The Max Heart tournament has become a regular fixture in the TJPW calendar, as various tag teams compete in a knockout format for a shot at the belts. It’s become a tradition to have this in the post-Ittenyon spot, and it always feels like the perfect way to ease us into the year. With the first and second rounds happening over the same weekend, I have decided to lump them together into one review so that I don’t have to come up with multiple introductions. If anything interesting happens in the undercard, I’ll make sure to mention that, too.
Tales from the Undercard
We only had one non-tournament match on the first day, with Rika, Miu and Yuki Aino taking on Arisu, Suzume and Shino. It was a fun little match, but nothing that you need to go out of your way to see. My highlight was Shino’s terror at being left alone in the ring with Rika. Who can blame her?
Day two had a solid trios match in which Kamiyu and Miyu had some entertaining interactions, but again, it didn’t do anything particularly memorable. My non-tournament highlight for the weekend, however, was HIMAWARI vs Moka vs Haru. TJPW have a real knack for fun, inconsequential threeways, and it left me with a big smile on my face. HIMAWARI, in particular, was a blast, as her antics made me realise I want her to wrestle Mei Suruga sooner rather than later.
Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara defeated Kaya Toribami & Haru Kazashiro in the Max Heart First Round
With a sneaky number of people out of action, we’ve got quite a few thrown-together teams in this tournament, and I’m sad that we don’t get a run from the bird and the cat this year. On the flipside, Haru getting a chance to be part of everything was cool, even if the result of this match was never in doubt. Wakana and Arai are the golden girls (that’s not intended as an insult), so I’d expect them to go deep.
As for in the ring, they kept things basic, which was probably the right call. Arai was the most accomplished wrestler involved, and her best stuff still has her paired up with someone a lot more experienced than her. Neither a teenage rookie nor Toribami was going to provide that. So, they stuck to the simple stuff, building a surprisingly even match where everyone did what you’d expect them to do before Arai won with a Sharpshooter. It was some non-remarkable but decent fare.
None of which is necessarily a complaint. Arai and Wakana looked like a solid pairing, considering this was their first go at it, and Kaya is always decent in these undercard matches. I also continue to be impressed with young Haru, whose wrestling fandom seems to have given her a bit of an edge when it comes to figuring out how to link things together. It was all perfectly fine, and while I will never think of it again, I wasn’t desperate for it to end either.
Verdict: Fine
Raku & Pom Harajuku defeated Nao Kakuta & HIMAWARI in the Max Heart First Round
My heart is behind a Pom and Raku Max Heart victory, even if my head knows it’s unlikely. Still, they got off to a good start, knocking out a former tag champ and her exuberant friend.
Much like the opener, there wasn’t much meat on the bones of this match. It was a fun wee outing, elevated by the fact that everyone involved was a joy. Removed from her usual partner (I hope Hikari is doing alright), Nao was no less violent, deploying HIMAWARI’s hair in ways that definitely hurt her as much as Raku and Pom. Those two, meanwhile, are always a delight and have become a sneaky good team, mixing in just a touch of silliness but never losing sight of the fact that this was a more serious match. Pom will wiggle through your legs to wave hello, but she’ll follow it up by jabbing you in both shins.
If, for some reason, you’re not a big fan of that stuff, you’re not going to like this, but you also shouldn’t be allowed to watch TJPW, so I don’t care what you think (more on that later). What makes this company special is how good the roster is at elevating little throwaway matches like this one into something that will make me happy. Does that make it an instant classic? Probably not, but it’s got just as much value as one. It’s just value in a different form.
Verdict: I Smiled A Lot
Shinken Kusho (Moka Miyamoto & Juria Nagano) defeated Miyu Yamashita & Toga in the Max Heart First Round
Juria has declared that she wants to win the tag titles with Moka before retiring, making victory in this tournament essential. I don’t expect them to do that (Kyoraku Kyomei are my pick for the winners), but I would expect them to at least get past the first two rounds. Miyu, meanwhile, is another one lacking her usual partner, but with the big belt around her waist, that’s probably not a bad thing. She can rest up and get ready for Miu to take it off her.
