2026 Matchguide #4

 
Rico Fukunaga vs Chii Aoba, AWG 6/13

Athress Shootstyle! It's so weird but cool that AWG is one of a handful of promotions in the world now that does shootstyle rules matches. This was probably my favourite attempt at shootstyle of theirs so far. They still need a bit of refinement but for the most part it was a believable contest with a few cool moments. Inoki would be proud of these girls. Fukunaga looked surely and was hitting hard and Aoba was a cool underdog as always. Fukunaga was kicking hard and had the upper hand, hitting a Yamazaki-ish kick combo in the corner, until Aoba was able to hit a dragon screw and lock in a cool leg submission. Also dug Aobas believable shootstyle bodyslam and her backdrop. Would really like to see what these two can do in a pro-style setting after this. (Alas, it won't happen since Fukunaga has retired. Bummer.)

 

Shota vs. Shin Suzuki, Shota Produce ?/2026

This is from a 1 match show in a dojo that you can find through Shotas blog. A match like that is always gonna be of interest to me, and Shin Suzuki being in it made it must watch. Really dug that guy from his work as Chon Shiryus tag team partner that I've seen, and he had himself a nice little showcase here. Of course, the match was a love letter to the craftsmanship of pro wrestling.  Not just both guys doing cool stuff (they did cool stuff) but really building anticipation with each move. Suzuki was really cool here, his armdrags were amazing and he just looked really slick and cool here. Almost outshining Shota who only really left a huge impression with a cool reversal into a magistral and some neat cow catcher work. But both guys were working like they were applying for a match in Mutoha here and it was a really cool match. 

 

Chon Shiryu vs. Tokiko Kirihara, Choco Pro 3/30

 I thought Kirihara would be another of Emi Sakuras generic young trainees, but... actually she's 51 years old and a former kickboxer and MMA fighter?! This alone makes her really interesting to me. Early minutes are pretty fun as it's Shiryu doing some serious pro wrestling dealing with someone who can actually do kicks and submissions. We get some sleazy heel Chon Shiryu as he works some pressure point holds and such. Pretty much dentist office no ring version of a nifty 7 minute Velocity match. There are some cool judo throws, bumps into the wall, Kirihara busts out a cool ninja choke over the window sill and head kick, there's a really cool struggle over of a series of abdominal stretches. Shiryu takes the win with a Honda-ish firemans carry into a cross legged turk pin. 

 

Anri & Erisa Nagai vs. Chii Aoba & Yuri Yamane, AWG 7/25

Pretty fun undercard tag. Yamane is like in her 4th match ever here, she's thickly built and likes to kick hard so while she's still a bit awkward I'm sure she'll be a really fun wrestler in no time. Aoba was in her UWF gear which means she would bust out cool submissions. Anri was also pretty good as usual lighting up people with kicks and occasionally thrust kicking them in the face. Some slightly goofy stuff has crept into Nagais offense but overall I didn't mind her. Aobas surprise powerslam was a really cool moment like something out of a 1992 WCW tag, and because of Yamanes rookie status something like a body slam is a plausible nearfall on her. Everybody was bringing some cool stuff and I'll take this unorthodox AWG style match layout over a more generic tag at this point. It sure was a hell of a lot more interesting than your 2nd match on a card usually is. 

Hiroyuki Kondo vs. Hiroshi Watanabe, FOTR 3/8/2026

I saw that this match happened this year on Cagematch, thinking 'that probably ruled'. And by some miracle, we actually get this match with a nice closeup ref camera view! It's been a while since I've seen either of these two wrestlers since they are so elusive, but they both still looked good. Every Hiroshi Watanabe match is like a love letter written to old school wrestling and Kondo was totally matching him. They did lots of tight hold for hold work, and worked in cool old school moments such as Watanabe hitting a flying headlock takeover, and later Kondo reversing that into an Atomic Drop and then working the small of Watanabes back. Just lovely stuff. Kondo also had some nifty arm attacks to build up to his cool Scorpion Armlock finisher, he also busted out the arm piledriver and Watanabe had some cool reversals into Abdominal Stretches. The finish was Kondo hitting a hard lariat but getting caught by a Thesz Press when he went for another and that's just delightfully old school. So this wasn't anything grand but it was definitely a pleasing affair if you are a fan of these two wrestlers, doing their thing. 

Karl Malenko vs. Low Ki, ACTION/PRODUCE DEAN~!!! 9/13/26

Just two ripped old guys grappling it out and occasionally hitting each other in evil ways. I have not much to say here, I thought the matwork was pretty masterful. I am not sure Low Ki has done much shootstyle matwork since his 2002 match series with Danielson (the peak of US indy wrestling pretty much) but damn he looked like he missed his calling as a BattlARTS guy. I think this would have been a pretty awesome match up in 2002 but they both feel wiser now. Carl looked as great as ever bending the fuck out of Ki. There were a few great escapes and narrowly fighting out of submissions here as it felt like guys were on the verge of having their arm or legs snapped. Loved the shots to the body, especially when Carl punched away at Kis sternum while having his arms tied up. The 'accidental' rope break was a good way to kick up the intensity as Carl got more aggressive. Agree about the greatness of Low Kis shootstyle Ki Crusher. Towards the end, it was fascinating to watch Carl with no rope breaks left fighting out of attempted submissions. Great finish. Carl sure is on a roll right now. 

2026 MOTY List 

2026 Matchguide #3

 

Ryohei Oiwa vs. Yuya Uemura, NJPW 8/16 

This is the first New Japan main event I've checked out in a long time. My first impression is that they both look like Tanahashi clones. Okay, that's the most cynicism you'll get from me. The first 20 minutes of this are worked like a classic 70s or 80s match and it's fantastic stuff. They absolutely knew what they were doing. Getting into headlocks, trying to escape from headlocks, preventing escapes from headlocks, avoiding getting-counter headlocked and so on. Textbook stuff and they absolutely knew what they were doing. They mixed in a few more modern movements like a cartwheel or banderas, but for what it's worth, it was genuine classic pro wrestling in the vein of Flair/Steamboat, Dory Jr/Briscoe or Animal Hamaguchi/Mighty Inoue. So they basically did the thing that nerds like me were wishing for, and it rocked. It was genuinely some of the most compelling opening work to an NJPW big match I've seen in god knows how long. It felt like it mattered, because they were really hanging on to those headlocks and armlocks. Both guys acknowledged the squeeze too. I particularily enjoyed Oiwa selling his aching jaw after being tortured in the headlock for 5 minutes or so. The armdrag work and switches were spectacular. Just when I thought this was on it's way to becoming the greatest singles match NJPW has had since the Hashimoto era, the middle portion happened. There was a flimsy looking DDT, and both guys started no-selling. They continued to work tightly with a few neat spots and moments of genuine struggle, but it threw me off a little. You just worked hard to make people believe in a side headlock in 2026, and now you're getting up right away after a german suplex? That stuff doesn't compute with me. That said, they got back on track and settled for a finishing run in which they basically tried to tap each other out with the most basic holds and it was really compelling. I liked how they hit the shoot headbutts like battering rams, Fujiwara style. The overhead armdrag was also an amazing spot. All is well that ends well so I thought it was a lovely match and a great piece of work from both guys. They solved the modern big match problem where nothing really matters until one guy hits his finisher, and that's a big achievement. I'd thought this kind of wrestling would remain in the underground in promotions like Mutoha with matches like GENTARO/Arai or even Koichi Wakikaido doing experimental headlock-only matches in his dojo. Seeing it on a big stage like this and totally having the crowd by the balls the whole way was amazing in itself. Alas, even my complaints about the middle section are just a minor nitpick. The match had the excellent build and struggle of a classic match and the balls to try something completely different. The praise is deserved and New Japan might actually be on a good track now with these two at the front.

 

Ai Houzan vs Mio Momono, Marvelous 2/5

More of a psychological test than a wrestling match. Houzan has been kind o a perennial loser, so in this one Momono dares her to fight and they just stand in front of each other and hit each other as hard as humanly possible for a few minutes. Would've been pretty awesome stuff if they had integrated it into a bit more of a match but it was still pretty harrowing pro wrestling.
 

