2025 Matchguide - Addendum #3 & Wrap-Up

 
Mad Dog Connelly vs Adam Priest, ACTION DEAN 5/24

An old school brawl in 2025! It works pretty well. I liked how both guys covered up for the ref messing up with the dog collar at the beginning. The brawling here was good, and... well... it was a good match. I feel like a hypocrite for saying it but it didn't feel like much more aside from the novelty of seeing two guys just having a no nonsense brawl and beating on each other in the modern day. Connellys comeback with the back headbutts and tumbling through the ropes was great, so was his dropkick. Thought he should've pounded on Priest a bit more. But, sometimes matches end just like that, and that's fine. It's a bloody old school brawl so it's better than 99% of wrestling nowadays easily. I enjoyed this.

Hechicero & Dr. Cerebro & Xelhua vs Blue Panther & El Pantera & Virus, ACTION Dean 9/11

6 awesome wrestlers pretty much doing what they are paid to do. That said, I thought some of the early exchanges were a bit loose, though I love Blue Panther still putting in the effort to make things look competitive, not allowing people to grab limbs easily etc. They kind of get moving in the second fall which is still nice and competitive. Lots of enjoyable sequences where they manage to not get lost. Even with the cool matwork, I thought the old man highspots (Panthers ranas, El Panteras corner headstand) were the highlights. Also really enjoyed Panther simply armdragging an intefering Hechicero away, that should happen more often. I actually thought the first Dean trios was a bit better but ymmv. It's really enjoyable stuff anyways though you will know exactly what you are getting.

Josh Barnett vs Tom Pestock, GCW 1/19

Slow paced heavyweight shootstyle?! In the middle of a 6 hour GCW PPV? Despite the surroundings I thought this was pretty good! Pestock is better on the mat than you'd expect from looking at him, and Barnett made the challenge of facing a much bigger guy feel pretty intense. Really enjoyed Pestocks giftwrap set up for the armbar, as well as his ground and pound. Vertical suplex looked great and believable. The match may have fizzled out a bit towards the end - maybe Barnetts kicks needed a bit more zest, but Pestocks clobbering was cool -  but I really enjoyed Barnettts last ditch leg submission.

Final Thoughts 

Well, I've certainly watched a lot of wrestling from 2025! So, there were a lot of good matches.  Not a lot that really punctured into mind-blowing greatness to me, but definitely some fantastic discoveries and a lot of great matches. I went through my Matchguide and there were easily 50 matches that definitely stick in my mind as not just being good or fun but actually GREAT. It is quite burning to watch current wrestling because let's be real - so much is insanely loose, overly long, choreographed, self-indulgent and/or just plain bad with no substance. I tried to watch some US Indy wrestling, and boy oh boy that scene is looking not good. Everytime I look at modern WWE for 5 seconds it's just totally ass. Even straight up good workers often indulge in bad tendencies, but that has always been the case in a way. And I can accept that. It's just not for me anymore, I am not even close to the realm of the fanbase that stuff is appealing to. I've been watching wrestling for well over 20 years now and there are dedicated AEW and WWE fans who got into wrestling like last year, for crying out loud. The stuff that I find repelling is what they are actually into, I think. I'm like 4 generations removed from the intended target audience. But I definitely can't say that there's not a lot of good wrestling around nowadays. The things that kept me compelled the most were watching the rise of talented new grapplers like Senka Akatsuki and the Sportiva boys, delving into the completely unknown territory of AWG like a true uncle, keeping an eye on cult heroes and obscure scenes like the Mutoha crew, Takahiro Tababa, XGF, JWA Tokai, the last few niches and one shots that appeal to my weird sensibilities. Discovering unfamiliar wrestling is always fun and for me it's probably the funnest part of being a wrestling fan. Unfortunately I have been mostly ignorant to lucha libre throughout the year while CMLL was having a record breaking run but there's only so much wrestling an employed man can watch. Maybe that's something I'll go and rediscover in 2045 if the world hasn't blown up by that time.

The Top Promotions (That I can name)

ActWres GirlZ (AWG) 

 Discovering AWG completely blindsided me in 2025. A wrestling promotion that doesn't even call itself wrestling but rather 'a theatrical performance based on wrestling' somehow has a really respectable backlog of good-great wrestling matches, using mostly workers that even the person training them to wrestle doesn't call wrestlers. It feels like something that's takes a bit of a different approach from regular wrestling so it's refreshing. Even more interesting is that the promotion apparently went through a nearly life-threatening roster split the before, so workers were pushed into a position to try and make something of what was left. I'm not saying it's some miracle genius promotion because often there's bad stuff and some wrestlers definitely look like they don't belong in a ring, but I was impressed by others and their effort to put on earnest matches with minimal bullshit despite all of them being 'just' actresses. Most importantly they run 3 shows a months with usually 2-3 good and sometimes better matches coming out of each show, and that's better output that I can say for any other promotion that I've observed in 2025.

Sportiva 

 Well, Sportiva is kind of a no brainer. It's the one wrestling product that I've followed weekly with considerable excitement in 2025. They've got a crop of exciting young wrestlers, some interesting veterans, and they brought as things such as curry sportsbar shootstyle and Kings Road. The end result was maybe the biggest and most consistent output of good/great matches in 2025, although mostly involving the same handful of workers. I'm not too fond of their comedy matches and some acts on their cards but that's something that can be said about pretty much any other promotion too. Sportiva is the hottest wrestling hub on earth and they were cooking in 2025.

Marvelous

While carrying the spirit of Chigusa, Marvelous ended up being perhaps the most exciting womens promotion in 2025 even while running on a paper thin roster. Much credit goes to Senka Akatsuki whose initial SHOOT PIN victory over veteran Ai Houzan in January 2025 wound up making her one of the most interesting rookies on earth pretty much immediately, and following the story throughout the year was a cool ride with lots of good matches coming out. You also had the feud with Marigold that was pretty cool. Speaking of Marigold, that promotion also put on some good matches although watching an entire show would probably put me in a coma. Some credit also goes to the other womens promotions that still try to put on somewhat serious womens pro wrestling - PURE-J and Sendai Girls, though they haven't been quite as exciting as Marvelous in 2025.

Kakuto Tanteidan/Mutoha/JWA Tokai/XGF/SAREEEism/your flavour of the month niche one-shot...

I love variety in my pro wrestling. Unfortunately, a lot of pro wrestling in 2025 felt the fucking same. It's really hard to stay engaged when everywhere it's the same by the numbers slop that you get. A big reason why AWG probably ended up being my favourite promotion to watch in 2025 - simply because they weren't afraid to break established formulas and stray away from cookie cutter sequences. The variety that the 90s had - with shootstyle, lucharesu, the grandiose Kings Road and the more simplistic New Japan strongstyle being in full bloom - is sorely missing. Oddly enough the one thing that seems to hang on is deathmatch wrestling. As such, if a full time promotion started up that ran monthly shows in shoot-style like Kakuto Tanteidan or weird chess-match grappling like Mutoha or greco roman rules matches like JWA Tokai, then that promotion would probably surely be my promotion of the year. As such since these niche productions only run a handful of times a year it's hard to call them promotion of the year even though I always end up enjoying the likes of Mutoha or Kakuto Tanteidan more than anything else. Shows like that, while having almost no wider appeal are a much needed shot in the arm when it comes to enjoying wrestling. Who knows - if all wrestling suddenly was shootstyle or weirdo grapplefuck or creepy backyard brawling, then maybe I would suddenly start craving more thigh slapping superkicks and backcrackers and canadian destroyers in my wrestling. But until then - just inject all that weird stuff in my veins.

The Top Workers

Meiko Satomura

Naming Meiko Satomura feels like a trivial answer. Obviously she's the best. Default top female wrestler in the world for like forever... well when she's not stuck in the WWE black hole anyways. She also got a run of big matches leading up to her retirement that were all memorable and better than pretty much anything else going. Her one flaw is that she's the same as always, though that seems like a non-critique considering she's always been great. Still as stiff, precise and exciting as ever in 2025 even to her last match. What, you're complaining that this GREAT wrestler delivers GREAT wrestling just exactly as you expected? I would've liked to see her maybe show a new wrinkle in the final days of her career but whatever. She's  great and that's been a constant pretty much since I started watching Japanese wrestling.

 Mari

Of all the new exciting wrestlers I've discovered in 2025, Mari is probably the most complete - and also the one where I could honestly say she might give Meiko a run for her money when it comes to the top spot among wrestlers. Well, Mari is also a veteran, though only for around 10 years. Like Meiko, she is stiff, exciting, inventive, has the vibe of a badass - unlike Meiko, she also shows some variety. She's done some great work in tags, working as a stiff overdog heel leading a Heisei-Ishingun like heel group in which she's in the Kengo Kimura role of hitting cool leg lariats to Act Yasukawas Tatsutoshi Goto hitting cool lariats. She's also a pretty fun stooge working light hearted matches that still contain some wrestling. She's had the great singles matches, the great tag work, the great undercard performances that I would want from a #1 level wrestler. She's also in a unique position  that apparently she's the one coaching all the 'actresses' that step on the mat in AWG, so it could be argued that she's also the one responsible for that promotion being good at all. Eitherways, she's become someone who I always want to check out, and as the top worker in her promotion with a few of the best matches of the year being under her belt I can see her being a valid #1 pick for workers.

Ali Najima

 Well, Najima is a no-brainer pick here. Pretty much had good-great matches weekly in Sportiva while being a rookie with just about a year of experience, and he definitely wasn't carried in those matches. Also brought us the joy of bar floor shootstyle brawling. Also looked great when he stepped into Kakuto Tanteidan and I definitely want to see more of that. Checking out his weekly progression in 2025 has been one of the most exciting things in 2025.

Yasushi Sato

From what I know, Yasushi Sato has had a total of 6 matches in 2026. I was able to see 3 of them, all great, including a mind bogglingly interesting greco roman rules match. He'd probably be a strong number 1 contender if he'd just show up on tape like 3 more times, but that has been the case for many other great wrestlers throughout history. Musing about lack of footage aside, while Yasushi Satos body has declined a little - the man is 60 years old, jesus christ! - his wrestling mind is still one of the sharpest and most interesting around. Great grappler, really intelligent wrestler, everytime he gets to do his thing it's a joy to watch.

 Blue Panther

I haven't been able to check out lucha libre much. But, as rule, old men are usually the best at lucha libre, so Blue Panther is my go to guy. At the age of 65, can it be said that he's declining a little? Or is 65 just prime age for luchadores? At any rate, few wrestlers ever have such a charisma as Blue Panther does when he hits a top rope rana in a sold out Arena Mexico, and he also has the technical skill and nuance to back it up.

