Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for September 2022

The UK might have spent September doing the political version of loudly shitting itself while screaming and pointing in the opposite direction to distract us, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t some great wrestling. This month I go deeper on Stardom than I have in a long time, find a new favourite bear and still have time to talk about a load of other stuff. So, if you’re looking for something to distract you from the UK’s incompetence (or any other country’s), here’s some good graps to watch by candlelight as you try to save money.

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01/10/2022 0

Yuna Mizumori: Finding ChocoPro’s Identity

It’s sometimes easy to forget that when ChocoPro began, there was no feeling (at least as a fan) that this would be a long-term thing. At the time, we thought COVID would be over sooner rather than later, and Emi Sakura throwing a live show on YouTube to highlight Baliyan Akki vs Minoru Suzuki felt like a fun way to pass the day. Those first few shows had no unique identity or distinguishing features but came across as Gatoh Move without the fans and with added squats. However, as it became clear COVID wasn’t going anywhere, ChocoPro began to search for what made it unique. And while they went through a few ideas (Mei Suruga’s arts and crafts period was a personal favourite), they eventually settled on the formula that exists to this day. And the key to finding that formula? Yuna Mizumori vs Emi Sakura.

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30/09/2022 0

TJPW Autumn Tour (24/9/22) Review

The last show before Wrestle Princess III was down a Hyper Misao and a Mahiro Kiryu, but the show must go on, and TJPW were looking to build a little bit of extra hype before the big day. Did they pull it off? Well, let’s find out.

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25/09/2022 0

Marvelous Chiba (23/9/22) Review

Marvelous’s busy September concluded with a trip to Chiba, the hometown of one Mio Momono. Would the place of her birth inspire her to turn her recent dodgy form around? Well, let’s find out.

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24/09/2022 0

TJPW Autumn Tour (16/9/22) Review

After a quiet couple of weeks, TJPW were back in Shinkiba to start making moves toward Wrestle Princess. The main event of this show decided who would challenge for the International Title while the semi-main put Shoko and Yuka on opposite sides of the ring. I’ve always got a base level of excitement for big TJPW shows, but let’s see if this manages to push me over the edge.

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20/09/2022 1

Marvelous (16/9/22) Review

The Marvelous roster has had a busy old month bouncing around Japan (and they’re not done yet), but they were back in the more familiar territory of Shinkiba for this show and in front of an audience who were permitted to make noise. It’s funny that such a simple thing is now capable of making me so happy, but it is a delight watching wrestlers hear people shout their name again (Mio particularly milked it), and it had this show in my good books before it had even started.

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19/09/2022 1

Marvelous Oita (11/9/22) Review

Marvelous have been all over the place recently, bouncing around Japan to catch up with the fans they haven’t been able to visit over the last few years or, as was the case on this show, ever before. It was their first-ever trip to Oita, and with all their other travels having delivered some lovely times so far, it seemed unlikely this would buck the trend, but hey, let’s find out.

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13/09/2022 0

Marvelous Oyama (4/9/22) Review

After Marvelous treated me to Mio Momono vs Ai Houzan on their last show, they decided to keep the good times rolling by having Ai’s next opponent be Miyako Matsumoto. What does that match look like? I have no idea, but I definitely want to see it, so let’s get on with the show!

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06/09/2022 0

TJPW City Circuit (4/9/22) Review

With the success of the Yuki Arai project, Nagoya has become a solid secondary market for TJPW. They’re slowly building up the size of the rooms they run there, and her winning the tag belts gave them a perfect main event for this show. That’s a nice coincidence, isn’t it? It’s almost like someone planned it.

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05/09/2022 0

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for August 2022

August has been a hell of a month for the old wrestling. Between the Princess Cup and the 5STAR, we’ve had loads of high-profile singles matches in the two big joshi companies, plus a load of exciting stuff helping elsewhere. It means this is a long one, but fingers crossed it’s also a good one, and there will be plenty for you all to get your teeth into.

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01/09/2022 0