Not many wrestlers can claim to be unbeaten against Meiko Satomura one-on-one, but Chihiro Hashimoto has the honour. With Satomura’s retirement on the horizon, they butted heads one last time. Would Meiko end her career by finally getting one over her prized pupil? Well, this show happened several days ago, so I imagine you already know, but hey, let’s keep the non-existent tension going.
Continue reading “Sendai Girls The Top of Joshi Wrestling (19/3/25) Review”Jaguar Yokota & Honori Hana vs Yumiko Hotta & Misa Kagura, Sareee-ISM Chapter VI (23/1/25), Sareee-ISM

I don’t have many strong memories of Honori Hana’s first run. That’s not to say I don’t remember her, but the SEAdLINNNG rookie who stood out back then was Rico Kaiju, with Honori often sliding into the background. For the two and a bit years she was originally wrestling (most of which took place in the pandemic and only made up around 80 matches), she seemed destined to become a solid hand. Make no mistake about it, no one who comes out of a dojo run by Nanae Takahashi, Natsuki Taiyo, Arisa Nakajima and Yoshiko is going to stink the joint out, but I don’t remember there ever being a moment when I saw something big in her.
Continue reading “Jaguar Yokota & Honori Hana vs Yumiko Hotta & Misa Kagura, Sareee-ISM Chapter VI (23/1/25), Sareee-ISM”Sareee-ISM Chapter III (16/1/24) Review

As one big Japanese star makes their way to America, another somewhat smaller one continues to forge a new path on their return to their homeland. Since leaving WWE, Sareee has been brilliant, and these semi-regular Sareee-ISM shows have been a particular highlight of her run so far. Not only do they position her in high-profile matches, but they’re packed with some of the best wrestlers in the scene, with this one looking no different. Let’s see what went down.
Continue reading “Sareee-ISM Chapter III (16/1/24) Review”Assemble Vol. 2 (20/11/20) Review
What better way to celebrate the anniversary of Big Egg than to get a load of joshi companies in a building to have a lovely old time. The first Assemble is still one of my shows of the year, so this one had big boots to step into. Let’s see how they did.
Continue reading “Assemble Vol. 2 (20/11/20) Review”Stardom Throwback: Sendai Girls’ Flash Tournament (27/10/11) Review

It’s time for a slight tangent in our run through Stardom’s history. Before the next show on Stardom World, they sent a team to Sendai Girl’s Flash Tournament. Featuring entrants from JWP, WAVE, Stardom, Ice Ribbon, Sendai Girls, Reina, Diana and a freelance team, it was the Assemble of its day, making it a fitting show to cover at the moment. Plus it gives us a chance to have a wee peek at what was going on in different companies.
Continue reading “Stardom Throwback: Sendai Girls’ Flash Tournament (27/10/11) Review”AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 10 Review

You’d think I’d be better at dealing with joshi retirements by now. They’re hardly a rarity and the one on this show happened thirty-four years ago. And yet, well, you’ll see when we get there. It’s AJW Classics Episode 10, and we’re saying farewell to one of the greats.
Continue reading “AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 10 Review”AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 7 Review

Episode seven of AJW Classics is all from the same show, and it’s a biggy. This was AJW’s Summer Night Festival in Budokan, an event that features at least two legendary matches. It went down on the 22nd of August 1985 and it’s time for us to dive in.
Continue reading “AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 7 Review”AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 6 Review

Time for another trip down memory lane. Well, not my personal memory lane, I was not alive when these matches happened. History lane! Shut up, Stuart, talk about the wrestling.
Continue reading “AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 6 Review”AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 2 Review

Unlike episode one of AJW Classics, episode two does not take place over a single show. Instead, it spans most of 1984 as we get matches from April right through to September. Sadly, it features our first retirements, but we also meet some legends that I’m sure you’re heard of and follow on from our previous main event. Are you looking forward to it?
Continue reading “AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 2 Review”AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 1 Review

Joshi puroresu was a very different world in 1980. Unlike the modern-day where even the biggest companies in the scene draw rather modest crowds, All Japan Women were the big dog. Acts like the Crush Girls and Jaguar Yokota had pushed them into the spotlight, and they were riding a wave. So what better time could be there to go back and explore?
Unlike my ROH or Stardom Throwbacks, this won’t be going show by show. Instead, I’m going through AJW Classics episodes, which Mort kindly posted an archive of at the start of this mess. That means the matches won’t necessarily be from the same show, but I’ll make sure to try and provide context as we go. Fair? Great.
Continue reading “AJW Throwback: AJW Classics Episode 1 Review”