Yu Shimizu/Yuta Oya/Rico Fukunaga/Avisman/Super Taira/Keita Yano/MARU/Mad Dog Connelly/Dekai Ichimotsu/Marino Saihara/Minoru Kido/CHANGO/Paul Ishida/Chon Shiryu/Hideaki Sumi/Akiyama Who Just Wants To Do It...

 You can fill the rest of the ranks with pretty much any variety of guys and girls that I've been watching in 2025. At some point it becomes hard to rank them - like how do you decide who is better: a guy who's had 3 good-great matches in a sportsbar and a great shootstyle grappling match on a JWA Tokai show, or a guy who's had 3 good-great bloody brawls in XGF and a great old school grappling match on a Health Pro show? At some point you just have to be glad that we have all of them. We tend to focus on the workers who have the greatest, the most grandiose, the longest matches - although it's usually just the wrestlers who are put in position to have them. I know for sure - without guys like Yu Shimizu or women like Marino Saihara caring enough about wrestling to put on great little performances even in a tiny sportsbar or at a half empty Shin Kiba 1st ring, wrestling would be a lot less fun for me. As such - acknowledge them and give them their flowers. So, let's say it out loud - Yu Shimizu fucking rules - Super Taira fucking rules - Rico Fukunaga fucking rules - and so on. 

 The Top 100 Matches (in no particular order. Just watch them all if you haven't already. A lot of the enjoyment here comes from watching this in context so if you're a freak from the future reading this wondering how the career of IWGP Champion Yuta Oya began,  just go and watch all the Sportiva episodes in chronological order.)

Cosmo Soldier vs Michio Kageyama, Sportiva 1/1
Ai Hozan vs Senka Akatsuki, Marvelous 1/4 
Blue Panther vs Hechicero, CMLL 1/10
Senka Akatsuki vs Ai Houzan, Marvelous 1/12 
Yusaku Ito vs Yu Shimizu, Sportiva 1/22
Meiko Satomura vs Sareee, Sareee-ISM  1/23/2025
Act & Mari vs Haruka Ishikawa & Kyoka Iwai, AWG 1/24 
Mari vs Haruka Ishikawa, AWG 2/5
Kenichiro Arai & CHANGO & PSYCHO vs. GENTARO & Akira Jo & Taro Yamada, Mutoha 2/16
Yasushi Sato vs Shoji Ohno, Mutoha 2/16
Takahiro Tababa vs GAJO, Big Bear Produce 2/22 
Yuta Oya & Ali Najima vs Konaka & Shinya Ishida, Sportiva 2/26
Mariah May vs Toni Storm, AEW 3/9 
Haruka Ishikawa & Ayano Irie vs Erisa Nagai & Rico Fukunaga, AWG 3/9
Sakura Mizushima vs Mari, AWG 3/16 
Meiko Satomura vs Chihiro Hashimoto, Sendai Girls 3/21
Senka Akatsuki & Takumi Iroha vs Nanae Takahashi & Seri Yamaoka, Marigold 3/30
Satsuki Nagao vs Shuji Ishikawa, KT 4/8
Kosuke Sato vs Masashi Takeda, KT 4/8
Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura vs Hikaru Sato & Manabu Hara, KT 4/8 
Meiko Satomura vs Takumi Iroha, Marvelous 4/10 
ZEAL & Koji Sudo vs Sanada Ten Braves & Hiroshi Ando, Kishu Bundara 4/13
Meiko Satomura & Sareee vs Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu, Fortune Dream 4/16 
Sho Mizuno vs Yu Shimizu, Kobe Meriken 4/18
Yasushi Sato vs Super Taira, JWA Tokai 4/20/2025 
Elimination Gauntlet: Ai Houzan, Maria, Riko Kawahata, Sora Ayame & Takumi Iroha vs. Chika Goto, Kizuna Tanaka, Miku Aono, Natsumi Showzuki & Rea Seto, Marigold 4/25 
Shiori Asahi & Makoto Oishi vs CHANGO & Ayumi Honda, 2AW 4/27 
Tonikaku Yaritai Akiyama & Nakata Bide vs Masanobu Koppu No Fuchi & SUMA, AZW 4/? 
Munetatsu Nakamura vs Hagane Shinnou, Choco Pro 5/5
Shinya Aoki vs Kazusada Higuchi, 5/6 
Ali Najima vs Kanu(?) Watanabe, Sportiva 5/7
Paul Ishida vs taku, XGF 5/10 
Mentai Kid vs GENKAI, Kyushu Pro 5/11 
Senka Akatsuki vs DASH Chisako, Tenryu Project 5/21 
Seri Yamaoka vs Takumi Iroha Marigold 5/24
Cibernetico, ACTION 5/24
Chihiro Hashimoto & Mika Iwata vs Saori Anou & Natsupoi, Stardom 5/31 
Sui Cup Kenchiro vs Great Mara, CWP 6/1 
White Moriyama vs Ari Najima, HEAT-UP 6/1 
Sareee vs Ranna Yagami, Stardom 6/8
Masanori Watanabe vs Kazuhiro Tamura, Sportiva 6/11  
Sareee vs Syuri, STARDOM 6/21 
Yasushi Sato & Taro Yamada vs Akira Jo & Hideya Iso, Yoshino Aid 6/22 
Shinya Ishida & Yu Shimizu vs Ari Najima & Masanori Watanabe, Sportiva 7/2 
Ari Najima vs Masanori Watanabe, Sportiva 7/9 
Marino Saihara & Sakura Mizushima vs Anri & Yukina Uehara, AWG 7/11 
Act & Maru vs Nagisa Shiotsuki & Natsuki, AWG 7/11 
Leon & AKARI vs Moeka Haruhi & Rydeen Hagane, Pure-J 7/13 
Saya Kamitani & Natsuki Tora vs Sareee & Takumi Iroha, Sareeeism 7/14 
Mari & Act vs Anri & Erisa Nagai (AWG 7/18) 
Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu vs Mika Iwata & Miyuki Takase, Sendai Girls 7/19 
Zandokan Jr. vs Judas El Traidor, Lucha Memes 7/19 
Keita Yano vs brother YASSHI, Tenryu Project 7/20
Virus vs Xelhua, RoH 7/26 
ACT vs MARU, AWG 7/26 
Sareee vs Konami, STARDOM 7/27
Ultimate Spider Jr. vs Yasutaka Ooosera, Osaka Pro 7/27 
Ali Najima vs Yuta Oya, Sportiva 7/30 
Mari & Ayano Irie vs Anri & Erisa Nagai, AWG 8/2 
Masato Tanaka vs Hayabusa, Zero1 8/3 
Ali Najima vs Masanori Kanu Watanabe, Sportiva 8/6
Konaka vs Chon Shiryu, Sportiva 8/13
Act & Mari vs Marino Saihara & Rico Fukunaga, AWG 8/13
Ali Najima & Yuta Oya vs Michio Kageyama & Shinya Ishida, Sportiva 8/13 
Makoto vs Hiroyo Matsumoto, Seadlinnng 8/22 
Chon Shiryu & Shin Suzuki vs Makoto & Sayaka, Choco Pro 8/27 
Hideaki Sumi vs Tatsunori Oya, Kobe Meriken 8/29 
Yuta Oya vs Super Taira, Sportiva 9/3 
Mari & ACT & MARU vs Marino Saihara & Sakura Mizushima & Naru, AWG 9/7
Ali Najima & Super Taira vs Yuta Oya & Ryutaro Ohno, Sportiva 9/17/2025
Chihiro Hashimoto vs Mika Iwata, Sendai 9/23 
Kenichiro Arai vs Ayumu Honda, Tenryu Project 9/23 
Ali Najima vs Konaka, Sportiva 9/24 
Virus & Xelhua vs Charles Lucero & Erick Ortiz, Sugehit Produce 9/27 
Avisman vs Eragon, Vikmask 10/4 
Merman Masakazu vs Aesop, Health Pro 10/5 
Dekai Ichimotsu vs Vasaru Ikeuchi, Health Pro 10/5 
Senka Akatsuki & Takumi Iroha & Mio Momono vs Seri Yamaoka & Mayu Iwatani & Utami Hayashishita, NOAH 10/6 
Drew Gulak vs Timothy Thatcher, Beyond 10/12 
GENTARO vs Shuichiro Katsumura, Ganbare Pro/FREEDOMS 10/16 
Keita Yano vs Hikaru Sato, Tenryu Project 10/17 
Marino Saihara & Yukina Uehara vs Rico Fukunaga & Sakura Mizushima, AWG 10/19 
Takumi Iroha vs Senka Akatsuki, Marvelous 10/19 
Ali Najima vs Kosuke Sato, KT 10/23 
Tanomusaku Toba & Kengo Mashimo vs Yuko Miyamoto & brother YASSHI, KT 10/23 
Keita Yano vs Manabu Hara, KT 10/23
Keita Yano vs Koji Iwamoto, Tenryu Project 10/25 
El Hijo del Santo & Santo Jr. & Ciclon Ramirez Jr vs. El Hijo de Fishman & El Hijo de LA Park & Texano Jr., TxT/Lucha Libre World Berlin 11/2
Sareee vs Chihiro Hashimoto, Sendai Girls 11/16 
Yasu Urano vs Akito, 11/16 
Minoru Kido vs taku, XGF 11/23
MARU & Ayano Irie vs Marino Saihara & Yukina Uehara, AWG 11/24 
Ryo Kawamura vs Hikaru Sato, Hard Hit 11/29 
Yu Shimizu & Yuta Oya vs Ali Najima & Hajime Enshu, Sportiva 11/19
Kotaro Nasu & FUMA vs Kotaro Suzuki & Tetsuya Izuchi, GLEAT 12/6
MARU vs Chii Aoba, AWG 12/15 
Marino Saihara vs Rico Fukunaga, AWG 12/20 
BADMAX Fujinaga vs Great Kuririn, Kobe MERIKEN 12/25
Senka Akatsuki vs Seri Yamaoka, Marvelous 12/28 
MARU vs Rico Fukunaga, AWG 12/29 

The full guide: 

2025 Matchguide 

2025 Matchguide: Addendum #3

 Sareee & Takumi Iroha vs Kaoru Ito & Tomoko Watanabe, Ito Dojo 10/16

Oh look it's an Ito Dojo match! This is so unlikely but it's a ton of fun. Ito and Watanabe are way over the hill, but they still have enough energy to go all the way with Sareee and Iroha. A big part of the fascination of this match is 'Will they..?' and yes they totally will. Ito and Watanabe are still bumping and taking all of the hot young guns big offense. We do get to see Ito crush people with her big uranage and double stomp. In some ways you can see a wrestlers true talent when they are fat and old and Watanabe and especially Ito were still able to work entertaining exchanges. I would've liked the match to have a bit more of Ito/Watanabe clobbering the smaller two and working like the Twin Towers/Nigerian Nightmares but as it is this a ton of fun.

