Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
Confession time. I was determined going into 2025 to watch more Ice Ribbon, but, as is often the case, I failed. Time, money and all those other boring things got in the way. However, with Ribbonmania closing out the year, I decided to pop back in, see what was going down and have a ramble about it. With that in mind, I apologise if I’m missing any context here. I’m sure there’s someone else out there who can fill in the gaps.
Continue reading “Ice Ribbon Ribbonmania (31/12/25) Review”
I make the same joke every year that it’s time for the most important show to happen on Ittenyon, so why would I stop now? Sure, Tanahashi has sold out the Dome, but is that as important as Pom and Raku teaming with Max the Impaler? I think not.
Continue reading “Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling ’26 (4/1/26) Review”
For a long time, I didn’t have an obvious choice for my match of the year. There was loads of stuff I’d loved, but nothing that instantly cemented itself at the top of the pack. On top of that, I didn’t make a trip to Japan, and the only shows I saw live were AEW and EVE, neither of which I care about enough to place in that strata, even with the elusive in-the-room magic. However, when I sat down to start rewatching my favourites, I quickly realised that the answer had been staring me in the face the whole time. There was a match I loved above the rest, and it was the one that, in a lovely rarity, took place between my two wrestlers of the year.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Match of the Year 2025: Shoko Nakajima vs Uta Takami, Additional Attack (18/10/25), TJPW”
It’s that time of year again, and we kick things off with my best of the rest. These are the matches that aren’t quite my favourite of the year, but if you got me on a different day, they could be. As always, they’re listed in chronological order, and there are a bunch of others that could have made this list (including one that I already wrote about). If you’re feeling the burning need to inform me I’m wrong about something on this list, please don’t bother – it’s not worth either of our time. However, if you’ve got some cool recommendations, I’m always intrigued to hear them.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Year 2025: The Best of the Rest”
When I started to put together my end of year list, my initial feeling was that I wouldn’t include this match. It seemed too obvious, too boring. I’m well aware that’s a fault of mine, a need to point towards the unnoticed rather than accept when the thing in front of me is just as special, but I long ago made peace with that. Besides, it was easy to double down on that feeling when friend-of-the-site Unmanned Local Train posted their writing on it, a piece that beautifully captured so much of what made it great.
Continue reading “Meiko Satomura & Manami vs Aja Kong & Chihiro Hashimoto, Meiko Satomura THE FINAL (29/4/25), Sendai Girls”
Five minutes can make a big difference. No one, outside of the minuscule Marvelous bubble, was talking about Senka Akatsuki until five minutes in Las Vegas changed it all. Suddenly, she became the most hyped joshi rookie in who knows how long, with the vast majority of it coming from people who had only seen those five minutes of her work. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be the one to pour cold water on the excitement. I was at Senka’s debut, and I’ve seen nearly every match. She’s worth paying attention to, but a lot of said hype has skated past the flaws. Which is a shame because we’re now at the point where Senka is trying to address those, and that’s when things get interesting.
Continue reading “Senka Akatsuki vs Spike Nishimura, Chihiro Hashimoto 10th Anniversary Show ~ KAIBUTSU A DECADE (16/11/25), Sendai Girls”
It feels like we went a while without any TJPW Korakuens, and now we’ve had two fairly close together. I won’t lie, the card for this one didn’t excite me as much as the last, but it wouldn’t be the first time Teej exceeded my expectations. Let’s have a ramble about what went down.
Continue reading “TJPW All Rise ’25 (9/11/25) Review”
TJPW returned to Korakuen with an intriguing line-up. The top of the card is dominated by first title defences, where we know the belts aren’t going to shift, but there’s still some excitement to be found in people getting an opportunity in those positions. Further down, you’ve got the joy of the Mahiro Ironman title reign continuing, and even more thrillingly, a trio of interesting showdowns between young wrestlers and veterans. It all had the potential to be great, so let’s see what went down.
Continue reading “TJPW Additional Attack (18/10/25) Review”
It’s somehow Wrestle Princess time. I swear it comes round quicker every year. Before the show, I saw someone describe this as the weakest of TJPW’s Ota Ward cards this year, but I don’t agree with that. You’ve got Rika vs Pom for fuck sake! Not to mention the return of Apple Ice Cream. There was a whole lot I was looking forward to here, so let’s get on with it.
Continue reading “TJPW Wrestle Princess VI (20/9/25) Review”
I don’t want to slag off Rina Yamashita. She’s a fantastic wrestler who has been part of some amazing stuff. However, in recent times, she’s been stuck in what I think of as the Hiroyo Matsumoto vortex. She’s old-reliable. A freelancer who pops up in countless promotions and can be trusted to fill a spot anywhere on the card. That’s no bad thing. In fact, it’s a talent in its own right. However, it’s easy to see why someone in that role would slip into a rut. There’s nothing to get your teeth into. You arrive, do your thing, and go home. The matches are rarely bad. They’re just not what you remember.
Continue reading “Rina Yamashita vs Mei Suruga, Game Changer (5/9/25), ChocoPro”
Ramblings About Wrestling 