Hiroto Okubo & Tetsuya Goto vs Ayato Horiuchi & Hiroaki Taniguchi, Shi-En 3/21

Neat indy match where they went out of their way to make every section interesting. Horiuchi is a promising looking thickly built rookie who sticks to the basics and has some cool judo-style moves. Goto and Okubo sure to make him eat some hard dropkicks and stomps to the neck. Taniguchi is a fun powerhouse cleaning house and press slamming a guy to the floor, and I was surprised that when Horiuchi tagged back in he actually kept selling that neck. It made the finishing stretch a lot more dramatic as they put some good struggle even into basic stuff like a German suplex. 

 

Masanori Kanu Watanabe vs. Super Taira, Sportiva 5/6

I always thoroughly enjoy Super Taira whenever he shows up, and this was no exception in his streak of interesting little matches. There was some quite good shootstyle matwork to begin here. Watanabe dominated the action, locking in a beautiful Mariko Yoshida-esque armbar, until Super Taira was able to catch him in an awesome llave in a Volk Han-like moment. During standing Watanabe tried to cave Taira chest in with some insanely hard kicks. Dig Tairas focus on trying to catch Watanabe with a flash pin, and he does throw the greatest european uppercut in the world. I guess the last couple minutes could've been a bit more interesting as basically Taira survived a bunch of offense before catching Watanabe slipping on a banana peel. 

 

Rio vs. Sakura Mizushima, AWG 6/13

Nice little match, the kind that made AWG so fun last year. Mizushima avoiding Rios shoulderblock early on and cutting her down with some stomps to the shoulder before stretching her was some basic but very fun pro wrestling. Subsequent action was also quite good due to the building up of basic things like a body slam as important and showing some struggle. I like Rio, despite being bigger and packing more of a punch still came across as the underdog against the more experienced Mizushima who had a few believable ways to stay in control. The build to Rios Fireman Carry Slam was also excellent. Also really liked Mizushima coming back by catching Rio with a drop toe hold and then just stomping away at her. I always like a good stomping.

 

Karl Malenko vs. Tim Bosby, PRODUCE 8/3/2026

Probably my favourite Karl match since his return. Bosby reminded me a bit of an Alexander Otsuka type here, a burly amateur wrestler in a singlet who will suplex and banana split the fuck out of you. He actually looked like a worthy opponent for Karl, putting some pressure on him. Karl again showed little sign of his age and came up with some great counters and transitions. I loved how Bosby initially seemed to dominate on the ground with his powerful takedown only for Karl to tie him up in seconds. Bosby hurling the older guy around without holding back was great. Deadlift backbreaker was an awesome spot. I kind of expected something bigger after the Bosby strap drop ( he needs to learn to time those a bit better) but they wrapped it up with a nice finish. 

 

2026 Matchguide 

2026 Matchguide #2

Yuki Ishikawa & Fuminori Abe & Shuji Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Ali Najima & Kazunari Murakami, Kakuto Tanteidan 7/1

Impossible not to love this match. Chaotic and frenzied with everyone potatoeing each other a ton, which is probably the best possible approach they could have taken. While there wasn't much refined shootstyle going on I really liked that Abe armlock early on that nearly dislocated Najimas shoulder. Najima was pretty much a whipping boy here, eating punishment from all 3 opponents early on. Shuji Ishikawas a pretty effective crowbar as almost everything he does looks downright murderous.  It's also pretty cool that we got a little Yuki Ishikawa/Najima section. Ishikawa crowned him with a pretty sick headbutt too. I was also pleased that there was no stupid Abe comedy, instead he and Najima developed a really amusing hatred for each other throughout this with Najima going at him aggressively constantly. Really hope they can face each other at Sportiva sometime soon or something. Floor brawling section wasn't amazing but we got to see chairs being used and Abe knuckle punching Najima in the crowd. Ishikawa/Murakami exchange was fun and nostalgic with Murakamis mugging and Ishikawa still being willing to take some punishment. Match went to the next level with the Ikeda shoot headbutt section. Shuji Ishikawa seemingly trying to drill through Ishikawas face with his head may have been the moment of the match. I did not think they would be able to keep up that level of violence, but the Abe/Murakami section surprisingly delivered thanks to Abes punches causing hardway blood and the violence of Murakamis face kicks and punches. There was also an attempted eyerake that looked like Murakami was really about to rip Abes eye out, so just the right kind of grizzly violent little thing. Abe also may have had the most violent save of the match with his flying face stomp. Great match, delivering plenty of sick violence without overstaying its welcome, and a bunch of these guys pretty much had their best performance in forever here.

Kosuke Sato/Ryuma Sekimo vs. Ali Najima/Hinata Kasai, Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura Produce 7/1 

 
Pretty great hard hitting  high adrenaline opening  match like a Fu-Ten or WAR match. Basically they tried to put some scrappy violence into every exchange, along with a few unexpected moments and succeeded. I've not seen Sekimo and Kasai before, but they knew what they had to deliver here. Sekimo seemed a little goofy but he was throwing really violent hands and working a camel clutch like he really wanted to torture the guy. Also liked how he just rammed into Najima with his head. I also really enjoyed Kasais throat jumping outburst towards the end. I like how guys were really trying to crank necks with their headlocks so the way Kosuke Sato snatched a surprise front headlock was pretty great. Nomura was quite the bruiser here also and Kosukes dropkick on the armbar was another great moment. Other highlights include some brain-scrambling headbutts and a straight face punch as well as Najimas face stomping. 

 

 Hideki Suzuki vs. Go Shiozaki, AJPW 5/17

 
I haven't cared about Shiozaki since he adopted the embarassing Fake Okada look, but his banged up performance was pretty good here. The gritty out of nowhere lariat was great. What followed was the usual tour around the ring, made a little better by Suzuki resisting some of Shiozakis attacks. After some mediocre minutes the match got back on track when Suzuki would use the guardrails to hurt Shiozakis taped up ribs. What followed was some nice violent work in which Suzuki took some pages out of the playbooks of Terry Rudge and Johnny Smith. I was even somewhat okay with Shiozakis no-selling comebacks as he looked like such a zombie, and him coming up with a bloody nose and actually starting to put some spirit into his Baba chops was a cool moment. The finishing stretch wasn't super interesting aside from Suzukis comical pedigree, but I did like how Suzuki went back to smashing the fuck out of Shiozakis rib section. I'm a bit lukewarm on this overall as it suffered from typical modern day Japanese big match problems but there was some fun violence here.

 

HII vs. The Wolf, fight of the ring 1/18/2026

The Wolf's return to pro wrestling is something I have glossed over a bit and I probably need to cover it more. I mostly remember him as a reckless kicker from his WYF days, but he was quite good doing maestros style technical work here, busting out a cool peterson roll amongst other things, and generally looking pretty adept. HII has also become a pretty interesting worker at this point. This didn't really shift into next gear with its intensity, but it was two old technicians doing some fun pro wrestling and that's always right up my ally. 

Chon Shiryu vs. Rina Yamashita, Choco Pro 2/25

 I'm a shameless sucker for Chon Shiryu, the representative of the 2 coolest martial arts in the world, pro wrestling and kung fu. Yamashita is not super interesting but she is big enough that she can credibly fight against Shiryu, and she has some good power offense including a nice harai goshi. That said the bulk of the match was carried by Shiryus crazy kung fu antics and unique spots. Early minutes had some good hard fought hold for hold wrestling, including Shiryu making sure to put extra torque into a basic wristlock like Pai Mei torturing Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. Shiryu is able to make even a fairly rote strike exchange look interesting with his kung fu poses, he also makes even his basic kung fu strikes look pretty hard hitting. Most of the early parts of the match is the Shiryu show with him busting out crazy transitions and set ups for odd 619s, including a few things I've never seen him do before, he's always coming up with new tricks. He does take a pretty reckless looking bump when Yamashita catches him on an attempted springboard, and later he hits his springboard rider kick to the floor which is a crazy spot from a 47 year old guy. Finishing run had both of them selling damage to their legs when they got their knees up on flying moves and some crazy rollups, which was a lot more interesting than the usual bombfest, and Yamashita coming alive a bit. 

