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

Matches from Itigaya Ice Box

 Shuichiro Katsumura vs Shota, Ganbare 2018/10/26

Very nice technical match taking place on a tiny mat in that same space where Emi Sakura runs her shows. The story is pretty simple, Katsumura is the shooty grappler and Shota is the oldschool grappler, so Katsumura will force Shota to break with dangerous submissions, and Shota would short arm scissor the fuck out of Katsumura. Shota actually has lots of compelling Short Arm Scissor work, and there were some great slick reversals including an absolutely spectacular armbar counter from underneath from a test of strength/bridge spot. I loved how Shota got pissed and made it a point to force Katsumura to use the out of bounds to escape from the short arm scissor. Pretty nice crafty pro wrestling.

Fumihito Kihara vs Yumehito Imanari, Ganbare 2013/5/10

Before this match, I wasn’t familiar with Fumihito Kihara. Apparently he has been AJPWs ring announcer for ‘several years’. His history of matches that he had according to Cagematch is thinly spread out and confusing, only making a handful of appearances in companies as different as K-Dojo or the reborn PWC throughout the years. He walks out here tanned as hell and wearing some neon orange trunks. He does not look like someone who only wrestles sparringly, he looks like someone who has been grinding himself to dust in the pro wrestling business for decades. Looking quite literally as tough as a human brick. And he wrestles kind of like a WAR guy! Immediately they go for an uncooperative vibe, blocking some strikes and then Kihara goes to choke Imanari and kick him in the face. Kihara cinches basic holds with the intent to tap Imanari out, really torturing him and giving him a hiding. The actual match is not quite as great as those first couple minutes promised, but its fun. Uncooperative, stiff, different. Eventually Imanari starts firing back with some kicks of his own and running into Kihara with repeated Shining Wizards, and the finish is great. I think Kihara vs Keita Yano would’ve been an awesome matchup.

Mai Ichii vs Miki Ishii, Ice Ribbon 2/22/2008

Brutal stiff fight where they both didn’t hold back on any strike and fought really hard, which is kind of the best kind of no-ring wrestling there is. Way better and more passionate than a lot of matches in big arenas. Ichii is a legit MMA fighter with some wins and she’s a monster with the kicks, kind of the last breath of the Toshiyo Yamada/Kumiko Maekawa type fighters. She’s a gem and clearly someone I need to look up more because everytime I see her she brings the fight. Ishii is 2 days away from retirement and she really uses that momentum to go as intense as she can. Ishii doesn’t have the martial-artist moves like Ichii, but her basic dropkicks, kicks and forearms landed insanely hard and you have to love that. She also had some really cool leg submissions, and is tough enough to take some absolutely insane kicks from Ichii. Here jumping move of the wall was also impressive. There was a short joke where Ishiis tag team partner(?) came in to help but it lasted only about to 30 seconds and it lead to Ichii thrust kicking them hard. Great 10 minute fight.