[Daily Report] I watched the finals of the 6th "Futari wa Princess" Max Heart Tournament (Cure Nile)

Welcome. I am Cure Nile.
I write a tremendous amount of text every day, but I have no intention of letting anyone read it.
However, the women's professional wrestling promotion I support, Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW), held the final of the "6th Futari wa Princess Max Heart Tournament" at Korakuen Hall on 2.14, and since I actually went there, I concluded that I should share it, so I decided to write this article.

STORRRY...

As I wrote in a previous article, the tag tournament final was held on this day, and a match was scheduled where Toga would challenge MIRAI for the International Princess Championship, but for me, there was a match scheduled that I couldn't help but pay even more attention to.

Yes, the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship match between Maki Itoh and Aja Kong.

To recap, Maki Itoh won the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Championship at Korakuen Hall on 8.23 and had it taken away about 6 minutes later, but after putting the belt back on at WRESTLE PRINCESS VI at the Ota City General Gymnasium, she has held onto the Iron Man belt despite repeatedly having it taken and taking it back, and was trying to build a long-term administration.

Aja Kong had her eye on the belt held by Maki Itoh at the autograph session venue for WRESTLE PRINCESS VI, and since Referee Bun-rin was absent, nothing happened, but a 4-way match between Maki Itoh vs. Aja Kong vs. Rika Tatsumi vs. Shino Suzuki was scheduled for Korakuen Hall on 1.4, and Aja Kong won by pinning Shino Suzuki, causing the title to change hands.
However, Maki Itoh, who stood in Aja Kong's way, succeeded in reclaiming the belt thanks to being caught up in Rika Tatsumi's schemes. That is how she currently reigns as champion.

However, Aja-san was not convinced at all and demanded a singles match against Maki Itoh.
Maki Itoh, having been challenged to a fight, accepted the match against Aja Kong to protect her pride, dignity, and the championship title...

Maki Itoh and Aja Kong have fought in a singles match once before, and I have summarized that in an article, so you should take a look at it.

And, although various things happened at the Shoko Nakajima homecoming event held in Niigata three days ago, she has the belt in her hands again.
I wrote about that in an article, so you should read it...

If you read this article about the tag tournament, even you, who don't usually watch TJPW, should be able to understand it.

Korakuen Hall

2.14. This day is known as the birthday of Dolly the cloned sheep and Edinson Cavani of Uruguay, but the general public recognizes it as Valentine's Day, and naturally, TJPW was also selling merchandise related to it.
I bought a visual book featuring tournament posters and the like that had been released for the first time in a while, and a bromide photo of a wrestler wearing a school uniform.
They were also selling trading cards that were more expensive than Pokémon cards, but it would be a big mistake to think I buy everything.

Pre-show -> Up Up Girls (Pro-Wrestling)

And when the time came, announcer Rise Shirai appeared as usual and read the precautions.
Then, she announced a project to recruit trainees.
I was concerned that the application period was only two weeks, but perhaps it's because if it's too long, hesitation might arise.

Then, Up Up Girls (Pro-Wrestling) appeared, and the event began with the starting call...

Match 1: 15-minute time limit, Ren Konatsu vs. Shion Kanzaki

Both are wrestlers who have never won a match on their own, but Ren Konatsu debuted last June, while Shion Kanzaki debuted this January and has not even had 10 matches yet. With a difference of about half a year, you should be able to understand that Ren Konatsu has more experience.

In order to make the match worthy of her first victory, Ren Konatsu finally mastered a finisher and secured the win.

Match 2: 20-minute time limit, Miyu Yamashita, Kaya Toribami, HIMAWARI, Shino Suzuki vs. Hyper Misao, Shoko Nakajima, Kira Summer, Chika Nanase

The Hyper Misao team appeared with chocolates and, as usual, demanded a microphone. They mentioned that it was Valentine's Day and began confessing their love to Miyu Yamashita on the opposing team. Then, Chika Nanase, Kira Summer, and Shoko Nakajima also began confessing to Yamashita. Shoko Nakajima is not a TJPW-affiliated wrestler and has almost no connection to her, so I wondered what she would do, but I thought it was great that she maintained the reality line by saying, 'It was love at first sight.'

However, Yamashita gets carried away at times like this, and she was beaten up for making a strange honor student-like remark, saying, 'I belong to everyone.'

HIMAWARI scored the victory by pinning her opponent with the Sun Flower Tempest.

Match 3: 20-minute time limit, Max the Impaler, Raku, Pom Harajuku vs. Ryo Mizunami, Yuki Aino, Haru Kazeshiro

Yuki Aino has teamed up with both Aya Mizunami and Haru Kazeshiro, so she is strong in terms of coordination.
It's like playing with a Valencia-only team back in the WCCF days; even if you haven't called up David Albelda, you somehow end up with thick lines connecting almost everyone.
Shunrai Rekka!! Prism Greed also has combination moves, and while they didn't get results in this tournament, they are continuing to hone their skills, so I wouldn't be surprised at all to see them involved in the tag team scene in the future.

