Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
Destruction is a long old tour that generally delivers a shitload of mediocrity elevated by the occasional great match, and that is exactly what we’ve received in 2019. The final night is in Kobe and let’s hope we finish up with more of the great than the mediocre.
Continue reading “NJPW Destruction in Kobe (22/9/19) Review”
Alright, even I will admit that this is taking the piss levels of late. I’d feel guilty, but I doubt anyone is sitting around waiting for it, so I’m not going to beat myself up too much. Plus, there has been a shitload of wrestling recently which combined with my life being a bit nuts has put this on the back burner. I do hope my one fan can forgive me.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Top Ten Matches Of August 2019”
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”
Wow, July is a busy month for wrestling, isn’t it? So is August when we get down to it, which is why this is late. Then again, it’s late every month, so at some point, it has probably stopped being late and turns up exactly when it’s expected. Anyway, this is quite G1 heavy because, well, it’s the motherfucking G1, but more than one match has rightly made its way in from elsewhere, so it’s not the New Japan wankfest you might expect.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Top Ten Matches Of July 2019”
Our final night in the A Block is one of those weird G1 shows with five singles matches, only one of which means anything. This has all come down to the main event of Ibushi vs Okada, and it’s a pretty simple scenario too. If Ibushi wins, he goes through while any other result sends Okada to the final.
My must-see spoiler-free recommendations are Zack Sabre Jr vs KENTA, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Will Ospreay and Kota Ibushi vs Kazuchika Okada.
Continue reading “NJPW G1 Climax 29 (10/8/19) Review”
We’re onto the penultimate block shows and you can smell the end of the G1. A Block is the simpler of the two, as the only people left alive are Okada, Ibushi, KENTA and EVIL. Of them, Okada’s route to the final is the easiest. If he keeps winning, he’s there. Ibushi has to match Okada’s result on this show before beating him in Budokan. KENTA requires Okada to lose both his matches while Ibushi loses to ZSJ and, finally, EVIL needs to win out while Okada loses out and KENTA loses to Ospreay. I think that’s all right, but I’m sure I’ve missed something. Either way, we all know it is coming down to Ibushi vs Okada on the final night, so quite frankly, that was a bit of a waste of time.
My spoiler-free must-see recommendations KENTA vs Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi vs Zack Sabre Jr and Kazuchika Okada vs EVIL.
Continue reading “NJPW G1 Climax 29 (7/8/19) Review”
The G1’s final big stop before Budokan saw them stroll into Osaka for a couple of nights. These two shows will give us a huge indication of exactly where Gedo is going with this unpredictable tournament, and we start with SANADA getting a chance to pick up his first win over Kazuchika Okada.
My spoiler-free must-see recommendations are EVIL vs Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi vs Hiroshi Tanahashi and SANADA vs Kazuchika Okada.
Continue reading “NJPW G1 Climax 29 (3/8/19) Review”
In a surprising twist, I caught a bit of the undercard on this show. Amazingly, it got me quite excited for Moxley vs Yano. It was easy to forget when he was filtered through the lens of Vince McMahon, but Mox is a funny guy, and there is every chance he and The Master Thief will create some magic. Anyway, that’s tomorrow’s show. Today we’re in the A Block and have plenty of fun to look forward to.
My spoiler-free must-see recommendations are Will Ospreay vs Zack Sabre Jr, Kazuchika Okada vs Lance Archer, SANADA vs KENTA and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs EVIL.
Continue reading “NJPW G1 Climax 29 (30/7/19) Review”
Ramblings About Wrestling 