  

2026 Matchguide 

2026 Matchguide

 Better late than never, folks.

 

GREAT MATCHES:

1. Yuki Ishikawa & Fuminori Abe & Shuji Ishikawa vs. Daisuke Ikeda & Ali Najima & Kazunari Murakami, Kakuto Tanteidan 7/1
2. Ryohei Oiwa vs. Yuya Uemura, NJPW 8/16 
3. Carl Greco vs. Low Ki, ACTION 9/13 
4. Kosuke Sato/Ryuma Sekimo vs. Ali Najima/Hinata Kasai, Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura Produce 7/1  
5. Yujiro Yamamoto vs. Yu Shimizu, Kobe Meriken 4/10
6. Senka Akatsuki vs. Chihiro Hashimoto, Sendai Girls 2/15
7. PSYCHO vs. Shuichiro Katsumura, Ganbare Pro 3/28/2026
8. Bocky Kong vs. TATSUYA, Health Pro 4/12/2026  
9. Hiroshi Watanabe vs. Hiroyuki Kondo, FOTR 3/8 
10. Carl Greco vs. Tim Bosby, PRODUCE 8/3 
11. Sho Mizuno & Ryuya Matsufusa vs Tigers Mask & Aran Sano, Osaka Pro 2/22
12. Shota vs. Shin Suzuki, Shota Produce ?/2026 
13. Chon Shiryu vs. Rina Yamashita, Choco Pro 2/25 
14. Sakura Mizushima vs. Rio, AWG 6/13 

2025 Wrestling Roundup Week 34

Blue Panther vs Ultimo Guerrero, CMLL 8/8/2025

Blue Panther does it all, even at the age of 64. Flying headscissors, dives, bumps on the floor, even a big dragonsteiner off the top! Age is just a number and there's no limit, at least when you're a GOAT level luchador like Mr. Panther. This was really well laid out and a super fun big arena match, just for the insanity of seeing Panther doing all this stuff. There's mask ripping and some mean boots from Ultimo, but he mostly stooges for Panther. It was a bit slow and the finish cheap, but just a boatload of fun here.

Kazusada Higuchi vs HARASHIMA, DDT 7/13

HARASHIMA has been one of the more reliable Japanese big match workers for a long time now. He's 51 years old, which surprised me honestly, putting him at the age range of some of the Mutoha regulars, and here he is still, doing the same thing he has been doing for nearly 20 years now. And this was very much a Japanese big match with all that usually entails. Slow pace, with some limb work that really only serves a perfunctory purpose, and then a bit of cool stuff at the end. For that it was well executed and, but my heart longed for a bit more. The match was also plagued by 'lets stand in front of each other and patiently wait for the other guy to hit back' syndrome which has to be the biggest cancer in modern wrestling. Higuchi seems cool, but being slotted in this kind of formulaic match doesn't allow for a ton of spontaneity. By all means he should be a Tenryu type who fucks shit up and turns things upside down, being big, cool looking and an ex sumo, but it doesn't quite happen. The iron claw is ridiculously fun and I would've been fully on board for them working a match around an iron claw but it didn't play a big role in the match. There are some violent strikes at the end and it rounds up to being a fun match overall though largely feels like something you've seen a 100 times before.

Zandokan Jr vs Judas el Traidor, Lucha Memes 7/19

Here's your lucha brawl of the year. The crowd is solidly behind Judas the Traitor. There's blood, mask ripping, both guys smashing stuff on each others heads, and they never really slow down. And some blood drenched shoot headbutts for good measure. Could've been a bit deeper, as there wasn't a ton of flavor besides Zandokan putting his pirate flag over Judas head and kicking him in the face. That was cool. And the finish is totally fucked up and gnarly. But those shoot headbutts put it over the top for me. More than anything, the match had soul. And blood. Lots of it. What more can you ask for?

Act & Mari vs Marino Saihara & Rico Fukunaga, AWG 8/13

Really enjoyed the previous months big tag involving Act & Mari, so this is another great upload. What do ya know, this was really good too! The... act of Act and Mari is clearly one of the coolest things around since they know just the right balance being a pair of badass heels and also throwing out lots of cool kicks. I've never seen Saihara and Fukunaga before, but they are clearly a pair of pretty solid talents. They don't try to be overly flashy which I think is great, they are just really straight forward and solid with their kicks and submissions. They may need a bit more polish but Saiharas German Suplex may have been one of the most beautiful I've ever seen, so yeah Saihara and Fukunaga get a lot right. This is intense from the get go and it felt like everyone was going for the kill constantly, all killer no filler. Saihara and Fukunaga seemed outgunned at first and hanging on for survival, but by the end the tide had turned and Mari was getting destroyed. Thought it was remarkable that they cut such a sharp pace with no obvious filler work, and there were a few moments of cool struggle, the struggle over Saiharas German Suplex or even just catching a random kick at a critical moment certainly felt like a big deal and memorable. Act takes a bit of back seat to the more energetic Mari but I thought all of her involvements were well done, I really enjoyed that spinning front headlock that she angrily threw Fukunaga around with. Mari is clearly really good too, she has the badass vibe of a quicker Akitoshi Saito or Kengo Kimura, she brings both a unique flavor with the cool jumping kicks and also some character. So yeah, fast pace, intense, no nonsense action, heated, doesn't insult your intelligence, this was another really good match from AWG!

Mio Momono & Senka Akatsuki vs MIRAI & Kizuna Tanaka, Marvelous 7/13

Mio Momono is back, and she's got that little pitbull Senka on her side! It's a pretty fun match, and as always they make Senka look unstoppable. Plus you have the aspect of Senka helping out Mio which is always fun. The opening of this gave me bigger hopes than the match could end up delivering on as it turns into a Momono tour de force with endless kick outs. Momono may have great energy, but she really doesn't like selling. There is some good armwork by MIRAI and Tanaka that ends up being completely pointless. Eventually we do get the extended finishing stretch centered around Mio, with her basically taking on both opponents for like 15 minutes straight and not even tagging out to Senka again. Mio survives both opponents, and even wins the match. MIRAI and Tanaka seemed okay as workers but about as generic as they come so there wasn't a ton for me to get into here. Mios offense is fun but when it comes to violent headbutts and double stomps Sareee kind of has the market cornered. Match needed more of Senka. 

2025 Matchguide 

2025 Wrestling Roundup Week 32

Ultimate Spider Jr. vs Yasutaka Oosera, Osaka Pro 7/27

Decided to check out some Osaka Pro since they are nice enough to upload their stuff for free now. That turned out to be a really good decision because this was actually really good lucharesu, a breath of fresh air in 2025. The match started with actually good matwork for a bit before Spider Jr. woke everyone up with an eardrum shattering slap to Oosera. Oosera seems to be another scummy heel, and while he doesn't seem to have a ton of personality he strikes a good balance between heel tactics and wrestling. I really liked how Spider Jr. initially prevented the cheap eye rake. Oosera ended up hitting a hard flip dive that took out Spider and set up Oosera being in control for a bit. This really felt like lucharesu, some cool athleticism, a bigger focus on submissions and pins so things don't delve into senseless bomb dropping too hard, another great dive from Spider Jr. There were nifty reversals and most importantly, actual selling which made even something like a superplex feel pretty epic. They didn't even do any no-selling fighting spirit spots! Spider Jr. looked good as your masked sympathetic technico, by far his best peformance that I've come across, and Oosera also looked really good, his super fast Tornado DDT was awesome, which is really cool to hit such a spot out of nowhere. Immensely cool to check out and definitely one of the better singles matches out of Japan that I've seen this year. 

