Ganbare Pro Wrestling’s joshi branch, known as GanJo, has made great strides since its restart this year. For the final GanJo exclusive show of the year, the red carpet has been rolled out down the Shinkiba 1st Ring ramp. We have lots of big guests for GanJo Family Stadium ’23, including a symbol of Cyberfight taking her final bow in GanJo. So let’s jump right into the action.
Banny Oikawa vs Marika Kobashi
This is a big match for Banny Oikawa. At the end of the last GanJo event, she reiterated her dream to compete in Ganbare Pro Wrestling. GM Yuna Manase then invited her to the GanPro show later in November, because GanPro is the place where dreams come true. However, that’s later in the month. On this show, she will be facing off against Marika Kobashi. Marika has been a pretty regular competitor in GanJo and she’s not slouch. Banny will have to put her dreams aside for the day and focus on the battle at hand, otherwise she might get crushed.
Alex Lee and Ami Manase vs Echika Miyavi and Natsu Sumire
A tag team bout featuring four fixtures of GanJo throughout this entire year, all looking to close out 2023 with a couple more victories. Ami Manase and PPPTOKYO’s Echika Miyavi specifically have been two breakouts this year. Manase has a connection with the crowd only rivalled by YuuRI, and Miyavi has shown signs of growing into a premier power fighter. Natsu Sumire is coming in off a win against YuuRI at the last show, and Alex Lee has built up quite the winning record herself. I would say that they are quite evenly matched. Because of that, I expect the outcome of this match to depend on the two less experienced wrestlers.
Riara vs Ram Kaichow
Riara is back to trying her luck in singles action after a brief tag team run alongside Natsu Sumire. She has her work cut out for her going against the Chairman of Pro Wrestling 666, Ram Kaichow. Riara’s year can be summarized as her struggling to find success, but showing promise. However, that might not be enough for her. Her fellow rookie in GanPro, Munetatsu Nakamura, already has a number of big wins under his belt and is about to make his first title challenge. Riara debuted just a few months after him. This puts things into perspective for her. Natsu Sumire even stated she wanted to see Riara get her first win by herself. In this match, she will finally get the chance to do that, and against a well-travelled veteran at that.
Saki Akai’s Last GanJo Match: Saki Akai and Takumi Iroha vs YuuRI and Yoshiko Hasegawa
Saki Akai will be ending her wrestling career at DDT’s Ultimate Party 2023 in Ryogoku Sumo Hall. She has been checking off opponents to face, companies to compete in, and championships to win. At Family Stadium 2023, she will be coming back to GanJo to make one final appearance for the brand and team up with fellow 2013 debutant Takumi Iroha to battle YuuRI and Yoshiko Hasegawa.
For this match, we have the Queen of DDT, the Ace of Marvelous, the Ace of GanJo, and… Yoppy. I don’t mean that as an insult to Hasegawa by any means, but this is the reality of her situation. Right before the GanJo Restart, Hasegawa and YuuRI told the injured Manase to leave the GanJo brand to them.
YuuRI has held up her end of the bargain, she’s got a positive winning record, and has closed out almost every GanJo show as a winner. She stood at the top of Ice Ribbon as IcexInfinity Champion, and challenged Isami Kodaka for the Spirit of Ganbare Championship.
Yoppy, meanwhile, has suffered loss after loss. Don’t get me wrong she has improved greatly this year, but that improvement didn’t lead to wins. I’m excited that and YuuRI will be getting this big match, and that GanJo can celebrate Saki Akai before her retirement. However, since Yoppy has mentioned the frustration of not being able to win all year recently, the outcome of this match will be especially crucial for her. She needs to prove she belongs amongst these giants. If she loses again, some change might be needed to take that next leap.
WHERE TO WATCH: Wrestle Universe
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