Max is so huge that Aniki looks small, but Aniki didn't lose out in terms of strength and was amazing.
In the end, Yuki Aino won with a Venus DDT.

Match 4: 15-minute time limit, Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship Match: Maya Kiryu vs. Aja Kong

And then, the match in question.
Aja Kong does not appear during the long prelude, as if she is playing hard to get as usual.

Then the champion, Maya Kiryu, appeared.
Maya Kiryu's eyes were not joking at all; she looked like a gunslinger who had survived the Mexican wilderness.

She launched a surprise attack before the bell rang and unleashed a barrage of her signature elbows.
It is dangerous to let an overwhelming powerhouse like Aja Kong take control, and as proven two years ago when Wakana Uehara similarly controlled the early stages with a surprise attack followed by a choke, this kind of tactic is effective to a certain extent.
However, Aja Kong acted as if she hadn't taken any damage.

Maya Kiryu tried to gain a psychological advantage by entering an apology stance and making a provocative announcement that Aja Kong wouldn't be able to take the belt home, but she was immediately countered.

It was an apology-style knee drop developed specifically for Aja Kong, but the declaration in the corner took too long, Aja dodged it, and she just ended up hurting her own knee.
Checking behind you is important, and if this were a driving school, she would have been penalized immediately.

However, this is a ring and there are no performance tests, so she climbed the corner again and landed the knee drop.
I recall this being the second time Maya Kiryu has mastered and successfully executed this move.

Maya Kiryu dodged a backfist and went for a roll-up, but she was caught instead and hit with a high-speed back drop.
And she couldn't get up, leading to a three-count.
Aja Kong became the 1805th Ironman Heavymetalweight Champion.

I had mixed feelings.
I think launching a surprise attack and hitting a barrage of elbows against Aja Kong was Maya Kiryu giving it her all without any tricks, and it was a match filled with emotion. It was definitely professional wrestling with a real fight in it.
However, there had been over a month since this match was decided, and it ended up being a straightforward and emotional match; to put it bluntly, it felt like a lack of preparation.
In her previous singles match, she had a logical and story-driven approach, such as preparing a new move as a hidden weapon because she couldn't take Aja down with her existing moves, but this time it felt like the expected result was just delivered as is.
Not betraying expectations and not betraying predictions can coexist. You don't necessarily have to be eccentric. You don't have to be funny.
But honestly, I didn't feel any ideas or anything like that.

When HIMAWARI had a singles match with Aja, she relied on attacks using her super-long hair, which left me with mixed feelings.
HIMAWARI's attacks using her long hair are her weapon and strong point, but like mayonnaise, if you get the amount wrong, it's all over.
Mayonnaise is a dangerous condiment and it's delicious. But what happens if you put too much mayonnaise on every dish? It ends up tasting like nothing but mayonnaise.

I think this match didn't use mayonnaise and followed the basics of cooking, but given the nature of the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship belt, I wonder if it was a match that required something beyond just proper offense and defense.
Was a straight-ball-only approach really the right answer?
If you're going to challenge with a straight ball, shouldn't you be throwing strikes?
I was lost in thought.

Match 5: 20-minute time limit, one fall match: Shoko Nakajima & Sarah Phoenix vs. Suzume & Arisu Endo

A match between Shoko Nakajima and Miu Watanabe is a card where the quality is completely guaranteed, but Suzume has also reached that level, and I had a premonition that a singles match would be scheduled soon and surprise the world.

It was a match where Suzume's strength particularly shone, and even though she lost to Miu Watanabe at Itten-yon, her momentum remains incredible.

Match 6: 20-minute time limit, one fall match: Miu Watanabe & Rika Tatsumi vs. Yuki Arai & Miho Ashida

This is a semifinal card that could have happened. And it is also a prelude to GRAND PRINCESS. Miu Watanabe tries to gain the upper hand on the ground as if to test Yuki Arai, but Yuki Arai counters appropriately and doesn't let her do as she pleases. Miu Watanabe performed a pop-up giant swing to spin Ashida's Miffy, and Rika Tatsumi followed up with a hip attack; it was a crazy combination, and it was just insane.

The highlight was when Yuki Arai threw Miu Watanabe into the abyss with a full nelson buster from the apron. She started using a full nelson buster from the corner post for her match against Mizuki at last year's Summer Princess, but this time she added a variation where she throws her opponent off the apron. Yuki Arai has also been using a modified neckbreaker since this year, and she is constantly developing new moves. What she unleashed here was a demonstration for the main event at Ryogoku, and Yuki Arai was trying to gain a psychological advantage despite being the challenger.

However, Miu Watanabe was still the one who won. They will likely continue to probe each other's strengths for about another month leading up to Ryogoku Kokugikan.

Semifinal: 30-minute time limit, one fall match: International Princess Championship: MIRAI vs. Toga

MIRAI declared at the signing ceremony that she wanted to hold the title match at Ryogoku Kokugikan, and since she proceeded with the conversation under the assumption that she would win this match, it was bound to be unpleasant for Toga.

