There was a moment early in this match where Antonio Honda stood up with Togo’s legs trapped in his and paused, just for a second, but long enough that my brain made an assumption. After years of watching his work, I could almost see the silly wee dance we were about to get, a sweetener to make everyone laugh after a serious start to the action. I was wrong. Instead, Honda dropped backwards, wrenching on the hold and making it clear that there will be no jokes in this one.
Continue reading “Throwback: Antonio Honda vs Dick Togo (30/1/11) Review”Stardom Throwback: New Year Stars (22/1/12) Review
My journey through Stardom’s history has become a bit of a leisurely stroll, but that’s not a problem! Who is in a hurry to get anywhere? We’ve made it to their first anniversary, so that’s not too bad! Let’s see pop in and see how Stardom was getting on.
Continue reading “Stardom Throwback: New Year Stars (22/1/12) Review”AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 21 Review
We’re moving into the latter half of AJW’s ’87 as episode 21 of Classics features a chunk of Tag League and a couple of intriguing singles. It’s then all somewhat let down by a decision from whoever edited it, but we’ll get to that, and it hopefully won’t ruin all the fun.
Continue reading “AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 21 Review”AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 20 Review
I’m not sure I’ve ever kept up one of these wee projects for as long as this. The ROH one was barely out the blocks before the racism and homophobia had me banging my head against a wall, and while I’m planning on continuing my run through Stardom, it’s been a little bit stop-start. Then again, not everything is cherry-picked AJW, which does make it a little bit easier. Episode 20 was filmed over two shows in 1987, the first taking place on the 16th of June in Okinawa and the second on the 28th in Korakuen. Let’s get into it!
Continue reading “AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 20 Review”AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 19 Review
Episode 19 of AJW Classics continues our walk through 1987, with all four of these matches coming from the April 27th show. There is at least one biggie here, plus a few other interesting titbits, so let’s get into it.
Continue reading “AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 19 Review”Stardom Throwback: New Year Stars (7/1/12) Review
It’s time to move into 2012 in our run through Stardom’s history, and while the shows on Stardom World are a bit sparse for around this time, I’m determined to try and get my hands on as many of them as possible. Thankfully, the first few shows are already there, so that’s a future Stuart problem, and we can look at how Stardom kicked off their year.
Continue reading “Stardom Throwback: New Year Stars (7/1/12) Review”Stardom Throwback: Year End Stars (23/12/11) Review
It’s been a fair while since I did one of these, so let’s head back to 2011 and the end of Stardom’s first full year as a company. We’re unfortunately in a period where Stardom World is missing quite a few shows, but I’ll fill you in on the big stuff that we’ve missed. First up, there was a couple of title challenges, Io Shirai falling short against Yuzopon for the Wonder of Stardom belt and Taiyo failing to beat Nanae for the World of Stardom title. Stardom also ran their first ever tag league with Yuzopon and Yuko Bito beating Taiyo and Yoshiko in the final, making them the first ever Goddesses champions. Finally, they held a Rookie of The Year tournament, which saw Yoshiko beat Arisa to take that particular crown. So, all in all, it was a busy period for Stardom and hopefully those shows turn up someday so we can fill in the gaps. Now, though, it’s time to ramble about Stardom’s penultimate show of 2011, enjoy!
Continue reading “Stardom Throwback: Year End Stars (23/12/11) Review”AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 18 Review
Episode 18 of AJW Classics has four matches all from the same show, as this is the 15th of April 1987. So far, this series has failed to deliver a single stinker of an episode, so surely that runs got to end sometime? Guess we should find out.
Continue reading “AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 18 Review”AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 17 Review
As we head into 1987, things were beginning to shift in the world of AJW. A lot of the old faces are still around, but with the Crush Gals no-more and a host of incredible talent coming up behind them, we’re starting to see some new pairings. Sounds exciting, right?
Continue reading “AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 17 Review”AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 16 Review
All of the matches on episode 16 of AJW Classics come from the same show, the 7th of November 1986 event in Osaka. It’s a biggie too, as for the second time Dump and Chigusa go head to head with their hair on the line. This feud has defined the first batch of Classic episodes, producing countless incredible moments, so let’s get onto seeing what happened next.
Continue reading “AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 16 Review”
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