Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for April 2025

April into May is my busiest time of the year, so please excuse this list being a touch less fleshed out than usual. I had to leave a bunch of matches I would have liked to write about on the cutting room floor, and the to-watch list is pretty hefty coming into May (I still haven’t even seen the Satomura retirement show). Still, hopefully, there’s something here you haven’t seen or at least an interesting opinion on something you have. Enjoy!

Continue reading →

01/05/2025 0

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for March 2025

I thought I hadn’t watched that much wrestling this month, but the length of this list would suggest otherwise. Maybe I was only tuning into the good stuff? It also nips to a few of my less-visited locales, as we stop off in America, Mexico and Germany alongside all the usual Japanese nonsense. Does that sound like a good time? I certainly hope so.

Continue reading →

01/04/2025 0

TJPW Grand Princess (16/3/25) Review

That’s one way to block Whirling Candy. Credit: TJPW

Whether it was intentional or not, the theme of this year’s Grand Princess was love. Pom vs Raku, Endo vs Suzume and Rika vs Mizuki were all matches defined by the love between the wrestlers involved. Did that lead to greatness? Or did it sizzle out on a Sunday afternoon in Ota Ward? Let’s find out.

Continue reading →

17/03/2025 0

TJPW Max Heart Tournament Final (8/2/25), TJPW Review

That’s one way to stop them. Credit: TJPW

The Max Heart comes to an end, as TJPW managed to find the one team I might not complain about beating Kyoraku Kyomei. It should be Shoko and Misao’s time, but there is no world in which I would get grumpy about a Pompaler win. That Koda is a sneaky bugger. Anyway, you probably already know the result because it was several days ago, so let’s get on with the rambles.

(I want to quickly mention that you should be checking out friend-of-the-site Sebastian’s TJPW reviews. They’re a brilliant writer, and while I hope you’ll continue to read mine, you’re missing out if you’re not reading them.)

Continue reading →

11/02/2025 0

Tokyo Joshi Pro ’25 (4/1/25) Review

Mizuki doing Mizuki things. Credit: TJPW

Should I make the joke? Let’s make the joke. It’s Ittenyon, so it’s time to enjoy the biggest show in town. Yup, TJPW made their annual trip to Korakuen Hall, and as usual, they’ve put together a hell of a card for it. Would they deliver? I certainly wouldn’t bet against them, but let’s find out.

Continue reading →

06/01/2025 0

TJPW Live Tour 2024 Spring (13/4/24) Review

Goodbyes suck, but sadly, as a wrestling fan, you get used to them. Juria Nagano hasn’t been around as long as some of the people we have had to wave farewell to, but she’s still hollowed out a little niche for herself as part of the TJPW roster, so she deserves a rousing send-off. Let’s see if that’s what she got.

Continue reading →

16/04/2024 1

TJPW Grand Princess ’24 (21/3/24) Review

Tokyo Joshi returned to Sumo Hall for one of the most important shows of the year (it’s certainly the one I care about the most). Fittingly, they’ve gone all out. We’ve got giant pandas, Kyoraku Kyomei trying to take down kaiju, and Miu Watanabe getting her shot at the Ace! That’s just the beginning, too. It is a card that only gets better the longer you look at it, so let’s see what went down.

Continue reading →

02/04/2024 0

TJPW Live Tour Spring 2024 (4/3/24) Review

You would have been forgiven for glancing at the schedule and dismissing this as a routine TJPW visit to Shinjuku, but with Sumo Hall drawing closer and a host of new rookies onboard, this show took on a bit more weight than usual. Two of those kids debuted here, the newly named Kira Summer and Uta Takami. Meanwhile, Chika Nanase was wrestling only her second match after starting her career against Moka Miyamoto on the previous show. Throw in some more build for the big one, and TJPW had a lot going on, so let’s see what went down.

Continue reading →

06/03/2024 0

TJPW Max Heart Tournament Final (10/2/24) Review

Pictures that make you smile. Credit: TJPW

TJPW returned to Korakuen Hall to decide the winner of the 2024 Max Heart Tournament. On one side of the ring, we had the former champions, Daydream, who, in winning, would have been setting Miu Watanabe up to wrestle twice at Sumo Hall. Attempting to stop that from happening was Daisy Monkey, the young pretenders, who were desperate to break through. Last year, this final produced one of my matches of the year. Would it do so again? Let’s find out.

Continue reading →

14/02/2024 1

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for January 2024

January is a good month for wrestling. Not only do you have Ittenyon and companies setting out their stall for the year ahead, but I have a habit of wiping the backlog clean and starting fresh, leaving me motivated to check out as much new wrestling as possible. As a result of that, my matches of the month are significantly more eclectic than usual. There is all the regular stuff, but we’ve also a BJW tag, a lucha brawl and even an AEW rookie match. It’s as far out of the bubble as I am likely to venture, so fingers crossed you all enjoy it. As usual, if you’ve got any cool recommendations, let me know below or on Twitter.

Continue reading →

01/02/2024 1