Toga was very obsessed with attacking with her elbow, in which she has absolute confidence... or rather, she absolutely did not want to lose. Toga doesn't have a huge variety of moves, so she was throwing that elbow strike to decide the match, looking like someone clutching a golden gun given to her by her father in her childhood. And she blew MIRAI away with that gun, which was convincing enough on its own. MIRAI is fast, powerful, and incredibly strong, and she is the kind of person Toga should aim to be, so MIRAI, who has more experience, tried to crush her head-on. However, Toga pulled out a hidden gun—an avalanche-style fallaway slam that she hadn't shown before—and cornered her quite a bit. But the wall of MIRAI is thick, and in the end, she hit Toga with a straightforward lariat for the three-count. She succeeded in her first title defense.

MIRAI took the microphone and praised Toga, but Toga was in tears.

Then, Representative Koda granted permission for the title defense at Ryogoku. The opponent called out for that match was Suzume.

Suzume and MIRAI are from the same class, and they have a connection—a synapse—from having originally formed a tag team.
This intersection was inevitable, and the stage for it was the grand venue of Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Suzume also declared that she would carry the organization on her back and win back the belts, setting the stage for a must-watch card.

Main Event: Time-Unlimited 1-Fall Match, 6th "Futari wa Princess" Max Heart Tournament Final: Mizuki & Shizuku Takami vs. Yuki Aino & Wakana Uehara

Kamiyu-san's thumbing is extremely dangerous, but the experienced Mizuki used it to her advantage, blinding the competitive eater and taking control of the opening exchanges.

Throughout the road to the finals, Mizuki had repeatedly launched Shizuku Takami at her opponents like a bullet, but here, Shizuku Takami asserted herself, causing their coordination to falter.
The tag team champions were never going to let that slide.

Mizuki was being forgotten by gravity as usual, and Kamiyu-san's kicks were as sharp as a bird of prey, and it was dangerous when she teamed up with Wakana Uehara to stomp on them, but I feel like the star was Shizuku Takami.
Shizuku Takami's impression has changed significantly since her singles match against Maki Itoh last year, and she has become a more interesting presence in Twitter wrestling than even Shota Umino.
She is quite small even among TJPW wrestlers, and while she has few years of experience, there is a terrifying quality to her where you never know what she might pull out.

In the end, Wakana Uehara decided the match with the Sushi Tornado.
Previously, her style was to decide matches with the Banana Pillow from any position, but since she started using the Sushi Tornado, she can now finish matches even from a standing position, which gives the impression that she has become even more dangerous.

This is the first time the champion team has won the tag tournament, and the event demonstrated that OberEats is currently at the center of the TJPW tag team scene.
I thought someone might come out to challenge them after the match, but no one appeared that day.

Autograph Session

On this day, after the match, an autograph session was held in front of Bellesalle Iidabashi Station.
Sho Sekiguchi was absent as she had a Goki-Pro match in Kawasaki afterward.

I talked to Hyper Misao about the fan meeting in Niigata the other day, and she was quite regretful about not being able to wear the Ironman belt, saying, "I was disqualified for going 10 seconds over, but I was the one closest to 10 seconds."

Babe was feeling down after her defeat to Aja Kong.
I was feeling down too.
I didn't really know what to say to her. I even thought about just going home without participating in the autograph session.
I saw the footage of her and Sho Sekiguchi challenging Aja-san in the locker room after the match and getting slapped down, but Aja Kong's existence is unreasonable, so "Twin Magic" doesn't work on her.
I put my heart into saying, "Please challenge for the OberEats belts with Sekiguchi-san."

Bunrin excitedly told me his thoughts on the recent AZW match between Tachishon Crazy and BRA-VO.
I had heard rumors, but it seems it really was a great match, and I regretted not being able to go see it.
I mentioned that Gakupro All-Stars was being held at Shinjuku FACE on the same day, and that I had wanted to go to that as well.
It also turned out that he had been checking the article I wrote for FANZA-i-yuu-jizz.com about the retirement show, and he was lamenting the upcoming retirement of Shuin Heist on 2/23.

More cards for Ryogoku have been decided.

As I mentioned in my match review, the International Princess Championship match between MIRAI and Suzume has been set, and given Suzume's recent form, it's a great card that could even surpass the main event.
MIRAI has been making an impact since her return to Tokyo Joshi, but the intensity of the Miu Watanabe vs. Suzume match at 1.4 was extraordinary.
Any idiot who hasn't watched that match yet needs to check it out right now.
Even if you aren't subscribed to Wrestle Universe, there are highlights, so you absolutely must check those out at the very least.

And, after this tournament concludes, the opponents for the tag team championship match against OberEats have been decided as Jessie McKay and Cassie Lee, "The Inspiration."
I haven't been following TNA closely, and while I have impressions of them from their WWE days (when they went by Billie Kay and Peyton Royce—some of you might know them as "The IIconics"), I don't remember their matches well enough to comment in detail, but they are a major tag team.
You probably won't get many chances to see these two in Japan.
If you're even slightly interested, close your browser right now and go to the TJPW official website.Buy a ticket.
That is all I have to say.
(Cure Nile)