Im looking for some promotions to watch that aren't just Stardom, TJPW, and Marigold.
I have been enjoying Sendai Girls but I was wondering if there were any other smaller promotions that are worth a watch.
Easy MOTY contender. Sit back and enjoy.
Over in the sweltering confines of Osaka’s 176BOX this past Sunday, the Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling outfit pared its summer marathon down to a tidy, tantalizing sprint. They call it the Tokyo Princess Cup, a grand 24-woman pageant that spans the dog days of July and August. Now, only two ladies remain standing, and when they meet at Korakuen Hall on the 23rd of August, they will be fighting not just for a summer crown, but for the right to finally slam the door on a ghost.
Neither woman has ever won this tournament, a conspicuous blank space on both of their résumés. But the history between them is as thick as the August humidity.
In one corner, you have Rika Tatsumi, a respected veteran who has chased this particular chalice for years without ever getting to taste the wine. In the other stands, Suzume, a veritable hornet of a combatant who, quite frankly, has been the burr under Tatsumi’s saddle for the better part of four years.
Both women punched their tickets to the final by turning back the clock on a pair of earnest youngsters from the debut class of 2023. Tatsumi had to absorb a thunderstorm of elbows from a game rookie named Toga before uncorking a maneuver known to the trade as a Twist of Fate, followed swiftly by a Missile Hip—a sequence that sounds like an exotic cocktail but hits like an unexpected tax bill.
Suzume, meanwhile, was dragged into deep waters by a persistent sophomore named HIMAWARI. She survived the ordeal only by scaling the ropes to deliver a face-crusher, wrapping up the afternoon’s business with a finishing move she calls, appropriately enough, "Ring a Bell"
Over in the sweltering confines of Osaka’s 176BOX this past Sunday, the Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling outfit pared its summer marathon down to a tidy, tantalizing sprint. They call it the Tokyo Princess Cup, a grand 24-woman pageant that spans the dog days of July and August. Now, only two ladies remain standing, and when they meet at Korakuen Hall on the 23rd of August, they will be fighting not just for a summer crown, but for the right to finally slam the door on a ghost.
Neither woman has ever won this tournament, a conspicuous blank space on both of their résumés. But the history between them is as thick as the August humidity.
In one corner, you have Rika Tatsumi, a respected veteran who has chased this particular chalice for years without ever getting to taste the wine. In the other stands, Suzume, a veritable hornet of a combatant who, quite frankly, has been the burr under Tatsumi’s saddle for the better part of four years.
Both women punched their tickets to the final by turning back the clock on a pair of earnest youngsters from the debut class of 2023. Tatsumi had to absorb a thunderstorm of elbows from a game rookie named Toga before uncorking a maneuver known to the trade as a Twist of Fate, followed swiftly by a Missile Hip—a sequence that sounds like an exotic cocktail but hits like an unexpected tax bill.
Suzume, meanwhile, was dragged into deep waters by a persistent sophomore named HIMAWARI. She survived the ordeal only by scaling the ropes to deliver a face-crusher, wrapping up the afternoon’s business with a finishing move she calls, appropriately enough, "Ring a Bell"
There is a beautiful, brutal symmetry to it all. Suzume is no longer the wide-eyed kid hoping to make a splash; she is an established contender standing between Tatsumi and the one prize that has always eluded her. Tatsumi, meanwhile, is determined to rewrite a history book that insists she must lose to her former protégé.
They do not need the 13th Tokyo Princess Cup to tell the world who they are. The ink on those reputations is already dry. They only need it to tell us who wins.
I just typed "Crush Gals Akina Nakamori" in Japanese on Youtube to find these frames
Show: Yoru no Hit Studio, February 26th, 1986