Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
Having made the mistake of watching the entirety of Destruction in Beppu, I shall not be fooled again. This review will cover the Young Lion matches, the two main events and nothing more. The tag matches will all be the same as they were in Beppu, so here’s a tip, don’t watch them. Stick with me, and we’ll focus on the important stuff.
Continue reading “NJPW Destruction in Kagoshima (16/9/19) Review”
New Japan took the scenic route to their first Destruction show, but they’ve finally rocked up in Beppu with a solid card. There are a lot of tags on here, but the Young Lion Cup and a brace of title matches make sure that proceedings shouldn’t be too dragged down by the splitting of this tour into multiple dates. Any show with Tanahashi vs Sabre is alright by me.
Continue reading “NJPW Destruction in Beppu (15/9/19) Review”
Having put on two successful shows with RevPro’s assistance last year, New Japan came back to the UK to do it all by themselves. Royal Quest came from the Copper Box in London, and it’s worth pointing out that I was there live. That means this review is conducted purely by the memory of what I could see from my floor seats after the visual aid of many a pint of beer and while being overwhelmed with the excitement of my first New Japan show proper. That means that it will all be getting the famous live bump, making matches that might have appeared merely fine at home, a lot more exciting to witness in person. Understood? Great, on with the show.
Continue reading “NJPW Royal Quest (31/8/19) Review”
After an incredible Best Of The Super Juniors, New Japan has thrown together one hell of a card for Dominion. It is stacked from top to bottom with little to no fat on show. The BOSJ Final was a show of the year contender, but it might be outclassed by the same company just a few days later.
Continue reading “NJPW Dominion (9/6/19) Review”
After years in Korakuen Hall, New Japan rolled the dice and moved the Best Of The Super Junior final to Ryogoku. It was a massive statement of intent, and they backed it up by giving us the debut of Jon Moxley and Tanahashi’s return from injury underneath the tournament conclusion. Now, did they justify that move?
Continue reading “NJPW Best Of The Super Jr. 26 Final (5/6/19) Review”
They might have made their way around 90% of Japan and put on enough shows to challenge the most devoted of fans, but New Japan have finally made it. Wrestling Dontaku. Sure, it’s taking place over two nights, so we’re not actually done, but at least we’re in the vicinity of it.
Continue reading “NJPW Wrestling Dontaku (3/5/19) Review”
The Dontaku tour continues to wander on, dishing out good matches every now and then but surrounding them with a shitload of multiman tags. While this card has more points of interest than most, I’m not sure they’re necessarily points that entice. It had potential, but not always of the good variety. Sound like fun?
Continue reading “NJPW Wrestling Hi no Kuni (29/4/19) Review”
Having conquered Madison Square Garden, New Japan could return home feeling rather proud of themselves. After all, they didn’t hire and fire two twats within the space of a few weeks. Anyway, it’s now business as normal as they hit the road for the Dontaku tour, with a brief stop off at Sengoku Lord. It’s a show with a sneakily good card, so fingers crossed it translates to being even better in reality.
Continue reading “NJPW Sengoku Lord (20/4/19) Review”
New Japan’s Anniversary show is an underrated date on their calendar. The last two years have seen Kazuchika Okada take on Tiger Mask W (aka Kota Ibushi) and Will Ospreay while this year sees Will get his second main event in a row against Jay White. Gedo seems to view it as an opportunity to bend the rules a bit, and that’s always going to be fun.
Continue reading “NJPW Anniversary Event (6/3/19) Review”
Honor Rising is a weird tour. Much like Fantastica Mania, people treat it like a bit of a joke. Yet, much like Fantastica Mania, I nearly always enjoy it. You get some fun combinations as a couple of matches always deliver. Christ, last year Hirooki Goto had a good showing with Beer City Bruiser, where else are you going to see that? I think people need to stop overthinking it, and just enjoy it.
Continue reading “NJPW Honor Rising (22/2/19) Review”
Ramblings About Wrestling 