Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
The AAAW Tag League continues, as the second night of the tournament took place in Shinkiba on a show that doubled as a celebration of Tomoko Watanabe’s birthday. Perhaps as a treat to mark the day, Watanabe was spared Tag League duty, instead being set free to piss about in the opener. Although with how that went, it perhaps wasn’t as thoughtful a present as it appeared. More on that below!
Continue reading “Marvelous (27/2/24) Review”
Marvelous’s latest trip to Shinkiba had the potential for much excitement. Not only were they celebrating Mio’s 8th anniversary, but it was time to kick off the AAAW Tag League and find out who Ai’s mysterious partner would be. Did they deliver on that promise? Let’s find out.
Continue reading “Marvelous Mio Momono’s 8th Anniversary (13/2/24) Review”
TJPW returned to Korakuen Hall to decide the winner of the 2024 Max Heart Tournament. On one side of the ring, we had the former champions, Daydream, who, in winning, would have been setting Miu Watanabe up to wrestle twice at Sumo Hall. Attempting to stop that from happening was Daisy Monkey, the young pretenders, who were desperate to break through. Last year, this final produced one of my matches of the year. Would it do so again? Let’s find out.
Continue reading “TJPW Max Heart Tournament Final (10/2/24) Review”It’s been one of those weeks where my rambling about a random Shinkiba show feels utterly pointless. The death of Asahi is unfair and horrible and something that I still don’t think I’ve entirely processed. Hopefully, somewhere down the line, I’ll feel up to writing about her short but brilliant career. That’s not today, though. However, it would have felt weird to publish this (which I wrote before we learnt about it) without at least mentioning it and sending all my love to those who knew her better than me. Considering the impact she had on those who only knew her through a screen or from a quick chat at a show, I can only imagine the one she had on those who knew her well was something special.
After spending January on the road, Marvelous kicked off February with their first trip of 2024 to Shinkiba. There will, of course, be many more in the months ahead, but it’s always good to get things started right. Let’s see what went down.
Continue reading “Marvelous (2/2/24) Review”
January is a good month for wrestling. Not only do you have Ittenyon and companies setting out their stall for the year ahead, but I have a habit of wiping the backlog clean and starting fresh, leaving me motivated to check out as much new wrestling as possible. As a result of that, my matches of the month are significantly more eclectic than usual. There is all the regular stuff, but we’ve also a BJW tag, a lucha brawl and even an AEW rookie match. It’s as far out of the bubble as I am likely to venture, so fingers crossed you all enjoy it. As usual, if you’ve got any cool recommendations, let me know below or on Twitter.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for January 2024”
It’s Max Heart semi-final time, as TJPW filed into KFC Hall to find out who will be battling for a big trophy and a shot at the tag-team titles. Of the four teams left, only Daydream have held gold before, and even with Miu already booked to challenge Miyu for the shiniest belt of them all, you’ve got to look at them as the favourites. Will they make it to the final? Let’s find out!
Continue reading “TJPW Max Heart Tournament (27/1/24) Review”
As one big Japanese star makes their way to America, another somewhat smaller one continues to forge a new path on their return to their homeland. Since leaving WWE, Sareee has been brilliant, and these semi-regular Sareee-ISM shows have been a particular highlight of her run so far. Not only do they position her in high-profile matches, but they’re packed with some of the best wrestlers in the scene, with this one looking no different. Let’s see what went down.
Continue reading “Sareee-ISM Chapter III (16/1/24) Review”
Marvelous’s second show of the year saw them make the trip to Nagoya. They were down a couple of members of the extended Marvelous family – as Titus Alexander and Alpha Zo headed home. However, after missing the first show of the year with illness, Takumi Iroha is back. As much as I enjoyed Zo and Titus, that probably goes down as a net positive because, well, Takumi is Takumi. Anyway, on with the show.
Continue reading “Marvelous Nagoya (20/1/24) Review”
The Max Heart tournament has become a regular fixture in the TJPW calendar, as various tag teams compete in a knockout format for a shot at the belts. It’s become a tradition to have this in the post-Ittenyon spot, and it always feels like the perfect way to ease us into the year. With the first and second rounds happening over the same weekend, I have decided to lump them together into one review so that I don’t have to come up with multiple introductions. If anything interesting happens in the undercard, I’ll make sure to mention that, too.
Continue reading “TJPW Max Heart Tournament: First & Second Rounds Review”
The first Marvelous show of the year had them making the short jaunt to Yokohama. However, it’s already been a somewhat busy year for the roster, with the big news being that Mio Momono finally struck a blow against Oz Academy, defeating AKINO to win their big belt. The feud won’t be over until the AAAW title comes home, but it’s a start, and when you win a shiny new accessory in your first match of the year, you can probably leap into the rest of it feeling pretty confident. In less happy news, Takumi Iroha missed this show due to illness, so the card had to be tweaked. Hopefully, she’ll be back on her feet sooner rather than later.
Continue reading “Marvelous in Yokohama (14/1/24) Review”
Ramblings About Wrestling 