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 

2025 Matchguide Week 44

 Merman Masakazu vs Aesop, Health Pro 10/5

Two somewhat lumpy old men, hitting the mat and displaying their love for pro wrestling. The match felt like a love letter to 80s NJPW type wrestling. Masakazu is a really cool Inoki worshipper. He looks older than dirt but he will give his all. Aesop also looked like quite the nifty technical wrestler, and he had a great discus punch. Mat work was really fun here with both guys rocking the figure 4 necklock, multiple stump pullers, really cinching armbars and finding cool ways out of holds. Most importantly everything felt spontaneous. There were no overly set up spots, instead Aesop would just rush over and blast Masakazu in the face with a jumping dropkick. Epic feeling finish too with both guys trying to blast each other with jumping kicks. In a way, guys like these two understand the heart and soul of pro wrestling better than most, even if they are limited by age. 

Hechicero vs Bandido, RoH 8/29/2025

Long modern style epics aren't exactly my cup of tea, but this was better than most of that style. A lot of that is due to their skillset which is way better than what your typical thighslappers have to offer. Hechicero is a credible badass grappler/powerhouse, and Bandido I buy as a superhero type. So there was a ton of enjoyable action here, mostly Hechiceros excellent submission work and some high level athletic spots. The drawback was that as typical the match went way longer than it needed to and eventually it stopped feeling like a competitive match and more like a loosely strung together sequence of cool moves and spots. Don't get me wrong they were some immensely cool moves and some huge spots and bumps, but the 15th cool spot in a 35 minute match eventually just doesn't hit very hard anymore, especially since there was little consequence to what was going on. Arm work, legwork, a huge slam on the guardrail, didn't matter, Bandido kept coming back in the same way. It very much felt like they were just shoeing as much different stuff as they knew. I don't need every match to have a loser focus on a singular story but there wasn't really much of anything to focus on here besides 'wow look at what these guys can do'. Not even something basic like a power vs speed aspect because Bandido just gorilla pressed Hechicero. In a way this stuff is the counterpart to the Masakazu/Aesop match discussed above: way higher in athletic prowres, variety, even ideas, but the soul was lacking.

Shinji Kamakura vs Blankey Maho, Kobe Meriken 11/7

Blankey Maho has come back from Mexico, and she starts this by showing off some cool lucha armdrags! Nevermind that, because this match soon turns into a WAR style match with both of them hitting each other insanely hard. Still, it's fun to watch a wrestler developing new skills. Maho still has some of the best kicks around. I especially love her thrust kick. It's an actual thrust kick, not a half baked superkick, and she nails Kamakura right in the throat with it. Kamakuras skillset is very basic at this point, but he's fun, and everything he hits he seems to nail with 100% force. Nothing deep her just two talented wrestlers cracking each other hard for 8 minutes and that is very respectable.

Seri Yamaoka vs Chihiro Hashimoto, Marigold 10/26

Well.... this match up is a real no brainer. You have two amaresu freaks in colorful singlets in a match, and they deliver pretty much the kind of match you expect. Mostly Hashimoto putting Yamaoka through the wringer, and Yamaoka having to work hard to even do minimal damage to Hash. The rank difference is well integrated and there is some cool grappling and a few neat moments. Nice to see this kind of Alexander Otsuka/Tamon Hondaesque match in 2025 and the finish was very much Tamon Honda flavoured. Not blowaway great - Seri is still getting there - but a cool little match.

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

Yano takes on the former IWGP champion! Okay, it's crazy that ZSJ is that. They do mostly smooth World of Sport style grappling here. It's probably the best of that kind of stuff you'll see in 2025. Nothing mindblowing if you've seen your fair share of that thing but it was fun, and Yano being such a cult hero taking on a star adds a lot. I found myself hoping Yano would just shoot headbutt Zack in the face or something, though. I would actually look forward to seeing them rematch because I thought there was still plenty on the table here.

2025 Matchguide 

Keita Yano Documentation 

2025 Wrestling Roundup Week 36

 Shuji Ishikawa vs Hitamaru Sasaki, Kyushu Pro 8/24

Kyushu Pro once again delivers one of the best big matches of the year... it's more likely than you think! Ishikawa was quite impressive here dropping bombs on his much smaller opponent and basically acting like King Kong. He was absolutely cracking Sasaki with his elbows and knees here, as Shuji Ishikawa does. Some of Sasakis strikes were a bit feeble, but he also had a few kicks that caught Ishikawa pretty hard. The best thing about this was that it was pretty unpredictable. Nearly no going through the motions here. I loved how Sasaki would clutch his bad neck early on whenever he got whipped back. I would've liked them to go a bit deeper but for this kind of super dominant champ vs underdog challenger in an affair with lots of hard hits this was very good.

 

Daisuke Ikeda vs White Moriyama, HEAT-UP 8/17

Ikedas 1st match in like 20 months! Well, I love him, but maybe it's time to think about hanging up the boots. The first 7 minutes of this are just a below average NOAH match. Why are you doing rope running? Ikeda hits a cool russian leg sweep and starts kicking the hell out of Moriyama and it starts to get good. There are some brutal head kicks, headbutts and face punches. There's also some old man comedy with Moriyama hitting Mongolian Chops and Ikeda biting his foot. It's fun but it's a far cry from what things used to be. Moriyama looked really off here, hitting a weak second rope elbow drop of all things and some flimsy looking leg lariats. A far cry from his match against Najima. Some great brutality here which feels almost nostalgic, though. 

