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Fightful Joshi Journal (10/13/22): Yuka Sakazaki Wins At Wrestle Princess III, GLEAT Creating Unique Joshi Division

Wrestling
Scott Edwards Oct 13, 2022 12:00PM

The latest Fightful Joshi Journal might be a bit late but it packs a punch. The biggest event of the Joshi weekend was TJPW’s Wrestle Princess III so we to dive into the excellent main event featuring between Shoko Nakajima and Yuka Sakazaki as well as discussing GLEAT’s attempts to create a unique look at Joshi wrestling with their “division.”

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Yuka Sakazaki Wins Princess of Princess Championship in Another Wrestle Princess Classic

Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW) has become one of the two major Joshi promotions in wrestling so when they have their signature show of the year, you pay attention. Wrestle Princess III was live this past Sunday from Tokyo Dome City Hall and concluded TJPW’s year in a major way with Yuka Sakazaki defeating Shoko Nakajima to win the Princess of Princess Championship for a third time, tying her with Miyu Yamashita for the most reigns in the history of the championship. This was a move that came from Sakazaki winning the 2022 Tokyo Princess Cup to earn the opportunity to be champion again. The match itself between two of the four pillars of TJPW was their greatest battle ever.

I asked Sakazaki and Nakajima about their past matches and how they said this would be different with both of them responding with a similar notion of them evolving as performers, making their matches do the same and boy did we see that in this one. As discussed in our interview with Sakazaki, she has embraced a style that she noted is familiar to a bully. She is challenging everyone on the roster to fight back against her and see if they can hang. Using this method got Sakazaki this opportunity and she did it against Nakajima here, creating an exciting dynamic where the champion was an underdog from start to finish. “The Big Kaiju” battled back and fought and fought… and fought but the Sakazaki onslaught was a terribly difficult one to overcome.

The moment of the match that changed everything was then Sakazaki hit Nakajima with a Top Rope Magical Merry-Go-Round. The jaws dropped and shock filled the air of Tokyo Dome City Hall with Sakazaki planting Nakajima but the match was far from done there, showing the champion’s ability to keep fighting back until there was nothing left. Sakazaki would put an end to the Nakajima Princess of Princess Title reign with her 450 Magical Girl Splash, completing Wrestle Princess III as the new champion.

The decision to crown a new champion now presents a new exciting future for TJPW as Sakazaki has plenty of challengers to take on with Miu Watanabe and Sakazaki’s Magical Sugar Rabbits tag team partner Mizuki making the most sense to potentially dethrone her down the line. Whoever does eventually do so will need to stand up to this especially physical version of Sakazaki as she seems to be unstoppable with the new style she has created this year.

All of that being said, the match between Shoko Nakajima and Yuka Sakazaki continues the trend of great Wrestle Princess main events and, ultimately, marks another classic for TJPW. A must-watch match for pro wrestling fans.

TJPW Wrestle Princess III Results (10/9/22)

  • Juria Nagano & Moka Miyamoto def. Arisu Endo & Kaya Toribami
  • Yoshiko Hasegawa, Nao Kakuta & Yuna Manase def. Mahiro Kiryu, Yuki Kamifuku & Haruna Neko
  • Ryo Mizunami def. Suzume
  • Mizuki def. Hyper Misao
  • Max The Impaler, Rika Tatsumi & Yuki Aino def. Aja Kong, Raku & Pom Harajuku
  • 121000000 (Miyu Yamashita & Maki Itoh) def. Riho & Hikari Noa
  • International Princess Championship: Miu Watanabe def. Alex Windsor (c)
  • Princess Tag Team Championship: Yuki Arai & Saki Akai (c) def. The Uprising (Nightshade & Rhia O'Reilly)
  • Princess of Princess Championship: Yuka Sakazaki def. Shoko Nakajima (c)

Maya Fukuda, Michiko Miyagi Making GLEAT's Joshi Division Must Watch

GLEAT is doing something special with their promotion right now, making each and every show they do worth checking out. They have a unique mixture on each of their shows from doing UWF rules to No DQ near Deathmatches like the one we saw in the main event of their show this past weekend when Jun Kasai and Masashi Takeda of FREEDOMS came in to face BULK Orchestra's Hayato Tamura & Ryuichi Kawakami. Add in their puro style for the majority of their matches and you really get a unique experience each time you watch. But the aspect left out is what they're doing with their Joshi division. Right now, they have one match per show dedicated to who we can call their main women's wrestlers -- Michiko Miyagi and Maya Fukuda.

Miyagi has been around the block in terms of her work, being a part of Sendai Girls, STARDOM, and Actwres girl'Z among others. Fukuda, however, has 11 matches to her name as of this writing and is gaining already showing signs of success despite struggling to earn a win in her GLEAT career. After all, the promotion has been putting her up against some of the best the Joshi indies have to offer with this past Sunday seeing her team with Miyagi against Tomoka Inaba of JTO (and God's Eye) and Mika Iwata of Sendai Girls. These are presented as legit challenges for her with UWF rules playing to her MMA background. The more you check out what she's able to do, you realize the more she gains confidence, the better she will be. Her lightning-quick strikes mixed with her overall determined mindset should drive her to greatness.

The match from this past weekend again showed why these two have been such important building blocks for GLEAT as they slowly but surely build what they want for their Joshi division. Fukuda and Miyagi are starting to show trust in one another, something that can bring them both success in time. Miyagi has been through this. Finding that confidence in her abilities. She's still doing so but watching her now compared to a year ago is night and day! It was Fukuda who was knocked out by Iwata to lose the match but the heart she displayed is why GLEAT and their Joshi contests are what should be discussed more moving forward among Joshi fans. These two are growing this and while it is still in the early stages, it feels like there's momentum.

Check this match out and their past matches to watch both of them grow as competitors.

Matches Worth Checking Out (10/5/22)

  • TJPW
    • Suzume vs. Ryo Mizunami
    • Alex Windsor vs. Miu Watanabe
    • Shoko Nakajima vs. Yuka Sakazaki
  • GLEAT
    • Maya Fukuda & Michiko Miyagi vs. Mika Iwata & Tomoka Inaba

Other notable Joshi results from the weekend:

Sendai Girls Keep Burning! (10/10/22)

  • Maria def. Yurika Oka
  • Miyuki Takase def. Manami
  • ASUKA & Saori Anou vs. Crea & Ryo Mizunami ends in a 15-minute draw
  • Takumi Iroha def. Mika Iwata
  • Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship: Reiwa Ultima Powers (DASH Chisako & Hiroyo Matsumoto) def. Team 200kg (Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu) (c)

Check out our latest Joshi interviews with Yuka Sakazaki and Shoko Nakajima.

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