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Welcome to the second week of my weekly roundup, you will notice this is a shorter issue this time around. I'm not sure if I made this clear last week so I'm going to reiterate that this series does not claim to be a complete coverage of everything notable that happens in a given week but rather a collection of what I manage to watch so the length of each issue will vary accordingly. That being said, there is plenty in this week's issue including some TJPW Wrestle Princess, AJPW Royal Road action, a look at Marigold's Dream Star Grand Prix, a title match from Arena Mexico and even some CWE Costa Rica! I also take a look back in time to January 1984 to see Atlantis take on El Satanico and a loser leaves town match from the Mid-south Coliseum. Let's get into it!
TJPW Wrestle Princess V
Raku vs Ram Kaichow
This was a TJPW comedy match that isn't exactly my cup of tea and I expect most non regular TJPW would be in the same boat. The idea here was that Raku and Ram were in love so they were going to have a date during their wrestling match essentially. There was some dancing, Raku brought a cake to ringside and Ram almost got counted out because she was too distracted by eating it. Raku then focused on singing a lullaby to get Ram to fall asleep on the pillow she brought to the ring for a knockout victory. This almost work but alas Raku lullaby'd herself to sleep and there was a double count-out in place! Amazingly Ram sleep walked into a cover and pinned Raku for the win. This was short and good for what it was I guess but I wouldn't go as far as to call it a good wrestling match.
Match rating: 2.75
Emi Sakura vs Shoko Nakajima
Shoko Nakajima and Emi Sakura meet in the middle of this card and it is a very good match as you would expect. Sakura is among the best heels in joshi and this was a great hard hitting match. A good change of pace from the matches previous. Sakura gets the pinfall win.
Match rating: 3.5
Yuki Kamifuku and Veny vs Mizuki and Xia Zhao
This was the debut of the former Xia Li in TJPW. Mizuki and Veny are both very good workers but this match never really clicked. Xia Zhao got the win with a cool kick on Kamifuku. After the match Zhao challenged Kamifuku for her titles and Kamifuku accepted. Those titles being not being TJPW titles but rather the top women's titles of Vietnam and Singapore. To be frank I don't expect that title match to be very good but I do hope this is the start of a long TJPW run for Zhao. I think she fits the vibe of the promotion well and could improve with time.
Match rating: 3.25
Yuki Arai vs Moka Miyamoto
This was for Yuki Arai’s international princess title. A win here would see Arai break the record for most successful defences with 5. Arai and Miyamoto both debuted at around the same time so there is a bit of rivalry there because of that. Miyamoto is yet to win a title in TJPW whereas Arai is a former tag and current singles champion. This match probably allowed for the most emotional investment thus far in the show. Arai got the win and broke the record for most successful defences. This feels like a strange decision because when looking at the list of former champions Arai would not be near the top of the list of best wrestlers to win the belt. Nevertheless she remains champion and undoubtedly sets her sights on Thunder Rosa’s record for longest title reign. A milestone she is likely to reach in less than 2 weeks.
Match rating: 3.25
Daisy Monkey vs 121000000
The young champions Daisy Monkey (Arisu Endo and Suzume) put their titles on the line against 121000000 (Maki Ito and Miyu Yamashita). This was definitely the best match of the card to this point. Yamashita is at her best when working in a final boss type role and this was definitely the toughest test Daisy Monkey had as champions. Miyu Yamashita got the win to add yet another title to her TJPW collection. Endo and Suzume brought a lot of fight but it wasn't enough. Great match.
Match rating: 4
Miu Watanabe vs Ryo Mizunami
Miu Watanabe defends the Princess of Princess title in the main event against Ryo Mizunami. Ryo Mizunami who is a freelancer enters this match after winning the Tokyo Princess Cup and being on an 8 match singles undefeated run in TJPW. Crucially this undefeated streak started with a win over Miu Watanabe in July 2022.
The Watanabe of 2024 is a different beast however and she takes the fight to Mizunami in a match of power vs power. Mizunami is exceptional playing the role of an unrelenting monster for the champion to overcome. Watanabe hits her with everything she's got including an avalanche teardrop but she keeps coming back for more. Watanabe is equally exceptional in situations like this where she has to dig deep to beat her opponent. She eventually is able to get the pin after what I believe was the fourth teardrop on Mizunami. This was an incredible match and told a great story of Watanabe’s progression with her being the first person to beat Mizunami in a TJPW ring. Miu Watanabe has been a sensation as Princess of Princess champion and in a world where it looks likely that Miyu Yamashita is destined to make the USA her permanent home soon Miu Watanabe is the only choice to build the promotion around into the future. A career great match for both women.