Kazunari Toi vs Shinigami vs Leatherface, Crazy Union 8/17

Oh it's Crazy Union. How old is Katsunari Toi? Oh, 60. He does not move or act like he's 60. I guess he loves hitting people with barbedwirebats and spin kicking them and it's keeping him young. Toi is so energetic and fun here, really a breath of life. I'm not sure when Shinigami last wrestled, but he is slower. But so what, he's a zombie and he puts the brain claw on Toi. Shinigami and Leatherface team up to beat on Toi until suddenly someone who looks like ICEMAN (from Puerto Rico and some Japanese indies in the 90s) comes in to help! Okay, I did not expect that. It turns into a tag team match somehow, and well, they just continue to brawl and throw each other into furniture. It's fun. I think Katsunari Toi would have been great in the WWF Hardcore Division. I like that here when kicks are thrown that don't land they are just ignored. And the match is completely chaotic. Whenever I watch Crazy Union it's so anarchic and befuddling and unapologetic in what these guys aim to do. It rarely ends up producing 'great matches' in the traditional sense but it's charming and I like it a lot and this was a good example of that fun befuddling anarchy. Nevermind: TOI~!
 

Sareee vs Ranna Yagami, Marigold 8/1

Continues from their very good match earlier in the year. Ranna was like an angry terrier trying to maul Sareee here. The result is actual scrappiness and violence coupled with the interpromotional angle. Ranna is a fun crowbar, I should probably watch more of her, she had a lot of fun ways to hit Sareee really hard. They did the spot where they no sell some soccer kicks which is one of the most trite spots in modern wrestling to me but Ranna resolves it by just pelting Sareee really hard with kicks. She was barraging Sareee so hard you buy there might be an actual upset. And Sareee is pretty impeccable as the higher ranked star destroying someone with double stomps and dropkicks while looking cold as hell.

Seri Yamaoka vs Utami Hayashishita, Marigold 8/16

Seri is obviously a hot prospect. Utami is one of the top women in Marigold. They start with some cool matwork which was nice to see from Utami. When Utami got the advantage, she made sure to punish Yamaoka with some body slams and boston crabs in typical veteran on rookie fashion, with Yamaoka having to progress through that. Some cool suplexes and moments and Utami was eventually forced to bust out the bigger bombs to put Yamaoka down. Last few minutes were very good. Nothing mindblowing but it's a solid match and Yamaokas progression is coming along nicely. 

Lee Moriarty vs Xelhua, RoH 8/29

Man, it can be jarring to go back and watch US workrate wrestling. So much stuff was thrown out here, just for the sake of it, with not much of it being allowed to breath or mean anything. Two things I liked a lot about this: Xelhua ripping Moriarty apart with submissions like a lucha Volk Han, and the finish. That was very cool. But on the way there, they just did a lot of meaningless stuff. I wasn't familiar with Moriarties act so I was a bit surprised when he went the heel route after trying to wrestle Xelhua straight on. Good in theory, but Xelhua was back on offense almost immediately. Moriarty dropkicks Xelhua while leapfrogging over the referee? Cool spot, looked great, but again didn't mean anything because Xelhua was back on offense seconds later. Moriarty giving Xelhua some dirty stomps in the corner? Again, didn't matter, Xelhua was back to beating him up seconds later! 5 minutes in they had thrown out and discarded so much stuff it was almost comical. The using of the Pure Title rules was also nonsensical. A flimsy punch gets Xelhua admonished, but bending the fingers or stomping someone in the corner is fine. Moriarty forces Xelhua to the ropes with the Border City Stretch, and the commentator points out Moriarty could easily lock in that dangerous hold again. He does not lock it in again, until its time to do the finish, because gotta do more stuff. At one point Moriarty the heel hits 2 suicide dives in a row. He goes for a 3rd, pauses as if to act like he's not gonna do it (After hitting 2 already), then goes for it anyways and that time Xelhua catches him and puts him in another meaningless submission on the floor. Because apparently you can just catch a man suicide diving on you if he makes a slight pause before. Just bafflingly stupid stuff. There was some good work here but man I do not like this kind of wrestling. 

2025 Matchguide 

2025 Wrestling Roundup Week 33

Masato Tanaka vs Hayabusa, Zero1 8/3

I did not think I would be watching a Masato Tanaka vs Hayabusa match in 2025 but here we are. And this had amazing magnitude! It's Tanakas career vs the revived Hayabusas mask. The news Hayabusa looks fantastic. Not only does he hit all the spots, but he can actually work. And this match feels competitive and not like some kind of nostalgia tour. Tanaka sidestepping the asai moonsault really accentuates this. Tanaka was pretty great here - it's insane how much the guy has in the tank. They went a fast pace with no real slow down, and the action was crisp and punctuated by Tanakas cracking elbows and Hayabusas exploding athleticism. First 15 minutes of this I thought were pretty much flawless pro wrestling, almost shockingly so. The opening chain wrestling and Hayabusas armwork were really crisp and fun. It definitely stands way up to any Tanaka/Hayabusa match from the 90s. They do no sell a bunch of big moves in the middle, but that just kind of sets up the increasing stakes in the second half. Legwork on Hayabusa was a blatant breather since it isn't really sold, but we do get Tanaka smashing table pieces on Hayabusas leg and they didn't drag it on for too long. There was also the cool moment of Hayabusas leg giving him trouble when he countered Tanakas splash so it was kinda paid off. The rest of this was quite great, mostly thanks to a few well worked transitions and a certain unpredictability factor. A lot of the fascination definitely comes from watching 52 year Masato Tanaka doing this kind of match and looking like he hasn't lost a step. It's not a flawless bout, but overall a really well structured match that was gripping from start to finish, had plenty of hard hitting and deadly bombs being thrown without getting repetitive and was just one hell of a ride. 

