Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
After impressive performances from the Young Lions on day one of the Cup, we’re back with another two matches and a new selection of rookies who will be looking to impress. Will they? Let’s find out.
Continue reading “NJPW Young Lion Cup (5/9/19) Review”
You might have noticed this says Young Lion Cup at the top rather than Road to Destruction. I am not going to write about/watch the Road to Destruction shows because life is far too fucking short. However, I do want to catch the Young Lion Cup, so I will be doing a series of quick reviews covering their matches before doing full coverage of the actual Destruction shows. Sound good? It better.
Continue reading “NJPW Young Lion Cup (4/9/19) Review”
Having put on two successful shows with RevPro’s assistance last year, New Japan came back to the UK to do it all by themselves. Royal Quest came from the Copper Box in London, and it’s worth pointing out that I was there live. That means this review is conducted purely by the memory of what I could see from my floor seats after the visual aid of many a pint of beer and while being overwhelmed with the excitement of my first New Japan show proper. That means that it will all be getting the famous live bump, making matches that might have appeared merely fine at home, a lot more exciting to witness in person. Understood? Great, on with the show.
Continue reading “NJPW Royal Quest (31/8/19) Review”
Here we are then, the final of the 29th G1 Climax. It might not have been the match I wanted, but it’s the one we’ve got, and it’s time to find out who is heading to the Dome. Ibushi or White? The Golden Star or the Master Manipulator? The guy who thinks books can’t be trusted or The Knife Pervert? Time to find out.
Continue reading “NJPW G1 Climax 29 Final (12/8/19) Review”
We are getting very close to the end of this G1, aren’t we? There are two shows left, including this one, and it’s time to find out who will be going on to face Kota Ibushi for the right to main event Wrestle Kingdom. Goto, White, Naito and Moxley are all still in the mix, but we’ve all got our fingers crossed for the Naito Express, right? Come on, my son, bring it home.
My spoiler-free must-see recommendations are Tomohiro Ishii vs Taichi and Shingo Takagi vs Hirooki Goto.
Continue reading “NJPW G1 Climax 29 (11/8/19) Review”
Our final night in the A Block is one of those weird G1 shows with five singles matches, only one of which means anything. This has all come down to the main event of Ibushi vs Okada, and it’s a pretty simple scenario too. If Ibushi wins, he goes through while any other result sends Okada to the final.
My must-see spoiler-free recommendations are Zack Sabre Jr vs KENTA, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Will Ospreay and Kota Ibushi vs Kazuchika Okada.
Continue reading “NJPW G1 Climax 29 (10/8/19) Review”
I think I nailed my G1 maths for A Block yesterday, so let’s see if I can do the same for B. On the block’s penultimate night, Jon Moxley, Tetsuya Naito, Jay White, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Juice Robinson, Hirooki Goto, Taichi and Jeff Cobb all still had a chance to reach the final. Now I’ve written all that down I’ve realised this would be the longest intro of all time if I tried to figure it out, so let’s leave it for the end.
My must-see spoiler-free recommendations are Tetsuya Naito vs Jeff Cobb and Shingo Takagi vs Tomohiro Ishii.
Continue reading “NJPW G1 Climax 29 (8/8/19) Review”
We’re onto the penultimate block shows and you can smell the end of the G1. A Block is the simpler of the two, as the only people left alive are Okada, Ibushi, KENTA and EVIL. Of them, Okada’s route to the final is the easiest. If he keeps winning, he’s there. Ibushi has to match Okada’s result on this show before beating him in Budokan. KENTA requires Okada to lose both his matches while Ibushi loses to ZSJ and, finally, EVIL needs to win out while Okada loses out and KENTA loses to Ospreay. I think that’s all right, but I’m sure I’ve missed something. Either way, we all know it is coming down to Ibushi vs Okada on the final night, so quite frankly, that was a bit of a waste of time.
My spoiler-free must-see recommendations KENTA vs Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi vs Zack Sabre Jr and Kazuchika Okada vs EVIL.
Continue reading “NJPW G1 Climax 29 (7/8/19) Review”
The Naito comeback express is picking up speed and with the B Block in Osaka he needed Moxley to lose to Jay White before he faced off against his stablemate, Shingo, in the main event. Just that alone sounds like a shitload of fun, so let’s not hang around – onto the wrestling!
My spoiler-free must-see recommendations are Tomohiro Ishii vs Toru Yano, Jay White vs Jon Moxley and Shingo Takagi vs Tetsuya Naito.
Continue reading “NJPW G1 Climax 29 (4/8/19) Review”
The G1’s final big stop before Budokan saw them stroll into Osaka for a couple of nights. These two shows will give us a huge indication of exactly where Gedo is going with this unpredictable tournament, and we start with SANADA getting a chance to pick up his first win over Kazuchika Okada.
My spoiler-free must-see recommendations are EVIL vs Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi vs Hiroshi Tanahashi and SANADA vs Kazuchika Okada.
Continue reading “NJPW G1 Climax 29 (3/8/19) Review”
Ramblings About Wrestling 