Thunder Rosa is making her long awaited return to Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling!
The current holder of the AEW Women’s World Championship, Thunder Rosa will be making her way to Japan for Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s Summer Sun Princess ’22 event. This will be Rosa’s first match for the promotion in over two years. Taking place on the 9th of July, the show will see Rosa face off against the ace of Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, Miyu Yamashita.
Yamashita is the perhaps the most decorated wrestler in the promotion, winning the Princess of Princess Championship – TJPW’s top prize – on three separate occasions, more than any other wrestler in the promotion’s history. The ‘Pink Striker’ was the inaugural champion and held the title for a total of 1,065 days across her three reigns.
【速報】
『SUMMER SUN PRINCESS '22』
☆7月9日(土)大田区総合体育館
⚡️サンダー・ロサvs山下実優@thunderrosa22 is making her return to #tjpw for the first time in over 2 years!She will be facing @miyu_tjp at #tjpwSSP22. The whole world will have their eyes on this match!#AEWpic.twitter.com/jNWw2f4eZM
— TJPW 東京女子プロレス (@tjpw2013) June 19, 2022
A recent trip to the United States saw Yamashita make her AEW debut, where she teamed with Skye Blue in a losing effort against Nyla Rose and Serena Deeb on Dark. She appeared on the same Prestige Wrestling shows as fellow TJPW star Maki Itoh, who also made her return to AEW recently. The two Joshi stars faced off against each other on Night Two of the company’s shows at the Roseland Theater in Portland, Oregon. You can watch the match in full here.
Interestingly, Yamashita has reportedly been considered as a challenger to Rosa’s AEW Women’s World Championship. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that the Dark performance of Yamashita impressed those backstage, leading to the idea of a title match being suggested. Summer Sun Princess could see the blockbuster match set up for a future AEW event.
Thunder Rosa has previously made an impact in TJPW. On the 5th of January in 2020, Rosa defeated Maki Itoh to win the International Princess Championship, making her the first foreign talent to win a championship in TJPW. Unfortunately, Rosa was forced to vacate the title due to travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, should Rosa aim to regain the championship she never lost, she will face a familiar situation. Maki Itoh is the current International Princess champion in her second reign and has already defended the championship successfully on four occasions. The two have history in both of their respective home promotions, as Itoh teamed with Dr Britt Baker D.M.D to face off against Rosa and Riho on the Revolution Buy-In last year.
You can watch Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s Summer Sun Princess ’22 event on Wrestle Universe. The streaming service also gives fans access to content from DDT Pro-Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH and Ganbare Pro-Wrestling.