 Tonikaku Yaritai Akiyama & Nakata Bide vs Masanobu Koppu no Fuchi & SUMA, AZW ?/2025 

 
 What a match! This kind of well executed, innovative ama-pro wrestling is some of the funnest wrestling you can watch. There was pretty much no difference between this and a match from the pro leagues, and in many ways this was better that what you get to see in the pro leagues these days, which is pretty insane. Masanobu Koppu no Fuchi and SUMA are the heel champions and they do a good job early on working over Akiyamas arm. Akiyama is this thickly built guy, which makes him a bit more interesting than your typical skinny small guy. Nakata Bide is a more energetic type wrestler and he's a great hot tag. I also really liked Masanobu Koppu no Fuchi - he doesn't look like Fuchi at all, he is a sleazy gangly guy with a sleeveless shirt and scuzzy jiu jitsu pants, who hits some really awesome palm strikes and a great STO. Fuchi vs Nakata exchanges had some great stuff and counters, there was an awesome spot where Fuchi went for a spinning torture rack type move and Nakata hit a sling blade which looked more awesome than pretty much any sling blade I've ever see Tanahashi hit. The fun really begins though when Akiyama tags back in. The whole time I was wondering what Akiyama was gonna do because of his interesting look. SUMA is a fun dickish guy with kickpads, and he does a great job cutting of Akiyama and building to Akiyamas bigger spots. When Akiyama hit a basic samoan drop it popped me and it looked the most awesome thing ever. And Akiyama had a lot more cool stuff up his sleeve after that. They build to everything really well, and it's just a cracking match. I was surprised even the armwork from earlier mattered later in the match. A level of thought in this that you don't even see in pro leagues, and it was peppered with a number of awesome spots and inventive ideas. Definitely on the shortlist of the funnest matches I've seen in 2025.

Sareee vs Konami, STARDOM 7/27

Sareee saying 'Fuck this bullshit idol company' and just coming in straight trying to kill people may end up making for the angle of the year. Vicious opening here with both of them going for sick headbutts. Sareee not caring about Konami being out of position and just kicking her in the face was harsh. Konami trying to weather the storm by working the arm was good, only for Sareee constantly going to crush her with her crowbar dropkicks and double stomps. This kind of shorter match really works well for Sareee with her killer offense because she just comes across as trying to crush whatevers in her path. Konami eventually remembers that she's an asskicker and really blasts Sareee with some strikes of her own. Cool finish. This STARDOM grand prix is off to a hot start with this. 

  Act & Mari vs Nagisa Shiotsuki & Natsuki, AWG 7/11

 I watched this on a whim not really knowing anything about any of these wrestlers. Turns out this is really, really good stuff. Everyone here was pretty much going all out from the get go in the best way. Act and Mari looked like quite the badass heel tag team unit here destroying their opponents with cool kick variations, like a face painted leather clad 2025 joshi version of Heisei Ishingun (yes, there were Inazuma Leg Lariats). Face team  also had quite the asskicker in Natsuki, too. She was all hard kicks and crashing into people with running knees that mostly looked great. Aside from one or two occasions of thigh slapping she was great. Nagisa Shiotsuki was the low light with her flimsy offense, but thankfully she's not in the match much. Second half is basically all Natsuki having a series of violent standoffs against Act and Mari that were badass. These matches can easily devolve into a frenzy  of moves, thought they did a great job here working in a few neat moments. Act and Mari were both great setting themselves up for Natsuki and cutting them off. Big credit goes to Mari who looked like an absolute badass and lagely carried this, although Act also carried herself remarkably well. Also really liked the moment where they got carried away taking their time to finish off Shiotsuki with an absolutely sick double team move, allowing the sidelined Natsuki to recover and rush in with a jumping knee. Finish aswell as the build to the finish were excellent. This low key ruled, Shiotsuki aside this was one of the best joshi tags of 2025.

2025 Matchguide 

2025 Wrestling Roundup Week 31

 
Sareee & Takumi Iroha vs Senka Akatsuki & Sora Ayame, Marvelous 6/27/2025

Well this just writes itself. Sareee and Iroha are probably the top two women in the industry right now. Akatsuki and Ayame are rookies with the most barebones level of offense you can imagine. They get the heck beaten out of them, but just keep plucking away in the hope of scoring a massive upset. Tried and true formula, and they do it very well. The match was built around Ayame and Akatsuki trying to avoid an early destruction while chipping away at their opponents. Sora is still flimsy with her offense, but she's mostly getting trashed, while Senka has insane levels of aura. I liked how Senka seemed a bit of an unstoppable force even while hitting basic shoulderblocks early on as she avoided the initial beatdown. And the spot where Senka hit the deadlift suplex on  Sareee was just awesome. Sareee and Iroha are ever reliable in their roles here. You know exactly what you are getting here, but it's a nearly perfectly worked match with a number of satisfying moments.

Judas El Traidor vs Disturbio, Lucha Memes 6/22

Coliseo Coacalco was almost empty here, so naturally this started with a bit over 10 minutes of great lucha matwork that wouldn't have looked out of place in a classic title match from the 90s. Judas looked like a master, and Disturbio was also pretty good for someone who I remember not being anything great as a CMLL undercarder from a while back, but I guess often seemingly unspectacular CMLL undercarders are the hidden best grapplers. Mostly back and forth chain wrestling with a few cool holds peppered in. The brawling portion was fun too but not quite as good (Judas punches were missing by a mile). A nice reminder of how great indy lucha libre can be.

Virus vs Energia, Lucha Memes 6/29

Oh look Virus had a singles match. That is really unfair to every other wrestler in the world. Opening matwork was a nice reminder that Virus is still the best technician there is. This Energia guy looked pretty good, and a lot of this had the feel of Energia trying to upset Virus and Virus putting him in place. Loved how downright torturous some of Virus submissions felt e.g. the crazy modified Figure 4, and getting pissed when Energia was slow to apply a hold. The second half is mostly Energia trying to give Virus everything he's got. Always love the shoulderblock to the knee thing that Virus does. Eventually he caught Energia in a nasty submission and that was it. I love watching Virus do his thing.

Solar vs Xelhua, Lucha Memes 6/29

Solar is 69 years old. That doesn't matter though, because it's lucha libre baby~! Solar still gets into a waistlock as energetic as anyone, and still looks perfectly comfortable rolling around on the mat. Some genuinely great exchanges here, with a few impressive takedowns and escapes, I just love that Solar can still seamlessly do a smooth leg scissor takedown into a heel hook from standing. Xelhua has looked slightly overzealous in the past but it seems he's really gotten the hang of how to be a master now, he was super impressive here and looked like a genius of the 'tie-em-up' style. This didn't feel like an exhibition at all and that's great. Feel good finish because it's Solars anniversary and why not. I should probably watch a 100 more Xelhua matches.

Ali Najima vs Masanori Kanu Watanabe, Sportiva 8/6

The monthly great match between these two. They do some fun groundwork as usual, and then go on to have a BattlARTS style match where they kick the hell out of each other. The best thing about this how both guys clearly were trying to avoid getting hit. Too much modern wrestling has guys voluntarily allowing themselves to be hit, completely taking the violence out of it. This was pretty much the popular opposite and it was great. And as a result there were lots of scrappy out of nowhere hits, like Watanabes nonchalant headbutt, the big leaping open hand from Najima, or the big head kick from Watanabe that looked straight out of a 90s classic. Really almost had the feeling of Mantell/Lawler with both guys showing exhaustion while continueing to hit each other in evil ways, at one point Watanabe just started punching Najima in the kidneys in frustration. Also loved the intense struggle over the basic full nelson of all things, and the finish was abrupt and cold. I am loving the rivalry between these two, every match keeps bringing new things to the table. At this rate Najima may actually be the forerunner for wrestler of the year he is on an absolute roll, and Watanabe is doing insanely well for someone whose debut was like 3 months sago.
 

