First off, I want to share the TJPW poster for イッテンヨン 2023! I just think it’s really neat!
It’s encouraging that Misao is in it, because I hope that means she isn’t retiring at the end of the year…
I got the November 20 TJPW show done in pretty good time! I got nervous when I saw the table for the contract signing at the beginning, but then both of the contract signings were half in English, haha!
The first contract signing (transcript here) was for Millie McKenzie vs Miyu Yamashita for the EVE Championship.
The main thing I had trouble with was Miyu’s line here in the first paragraph: “ミリーとはスペイン、イギリス、日本とターン・スパンで3回連続で闘うのは私の経験の中でも初めて.” I wasn’t confident that I understood what exactly she was saying 
.
Yamashita: “I was able to come back to Japan with a belt from EVE. Thank you very much! I’ve fought Millie in Spain, England, and now Japan. It’s the first time in my experience that I have fought three consecutive times in three different places. So I’m really excited, and just like me, she’s someone who comes right at you, so I have to defeat her soundly. This will be my first title defense, so I want to settle it in the TJPW ring.”
Millie: “Hello. Thank you for having me back in Japan. I’m very happy to be back here. And I’m excited to show you all how I’ve improved. I’m fighting for the Eve Championship, which is my home promotion in England. It’s my home promotion, therefore I have to bring the championship back home. Miyu is one of my best opponents. She has beat me, however, I have beat her. So, it’ll be a challenge, but I need to bring the championship back home.”
Namba: “You wrestled last month in Spain, and last week in England. What are your impressions based on the last two singles matches?”
Yamashita: “She’s very strong and can take a lot of punishment. She gets fired up when she fights. In that respect, I’m going to do my best to win by surpassing her in determination and the ability to take a hit.”
Millie: “Uh, very dangerous kicks. I have to watch her kicks. Very, very powerful. As I said, Miyu is one of my toughest opponents, and in Spain, I got the victory, however, in England, Miyu beat me. And that is not fair! I’m angry! So, this time, she will not win again.”
Namba: “Yamashita, if you successfully defend your title, you might have to go back to England for another title defense.”
Yamashita: “I think that by continuing to overcome big enemies in a Japanese ring as I hold the belt, I’ll be able to show you all something new, and I’ll show myself something new, too. Right now, I’m only thinking about beating the opponent in front of me, which is Millie. I want to be able to defeat the opponent who stands before me in the future.”
Namba: “Millie, do you want to win the belt and take it back to England?”
Millie: “It’s not a choice that I win this match. I HAVE to win this match. I have to bring the championship home, to where it belongs.”
The other contract signing (transcript here) was for Billie Starkz vs Yuka Sakazaki for the Princess of Princess championship.
Right off the bat, Yuka confused me, haha. I think I might’ve managed to figure it out after thinking it through? She said, “皆さん見ての通り、こんなにかわいいビリーが日本に来てくれて東京女子の歴史の中でも上位の出来事になると思うので目に焼き付けてください.”
Sakazaki: “As you can see, the super cute Billie has come all the way to Japan, and I think this show will end up being one of the top events in TJPW history, so please mark down the date.”
Billie: “I’m very excited to be here. I’m very excited about our match, too, and I can’t wait for the fight we’re going to have.”
Namba: “This is your first time facing each other, but have you watched tape of each other’s matches?”
Sakazaki: “Of course I have. She caught my eye because it’s not an exaggeration to say that she’s one of the most promising up-and-coming wrestlers in the American indies right now, and plus she’s really cute.”
Billie: “I’ve also watched tape of Yuka. She’s so impressive! I’m definitely into the fight when I’m going to be in the ring with her later. She’s very, very good at what she does, and I’m glad to be here on my first trip, wrestling one of the best that TJPW has to offer.”
Namba: “Sakazaki, is it difficult to defend the belt against a foreign wrestler?”
Sakazaki: “She’s someone from outside of TJPW and it’s our first time facing each other, so it’ll be difficult because she might not move how I expect her to and I can’t read her thoughts, but I’m also looking forward to that. I’m just curious.”
Namba: “Billie, you have faced Yamashita and Itoh. What do you think of the Japanese wrestling style?”
Billie: “The intensity is unmatched. That’s something I can’t find in America that I can find in Japanese women. They’re so powerful, and I love it, I love it so much. And I’m so happy that I get to experience it again, wrestling with Yuka. Thank you.”
The main event was Yuka & Miyu vs Millie & Billie, with Millie getting a pretty huge win over Miyu! It has been a few years since I’ve watched Millie wrestle (I saw a few of her matches back in like 2019, when she was pretty young herself), so it was nice to see her again.
