Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
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”
Ice Ribbon’s latest trip to Korakuen Hall would see the ICExInfinity title find itself a new champion. With Tsukushi Haruka retaining the belt upon her retirement, the tournament to determine her successor has come down to four names: Tae Honma, Saori Anou, Ibuki Hoshi and Yuuki Mashiro. Who is going to lead Ice Ribbon into a new era? Time to find out.
Continue reading “Ice Ribbon After The Rain (26/6/22) Review”
Heads up, this is a long one. For whatever reason, April has been a particularly great month of wrestling, and it was only when I sat down to edit this that I realised quite how unwieldy it had gotten. Still, that just means there is more exciting stuff to enjoy, and that’s no bad thing, right?
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for April 2022”
Well, March was a busy old month, wasn’t it? With big shows happening all over the place, there was plenty to enjoy, and I’m not going to waste too much time blabbing on up here when there is more exciting stuff down there. Let’s get on with it.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for March 2022”
At the end of my last Ice Ribbon review, I promised that I would stop talking about the transitional period the company was in. Of course, since then, Tsukushi has announced her retirement, and I got a fright when I glanced at Twitter in the pub on Friday and thought Tsukka was following her. Thankfully, that’s not the case, as she’s simply taking some time off to enjoy married life, but it would be nice if Ice Ribbon could have a quiet period. Anyway, no matter who is coming or going, the wrestling continues, and they were in Korakuen over the weekend, which is nearly always a good time.
Continue reading “Ice Ribbon 1187 (20/3/22) Review”
Ramblings About Wrestling 