2025 Wrestling Roundup 

2025 Wrestling Roundup Week 27

 Ari Najima vs Masanori Watanabe, Sportiva 7/9

The U-Style-in-a-sportsbar-resurrgence continues. Some great grappling exchanges here, with Najima looking really good, he may be one of the best guys on earth right now, which is pretty crazy considering his debut was like a year ago, but I guess when you wrestle twice a week for a year you get good fast. Both guys deciding to do shootstyle grappling on the floor was a crazy moment and they actually continued to do grappling. Liked how Najima, after just getting entangled in an armbar by Watanabe continued to sell an arm/shoulder injury throughout. Back in the ring we get some more scrappy exchanges and Watanabe kicking Najima in the bad shoulder and hitting cool arm takeovers. Headbutt exchange leading to the running headbutt was pretty sick too. Ending felt premature, but I guess these two will fight each other a lot more, at least I hope so because this definitely made me excited to see these two develop a full on rivalry. Great stuff, more passion, skill and energy on display here than in a lot of matches on much bigger shows, Sportiva is on a roll.

Asuka Fujitaki vs Yuria Hime, STARDOM 6/4

This was good pro wrestling. Basically Yuria tries to hit fast and hard to take down the bigger Fujitaki. When Fujitaki tried to give Hime the rookie treatment with a boston crab (that Hime desperately tried to avoid), Hime came back with some quite vicious big boots. I also dug how they built to the bodyslam. Fujitaki doesn't do the cool submissions she showcased in the YuuRi match, but she is effective her putting down her opponent with basic lariats. Good basic all action match, the one let down was a somewhat awkward transitoin into Yurias skullsmasher move thing.

Utami Hayashishita & Mayu Iwatani & Seri Yamaoka vs Takumi Iroha & Senka Akatsuki & Sora Ayame, Marigold 6/17

Interpromotional joshi action! They put all these rookies in the main event so they know what kinda gold they have on their hands right now. And this largely delivers. First Yamaoka vs Senka exchange is a lot of fun. Then the intensity picks up a lot when Iroha tags in and starts waffling Seri. Iroha did a great job carrying herself like a badass in this and delivering character moments. Hayashishita is cool but I thought she could've carried herself as bigger considering she's the world champion of this promotion. I mean, her getting shoved around by the rookies is fun, but  I thought her later exchanges with Senka would've been a bigger deal if she had established herself as more of a badass earlier. Iwatani is hit and miss but was able to engage in some hot exchanges largely thanks to Iroha. But the match delivers the Senka moments that you want. Her testing herself against Utami is fun, she had a killer sleeper hold at one point and the SHOOT PIN~ is still strong. Also the match needed more Seri. Still, a really fun match that delivers more complex action than you'd expect going in and made me invested in this little Marigold/Marvelous feud.


Averno, Dr. Cerebro, Euforia, Volador Jr. & Xelhua vs. Blue Panther, Hologram, Neon, Valiente & Virus (ACTION 5/24/2025)

20 minutes of non-stop goodness. Your GOATS Blue Panther and Virus looked insane, and everyone else was a ton of fun. Match had a little bit of everything: cool lucha matwork, but they move on to standing exchanges pretty fast, lots of dives, complicated highspots from Neon and Hologram, and thankfully also plenty of rudo antics. Loved the rudo stuff honestly as it was just right to stop the match from becoming a total exhibition. Also loved Euforias little monster run, and Valientes highflying was really impressive considering he must be pretty old by now. Blue Panther continues to be the greatest plucky old man in wrestling, and Virus still looked like the best guy in the match. A lot of cool highspots but Holograms no brakes suicide dive probably took the cake. Finish looked too easy, but sometimes you just gotta take it home and give the fans a feel good moment.

White Moriyama vs Ari Najima, HEAT-UP 6/1

It's White Moriyama for real this time! Once again, this had the weird rules with 1st round being kickboxing, 2nd grappling and 3rd is straight forward everything goes. Kickboxing was alright, with a few punches landing pretty hard, grappling round was pretty intense where it seemed neither wanted to give up the advantage. And finally in the 3rd it's a pretty awesome breakdown with Najima really laying into Moriyama with hard shots. Moriyama seemed to have slowed down and looked like dead meat, but then started giving Najima back as good as he got. Last strike exchange was downright savage and the finish was rad. Seems Moriyama has only stepped a few times in the ring this year which is regrettable because he can clearly still go.

 

2025 Wrestling Roundup 

2025 Wrestling Week 12

 Yu Shimizu vs Leo Isaka Marvelous 3/16

A lot of big matches happening in March 2025, and here I am, excited to watch Yu Shimizu vs Leo Isaka. This was a bit slow but solid and had a really good ending. Shimizu has really come into his own providing lots of cool moments with his dragon sleeper/reverse DDT work and his rear naked choke is the best I've ever seen. Isaka is a fun fast moving babyface. It kind of rules to have a short mens match like this on a joshi card.

Meiko Satomura vs Chihiro Hashimoto, 3/21

It's Meiko on her way out vs her top student. Obviously it's a great match. Great straight forward hard hitting pro wrestling. Hashimoto is clearly Meikos best opponent in recent years and this was probably their finest match together. Hash with her grappling skill and sheer physicality really forces Meiko to show more intensity of her own. Some genuinely violent strikes, sick head kicks and Chihiro trying to take her head off with vader hammers here. Loved the constant teasing of the basic German Suplex and something like a basic powerslam from Hashimoto being a huge nearfall. I assume this was ran in a much too large building so the heat was a little subdued early on, so the crowd coming alive with a big Satomura chant breaking out late in the match was awesome. Plenty of great spots and transitions without becoming too cute, I also loved the sleeper hold. What really makes this pop as a great match is the 'passing off the torch aspect' with Hashimoto trying to topple her teacher and Meiko being so unwilling to just lay down and stay down for the 3 and trying her damndest to win the title even on the brink of retirement. Great stuff and easily one of the finest matches not just of the year but of the decade so far.

Yumiko Hotta vs VENY, Seadlinnng 3/20

Yumiko Hotta main eventing a big show in a cage match. Why? I don't know, but I'm watching it. Hotta is 58 years old. She really can't bump, she doesn't even do cool kicks anymore. They just chuck metal objects at each others heads, bleeding, Hotta punches through a chair, they use a rickety ladder to try and climb the cage... some outside interference happens and a bunch of other girls storm into the ring, one of them diving off the cage. VENY is a psychotic hero in this, taking the gnarliest bump and also moonsaulting off the cage with nobody really catching her. When she hits the red mist on Hotta it looks like she spray vomited blood on her. I can't tell if this was any good but I sure enjoyed the spectacle of it, so it was good.

Sareee vs Syuri, Sareee-ism 3/10

I'll start with the positives: they both have plenty of great looking offense and a fair amount of intensity. They really blast each other with everything they've got for 30 minutes and there are a few murderous headbutts. Maybe I was too tired while watching this, but this match just didn't click for me. It starts bad enough with the super generic beginning - perfunctory matwork where nothing happens, some lucharesu-flavoured running exchange before they exchange snapmares and kick each other in the back a lot. It gets better later on, but aside from their offense there is not really much too hook me in. There is some semblance of psychology with Sareee attacking Syuris leg to slow her down, but Syuri never really sells any of it and quickly goes back on offense anyways. Syuri keeps going for armlocks but again Sareee never really sells it and at some point the submissions start to feel like padding. With the lack of a story or focus and the only selling point being how many moves these two can hit in a lot of minutes I started to zone out. Plus, 30 minutes was far too long for this, especially since they both lack offense, so Sareee must have hit like a dozen meaningless uranages in this. At 20 this could've been pretty good, at 30 this made the most bloated early 2000s NOAH matches look fresh and conservative.

Mariah May vs Toni Storm, AEW 3/9

Fun psycho bumpfest with plenty of blood and gross out carnage. I imagine this is how people felt watching Ian vs Axl Rotten in ECW. Brawling or subtleness were non existant but this has enough broken bottle to the crotch to make up for it. Actually thought the one broken glass punch was pretty sick so it was funny they didn't continue with the taipei stuff. I also liked May constantly selling the self-damage and the hip attacks were actually nasty looking and felt innovative. Not something I would want to watch again because I would get desensitized to piledrivers and headdrops but they made the most of what they had.

