Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestlers Showed Us Why They're Japan's Queens of The Ring

It was a massive weekend for wrestling in North Texas.

AEW’s All In: Texas took center stage at Globe Life Field, drawing over 27,000 attendees, creating perfect conditions for off-shoot events to take over Dallas-Fort Worth. Meanwhile, Game Changer Wrestling hosted Boss of All Bosses, AEW's sister circuit, Ring of Honor, put on Death Before Dishonor, and "the cutest in the world" entered the ring at Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW) live in Forney. 

A multifaceted fan base flocked to The OC on Sunday to see the all-female roster of TJPW put on a charmingly spitfire display of Japanese pop culture. According to organizers, the show was the highest turnout in the U.S. for the Japanese wrestling promotion's circuit.

The event, sponsored by NextShark and Queri, was brought to the United States by Tokyo Story, a pioneering promotions company known for creating immersive and authentic experiences through live performances, hobby merchandise and pop culture. Based in Houston, Tokyo Story is dedicated to transforming the way Japanese cultural hubs are perceived in the U.S., and their latest endeavor certainly exemplified that vision, making a memorable impact on wrestling fans in North Texas.

Before the first bell would ring, idol band UP UP GIRLS, comprised of wrestlers Raku, Shino Suzuki and Miu Watanabe, performed a pop number in collaboration with Megami Maids, a Texas-based Maid Cafe group.

Colorful streamers were sent flying through the air as fans welcomed what seemed to be the most anticipated tag-team match-up featuring the self-proclaimed superhero of the show, Hyper Misao. She brought all sorts of mischief to the ring when she entered with a can of pepper spray, though it was immediately intercepted by one of her opponents and used against her, forcing a retreat backstage. She would return riding a teal and neon pink bike, propelling her to speeds that allowed her silver cape to wave like a flag of chaos as she rode through the crowd, bringing them to their feet again.
Moreover, many Dallas-based wrestling fans were drawn to the TJPW event by its crossover matches.

Alejandra "The Lion" Quintanilla, a pro wrestler from El Salvador who now resides in Dallas, is known for using her long nails to scratch opponents between body slams, a move she made during a fierce fight against Moka Miyamoto. Native Texan Maya World, who took on Yuki Arai, found many similarities between Japanese and American pro wrestling.

“Other than the language barrier, it’s all the same — we all talk wrestling,” World told us.

That universal language of wrestling came through, too. The incredible acrobatic maneuvers, aerial skills and physical contact the wrestlers were able to pull off in rapid succession were a sight to behold, with each fight growing in intensity as the finale approached. And though both of the aforementioned Texas-based wrestlers were defeated in their match-ups, they promised retribution would come — it's the Texan way.

Good versus evil came to a head when Mizuki and Maki Itoh met for the night's main event. A graphic rotating between “THE CUTEST IN THE WORLD,” “FUCK YOU,” and an animation of a hand giving the finger shone on screens around the arena as Itoh entered as she sang her own theme song. Naturally, the crowd went absolutely bananas.

By the time reigning Princess Champion title holder Mizuki entered the ring, fans were chanting her name. The two wrestlers screamed as though feral while punching each other over and over as attendees counted aloud the number of consecutive hits. As they jumped off corner posts and descended upon each other with force, the crowd's chants began to oscillate between “MI-ZU-KI!” and “MA-KI-I-TOH!” until those definitive three counts given by the referee. Mizuki’s hard-won championship remained intact. Itoh asked for the microphone and screamed, “FUCK YOU PUSSY!” as the last words to be spoken in English before the announcer got hold of the microphone — the audience ate it up.

Still high on the show's electrifying energy, many fans stayed after the show for a meet and greet with the wrestlers.

Among them was Levi Hersch. He's a San Franciscan who grew up in Florida watching what he referred to as the "cartoonish" fights of Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan that were never much to his liking.

“I come for scripted violence… and what these women do is amazing,” he told us.

Another fan named Shayan was carrying an AEW belt he had purchased the day before.

“It’s my first TJPW match... we just saw a sick fight between Mizuki and Maki Itoh,” he said. 
In the parking lot, a group debated whether their favorite match was the tag team with Pom Harajuku and Misao, or the match featuring Quintanilla.

“My favorite part was… everybody getting beat up,” said Kristina Lelle, who had come up from Austin. She was with a friend named Juno, who was amazed by the costumes' brilliancy under the stage lights. They voiced hopes that TJPW would come back next year.

We, too, hoped to see the cutest wrestlers in the world again soon. See why from the scenes below.