The post-match was quite possibly the first one of these I felt I was able to fully understand as I watched it, haha, owing to the fact that almost all of it was in English .
Millie: “I won again! It’s Billie’s first time in Japan.”
Billie: “I’m so happy to be here.”
Millie: “Thank you again for having us. But, we love Japan so much, we’re gonna make sure we keep coming back here. So at Korakuen, we will both walk away as champions!”
Miyu: “I cannot speak English. So I will speak Japanese.” (in Japanese) “Next time, I absolutely will not lose! I will defeat you.”
Yuka: (in English) “Next match, exciting!”
Millie and Billie’s comments were also all in English! Here’s what they said:
Millie: “Like we said, I said we’d win, I said I’d beat Miyu Yamashita, and I did. And in her own country. She beat me in EVE. Not again, not again. This is just a taste of what’s to come. I’ve proved that I can do it now. We’ve proved that we can do it. So next week, we will win.”
Billie: “It was a lot, a lot. I was very overwhelmed with how much fight Yuka brought, with how tiny she is. She’s a fighter. But, I’m taking home the Princess of Princess Championship November 27, and there’s no question about that.”
(It’s always been your dream to wrestle in Japan. What did it feel like going out there?)
“Oh, it was amazing. It was everything I wanted it to be, and I feel like it can only get better from here. I just hope everybody enjoyed the show that I put on for them, because I truly enjoyed the experience I had.”
(So, you’re going 1-on-1 next time. Do you think you have her figured out through this match?)
“A little bit more than I did. It was a bit shocking, being in a ring. It’s much different than studying tape. But I think I have more knowledge going into the title match next week.”
(Millie, you seem to have Miyu scouted out very well, blocking her Skull Kick. So, your strategy actually worked in the match. Does that give you even more confidence going into the match next week?)
Millie: “Yeah, I think I definitely needed a confidence boost after losing the EVE match on my home turf. But, I lost to that kick, so that kick is not happening again, I’ll make sure of it, because that kick is very, very powerful, and I do not want that damage.”
Billie: “It’s deadly.”
Millie: “I know!”
In Miyu and Yuka’s comments, I was confused by what Miyu said at the start: “結果的に自分がやられて悔しい部分があるし、ジャーマンを食らうと動けなくなるので、その隙に攻め込まれてやられてしまったので、もっともっと蹴りでね。スパンが短いので見破られていた部分もあるので、時間はないけど焦らず勝てるようにやりたい.”
Yamashita: “Concerning the result, I’m frustrated that she got me. After I took that suplex, she used that opportunity to attack since I couldn’t move, so I did a lot of kicks. Because it was such a short span of time, there are some things I’ve overlooked, so even though I’m out of time, I want to win without being hasty. I teamed up with Yuka-chan for the first time in a long time.”
Sakazaki: “It’s not the first time, is it?”
Yamashita: “Isn’t it? Since Osaka.”
Sakazaki: “Oh, right.”
Yamashita: “I have a good memory! It’s the first time since Osaka. We worked well together. But we lost.”
Sakazaki: “We worked well together?”
Yamashita: “We did! That was fun. We lost, though.”
Then Yuka said, “やっぱり日本に来て結果を残そうとしているからエネルギーもすごいし、ここに懸けている部分がすごくて。なのでこちらも相乗効果で楽しく試合できたので、次の後楽園でお互いタイトルマッチあるけどやることやって、東京女子のプライドを賭けて.” I got a bit lost in that second sentence in particular, haha .
Sakazaki: “They have a lot of energy because they came to Japan with the desire to get results, so they’ve staked a lot on this. We had a fun match with synergy, so we’re going to do what we do and put our TJPW pride on the line in our title matches at the next Korakuen show. Yamashita’s representing EVE, though.”
I think I was able to understand everything in the second part?
(You finally faced Billie in person)
“Even though she’s just 17, she has a solid physique and good balance, and I could feel her momentum. She’s amazing now, but just think about how incredible she’ll be one, two, three, or four years from now as she gains experience.”
(Today was a tag match, but will the singles match be different?)
“Yes. I think there’s a different way of fighting in a singles match.”
(She blocked your Skull Kick)
Yamashita: “She did block it, but I still have things I haven’t revealed yet, so I’m going to defeat her without giving in.”
And there we go! I think that’s everything until the Korakuen show on the 27th? I’m actually taking next week off at work, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to make pretty good progress on that show and not fall too far behind!