Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for December 2022

Wait, that’s not your gimmick. Credit: TJPW

That’s a wrap! My final round-up of the month for 2022 is a bit shorter than the others, thanks to Christmas, end-of-year stuff and probably a few too many beers. Still, there were a few matches that I wanted to shout out, so there is plenty to get your teeth into anyway. Plus, if you do want more, I’ve written about my wrestlers of the year, the best of the rest matches and my match of the year, so give those a read after you’re done with this.

Continue reading →

01/01/2023 0

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Year 2022: The Best Of The Rest

Somehow, we’ve made it through another year, and while I think it’s safe to say all is not well in the world, the wrestling has at least been very good. 2022 was a year of change in the world of joshi, a lot of which was quite anxiety-inducing for someone who takes comfort from this nonsense, but I think we’ve come out the other end of it all with the scene in strong and (more importantly) interesting health. There have also been a lot of incredible matches, and this is my list of the ones that aren’t quite my match of the year but which, on a different day, may well be so. Enjoy!

Quick note: I sorta cheated this year and snuck an extra match in by writing about it elsewhere. The brilliant and lovely Flupke (FlupkeDiFlupke on Twitter) invited me to write about the wonderful Ice Ribbon gauntlet of gauntlets as part of his newsletter. You can find my thoughts (alongside his much better ones) on that here. Then, once you’ve read that, you should also read the rest of his end-of-year stuff, which is equally great.

Continue reading →

29/12/2022 1

Marvelous AAAW Title Tournament (4/12/22) Review

Marvelous’s last Korakuen of the year wasn’t supposed to look like this, but after an injury to Takumi Iroha, they had no other choice. Not only would this show see Chigusa Nagayo return to the ring, but it would have a one-day tournament to crown the new AAAW champion. Who would earn that honour? If you’re reading this, you probably already know, but let’s find out!

Continue reading →

05/12/2022 1

Marvelous (4/11/22) Review

Marvelous are in the midst of a streak of rotten luck. Just as Mio Momono gets fully back to fitness, Takumi Iroha picked up another injury, damaging her clavicle. Thankfully, it’s not as serious as the last one, but she’s still going to be out for three months, which is a right pain in the arse. Then, to make matters worse, Mio was ill for this show, as she was struggling with a headache (although they seemed to indicate on Twitter that the doctors said she’d be fine), and Rin had to miss it for personal reasons. Thankfully Marvelous have enough friends on speed dial that they can continue on even with a much-depleted roster.

Continue reading →

05/11/2022 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 Oita (11/9/22) Review

Marvelous have been all over the place recently, bouncing around Japan to catch up with the fans they haven’t been able to visit over the last few years or, as was the case on this show, ever before. It was their first-ever trip to Oita, and with all their other travels having delivered some lovely times so far, it seemed unlikely this would buck the trend, but hey, let’s find out.

Continue reading →

13/09/2022 0

Marvelous Oyama (4/9/22) Review

After Marvelous treated me to Mio Momono vs Ai Houzan on their last show, they decided to keep the good times rolling by having Ai’s next opponent be Miyako Matsumoto. What does that match look like? I have no idea, but I definitely want to see it, so let’s get on with the show!

Continue reading →

06/09/2022 0

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for June 2022

CyberFest went big on the entrances. Credit: TJPW

Where do these months keep going? I swear I finish one of these bastards up and then two days later have to write another. Still, July continued what I think has been a strong year for wrestling delivering everything from exciting rookies to new champions to violent cage matches. Does that sound like your idea of a good time? Because it’s mine.

Continue reading →

01/07/2022 0

Marvelous Summer Camp In Korakuen (20/8/21) Review

After an enforced break (fuck you, COVID), Marvelous are back! And golly gosh, do they have a good show to come back with. This one looked like a cracker on paper, so let’s see if it can live up to it in reality (spoiler, it did).

Continue reading →

21/08/2021 0

Marvelous 5th Anniversary (20/7/21) Review

Well, this was a big old day for Marvelous, wasn’t it? Not only were they in Korakuen Hall, but it was their 5th Anniversary, and the Ace was back, Takumi Iroha making her return from injury to take on Hibiki. With that much going on, you’d think there wouldn’t be much room for anything else, but they also had some visitors from Stardom! Jesus, it’s all very thrilling.

Continue reading →

21/07/2021 1