2025 Matchguide: Addendum #3

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

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

Mad Dog Connelly vs Isaiah Broner, NAP 1/12

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

Ali Najima vs Kazuhiro Tamura, HEAT UP 11/15

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

Jun Kasai vs El Desperado, NJPW 6/24

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

Tachishon Crazy vs Hinjaku Ningen Casshern, AZW 10/13

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

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

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

2025 Matchguide 

2025 Matchguide Week 50

 
Kotaro Nasu vs Yukito, Heat-Up 5/25

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

Sareee vs Chihiro Hashimoto, Sendai Girls 11/16

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


Shinya Aoki vs T-Hawk, GLEAT 10/9

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

 

AKARI vs Crea, PURE-J 5/16

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

2025 Matchguide 

2025 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 Week 35

 
Shinya Aoki vs Suwama, Evolution 7/5

First 6 minutes of this were very good as it was basically Aoki taking the much bigger Suwama apart on the mat. Aoki pretty much dominated him almost completely, with Suwama seemingly only leaning on his size advantage, almost baffingly so when you remember Suwama actually has a strong background in amateur wrestling. There were a few cool moments especially the weird pin Aoki did. Aoki gets cocky and Suwamas response is to chuck him outside and go for chairs. A good idea in theory, but the crowd brawling was kind of ass in practise and took too long. The match actually gets good again when they get back in the ring. Suwama looked like an angry bear trying to maul Aokis skinny ass. Loved Aokis ultra tight full nelson hold that nearly seemed to crank Suwamas thick neck. Good stuff, edit out the wandering around in the crowd  and you'd have something leaning into greatness.

Yuta Oya vs Super Taira, Sportiva 9/3

This was so good. Both these guys are great grapplers and really interesting wrestlers in general, but there's also the power vs skill aspect. Oya can really wrestle, and it's fascinating to watch him find his way around the mat and lock in complex submissions, but he also has the power to slam you really hard. There was a sense that Taira was really trying to avoid Oyas power and it felt when Oya got him even in a basic side headlock, Taira was in trouble. There was this bit where they both stubbornly struggled over ground octopus hold variations and it was a glorious bit of pro wrestling. Taira continues to be one of the more interesting wrestlers around with his blend of shootstyle and lucha grappling and his hard kicks and penchant for a sneaky flash submission or pin. And then you have Oyas killer judo throw. This was a great match up and they delivered a great 10 minute undercard match which is a wonderful thing in itself.

Hideaki Sumi vs Tatsunori Oya, Kobe Meriken 8/29

Kobe Meriken finally fixed the audio/video delay on their camera, so now you get to watch the glorious violence of Hideaki Sumi in more accuracy. Seriously wicked performance by Sumi here who looked like an all time great karate asskicker. He was beating the absolute shit out of Oya with sick kicks, punches and headbutts. It would've made Daisuke Ikeda worship. That half handspring enzuigiri Sumi does that landed right in Oyas face is a thing of absurd violent beauty. Insane Sumi performance when you consider he's 56, he looked like an asskicker on the level of any asskicker in wrestling here. He also displayed some cool submission skill which I always appreciate in a striker. Oya was also pretty good here. He tried to shoot grapple with the karateka and he had a cool judo throw and generally looked a lot better than in his last appearance than I saw. And he absolutely got his ass kicked here, making this one hell of a 7 minute sportsbar BattlARTS match. I need to watch like a 100 more Sumi matches after this.

Sareee & Takumi Iroha vs Natsuki Tora & Saya Kamitani, SAREEE-ism 7/14

Fast pace, some chaos and brawling, a clear face heel dynamic leading to real heat... this is a fun classic look for joshi in 2025! The fact this is not a typical workratefest made me give a shit and all these 4 do an excellent job keeping this formula interesting. Tora and Kamitani are hardly Gokuaku Domei, but they do a good job here. Kamitani was not afraid to get into sicko headbutting wars with Sareee and Tora is a really fun tubby girl wrestler who blows mist and squishes people with brutal sentons (I looked up Natsuki Tora and apparently joshi fans hate her. Well, that figures.) Iroha is great here as Chigusas heir kicking the shit out of bad people and looking like a badass. Sareee is also a lot of fun doing her thing in this environment - watching her suplex the bigger Tora around was pretty crazy. There is some interference which is done in a non-match derailing way and there was a crazy shot with a baseball bat. Not a ton of selling but that's not a huge detriment in this kind of match I think. Sareee actually looked damaged after eating a nasty Death Valley Bomb and it actually looked dramatic. Enough fun twists and turns to keep you entertained, and of course they all nuke each other with some big time bombs without going too overboard. I really really liked this a lot.

