As the year draws to an end, thoughts inevitably turn to matches of the year and things of that nature. However, that doesn’t mean the good wrestling stops. There are plenty of interesting things going down, and while I can’t claim to have covered it all here (it’s another month in which I’ve focused on quality over quantity), I reckon everything on this list is worth the time I took to get into it. So, read on, and perhaps find a late addition to that list.
Aja Kong vs DASH Chisako, Sendai Girls (5/11/23), Sendai Girls
I spent my Marshmallow Bomb review of this match raving about Aja Kong, and while I stand by everything I said, I’ve since realised I barely mentioned DASH Chisako. That was far from intentional, but in some ways, perhaps sums up the issue with DASH in recent times. She’s great. She’s always great. If you watch a big Sendai show, the odds are that there will be a good DASH match on it. Whether she’s plugged into a tag team or, as is often the case, asked to throw some chairs around, you can comfortably bet your rent on her delivering.
And when something like that becomes the norm, it becomes easy to take it for granted. Not just for us fans but for the companies she works for. Sendai Girls know they can rely on DASH, and because of that, they almost forget to appreciate her. Do you know when she last had a singles match that had stakes beyond something brought to it personally? According to Cagematch, it was December 2020 when she got to the final of a tournament to decide the new number 1 contender for the Regina di Wave (she lost to Hirota). If you want to see when she last challenged for a singles title, head back even further, as she faced Sareee for the Sendai belt in July 2019. DASH is so good that she doesn’t need fancy baubles to make a match great, but it would be nice if she got the opportunity to play with them now and then.
That brings us back to the present, where DASH was thrown into another match that existed for the sake of existing and killed it. Aja deserves all the love in the world for the bumps she took here, but Chisako was the glue, providing 90% of the movement and eating a lot of shit. Aja may have willingly been laid down on a table, but DASH jumped from the top of a ladder to go crashing through it, and it’s not the first or last time she’s put her body on the line. She deserves more than being the barely mentioned person who was in the ring with Aja Kong, and hopefully, I’ll remember that in the future. In other words, give her a title shot, you shits.
Saki Akai’s retirement road has been a joy to watch. I don’t think it’s a wild claim to say she’s going out at the peak of her powers, and as she moved towards calling it quits, she had some of the better matches of her career. However, that’s not the only reason. Because watching Saki Akai do the rounds, making final appearances all over the place, it’s become increasingly clear that everyone adores her. Whether it’s popping up on indie shows, being invited around to the Marvelous house for dinner or getting the full Misao and Rika treatment on her final TJPW appearance, Saki Akai is, to all appearances, everyone’s favourite big sister. You expected the DDT roster to be sad to see her go, but it stretched further than that. No one wanted to say goodbye.
And while I believe that, despite what some unusual types on Twitter will claim, the in-ring stuff is the most important part of this nonsense, knowing that has raised Akai in my estimations. Saki has come a long way in the last ten years, going from gangly and awkward to an impressive worker with a knack for character work. However, while I think you should keep your emotional attachment to all of these people at arm’s length, there is also a joy in learning that she is, seemingly, a decent person. I obviously can’t guarantee that is the case (while I’ve seen her live a few times, I’ve never met her), but the impression I’ve got from watching her peers react to her goodbyes is that it’s true. She’s one of the good ones.
It’s also something that comes out in this match. Akai was not only able to put together an all-star lineup for her final outing but one that was motivated to ensure she went out on a high. She has arguably spent her whole career demanding that she be treated no different from the guys in DDT, and as she bowed out, that still rang true, with old friends like Higuchi saying goodbye the only way they know how. The only concession came at the end, as her Eruption teammates encouraged Higuchi and Marafuji to step aside, leaving her alone with Yamashita to play out the final seconds of her career and have her head kicked into the last row one last time.
In someone else’s hands, that moment would have been cheesy at best and patronising at worst. Here, with all we know about Akai, it felt right. She went out on her terms against one of the best, and while it seems like she’ll be hanging around backstage in DDT, she’ll still be missed.
Hiromu Takahashi vs Kazuki Hirata, Ultimate Party (12/11/23), DDT
Hiromu Takahashi might be a New Japan boy who had never wrestled in DDT before this match, but in his soul, there has always been a hint of the Dramatic Dream Team waiting to come out. He has spent years annoying poe-faced New Japan fans with his collection of cats, colourful outfits and ridiculous antics. In another world, he would have spent that time exploring the weirder corners of his brain, but
it wasn’t to be. We can only be grateful that we got at least a taste of what that could have been like.
