We’ve got reviews of shows from everyone from AAA to wXw.
DDT’s second trip to Korakuen of 2020 brought with it a hell of a card. We’ve got our first big title defence of the year, the dishing out of some Anytime Anywhere contracts and a tag title showdown featuring an odd couple. Throw in Marufuji in singles action and the debut of a new faction, and I can’t imagine not having a lovely time. Let’s find out if I’m right, shall we?
Continue reading
It’s 2020, and a new year always brings with it a chance to dive into some new and exciting wrestling. I’ve made it a bit of a tradition to pick a new company to try out every January, and while this year’s attempts are a bit delayed thanks to my trip to Japan, it’s a tradition that shall continue. So, welcome to my first ever Ice Ribbon review. In fact, it’s not only my first review but the first show I’ve ever watched. That means I don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, so if you’re a hardcore fan, please keep that in mind and be nice to me. Although, do feel free to point out any mistakes I make in the comments as I’m always happy to be educated.
Continue reading
On their 9th birthday Stardom did something they’d never done before and packed Korkauen Hall right up to the balcony. That famous old venue was bursting at the seams, and it was a beautiful sight. Yes, you can point to the advertising power of Bushiroad, but a card headlined by Mayu vs Momo is one of the biggest Stardom can deliver, and it had the crowd it deserved. Now, it was down to the wrestlers to impress.
Continue reading
The ladder match has become not so much a WWE staple, as a crutch. They love nothing more than to shove a bunch of wrestlers into one ring, give them a load of ladders and make them damn near kill each other in an attempt to one-up the last group of people who were placed in the same spot. However, once upon a time, the ladder match was a fresh and exciting idea that still presumably hurt like hell, but hadn’t been sucked dry of every squirt of uniqueness it had. Back then, Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon walked into Madison Square Garden at WrestleMania X and started a love affair that would continue in WWE to this day.
Continue reading
Stardom has decided to blow away the January blues with a little tournament. The High Speed Grand Prix is a five-person round-robin where the two people with the most points will face-off in the final with the winner challenging for Riho’s title. It seemed like the perfect slab of wrestling to follow along with, and the three matches reviewed below came from the two Osaka shows on January 11th plus the Shizuoka show from the 12th.
Continue reading
When you strip it down to its bare bones, Maki Itoh’s journey through the world of wrestling has been a desperate quest for acceptance. She entered this weird and wonderful form of entertainment feeling like idol had rejected her, chewing her up and spitting her out. To recover, she sought to prove herself in a different medium, one that bore similarities but allowed Itoh to be a lot more, well, Itoh.
Continue reading
A quick note before I get started, I am going to be cutting down on the number of shows I review this year. I’ll still be doing a decent amount, but I want to write about some other things, and it’s hard to do that when you’re trying to keep up to date on multiple promotions. With companies like Stardom, I’ll pick and choose the exciting or noteworthy events while I wouldn’t expect in-depth reviews of every New Japan tournament (cheerio, Tag League). It’s a small change, but one I thought was worth mentioning.
Anyway, today I am going to have a look at Stardom’s second show of the year, which ended on an angle that saw them give the hornet’s nest a boot before 2020 had properly woken up.
Continue reading
It’s the day after Wrestle Kingdom, and all through the house, everyone is stirring because New Japan had another fucking show. I didn’t go to this one because I nipped over to Osaka instead, but New Year Dash always throws a few curveballs our way and had a certain Jushin Thunder Liger’s retirement ceremony, so I was going to watch it one way or another.
Continue reading
My final wrestling show of the trip was once again in the Tokyo Dome where, on a stacked card, there was only really one match I cared about. It was time for Tetsuya Naito to fulfil his Destino, and if he didn’t, well, I’d be writing someone a very strongly worded letter.
Continue reading
With Tokyo Joshi finished, it was time to go to the second most important show of the day. January 4th at the Tokyo Dome is a New Japan tradition, and even if they were running two dates there this year, there was something extra special about the first. Watching Wrestle Kingdom a few years ago got me into Japanese wrestling and, well, have a look around this site if you want to know how important that was to me. So, let’s find out what New Japan gave me on my first trip to their biggest show of the year.
Continue reading