 

2025 Wrestling Roundup

2025 Wrestling Week 1

 Michio Kageyama vs Cosmo Soldier, Sportiva 1/1

No better way to start wrestling in 2025 with Sportiva. This was really raw, just two tough old guys trying to smash each other which is kind of the best type of Japanese pro wrestling. Cosmo Soldier is such a force of chaos. He looks like a stereotypical masked hero, but his moves are somewhere between graceful and reckless, and often more reckless. I especially liked his 619 that cracked Kageyama square in the face. Kageyama was up there with him here, trying to smash him with vicious kicks and that old Sportiva bar stool, even tearing off Cosmos protective bandage to kick him in the spine harder.. He acted like a real scumbag, too. There is something savage about Cosmo hitting a suicide dive on that wooden bar floor. Add in some skull cracking headbutts from Cosmo and yeah, this definitely adds up to a match worth checking out.

Yasu Kubota vs Ari Najima, Sportiva 1/1

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this. Yasu Kubota is an old scumbag, but he's the champion now and he puts in effort, in his own scummy way. Ari Najima is really good as the young hotness, he's explosive and hits really hard, and it's really interesting to see how the much less physically intimidating champion would respond. The answer is that Kubota put in an almost Bret-Hart-like workman performance, giving Najima a stiff working over. He was really mauling Najima with nasty elbows and really cranking back on those spine stretches, and using his experience to his advantage. So even though Najima is younger, faster, cooler, it was believable that Kubota could put him through the wringer, and that is impressive. I also loved Kubota busting out the reverse gory special to target Najimas weak back further. Smart match that I think people will really enjoy, that really told a good story and was a good long form title match for the small confines of a humble sportsbar.

2025 Wrestling Roundup

2025 Wrestling Roundup

 I admit I have a bit of a tough time keeping up with current wrestling. There is simply a bit much of it, with the stuff that I am interested in being kind of hard to find. To better myself, I will try to watch at least 1 match from the current year, let's see how much good stuff we can find.

2025 Wrestling Worth Watching:

January

Cosmo Soldier vs Michio Kageyama, Sportiva 1/1

Yasu Kubota vs Ari Najima, Sportiva 1/1

Jet Martial vs Lou Nixon, RISE 1/4 

Ai Hoza vs Senka Akatsuki, Marvelous 1/4

Yujiro Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Okada, Kobe Meriken 1/10

Judas El Traidor vs Fly Star, Lucha Memes 1/1

Meiko Satomura vs Manami, Sendai Girls 1/5

Blue Panther vs Hechicero, CMLL 1/10

Virus vs Neon, MLW 1/11 

Mad Dog Connelly vs Isaiah Broner, NAP 1/12 

Hijo del Fishman vs Mascara Sagrada Jr, 1/12 

Senka Akatsuki vs Ai Houzan, Marvelous 1/12

Guerrero Maya Jr vs Xelhua, CMLL 1/13 

Josh Barnett vs Tom Pestock, GCW 1/19 

Yusaku Ito vs Yu Shimizu, Sportiva 1/22

Jaguar Yokota & Honori Hana vs Yumiko Hotta & Misa Kagura, SAREEE-ism 1/23

Meiko Satomura vs Sareee, Sareee-ISM  1/23/2025

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

Hechicero vs Valiente, CMLL 1/24

Hideaki Sumi vs Sho Mizuno, KOBE Meriken 1/31

February 

Crea vs Rydeen Hagane, Pure-J 2/2

Chon Shiryu & Leon vs Mei Suruga & Baliyan Akki, Choco Pro 2/2

PSYCHO vs Leo Isaka, Marvelous 2/4

Mari vs Haruka Ishikawa, AWG 2/5

Shinya Ishida vs Yuta Oya, Sportiva 2/5

Yujiro Yamamoto vs Takaku Fuke, KOBE Meriken 2/7

Yujiro Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Michibata, BAP 2/8 

Ryo Mizunami & Sonoko Kato vs Mio Momono Yurika Oka, Oz Academy 2/9 

 
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 

Keito Murota vs Toshiyuki Sakuda, DIE 2/24 

Ari Najima vs Yuta Oya, Sportiva 2/24 

Yuta Oya & Ali Najima vs Konaka & Shinya Ishida, Sportiva 2/26

 March

  Hanako Nakamori & Leon vs Crea & Moeka Haruhi, Pure-J 3/9 

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 

Yumiko Hotta vs VENY, Seadlinnng 3/20

Meiko Satomura vs Chihiro Hashimoto, Sendai Girls 3/21

Yuki Ishikawa & Nobuyuki Kurashima vs Masao Ando & Takahiro Tababa, Tatsuo Nakano Anniversary 3/23 

Senka Akatsuki & Takumi Iroha vs Nanae Takahashi & Seri Yamaoka, Marigold 3/30

 April

Rydeen Hagane vs Chie Ozora, Pure-J 4/5

Sora Ayame vs Takumi Iroha, Marvelous 4/6/2025

Leo Isaka vs KAMIKAZE, Marvelous 4/6/2025 

CHANGO & Kengo Mashimo vs Shiori Asahi & Takuro Niki, 2AW 4/6 

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 

Meiko Satomura & Sonoko Kato vs Mayumi Ozaki & Chikayo Nagashima, Oz Academy 4/12 

ZEAL & Koji Sudo vs Sanada Ten Braves & Hiroshi Ando, Kishu Bundara 4/13

Nanae Takahashi vs NORI, LLPW 4/14 

Meiko Satomura & Sareee vs Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu, Fortune Dream 4/16 

Sho Mizuno vs Yu Shimizu, Kobe Meriken 4/18 

Bomber Okuno & Yosuke Takii vs Hiroaki Taniguchi & Tetsuya Goto, Shi-En 4/20 

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/? 

May

Munetatsu Nakamura vs Hagane Shinnou, Choco Pro 5/5 

 Ushiku "THE CHAMP" Gotaro & Tonikaku Yaritai Akiyama vs Hinjaku Ningen Casshern & Renoir Komeda, AZW 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 

AKARI vs Crea, Pure-J 5/16 

 Nanae Takahashi vs Seri Yamaoka, Marigold 5/17

Ali Najima vs Ryutaro Ono, Sportiva 5/21 

Senka Akatsuki vs DASH Chisako, Tenryu Project 5/21 

Seri Yamaoka vs Takumi Iroha Marigold 5/24 

Nanae Takahashi vs Miku Aono, Marigold 5/24 

Cibernetico, ACTION 5/24

Mad Dog Connelly vs Adam Priest, ACTION 5/24 

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

Chihiro Hashimoto & Mika Iwata vs Saori Anou & Natsupoi, Stardom 5/31 

June

Sui Cup Kenchiro vs Great Mara, CWP 6/1 

Tanomusaku Toba & Tyson Maeguchi vs Takuya Wada & Shuichiro Katsumura, Ganbare Pro 6/1 

White Moriyama vs Ari Najima, HEAT-UP 6/1 

Sareee vs Ranna Yagami, Stardom 6/8

Yuta Oya & Konaka vs Ali Najima & Yu Shimizu, Sportiva 6/11

Masanori Watanabe vs Kazuhiro Tamura, Sportiva 6/11  

Utami Hayashishita & Mayu Iwatani & Seri Yamaoka vs Takumi Iroha & Senka Akatsuki & Sora Ayame, Marigold 6/17 

Dick Togo vs Daisuke Sasaki, DDT 6/18 

Sareee vs Syuri, STARDOM 6/21 

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

Yasushi Sato & Taro Yamada vs Akira Jo & Hideya Iso, Yoshino Aid 6/22 

Sareee & Takumi Iroha vs Senka Akatsuki & Sora Ayame, Marvelous 6/27/2025

Virus vs Energia, Lucha Memes 6/29

Solar vs Xelhua, Lucha Memes 6/29 

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

July

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 

Ali Najima & Masanori Kanu Watanabe vs Shota Marlon Miwa & Yukito, HEAT UP 7/12

 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 

August

Yujiro Yamamoto vs Koki Fujimoto, Kobe Meriken 8/1 

Sareee vs Ranna Yagami, Stardom 8/1 

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

 MARU & Great Asako vs Marino Saihara & Rico Fukunaga, 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

