Natsumi Maki vs Miyu Yamashita: Progression Through Defeat

Since returning from injury, Natsumi Maki has been determined to prove herself. She might not have gone after the biggest dogs in the yard, but she definitely went after those who kick the hardest. Up first, was her close friend Sareee, with whom she had a fantastic match based on mutual respect. Maki lost, but she came out the other side feeling like she’d taken a step forward and was emboldened to challenge The Mega Champ, Miyu Yamashita.

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12/02/2020 2

Stardom The Way To Major League (8/2/20) Review

Stardom’s second Korakuen of the year was supposed to be headlined by the dream match of Mayu Iwatani vs Sareee. Unfortunately, Sareee got ill, which led to her having to pull out at the last minute. Now we can only cross our fingers and hope they find a way to reschedule before Sareee ruins her career by moving to Tampa. Still, Stardom did a great job of leaping into action and finding a suitable replacement in the form of Takumi Iroha of Marvelous. Could it live up to the expectations placed on that original match? Time to find out.

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11/02/2020 7

TJPW Winter ~wonderful harmony~ (1/2/20) Review

Tokyo Joshi’s strong start to the year continued with another intriguing card to kick-off February. We’ve got Raku’s continued attempts to win a match, Maki going up against Pom and a new challenger for Yuka in the form of Lana Austin. How did things shape up? Well, read on to find out.

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05/02/2020 0

NJPW The New Beginning In Sapporo (2/2/20) Review

After a beef-fest the night before, New Japan was dishing up a very different meal on night two of The New Beginning in Sapporo. We’ve got a bit of British in there followed by Taichi’s latest attempt to climb the ladder and reach the top of the New Japan rankings. Can he do it? Well, I guess it’s time to find out.

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04/02/2020 0

NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo (1/2/20) Review

Shingo knows what he wants. Credit: NJPW

After a wee break from New Japan (unless you kept up with FantasticaMania) it’s time for The New Beginning, a tour which NJPW has gone all out on this year. They’ve upgraded the final date to Osaka Jo-Hall and are delivering potentially fantastic matches at every destination. Up first was Goto vs Shingo and EVIL vs Ishii, which kind of makes it look like Gedo let me do some booking. He didn’t, but I’m certainly going to enjoy it.

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03/02/2020 0

Stardom 9th Anniversary In Osaka (26/1/20) Review

Gosh, this came around quickly, didn’t it? It’s time for Kagetsu’s final Stardom match. While she’s doing a wee retirement tour around various joshi companies before facing off with her trainer Meiko Satomura one more time, it already feels like things are coming to an end. She certainly couldn’t have picked a better trio of wrestlers to say goodbye with, that’s for sure, as she and Mayu go up against Jungle and Momo in one hell of a main event. I could try and tease the idea of whether it delivered or not, but I suspect you know the answer.

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31/01/2020 4

TJPW Winter ~wonderful harmony~ (25/1/20) Review

A trios tournament and Maki vs Yamashita made Tokyo Joshi’s latest trip to Osaka feel like a must-watch show. Throw in a couple more intriguing singles matches and, well, here we are, it’s review time!

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30/01/2020 0

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

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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27/01/2020 0

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

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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24/01/2020 0

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

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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20/01/2020 0