Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
Every AEW show feels like a big one this early in their fledgeling life as a wrestling company, but with their TV debut drawing ever closer, keeping the momentum up has to be their prime goal. Could All Out do that? Or would it be their first major misstep?
Continue reading “AEW All Out (31/8/19) Review”
Well, this took a while to turn up, didn’t it? Not only that, it’s apparent some changes are going on behind the scenes in Stardom, and I don’t think they’re necessarily good ones. The quality of the presentation on these videos, especially the subtitles, has dropped and, by the sounds of things, Sonny (who runs the English Twitter and I believe does the subtitling) is no longer doing it. I’ve no idea why, but he’s asked if anyone has complaints to Tweet at Stardom, so if you feel similarly to me, maybe do that.
Anyway, this is the third show of the 5STAR Grand Prix and the first of two that Stardom held in Osaka that day. Christ, just thinking about that sounds exhausting.
Continue reading “Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix (Afternoon 25/8/19) Review”
The first of GCW’s shows in Japan was a whole load of fun, so night two had something to live up to. With the way this company has been going recently, you’d have been daft to bet against them keeping the good form up.
Continue reading “GCW The New Face Of War (23/8/19) Review”
Towards the end of 2014, Kota Ibushi announced that he was moving to New Japan’s Heavyweight Division. Kota was no stranger to Heavyweight competition, he’d competed in the 2013 G1, but he’d done so while still officially a Junior (much like Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi did this year). Now, he was only wrestling the big boys, and for his first challenge? He went after Shinsuke Nakamura’s Intercontinental Title.
Continue reading “Meltzer’s Classics: Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kota Ibushi (4/1/15)”
GCW’s rise over the last few years has been as fun as it has been astonishing. Not long ago they were a deathmatch promotion, unknown to wrestling fans outside of that niche. Then, they figured out how to capture the minds and attention of a much larger crowd, blending that deathmatch style with comedy, great wrestling and a little bit of magic. It’s been so successful that they’ve been able to take this show on the road, heading to Tokyo’s Shin-Kiba 1st RING for two nights that blended their roster with a few notable Japanese faces.
Continue reading “GCW Worst Behavior (22/8/19) Review”
I had a lovely time reviewing the 5STAR for the first time and was only kept from going straight into this show by the need to wait for it to be uploaded (no complaints, Stardom are going a good job in getting them up). Day one gave us a great match and a handful of very good ones, so day two has a lot to live up to. Can they do it? Why not?
Continue reading “Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix (18/8/19) Review”
It’s time for my first 5STAR Grand Prix. Much like with the various New Japan tournaments, I intend to review the entire thing and can’t wait to have a shitload of Stardom singles matches to enjoy. I’ll also put my cards on the desk straight-up and say I’m on Team Hana when it comes to who I want to win, but I suspect it will be Momo. Truthfully, though, I don’t have a clue. I’ve no idea how they normally book this thing, so I’m happy to go along for the ride.
Continue reading “Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix (17/8/19) Review”
A quick note before we start, the hard camera for this show was all over the place. It hadn’t been stabilised and was wobbling about. There also appeared to be a couple of people having a quiet chat right next to it which was picked up on the microphone at times. Neither issue was a disaster, but if you are annoyed by things like that, you’re going to have a rough time.
Anyway, it’s Stardom at Korakuen which is almost guaranteed to be a good time at this point. Throw in Jungle Kyona vs Arisa Hoshiki, and you can probably upgrade the good to lovely.
Continue reading “Stardom X Stardom (10/8/19) Review”
As I make clear at the start of my TripleMania review every year, I know fuck all about lucha libre. Beyond the obvious stars, Fantastica Mania and this show, I only catch hyped matches, and the culture around it is as alien to me as it is fascinating. I adore how Mexico views wrestling, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that I also find some of their, em, eccentricities rather amusing. If history is any indicator, this show could veer wildly from genius to hilarious, and I am down for that.
If you want someone who does understand lucha, click here.
Continue reading “AAA TripleMania XXVII (3/8/19) Review”
I have very little to say in this introduction, so em, been up to much? Stardom’s latest show from Shin-Kiba 1st ring featured Leo Onozaki making her first title challenge, amongst other things, so it was a chance for the impressive rookie to show she has what it takes.
Continue reading “Stardom Shining Summer (3/8/19) Review”