Mad Dog Connelly vs Isaiah Broner, NAP 1/12

You know maybe I should just watch as much Mad Dog Connelly as possible. To me the best of US wrestling is that Wahoo McDaniel, Buzz Sawyer, Dick Murdoch, Johnny Valentine gritty brawling stuff, and the Mad Dog Connelly is probably the closest you get to that vibe in the modern scene. This was just two mean tough looking dudes wailing on each other and throwing each other around. The bumps on the floor were pretty insane and felt very bar fight-esque. Very little fancy just straight up punishment. I loved how gnarly the last few strike exchanges felt, and the unhinged doctor bomb from Connelly. Could have done with out  the distraction finish but sometimes it just goes like that. No moment wasted here, a starkly straight forward affair without much fancydoings or obvious showmanship making this stuff a cool standout in the modern landscape.

Ali Najima vs Kazuhiro Tamura, HEAT UP 11/15

This looks like a good match up, and fuck yeah it is a good matchup. Najima is pretty much on top when it comes to being a reliable worker in 2025, for a rookie with a little over a year of experience he can do no wrong and he works this main event like a piece of cake. I would have liked them to go full on shootstyle but we just get a bit of shootstyle tinge in an indy match. The matwork is fun, Tamura is kind of a U-Style guy that never was in U-Style and he would not let himself be shown up easily. The match has lots of fun tricked out stuff, cool limbwork and neat pin combos. It's really enjoyable without overstaying its welcome. The beginning was kind of filmed like it was a 2009 livestream and they changed the camera settings midway into it so we don't get to see the transition to Tamuras legwork, which is a bit regrettable, but otherwise this is good all around.

Jun Kasai vs El Desperado, NJPW 6/24

A deathmatch that has amassed quite a lot of praise, even getting a **** 3/4 rating from pro wrestlings #1 authority on what's good and what isn't.  How so? My guess is because it's a) in NJPW, so more people watched it and b) it's absurdly long and delivers spots, spots and more spots at a consistent pace. Don't get me wrong, it's a well worked and entertaining match with most of the big bumps feeling like important transitions, but it definitely feels like something that I've seen Jun Kasai do a million times. All the respect in the world to the man that he can still do this kind of gorefest without problem at the age of 50, and there's definitely an allure to watching him do his thing, but there was 0 element of surprise in this. Desperado is rocking the Yamakawa pants and technically he should act like this kind of bloody spectacle is beneath him as an NJPW guy, but that element is not really felt at all. So you get your forgettable brawling segment, your lighttube carvings, your moves into broken glass, all feeling entirely predictable. Deathmatches used to feel dangerous - with fans genuinely not wanting to see their favourite wrestlers fall into barbedwire and such - and Jun Kasai taking a broken lighttube to someones face feels about as expected and welcome as a politician picking up and kissing a baby at a rally. There were still a few deathmatches even in 2025 that felt ghoulish, visceral, repulsive, hate filled and demented, but this was not quite that, it was pretty much the Jun Kasai 'can he stll do it -yes he can' rally for me. If you've never seen Jun Kasai before it's probably mindblowing for you so you can just take this review as the pointless musings of an out of touch old man. All that said I mainly didn't need this to be 30 fucking minutes long.

Tachishon Crazy vs Hinjaku Ningen Casshern, AZW 10/13

AZW delivers - better late than never! This was refreshing and a ton of fun. Almost like a mat spotfest as both guys seemed to try to outdo each other with nifty reversals and entries into submissions or pin attempts. Early scientific wrestling exchanges were really fun, they even seemed to knick some things from French Catch.Made me think maybe we should see Casshern in a promotion like Mutoha, locking up with someone like Dekai Ichimotsu or Yasushi Sato? Maybe I'm seeing things but I thought he has gotten quiet good by now, the execution problems he's had in the past not being there anymore and his selling in this being really good. And he's really one of the better octopus hold users still around. This Tachishon Crazy guy was also quite decent and a good antagonist. Really liked how he stayed on Casshern early on working him over with quick attacks on the ground and he had a few cool ways to get out of Cassherns octopus hold attempts. AZW guys when they're on will deliver some of the funnest wrestling you can imagine and this was another nifty match in their catalogue.

Dekai Ichimotsu & Great Zako vs MAD APE & Insect #2, XGF 11/23

Our heros Ichimotsu and Zako gather in the hellish battlefield of XGF to be attacked by two weird monsters. So it's everything that's right with pro wrestling by default. Ichimotsu is a lot of fun here, putting on wrestling holds on the freakish insect and bare knuckle punching him from mount. Besides Ichimotsu the other guys don't do a ton, Insect #2 didn't do any of the freakish antics that made him kinda fun before, and Mad Ape feels very much like just a guy. Still there's a few fun moments throughout, at one point they set off some firecrackers with Zako doing a heroic job rolling around in the tiny explosion like he was a guy getting turned into cheese in a vietnam movie. There's also things like a giant swing on the pavement, and Ichimotsus piledriver on the concrete was plenty sick. It went a little long but it's worth watching if you are into the griminess of XGF.

2025 Matchguide 

Kakuto Tanteidan IV ~ Straight Ahead 10/23/2025

 Ali Najima vs Kosuke Sato, KT 10/23

Najima is my boy, and I'm so glad they brought him in on this show, because clearly he is great in this kind of quasi-shootstyle environment. And Sato has also been quite reliable as an aggressive pitbull  that will slap and dropkick the shit out of your face in these short violent shootstyle matches. This was a great mix of slick wrestling and two aggressive guys trying to maul each other and one or two very well timed moments. I can't say much more than that, it was that simple  and straight forward. Just sick elbows and slaps and headbutts galore. Quite possibly the most enjoyable under 10 minute match of the year. Really hope Najima becomes a mainstay on these shows. I also liked the old lady in the front row that was really into the action.

brother YASSHI & Yuko Miyamoto vs Tanomusaku Toba & Kengo Mashimo - GREAT

A lot of fun to be had here. Miyamoto kind of felt like a joke, and he is an odd addition, but I thought for what he was going for he totally worked in this match, and he did some cool stuff like busting out his moonsault knee drop in plausible fashion, and a cool rolling cradle into a calf slicer. We also get to see brother YASSHI unleashing his inner grappler which is always cool, and Mashimo being a dick, especially to Miyamoto. I have no idea what Yasshi was thinking with that cartwheel comeback he tried though. TOBA~ brought the face punches as always. He does not swing as much as he did in his younger years but when he hits he will hit pretty hard. Thought the violent working over he gave YASSHI was easily the highlight of the early goings of the match. I thought they would have a Mashimo vs Miyamoto finish and it would settle for being a decent watch but instead TOBA and Yasshi tagged in and delievered an awesome brief but violent finish with Yasshi redeeming himself with a sick running headbutt and deadlift suplex that left Toba cold. Can't ask for much more from an old man comedy tag that is the 2nd on the card.

Keita Yano vs Manabu Hara - EPIC

It's been a while since their 2013. Keita has gone through many transformations, but at the core he is still the same old demon. This was Yano torturing Hara with carny tactics and dodgy Zbyszko stalling, and getting kicked in the face for his troubles. Even things like the old face scrape were made to look exceedingly violent and painful. I loved how Keita took off his elbow pad for seemingly no reason only to shove the point of said elbow into the Haras elbow nerve in a painful way moments later. Acts of cruelty always become more disturbing when they are premediated. Hara really looked like he just wanted to end the match. He was fighting a right demon after all. Builds to an approbiatly grotesque and violent finale. The most Keita match to happen in 2025, as somehow even his unconventional antics don't feel predictable here, and we are all here for it. One of the best bouts of the year, and Keita retains his title as the definitive anti-pro wrestler.

Yuki Ishikawa & Mohammed Yone vs Daisuke Ikeda & Ikuto Hidaka

Pretty much full on old man comedy tag stuff. I was expecting Ikeda to do an Eigen spit spot. Ishikawa still does provide some interesting matwork when he matches up with Hidaka, and he and Ikeda also had a nice grappling exchange later that lead to Ikeda biting Ishikawas wrist of course. Their one standing exchange felt to be at 5% of the usual intensity, which is understandable, though they do punch each other in the face later in the match. Yone looked spry and Hidaka can still be a bit energetic, he also had to shoe in the I'll be back. Not much shootstyle here, felt very much like a NOAH undercard tag. All these guys have more than proven their salt in their long careers so I don't really mind them retiring to this kind of thing.

Fuminori Abe vs Hikaru Sato

The early goings were pretty solid slow paced shootstyle action. Unfortunately, they had the really bad idea to have this be 30 minutes long. I wouldn't have minded if they had just continued dicking around on the mat for 15 minutes and then had a hot second half or something, but instead they padded the time with some pointless crowd brawling and some of that 'sitting down and letting the other guy kick you' macho stuff, which is probably the worst trope in all of wrestlig for me. You certainly never saw Yuki Ishikawa lying down allowing Daisuke Ikeda to hit him back in the day. They do hit each other quite brutally hard and the match has a few good moments, but just buried in an overly long match that didn't feel particularily inspired. Turning this kind of BattlARTS style match into a joke is certainly Fuminori Abes worst sin.

The Library 

2025 Matchguide 

2025 Matchguide - Addendum #2: AWG Edition

 MARU vs Chii Aoba, AWG 12/15

After doing some matches in GLEAT, Aoba is now going for a shooter vibe, which I am all here for, and this match was a cool coming out party. I loved the opening here, with MARU going 'okay, you wanna be a shooter, let's grapple' and hitting the mat. As soon as Aoba got the advantage, MARU went straight to beating on her with a chain and roughing her up with some nasty face scrapes again. Aoba knocking Maru off the top only to be dragged to the outside was also a good moment. MARU was pretty great here as she usually is. The big stomp off the bleachers looked really sick. Aoba tackling MARU into the chairs as a desperation comeback was also great as it came completely out of nowhere and MARU had this reaction like she didn't know what just hit her. The match was basically about Aoba trying to find her inner badass and it was cool storytelling. There was this odd moment where MARU went to attack her with a bottle and Aoba grabbed the bottle and drank from it, but just keeled over. Aside from that, I loved the new holds Aoba busted out. Her dropkicks still need a bit more force, but I like how MARU mostly seemed annoyed by them. Finishing run was really good and heated with MARU adding cool touches and Aoba having a sole focus on hitting a backdrop suplex for the win. It was for the most part really good, hard fought pro wrestling that told a cool story and easily won me over.

