Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for January 2023

A painful start to the year. Credit: TJPW

Maybe it’s just me, but January always feels like a fresh start for my wrestling viewing. My backlog from the previous year goes out of the window, under the assumption that if I haven’t watched it yet, I never will, and it’s a chance to jump back into promotions that I might have fallen away with it. When you throw in Ittenyon and all the excitement around that, it’s usually a good month, something this list makes clear.

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01/02/2023 0

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for December 2022

Wait, that’s not your gimmick. Credit: TJPW

That’s a wrap! My final round-up of the month for 2022 is a bit shorter than the others, thanks to Christmas, end-of-year stuff and probably a few too many beers. Still, there were a few matches that I wanted to shout out, so there is plenty to get your teeth into anyway. Plus, if you do want more, I’ve written about my wrestlers of the year, the best of the rest matches and my match of the year, so give those a read after you’re done with this.

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01/01/2023 0

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Year 2022: The Best Of The Rest

Somehow, we’ve made it through another year, and while I think it’s safe to say all is not well in the world, the wrestling has at least been very good. 2022 was a year of change in the world of joshi, a lot of which was quite anxiety-inducing for someone who takes comfort from this nonsense, but I think we’ve come out the other end of it all with the scene in strong and (more importantly) interesting health. There have also been a lot of incredible matches, and this is my list of the ones that aren’t quite my match of the year but which, on a different day, may well be so. Enjoy!

Quick note: I sorta cheated this year and snuck an extra match in by writing about it elsewhere. The brilliant and lovely Flupke (FlupkeDiFlupke on Twitter) invited me to write about the wonderful Ice Ribbon gauntlet of gauntlets as part of his newsletter. You can find my thoughts (alongside his much better ones) on that here. Then, once you’ve read that, you should also read the rest of his end-of-year stuff, which is equally great.

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29/12/2022 1

TJPW Angel and Rabbit (15/12/22) Review

Those two weren’t meant to be a team. Credit: TJPW

With Mizuki celebrating her 10th anniversary as a wrestler, Tokyo Joshi decided to put on a party and celebrate their favourite demonic rabbit. Not only did they let her book the main event, but we’re getting the ‘Mizuki All Around Battle Royal’. What does that mean? Who knows! I’m excited to find out, though.

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16/12/2022 0

TJPW City Circuit Autumn (10/12/22) Review

For only the second time, the other one being earlier this year, TJPW took a trip to Hamamatsu, continuing the build to Ittenyon by hitting the road. They were short an Itoh and a Kamiyu on this show, as they were over in Malaysia, but a Rhio came in to fill the gap, and they’re treating the fans to an EVE Title match in the main event. You can’t say fairer than that, right?

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11/12/2022 0

TJPW Autumn Tour (3/12/22) Review

With TJPW’s final Korakuen Hall of the year behind us, all attention turns to the next big one: Ittenyon. It might just be another trip to Korakuen, but that date adds to its importance, and the show reflects that. We’ve already got our big title matches, but with a month to go, the rest of the card needs fleshing out, and perhaps this show will give us an idea of what to expect. Let’s find out.

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04/12/2022 0

TJPW All Rise (27/11/22) Review

The rookie killer strikes again. Credit: TJPW

With Wrestle Princess III and big shows in Osaka, it feels like a long time since we’ve had a Tokyo Joshi Korakuen. With how consistently excellent these shows are, that’s never going to be a good thing, so it was lovely to be back in that familiar room. Throw in a packed card with a couple of big matches against foreign talent and a crowd that was allowed to be in full voice, and it was hard not to be excited for this one, so let’s see what went down.

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28/11/2022 1

TJPW Autumn Tour (20/11/22) Review

With a Korakuen up next, TJPW were in Shinjuku for their last chance to wrap up any loose ends before the big one. This go-home show was more intriguing than usual, as we had a couple of new faces in the main event, with Millie McKenzie and Billie Starkz making their debuts. How would they go down? Well, let’s find out.

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21/11/2022 0

TJPW City Circuit Autumn (15/11/22) Review

TJPW were down a few faces for this show, with Miyu and Misao in the UK (wrestling for EVE, a pair of events that I was at, which is why this review is later than usual) while Nao was performing in a play. However, they were in the unique confines of KBS Hall, which is generally enough to make up for a few missing wrestlers, so let’s see what went down.

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17/11/2022 0

TJPW Autumn Tour (6/11/22) Review

TJPW has announced that the headline match for their next Korakuen will be Billie Starkz vs Yuka Sakazaki, which feels like something a bit different, despite having once been the norm. It’s easy to forget that before the pandemic foreign wrestlers coming over and challenging for a title wasn’t that unusual, with Lana Austin being the last one to have a shot at the big belt (which was coincidentally held by Yuka) right before the pandemic struck. I’ve never seen Billie wrestle, so I have no idea how it will go, but she seems to be a bit of a prodigy, so I’m expecting big things. Before we get to that, TJPW had a show at KFC Hall, where they said goodbye to another visiting star, Willow Nightingale. Let’s see what went down!

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07/11/2022 1