Ramblings About’s Match Of The Year: Best Of The Rest Part 1

According to some, 2020 has been a lousy year for wrestling, an opinion fuelled by New Japan not doing what people want them to do and an aversion to the dreaded clap crowds. Unfortunately, no-one told my match of the year list, which was quite frankly unwieldy. So yes, this is part one of the best of the rest because when I started writing it very quickly got out of hand. Excessive? Perhaps, but despite its many faults, wrestling is still the best, so a bit of excess isn’t too bad.

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29/12/2020 2

Tale Of The Feud: Katsuyori Shibata vs The Third Generation

Mission TAKE OVER (Katsuyori Shibata/Yuji Nagata Theme) - YouTube — Fighting for respect. Credit: NJPW

Welcome to Tale of the Feud, a series in which I go back and cover iconic wrestling feuds. Previously, I’ve gone back and looked at the violent rivalry between Bryan Danielson and KENTA before covering the generational battles of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada. Today’s entry, though, is about redemption. It’s the story of Katsuyori Shibata proving himself to the New Japan fans and the legends they revere. Enjoy this dive into Shibata vs The Third Generation.

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15/04/2020 0

NJPW The New Beginning In Sapporo (2/2/20) Review

After a beef-fest the night before, New Japan was dishing up a very different meal on night two of The New Beginning in Sapporo. We’ve got a bit of British in there followed by Taichi’s latest attempt to climb the ladder and reach the top of the New Japan rankings. Can he do it? Well, I guess it’s time to find out.

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04/02/2020 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

Minoru Suzuki: The Perfect Wrestler

Image result for minoru suzuki — I certainly wouldn’t fight him.

Minoru Suzuki is a badass. That’s a fair opinion to hold, right? Even at the age of fifty-one, the man is terrifying, while a twenty-second dive into his career will only add to your fear. There is not only the stellar pro-wrestling, filled with hard-hitting matches against some of the very best but the fact he was a founding figure in Pancrase, holding MMA victories over the likes of Ken Shamrock. His credentials weren’t dreamt up in the mixed-reality of kayfabe. They come from blood, sweat and the tears’ of his enemies.

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20/12/2019 1

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

NJPW World Tag League (6/12/19) Review

We’re onto our penultimate show, and honestly, there were times when I didn’t think we’d get here. I thought I was going to be stuck in a forever loop of alright tag wrestling watching matches, all bleeding into one as day after day I prayed for salvation. Then again, it might still happen.

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08/12/2019 0