Rico Fukunaga vs MARU, AWG 12/29

Rico Fukunaga has done it, she climbed to the top and won the AWG singles title. Her reward is to get the holy hell beaten out of her by MARU in her first defence. Surprisingly underdog showing from Fukunaga here as MARU tore into her like a mad dog. The set up works as you get some really effective cheating heel vs kicker stuff. I was ready to complain when Fukunaga took a nasty double stomp off the bleachers and kind of no-sold it but then an angry MARU proceeded to beat her down further. Lots of nifty moments here especially from MARU, things like catching a kick, her biting the leg and then trying to snap it over the rope just plain work. At one point she also straight threw the chain at Fukunagas face. 2nd half was pretty much flawless I thought with MARU providing her usual cool touches, such as some great stretch muffler counters and nasty stomps, and Fukunaga going for the kill by clocking her in the head with those big kicks that all looked great and were timed really well. Mostly importantly they didn't drag this match out. Top stuff and I thought one of the better AWG singles of 2025.

Mari & Ayano Irie vs Sakura Mizushima & Naru, AWG 12/20

Quite good undercard action I thought. Opening section had Mari working some fun and creative joshi-meets-lucharesu sections with Mizushima et al. The Irie vs Mizushima section is solid but won't blow you away if you've seen their stuff before. Mari vs Naru finishing stretch was quite good 'underdog trying to topple the bigger badass' stuff. There were some sweet exchanges with Naru busting out some slick spots to target Maris leg and Mari selling it in just the right way, while retaliating with her signature cool leg lariats etc, and a few unpredictable twists and turns being worked in. Mari keeps impressing me putting in good little peformances like this even in midcard matches and everyone else was also putting in the effort.

Mari & Ayano Irie vs Anri & Erisa Nagai, AWG 8/2

Really good slice of pro wrestling. They told a pretty impeccable underdog vs established heels story with Mari & Irie dominating initially and Anri and Nagai having to make gradual comebacks. They worked their butts off and there were a number of cool individual moments especially when Mari was involved. The ending may have gone a tad too long but I can't fault them for going out of their way to make Anri look like a tough little nut. This would've been a really decent main event in any promotion let alone for a midcard match.

Anri & Natsuki vs Rio & Yukina Uehara, AWG 6/22

A lot of hard hitting kicks here. This was the most inspired I've seen Natsuki in a while. Often she just runs through her offense, but her she did a few nifty things: working Rio over with stiff leg kicks, hitting a really precise dropkick to the leg when her opponent went for a kick, and helping out Anri at the right time. I also enjoyed Rio who's a feisty powerhouse type and brings a slightly different vibe, plus she makes things interesting because she's a rookie with some power. Most of the action here was Anri vs Uehara, clearly a match up that they had some stake in for the future. Uehara was still a bit awkward here and there but mostly brings it, her spinning back kick looked like it nearly took Anris head off. And Anri brought plenty of fire as usual. I love her thrust kicks. This was good stuff as a result and very well put together.

Haruka Ishikawa & Ayano Irie vs Erisa Nagai & Rico Fukunaga, AWG 3/9

Another midcard match that ends up being really interesting. Nagai is a rookie with 6 months experience, so accordingly she takes a beating early. This gets us to the more experienced Fukunaga evening things up with some pretty hard kicks to the heel team but taking damage herself. Thought the match was really good when Fukunaga was in the ring as she was dishing out really hard kicks while the heels chipped away at her and there were a number of interesting moments. Fukunaga vs Ishikawa sections especially hinted at a quite good singles match between them. It ends up coming down to Nagai vs Ishikawa, which while it was simple was about ten thousand times more interesting than the usual nearfall fest because they both displayed an absolute will to win the match and there were a few creative ideas, e.g. with Nagai immediately going for shootstyle submission and even a basic lift becoming a struggle for Ishikawa. Even Nagais cutesy leg drop seemed desperate and because she's so low on the totem pole I was biting even on the nearfalls for Ishikawas basic sentons. Pretty rad stuff with an unorthodox layout that delivered lots of good, believable wrestling.

2025 Matchguide 

2025 Matchguide: Addendum

 Elimination Gauntlet: Ai Houzan, Maria, Riko Kawahata, Sora Ayame & Takumi Iroha vs. Chika Goto, Kizuna Tanaka, Miku Aono, Natsumi Showzuki & Rea Seto, Marigold 4/25

First half of this was pretty great and absolutely some of the best wrestling I've seen all year. There was interpromotional heat and a real sense of competitiveness. Pretty much perfectly laid out, establishing that a shoot submission or shoot pin could always eliminate someone. Loved all the frantic armbars etc and there was a real sense of fighting for survival, which is how it should be. Should say Maria looked quite great - really sharp offense, and her selling of the bad arm and desperately trying to even the score was right on the money. 2nd half was not quite as good I thought, but still plenty fun thanks to Miku Aonos harsh kicks, although going for the time limit finish 2 times in a row was a bit lame I thought. Chika Goto seemed way out of her depth against Iroha, though it was pretty fun to watch Iroha kick her like a mule and just coming out as a dominant badass. Overall I would still classify this as one of the more worthwhile matches of the year simply due to delivering quality action in spades and not being cookie cutter.

Elimination Gauntlet: Ai Houzan, Maria, Mio Momono, Riko Kawahata & Sora Ayame vs. Komomo Minami, Miku Aono, Seri Yamaoka, Utami Hayashishita & Victoria Yuzuki, Marvelous 8/8

Not quite as good as the 4/25 gauntlet match, but still pretty fun due to similiar factors: a sense of fighting for survival, any move can finish, and unconventional layout. There was some awkwardness and mishaps but nothing too egregious. Yamaoka vs Ayame at the beginning wasn't perfect but had the right spirit + Seris cool amateur wrestling moves. Match significantly improved again once Maria came in thanks to her sharp offense, cool submissions and Yasha Kurenai like scuzzy heel vibe. I also quite enjoy Ai Houzans quest to stop being such a loser. Aono and Kawahata were just solid here and I thought the match lost quite a bit of steam when they were at it, but thankfully things pick up again with Momono speed pinning Yuzuki and then a fun tricked out finishing run between her and Hayashishita. Definitely needed more of those frantic armbars that the 4/25 match had, though.

Timothy Thatcher vs Charlie Dempsey, WWE EVOLVE 11/14

Ahh.. EVOLVE is back? But now they're under the WWE banner outright? And it's like another WWE developmental? I have no idea what's going on, but one thing is for certain. Thatcher and Dempsey are gonna step in the ring and give you the grapplingest match you can possibly have on a WWE show. This was just a bunch of really tight hold for hold stuff with a good deal of aggression and accordingly, quite good. Won't make you forget Regal/Benoit but it's a fun shot at that kind of match. Thatcher does act a bit more punishing, busting out those cool knees on the ground and outright smacking Dempsey at the face. Some good nitty gritty groundfighting here and quality selling from Thatcher when Dempsey started beating up his leg. Really liked how they segued into the finish and Dempseys suplexes are awesome. 

 

2025 Matchguide 

JWA Tokai Origins of Pro Wrestling 4/20/2025

 Shigeru Takagi vs Yuki Toyoura

This show was described as 'pro wrestling without show elements' and 'going back to the origins of pro wrestling'. And also, all matches were held under greco roman rules. Yeah, so only grappling, and no grappling below the belt! There are still submissions, and there are no rounds and seemingly no points or passivity warnings. Now this is an interesting set up. And this was - well, it was very much greco roman wrestling. Takagi is bald with no eyebrows, in a singlet, and barrel chested. Toyoura I've seen before and he also looks quite strong. This was two powerful men trying to hook an arm or neck and mostly averting and kind of attempts at offense through sheer struggle. There were no moves, no big throws, no fancy holds. Toyoura tries to go for a reverse gutwrench lift but doesn't make it despite struggling his hardest. After around 8 minutes Takagi is able to grab a side headlock - the first 'move' of the match  and turns Toyoura on his back, but instead of pinning him he cranks way back forcing the tap out. Quite antithetical to the pro wrestling landscape in 2025 but I enjoyed the sheer struggle these two displayed.

Yuina vs Mana Yokoi

Yuina is something of a veteran of the Nagoya scene, while Yokoi had only made her debut in 2025. That is almost more information than I can write about this match, as it's mostly Yokoi being in turtle position and Yuina unable to do much of anything. Yokoi reverses out of the position once, but the second time she tries it Yuina reverses her and pins her for the 3. Talk about hammering the point home.

Yasushi Sato vs Super Taira

The two previous matches were more like a set up for this main match. This was amazing to watch. Mind you, it was 15 minutes of greco roman pro wrestling, so it's a very aquired taste, but I thought for that they went above and beyond. Both guys here displayed an intricate knowledge of greco roman techniques, but also great struggle, anticipation and timing. Yasushi Sato just keeps cementing himself as a grappling master in my eyes and Taira is a great match for him. The pin attempts they did here were amazing, but so were the escapes from the pin attempts. Also, since they previous two matches established that a match can end with any move, there was a great deal of tension, end even something like a side headlock could spell the end. Loved the struggle over the attempted suplexes as well as Sato wheezing when Taira went for the sleeper. Finish was amazing not just because the actual move that ended it was great (it was a great move) but because of the struggle and build that had preceded it. A super unique piece of pro wrestling that most wrestlers could not even attempt yet these two pretty much nailed it when they stepped on that mat. I definitely do not regret checking it out, one of my favourite bouts of the year.

 

The Library

2025 Matchguide 

2025 Matchguide Week 52

 Leon & AKARI vs Moeka Haruhi & Rydeen Hagane, Pure-J 7/13

Dojo matches can be a mixed bag. Either you get something comedic or generic, or something that completely blows the expectations away. This was on the blowaway side. It's fun to watch these wrestlers have exchanges without relying too much on taking bumps. Lots of fast moving standing exchanges early on that were nifty. AKARI continues to impress although she was more hard hitting. Rydeen Hagane is also still a really fun power house, who mixes up the formula of the match a bit. Loved her going beast mode on AKARI after AKARI did the somewhat cutesy foot choke in the ropes, and she makes things more interesting simply by being hard to pick up for something like a suplex, and her hard lariats and big power moves were on point. Finishing stretch was super elaborate as they mix up all the possible pairings which each one making for a cool match up. Leon is ever classy and makes everyone else look good, and Haruhi continues to make any finishing stretch she's in fun with her violent offense and surprising knack for cool reversals. The ending of this was just two wrestlers frantically going for a pin fall and it was probably the most credible and breathless of that kind of exchange I've seen in quite some time. 20 minutes that flew by in a breeze with a lot of good stuff in it.

