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 →

06/02/2025 0

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Months for January 2025

Arai booting 2025 into life. Credit: TJPW

We’re back for Ramblings Abouts’ first matches of the month for 2025. I apologise for missing a few of these towards the end of last year, but I had some personal shit that took up a lot of my brain space, and I’m sure the two of you who read this didn’t even notice. However, I am back for 2025 and planning to watch far too much of this dumb stuff while also complaining that I didn’t get to see everything I wanted to. Multiple big hitters are missing from this list because I haven’t had a chance to watch them yet, but that doesn’t mean what I have seen loses any value. They’re all great matches, which I recommend going out of your way to see. And if you have any recommendations, stick them in the comments below!

Continue reading →

01/02/2025 0

Ice Ribbon After the Rain (23/6/24) Review

If you’d asked me at the start of the year to list the things that could help Ice Ribbon get close to filling Korakuen Hall in 2024, I would have got a few hundred deep before even considering the idea of pairing up with Stardom. It’s not that I would have doubted such a strategy’s ability to work, but with Rossy Ogawa involved, the idea seemed implausible. In recent years, Stardom and Ice Ribbon have not got along, and that’s putting it mildly. I would have been more comfortable betting on myself to win the ICExInfinity title than this relationship coming to pass. Yet, here we are. Following on from Best Friends beating Eye Contact at Flashing Champions, Mayu Iwatani stepped into a proper company to take on Tsukasa Fujimoto. By now, I’m sure you all know how it ended, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still plenty to discuss.

Continue reading →

27/06/2024 0

SEAdLINNNG New Leaf 2024! (21/4/24) Review

Hanako might not have been delighted to see them return. Credit: Here

Arisa Nakajima is back! Let’s revel in that fact before we worry about the announcement made at the end of this show. Nakajima returned at Korakuen Hall in an all-star showdown that also included the start of a temporary return for Tsukasa Fujimoto. That sounds like a good time, doesn’t it? Let’s find out if it was.

Continue reading →

24/04/2024 0

Marvelous (2/2/24) Review

It’s been one of those weeks where my rambling about a random Shinkiba show feels utterly pointless. The death of Asahi is unfair and horrible and something that I still don’t think I’ve entirely processed. Hopefully, somewhere down the line, I’ll feel up to writing about her short but brilliant career. That’s not today, though. However, it would have felt weird to publish this (which I wrote before we learnt about it) without at least mentioning it and sending all my love to those who knew her better than me. Considering the impact she had on those who only knew her through a screen or from a quick chat at a show, I can only imagine the one she had on those who knew her well was something special.

After spending January on the road, Marvelous kicked off February with their first trip of 2024 to Shinkiba. There will, of course, be many more in the months ahead, but it’s always good to get things started right. Let’s see what went down.

Continue reading →

06/02/2024 0

Ice Ribbon Ribbonmania (31/12/23) Review

2023 was a tough one for Ice Ribbon, as several cracks expanded into fissures. It was such a disaster that I worried we might be about to see the end of a company that I, and many others, have a lot of affection for. However, slowly but surely, things have started to turn around, and with new ownership at the top, there’s the possibility that things might be moving in the right direction. We’re a long way from the heights of a few years ago, and I have my doubts if we’ll ever get back there, but the chance to create a fun and exciting product is there if they can grasp it. What better place to start than Ribbonmania, the show that serves as both their year-ender and year-starter.

Final quick note: I never stopped watching Ice Ribbon entirely (I even went to the Korakuen in August), but I have been more out of the loop than usual, so I may be missing a few slithers of context. Let me know in the comments if I say anything egregiously stupid.

Continue reading →

02/01/2024 0

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for March 2023

Even when you remove the start of WrestleMania Weekend (which came too late to make this list), March was a packed month for wrestling. TJPW ran their biggest venue yet, Gatoh Move celebrated their 300th show, Takumi Iroha returned to Marvelous and Ice Ribbon, well, Ice Ribbon did a lot of stuff. Good and bad, it was a busy old time, and there were plenty of great matches to get our teeth into.

Continue reading →

01/04/2023 0

Ice Ribbon Ribbonmania (31/12/22) Review

I may have written up all my end-of-year lists and put a cap on 2022, but the year isn’t over until we talk about Ribbonmania, Ice Ribbon’s annual year-closing show. It might have only been a six-match card, but with two title matches and Yuuki Mashiro’s goodbye (which doubles as Suzu Suzuki’s return), there were plenty of things to get us talking.

Continue reading →

02/01/2023 0

Ice Ribbon #1238 ~ 3rd Kizuna Tournament (30/10/22 Evening) Review

Show two of the Kizuna Tournament took place hours after the first, so there was no rest for those involved. However, with a big old trophy and a couple of wishes on the line, I’m sure they were all fired up to impress. Who would come out as the winner? Well, it was a few days ago, so you probably already know, but if you don’t, read on to find out!

Continue reading →

02/11/2022 0

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for October 2022

October is over, and with it, another month of rather good wrestling. Between Wrestle Princess, the end of the 5STAR and who knows how many smaller events going on over the last thirty-one days, I had plenty to get my teeth into, and fingers crossed that there is something here that will entice you into checking it out too. Enjoy!

Continue reading →

01/11/2022 0