 Virus vs Xelhua, RoH 7/26

A match where they both hit the mat for 7 minutes and proved proved what everyone knows already, that they are among the absolute elite tier when it comes to mat technicians in all of wrestling history. So no surprise here, and that's kind of the one fault of this. You get exactly what you expect, and for that it's a really good little match albeit a slight bit exhibitiony with neither guy displaying a ton of fire since they had to fit everything into a 7 minute sandwhich. Kind of the Velocity version of an epic lucha title match and that is a really cool thing to see by itself. I did really like the mixing in of basic movements like the dropkicks, side headlock takeover or hip toss in between all the more esoteric holds. And Xelhua getting Virus to tap out felt like a big deal so that's really cool.

Seri Yamaoka & Victoria Suzuki vs Senka Akatsuki & Sora Ayame, Marigold 7/16

Heated rookie vs rookie action, or in this case swimsuits vs fancy outfits. Good solid stuff as usual but I thought the match could've used a bit more of Senka. Instead Ayame was the focus at the end and while she's quite fun she doesn't hit quite at that level yet. The brief mat scramble between Akatsuki and Seri was obviously the highlight. I love that while Seri is the 'grappler' Senka is such an animal that she can totally overwhelm her on the mat and maul her with headbutts. Her entire thing is that despite her limited experience she's a force of nature and they only thing containing her right now is her rookie status.

Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu vs Mika Iwata & Miyuki Takase (Sendai Girls 7/19)

Team 200 KG are a pretty reliable joshi twin towers. They can go a fast pace, provide plenty of hard hitting, and the big vs small aspect always forces opponents to get a bit more creative than just running through their offense as usual. This was all about what Iwata and Takase would bring to the table to a reliable story, and Iwata and Takase brought plenty. Iwata seems like she's ready to fill the void that Satomura has left. She's got the cool kicks, the slicked back hair and the stoic attitude to fill the mantel. She just needs to figure out to spam her kicks a little bit less so they will mean more, but that should come with some time. All of her exchanges with Hashimoto were real highlights and hinted at a great singles match between them. Even something thats often trite like the armbar over the ropes spot looked vicious and fresh here. Takase and Yuu were playing second fiddle, but they are pretty solid and I was even surprised by Takases angry headbutting. Add some violent vader hammers from Hashimoto and you've got yourself a pretty satisfying match.

Keita Yano vs brother YASSHI, Tenryu Project 7/20 - GREAT

Godhead vs Godhead! Even knowing that YASSHI can be really sick when he wants to, and Keita being Keita, I thought this even exceeded my expectations. A cool match up on paper, that really delivers what you want. Really cool technical work here, with Yasshi busting out cool amateur wrestling takedowns and transitions and Keita tying him up repeatedly. Really enjoyed how Yasshi would escape from something like Yanos straight jacket armbar like it was a shootstyle hold and then even put on an Achilles Hold. I thought Yano may have gotten a bit predictable recently, but he was cooking here. Energetic Yasshi is really fun too, he really had the working boots on here. I kind of like that Yano keeps working a slower pace. He doesn't need to speed it up, he's kind of like a slow moving eldritch abominations that assimiliates other wrestling styles, and sooner or later will entangle his opponent in some predicament they can't escape from. It really suits his 'you pressed random on the character creator' look. The bar for slow paced technical wrestling is getting pretty high in 2025, but this holds up. Really enjoy that these two got to paint a little art on that canvas together.

 

2025 Wrestling Roundup 

Keita Yano Documentation Project 

2025 Wrestling Roundup Week 30

 Ali Najima vs Yuta Oya, Sportiva 7/30

It's been 1 year since they both have made their debut, and what a ride it has been. Incredible growth for both of them. Najima is on absolute killer run putting in quality performances week after week now, and to say Oya is a phenom would be an understatement. This is just a really impressive match, quality matwork, a lot of hard hitting and nifty counters, and a tremendous amount of passion displayed. The best thing is probably the sense of nothing being held back. Najima hit Oya with a running headbutt, kicked him really hard, at one point just smacked him square in the face which feels like a really mean thing to do to  a blind guy. Oya was relentless chopping away and constantly going for his deadly hip throw and Najimas counters were fantastic. It's also awesome to see Oya doing things like easily locking in a kneebar or hitting a jumping enzuigiri. A great piece of pro wrestling which feels like a career highlight for both of them.

Tyson Maeguchi vs Yumehito Imanari, Ganbare Pro 6/22

Fun wrestler vs kickboxer match with Maeguchi hitting some hard punches and Imanari hitting some snug straight forward pro wrestling offense to combat the shooter. There were moments were both guys kinda looked like crap (namely Maeguchi feebly punching at Imanaris shoulder and then butchering an attempted rollup, and Imanari hitting a flimsy bulldog) but overall the vibe was right. Enough hard punches to keep you entertained, and the finish is cool. Seems they are trying to make Maeguchi into the next Toba, and while he has a loooong way to go before he is anywhere near at the level of prime Toba this is hinting in the right direction.

Sareee vs Syuri, STARDOM 6/21

Maybe it's because I was in a good mood, but I thought this was better than their match earlier in the year. The same problems mostly still apply - bit too long, not much selling, submissions felt like blatant filler - but in a way it came across much better to me this time. Great pace, they both still have plenty of great offense, and there was enough psychotic hard hitting to keep things entertaining. Legwork was filler and never slowed Syuri down, but it was gritty enough and didn't really hurt the pace of the match. Thought it was really impressive how the 30 minutes flew by. There were lots of good moments throughout that came across as nice and hate filled (Sareee had shit-talked STARDOM before), like the scuffle that ended them on the ramp. Sareees headbutts throughout were certifiably insane and actually made for a few great comebacks. I also really appreciated that Sareee, once she was able to hit the uranage, just hit a bunch of uranages in a row and then got the nearfall. For some reason I thought that was better than hitting a bunch of uranages throughout the match over and over again. And they actually ended it with the biggest move, making this a pretty satisfying match overall. I really wish these matches would have a bit more selling and spice to make things meaningful but for what they are going for this was probably the best of its kind in 2025.