Kenichiro Arai vs Ayumu Honda, Tenryu Project 9/23

Excellent chess match. Arai is truely one of the most interesting guys going when he gets going, and Honda has seemingly been thoroughly Yanoified and is fully embracing the weird technical wrestling. Lots of takedowns from odd angles, neat tie-ups, cool bits of struggle and making something out of basic moves. Thought Arai could've sold Hondas arm work a bit more, but aside from that this really rocked. I can't say much more than that, they grappled a lot and did their thing and it was never boring and just a really good match. Either you love it or you won't care for it.

Takumi Iroha vs Senka Akatsuki, Marvelous 10/19

Well crafted match that avoided the typical overdog vs underdog tropes you'd expect. Typically, you'd have the veteran no-selling the rookie a bunch. Not the case here, because Iroha knows Senka is an animal and will maul her if given the chance. After Akatsukis early takedown and elbows, Iroha made sure to stay all over her. I really liked Akatsukis comeback, which just consisted of yanking Iroha off the apron and smashing her into the steel pole. It was a hell of a lot closer to something Roddy Piper would do in 1983 in the Mid South Coloseum than your typical 2025 transition. Finishing run had a few great moments: teasing Senkas signature deadlift suplex, a big slap that almost KO'd Akatsuki and Senka then going for the shoot pin, and Iroha just having enough and trying to snap an arm. Iroha also dialed back the thighslapping a bit and wrestled more like a female version of Hashimoto - loved her big spin kick that landed square in Akatsukis face. Really good, borderline great match, and one hell of a stepping stone for Senka who is being made to look like a killer.

Paul Ishida vs ASUKA The World, XGF 2025/11/23

More delightfully demented carnage from XGF. This starts somewhat lighthearted as ASUKA takes it to Paul with a Super Nintendo, but quickly turns as seedy and deranged as you want your nihilistic backyard wrestling deathmatches to be. They go to brawl in this big dark hall with ASUKA dripping blood on the floor and the shoots looking like something out of the Descent as they brawl in the darkness. Tons of inventive and nasty spots, I was particular to Ishida mimicking spurting sparks onto Asuka, although the ladder dropkick neckbreaking spot was also incredibly nasty. The long shot where ASUKA, covered in blood and with oil all over him falling around on the floor while Ishida was getting ready to run him over with a truck was straight out of a horror movie. Thought ASUKA was pretty great here as a bloody mess, he had some great offense too, great jumping kick and a great backdrop suplex that twisted Ishida around. Ishida was reliably trollish and gloriously seedy here too. I think this didn't need to be 25 minutes but that's really my only critique. Ghouls should have a field day with this.

Marino Saihara vs Rico Fukunaga, AWG 12/20

AWG puts up the big match for their main title for free, just like that! Really good match too! It's a short match too so you basically get all killer no filler. Lots of hard kicks, cool bits of struggle,  a few neat counters, and both of them going for the kill. Saihara had been the dominant champion for a while now so Fukunaga who had been in her shadow was pulling all the stops. There was a sense of desperation, even when Saihara was just able to lock 2 fingers together when trying for a crossface chickenwing. Loved the use of the savate kicks by Fukunaga, and her big reversal of Saiharas stalling german suplex was completely spectacular. I'm not sure what was up with Fukunagas weird catapult but other than that everything looked really good, not UWF level but good. I can't say much more than that, it's just well worked match between two wrestlers with believable hard hitting offense who put in some thought into their matches and an earnest effort, everything was sold and there was nothing that felt trite or by the numbers, it's just really good stuff all around and another great little chapter in AWGs current outstanding run.

2025 Matchguide 

2025 Matchguide Week 51

 Mari & ACT & MARU vs Marino Saihara & Sakura Mizushima & Naru, AWG 9/7

Entertaining 3 vs 3 match that culminated in one of the best moments of the year. We get some fun exchanges early on with everyone playing their role. Mizushima is good in her underdog role as usual, and it escalates to some brawling with MARU busting out the chain. The two later had another extended in-ring segment that was pretty fun. The real greatness happens when Mari and Saihara tag in to face off. Just great wrestling as the usual confident overdog Mari was desperately scrambling for the ropes by Saiharas crossface and trying to avoid the German Suplex at all cost. Mari would then reestablish herself by braining Saihara with some hard kicks. Tremendous struggle here, even over something like a Sidewalk Slam. Mari getting caught by a surprise German suplex, being seemingly KO'd was ridiculously great. A bunch of chaos happens andhe faces all got together to try and have a superhero moment but it backfired in a funny moment on them. Then when Saihara gets the pin on Mari it actually feels like she did the impossible. Great stuff just for that, really intense without relying on an assload of nearfalls, just great character work, timing and struggle here, a good example of the kind of unique thing the AWG crew can pull off insanely well.

Senka Akatsuki vs Seri Yamaoka, Marvelous 12/28

The most awaited rookie face off of the year! And for the most part this delivers. Opening of this was great as they just did stubborn grappling, slapping the shit out of each other and sprawling on attempted takedowns. Loved how even something like the half crab felt intense and got a reaction. I could've done without the no selling in the middle but the finish is intense. Liked how Yamaoka had to constantly scramble to the ropes when Akatsuki started working for the dreaded pinfall. Also dug Yamaokas early Honda-ish submission. She should stick with that stuff more often given how everyone's just no selling German suplexes these days. I need these two to become perma-rivals.

Makoto vs Hiroyo Matsumoto, Seadlinnng 8/22

Well executed big match and probably one of the better ones of the year considering this was a believable match that felt like a struggle, never got boring and they both fucking walloped each other hardcore throughout this. Really liked Makoto putting over Matsumotos monster strength early on even when basic wristlocking stuff was going on. Makoto was ultra-vicious in this and Matsumoto is insanely hard hitting, putting some real violence even into something like corner stomps or an elbow smash. Makoto pulling illegal tactics to stop the beast made for good pro wrestling. Her kicking the rope into Matsumotos throat was really nasty looking, and her boots and double knee drops were devastating. Should also point out that Makoto going for an eye rake felt meaningful and lead to an important moment. Finishing stretch was mostly a damaged Matsumoto getting more desperate but also repeatedly re-establishing herself as a monster. Really liked how she tried to force a tap with a basic facelock that left Makoto hurting. The entire ending run was well put together thanks to Makotos precise offense and Matsumotos knack for unpredictable transitions and never lost me. Even the suplex no-sell was done right as Makoto was desperate to not loose the advantage and Matsumoto put her right back down turning her lights out and ending the match. Quality stuff and definitely a high note for joshi in 2025.

Minoru Kido vs taku, XGF 11/23

Ghoulish deathmatch spectacle + brutal face punches and headbutts. Oh and it's held in some apocalyptic setting outside a deserted factory. They are wrestling on concrete with just a little mat put on it. Last time I checked out xgf taku looked like a fairly normal guy, now he seems to sport a face tattoo and a green iro. I am only slowly getting into Kido but I am starting to see what makes him a modern cult favourite. He was pretty terrifying in this. The buzzing of the tattoo gun he used to cut taku open was haunting. I liked how whenever Kido got too comfortable in his casual sadism, taku would punch him in the face really hard. While there is some exhibition-y stuff typical of deathmatch wrestling here, there is a real vicious edge the way these two would waffle each other with a kendo stick or wooden plank in this. And they just keep punching and kicking each other in the face. Finish may have been the most insane I've ever seen as Kido just tried headbutting takus face to a mush. I liked how Kido didn't even care to piledrive taku onto those things he emptieed on the floor properly. This was like a combination of a Kurisu/Necro Butcher match and a leaked snuff video.

BADMAX Fujinaga vs Great Kuririn, Kobe MERIKEN 12/25

Who's Great Kuririn? Well, he's clearly stylized after Krillin from Dragonball. But here this bald little man who has a thick body and skinny arms and legs shows up in thai shorts and gloves to fight the man known as Badmax Fujinaga, who puts on the gloves and otherwise wears his usual shirt and pants. They start fighting and this seems to be a real fight. They start swinging and Kuririn quickly goes down and Fujinaga starts kicking the living shit out of him with brutal kicks and stomps to his bald head. Kuririn actually survives this by slipping out the ring. He continues to try and fight, but BADMAX is an unstoppable machine here quickly knocking him down again and then trying to crack his skull with knees on the ground. Kuririn tries to go for a takedown and is stuffed and after some more mauling a nasty armbar tweaks Krillins arm for the tap. I think this may have been a real fight. Whatever it was, it was a weapons grade sleaze at its finest.

2025 Matchguide 

HARD HIT Ryo Kawamuras Retirement ~ Complete Disposal 11/29/2025

 Kenta Hattori vs Ryutaro Watanabe
 

Pretty much what could be considered a light sparring session. Both these guys certainly looked like they could grapple, but there weren't a ton of highlights to what they were doing or anything. Hattori had this really cool sleeper hold into a Russian Leg Sweep. I thought that was cool. Solidly executed but forgettable stuff otherwise.

Yukito vs Takuma Uchiyama

Serious shootstyle, where they didn't hold back when it came to kicking and slapping each other hard. The grappling is decent and I liked the increase of aggression whenever either guy dropped a point. Nothing super great or anything but it's decent shootstyle wrestling. Uchiyama, I think is an MMA guy and based and this he would make good if he just continued to do shootstyle. I continue to enjoy Yukito, he does well for a 50 year old guy and I hope to see him more outside HEAT-UP.

Takahiro Tababa vs Koki Fujimoto

Kobe Merikens shooter boy Fujimoto shows up in his karate gi. This was a bit conservative when they were grappling as basically Tababa used Fujimotos gi to his advantage and Fujimoto couldn't do much, but it was really fun whenever they started beating the shit out of each other. We all know Tababa is a pitbull, but Fujimoto was standing up to him. Even knocking him down twice in succession, and on the 3rd the bell actually rang but referee Nikkan Lee had the decision reversed. Maybe Tababa was KOd legit as he seemed to struggle to get his senses, but then he threw Fujimoto with an incredible hard German Suplex and finished him with a nasty gi choke. I'm really gonna need a rematch between them in Kobe Merikena after Koki was robbed like this, regardless I am really happy to see guys like Fujimoto emerging in the Japan indy scene and branching out.

Hideki Sekine vs KURO-OBI

Pretty much a grappling match, and it was some nice slick grappling. KURO-OBI clearly has some BJJ skill as he transitions really nice and smooth from all kinds of esoteric leglocks and positions. Hideki Sekine is a real monster of a man. In the times of Giant Baba and Strong Kobayashi he probably would have been considered exceptionally handsome and he'd rock an afro or something and have epic battles with those guys and the tabloids would write about his affairs but the times have changed and now they call him Shrek. His grappling felt a bit like he was being overly nice, like if he really tried he could rip any mortal man in half but he was playing nice. But the one time he went for that old school wrestling leg split that harkened back to Giant Baba and it's the one thing in the match that really made the crowd wake up. Really good grappling otherwise and there was a cool finish, but I kinda wanted to see Sekine fight Gilbet Leduc and work a match around a bearhug or a canadian backbreaker or something like that. Talk about being out of time.

