Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for February 2025

Raku is in charge of the train now. Credit: TJPW

It doesn’t matter if the month is long or short – I always get to the end of it feeling like there are at least twenty matches I haven’t got to yet. Despite that, I think February’s ramble has a nice selection of gems to get excited about. There’s all the usual stuff (Ice Ribbon, ChocoPro and TJPW), but also a bit more lucha, a touch of New Japan and a trip over to Evolution, who are becoming one of my favourite promotions outside of my typical fare to keep up with. Hopefully, there is something there that you’ll enjoy, and if you think I’m missing anything particularly exciting, drop it in the comments.

Continue reading →

01/03/2025 2

SEAdLINNNG New Leaf 2024! (21/4/24) Review

Hanako might not have been delighted to see them return. Credit: Here

Arisa Nakajima is back! Let’s revel in that fact before we worry about the announcement made at the end of this show. Nakajima returned at Korakuen Hall in an all-star showdown that also included the start of a temporary return for Tsukasa Fujimoto. That sounds like a good time, doesn’t it? Let’s find out if it was.

Continue reading →

24/04/2024 0

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for August 2023

August is a slightly different month for my Ramblings About roundup. Since the 18th, I’ve been in Japan, so the second half of this list is entirely made up of matches I’ve seen in person. Seeing something live alters how you view it, and if you’re looking for in-depth analysis over more feeling-based yelling, you might want to go elsewhere. However, I’ve been having a lovely old time, and I still hope there is some value in what I have to say.

Continue reading →

01/09/2023 0

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for October 2022

October is over, and with it, another month of rather good wrestling. Between Wrestle Princess, the end of the 5STAR and who knows how many smaller events going on over the last thirty-one days, I had plenty to get my teeth into, and fingers crossed that there is something here that will entice you into checking it out too. Enjoy!

Continue reading →

01/11/2022 0

Marvelous (25/10/22) Review

Marvelous’s latest trip to Shin-Kiba was a sneakily big show for them. With Unagi Sayaka making her debut for the company (having turned up at the last event to assess Takumi Iroha), there was every chance there would be a few new eyes on the product. Could they do enough to keep them around? Let’s find out.

Continue reading →

26/10/2022 0

Marvelous in Kariya (15/11/22) Review

After a cracking show the day before in Osaka, Marvelous headed to Kariya for another card that looked like it had the potential to deliver something exciting. Would it? Well, let’s find out.

Continue reading →

16/10/2022 0

Marvelous Osaka (14/10/22) Review

It’s worth mentioning at the start (mainly so I don’t have to keep repeating it throughout) that Marvelous had some technical problems on this show. That meant the video quality was a bit dodgy, and matches occasionally skipped ahead a few seconds or went into fast-forward as they tried to catch up. It wasn’t enough to make it unwatchable, at least for me, but your mileage may vary. Anyway, that aside, this looked like a stacked card on paper, so let’s see what went down.

Continue reading →

15/10/2022 0

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for September 2022

The UK might have spent September doing the political version of loudly shitting itself while screaming and pointing in the opposite direction to distract us, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t some great wrestling. This month I go deeper on Stardom than I have in a long time, find a new favourite bear and still have time to talk about a load of other stuff. So, if you’re looking for something to distract you from the UK’s incompetence (or any other country’s), here’s some good graps to watch by candlelight as you try to save money.

Continue reading →

01/10/2022 0

Marvelous (16/9/22) Review

The Marvelous roster has had a busy old month bouncing around Japan (and they’re not done yet), but they were back in the more familiar territory of Shinkiba for this show and in front of an audience who were permitted to make noise. It’s funny that such a simple thing is now capable of making me so happy, but it is a delight watching wrestlers hear people shout their name again (Mio particularly milked it), and it had this show in my good books before it had even started.

Continue reading →

19/09/2022 1

Marvelous (8/8/22) Review

Marvelous had zero luck coming into this show. A few days before, Chigusa Nagayo tested positive for COVID, taking her out of the cross-generational tag match they’d been building up to for a few months and preventing her from being at KAORU’s retirement. Then, to add a bit of sting to that kick, Rin Kadokura and Ai Houzan were also pinged, sending Marvelous into Korakuen with a depleted roster. However, with injury already putting KAORU’s retirement off for a year, the show must go on, and they were determined to see her out in style!

Continue reading →

09/08/2022 0