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 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

Marvelous (25/12/22) Review

Marvelous’s final show of the year had them putting on a show on Christmas day, and yes, I ditched my family for a bit to watch it. Was it worth it? Let’s find out.

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26/12/2022 0

Marvelous (15/12/22) Review

For Marvelous’s penultimate show of the year, they gave Queen Aminata a shot at the big one as she went up against the new AAAW champion Chikayo Nagashima. Even in the relatively modest confines of Shinkiba, that’s a decent opportunity to impress and a chance for her to come away from this Japan trip with a standout performance under her belt. Let’s see how she did.

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17/12/2022 0

Marvelous AAAW Title Tournament (4/12/22) Review

Marvelous’s last Korakuen of the year wasn’t supposed to look like this, but after an injury to Takumi Iroha, they had no other choice. Not only would this show see Chigusa Nagayo return to the ring, but it would have a one-day tournament to crown the new AAAW champion. Who would earn that honour? If you’re reading this, you probably already know, but let’s find out!

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05/12/2022 1

Marvelous AAAW One-Day Tournament Preview

I don’t tend to do previews, but with Marvelous gearing up for a one-day tournament to crown a new AAAW champion on the 4th of December, it felt like it was time to brush off my prediction skills. Who do I think is going to pick up that belt and take the place of the injured Takumi Iroha? Read on to find out.

If you want to buy the show, you can do so here:

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02/12/2022 1

Marvelous Hakata (27/11/22) Review

It’s the last one before the biggie, as Marvelous popped down to Hakata for their final show before the one-night AAAW Title tournament. Currently, it doesn’t feel like there is a clear favourite for the belt (although I might be influenced by my belief that Mio shouldn’t win it right now), so while I’m sure this show was a fun trip, it was also the last chance for people to pick up some momentum. Let’s see what went down.

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29/11/2022 0

Marvelous (17/11/22) Review

After a weekend in which I got to witness a Marvelous match in person before drunkenly deciding that I needed to talk to Chigusa Nagayo about Team Eccentric and dogs, we’re back in the somewhat more familiar (and much soberer) surroundings of Shin-Kiba. It might not be as exciting as a trip to the UK (for them, being in the UK is an everyday hell for me), but big things are brewing in Japan, as we’re building towards a one-day tournament on December 4th where we will crown a new AAAW champion. Who is it going to be? Perhaps we’ll get a hint or two on this show.

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18/11/2022 0

Marvelous (4/11/22) Review

Marvelous are in the midst of a streak of rotten luck. Just as Mio Momono gets fully back to fitness, Takumi Iroha picked up another injury, damaging her clavicle. Thankfully, it’s not as serious as the last one, but she’s still going to be out for three months, which is a right pain in the arse. Then, to make matters worse, Mio was ill for this show, as she was struggling with a headache (although they seemed to indicate on Twitter that the doctors said she’d be fine), and Rin had to miss it for personal reasons. Thankfully Marvelous have enough friends on speed dial that they can continue on even with a much-depleted roster.

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05/11/2022 0

Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for October 2022

October is over, and with it, another month of rather good wrestling. Between Wrestle Princess, the end of the 5STAR and who knows how many smaller events going on over the last thirty-one days, I had plenty to get my teeth into, and fingers crossed that there is something here that will entice you into checking it out too. Enjoy!

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01/11/2022 0