Miyako Matsumoto vs Chris Brookes: Genius Through Chaos

Satisfaction through agony. Credit: Gake No Fuchi

While most of the wrestling world’s attention was on the Tokyo Dome, or at the very least the NOAH show next door, there was a small group of around a hundred who were swimming against the current. For just a twenty-minute train ride away in Itabashi Green Hall, Miyako Matsumoto and Chris Brookes were taking part in a one-match card which was, well, a little bit different from what was going on in the echoey confines of the Dome.

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15/01/2020 0

Gatoh Move (1/1/20) Ramble

Credit: Gatoh Move

Down a nondescript alley in Ichigaya is a Chocolate Square. Nope, this isn’t the start to some weird Charlie and the Chocolate Factory rip-off, but it might be something just as magical.

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04/01/2020 0

DDT/BJW New Year’s Shuffle Tag Tournament (31/12/19) Ramble

My biggest worry about making this Japan trip solo was how I was going to spend my Hogmanay. The idea of being on the other side of the world, all on my lonesome and sat in some random bar while the bells rang felt, well, a bit depressing. Thankfully, Big Japan and DDT came to the rescue, with their Tag Team Shuffle tournament, a show that went through midnight and gave me an excuse to see in the New Year in Korakuen Hall. Like yesterday, this won’t be a traditional review, but instead a ramble about the experience.

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01/01/2020 0

BJW World Is Not Enough (30/12/19) Ramble

Image result for big japan wrestling world is not enough

I’m in Tokyo! A fact that still seems unbelievable despite being very much the truth. That means all the usual reviews will be delayed (I’m going to try and get some stuff up, including my match of the year list, over the next few days), but that I have other stuff to ramble about. To kick that off, I went to Korakuen Hall yesterday for my first live Japanese wrestling show and damn, did I have a good time. This won’t be a standard review. I wasn’t taking notes and had a few drinks, but will instead be a rumination of what it was like to go to Korakuen and watch Big Japan.

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31/12/2019 0

Minoru Suzuki: The Perfect Wrestler

Image result for minoru suzuki — I certainly wouldn’t fight him.

Minoru Suzuki is a badass. That’s a fair opinion to hold, right? Even at the age of fifty-one, the man is terrifying, while a twenty-second dive into his career will only add to your fear. There is not only the stellar pro-wrestling, filled with hard-hitting matches against some of the very best but the fact he was a founding figure in Pancrase, holding MMA victories over the likes of Ken Shamrock. His credentials weren’t dreamt up in the mixed-reality of kayfabe. They come from blood, sweat and the tears’ of his enemies.

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20/12/2019 1

The Wrestling Media

It might surprise those of you who regularly read the grammatical nightmares that are my ramblings, but I have a Master’s degree in Journalism. In another world where the industry wasn’t dying, and I had the enthusiasm to push towards getting a proper job, there is every chance I would be working as a journalist right now. I wouldn’t be very good at it, but if Boris Johnson can do it, I’m sure I would have managed.

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07/09/2019 0

NJPW G1 Climax 29 B Block Preview

Image result for g1 climax 29 — Credit: NJPW

Hopefully, the fact that you’re reading this means you’ve already read my preview of A Block in the 29th G1 Climax, and you know the deal. If for some reason you aren’t reading every word I produce, it might make more sense to start there? Click the link and enjoy. Done it? Great, onto Block B.

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04/07/2019 0

NJPW G1 Climax 29 A Block Preview

G1 CLIMAX 29 Press Conference, Meet & Greet Scheduled for Dallas! Additional Tickets Released!【G129】 — Credit: NJPW

The 29th G1 is slinking into view and it is looking particularly sexy this year. I can’t imagine being a wrestling fan and not being excited about this tournament. It has everything, and if you’re wondering what that everything is, then wonder no more, for I am here to help. Starting with the A Block, I am going to run through every wrestler in the tournament, rambling my thoughts onto the page and providing a few key matches. Enjoy.

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03/07/2019 1

Enough Is Enough, Fuck WWE.

For a long time I, and many others, have been saying things like: ‘well, if a wrestler wants to go to WWE, I can’t hold it against them’ or ‘watch it if you must, but you do know there is better wrestling out there, yea?’ Like most, if not all, Western fans, WWE is a part of my history. It’s the thing that made me care about the stuff I write about nearly every day. However, enough is enough. I can no longer sit back and pretend that it’s okay to associate with that company. It’s not. It’s fucked-up.

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25/06/2019 2

The New Day: You’ve Got A Friend In Me

Kofi Kingston has the chance to go to WrestleMania. On the final PPV before the fifty-hour-long event that is WWE’s version of the Superbowl, Kofi will face off against Daniel Bryan for the WWE Title. Will he win? Probably not, but that doesn’t really matter. The point is that after eleven years of being stuck in th mid-card, Kingston is getting his shot, and he got there with the help of his friends.

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21/02/2019 0