Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
Another month, another batch of ramblings about matches and shows I primarily saw live. Of the 11 events covered here, there is only one I didn’t attend in person, and that’s because I woke up feeling like shit, so I stayed in bed that morning. I hope you’re not all bored of me talking about how much I love going to Ichigaya Chocolate Square because it ain’t stopping any time soon.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for May 2026”
Akki vs Mei has been a long time coming. Their last, and until this only, singles match came on ChocoPro #6, a time before Best Bros. Since then, they’ve been kept stubbornly apart, waiting for the right moment to finally clash again. One has to imagine that they’ve talked about it, though. Akki and Mei have spent hours training, travelling and wrestling together, so it would be mad if they hadn’t gone back and forth, trying to figure out what this match would look like. Who knows how many ideas they’ve had in that time, how many they’ve come up with and discarded before the moment finally came.
Continue reading “Mei Suruga vs Baliyan Akki, Apple Universe – The 8th Launch (24/5/26), ChocoPro”
I started writing a full review of this show, only to realise that there were a few matches I had very little to say about. They weren’t awful, or even that bad, but it’s hard to wrangle opinions on everything. What am I going to say about another Titus Alexander vs Starboy Charlie match? They seem like nice lads, and Titus gets Marvelous in a way only a handful of foreign talents have, but them wrestling each other is what it is. It was for a WWE belt, for Christ’s sake. So, instead, I’ve picked out some talking points that I do have something to say about.
Continue reading “Marvelous 10th Anniversary (5/5/26) Ramble”
After several trips abroad and a huge show in Ryōgoku Kokugikan, TJPW returned to the more comfortable sights of Korakeun Hall. As is now often the case, I was at this one live, so I apologise if this is a more general review. I ain’t taking notes while the show is going on, especially as it was the first of two that day. Still, hopefully I’ll stumble onto something you find interesting regardless!
Continue reading “TJPW Yes! Wonderland ’26 (4/5/26) Review”
If you follow me on some form of social media, you might be aware that I moved to Japan this month. If you don’t, well, I did. It would be a weird thing to lie about.
It’s relevant here because it means a lot of my wrestling viewing is going to change. I’m living in Tokyo, so now when an event like Grand Princess rolls around, I’m probably going to be in the building. That’s obviously a lovely thing for me, but it does mean having to rethink how I approach writing about this stuff. Being there live doesn’t really lend itself to a match-by-match review. Maybe, once I’m settled in, I will figure out a way to do it, but not having easy access to a pause button and enjoying a lemon sour or four makes picking apart the action in intimate detail difficult. I could, of course, rewatch when I’m home, and I may do that with shows down the line, but I’m quite busy at the moment, and this was a long one.
So, instead of going over individual matches, I’ve picked out a few big talking points to dive into. Let me know if you love, like or hate this format because I’ll inevitably be tweaking it as we go.
Continue reading “TJPW Grand Princess ’26 (29/3/26) Ramblings”
The Max Heart final is always an unusual Korakuen. Positioned before Grand Princess, the gears tend to be turning for bigger matches elsewhere, so we end up with a lot of filler or build-up stuff. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean the show has struggled in the past. Let’s see how they did this year.
Continue reading “TJPW Max Heart Tournament Final (14/2/26) Review”
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”
Ramblings About Wrestling 