Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
I went straight into the review on night one and didn’t mention that World Tag League has ditched the two group format in favour of every team being chucked into the one. It makes for a rather unwieldy block, and I’m a bit worried New Japan is going to produce another three-way dance in the final. Fingers crossed I’m wrong. Anyway, that’s a while off, so let’s focus on night two and all the fun that entails.
Continue reading “NJPW World Tag League Night Two (18/11/18) Review”
Right, I’m going have to work double time to catch up on World Tag League which considering it’s World Tag League and a chore at the best of times is not going to be fun. As usual for NJPW tournaments, I will not be reviewing the undercard because life is too short. Let’s do this!
Continue reading “NJPW World Tag League Night One (17/11/18) Review”
Many moons ago I started reviewing World Tag Team League. It should not have been an epic task, yet it became one. However, today, I shall finish my quest with this review of the third and final day. A show in which the tournament itself takes centre stage as we have the last group matches and the final. It’s been one hell of a weekend, so it’s time to find out if wXw stuck the landing.
Continue reading “wXw World Tag Team League (Night 3) Review”
This review is very late, a situation that you can blame on New Japan’s Super Junior Tag League.
wXw were forced to change the main event of World Tag Team League’s second night as an injury to everyone’s least favourite da, Absolute Andy, morphed the triple threat into a straight-up match between Ilja Dragunov and Bobby Gunns. However, rather than removing the title from the equation, they’ve taken a leaf out of MMA’s book and made it for the Interim Title. That’s exciting, isn’t it?
Continue reading “wXw World Tag Team League 2018 (Night 2) Review”
After a decent, if unspectacular, Super Junior Tag League, New Japan rolled into their final major show of the year, Power Struggle. They’ve put together one hell of a card too, as it’s one of the strongest collections of matches you’re likely to see without the Heavyweight Title being defended. With a section of the NJPW fanbase in a bit of a grump recently, this might be what they need to turn the mood around.
One of these matches is pivotal in deciding who goes to the final of this tournament and the other means fuck all. Considering the levels of effort put into this tournament when they were still supposedly wrestling for something, I’m a bit worried about what the match for pride will look like. We must treat every New Japan day like it’s Christmas, though. They might surprise me yet.
Continue reading “NJPW Super Junior Tag League (31/10-1/11/18) Review”
New Japan has split the final four group matches of the Super Junior Tag League onto separate shows, but I’m going to review them in groups of two rather than doing a piece for each one. Both of today’s bouts have potential final implications, so they at least hold some interest.
Continue reading “NJPW Super Junior Tag League (28-29/10/18) Review”
I’m not going to change my tournament long policy of ignoring the undercard, but it would be remiss to not mention what happened in the final multi-man match of this show. In what has become a common theme, The Firing Squad went after Okada post-match and Tanahashi made the save. This time, rather than rejecting the Ace’s help, Okada embraced in. In fact, Okada and Tanahashi shook hands while Korakuen Hall exploded. I watched that moment spoilt, yet it still gave me goosebumps. It’s so much more than a handshake, it’s the greatest feud in pro-wrestling coming full circle. Okada and Tanahashi gave the Juniors an impossible moment to follow just by clasping hands.
Continue reading “NJPW Super Junior Tag League (27/10/18) Review”
We now live in a world where Lanny Poffo is commentating on New Japan shows. That’s a world I distrust. I’ve got nothing against Lanny Poffo, it’s just fucking weird. Anyway, we’re back in Korakuen which means we’re getting four tournament matches and hopefully a smidge more effort.
Continue reading “NJPW Super Junior Tag League (26/10/18) Review”
New Japan’s Super Junior Tag League has sadly been a bit flat so far. There’s not much about it that I’d describe as bad, and yet, it’s hardly got the blood pumping. It’s been fine with a couple of spots where it’s leapt above that level to good and just the one (back on the first night) where it managed to hit great. Sadly, I doubt this single-camera show will be the moment that changes, but you never know.
Continue reading “NJPW Super Junior Tag League (23/10/18) Review”
Ramblings About Wrestling 