Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
June is over and done with, and like every month, it’s been busy for the old wrestling. I can’t pretend this month’s roundup is particularly eclectic, as I’m staying fairly close to my usual haunts, but there is still plenty to enjoy in there. Give it a read, and let me know if there is anything you think I need to see.
Continue reading “Rambling About’s Matches of the Month for June 2024”
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 “Ice Ribbon After the Rain (23/6/24) Review”
After a sparsely attended Korakuen in January, Ice Ribbon returned to that famous old venue backed by what appeared to be a much healthier crowd. With the show headlined by a rare mother vs daughter battle, plus the return of the Triangle Ribbon title and a hoss pairing going after the tag belts, this had the structure of a pre-everything going wrong Ice card, which is what I want to see. Let’s see if the vibes were able to match the potential.
Continue reading “Ice Ribbon #1337 (23/3/24) 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 “Ice Ribbon Ribbonmania (31/12/23) 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 “Ice Ribbon Ribbonmania (31/12/22) Review”
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.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Year 2022: The Best Of The Rest”
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 “Ice Ribbon #1238 ~ 3rd Kizuna Tournament (30/10/22 Evening) Review”
The Ice Ribbon Kizuna Tournament has quickly become a yearly tradition and a fun one at that. With the winning team awarded a wish each, it’s a hefty prize and something worth the tough day’s work getting said victory means. I’ve been a bit lax on covering Ice recently as, to be brutally honest, I haven’t had enough money to justify buying their PPVs. However, I decided to treat myself to these two shows, so it seemed the perfect time to jump back in.
Continue reading “Ice Ribbon #1237 ~ 3rd Kizuna Tournament (30/10/22 Afternoon) Review”
August has been a hell of a month for the old wrestling. Between the Princess Cup and the 5STAR, we’ve had loads of high-profile singles matches in the two big joshi companies, plus a load of exciting stuff helping elsewhere. It means this is a long one, but fingers crossed it’s also a good one, and there will be plenty for you all to get your teeth into.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for August 2022”
Ice Ribbon finished up July with a trip to Korakuen, and while it took me a bit longer than usual to catch up with what went down, I am always in the mood for an Ice Ribbon show. They were dishing up a number one contender match, another visit from Hikaru Shida and a tag-title bout, so let’s get on with it.
Continue reading “Ice Ribbon Summer Jumbo Ribbon (31/7/22) Review”
Ramblings About Wrestling 