Following the precedent set last year when I named Mei Suruga and Pom Harajuku my wrestlers of the year, I’m back with another dive into the performers who defined 2023 for me. Honestly, if you’ve been paying attention to anything I’ve said over the last twelve months, there will be no surprises here, but it’s still fun to dive into exactly why I think these two are so special.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s 2023 Wrestlers of the Year”Ramblings About’s Match of the Year 2023: Arisa Nakajima vs Sareee
Arisa Nakajima and Sareee represent a style of wrestling that you don’t see much in the current joshi scene. Some things look similar if you squint, like Stardom’s hard-hitting epics, but they never truly tap into the world that Arisa and Sareee do. They’re too big and shiny, while the fights between these two are down in the dirt, fuelled by hostility and a willingness to try and drive one of your body parts through an opponent. There’s nothing beautiful about these matches. They’re violent and spiteful, which makes it even more bizarre that sitting in Korakuen Hall, watching this live, I couldn’t stop myself from bursting into tears.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Match of the Year 2023: Arisa Nakajima vs Sareee”Ramblings About’s Matches of the Year 2023: The Best of the Rest
As 2023 draws to an end, people like me decide to spend far too long coming up with a match-of-the-year list. Honestly, even I think this one is somewhat excessive, as I have nineteen matches to cover in what I’m describing as the best of the rest. However, I didn’t want to let any of my favourites go, as I’d be happy to have any one of these as my number one. As usual, these are the matches I loved, so while you can feel free to throw some suggestions my way (in fact, please do), don’t waste any time telling me I’m wrong. I don’t care how good you think Will Ospreay vs Kenny Omega was – I’m never going to watch it. Anyway, on with the list!
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Year 2023: The Best of the Rest”Marvelous (10/12/23) Review
Marvelous’s final Korakuen of the year had two biggies at the top of the card. First, Mio Momono and Tomoko Watanabe battled to decide who would get the first shot at reclaiming the AAAW Title from the villainous Mayumi Ozaki. Then, Magenta challenged for the AAAW Tag Titles for the second time, as they hoped to wrest the belts from the seemingly unbeatable pairing of Takumi Iroha and Chikayo Nagashima. It was all exciting on paper, so let’s see how reality lived up to it.
Continue reading “Marvelous (10/12/23) Review”Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for November 2023
As the year draws to an end, thoughts inevitably turn to matches of the year and things of that nature. However, that doesn’t mean the good wrestling stops. There are plenty of interesting things going down, and while I can’t claim to have covered it all here (it’s another month in which I’ve focused on quality over quantity), I reckon everything on this list is worth the time I took to get into it. So, read on, and perhaps find a late addition to that list.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for November 2023”Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for October 2023
It’s another quieter month for my roundup as work started to pick up over the last few weeks, and I’ve been tired. Still, quality over quantity, and I believe the seven matches listed below are all fantastic pieces of wrestling. Read on to learn more, and, as always, if there’s anything you think I should have seen, feel free to throw it in the comments. I’m sure I’ll get to it eventually!
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for October 2023”Ramblings About’s Matches on the Month for September 2023
September’s matches of the month roundup is a bit shorter than usual as I’ve been experiencing some post-Japan blues, which has made sitting down to write about wrestling feel like more effort than usual. However, there are still some treats in here, including one that might make my end-of-year lists, so hopefully, you’ll find something to enjoy.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches on the Month for September 2023”Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for August 2023
August is a slightly different month for my Ramblings About roundup. Since the 18th, I’ve been in Japan, so the second half of this list is entirely made up of matches I’ve seen in person. Seeing something live alters how you view it, and if you’re looking for in-depth analysis over more feeling-based yelling, you might want to go elsewhere. However, I’ve been having a lovely old time, and I still hope there is some value in what I have to say.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for August 2023”Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for July 2023
July has been a quiet month for me, meaning there has been plenty of time to focus on wrestling. So, this round-up of my favourite matches is a biggie, as we hit everything from New Japan bloodbaths to Asako Mia in a lucha mask. That sounds like a good time, right?
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for July 2023”Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for June 2023
Another month down, another group of fantastic matches that I want to ramble about. The wider wrestling world has been busy over the last thirty days, but, as usual, not much of that made the cut (although there is a taste of New Japan). I actually watched most of Forbidden Door, but was it as good as a WAVE show in front of 80 people? I think we all know the answer to that.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for June 2023”
Ramblings About Wrestling 