However, while Takahashi was undeniably the attraction, he wasn’t the focus of this match. It revolved around Hirata and his determination to drag Hiromu into the nonsense dirt. Despite what I’ve just said, Takahashi started all business, years of NJPW brainwashing kicking in as he refused to entertain the stipulations DDT forced upon him. However, Hirata chipped away at that steeling determination, ushering him into his world and forcing him to let his freak flag fly. It was part wrestling match, part nonsensical seduction, as Hirata did everything he could to get Hiromu to let loose and dance.
It meant that while Takahashi won the match, Hirata won the war. No one knows this game like him, so when Hiromu made the mistake of lying with the Ironman title on his chest in the aftermath, Matsui counted the three, and Hirata took advantage, making sure he walked out with the title despite what the official result might say. In the aftermath, as the master stared down at a confused and frustrated Takahashi, there was a sense that Hirata had proven his point. This is his world, and while Hiromu can come and visit, he’ll have to learn a few more tricks if he wants to make it his home. Go back to playing in easy mode in New Japan, kid. This is where the experts do it.
Adam Page vs Swerve Strickland, Full Gear (18/11/23), AEW
I recently found myself explaining The Age of the Fall’s ROH debut to a friend who doesn’t take this wrestling stuff as seriously as I do but will humour me when he’s in a forgiving mood. When I first saw that moment, as an awkward emo teenager discovering noisy music, it felt like one of the coolest things I’d ever seen. Except, when I say that’s how I felt as a teenager, I’m kinda lying. Because really, I still think it’s cool as hell. Maybe it’s because I’ve watched one too many films about people getting chopped up by angry guys with no clear motive, but blood rules, and when used right, it makes wrestling better. All of this brings us to Hangman vs Swerve, which, much like the Age of the Fall, teenage Stuart and adult Stuart loved in equal measure.
And to get it out of the way, this wasn’t perfect. It should have ended after the 450 onto the glass, as the hanging finish didn’t look half as brutal, and it would have meant I could have continued my streak of not watching Brian Cage do anything. It went a bit long, and they overthought it all, but I don’t care. I don’t care because Hangman drank Swerve’s blood and that shit fucking rules. Is it gross? Of course, but (assuming they’ve both a clean bill of health, etc) it’s the perfect kind of gross, where it doesn’t hurt either of them and still produces a visceral reaction from everyone watching. I know the usual suspects have got their knickers in a twist about it, but if you asked me whether I wanted to drink a bit of a healthy bro’s blood or take a German suplex, I know which one I’d pick.
It’s also true that while that was the standout moment of the match, it wasn’t what made it great. It worked because it felt fuelled by hate. Hangman Page was an old-school, blood-and-guts babyface, throwing himself at a heel who had crossed one too many lines. I know AEW have decided to put the chips on MJF, but with blood staining his face, Hangman is so clearly this company’s hero. It’s in everything from the way he throws a punch to his hair getting wrapped up in barbed wire. Plus, it helps that he’s pretty easy on the eye, too.
A great babyface also needs a perfect heel, and Swerve was that. Not only did he hit a gusher, bleeding all over the place, but he let Hangman unleash all that anger on his ass, eating shit for a significant portion of the match. Then, to shove the boot in, the prick only went and won anyway, making his villainy feel all the worse. They gave us the catharsis of watching him get fucked up but then ripped away the satisfying ending, keeping the feud alive and sending Hangman back to the bottom of the mountain. That’s old-school wrestling, and if the rest of AEW looked more like this, I’d probably tune in more often.
Momoka Hanazono vs Mei Seira, Gold Rush (18/11/23), Stardom
If I’m honest, I don’t have much to say about this one, apart from the fact that I’m glad Stardom still gets some things right. Since Mei Seira signed on the dotted line, I’ve been dreading her slow transformation into a Stardom wrestler. It’s happened with the likes of Suzu Suzuki and Yunamon, and I can’t help but assume Mei will be close behind. I get that it’s a road to success, but it’s one that I don’t find particularly interesting, and I only hope she can retain a bit of the Marvelous magic that made her so wonderful to begin with.