Takuya Wada vs Tyson Maeguchi

Two not very exciting wrestlers in a mediocre match. They tried to do the routine with Maeguchi being the dangerous striker, but he really doesn't hit any impressive strikes. Wada just kind of keeps him at bay with some forgettable grappling for the most part. And worst of all they just kind of went to a 10 minute draw without either guy really pressing for a win at point. Yeah, you don't need to know more about this than the first sentence I wrote.

Minoru Suzuki & Takafumi Ito vs Yoshiki Takahashi & Mitsuhisa Sunabe

Takahashi comes out rocking the Yasushi Sato tough old man with greying hair, wrestling shoes and baggy trunks look, AND a badass Pirata Morgan eyepatch on top of all that. So that alone makes this worth checking out. Takahashi had some slick takedowns here, I would've liked to see him more in the match. Ito and Sunabe did some really slick grappling that was great to watch and easily the best shootstyle grappling I've seen in a while. I'm puzzled by the career trajectory of Mitsuhisa Sunabe, who has been around a long time and popping up once or twice on OZ Academy cards. What's up with this connection to Oz Academy of all places? Regardless, Suzuki just has to shoehorn in a bunch of comedy stuff. The finishing sequence between him and Sunabe was cool, but otherwise, Suzuki was really bleh here. It's an old man grappling match, wtf are you doing shoehorning your old comedy spots in? You really need to settle down sometimes, Minoru Suzuki.

Ryo Kawamura vs Hikaru Sato

The final match of Ryo Kawamuras career, and a somewhat bittersweet reminder that this man could've been a lot more as a wrestler. After a somewhat tentative beginning where Kawamura easily lost a point, this turns into a pretty great shootstyle encounter. Both guys really palm striked the hell out of each other, and there were some choice submission counters. More importantly the story of the match was Kawamuras absolute determination to edge out one last triumph and really popping Sato with his shots. Great, super intense stuff, really some of the best work of the year here even when it feels like a short match, both guys displayed a ton of passion here and it was just really enthralling. 

The Library 

2025 Matchguide Week 50

 
Kotaro Nasu vs Yukito, Heat-Up 5/25

A very good little quasi-shootstyle match. Reminded me a lot of a Fu-Ten undercard match which is a very good thing in 2025. Yukito continues to be decent while Nasu continues to elevate things by being really vicious. He had some of the most vicious kicks and open hands I've seen all year in this. Him looking in a cool calf slicer and then going in further on Yukitos leg with brutal low kicks was quite good, poignant shootstyle action. There was also a nice punishing aspect since Nasu is the veteran so he is obligated to try and kick right though Yukito. It's really really fun and if it hadn't been for the somewhat awkward insertion of a few irish whip moves it would've been one of my favourite singles matches of the year. My man Nasu deserves more recognition (and more bookings so I can watch him more, dammit).

Sareee vs Chihiro Hashimoto, Sendai Girls 11/16

A no-brainer great match up that delivers pretty much what you expect. Still, I was pleasantly surprised by the opening half of this which was really good, smart pro wrestling. We get some cool matwork where Hashimoto shows off her Alexander Otsuka-ish cartwheels and granby rolls and what not, dominating Sareee in cool ways, then cutting her of with those massive body checks. It was great stuff. Sareee was fighting against a wall here, and she had to figure out how to get by and start bombing her with her signature crowbar dropkicks and stomps. Sareee then trying to break Hashimoto leg with nasty twisting legbars and diving stomps was quite great. Of course, that legwork was pretty much forgotten as soon as Hashimoto got back on offense. They have their obligatory 'we both no sell a suplex' moment and the match is a lot less interesting suddenly. Some Takaiwa-ish crowbar strikes, headbutts, bombs and lariats happen to get me back into the match. After some more trite no-selling we get at least a graceful finish. I really wonder if it's possible for a Japanese big match to exist these days without a bunch of suplex no-selling. Even the crowd seems bored of that stuff at this point. It's a slight let down because there was a bunch of objectively really great work here.


Shinya Aoki vs T-Hawk, GLEAT 10/9

As usual, Aoki provides plenty of entertainment toying with his opponent on the mat and trying to force his shoulders down for the pin in painful looking ways. T-Hawk knocking him off the top rope and then proceeding to bitch slap him around on the floor was some surprisingly adept brawling considering T-Hawk is a Dragon Gate guy. Still, I thought Aoki needs to learn how to sell. I get that he's supposed to be a monster but he shouldn't be making stupid faces after getting punched in the face. As such the end of the match was a bit underwhelming. Fair play to T-Hawk as throwing Shinya Aoki into a row of chairs and then bitchslapping him was probably the greatest thing he ever did.

 

AKARI vs Crea, PURE-J 5/16

Impressive 2/3 falls match between two skillful wrestlers. Crea is quite the fun hard hitting machine with her boots and chops and AKARI had lots of nifty lucha-esque takedowns and submissions attempts. Though Crea also had some good submission work of her own. There was some quite evil stomping and smacks to the face here. Really liked the struggle over the tarantula attempt. Creas jumping big boot thing that she does is awesome. The match felt gritty and most importantly, they fought really hard in all 3 falls and had an unpredictable match that had some thought put into everything down to how they built up things throughout all the 3 falls without going cookie cutter. Definitely felt like more people should have their eyes on these two. Admittedly, Crea could've done with a bit less slapping of the thigh, but other than this was great. 

2025 Matchguide 

2025 Matchguide Week 49

Pantera Jr vs Sangre Azteca Jr, Michinoku Pro 11/2

Really enjoyable lucha libre action here, with both guys busting out some creative and unhinged big spots. There was also some surprisingly deep selling and match psychology. There were some 2025esque thigh slappy spin kicks and such which I didn't love, but the overall energy here is good. Mostly, this is a match about two guys nailing every spectacular thing they now, and they nailed all that. Pretty enjoyable. 

 

Kotaro Nasu & FUMA vs Kotaro Suzuki & Tetsuya Izuchi, GLEAT 12/6

Pretty good UWF style action here. The main reason this is worth watching is NASU, who looked like a killer. He was hitting insanely hard and constantly trying to rush through guys with his quick hands, crowbar kicks and powerful suplexes. The action was great pretty much anytime he was in the ring. FUMA is solid at best, but I liked his weird submission a lot, and both Suzuki and Izuchi are pretty competent at this style, which is enough to produce some excellent exchanges with Nasu. Nasu almost caving in Izuchis skull with a massive high kick was awe inspiring and Izuchi fired back with a sick Maeda level kick of his own. Suzuki is pretty good here for his old age and he does pull off a cool finish. Still, Nasu was the man here pretty much.

Marino Saihara vs Sakura Mizushima, GLEAT 12/6

It's kinda cool that the athress girls are also regularily called into GLEAT to do shootstyle matches. Mizushima, for someone who has shown zero shootstyle in her AWG matches, was surprisingly good here. This is a striker vs grappler match with Saihara being the obvious striker and Mizushima doing a cool job getting past her kick barrages and hitting some impressive suplexes and latching into submissions. Saiharas kicks were ever solid and she also had some nifty judo throws. The finish was really cool with Saihara having Mizushima in a leg crab hold, with Mizushima trying to gut it out only for Saihara to switch into this nasty achilles hold variation and crank back for the tap.

 

Drew Gulak vs. Timothy Thatcher, Beyond 10/12

This was an exercise in bending ankles in painful ways. Naturally I dug all that, the twisting of the legs, the slow takedown that was done by leaning on the shin. It's a great display of leverage and some carny creativity. Aside from that they didn't do much fancy here, it was pretty much the kind of grappling match between two gruff balding men in front of a small quiet audience you imagine these two having. Just tight armlocks and nothing much fancy besides a few WoS inspired escapes. Thought this was getting really good when Gulak tried to damage Thatchers leg and immediately got punished with a hard kick to the spine. I would have liked them to continue going in a more BattlARTS direction, but they kind of stuck to grappling it out. Gulaks painful looking instep hold thing that bent Thatchers leg all the wrong way was easily the highlight. I like how they kept it in the scope of an opening match, pretty much no big nearfalls, no overkill, no high spots. They seemed to be making it all up on the fly which benefited the match a lot, a nice stark contrast to the current wrestling scene where everything feels hyper choreographed. A fine piece of wrestling that felt a bit like a skinnier leaner version of an Arn vs Ole Anderson match.

 

Mari & Act vs Anri & Erisa Nagai (AWG 7/18)

Another very good little tag. This was built around Mari and Act being monsters with Anri and Nagai hardly being able to touch them. That can normally be trite, but they delivered a number of neat moments here. Anri and Nagai had to work hard to get anything at all and that made this a pretty intense match. Once again, Anri had a lot of aura and even her initial face off with Mari felt intense. Act didn't do a ton in the match, but I'd be lying if I said she didn't add to the match. She was a really effective monster early on. Mari did pretty much the rest of the match, and it was good stuff. Thought she stuck a great balance between overconfident and untouchable badass to being put on her ass with the slim chance of being caught by a rollup. Nagai is pretty much all rollups and a split legged leg drop, but they were slick roll ups and she really had to earn that split legged leg drop. Anris intensity once again jumped off the screen. Her thrust kicks were awesome and she gets a lot of mileage out of those sillas she does. There was also some fun brutality from Mari and Act, at one point Mari was basically cracking Anris ribs with her kicks. In the end Mari and Act finished their opponents off with ease, which I thought was fine since Nagai and Anri only have about one year of experience each. For a top heels vs hapless rookies match this was really good considering it could've just been a low effort squash.

2025 Matchguide 

2025 Matchguide Week 48

 Yasu Urano vs Akito, 11/16
Two guys grappling in the dojo for 60 minutes and livestreaming it seemingly from a phone camera. That is pretty much the most reverseviperhold match that can happen in 2025, so I am obligated to love it, but there was a ton of great stuff going on here. Akito is a total grappling freak, the guy was in the junior olympics and he used to wrestle Yasushi Sato 3 times a month in his Sportiva days. He rarely gets to show off that kind of talent in DDT, so I am glad he got to let out his freak in this. Really a great showing as he mixed in a ton of sweet techniques, some great leg grapevine moves, unique pins, the guy has a knack for this kind of clinical mat wrestling match. Urano is such a deceptive technician, he doesn't have quite the flashy techniqe of Akito, but he can really get down and gritty, at times he would just snatch an arm and armdrag Akito down really aggressively. He is also really vocal and was constantly letting out these miserable death rattles, like this match was totally killing him, and Akito would really cinch in any headlock or sleeper so hard that you buy wheezing old Yasu Urano passing out in the moment. They do get in a ton of neat details and unique touches, really a study of how you can work each hold to the maximum. It is a bit slow here and there and they do lose steam a bit towards the end, though I appreciate they didn't even try to tack on a bunch of nearfalls, they just kept struggling and resisting down to the last minute and that rules. I get that this is a highly specific type of match that these two probably did because they would get a kick out of it more than everyone else. But fuck if you wanna see some slick leg grapevines and awesome inventive headscissor work and shoulder exploding armbar pins and more gritty struggling over takedowns and pins and leglocks than you can imagine this is the match for you. Definitely one of my favourite bouts of the year, old school and raw passion for pro wrestling at its purest.

