It’s finally happened. The Suruga and Momono dominance of Ramblings About’s Wrestler of the Year that has been in place since Lulu Pencil’s 2020 has come to an end. Sure, you could argue there are some caveats: Mio spent most of the year injured, and Mei is probably number three on the list, but it remains true. We have two new faces in place for me to ramble about excitedly. Who are they? Scroll down and find out (or just look at the image).
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Wrestlers of the Year 2025”Ramblings About’s Matches of the Year 2025: The Best of the Rest
It’s that time of year again, and we kick things off with my best of the rest. These are the matches that aren’t quite my favourite of the year, but if you got me on a different day, they could be. As always, they’re listed in chronological order, and there are a bunch of others that could have made this list (including one that I already wrote about). If you’re feeling the burning need to inform me I’m wrong about something on this list, please don’t bother – it’s not worth either of our time. However, if you’ve got some cool recommendations, I’m always intrigued to hear them.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Year 2025: The Best of the Rest”Meiko Satomura & Manami vs Aja Kong & Chihiro Hashimoto, Meiko Satomura THE FINAL (29/4/25), Sendai Girls
When I started to put together my end of year list, my initial feeling was that I wouldn’t include this match. It seemed too obvious, too boring. I’m well aware that’s a fault of mine, a need to point towards the unnoticed rather than accept when the thing in front of me is just as special, but I long ago made peace with that. Besides, it was easy to double down on that feeling when friend-of-the-site Unmanned Local Train posted their writing on it, a piece that beautifully captured so much of what made it great.
Continue reading “Meiko Satomura & Manami vs Aja Kong & Chihiro Hashimoto, Meiko Satomura THE FINAL (29/4/25), Sendai Girls”Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for November 2025
Another month, another host of matches that I think you should be watching. There are a couple of wildcards included, but the majority of it is me watching my usuals. It’s a lot of TJPW, ChocoPro and GAEA. Meanwhile, we’re entering match of the year territory, as I am, as always, running late in starting to put together my list. It’s a year where I don’t have an obvious front runner, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as there is a load of stuff I really love. I’m excited to watch them all again.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for November 2025”Senka Akatsuki vs Spike Nishimura, Chihiro Hashimoto 10th Anniversary Show ~ KAIBUTSU A DECADE (16/11/25), Sendai Girls
Five minutes can make a big difference. No one, outside of the minuscule Marvelous bubble, was talking about Senka Akatsuki until five minutes in Las Vegas changed it all. Suddenly, she became the most hyped joshi rookie in who knows how long, with the vast majority of it coming from people who had only seen those five minutes of her work. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be the one to pour cold water on the excitement. I was at Senka’s debut, and I’ve seen nearly every match. She’s worth paying attention to, but a lot of said hype has skated past the flaws. Which is a shame because we’re now at the point where Senka is trying to address those, and that’s when things get interesting.
Continue reading “Senka Akatsuki vs Spike Nishimura, Chihiro Hashimoto 10th Anniversary Show ~ KAIBUTSU A DECADE (16/11/25), Sendai Girls”Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for October 2025
After a quieter September, I’ve gone all out for October. We’ve got a host of exciting matches to talk about here, including two dives into uncharted territory and a somewhat accidental Meiko Satomura month as I continue my journey through the GAEAISM YouTube channel. It was getting so unruly that there were a couple of things I didn’t have time to write about. If you ever see me in the street, feel free to ask, and I’ll bore you about them.
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for October 2025”TJPW Additional Attack (18/10/25) Review
TJPW returned to Korakuen with an intriguing line-up. The top of the card is dominated by first title defences, where we know the belts aren’t going to shift, but there’s still some excitement to be found in people getting an opportunity in those positions. Further down, you’ve got the joy of the Mahiro Ironman title reign continuing, and even more thrillingly, a trio of interesting showdowns between young wrestlers and veterans. It all had the potential to be great, so let’s see what went down.
Continue reading “TJPW Additional Attack (18/10/25) Review”Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for September 2025
It’s a quieter roundup this month, not because of a lack of good wrestling, but because I haven’t had a chance to watch a lot of it. There’s no big, dramatic reason for that, I’ve just been a bit busy. Fingers crossed, I’ll be able to check out a bit more in October. However, I have decided to add a permanent ‘Past Rambles’ section, which gives me a chance to focus on matches that I’ve watched from, well, the past. It makes its debut here with a WCW Women’s Cruiserweight Title match from 1997. So hopefully you enjoy that!
Continue reading “Ramblings About’s Matches of the Month for September 2025”TJPW Wrestle Princess VI (20/9/25) Review
It’s somehow Wrestle Princess time. I swear it comes round quicker every year. Before the show, I saw someone describe this as the weakest of TJPW’s Ota Ward cards this year, but I don’t agree with that. You’ve got Rika vs Pom for fuck sake! Not to mention the return of Apple Ice Cream. There was a whole lot I was looking forward to here, so let’s get on with it.
Continue reading “TJPW Wrestle Princess VI (20/9/25) Review”Rina Yamashita vs Mei Suruga, Game Changer (5/9/25), ChocoPro

I don’t want to slag off Rina Yamashita. She’s a fantastic wrestler who has been part of some amazing stuff. However, in recent times, she’s been stuck in what I think of as the Hiroyo Matsumoto vortex. She’s old-reliable. A freelancer who pops up in countless promotions and can be trusted to fill a spot anywhere on the card. That’s no bad thing. In fact, it’s a talent in its own right. However, it’s easy to see why someone in that role would slip into a rut. There’s nothing to get your teeth into. You arrive, do your thing, and go home. The matches are rarely bad. They’re just not what you remember.
Continue reading “Rina Yamashita vs Mei Suruga, Game Changer (5/9/25), ChocoPro”