In the here and now, this was a bit of an up-and-down match. When Moka and Juria were in there with Miyu, it was good. Miyamoto and the Ace have great chemistry, as proven in last year’s Princess Cup, with Moka’s grounded style working nicely with Miyu’s more brute-force approach. Juria, meanwhile, was able to keep it simple, the two of them mainly sticking to trading strikes, which is, to put it bluntly, cool as hell. The problem, sadly, was Toga. It’s not that she was awful. It was just that she didn’t add a whole lot. There was a period where she and Miyu worked over Nagano, and whenever the rookie tagged in, you could see her scrambling for what to do. She knows how to do a few things well, but when asked to go deeper, she seems to get a bit lost.
Still, Toga is very young in her career, so I don’t want to give her too much of a kicking. She’s been rarely asked to work on top, and more often than not, she only has enough time to get her shit in and get out, so it’s not a huge surprise that she’d struggle in that spot. I’m sure it will come with time. Plus, there was enough decent stuff around her that her performance didn’t ruin the match. When you’ve got a couple of pros like Miyu and Moka around, you can get away with not being perfect because they’ll keep it all together and make sure you get out the other side in one piece.
Verdict: There Was Some Good Stuff In There
Kyoraku Kyomei (Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao) defeated Toyo Mates (Yuki Kamifuku & Mahiro Kiryu) in the Max Heart First Round
Our main event was the only first-round match to feature two regular tag teams, which meant Toyo Mates would fall at the first hurdle. It’s a shame they aren’t going deeper into the tournament, but with my money on Kyoraku Kyomei to go one step further than last year, I’m not complaining about that too much.
Unsurprisingly, this was the standout match on the first show, as the Max Heart tends to bring the best out of Shoko and Misao. They get a bit meaner around this time of year, putting all the silliness to one side and working a bit of an old-school style with plenty of tags as they try to isolate individual opponents. It’s a refreshing change that stands out in all the right ways, and they spent a lot of this match going after Mahiro, having clearly identified her as the potential weak spot of her team.
That proved the right call, as Kamiyu repeatedly served as the game-changer for Toyo Mates, her entry to the ring often bringing a boot to the face. She and Shoko got into it particularly hard, having a strong back-and-forth that saw Nakajima mainly survive off the back of that veteran guile as she found the right counters at the right moment. They repeatedly took each other out of the game, leaving Mahiro and Misao to have a long closing section that took a few twists and turns but eventually saw Misao bundle Kiryu up for the win.
It all made for a well-put-together main event that let both these teams shine while also making it clear that Kyoraku Kyomei have that bit more to them. As I already said, it was easily the best match of the first night, and if you’re picking and choosing, this is the one to go for.
Verdict: Really Good Stuff
Daisy Monkey (Suzume & Arisu Endo) defeated Raku & Pom Harajuku in the Max Heart Second Round
Raku and Pom made a train out of pool floats and string, so this was obviously a match-of-the-year contender. There was some Twitter discourse recently around someone calling TJPW bad, to which my response is that if you can’t appreciate Raku and Pom trapping Daisy Monkey in a makeshift-train, then I don’t want you to watch TJPW. It’s not for you, so go away and stop making me see your dumb opinions. There are plenty of soulless Stardom matches for you to watch. Maybe Utami and Syuri will take turns to do some moves for 40 minutes again.
Anyway, I’m annoyed at myself for ranting while reviewing this because it was a joy. It was the unconventional approach of Raku and Pom up against the bright young hopes, and it was as fun as that sounds. You’d be hard-pressed to argue that Daisy Money isn’t the better team, but whether it was through the train, their evergrowing collection of double teams or one of their unusual roll-ups, there was always the feeling that Raku and Pom could catch them off-guard. Daisy Monkey had to fight their way through the nonsense to get the win.
They pulled it off, as they managed to pick up the pace for the first time all match and isolate Pom for the Ring-A-Bell, but the dream team pushed them to the end. It may have started with train nonsense, but as usual with Pom and Raku, that was the decoy for the shin kicks and the brain chops that slowly whittled away at the youngster. Sadly, it wasn’t to be this time, but Pom and Raku are still the best, and anyone who disagrees can fuck off.
Verdict: A Lot Of Fun
Yuki Arai & Wakana Uehara defeated Mizuki & Shino Suzuki in the Max Heart Second Round
Above, I mentioned that Wakana and Arai’s first match struggled without the presence of an experienced head to guide them through. I’m taking this as proof I was right. Mizuki was the spark this match needed, adding a lot when she went on the offensive and pulling even more out of her opponents. She even drew Arai into throwing some decent forearms, a nice thud reverberating as they hammed into the rabbit’s chest. Considering how many supposedly great wrestlers struggle to do that, she has to clock that up as a success.