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 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

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 2025 Week 20

 Shinya Aoki vs Kazusada Higuchi, DDT 5/6/2025

A power vs technique match up that actually feels very close to a classic puro match! I am not entirely convinced that Shinya Aoki is as good as the likes of GENTARO or Yasushi Sato yet, but he sure is scratching on their throne. This had a bunch of really fun ultra-tight, high resistance grappling. I wanted Higuchi to be a bit of a bigger badass - I mean, he does look like a cool motherfucker being a tall ex sumo with slicked back hair, and he does hit pretty hard, but I wanted him to go ham and tear up Aokis spindly body a slightly bit more. I guess not everyone can be Tenryu, but I sense there is potential in him and I should probably watch him more. The ringside brawling was slightly weak but seeing legendary grappler Aoki get bowled into chairs and retaliating by smashing someones luggage into Higuchis head was a sight. I also love how unhinged Aoki feels when he starts flying around. I hope he won't go down the Minoru Suzuki route with the crazy faces but I thought for this match it was appropriate. Great, off the wall finish. They made a brain claw a deadly hold in 2025 and you have to love that. Really really fun, Aokis little reign is such a reset for a Japanese mainstream promotion and I hope they continue further on that route.

Keita Yano vs Tsuyoshi Okada, Dove Pro 2/9 - FUN

Oh Keita. This is a rounds match with Okada having MMA gloves and they're blaring some trance electronic music throughout, ZST style. With stuff like this it's starting to feel like Yano is slowly returning to form. It's a bit slow to get going as they go for really uncooperative shootstyle ala KINGDOM, but Yano does some fun grappling. 2nd round is a lot better with Okada really knocking the hell out of Keita. Not as epic as it would've been in like 2013 when Keitas psychosis was in full bloom, but a fun little occurance and I wanna see more of gloves Okada for sure after that.

Keita Yano vs Ayumu Honda, Tenryu Project 4/25 - FUN

Usual good Keita performance working circles around a guy with graceful WoS style matwork. At first I thought this Honda guy would be along for the right, but he actually brought a little something as the match proceeded by attacking Keitas arm in a few different ways. Keitas selling was pretty good for a short match and there is a nifty finish. Nothing grand in in the scheme of Keita Yano matches but it's good that he is still doing his thing even though the camera at Tenryu Project shows seems to get further and further away from the ring.

Shiori Asahi & Makoto Oishi vs CHANGO & Ayumu Honda, 2AW 4/27

CHANGOs grip on the Japanese indy scene with scumbag technical matches continues, and he's now infecting everyone around him. After Asahi, Oishi is the next guy to just say fuck it and wrestle in a grease monkey suit. These two used to be a team of sensationally spotty and smooth juniors and to see them say fuck it and be sleazy and hit fist drops and kung fu eye pokes is low key awesome. They didn't go full Mutoha here, but this is very much a refreshingly outside the norm match. Lots of WORKING as in making small, miniscule things a focal point, such as the build to the basic 'guy hits a diving elbow to opponents arm that is held in place by tag team partner' spot. Asahis and Oishis assault on people with rapidly hit knee drops and fist drops was reminiscent of a surreal version of the Yamaha Bros, and CHANGO is CHANGO. Honda is the weakest guy in the match and doesn't stand out much early, but he does come into his own when its to work an arm, and him trying to steal the win with plain straight armbars was pretty fun. Finishing run had a lot of the super tricked out slick spots that CHANGO, Asahi and Oishi have a knack for. Lots of roll ups within rollups if you catch my drift. It's a bit of an aquired taste but if you are reading this blog I can definitely imagine you getting into this, it's worthy continuation from the Asahi/CHANGO tag from earlier in the month.

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

Stiff, fast paced, crisp, serious pro wrestling. Maybe one of the best of the year from the women in fact when it comes to action from start to finish, and definitely worth checking out even if you've been watching all the Satomura matches. Satomura vs Hashimoto is known quality, and Sareee makes a really fun addition. Her matches earlier in the year were spotty, but I thought she was really effective here just coming and trying to crack peoples faces with vicious dropkicks. It helps that Hashimoto ate the fuck out of those dropkicks. Yuu also looked like an impressive monster. The one thing I didn't like was her weird rolling move. That felt too comical for this kind of affair. Thought the sick Sareee/Hashimoto was the highlight, until Meiko came in and she and Chihiro wailed on each other some more. Awesome. Thought the match needed a bit more Meiko vs. Chihiro duelling instead of having Chihiro and Yuu just go to hit their double teams but I guess that was the point. Also, selling wasn't super important here, but that's joshi for you sometimes. I'm gonna miss Meiko.

