19) Review

After talking about doing so for forever, I have finally subscribed to DDT Universe. That means you can probably expect reviews of Tokyo Joshi Pro and DDT going forward, plus anything else that catches my eye. I’m going into these promotions with little to fuck all knowledge of how things stand, so don’t expect anything detailed to begin with, but we’ll get there eventually. If you’re a hardcore fan maybe leave it a few reviews because I’ll most likely annoy you at the beginning.

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04/09/2019 2

NJPW Royal Quest (31/8/19) Review

If Suzuki ever asks you to hit him, maybe don’t hit him. Credit: NJPW

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.

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03/09/2019 0

AEW All Out (31/8/19) Review

Image result for all out aew — Credit: AEW

Every AEW show feels like a big one this early in their fledgeling life as a wrestling company, but with their TV debut drawing ever closer, keeping the momentum up has to be their prime goal. Could All Out do that? Or would it be their first major misstep?

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02/09/2019 1

Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix (Afternoon 25/8/19) Review

Well, this took a while to turn up, didn’t it? Not only that, it’s apparent some changes are going on behind the scenes in Stardom, and I don’t think they’re necessarily good ones. The quality of the presentation on these videos, especially the subtitles, has dropped and, by the sounds of things, Sonny (who runs the English Twitter and I believe does the subtitling) is no longer doing it. I’ve no idea why, but he’s asked if anyone has complaints to Tweet at Stardom, so if you feel similarly to me, maybe do that.

Anyway, this is the third show of the 5STAR Grand Prix and the first of two that Stardom held in Osaka that day. Christ, just thinking about that sounds exhausting.

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30/08/2019 0

GCW The New Face Of War (23/8/19) Review

Image result for gcw the new face of war — Credit: GCW

The first of GCW’s shows in Japan was a whole load of fun, so night two had something to live up to. With the way this company has been going recently, you’d have been daft to bet against them keeping the good form up.

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29/08/2019 0

Meltzer’s Classics: Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kota Ibushi (4/1/15)

Image result for ibushi nakamura — That’s got to hurt. Credit: NJPW

Towards the end of 2014, Kota Ibushi announced that he was moving to New Japan’s Heavyweight Division. Kota was no stranger to Heavyweight competition, he’d competed in the 2013 G1, but he’d done so while still officially a Junior (much like Will Ospreay and Shingo Takagi did this year). Now, he was only wrestling the big boys, and for his first challenge? He went after Shinsuke Nakamura’s Intercontinental Title.

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28/08/2019 0

GCW Worst Behavior (22/8/19) Review

GCW’s rise over the last few years has been as fun as it has been astonishing. Not long ago they were a deathmatch promotion, unknown to wrestling fans outside of that niche. Then, they figured out how to capture the minds and attention of a much larger crowd, blending that deathmatch style with comedy, great wrestling and a little bit of magic. It’s been so successful that they’ve been able to take this show on the road, heading to Tokyo’s Shin-Kiba 1st RING for two nights that blended their roster with a few notable Japanese faces.

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27/08/2019 0

Meltzer’s Classics: Samoa Joe vs Kenta Kobashi (1/10/05)

https://pm1.narvii.com/6415/d272d7aaa28b4ddc6f342cb08defd1a2850d3d10_hq.jpg — Credit: ROH

It’s 2005 and Ring of Honor is the hottest independent wrestling company in America. One of the jewels in their crown is Samoa Joe, a man in the prime of his career who had spent 21 months with their title in 2003-04. Meanwhile, over in Japan, NOAH is in a similar spot, and the legendary Kenta Kobashi had just finished up a two-year-title-reign which cemented his already hefty legacy. When Kobashi signed up to do some dates with ROH, the chance to face him off with Samoa Joe must have been the easiest booking decision they ever made.

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26/08/2019 0

Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix (18/8/19) Review

I had a lovely time reviewing the 5STAR for the first time and was only kept from going straight into this show by the need to wait for it to be uploaded (no complaints, Stardom are going a good job in getting them up). Day one gave us a great match and a handful of very good ones, so day two has a lot to live up to. Can they do it? Why not?

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24/08/2019 0

Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix (17/8/19) Review

It’s time for my first 5STAR Grand Prix. Much like with the various New Japan tournaments, I intend to review the entire thing and can’t wait to have a shitload of Stardom singles matches to enjoy. I’ll also put my cards on the desk straight-up and say I’m on Team Hana when it comes to who I want to win, but I suspect it will be Momo. Truthfully, though, I don’t have a clue. I’ve no idea how they normally book this thing, so I’m happy to go along for the ride.

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20/08/2019 0