I don’t want to put it all on her, though. For one thing, I thought her partner was great here. I’ve said it a million times, but Shino is scrappy in the best possible way. Suzuki’s far from a polished wrestler (she even got carried away and tried to pin Wakana while she was lying on her front), but she’s endearing and feisty. I love how she throws herself into dropkicks or desperately clings onto that sleeper. Wrestling can be obsessed with super rookies who feel like the finished article, but Shino is the opposite. She’s a bit awkward and all over the place, but she’s working her arse off, and that makes her ten times more interesting than someone who seems to have it all figured out. We had a few teams featuring a veteran paired with a random rookie in this tournament, but Mizuki and Shino came out the best of the lot, and while I’m not about to suggest Suzuki becomes one-half of NEO MagiRabbi, it’s maybe not the worst idea to pair these two up again.
Not that I want to dismiss Wakana and Arai’s work, as they already felt like a step or two along the road to becoming a decent tag team. They’re still not complimenting each other perfectly, as there were some moments where they felt more like two individuals, but there was more of a sense that they were backing each other up, nipping in at the right moment to turn the tide. Plus, Arai is turning booting people in the face into an art form. There was one to Mizuki that felt more like a standing stomp as she brought her foot down on the former champion’s face. It ruled, and played a role alongside the rabbit in making this match good.
Verdict: Mizuki Brings The Magic
Daydream (Rika Tatsumi & Miu Watanabe) defeated Kyoraku Kyomei (Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao) in the Max Heart Second Round
Kyoraku Kyomei vs Daydream was a rematch from last year’s tournament and is a match that could headline a Korakuen. Neither team hold the belts, and with the result going the way it did, I wouldn’t expect either to win the tournament (thanks to Miu challenging Miyu), but with MagiRabbi gone and Free WiFi out of commission, they are currently the best teams on the roster. If there was any doubt about that, they seemed pretty determined to prove it with this match.
As mentioned above, Max Heart Kyoraku Kyomei is a different beast from the one we usually get. They leave the bikes and the kaiju toys backstage (both of which, to be clear, I love) and bring their serious faces, often isolating and picking apart teams. However, against Miu and Rika, they couldn’t do that. The combination of Watanabe’s strength and Tatsumi’s deviousness cut them off from the start, as Daydream dictated the tempo.
It was a structure that both teams flourished in. Daydream are adept at controlling matches, Watanabe tossing people around, while Tatsumi terrorises them. Misao and Shoko, meanwhile, are the opposite. They’re wrestlers who fight well from underneath, Misao trying to slip through the gaps, while Shoko relies on her combination of speed and precision to try and get her way back into the match. They were fantastic the night before when they took control against Toyo, but they were exciting here, battling for every opening and coming agonisingly close to proving I was right to put my (metaphorical) money on them. Unfortunately, Miu and Rika always had the answers. When you have two teams this evenly matched, it sometimes comes down to individual moments, and with Miu able to pluck people out of the air and spin them till they’re dizzy, it’s hard to get past that.
Still, even if the result wasn’t the one I was rooting for, this was an outstanding match and easily the best of the tournament so far. It left me desperate to see either of these teams with those tag belts, but while a Daydream run would be great, it’s Kyoraku Kyomei whom I really want to get a chance to run with those shiny prizes. They’ve earned it, and while they’re not going to get that opportunity through the Max Heart, I’ve got my fingers crossed that 2024 could be their year.
Verdict: Top Stuff
Overall Show
We’ve got an interesting last four for the Max Heart this year. With the Daydream unlikely to win, I’m no longer sure about my initial assumption that Juria and Moka will fall in the semi-final. There’s every chance TJPW is going to cash in on the karate nurse one last time and throw her at Aino and Aniki, which isn’t something I’d have any complaints about. My money is split evenly between them and Daisy Monkey, anyway. As for how good the shows were, they got better as they went along. The first-round stuff is mostly enjoyable but ultimately quite skippable. It’s the second round where things picked up, and if you’re choosing one match, make it Kyoraku Kyomei vs Daydream.
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