Senka Akatsuki & Sora Ayame vs Seri Yamaoka & Victoria Yuzuki, Marigold 7/16

A fun quick tag. Akatsuki and Yamaoka have a bit of a rivalry going and their exchange were a ton of fun. Yuzukis stuff looked solid and Ayame is also a lot of fun here. She looks so wee and non-threatening especially compared to Senka, but the fact she can get people to pop for a bodyslam nearfall is awesome and her flash pins were basic stuff done really well. Needed a bit more of that Senka/Seri stuff because when they forearmed each other and grappled it was really good, but that's the point of matches like these I guess. Also really enjoyed Senka putting Victoria in trouble with the SHOOT PIN~ again. Good stuff with a satisfying conclusion that leaves you wanting to see more.

Yujiro Yamamoto vs Koki Fujimoto, KOBE Meriken 8/1

Oh look it's nice to see Yujiro Yamamoto again in my sportsbar livestream feed. And here he is slapping the shit out of a guy! Koki Fujimoto doesn't even have a cagematch profile. He has kickpads and is not afraid to take a beating from a BattlARTS vet and he fires back with some big kicks of his own and a pretty big corner dropkick. My guess is he may be another Seichi Ikemoto guy, or somehow adjacent to the general sportsbar sleaze shooter scene that seems to be brewing right now. Either way this is pretty fun. Feels more like a WAR match, almost no submissions or matwork just two guys trying to shatter each other. Yamamoto is starting to work like a grumpy amalgamation of his old BattlARTS seniors. Short, and violent and fun.

2025 Wrestling Roundup

2025 Wrestling Roundup Week 29

 Tsuyoshi Michibata vs Tatsunori Oya, Kobe Meriken 5/23

No clue who this Oya guy is, but he tries to rush Michibata at the bell. Michibata proceeds to kick the absolute shit out of Oya. And slaps the shit out of him too for good measure. After taking a bunch of savage kicks Oya makes a somewhat crummy comeback hitting a flimsy X-Factor. He continues to get on track a bit locking in some submissions but is soon stopped dead in his straight when he runs into a Michibata knee to the face. Oya clumsily tries going for the arm but is soon put to sleep. Amazing the things that can happen in a tiny sportsbar.

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

Kickboxers vs shooters! Pretty good action here. Even with a bunch of younger and faster guys around, I think Toba was probably the best guy in the match. He'd aggressively try to elbow people in the head, and sell vulnerability which made things interesting, then blast punch people in the face. That said Maeguchi was also pretty fun. He had some cool fast combos and good energy. Couple neat exchanges involving him down the stretch and a great finish. Wada and Katsumura don't leave a huge impression but they are solid enough. Good stuff.

Akito vs Yuya Koroku, DDT 6/1

Yuya Koroku is another wrestler from DDTs never ending supply wrestlers who are somewhat-competent-but-not-terribly-interesting-to-me. This was mostly WoS style chain wrestling and pretty fun. Akito is pretty good doing this stuff, not a master but it was fun watching him block Korokus basic escape attempts. Dug all the slick pin attempts. Koroku goes along fine and the veteran vs upstart aspect adds a bit of flavor. 

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

This was about 8 minutes long and pretty great. We get some fun shootstyle grappling between Watanabe and Yukito at the beginning with Yukito once again looking very capable. Once Najima gets in the ring the match immediately becomes really stiff. Najima is turning into the most exciting wrestler on earth with his hard kicks and crazy running headbutts. I am also digging his use of the firemans carry. Almost everything he hit in this match rattled people and it's really fun. Shota Marlon Miwa is this skinny guy in karate pants but he seemed capable and also hit a really great axe kick at one point. BattlARTS-style KO finish was really cool. A lot of great action in a very short time, this was a winner.

Utami Hayashishita vs Takumi Iroha, Marigold 7/16

A lot of really good work in this. Thought the build from Iroha being the (convincing) overdog to Utami taking her down a peg and levelling the field by doing some pretty fun legwork was really good. There were a few awesome touches and they did an excellent job building to the big bombs, like there was remarkably little move spam for such a long match. Thought they both did a pretty good job selling the work on the back and leg. That said, holy fuck 56 minutes is too long for these two at this point, just way too much bloat. The match already started out slow, and 20 minutes in they were already at a snails pace doing constant double downs and things like that to stretch out the match to the maximum. The finish wasn't exactly Kandori vs Hokuto either. Edit it down to like 30 or even 40 minutes and add a better ending and you'd have the match of the year.

2025 Wrestling Roundup

Tanomusaku Toba Documentation 

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 

Pro Wrestling in 2025 Week 24

 Super Taira & Ali Najima vs Ishikiri & Grand Passion Mask #4, Sportiva 6/18

Fun match with again the only problem being that it was short. I mean this went like 7 minutes or so. It's a cool look at a Velocity style short tag though. Grand Passion Mask from what I've seen mostly does comedy style wrestling but he worked some serious lucha exchanges with Taira here that were fun. Ishikiri is a thickly built dude with some cool moves squishing opponents under his size, and Najima is always reliable with his kicks. I like that little sliding firemans carry thing he added to his arsenal recently. Still, to short for a match with someone as talented as  Super Taira in it.

