There was a lot of hugging on this show. Credit: TJPW
Watching everyone return to Korakuen, even if it is in front of small crowds, is a joy. There is just something right about wrestling airing live from that place, even if this did take place at 4 am on a Thursday for me. Still, it’s Tokyo Joshi! Who needs sleep?
There is a lot of energy in this picture. Credit: TJPW
For the first time since lockdown ended, we have a Tokyo Joshi show with a couple of announced matches! It’s time for Raku to finally step into her role as a main eventer while the two Yukis do battle over the right to face Yuka. Gosh, that could get confusing, couldn’t it?
Last week’s attempt to review Tokyo Joshi turned into a more general ramble about why I love it so, making this our first look at TJPW since the fans returned. If you haven’t guessed, I am very happy to have them back, so let’s see what went down.
There was a moment in the main event of Tokyo Joshi’s first show back in front of fans where Nodoka Tenma, having locked on a submission, shyly announced that Suzume’s hair smelled nice. In response, Yuka Sakazaki yelled hentai before storming the ring with Mizuki to kick Nodoka away. It might sound strange, but that silly little moment, sums up everything I love about TJPW.
It feels like a million years since we’ve had a Tokyo Joshi show and my God am I glad to have them back. Few things fill me with as much joy as a couple of hours spent with TJPW, so let’s stop blathering and start watching.
When you get past the discussion as to whether wrestling should be running empty arena shows, the biggest talking point for most fans at the moment is how to go about making those shows work. As I write this, the only WWE I’ve watched took place in a graveyard, but it’s safe to say their television efforts have been widely criticised and while AEW hasn’t been quite as badly received, no-one is screaming from the rooftops about them being shows of the year. Wrestling is struggling with how to present itself in a fan-less environment, and it’s quite interesting watching companies scramble for answers.
March 2020 might be the month the wrestling died, but there was still a remarkable amount of the stuff despite that sad state of affairs. There was certainly more than enough to make up my monthly top ten, and if you’re looking for something to pass the time, well, I guess you better read on because that might not be the case in April.
I haven’t stopped feeling weird about Japanese companies going back to hosting live wrestling shows, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy having the Up Up Girls kick off a show. Tokyo Joshi was back in front of fans and, to celebrate, were giving us the next chapter in the feud of the year. Misgivings or not, it’s hard not to enjoy that.
I think this is probably the most diverse match of the month list I’ve put together yet. In the past, I’ve had star ratings to work by when figuring this out and, honestly, I think that was restricting the way I did it. Now, I’m just pulling out the notebook and picking the ten that have stuck with me the most. So, welcome to a rather different, but certainly not worse, round-up of my favourites matches from last month.
Fresh off my favourite show of the year so far, Tokyo Joshi were back in the Dojo for another tournament. This time the roster was split into teams based on the colour of their attire, with wins earning two points, draws one and a loss none. The team with the most points at the end of the night would win themselves a day pass to a theme park, so that’s exciting. Will it be more hotly contested than the free meal? Time to find out.