Mari & Act 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 

Shuji Ishikawa vs Hitamaru Sasaki, Kyushu Pro 8/24 

Chon Shiryu & Shin Suzuki vs Makoto & Sayaka, Choco Pro 8/27 

Hideaki Sumi vs Tatsunori Oya, Kobe Meriken 8/29 

September

Yuta Oya vs Super Taira, Sportiva 9/3 

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

Yasu Kubota vs Yu Shimizu, Sportiva 9/10

Lucha Maestros 3 vs 3, ACTION 9/11 

Yukito vs Bomber Okuno, HEAT-UP 9/13 

Ali Najima & Super Taira vs Ryutaro Ano & Yuta Oya, Sportiva 9/17 

Masanori Watanabe vs Koji Iwamoto, Sportiva 9/17 

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 

October

Yui Tensho vs Marino Saihara, AWG 10/1 

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 

Tachishon Crazy vs Hinjaku Ningen Casshern, AZW 10/13 

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 & Masanori Watanabe vs Yoichi Shinmei & Yuta Oya, Sportiva 10/22 

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 

November

 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

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

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Keita Yano, Tenryu Project 11/4 

Timothy Thatcher vs Charlie Dempsey, WWE EVOLVE 11/14
 

Yuta Oya vs Shota, Sportiva 11/5 

MARU vs Kyoka Iwai, AWG 11/15 

Ali Najima vs Kazuhiro Tamura, Heat Up 11/15 

Sareee vs Chihiro Hashimoto, Sendai Girls 11/16 

Yasu Urano vs Akito, 11/16 

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

Minoru Kido vs taku, XGF 11/23
 

Paul Ishida vs ASUKA the World, XGF 11/23 

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

Ryo Kawamura vs Hikaru Sato, Hard Hit 11/29 

December

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 

 

Mutoha 12/1/2024

Get it from @itako18jp on X!

 

 Mighty Yuki & Hoshitango & Shigeo Kato vs Super Crafter U & Nobu Kaseda & Crusher Takahashi

A fast paced 6 man tags with a lot of old guys and two fiery but unique youngsters in Nobu Kaseda and Mighty Yuki. It reminded me of those old guy tags from AJPW or NOAH, although this was a bit more serious maybe. Everybody did the stuff that makes them unique - so you had Shigeo Kato doing his signature sneaky ratboy technical heel tactics, and Crusher Takahashi hitting beautiful punches and Hoshitango being a cranky old sumo. Mighty Yuki is actually the son of Masahiko Takasugi, and he was paying tribute to the recently deceased Mighty Inoue, which feels strangely fitting. I would've liked to see Super Crafter U get to do a little more because he is an awesome beast. A fun match, while it wasn't overly technical it suits the vibe of MUTOHA.

 

Leo Cristiani vs Deimos Hatebreed vs El Hijo de Alebrije

Well, this match doesn't suit the vibe of Mutoha. All these guys were also on the Secret Base show the same day. Cristiani and Hatebreed are two wrestlers from Europe. I think it would be cool to see European technical style on a Mutoha show, but these two are just two random high flyers who wrestle in the same way as everybody now, and there was nothing here that stood out to me. They hit some big flying moves, one after another, some looking sloppy and some impressive, and in the end I remembered nothing about this match. Now, will an Italian or Portuguese promotion book GENTARO vs Kenichiro Arai?

Shoji Ohno vs Dekai Ichimotsu

With this match the show really begins. This was really unique, and amazing. They are both so cool. Even the basic early wrestling in this was great as both guys were trying to snap limbs and joints in unusual ways. Then Ichimotsu began cluster bombing Ohnos legs. I gotta give it to Dekai Ichimotsu, he is the king when it comes to painfully dropkicking a guy in the knee joint from odd angles. By the end Ohno was like a soldier who has lost his legs to a landmine but somehow kept fighting. It was a truely gritty and dirty fight, while retaining the technical edge that is the signature of Mutoha. Both guys hit skull cracking headbutts and Ichimotsu pulled off cool reversals and more leg attacks. Once again Ohno rushed his opponent with an amazing flurry of palm strikes. Ohno looks really tough fighting through the leg damage and trying to pull off a win. I like that Ohno seems like a tough brawler guy, but occasionall he can pull of something surprisingly technical. A great match, no doubt about it.

 

Hiroshi Yamamoto vs Taro Yamada

A very promising match up. Hiroshi Yamamoto is the man who can do it all on the Japanese indy scene, he wrestles everywhere and he can pull off seemingly every style of match. Looking up info about him, it seems that he was trained by Virus, so he should be a good opponent for Yamada. And Taro Yamadas is one of the best kept secrets in Japanese indy wrestling. But Yamamoto has stood tall in big leagues like All Japan, so in away Yamada is punching way upwards here. And this match felt a bit like an All Japan match, too. It wasn't as technical as the more intense  Mutoha matches, but there was a lots of hold for hold stuff that felt very battle-for-control in the style of old Jumbo Tsuruta matches, and they both mixed in some explosive surprise moves that were bigger than you'd expect. In the end it was a very worthy match, although I don't like everything that Yamamoto does, such as his goofy X-chop attack. I will give it to him that he is a very graceful wrestler, though. And Yamada proved that he can step on the mat with the best in his country and go along every step of the way.

Akira Jo vs Hideya Iso

One of Akira Jos best performances I've seen so far, because he was clinical taking Iso apart with nasty headlocks and neck cranks, while Iso did an awesome job gutting it out and trying to pull of the biggest upset of his life. Iso for a guy who looks pretty ancient and crusty pulls of some great surprises here. Jo trying to crank Isos neck with basic headlocks actually made for a compelling story, there's something distinctly awesome about him going 'fuck you, I'm gonna beat you with a side headlock'. There was one absolutely awesome moment that involved Iso escaping a sleeper attempt that was honestly probably the best thing I've seen in a match all year. Iso looks outmatched but he just kept fighting like a god damn hero and I was thoroughly impressed. I really like this kind of single minded approach to a match, really making you appreciate the most basic elements of pro wrestling in a new light. It's the kind of match that you will only ever see in Mutoha these days and that is why I appreciate this company so much.

Yasushi Sato vs Kenichiro Arai

 
Another chess match that had touches of the unique grappling that both guys do so well, as well as a hearty dose of Memphis. Everything mattered, even something as simple as shaking your opponents hand, or getting in the ring, and there was tons of great struggle. Right at the first hold exchange, Sato went for the Russian Leg Sweep looking to grapevine his opponent, with Arai desperately scrambling out. The rest of the match was largely about Arai trying to weaken Sato while Sato would go for throws and flash pins that Arai would desperately avoid. Both guys acted wary of the danger of any pinfall. I am endlessly fascinated by Yasushi Sato. As far as I know, his wrestling career begin 16 years ago and now he is 58 years old, which is crazy. He is starting to show his age physically but his wrestling mind is still one of the greatest I've ever seen. He was going at it with Arai like no tomorrow, trying to shock the champion with surprise moves, even using underhand tactics of his own, and always trying to put Arai on his shoulders for the 3. It was the kind of stuff that would make the likes of Dick Murdoch proud. The one weak point of the match was the slap exchange but that was a minor criticism. The ending was baffling and thrilling but it made sense, sometimes it can really be all over like that and you have to love it if you appreciate pro wrestling as a crafty sport. As it stands this had a lot of really good grappling and technical work, both guys looked like sly foxes, and everything they did felt spontaneous and fresh. There aren't many wrestlers who can wrestle like this left in the world, and for that I appreciate these two!

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Chon Shiryu vs Keisuke Ishii, Ganbare Pro 7/15/2024

Chon Shiryu big match!! I love Chon Shiryu, and this was a nice chance to see him do his thing. He is still really fast and slick, and his kung fu technique really add a lot to the Japanese big match formula. Initially Keisuke Ishii did not impress me, but he redeemed himself when he started destroying Shiryus mid section with violent looking knees. Ishii dropping Shiryus throat across the rope with a nasty move and then going for a piledriver on the apron made things quite intense. Shiryu pulls off some great transitions as usual that are a level above what you usually see in these matches, and his signature odd angle 619s and diving kicks still rule. Last couple minutes were buil around Shiryu taking crazy bumps, trying to crush Ishiis throat with his flying stomps, and delivering some really great glassy eyed selling as he kept dying and ressurrecting over and over. Could have done with a few nearfalls less, but what the hell, you don’t get to see Shiryu doing matches like this often! I also like that they made a spinning wheel kick into a finisher in 2024.