Robert Martyr vs Shoji Ohno vs Kohei Sato, Marvelous 6/10

Shoji Ohno is a must-watch guy for me, and this Robert Martyr kid seems really talented. Unfortunately this just had to be a 3 way match for some reason, and a 3 way that went only about 6 minutes to boot. I bet literally any of these guys in a singles match against each other would be really good. In this constellation we got some fun Ohno palm rushes and Martyr hitting a nasty powerbomb but not much more. Sato can still hit a hard kick and mean knee lift so maybe even he would've been better in a singles match. Whoever is booking Marvelous, please give us Robert Martyr vs Shoji Ohno at some point.

Nanae Takahashi vs Mayu Iwatani (Marigold 5/4)

Big Matches Nanaes run continued. I'm not familiar with Iwatani. She is certainly skinny, and not really a very impressive wrestler. But the crowd is super into her, so even a basic test of strength had heat. Nanae largely carries this in the first half dominating on the mat and with some hard punting kicks. Mayu struggles to hit even a bodyslam on Nanae which is compelling. Nanae ends up cracking Mayu with a chair which was really unexpected, and even tossing her down a flight of stairs then dragging her to the ring by her hair. It settles a bit into a more generic finishing run with Iwatanis crucifix driver looking blown and her seemingly hitting Nanaes face with a moonsault. Nanaes Tenryuisms were really fun and there was a pretty hard headbutt at some point, so it's a wortwhile match just went a hair too long at 25 minutes length.

Toshiyuki Sakuda vs Keito Murota, DIE 2/23

I decided to check out some DIE, because they are nice enough to upload some stuff on YouTube. And what do ya know, I really really liked this! I've been burnt out because of deathmatch wrestling thanks to BJW. What set this apart from your typical BJW deathmatch is the SELLING. In BJW, for years I've seen guys deliberately running into the lighttubes, cutting themselves, jumping into broken glass and not selling it, just completely burying the danger and pain of the lighttubes. Here, these guys were making it excrutiatingly clear they were rolling around in broken glass and how much of a fucking nightmare that is. This match had maybe 20 lighttubes compared to the 100-200 of other deathmatches but felt way grittier. Sakuda actually works a two on one on Murota, trying to force the hand into the broken glass, with Murota selling that he really doesn't even want his hand in the glass, and then Sakuda goes for a far side cradle that just looks torturous. Moreover, when Murota grabs something sharp, Sakuda grabs a chair to defend himself. Murota also goes to grab a chair, but Sakuda rushes over to clock him with his chair before he can actually use it, instead of waiting for the stereotypical chain duel spot. Smart! Murotas selling is great as he is wheezing and whimpering like he wants to die just from getting slammed into a chair. When he starts to hit Russian Leg Sweeps, it really looks like he is crazy enough to destroy himself just to beat his opponent. He also hits some really sick headbutts. There is the mouth skewering again, which still freaks me out, and taking a stiff headbutt with a skewer stuck in your face is pretty insane. The pulling the skewer out of the mouth is also one hell of a strap drop. Also the sound mixing for this is really great, we get a ringside camera and really get to enjoy all the nightmarish crushing of the glass and clonking of chairs. Little bit long and slightly slow, but the grittiness of it all kept me enthralled and they end it with a suitably insane big spot. Deathmatch wrestling still has something in it in 2025.

 

2025 Roundup 

Pro Wrestling in 2025 Week 23

 Ranna Yagami vs Sareee (STARDOM 6/8)

This was good shit. Basically Sareee faces a spunky underdog who kicks really hard and they throw the kitchen sink. Sareee has great offense and because she was beating on someone who felt like an outmatched underdog that offense meant a lot more. Yagami looked good. She kicked hard, and had a few cool bits of offense. Seemed like one of the better talents on the current scene. The pop-up no selling annoyed me slightly, but its forgivable in this kind of high intensity affair. Most importantly this felt like a fight. Good contender for the best 10 minute match of the year.

Nanae Takahashi vs Miku Aono, Marigold 5/24

Nanae is the next in the 2025 competition of who can have the best retirement match. And this is a pretty respectable entry! It's perfectly fun pro wrestling for the opening minutes. Miku Aono is another name in the joshi scene who I know absolutely nothing about. Based on what I see here, she's solid. Has good solid offense, lots of kicks, doesn't kick as hard as Ranna Yagami, a little clumsy here and there, but a perfectly capable pro wrestler overall. She is smart enough to change the submission hold she's applying when Nanae starts making the ropes and that kind of thing goes a long way for me. Then Nanae gets some chairs in the ring and they do the Necro chair spot where they sit opposite each other and smack each other?! Is that a common spot in Japan now or did Nanae Takahashi watch some Necro Butcher tapes and decide 'Yeah, this is what I need to be doing'? Regardless, this turns really good in the ending portion with lots of nasty hard hitting, clobbering lariats, some sick headbutts, Aonos kicks getting more violent and Takahashi punching her in the face. Aonos big kick that swatted Nanae down was probably the highlight of the match. Struggle over the Styles Clash also felt pretty epic. Kinda awesome to see Nanae put it all together to go out in style like this, actually made me want to go back and watch more Nanae matches because this was really boss and stands up to Meikos retirement match.

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

Usual good weekly action from Sportiva. Solid stuff in the first half, and lots of really nifty stuff in the 2nd. Konaka is always interesting to watch no matter what he does, even when its a basic arm drag exchange or a hot tag. There were some really good mat exchanges between him and Najima that made me long for a singles match between them. Yuta Oya is continueing his transformation into the best wrestler in all of Japan, it's really cool to watch him climb the ranks. So far Najima has been the overdog to his underdog so the almost All Japan style finish between them was a great piece of story. Really exciting stuff and another piece in Sportivas really good little 2025 run.

