Wrestling

Ice Ribbon #1018 In Skip City (13/1/20) Review

/ Stuart Iversen / Leave a comment
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Credit: Ice Ribbon

It’s 2020, and a new year always brings with it a chance to dive into some new and exciting wrestling. I’ve made it a bit of a tradition to pick a new company to try out every January, and while this year’s attempts are a bit delayed thanks to my trip to Japan, it’s a tradition that shall continue. So, welcome to my first ever Ice Ribbon review. In fact, it’s not only my first review but the first show I’ve ever watched. That means I don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, so if you’re a hardcore fan, please keep that in mind and be nice to me. Although, do feel free to point out any mistakes I make in the comments as I’m always happy to be educated.

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Stardom 9th Anniversary Show (19/1/20) Review

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Our champion. Credit: Stardom

On their 9th birthday Stardom did something they’d never done before and packed Korkauen Hall right up to the balcony. That famous old venue was bursting at the seams, and it was a beautiful sight. Yes, you can point to the advertising power of Bushiroad, but a card headlined by Mayu vs Momo is one of the biggest Stardom can deliver, and it had the crowd it deserved. Now, it was down to the wrestlers to impress.

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Stardom High Speed Grand Prix (11-12/1/20) Review

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Credit: Stardom

Stardom has decided to blow away the January blues with a little tournament. The High Speed Grand Prix is a five-person round-robin where the two people with the most points will face-off in the final with the winner challenging for Riho’s title. It seemed like the perfect slab of wrestling to follow along with, and the three matches reviewed below came from the two Osaka shows on January 11th plus the Shizuoka show from the 12th.

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Jushin Thunder Liger: The Perfect Wrestler

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One final time. Credit: NJPW

On January 6th, New Japan said goodbye to Jushin Thunder Liger. By wrestling at the Tokyo Dome on both the 4th and 5th Liger had made sure that during his thirty-five-year career (and he wasn’t far off hitting thirty-six) he’d wrestled in five decades. According to Cagematch, those five decades included 4205 matches (and let’s be honest, they’ll have missed a few) 113 of which took place in 2019. During that time, he arguably redefined the role of the Junior Heavyweight, becoming a star recognisable to anyone who has ever shared even a passing interest in the world of pro-wrestling.

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Maki Itoh vs Thunder Rosa: The Quest For Acceptance

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Itoh falls. Credit: TJPW

When you strip it down to its bare bones, Maki Itoh’s journey through the world of wrestling has been a desperate quest for acceptance. She entered this weird and wonderful form of entertainment feeling like idol had rejected her, chewing her up and spitting her out. To recover, she sought to prove herself in a different medium, one that bore similarities but allowed Itoh to be a lot more, well, Itoh.

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Miyako Matsumoto vs Chris Brookes: Genius Through Chaos

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Satisfaction through agony. Credit: Gake No Fuchi

While most of the wrestling world’s attention was on the Tokyo Dome, or at the very least the NOAH show next door, there was a small group of around a hundred who were swimming against the current. For just a twenty-minute train ride away in Itabashi Green Hall, Miyako Matsumoto and Chris Brookes were taking part in a one-match card which was, well, a little bit different from what was going on in the echoey confines of the Dome.

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Stardom New Year Stars (3/1/20) Review

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Friendships mended. Credit: Stardom

A quick note before I get started, I am going to be cutting down on the number of shows I review this year. I’ll still be doing a decent amount, but I want to write about some other things, and it’s hard to do that when you’re trying to keep up to date on multiple promotions. With companies like Stardom, I’ll pick and choose the exciting or noteworthy events while I wouldn’t expect in-depth reviews of every New Japan tournament (cheerio, Tag League). It’s a small change, but one I thought was worth mentioning.

Anyway, today I am going to have a look at Stardom’s second show of the year, which ended on an angle that saw them give the hornet’s nest a boot before 2020 had properly woken up.

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NJPW New Year Dash (6/1/20) Review

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The big goodbye. Credit: NJPW

It’s the day after Wrestle Kingdom, and all through the house, everyone is stirring because New Japan had another fucking show. I didn’t go to this one because I nipped over to Osaka instead, but New Year Dash always throws a few curveballs our way and had a certain Jushin Thunder Liger’s retirement ceremony, so I was going to watch it one way or another.

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NJPW Wrestle Kingdom (4/1/20) Review

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Credit: NJPW

With Tokyo Joshi finished, it was time to go to the second most important show of the day. January 4th at the Tokyo Dome is a New Japan tradition, and even if they were running two dates there this year, there was something extra special about the first. Watching Wrestle Kingdom a few years ago got me into Japanese wrestling and, well, have a look around this site if you want to know how important that was to me. So, let’s find out what New Japan gave me on my first trip to their biggest show of the year.

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TJPW Tokyo Joshi Pro '20 (4/1/20) Review

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A moment of respect. Credit: TJPW

January 4th might be Tokyo Dome day, but it’s quickly becoming Tokyo Joshi day too. Before making my way to Wrestle Kingdom, I wandered into Korakuen for the final time on this trip to watch a show with one hell of a card. Could it live up to it? Time to find out.

As has been the norm for reviews from this holiday, don’t expect too much in-depth detail. I don’t take notes and it’s much harder to write long reviews off of memory alone.

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