 Leon & Makoto vs Moeka Haruhi & Misa Kagura, PURE-J 6/29

Super enjoyable joshi tag that doesn't waste much time and just delivers non-stop action the joshi way. Everything felt nice and aggressive here, these 4 all have offense that hits hard. Kagura, who is yet another girly girl in a frilly pink dress looks solid. Makoto is putting a lot of force into her kicks these days, she was really fun here kicking people out the way with her big boots. Leon is classy as always, I could watch her impale people with spears all day long, and her tilt a whirl slams are great. Haruhi may have been the best of the bunch, her offense is plenty violent, just crushing people with double stomps and knee drops, and she has some impressive wrestling skill with cool suplexes, making intelligent use of the straight jacket hold, and even catching Leon in a crafty pin. Finishing run had a lot of fun creative stuff and never loses your attention. It wasn't a super deep match or anything but there wasn't any egregious noselling or overkill either and sometimes you just wanna watch 4 cool wrestlers go full bore.

Ali Najima & Tomoki Hatano vs Takahiro Hirakimoto & Yu Shimizu, Sportiva 11/26
Najima vs Yu Shimizu feud continues, which makes this fun. Hatano is a bit of a downgrade compared to yuta Oya in the tag from the previous week to say the least. Hirakimoto is still in the black trunks rookie phase and only doing a body slam and suplex, but he's alright. As a result the match did not go as deep as the tag from the weak before but it's nice to see Najima and Shimizu continueing their animosities. The finish builds right on the tag from the week before and that's always a nice thing to see.


Senka Akatsuki & Seri Yamaoka vs Takumi Iroha & Sareee, Marvelous 10/24
Usual good stuff from this crew. Akatsuki and Yamaoka are facing two monsters, but they are still busy having contempt for each other. A bit predictable, but reliable rookie vs veterans stuff, and they do surprise you with some things they bust out. Senka has been good all year long, at this point it's just a matter of when she will do the next step. Iroha and Sareee did their thing pretty much, and Seri was fairly impressive here.

Marino Saihara & Sakura Mizushima vs Anri & Yukina Uehara (AWG 7/11)

Fast paced, quite hard hitting pro wrestling that doesn't waste your time. I have no idea why AWG athresses are taking wrestling more seriously than almost everyone else in the country but here it is, there were no jokes here, no cutesy stuff, they just wrestled a really convincing match. Anri is another AWG wrestler that looks deceptively harmless but is actually really intense. This was mostly about Saihara vs Anri, with Saihara playing the veteran that can't be knocked down and Anri being a really good underdog that keeps coming back. I really liked how they seemed to go for the traditional rookie beatdown at first, but then Anri was able to catch Mizushima with a surprise thrust kick to the throat and then lock in this really cool rolling strangle hold while Uehara kept Saihara at bay. Mizushima is also in the process of becoming a really respectable wrestler. The moment where she caught Ueharas kick and landed her painful looking leg breaker was great and example of great timing as Uehara seemed to be in control and about to gain momentum. I also dug how they protected the submissions. When Mizushima went for her signature bridging figure 4, it was broken up just as she went into the bridge. Later, Saihara was trying to lock in a chickenwing crossface with all her might, the tension building as she started to get her fingers together and then the submission being broken at the last second. It's basic stuff but you rarely see it done like this these days. Once it came down to Anri vs Saihara it was really intense stuff and just really good wrestling. The finish is Saihara landing a jumping knee strike to Anris face, hitting a judo throw and locking in a plain straight armbar and cranking it for the tap, which is a really FUTEN finish to happen in 2025. Am I saying this is a FUTEN match? Hell no, but the energy is a ton of fun. AWG has one hell of a back catalogue with even minor matches like this being really compelling.

2025 Matchguide
 

Battle and Arts Pro 2/8/2025

 

Yujiro Yamamoto vs Kazuki Teramae

Teramae is another Seichi Ikemoto guy. That is a bit shocking, because he looked pretty much incapable of putting up a fight against Yamamoto here. His kicks looked good, but other than that he looked about as talented as any other indy nobody as he just wanted to go to his spots instead of actually shootgrappling with Yamamoto like god intended. Yamamoto is pretty fun here, as he cuts off pretty much everything Teramae tries and smacks him really hard for his troubles. But mostly this was about Teramae learning the lesson that he will actually need to fight.

Hiromasa Koyama & Maori Kawashima vs Sho Mizuno & Tetsuya Goto

Pretty much the sleazy crossover of a BattlARTs match and your typical scuzzy divebar indy tag. Koyama and Mizuno scrapping at the beginning was pretty fun, they understood the assignment. Kawashima kind of sucks as he is like a crappier version of Onryo, and Goto didn’t really show how anything outstanding, so the match degraded to bog standard trained monkey show indy levels when they were involved. Koyama looked like the best guy in the match, simply because he was beating the shit out of everyone the most. He was putting some real piss and vinegar into everything he threw, even into stuff like his european uppercuts, and he had a crazy judo throw that spiked Mizuno on his head. Mizuno, the other shooter in the match, looked good early on but unfortunately didn’t do much more in the second half. This veered between having some fun moments and being forgettable. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Koyama going sicko mode on people like this, though.

Yujiro Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Michibata

This was better. Just two guys kicking the living hell out of each other in a bar, as god intended. Michibata seemed to not quite take the match seriously early, so Yamamoto started stomping the crap out of him in the ropes. Michibata got more serious after that. He started to work over Yamamotos arm with some really painful kicks to the shoulder. Lots of both guys kicking each other full force in this. The one downside was Yamamoto insisting on forcing some irish whips and his rope-assisted octopus hold into the match. I dunno why he always does that. Also, the match needed BattlARTS rules. Other than that, this delivered on straight punishment and gritty bar shootstyle action. Cool to see Michibata in this kind of match and I loved his finishing submission.

 

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2025 Matchguide Week 47

 Yu Shimizu & Yuta Oya vs Ali Najima & Hajime Enshu, Sportiva 11/19

Best Sportiva in a while, for 2 reasons: 1) we get some cool Najima/Oya matwork at the start and it's always awesome to see Oya grapple it out and b) an unusal level of disdain between Najima and Shimizu, and thankfully they settle out to deliver a hot finishing stretch between the two that is packed with everything you can ask for. Enshu very much exists in this match, apparently he's a 40-something year old guy who was briefly an AJPW rookie in 2010s and only came back to wrestling last year after a +10 year hiatus. Interesting backstory aside he is a not very impressive skinny old man wrestler, though he can lay it in here and there, and we do get to see Oya judo throwing his skinny ass, so that was cool, and then he doesn't get in the way anymore. Shimizu vs Najima is just great. Obviously these are two very straight forward hard hitting pro wrestlers and they do clock each other with their kicks and elbows good, but the really impressive finish is built around submissions. All year we've seen Shimizus rear naked choke and Najimas achilles hold built up as killing moves so seeing them scramble out of those here was a really sweet piece of long term wrestling storytelling, and the surrounding wrestling was impressive. Finish was actually great too. If Sportiva at some point ends up giving us a singles match between these two I'll be delighted but for now this was a really nice stand-in.

Tomoki Hatano vs Shota Marlon Miwa, HEAT-UP 5/25

This was unexpectedly good. I've only known Hatano as the less impressive, less scummy tag partner of Yu Shimizu. But in this match, he was breathing the spirit of the scum bastard as he basically made it a point to be as evil to his opponent as possible. Really uncooperative looking matwork where Hatana threw the skinnier Miwa around and scrambled for chokes, hard brain scrambling elbows, shrugging off his kicks and just being a total prick. Just the first half of this was like 20 times more interesting than the average indy match due to sheer uncooperativeness and a disdainful nature. Shota Marlon Miwa has the dubious fame of being the first German-Japanese pro wrestler, he is a kind of skinny lanky karateka, he sells his ass off and his kicks are really fun which is all you really want from a karateka. His axe kick and big jumping leg lariat are awesome, so when you have an awesome leg lariat you are an awesome wrestler in my book. Hatanos enzuigirs were also impressively hard kicking, catching Miwa right in his skinny neck. Really good uncooperative little match.

MARU & Ayano Irie vs Marino Saihara & Yukina Uehara, AWG 11/24

A lot of pretty badass wrestling here. MARU continues to look like a killer as she's constantly inflicting punishment, biting, pulling hair, waffling people with a chain and killing them with double stomps. The chain stuff is cheap but effective and the surprise chain attacks are fun, and I am even fine with the comical amount of ref distractions, and it always looks punishing. There was also some great stretch muffler work here. Initially Uehara scrambled right out of the hold, so later MARU goaded her into throwing kicks just to catch her leg and go for the move again. It's super simple stuff but it's a lot of fun and somehow very few wrestler are smart enough anymore to do things like that. Uehara and Saihara were also pretty great here dishing out punishment constantly barraging people with kicks. Uehara seems to be turning into a good wrestler now, even her somewhat goofy hip attack hit hard, and she's just a ton of fun, imagine Torrie Wilson blasting people with credible shoot kicks. One thing that stands out here was the smart use of transitions, it never felt like I was just watching people run through their offense. They settle into a Saihara vs Irie finishing run which is surprisingly white hot. Irie had some problems executing stuff early on, but she held up pretty well against Saiharas UWF style barraging her with big boots from every angle. Saihara is a super reliable wrestler too just constantly putting the heat on people with shoot kicks and submissions and her suplexes. It's simple, straight forward wrestling that hits hard. There were also some great dramatic saves including Uehara just running in and braining Nagai with a BattlARTS-worthy high kick. Just great action. The finish is Saihara nailing Irie with a jumping knee to the face and then throwing her with a huge deadlift German which is one hell of a finish in 2025. I have no explanation for the greatness of AWG, they draw small crowds, which mostly seem to be uncles that seem to be there to look at the pretty girls, yet they keep putting on these banger matches that are more straightforwardly enjoyable than almost anything else I'm seeing in 2025.  