 

Super Taira vs Kenta Kosugi, Sportiva 10/30/2024

Really good match that told a great story, was interesting all the way through and had some great wrestling. I really like Super Taira, who has such a diverse skillset. In this case he was facing Kosugi who is like twice his size, so he couldn't do much lucha libre or llaves, so Tairas answer was to just try and rush him with leg kicks. Taira kicking at Kosugi and trying to hurt his legs was simple but really good. Anytime Kosugi fired back, he looked like an absolute bear. I cannot emphasize enough that every single moment in this match mattered and added to the story. I loved the way Kosugi would slap his knees to try as if to try and get some feeling back into it after taking damage. Taira using his agility in interesting ways and trying to grab submissions was really good. There were some really choice counters without being too cute. By the end Kosugi was basically an angry bear mauling Taira with Taira trying to hit a desperation move and get a flash pin or submission. I really like a simplistic wrestling match that ads some interesting touches, and this one really hits thats spot.

Demus vs. Lunatik Xtreme, Zona 23 1/21

I am not super interested in deathmatches at this point, there are only so many idiotic bumps one can see before it gets old, and  I have little interest in seeing guys stand around and rubbing light tubes in each others face. That said the psychotic violence here was really fun with the apocalyptic junkyard bumps. Early brawling could have been better, aside from Demus great elbows there was still a bit much of idle walking around and an exhibitiony feeling to me. Match took a steep upturn when Xtreme started hitting those wild stomps. After some fun comeuppance we get Demus throwing what is pretty much the greatest punch combo I've ever seen in a match and some savage headbutt exchanges which were easily the highlight. I honestly expected the match to go longer so the finish was an amusing surprise. I didn't like it as much as I liked Black Terry vs Wotan or Ricky Marvin from memory, but it was a fun slice of psycho violence.

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Mutoha 7/7/2024

 Dekai Ichimotsu vs Super Crafter U

Great beginning as Super Crafter U immediately starting throwing really violent kicks at Ichimotsu. Ichimotsu is smaller and clearly does not have the same firepower as his shooter opponent, so he works the match in a strategic manner focussing all his effort on Crafters arm. Ichimotsus arm attack is really great, he may be at his very best now, as he knows how to twist an arm in so many ways, and the painfully bending the arm to force Crafters shoulders to the mat was fascinating to watch. I should say I love Ichimotsus enzuigiri to the elbow joint, and his elbow drop to the arm/shoulder always looks devastating. Crafter was always dangerous, though as he knows some spectacular submissions and counters, so even when Ichimotsu was controlling he was in danger. As such the match felt like a great battle of skill and a test of Ichimotsus persistance and Crafters pain tolerance. By the end Crafter was quite damaged and desperately tried to knock Ichimotsu out with a head kick. Very nice chess match with both guys displaying great skill. The only thing holding it back was the 10 minute time limit since this was the opening match of the show. Both guys looked great and I could see another match between them easily developing into a classic over 10 minute in length. A great little bout to open the show, however.

Masamune vs Takahiro Katori

This was a match I didn't quite know what to expect from since I wasn't sure how good Katori is on the ground. This ended up being very good though and very much a Katori-proving-himself story. Right away Masamune (who has a strong background in olympic wrestling) was taking down Katori, twirling him around and putting nasty stretches on the younger man. It's a good thing Katori is young and flexible or Masamune would have broken him, there was one hold where Masamune touched Katoris foot to his head. Katori handled himself pretty well, he was clearly trying to prove he belonged in Mutoha and while he has a bit to learn still he is on the right path. As the match was Rounds style it had a very clear structure, first round had very good ground work with some impressive holds and counters, and establishes the story of the match. The second round introduces more spark as Katoris leg seemed to be hurt and Masamune started bullying him, before the final round where both guys go for the kill and the tempers start to flare. As soon as Katori started limping Masamune was hellbent on ankle picking him and trying to break his leg. Katoris grounded Octopus Hold is very cool and Masamune countering his way out of it was great. I also liked Katori being prepared for Masamunes 619. This could have been a main event on another show, excellent stuff. Great Masamune performance who looked like a wrestlers wrestler and Katori looked like he belonged.

Taro Yamada vs Shoji Ono

I wasn't very familiar with Shoji Ono before watching this. But damn this may have made a Shoji Ono fan out of me. He had the vibe of classic tough scum brawler, like Hiro Saito maybe, which is really cool to see in 2024. Keep in mind, Yamada is a really great wrestler. The early goings are, of course, technical with Yamada tying Ono into crazy holds. Yamada really does things that nobody else does. He also did the classic Masanobu Fuchi leg stretch at one point which looked really painful. Ono was willing to wrestle, but he soon found himself outclassed and having to resort to sneaking in cheapshots against Yamada. It's a classic story. I really liked that Ono would do the headlock punches to Yamada and make sure to torn his back to the referee. Later, Ono would switch to open handed strikes. His big palm strike combo was one of the greatest I've ever seen in any wrestling match. It was outstanding. Like a classic scum brawler, Ono takes the match to the floor and kicks Yamadas ass, with Yamada taking a big bump on the stage. Back in the ring Yamada clocks Ono with this really great desperation headbutt. Great surprise finish, too. Really nice match that had a classic story and both guys showcased themselves at their best.

Yasushi Sato vs Takafumi Ito

Maybe the match from this card that I was looking forward to the most, and it was really good as I expected. Ito was really dominant here, reversing almost everything Sato tried into a shoot submission, really great Fujiwara-ish performance from him. He was not treating the old man gingerly at all. Sato trying to seize  every single opening and trying to pull off a flash pin the whole time was really great. Also, Sato was deathly afraid of Itos high kick, so that was a factor too. It's pretty amazing Sato is 58 years old and can still go like this for 20 minutes. He looked  little less tireless than usual, but he was facing a dangerous Pancrase fighter after all. My one complaint about the match is that it needed more Russian Leg Sweeps and Itos weird superkick didn't look good.

GENTARO vs Akira Jo

Another old school epic, every match on this card is delivering hard. They started with about 15 minutes of  unconventional, ultra-high resistance matwork similiar to GENTARO/Arai. It wasn't quite as amazing but still pretty great. Jo is a very competent grappler and GENTARO as always looks great pulling off crafty reversals and generally selling everything like the most important thing in his life. Then Jo hits his Arn Anderson spinebuster which GENTARO sells like absolute death and they move into a really good ending run with both guys slapping the taste out of each others mouth, some big suplexes, a hard move on the floor and the hardest fought most grueling backslide I've ever seen. The finish was so cool too. Awesome stuff, great groundwork and the last third was as hard fought and epic as any 70s big match.

Crusher Takahashi vs Kenichiro Arai

This card had it all. You had the shootstyle, the Inoki worship, the esoteric, and now there is a NWA style main event. What they did was not as elaborate as stuff we saw in previous matches, but they treated every hold, every reversal with the utmost importance. As such the bout had the feel of a chess match that slowly escalated into a battle of underhand moves. Arai of course is so crafty at pulling off dirty moves against an opponent. He must've raked Crushers eyes a dozen different ways in this match. Crusher was initially frustrated by Arais sneaky tactics and eventually starts roughing him up too. I loved all the painful wristbending Arai did, and his super swift drop toe hold was spectacular for such a basic move. Crusher is quite old now and he is not as fast and smooth as he used to be, but he still throws some of the greatest punches in wrestling. I loved the Spinning Toe Hold being treated like death and the chess match feel everytime someone slapped on a hold. A match where every move counted and both guys were just in the moment. I think there was only one bump in this +20 minute bout. What a way to end this great card, this honestly may have been one of the best Japanese wrestling shows I've ever seen, every match brought something unique and was great in its own way.

 

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