Masanori Kanu Watanabe vs Kazuhiro Tamura, Sportiva 6/11

More sportsbar shootstyle baby. I love that we have this now. Apparently Watanabe is actually an MMA guy so that explains why he hangs really well with Tamura on the mat. This starts with 5 minutes of slick U-Style grappling with both guys trying to lock in submissions but not quite succeeding, and its really cool to see that kind of thing in 2025. The non-matwork portion was really good too. I'm excited about Watanabe because it seems he really gets it, he sold a random leglock from Tamura like it nearly twisted out his knee and it made the second half of the match pretty intense. Tamura is odd, he's rarely great in his own promotion but for some reason often puts in really good little performance in this damn sportsbar. Exciting stuff, a genuinely really good 10 minute match.

 

2025  Wrestling Roundup

Pro Wrestling in 2025 Week 22

 Nanae Takahashi vs NORI, LLPW 4/14

When I saw this happened, I was intrigued. Not just because it's Nanae, but because it's an LLPW match! I had no idea LLPW was still around let alone that you could watch it. And yeah apparently they have put up a handful of recent matches on YouTube. I saw that apparently NORI has a decent MMA background, so she definitely fits Shinobu Kandoris mold. Don't get your hopes too high, because she largely wrestles a generic style. That said, this is quite the good little match and definitely worth watching. NORI is fairly generic, aside from a few kicks and some cool armlocks, but she makes up for it with intensity and passion. And Nanae is quite grounding these matches. It's smarter work than I recall her doing when she was in her prime, but better late than never I guess. Just Nanae grabbing a basic front headlock and snapping her opponent down was a really simple spot that immediately got me into the match. The same goes for her basic dragon screw later in the match. No rocket science here, just well executed basic pro wrestling with a good deal of struggle and urgency, and NORI occasionally connecting with some hard kicks or locking in a cool armlock to try and force a tap, with the veteran vs young upstart story being felt strongly. Absolutely give it a shot if you can get into modern joshi at all.

Seri Yamaoka vs Komomo Minami, Marigold 4/27

This caught my attention because it had some low ratings on Cagematch. A joshi match really has to be special when it gets low ratings on cagematch. The match I thought was a pretty cool showcase for all the cool shit Yamaoka can do, twisting her opponent around in Honda-ish ways. Minami didn't look bad either, she showed up in wrestling shoes and grappled a little, her offense wasn't entirely great, lots of slightly flimsy DDTs, but overall I thought there wasn't anything terribly wrong here, worth checking out to see Yamaoka against someone she can twirl around and put down for the 3 with a cool pin.

Seri Yamaoka vs Takumi Iroha, Marigold 5/24

Really good stuff I thought, that delivers pretty much what you hope with both of them doing what makes them cool, while also having a really sensible match layout. Obviously there is a world difference between them in ranking so Yamaoka is a huge underdog against Iroha. I thought they did a great job telling the story that Iroha is a nigh untouchable badass but Yamaoka could get her if she could just get ahold of her and start doing her wrestling thing. Iroha was very good here, she is one of the few modern wrestlers who when hitting stomps and kicks actually looks like she is stomping and kicking the shit out of someone, I also thought she did a great job giving Yamaoka just the right amount of offense and selling how Yamaoka was trying to sprain her ankle. Yamaoka still needs a dose of confidence but her potential is clearly enormous and she was sticking her neck out here taking an asskicking from Iroha and hitting cool suplexes and trying like hell to pin Irohas damn shoulders to the mat. I love that intense pinfall attempts are a big thing in 2025 now. I can definitely see Yamaoka tearing people apart in a years time if this continues and I look forward to it.

Ali Najima & Ryutaro Ohno vs Kanu Watanabe & Yu Shimizu, Sportiva 6/4

More good rookie action from Sportiva. It's basic, but these matches are proof that basic doesn't have to be boring. In this case we get some cool aggression between Najima and Watanabe, with all their forearms really hitting with a thud. Najima is now in the position where he has to defend his ranking against the younger upstarts and it makes things interesting. Shimizu is really reliable in his role as a old guy who hits like a truck and really cracks people with elbows. Ohno and Watanabe continue their journey into my heart, Ohno with his clunky lovable charisma and Watanabe by hitting some really hurty looking kicks to Shimizus shoulder and trying to submit him.

Yuta Oya & TORU vs Shinya Ishida & Enshu Hajime, Sportiva 6/4

Somehow Sportiva produces lots of good wrestlers on their own, but often bring in wrestlers who kind of suck into their shows. TORU isn't terrible, but he is kind of zany. Enshu Hajime is tall-ish and really skinny and kind of awkward, though he does come into his own a little when it's time to throw kicks. Oya is the glue in this match, since TORU isn't exactly treating this match too serious. It's all about Oya taking a nasty beatdown from Ishida with some hard stomps and a cool build to Oyas comeback. Then we get Hajime laying into Oya with more kicks and knees. Oya is a great gutsy wrestler, the struggle he put into his steamroller move was awesome, it was so simple but it made that whole basic ending run a whole lot better. Really nice finish with Oya absolutely spiking Hajimes skeleton-ish body with the Harai Goshi to pick up a really nice W.

 

2025 Wrestling Roundup 

Pro Wrestling 2025 Week 21

 
Nanae Takahashi vs Seri Yamaoka, Marigold 5/17

Nanae Takahashi is the next joshi veteran on her way out. At least just like with Meiko, this little retirement tour is giving her some interesting opponents and motivation to show she still has something in the tank. I thought Yamaoka would be a bit of a super rookie, but this is mostly Takahashi giving her a hiding. Yamaokas grappling-tinged approach rules and if she continues she is poised to become something of a female Tamon Honda, which would probably make her my default #1 wrestler in the world. She is already halfway there, just needs to work on her stuff a little, but the ingredients are present, and she's really cool to watch when she gets going and starts busting out the amateur moves. Takahashi is still effective beating her down and the grappling stuff made the match cool. Yamaoka looked a bit like a scared puppy when she was taking a beating, her killer instinct needs to come out a little more. Still a pretty cool match and really fun to watch.