Mari & Act vs Haruka Ishikawa & Kyoka Iwai, AWG 1/24

Great tag, which was refreshingly different. Basically, Mari and Act are the top heel act in AWG and Ishikawa and Iwai are a pair of lesser evils. Haruka Ishikawa was going after Mari like an absolute pitbull here, just an absolute demon, and in turn Mari would maul her with some really violent kicks. Iwai likes to hit people with a gimmicked umbrella, so Mari shutting that down quickly and Act giving her a taste of her own medicine was good. Mari and Act toyed with their opponents for a bit before Ishikawa and Iwai gained control in a smart spot. After that it was just a relentless as they tried to take down Mari with Mari having great violent retaliations. Heck, there was a chair throw in this that felt like one of the most memorable things I've seen in a while. The one slight let down is the finish, since they were setting up the upcoming Mari/Ishikawa title match. But this is a great prelude to that, as convincing and intense as you can ask for any match to be mostly thanks to Haruka and Mari.

2025 Matchguide 

2025 Matchguide Week 46

 
Yuji Nagata vs Shinya Aoki, DDT 10/14

A 30 MINUTE Yuji Nagata match in 2025?! I am too prone to morbid curiosity to not watch. The first 10 minutes of this was great as it was all matwork. It's probably been forever since Nagata grappled with anyone for longer than 5 minutes in a match. 2003 Nagata would've put up a good fight, but Aoki was mostly toying with him here. Aokis single-minded focus to put Nagatas shoulders to them was fascinating to watch and there was some really compelling grappling going on. I was ready for them to go completely sicko and just grapple for the whole duration, but alas, after 10 or 12 minutes they start to do some blatantly pointless 'brawling' on the floor. Aoki is great on the mat, but he is pretty bad at regular wrestling things like irish whipping someone or even looking like he is in a fight when Nagata is doing stuff to him on the floor. A lot of the time he just stands there and looks like he's just waiting for his opponent to do something. Back in the ring I get some hope back in the match as Aoki hits a really choice counter from Nagatas exploder into a sweet rolling chokehold. There are some more somewhat compelling moments of struggle down the stretch, but mostly they kill the rest of the 15 minutes with overly drawn out submissions - including a 5 minute figure four leg lock, and lots of Nagatas signature weak elbow exchanges. The worst was probably that Nagata just absorbed basically everything Aoki did, never really doing anything particularily interesting to get back at him. It was probably Nagatas best match in years still since he was forced to actually wrestle and not just coast with elbows and funny faces. But even for all the good stuff this brought I thought it could've been a heck of a lot better. And most importantly I want to see Aoki face someone who can match him on the mat.

Minoru Suzuki vs Yuki Ueno, DDT 11/3

A 34 MINUTE Minoru Suzuki match in 2025?! We are really going beyond the limits this week. In fairness, this is a really respectable performance from Suzuki and he's pretty much the reason why this is an entirely watchable match. From the very get go you could tell Suzuki was putting in the effort and trying to make this compelling all the way through. He was really fun here stretching Ueno like Fuchi, beating the snot out of him, and hitting cool Fujiwaraish counters. Ueno is... athletic and well that's about all that I can say about him. The match had a ton of legwork, and while Ueno was selling it almost all his offense involves jumping or leaping and running and all that. It seems everytime he makes a comeback it's just him popping up and hitting a move. What he does he hits well, but he puts in zero extra. He just hits his moves and that is maybe the worst sin a wrestler can commit in 2025 in my eyes. Especially when facing a freakshow like Suzuki. And the goofy finish just kinda underlines that. This was really well worked and had  good layout, but holy shit why are they making all these 60 year old wrestlers have 30 minute matches. This felt slower than something from the 1950s. I think there was like a 5 minute achilles hold or something. It's a bit of a shame because there's a genuinely great Minoru Suzuki performance here and it's wasted in a type of match that just feels like a chore to watch at this point. I loved everything Minoru Suzuki did here, the counters, the leg kicks, the viciousness in going for the sleeper. It's an A+ performance in a type of match that is just grating my nerves now.

Rico Fukunaga vs Chii Aoba, AWG 6/28
Their little feud has produced some good stuff, and this was more of that. The most important thing here is that this is an atypical match. Nothing here came across as cookie cutter, and that alone is really refereshing. Just give me two wrestlers with credible offense who look like they are trying their hardest to win. That was the case here. Right at the go, Aoba took Fukunaga down and latched really hard onto a leglock that forced Fukunaga to the ropes. Fukunaga in turn tried to go for an armbar that Aoba desperately resisted. Seconds later, Aoba avoided Fukunagas kicks and surprised Fukunaga with a really elegant judo throw. While their execution wasn't exactly UWF-level, just the fact they did something other than the stereotypical side headlocks and wristlocks that seem to begin every match now made me enjoy watching. Aoba is really small and skinny and she comes across as trying to prove herself as a wrestler and it's really respectable. Her holds are cool, she has the bridging full nelson which is awesome (and they really made that full nelson look like a struggle) and she also did this cool series of chancery takeovers, her basic powerslam was also perfectly timed. I've no idea how to quite classify her but she's cool. Fukunaga caught her with some pretty hard, credible kicks too. This was a good match that stood precisely because of what  I mentioned: not cookie cutter, both treating the match as really important, credible offense from both, clear story/hierarchy etc. It's not mindblowing greatness or anything but somehow it's way better than what other feds are putting out. Give me something like this over another trite 30 minute DDT main event slog every day.

MARU vs Kyoka Iwai, AWG 11/15

A hard as fuck brawl with both of them beating the hell out of each other with chairs, chains, a ladder and basically everything they could get their hands on. There were some creative spots without getting too cute, and even something a bit silly like the hits with the plastic bucket felt pretty mean and evil. It felt straight out of early 2000s JD and that is a very good thing to me. Execution was a bit slow here and there especially from Iwai but that aside this was a ton of fun. I really liked how whenever one of them turned her head too long the other would come and ambush her from behind. That is exactly what should happen in a crazy brawl. And there were some damn big bumps to top it off too. It could've just been the brawling/hardcore stuff and it would've been a really fun match, but then they really did this dramatic finishing run with MARU trying to smash Iwais legs to dust and Iwai doing some great desperation selling. Iwai needs a bit of work before she'll be a great wrestler but she brought it here, and MARU is quietly one of the best wrestlers on earth.

2025 Matchguide 

 

 

2025 Matchguide Week 45

 Shinya Ishida & Ali Najima & Masanori Watanabe vs Yu Shimizu & Yuta Oya & Ryutaro Ohno, Sportiva 11/12

Sportiva with an all star 6 man tag! And yeah this resembled one of those 90s AJPW 6 mans just in a sportsbar. A bit less grand in scope if you will, but everyone here got to do some fun wrestling and it ended up being a very well put together super enjoyable match. Starts out nice and basic. Shimizu always looks great in these tags, in this case by kicking things off booting people off the apron and putting effort into working an abdominal stretch. We do get touches of everyone doing what they do best and giving an impression of what has made Sportiva such a good promotion this year. We get a great Najima/Oya exchange, which made me think we're due for another singles match between them. Their progression continues as they keep going toe to toe, and the same goes for Najima standing up to higher ranked guys like Ishida in a bigger way now. Ohno is still in his rookie role, but we know he can be fun doing his thing. This was a lot of fun and a reminder that this crew is one of the best things going in 2025 altough I am thirsting after some singles matches between any two of these guys.

Yukito vs Bomber Okuno, HEAT-UP 9/13

I quite like Yukito. In a world full of guys with a shootstyle moveset, an actual Kiyoshi Tamura trainee is always a welcome change of pace. Even more interesting is the fact that he's a 47 year old rookie, although you don't really notice his age. This is not shootstyle or anything, but just the way Yukito would aggressively hook his boody into Okuno and take him down loos just legit enough for it to get my attention. The match soon becomes about Okunos toughness. Okuno is more of a Jun Izumida type guy: hard head, slow moving, doesn't do many things. He's often trite, but in this match Yukito gets just on his grill enough that everything becomes a bit more contemptful, making this match interesting. Okuno would keep shrugging of Yukitos kicks, laying back into him with really hard elbows and headbutts, and rattle him with cool outdated offense like Coconut Crushers or falling headbutts. It's compelling precisely because it's not your typical even steven match up. Okuno would absorb Yukitos kicks and then just grab him and slam him really hard again. It becomes about Yukito trying to crack a tough, stubborn opponent. When he finally starts gaining momentum and starts to get ahold of Okunos arm, it really feels like he was going for the kill rather than getting in some cute reversals. Some really nice desperation down the stretch here with those submissions, and you do get those kicks vs hard head spots and Bomber cracking Yukito really hard. Super simple but highly enjoyable match.

Mari & Haruka Ishikawa vs Yui Tensho & Sakura Mizushima, AWG 2/24

'nother good match from AWG. Aside from a few light hearted moments, this delivered plenty of good action. Yui Tensho was in goofball mode early, trying to hit the AXE BOMBA~, which lead to Mari and Haruka doing an Anderson Bros style job working over her arm. We got see some good armwork from both of them. When Mizushima tagged in, I thought she would be one of these idol types - you know, very skinny, hits flimsy dropkicks and rollups, but she tried to take out Maris leg with some pretty brutal double stomps. Her dropkicks aren't amazing but I thought she was pretty effective as she always knew what to do. Loved Mari putting her in her place with some hard kicks and then almost ripping her in half with a crazy submission. Second half was about Tensho vs Haruka Ishikawa. Tensho cut back the goofiness and I thought Ishikawa was quite efffective pouncing on Tensho with sentons over and over, she looked like a pitbull. They just build to the axe bomber and it's good stuff. I like that Tensho getting a win over Maris team was made to feel like a big deal.

Mari vs Sakura Mizushima, AWG 3/16

Their exchanges in the February tag hinted at a good match, and this pretty much delivered just that! This was pretty great overdog vs underdog stuff. Mari outclassed Mizushima initially, and the match quickly turned into a nasty trashing with Maris kicks and sadism. Mizushima took one of the hardest throws into a row of chairs I've ever seen (and think of the ground that covers in joshi). Mizushima was able to catch one of Maris kicks and hit this nasty move where she dropped her entire body weight on Maris leg. She then proceeded to drop some more nasty double stomps on Maris leg. That legwork is very brief and doesn't slow Mari down too hard, probably since they wanted to keep Mari being the overdog, but it gives Mizushima some breathing space to mount a comeback. Thought the match was pretty much perfectly laid out with Mizushima getting just the right amount of desperate and urgent hopespots and Maris cutoffs being hard and mean. Mind you, Sakura could be a bit better when it comes to footwork and the force of her execution, but for what her role is she does pretty well. Also loved Maris quick use of the Gory Special. Very good stuff and Mari continues to deliver. 

2025 Wrestling Roundup