 

2025 Wrestling Roundup 

Keita Yano Documentation

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 5

 Meiko Satomura vs Sareee, Sareee-ISM 1/23

Excellent bout between arguably the greatest female wrestler in the last 27 years and the current top prospect in the Japanese womens wrestling scene, glad this happened. In a way there are not a ton of surprises here - the first half is very much carried by the fact that they both have great offense and don't do anything illogical, I thought. It was a bit of back and forth with Satomura trying to put down her opponent with authority and Sareee surprising her with some off-guard violent offense. There's not a ton of surprises if you've seen your share of Satomura and Sareee matches. The second half though was great stuff with both of them reaching to the next level and having some crazy hard hitting moments. I loved the vicious sleeper work, Sareee uncorking the headbutts, Satomura dishing out some brutal kicks etc. Sareees most well put together match that I've seen so far, and a nice chance for Satomura to add another banger to her vast resume.

 

2025 Wrestling Roundup

2025 Wrestling Week 4

 
Sareee vs Veny, SEAdLINNNG 1/17

I haven't thought about Seadlinnnng in forever. Apparently, Sareee is their ace now and has been their champ for a while, so I should probably take a look at that. I haven't seen much of VENY before, but I know she had that excellent weird light tube  match with Akito at one point. This was a lot more conventional. They start of strong with some quality groundwork before a weird outside interference happens and the brawl outside. Sareee however makes it worthwhile when she dishes out some brutal headbutts to Veny on the floor. Back in the ring, Sareee is in control for a bit and it's really good. Her vicious stomps and dropkicks are great. Veny tries to take over but is cut off in nice fashion. Finally, Veny locks on a slick submission and controls by working the arm for a bit. Veny no sells a German suplex and they start trading bombs. Honestly I thought the first half of this was a very good build, but the senseless move trading lost me. Veny kind of half asses her selling a lot and her thigh slapping thrust kicks looked like shit. Sareees offense is great, but she doesn't do much selling either at some point. There is so much "take a move, slowly get up and then do a move of your own here" that really makes me stop caring about a match. For example, Sareees top rope Fishermans Suplex wasn't even followed up by a cover, instead Sareee goes to the top on the opposite side so Veny can get up and hit a superplex. No rhyme or reason to any of this as far as I can tell. At least mix in some cool reverals or something.

Yusaku Ito vs Yu Shimizu, Sportiva 1/22

This was more good shit from SPORTIVA. Yusaku Ito is a certified scumbag who can kick hard, punch someone in the face and act like an all around thug. Shimizu just came back from a really long absence and he still looks tough, in that weird guy-who-started-wrestling-in-his-30s way. Really good wrestling here, these two deliver actually compelling elbow smashes and standing exchanges. Eventually it turns into Ito kicking away at Shimizus arm and shoulder. Itos kicks and elbows to the joint where really hurty looking and Shimizus selling was excellent. By far one of the best 'work the arm' matches I've seen in a while because Shimizus weakness was constantly nagging him, he never forgot about that injury and Ito would cut him off by attacking the arm at crucial moments. Shimizu doesn't have a ton of offense in this match, he is mostly taking an asskicking, but the few moments he gets are solid, and the work around his sleeper hold was really compelling, it leads to one of the best flash reversals into a sleeper that I've ever seen. The match also has the typical Japanese big match stuff, some quality hard hitting and head-droppy moves without going overboard, but what made this outstanding was how well they worked the arm attack stuff and those sleepers. Another banger from that little sportsbar. Lord knows how they do it but they consistently put on some of the best singles matches in all of Japan.

Guerrero Maya Jr vs Xelhua, CMLL 1/13/2025

The first few minutes of this are pretty great. Both guys hit the mat and tie each other in knots, adding cool little touches that you don't see often such as the kicking at the leg while in the indian deathlock, or the nifty trip from the overhook. Xelhua clearly has a ton of passion to be trying the crazy llaves he tries, and he has stellar body control - that bridge walkover he did is NOT easy, I can attest to that. When Maya Jr takes over attacking the mask and throwing punches and Xelhua narrowly breaking out of submissions, I thought this would've been one of the best opening falls to a title match I've seen. Unfortunately it's not 2/3 falls, it's 1 fall, so we get a couple minutes of Maya Jr. dominating and a somewhat sluggish finishing stretch. I think with a 2/3 falls match these two could burn the house down, as a 1 fall match it just falls a little short, though there was a ton of cool stuff. CMLL is definitely on the right track with young guys like Xelhua not being afraid to indulge in esoteric matwork.

Virus vs Neon, MLW 1/11/2025


Love two see luchadors show up in a US promotion to do awesome shit for 8 minutes. This was pretty tight, we get a slick mat exchange to start and then they go nuts. Virus is crazy busting out this shit at the age of 56. He looked way more nimble than, say Bobby Fish who is also on this show and looked ancient despite being  8 years younger. Neon is another one of those technicos who has no offense except shitty looking enzuigiris and really pretty dives. And his dives were pretty in this. I did prefer the slickness of Virus apron armdrag and huracanrana but I am an old Virus mark. I thought this needed maybe a Virus punch or dropkick or a slick reversal to be really great but it was a pretty strong under 10 minute sprint.

 

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