Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for January 2026

It might be a new year, but some things remain the same, as I commit to rambling about whatever wrestling I’ve been watching each month. You can tell it’s January because I always enter a new twelve months motivated to keep up with as much different stuff as possible. Will these lists be slowly whittled down to mainly covering Marvelous, TJPW and ChocoPro by the time April rolls around? Probably, but it’s nice to convince myself 2026 could be the year I stay on top of everything. You never know!

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02/02/2026 0

NJPW New Japan Road (20/2/20) Review

If you put Shingo vs Ishii on top of a card, I will come. I’m pretty sure that’s written in scripture somewhere. What religion? I don’t know, one of the good ones? Are there any good ones? Christ, that’s a conversation for a different day. Onto the wrestling!

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24/02/2020 0

NJPW The New Beginning In Sapporo (2/2/20) Review

After a beef-fest the night before, New Japan was dishing up a very different meal on night two of The New Beginning in Sapporo. We’ve got a bit of British in there followed by Taichi’s latest attempt to climb the ladder and reach the top of the New Japan rankings. Can he do it? Well, I guess it’s time to find out.

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04/02/2020 0

NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo (1/2/20) Review

Shingo knows what he wants. Credit: NJPW

After a wee break from New Japan (unless you kept up with FantasticaMania) it’s time for The New Beginning, a tour which NJPW has gone all out on this year. They’ve upgraded the final date to Osaka Jo-Hall and are delivering potentially fantastic matches at every destination. Up first was Goto vs Shingo and EVIL vs Ishii, which kind of makes it look like Gedo let me do some booking. He didn’t, but I’m certainly going to enjoy it.

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03/02/2020 0

NJPW New Year Dash (6/1/20) Review

It’s the day after Wrestle Kingdom, and all through the house, everyone is stirring because New Japan had another fucking show. I didn’t go to this one because I nipped over to Osaka instead, but New Year Dash always throws a few curveballs our way and had a certain Jushin Thunder Liger’s retirement ceremony, so I was going to watch it one way or another.

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13/01/2020 0

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom (5/1/20) Review

My final wrestling show of the trip was once again in the Tokyo Dome where, on a stacked card, there was only really one match I cared about. It was time for Tetsuya Naito to fulfil his Destino, and if he didn’t, well, I’d be writing someone a very strongly worded letter.

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10/01/2020 0

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom (4/1/20) Review

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Credit: NJPW

With Tokyo Joshi finished, it was time to go to the second most important show of the day. January 4th at the Tokyo Dome is a New Japan tradition, and even if they were running two dates there this year, there was something extra special about the first. Watching Wrestle Kingdom a few years ago got me into Japanese wrestling and, well, have a look around this site if you want to know how important that was to me. So, let’s find out what New Japan gave me on my first trip to their biggest show of the year.

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09/01/2020 0

NJPW Showdown in San Jose (9/11/19) Review

For the first time since announcing New Japan of America, NJPW has made the trip over the pond, rocking up in San Jose for some fun. It was a show packed with star power that featured a lot of tags backed-up by a couple of interesting title shots. How would it go? Well, now is the time to find out.

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12/11/2019 0

NJPW Power Struggle (3/11/19) Review

Is that a bump only a man cleared to wrestle would take? Credit: NJPW

Power Struggle is our last big stop before Wrestle Kingdom (no-one counts Tag League), and I expect to come out the back of this show with more of an idea of what to expect on January 4th and 5th. The big question? Is BUSHI challenging Will a sign that Hiromu is returning? Or is my heart going to be hurt once more?

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04/11/2019 0

NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed (28/9/19) Review

Captain Kazu had a tough main event. Credit: NJPW

New Japan’s trip to the Hammerstein Ballroom led to an interesting old night for the Japanese company. Apparently, someone had called earlier in the day, cancelling the ambulance that is required to be on hand for wrestling shows. That led to a delay that stretched over an hour and whispers online about sabotage. Whether that was the case or not, New Japan needed to deliver a show worthy of the time the fans spent sitting around waiting for it to start.

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02/10/2019 0