Match rating: 4.5
Marigold Dream Star Grand Prix Day 7
Nanae Takahashi vs Sareee
I've been too busy to keep up with the Dream Star but this was a match I could not miss. Sareee has quickly established herself as the most dominant force on the Marigold roster underlined by her becoming the inaugural Marigold World Champion. She is still currently undefeated in the promotion but Nanae was always going to be a tough test being the most experienced woman on the roster.
Nanae brought the fight to Sareee here like few others in Marigold could. This was very hard hitting and both women got some big moves off on each other. Nanae was really starting to edge an advantage here as the 15 minute time limit approached and she had Sareee down as the time limit expired. This match never felt like a winner was going to be found in 15 minutes, in a good way. Nanae had the advantage and with another 5-10 minutes she could have beat the champion. That is what she will say at least and if Nanae does yield a title match out of this it should be excellent if this teaser is anything to go by.
Match rating: 4.25
CMLL Domingos Arena Mexico
Titán vs Villano III Jr.
Titán makes a successful defence of his CMLL World Welterweight Title. This was a great match especially considering it was in the middle of a Sunday card. Since jumping from AAA to CMLL in 2023 Villano III Jr. has looked very impressive alongside his brother. This was definitely his best singles match in CMLL though. This had a bit of everything, dives, submissions and a great looking powerbomb from Villano. He definitely has a bright future in the company.
Match rating: 4
AJPW Royal Road Tournament - Day 5
Ren Ayabe vs Ryuki Honda
This was the finals of the Royal Road Tournament. The winner receives a title match with the Triple Crown champion Yuma Aoyagi. AJPW has kind have been doing a youth movement this year and pushing a lot of new/younger faces up the card. This finals exemplifies that with both competitors being in their mid 20s and both having neither held a singles title in AJPW before. The show drew a very impressive 1,473 fans to Korakuen Hall showing that this movement is definitely paying off for AJPW. Before getting into the match itself I'd like to take a minute to commend AJPW for this. AJPW’s main event scene could have been headed for a rough spot but the promotion has reacted incredibly well. The old guard in Shuji Ishikawa and Suwama have aged out/left and some prime age guys like Jake Lee and Katsuhiko Nakajima left the company. Yuji Nagata was Triple Crown champion last year, Satoshi Kojima won this very tournament last year. It would've been easy for AJPW to double down on Kento Miyahara and rely on the already established Yuma Aoyagi and older names to keep the main event scene going but they've done the exact opposite. The result is a very exciting young core roster that is going to be very interesting to follow in the next couple of years.
Now, onto the match at hand. I've maintained for years that Honda is one of the best Japanese wrestlers under the age of 25. I was very happy to see him make it to the finals. He's started showing more personality recently and as a result the crowd have really gotten behind him. Ayabe is someone who's work I haven't seen as much. He debuted in 2020 for JTO and quickly ascended to the top of the roster. He has recently joined AJPW full time and definitely shows signs of being a future star but I think this was his first real great match. He is someone that I think is clearly influenced by Kazuchika Okada.
It was a bold booking decision to have this main event in Korakuen Hall for 25 minutes. These guys don't have a huge amount of main event experience between them but they truly delivered here and paid back the faith AJPW showed in them. This was everything I want in an AJPW main event between two young guys. A lot of fighting spirit and big shots by Honda. Ayabe answered with some really nice suplexes and submission holds. The crowd got really into this as they approached the finish with Ayabe getting the win! If the intent of this match was to get me excited about AJPW’s future then it certainly did its job. It'll be really interesting to see how Ayabe does in his performance against Aoyagi after seeing how he did here.
Match rating: 4.25
CWE Aniverario X - Day 1
Hechicero vs Ryan Grace
This match happened in the Costa Rica Wrestling Embassy promotion which I can't claim to know much about. The show happened in March but this match was uploaded to YouTube this week and was really good. There are not many wrestlers operating on a higher level than Hechicero in 2024 and he basically carried his opponent to a very good match here.