Ali Najima vs Ryutaro Ono, Sportiva 5/21

Najimas debut wasn't long ago, but now he's in the position to put a beatdown on a longer ranked rookie. This was quite the fight. Very much the standard rookie match but their intensity and passion was great. Onos kicks are slightly clunky but that's part of the charm. Najima keeps it basic but he really puts energy even into standard stuff, he really beat the heck out of Onos shoulder here. Onos weird axe kick to the back of Najimas head was really cool. Like I said, not much in terms of moves but head and shoulders above a lot of other wrestling these days when it comes to intensity, which is how it should be.

Sho Mizuno vs Yu Shimizu, Kobe Meriken 4/18

Do NOT sleep on this match. Mizuno is a Seichi Ikemoto trainee, so he's another indy shooter, and he makes the early goings of this match wonderfully uncooperative, and it devolves into a really good, scrappy, hate filled little match. Shimizu is the Scum Bastard and while he's not much of a shoot grappler he proves his worth here by trying to scramble Mizunos brains with his trademark elbows. Mizuno is game to throw down and both guys beat the shit out of each other. Really dug the moments where one guy would have a submission on and would just aggressively hack away at the opponents head with scrappy elbows. The hard hitting here felt genuinely violent - a rare thing in modern wrestling where it often feels like its turning into a lovetap exhibition. They also made me give a shit about the sleeper hold. The one downgrade is that they briefly ventured outside and the stationary camera didn't catch anything. After this Mizuno will definitely be on my watchlist.

Sui Cup Kenchiro vs Great Mara, CWP 6/1

Come On Wrestling Party, baby. An 'ama-pro' wrestling match has no business being better than the matches from Japans major leagues, but here we are. Really raw pro wrestling that felt real as fuck. I've enjoyed the bits of Kenchiro I've seen, and he is clearly a king in this little scene. Mara I haven't seen before, he looks dorky even by the standards of semi professional wrestling and this match definitely had the vibe of him being way outmatched and trying to gut it out. Kenchiro puts a major ass kicking on Mara, kicks to the face, hard chops, king-sized backdrop suplexes, Sui Cap Kenchiro has really internalized the philosophy of doing just a handful of things really well. Mara is mostly getting his ass kicked but occasionally he is able to reach deep and crack Kenchiro with some gnarly shots of his own. There were some crazy headbutts, knee drops and face punches. Him desperately avoiding Kenchiros suplexes was also quite entertaining. Also gotta hand it to Kenchiro as he knew exactly how to bump for Mara and his last backdrop was criminal and awesome. How the fuck is this stuff closer to Hashimoto/Tenryu than whatever the major leagues are putting out I have no idea, but I really enjoyed watching.

2025 Pro Wrestling Roundup 

2025 Wrestling Week 14

 Atsushi Onita, Raijin Yaguchi & The Shooter 2025 vs. Hayato Mashita, Hideki Sekine & Kazunari Murakami, SSPW 2025/3/13

Normally, I probably wouldn't watch a 2025 Onita match. But the thumbnail showed me that Murakami is also in this match, so I was intrigued. And well, this was a fun ghoulish spectacle. 2025 Onita looks and walks like he is held together by duct tape, but to hell with it, he is pro wrestling incarnate, and he still spits green mist, hits people with chairs, and bites, so he delivers. Getting bitten by 2025 Onita has to turn you into some kind of cryptid. Murakami is in his weird glittery suit and he still mugs and hits people recklessly like he's in his prime. I wish the camera had been on Murakami a little more, because he still showed plenty of energy when he was throwing chairs on someone. Hideki "Shrek" Sekine looks so grotesque like he's a One Piece character. And Mashita tried to get some fire out of his miserable existance. This is pretty fun, and it does have a moment where Onita and Murakami get in the ring at the same time and start circling each other giving menacing glares, so it delivers that money moment that you want too. A barbedwire board comes into play, and you won't believe who gets slammed into it. Also an abundance of green mist. You may want to watch this.

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

Really cool match that showcases some of the top prospects in the world of womens wrestling now. Senka Akatsuki rules, literally all she has is a body slam and a shoot pin that she can beat even established wrestlers with, and it totally works, whenever she starts pinning people Korakuen Hall goes crazy because the match might now turn into a shoot. Seri Yamaoka is also well on her way to become the joshi version of Tamon Honda, with the cool unique mat transitions and amateur wrestling moves, so of course I'm really excited about her. Really liked the aggressive opening grappling, with Yamaoka trying to put the pin expert Akatsuki on her shoulders only for Akatsuki to force her to the ropes with a really tight armbar. Iroha is a bit of an odd case, by all means she has the potential to be the most badass woman on earth, and there are shades of that here, but she also likes lazy thigh slaps a lot. That said there were some awesome aggressive moments here where they stomped and slapped the shit out of each other and it was pretty great. You'd think 25 minutes would be a little long for a match with 2 rookies that have less than a year of experience combined, but I thought they did just fine thanks to the constant aggression and scrappiness throughout. You had the contrast of Iroha and Takahashi doing some more advanced stuff and then Akatsuki and Yamaoka coming in to get huge reactions with pin and suplex attempts. Really fun last couple minutes with a really good build to Yamaokas suplex and Akatsuki putting her in trouble with half nelsons. Takahashi seems over the hill but she still has her moments. Overall a really fun ride that makes me excited for the further deveopments of Seri Yamaoka and Senka Akatsuki.