However, as of now, that transformation hasn’t happened, and the 7-odd minutes she got to mess around with Momoka were proof. You got all the high speed capering you would expect her but strung together with the story of Mei repeatedly going for a powerbomb, seemingly pinning her hopes on it for victory, only to spring a surprise and catch Hanazono off-guard with a roll-up instead. It was simple, well-worked wrestling that showed both off at their best, whether that be with bubble antics or lighting-fast exchanges. Sure, it would have been better in Marvelous or SEAd, but so would most things Stardom does.
I guess my point is that when Stardom gets out of its own way and sends wrestlers out to do the things they’re good at, there is still value to this company. It’s not enough to get me watching every week, no matter how much I love Mei, but it will keep me coming back, peeping my head around the door to say hello and check everyone is okay. Wrestlers like these two make it worthwhile, and it was a lot of fun to spend seven minutes watching them do their thing.
Shoko Nakajima vs Max the Impaler, The Mountain Top (19/11/23), TJPW
Big vs small is a universal story. Sure, most combat sports stick to weight limits, but who doesn’t want to see a nippy wee prick try to take down a big fucker? One of wrestling’s strengths is that it can give you that without worrying about accidentally booking a murder. And what a big vs small pairing this was, as Shoko Nakajima got first crack (out of the TJPW roster) at trying to cut Max the Impaler down and take the International Belt from around their waist.
In many ways, this was a classic version of the trope. Max threw Shoko around the ring, hoisting her into the air with ease. Shoko, meanwhile, looked for ways to get them off their feet, repeatedly going to the 619 and then taking a risk with a senton on the apron. They didn’t go out there looking to repeat the success of Rika vs Max and subvert the story or do something different. They did the opposite. They played it straight down the line.
But sometimes, that is what you want. Sure, art that throws the formula away is vital, but there is still good to be found in a heavy metal song with a big, chunky riff to bang your head along with. Shoko vs Max was that. Except these two are exceptional musicians. Their talent shines through in the hopeless desperation of Shoko’s comeback or how Max seems to know the exact amount to bump without hurting their aura. It was two masters at work, and while we’ve seen it all before, that doesn’t make it any less exciting.
Mio Momono’s High Spurt 600 Tournament, Marvelous (24/11/23), Marvelous
Tournaments are a great way to put together exciting match-ups, and the interestingly named High Spurt 600 certainly did, as it gave us Mio vs both Veny and Yuu. However, the real gift of a tournament, particularly one where the majority of the matches take place on a single day, is its ability to craft an arc for a wrestler across a show. With back-to-back matches against two powerhouses who rarely lose, Mio Momono had everything going against her, which made it the perfect time for her to overcome.
I know I go on about Mio all the time. I haven’t gone back and checked, but I imagine you would have to scroll a long way to find one of these roundups that didn’t feature me raving about a Momono performance. However, even by her standards, this was a good day. Not only were those two matches thrilling as she tried to find a way around two people who, to put it bluntly, beat the shit out of her, but she did an outstanding job of selling her desperation. With a shot at Mayumi Ozaki and the AAAW Title on the line, you could taste Mio’s need to make amends. That title loss has been weighing heavy on her, and even Veny and Yuu weren’t going to be enough to block her opportunity to shift that load.
And when Mio’s desperate, you can understand why people have theorised that she doesn’t know wrestling is fixed. It’s an old cliche that great wrestlers don’t waste movement, but Mio doesn’t waste seconds, as the slightest gap is greeted by her launching herself towards her opponent. There was no chance she could outmuscle these two, but she could wear them down, bundling them up time after time, disorientating and tiring them until they could no longer kick out. The opportunities she was grasping weren’t easy ones either. Often, it involved ignoring the pain, gritting her teeth and popping back up to her feet to keep going despite her body telling her not to.
My belief that Mio is the best wrestler in the world comes from that desperation. I believe she’s hurting, but that stopping isn’t an option. When she barely raised her shoulder from a Yuu splash, I could feel the struggle to get it off the mat, but also the need to not give up. The Marvelous fans believe it, too. Shinkiba was as hot as you will hear it for one of these smaller shows, as they cheered Momono on, desperate for their hero to get a chance to redeem herself. When Ozaki left her a bloody, crying mess, she had a mountain to climb to get back, but on this show, she clambered up two. And with just Tomoko Watanabe between her and her prize, would you bet against her climbing a couple more?
Yup, tournaments are pretty great.
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