Some Matches That Might Convince You To Watch Wrestling

Image result for kota ibushi yoshihiko — I assume this will entice you all in. Credit: DDT

The world is fucking weird at the moment and, as of today, I don’t have a job, so if you like my rambles, get ready to see a lot more of them. With that weirdness, there are suddenly a lot of people with a hella lot of time on their hands. Now, I don’t normally do listicles on this website because, well, why would I? I spent some time in the trenches of making money by writing for WhatCulture, and it ain’t much fun. However, what better way to spend all that free time than by getting into everyone’s favourite pseudo-sport, wrassling! Usually, when people try to get you into wrestling, they’ll go straight to WWE. There is a decent chance they’ll show you Mick Foley being thrown off a cage because of the wrestling fan’s innate need to prove it’s not fake. However, that’s dumb, and WWE sucks. So, I’ve decided to put together a list of matches, all of which you can watch for free, that might tempt you to fall in love with this world that gives me so much joy.

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20/03/2020 0

Ramblings About’s Top Ten Matches of February 2020

I think this is probably the most diverse match of the month list I’ve put together yet. In the past, I’ve had star ratings to work by when figuring this out and, honestly, I think that was restricting the way I did it. Now, I’m just pulling out the notebook and picking the ten that have stuck with me the most. So, welcome to a rather different, but certainly not worse, round-up of my favourites matches from last month.

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12/03/2020 0

Manabu Nakanishi: Going Out In Style

I have no deep connection to Manabu Nakanishi. By the time I started watching Japanese wrestling, he was firmly rooted in his role as a New Japan Dad. The years weighed heavily on him, and he’d slipped into the world of Young Lion matches and undercard tags. However, I’ve always loved the Dads. There is something beautiful about these grizzled old veterans, beaten up and hurting, but refusing to die. Every time they wander down to that ring, they are trying to prove their fire still burns. Perhaps ironically, Nakanishi would prove his fire is still roaring in his final ever match.

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26/02/2020 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

Ramblings About’s Top Ten Matches Of January 2020

Least shocking spoiler of all time. Credit: NJPW

In an incredible twist of fate, this round-up isn’t too late! Now, that comes with the caveat that I completely missed December’s, but that was because I had a lot to do. If you don’t know, I went to Japan and watched a lot of wrestling, can’t remember if I mentioned it anywhere. A decent amount of said wrestling makes this list, so let’s get on with it.

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06/02/2020 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

Ramblings About’s Top Twenty Matches of 2019

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but this is a wrestling website. So, while I’m sure you were all desperate for my takes on music and film, this is the biggy: my twenty favourite matches of the year. I’ll be keeping it short because I’ve written about all of these before, but there is no harm in dishing out a reminder.

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02/01/2020 0

NJPW World Tag League (8/12/19) Review

We’re finally there! Seven years after we started, the World Tag League rolls into Hiroshima to finish things up. There’s no actual final, as the team with the most points will take home the victory (although it could be a three-way tie, please don’t be a three-way tie). Who will it be? Well, I’ve said FinJuice since day one, so let’s find out of I’m right.

I hope you’ll all forgive a quick plug, but this review means I have written about every single New Japan tournament match this year, from the Young Lion Cup to the G1. That’s a lot of wrestling. I do this stuff because I love it, and as much as I moan on night 673 of Tag League, I’d be watching it anyway. However, it does take a lot of time and effort. So, if you’ve read my reviews, enjoyed them and have a bit of spare cash, it would mean everything to me if you dropped a few pounds into my Ko-Fi. On the other hand, if you can’t afford it (or you don’t like me), don’t. The articles will keep coming anyway, and I hope you’ll keep reading them.

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09/12/2019 0