Suzume vs. Yuki Arai

[6.0] "Me: I wonder who will win this match. Announcer: Yuki Arai is having a record run with the the International Princess title. I find it to be a tell when something like this is pointed out."

[7.0] "This was a really good match! After having two average openers and then two poor comedy matches, we had two good tag matches and now a very good title match!"

[7.0] "This ended up being a really good and neatly compact match. There are sections in this match where Arai used her size difference to her advantage and Suzume resorted to her speed and high-flying-based offense to gain the upper hand--but it was really in the counter wrestling where you saw the true sparks in their chemistry. They did a good job at building drama, and the crowd was on board for it all. I had a grand time watching this one. There are two spots that stood out to me that I highly favored: when they both respectively locked each other in a submission and physically fought one another off. Yuki Arai has shown to have the best chemistry when opposite Suzume or Arisu Endo. ***1/2"

[5.0] "So I'm not familiar with these two but this was not clicking for whatever reason, the two did not do something here that makes me feel like wow or oh that's good, I just didn't feel anything and did not enjoyed, I tried to enjoyed it, but didn't work for me here, this is overrated in my opinion."

[7.0] "Very nice match. I'm happy for Suzume, she deserves that. And Yuki maybe move to the PoP title picture, where she may do well too. (***3/4)."

[8.0] "4. Very much enjoyed this, especially in the environment. My first time watching both work and I'd like to see more!"

[6.0] "Satisfactory match with the right winner and a good last stretch, but I cant escape from the feeling that the two can offer more. I expect to watch more TJPW this year so, at the risk of being in the wrong, a compelling reign of Suzume and a future encounter with Arisu."

[9.0] "Really good match here. I came in being a bigger fan of Suzume but I think Arai actually won me over more with her performance. Tough fight between two young names and I really enjoyed it, high quality stuff here."

[7.0] "This was a surprisingly concise and focused title bout that served as my yearly reminder to renew my TJPW interest. Arai and Suzume don't try to be something they're not here, they don't go for a match that doesn't suit them, they simply both play to their strengths and craft a match around that, which works out a lot better. Arai is bigger than Suzume and is therefore the offence dealer, trying to hound Suzume with enough attacks to keep her down, while Suzume focuses on being quicker to get her own shit in and take the bigger opponent down. The only time it perhaps strays from its intentions is the leg work that immediately goes nowhere, as Arai seems unable to commit to working one leg specifically and Suzume then does not really bother to sell the work done anyway. I'm sort of glad it didn't devolve into the kind of pointless selling where the offence dealt is all with the affected body part (something that cropped up in another major women's title match on the same day), and considering joshi has had an issue with committing to limb selling for over forty years i'm inclined to take it as less of a slight on the match than I might've. That said, it is still a bit of a naff moment in an otherwise strong effort. I love the finish, Suzume's speed and agility bring the match to a great peak and end it on that high, the cutter off the ropes catching Arai off-guard and as such causing her to lose the title. It's really that simple, and I wish more wrestlers would go for the simple effective match instead of trying to craft an epic and failing, because the former is almost always more interesting. ***1/2+"

[7.0] "Decent little match built on solid chemistry between the two - they made the clever exchanges and counters look organic and delivered distinctive character work ***1/2"

[6.0] "Suzume was doing all the dirty work to hide all of Arai's weaknesses and help showcase few of her strengths, but it all led to a satisfying finish where she decisively won with a Cutter off the second rope. She's one of the most improved TJPW wrestlers in 2024, so it was nice to see her getting rewarded."

[7.0] "A big win for Suzume winning her first singles title. This teetered on the edge of great but never quite got there for me."

[6.0] "Suzume vs. Yuki Arai was a good match, but for me it never really got out of second gear for me. The last few minutes were fun. I'm not as familiar with or follow Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling very much I do watch there bigger shows if there is match that's worth checking out or interested in so if the story for this match was significant than maybe that is why I have it lower than others on here. The action in this was fine/solid."

[8.0] "Suzume is finally a singles champion! The match was very well paced and was exactly what I was hoping for."

[9.0] "While she wasn't present nearly as much as she should have been this year (not her fault of course), Yuki Arai has always delivered in her championship matches and this was no different, her reign ends on a high note with arguably her best match. She proved to be a formidable opponent for Suzume, using her size and power advantageadvantage with confidence, some vicious strikes too. Suzume had to use her all of her speed, wits and guts to overcome Arai with a great finish as Arai thought she countered the Ring a Bell only to fall to a new springboard variant."

[9.0] "Suzume has become the high speed technical master she's been working towards for years. Arai has a presence and is finally laying in her strikes. This is one of the best matches for either of them and I'm sure they'll continue to grow."

[9.0] "Big match Suzume! She's going to be an incredible champion! She brought the best out of Arai in the same way she did during their tag title match. The perfectly timed buzz cutter as a rapid reversal for the end was thrilling to see. But Arai also gave as good as she got those big boots were stiff and really added to the intensity of everything. These are two rising stars for the promotion and they're definitely going to deliver for it in future. I'm very very excited to Suzume's title reign, she brings out the best in her opponents."

[8.0] "Yuki Arai had a lot to prove here. She's had flashes of brilliance but being a full-time idol has delayed her development a bit. But here you got a preview of what she could actually be. She kicked Suzume in the head with all the murderous intent you could want. And Suzume responded with the same intensity. The way Suzume tried to use her counter wrestling to stunt the big boot offence was great but Arai weathered the attacks. So Suzume bring out new moves like the ozcutter was fantastic to see. She's going to be a great internation princess champion. And Arai is going to be a huge presence when she becomes a full time wrestler."