Tag: Puroresu

Meiko Satomura & Manami vs Aja Kong & Chihiro Hashimoto, Meiko Satomura THE FINAL (29/4/25), Sendai Girls

There won’t be many more like her. Credit: Screenshot

When I started to put together my end of year list, my initial feeling was that I wouldn’t include this match. It seemed too obvious, too boring. I’m well aware that’s a fault of mine, a need to point towards the unnoticed rather than accept when the thing in front of me is just as special, but I long ago made peace with that. Besides, it was easy to double down on that feeling when friend-of-the-site Unmanned Local Train posted their writing on it, a piece that beautifully captured so much of what made it great.

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Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for November 2025

The koala goes for gold. Credit: TJPW

Another month, another host of matches that I think you should be watching. There are a couple of wildcards included, but the majority of it is me watching my usuals. It’s a lot of TJPW, ChocoPro and GAEA. Meanwhile, we’re entering match of the year territory, as I am, as always, running late in starting to put together my list. It’s a year where I don’t have an obvious front runner, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as there is a load of stuff I really love. I’m excited to watch them all again.

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Senka Akatsuki vs Spike Nishimura, Chihiro Hashimoto 10th Anniversary Show ~ KAIBUTSU A DECADE (16/11/25), Sendai Girls

Serious face. Credit: Screenshot

Five minutes can make a big difference. No one, outside of the minuscule Marvelous bubble, was talking about Senka Akatsuki until five minutes in Las Vegas changed it all. Suddenly, she became the most hyped joshi rookie in who knows how long, with the vast majority of it coming from people who had only seen those five minutes of her work. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be the one to pour cold water on the excitement. I was at Senka’s debut, and I’ve seen nearly every match. She’s worth paying attention to, but a lot of said hype has skated past the flaws. Which is a shame because we’re now at the point where Senka is trying to address those, and that’s when things get interesting.

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Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for October 2025

Shocking kaiju. Credit: TJPW

After a quieter September, I’ve gone all out for October. We’ve got a host of exciting matches to talk about here, including two dives into uncharted territory and a somewhat accidental Meiko Satomura month as I continue my journey through the GAEAISM YouTube channel. It was getting so unruly that there were a couple of things I didn’t have time to write about. If you ever see me in the street, feel free to ask, and I’ll bore you about them.

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TJPW Additional Attack (18/10/25) Review

Hoss time! Credit: TJPW

TJPW returned to Korakuen with an intriguing line-up. The top of the card is dominated by first title defences, where we know the belts aren’t going to shift, but there’s still some excitement to be found in people getting an opportunity in those positions. Further down, you’ve got the joy of the Mahiro Ironman title reign continuing, and even more thrillingly, a trio of interesting showdowns between young wrestlers and veterans. It all had the potential to be great, so let’s see what went down.

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Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for September 2025

Life hits hard sometimes. Credit: TJPW

It’s a quieter roundup this month, not because of a lack of good wrestling, but because I haven’t had a chance to watch a lot of it. There’s no big, dramatic reason for that, I’ve just been a bit busy. Fingers crossed, I’ll be able to check out a bit more in October. However, I have decided to add a permanent ‘Past Rambles’ section, which gives me a chance to focus on matches that I’ve watched from, well, the past. It makes its debut here with a WCW Women’s Cruiserweight Title match from 1997. So hopefully you enjoy that!

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Haruna Neko: The Joy of Being a Wee Cat

Surrounded by friends. Credit: TJPW

I don’t trust people whose favourite wrestlers win all the time. Sure, you can appreciate and respect the people at the top of the card, but seeing them as your guy? I find that deeply suspicious behaviour. Does anyone really love Kazuchika Okada? Sareee? Roman Reigns? Even as I ask the question, I know the answer is yes, but I find it hard to imagine what goes on in their heads. I categorise them in the same category as those who support Wrexham despite not being from Wales, or claim to like punk but only listen to pop-punk bands who are statistically likely to have done some noncing. What you’re doing might not be inherently bad, but I don’t particularly want to spend time with you.

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Rina Yamashita vs Mei Suruga, Game Changer (5/9/25), ChocoPro

A battling Apple. Credit: Here

I don’t want to slag off Rina Yamashita. She’s a fantastic wrestler who has been part of some amazing stuff. However, in recent times, she’s been stuck in what I think of as the Hiroyo Matsumoto vortex. She’s old-reliable. A freelancer who pops up in countless promotions and can be trusted to fill a spot anywhere on the card. That’s no bad thing. In fact, it’s a talent in its own right. However, it’s easy to see why someone in that role would slip into a rut. There’s nothing to get your teeth into. You arrive, do your thing, and go home. The matches are rarely bad. They’re just not what you remember.

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Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for August 2025

Endo runs the Miyu gauntlet. Credit: TJPW

Despite heading down to London for a weekend to watch the stuff (don’t expect any writing about that, much beer was drunk), I feel like I didn’t watch as much wrestling as usual in August. There is no grand reason for that. I just never quite got around to a bunch of shows that I’m sure I’ll catch up with eventually. All the same, there were a few matches that I enjoyed. They’re mostly hailing from my usual places, but hey, it’s not like anyone is coming here expecting anything different.

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Shoko Nakajima vs Miu Watanabe, Princess Cup (17/8/25), TJPW

I adore how Shoko has used the 619 recently. Credit: TJPW

The times they are a-changing in TJPW. I can’t quite pinpoint when it started, but there has been a noticeable shift towards working a limb. My completely baseless assumption is that with Yuka Sakazaki gone and Miyu Yamashita spending more time working overseas, it’s a consequence of the growing influence of Shoko Nakajima (and perhaps, to a lesser extent, Rika Tatsumi), which could never be a bad thing. It’s been particularly evident in 2025’s Princess Cup. Both semi-finals saw at least one body part being treated most unkindly, and I don’t think that would have been the case a year ago, never mind even further back. It’s a noticeable shift in the house style that seems to be carving itself into the company’s roots.

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