Match rating: 3.75
Classic Matches
As always the classic matches are sourced from the Wrestling Playlist project. This is a daily newsletter that takes a chronological look at wrestling footage dating back to the turn of the 20th century. You can subscribe at (1) Wrestling Playlists | Charles | Substack. This weeks matches are from issue #494 of the newsletter.
EMLL Super Viernes 20.01.1984
Atlantis vs El Satanico
EMLL is of course the promotion we now know as CMLL. This was a best two out of three falls match in Arena Coliseo between two all time great luchadores. However, the people watching this at the time did not know that. Atlantis is only 21 years old here having made his pro debut a mere 7 months earlier. On the other side El Satanico was an an 11 year veteran and a highly decorated wrestler in CMLL by this time. He was also one of the best heels in wrestling so this was the story of the plucky up and coming rookie vs the seasoned veteran.
Atlantis starts the match off hot showcasing his speed and agility and amazingly wins the first fall by submitting El Satanico. El Satanico does a much better job of grounding Atlantis during the second fall and is expertly able to conceal a punch from the referee to further his advantage. El Satanico levels the field with a leverage pin on Atlantis and then this match really starts to pick up.
El Satanico truly shows his sadistic side ripping open the mask of Atlantis and biting and tearing his forehead until Atlantis becomes a bloody mess. There is an awesome visual of Atlantis bleeding with blood running down his chest, it looks like he is finished. Incredibly, however, Atlantis is able to turn the tables on El Satanico and shows he isn't afraid to get down and dirty when the situation calls for it. He returns the favour and bites and mauld the forehead of El Satanico until he too is a bloody mess. The crowd really get behind Atlantis here. It really looks like Atlantis has the better of his opponent completely turning the tide of the match but El Satanico is able to weather the storm and locks Atlantis in a devastating submission hold. The rookie Atlantis has fought valiantly but he has come up short against veteran submitting to defeat.
This match reminded me a lot of Jon Moxley vs Wheeler Yuta. El Satanico even looked really impressed with the effort of Atlantis and offered a handshake after the match. I thought this was going to be a similar moment to the Moxley match with the younger wrestler earning El Satanico’s respect but clearly I haven't watched enough of El Satanico. Instead of offering a handshake El Satanico chopped him in the chest causing a shaken Atlantis to topple out of the ring and cementing El Satanico as a truly rotten heel.
This was a spectacular match. I can't say for certain because CMLL footage is relatively sparse from this time period but this must have been the first great singles match in Atlantis’ career and a real breakout moment for him. Off the top of my head it has to be one of the best matches ever involving someone less than a year into their career. It's notable that Atlantis would win his first singles title before the end of 1984 signalling how fast his rise was.
One of the earliest great CMLL matches we have and a match that to this day I would not feel right from excluding from a conversation about the best matches in the company's history. I feel feel like it is worth mentioning that this match was 40 years ago but these guys are still going in CMLL today. They've found themselves across the ring from each other 8 times this year alone! An iconic rivalry and this was one of it's earliest chapters.
Match rating: 4.5
CWA 16.01.1984
The Fabulous Ones vs The Moondogs
(Image from classic Memphis wrestling Facebook page)
This was a loser leaves town no disqualification match from the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. The Fabulous Ones were among the better babyfaces in the USA in the early 80s and they were most predominantly associated with Memphis. They consisted of Stan Lane and Steve Keirn. Lane would off course go on to achieve major success alongside Bobby Eaton as one half of the Midnight Express. Keirn also had a long and successful career without ever really achieving major success. He was a rock solid worker however. You may know him from his early 90s WWE run as Skinner. I think the Moondogs are mostly remembered as an average WWE tag team of the mid 80s. That's certainly what I thought of them as until recently but they were really great brawlers.
This match was joined in progress but we do have the last 8 minutes and by that point plenty of blood has already been spilt. It is not long before the ring is crowded with tables, chairs, mic stands and essentially any ringside apparatus that isn't nailed down. Jimmy Hart is managing the Moondogs getting up to his usual shenanigans. There is one point where Hart gets in the ring while the referee is distracted and places one of the Moondogs on a laid out Steve Keirn and there is a great ovation from the crowd when Keirn kicks out. The Fabulous Ones get the win and the Moondogs are forced to leave the territory. This is a very good brawl and based on what we have I'd put it at 3.5-3.75 but the full thing might have been slightly better.
Match rating: 3.75