Not happy with how things were going she was going to train hard and get better. And without a doubt she did. It could be argued that Kamiyu was the most improved wrestler in the whole of TJPW. With that improvement came success. After Thunder Rosa had to vacate the International Princess Championship. A tournament was announced. Kamiyu defeated Suzume, Shoko Nakajima and Hikari Noa (she beat both Nakajima and Noa in the same night) to become the new International Princess Champion.
Kamiyu’s opponent was also in the Tournament. Mirai Maiumi got to the semi-finals of the tournament before being eliminated by Hikari Noa in what many people called the match of the tournament. Maiumi is looking to continue her rise up the card. She is one of the most promising rookies in all of Joshi. This match will be her first singles championship challenge.
Maiumi won a tag team match on the 10th of January to make the challenge. In the other preview match, it was Kamiyu’s team victorious. the last preview match it was Maiumi’s team that stood tall. Maiumi proclaimed that Kamiyu was scared of the Miramare
This will match up Maiumi’s power vs Kamiyu’s craftiness. Kamiyu will try to avoid the Miramare and will use her height advantage to do so. Mirai will need to try and avoid the Fameasser if she wants to put herself in the best position to win. It is an interesting class of styles and should be a good match to watch.
Main Event: Princess of Princess Championship Match
Rika Tatsumi (c) vs Miu Watanabe
Main event time as Rika Tatsumi makes her first Princess of Princess Championship defence. Tatsumi captured the Princess of Princess Championship for the first time last month at Korakuen. An emotional crowning for Tatsumi who had been with TJPW since their 9th show. Beating fellow longtime TJPW roster member Yuka Sakazaki.
After the match last month Tatsumi immediately got a title challenge. From DayDream tag partner Miu Watanabe. The two had lost the Princess Tag Team Championships at Wrestle Princess. The two are the longest reigning champions in history holding the championships for 370 days.
Watanabe made the challenge because she wants to surpass Tatsumi this year. This is Watanabe’s first Princess of Princess Championship. It is also her first singles main event in Korakuen Hall. Watanabe is also part of the Up Up Girls group and she is the first to challenge for the Princess of Princess Championship.
In the 4 preview matches so far Tatsumi’s team has come out on top 3 times. With Watanabe’s team getting the victory in the last preview match. Tatsumi congratulated Watanabe on the win but warned her it wouldn’t be like that on the 11th of February.
This should be an emotionally charged match. Tag partners going at it. Watanabe’s first championship challenge and first Korakuen hall singles main event. Tatsumi’s first Championship defence. Surprisingly as well this is their first-ever time face in a singles match. A lot of firsts in this match. One thing is for sure this match should be good.
And that’s it. This was my first time writing a preview for TJPW so I hope it’s okay. let me know what match you are looking forward to the most.
Positive Chain will stream live on the 11th of February on Wrestle Universe.
Bell time is 11:30 JST (21:30 EDT, 18:30 PDT, 2:30 GMT)