Shinya Aoki vs Keigo Nakamura, DDT 2/14

Way too fun. Basically Nakamura can't do anything to Aoki, and Aoki just toys with him for a couple minutes showcasing how tight you can facelock and stretch someone without snapping them. Aoki has a bunch of cool ways to twist someone up on the mat, and watching him basically forcing a bunch of classic pro wrestling style pins in a shootstyle manner was really cool. The highlight was easily Aoki stepping on Nakamuras face. Nakamuras one hope spot is when he desperately latches onto Aokis leg but Aoki quickly thwarts that like its nothing. Pretty unique and fun to watch.

2025 Wrestling Roundup

2025 Wrestling Week 3

 
Suzume vs Yuki Arai, TJPW 1/4/2025

I don't think I've ever watched TJPW before, and I don't know anything about these two. Sometimes that is the best wrestling you can watch. Arai is the taller one and Suzume is the shorter more energetic, and they build around this with Arai cutting off her opponent with boots and somewhat more methodical work, while Suzume would try to hit quick dropkicks and lock in slick octopus hold variations. They both seem to have a pretty basic skillset, with Arai in particular looking pretty awkard here and there, but Suzume seems pretty good. Honestly considering that I thought this was a pretty decent match with actually a few cool moments. Most importantly there was a decent structure in place as Suzume gained the advantage using her explosive speed but was slowed down when she ate a bodyslam on the floor, allowing Arai to work her over in a bit more methodical fashion, with Suzume then making cool comebacks. Perhaps Suzume was a bit too fast considering Arai was attacking her legs, but it's joshi shit is like that sometimes. I really liked how Suzume kept going for those arm stretches to weaken Arai and set up her running offense. Arai was hit and miss, she had some kind of full nelson slam that was really bad looking, but the story of her booting Suzume in the face was something to get into and she had a pretty sweet moment where she caught Suzume with an axe kick. Overall a pretty decent match and I like how they actually ended it with just 1 finisher.

Thekla vs Athena, STARDOM 1/3/2025

Well... I kinda feel bad for not liking this, because on paper it looks like a cool match. I've liked Thekla since she came out of that basement promotion in Vienna to become a superstar in Japan, although I've not kept up with her STARDOM work, and Athena seems like someone I would like from the reviews she gets. Well, this match basically started as big move after big move, and already a few seconds in the pace had slowed to a halt. The moves looked good, but I prefer something a bit more competetive with a basic buildup instead of watching two wrestlers hit moves. Also, there was a ton of hokey acting and melodramatic soap opera facial expressions, which is about my least favourite thing in current wrestling. I thought Athena looked good when she was clubbing her opponent, but some of the offense in this match was also pretty thigh-slappy. Towards the end they actually pick up the pace by running through moves faster and busting out some slick reversal. There was also a really weird sequence around a cross arm driver. Heel faction shenanigans come into play with no real consequence, so yeah that is a LOT of what I don't like in a match.

Seri Yamaoka vs MIRAI, Marigold 1/3/2025

Well, this is Seri Yamaokas debut match. We don't know much about her, except that she has a background in amateur wrestling, so of course I had to watch. Opening goings of this were very fun with a lot of solid ground grappling and Yamaoka constantly attacking the arm. I loved the half crab/boston crab being treated as a dangerous submission that did serious damage to Yamaokas back. MIRAI had solid offense and some good kicks. Won't blow your mind if you've seen UWF, but it's that matches like this can still happen on a big stage. Yamaokas forearms were pretty weak but overall, she showed promise as she went Tamon Honda  a few times on her opponent with some cool leg lace submission variants.  Ultimately the match ended up going waaaay too long at 22 minutes and it was really long in the tooth towards the end with MIRAI spending forever in Yamaokas holds and Yamaoka kicking out of like half a dozen of MIRAIs big moves. It's really weird, if this were ARSION in 1998 Yamaoka would be sent to train with the BattlARTS and PANCARSE guys and turn into an awesome wrestler within 6 months, but in 2025 things are uncertain. Maybe she will turn into the joshi version of Tamon Honda, maybe she will end up just being another name doing 2.99999 fests soon. But this was a fun debut at the very least.

Utami Hayashishita vs Sareee, Marigold 1/3/2025

This was one of those matches that exemplify my struggle with modern wrestling. There was a lot to like here, but also a lot of bloat and stuff that I thought the match didn't really need. They start out with some brief basic exchanges before doing some mundane back and forth strikes on the floor. Things pick up when Hayashishita misses a dropkick to the floor for a pretty nasty bump with Sareee following up right with a hard double stomp. Sareee then targetted the back/mid section to slow Utami down, with Utami making a solid back and actually selling that her weak back was slowing her down. Utami has really good vicious stomps for a moment. This feels like a struggle, comebacks are being made, both look really solid when hitting offense. Sareee in particular has some great brutal double stomps and face shattering dropkicks. I start mentally tuning out when they start no selling a bunch of German suplexes, then tune back in when Utami hits a cool sideslam for a nearfall. Ultimately they just start doing way too much with what feels like 10,000 nearfalls. Something that annoys me is that they only start going for their finish towards the end of the match. It makes sense to try and wear an opponent down but still too much of this felt like they were just running through their shit. Still they kept doing stuff that pulled me back into the match, such as Utamis awesome sleeper hold or Sareees high end uranages. When the referee made the 3 count I was kind of glad it was over which is not really a good sign despite both of them showing lots of talent. Honestly I think at around 15 minutes with the bloat shaved off this would've been really cracking. At 23 minutes it was a good albeit flawed Japanese big match.

2025 Wrestling Worth Watching