Paid Members waters44 Posted July 18, 2025 Paid Members Posted July 18, 2025 (edited) My backlog was getting out of hand (I feel your pain @JLM) so I decided to wipe the slate clean from 1st July, get back into puro and collate my thoughts here I did something similar to this last year but then moved house and lost all momentum, so let's try again I've managed to watch 11 shows over a two week period, but that will more likely be my monthly pace going forward. I just wanted to start with a bang I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts on anything puro related, especially a quick review of any shows you have seen I will try to adds some pictures, please expect some to be NSFW especially in the BJW and DDT section. Also some results from the shows will be spoiled This post covers shows from 1st July - 13th July Big Japan Pro Wrestling Spoiler BJW - Big Japan Double General Election - 03.07.2025 The BJW Ueno Park shows are just an excuse to mess around and this show is no different. Abdullah Kobayashi usually ends up in a little pair of pants and gets hit on the arse with a variety of weapons. Today however he is painted like a panda while the crowd get soaked with a hose pipe. Oh and Poseidon turns up with plungers on his tits - ***** BJW Deathmatch Champion AKIRA has his last match in Japan for a while is in a tag against MxM. Some people are quite down on AKIRA but I like him. He can be in the most death-defying and violent deathmatches one day and then be in a well done and funny comedy match the next. MxM are a breath of fresh air BJW White & Black Festival - 10.07.2025 A rare BJW show where not one drop of blood was spilled. This was at Ueno Park again, which means shenanigans. Kobayashi ended up covered in condiments by a man with some sort of erection? Then what I think must be the worlds worst Michael Jackson tribute came out and got beat by rookie Asakura New Japan Pro Wrestling Spoiler NJPW New Japan Soul 2025 Night 8 - 04.07.2025 A decent main event match between Gabe Kidd and Hiroshi Tanahashi on an otherwise average show. The match obviously meant a lot to Gabe Kidd who was in tears on the mic afterwards, which of course made top blubber Tanahashi break down too. This was the first show i've watched since Dontaku and apparently DOUKI is now in House of Torture? Wtf? I can't imagine a world where that made any sense, I will have to go back and find out what happened NJPW New Japan Soul 2025 Night 9 - 06.07.2025 I sometimes think to myself “I don’t know why I bother watching every New Japan show” but then just occasionally you get two cracking matches on a card which make it all worthwhile! We have a nice enough match between Tanahashi and Tiger Mask, with both being on a retirement tour before hanging up the boots in 2026. We then get to a gauntlet match for a spot in the G1 between Kojima, Chase Owens, Taichi and Ishii. HOT help Owens clear Kojima and then soften up Taichi. But not enough! Taichi beats Owens, which leads to Ishii coming out. And oh my God these two have an absolute banger and a W44MSM. Taichi still feeling the effects from the HOT beatdown but manages to clock Ishii hard which levels the playing field. Then these two are just fighting like their lives are on the line, not just a spot in the G1. Non stop action with Taichi eventually landing the killer blow and advancing to the G1. Meltzer has classed Taichi vs Ishii as its own match and given it five stars. My brain will not allow me to do that due to the first few falls so I’ll go ****1/2. Sorry Dave. Main event then has El Desperado defending the Jr title against Fujita. This was really good although they’ve got better in them. Very good striking exchanges between the two. Later on in the match Fujitsu attempts a leg lariat and Despe just grabs him out the sky in one of the best transitions I’ve seen in ages. Despe then ties him up like a pretzel and gets the submission win. If there was no Takeshita I think Despe would have my heart. Next up - the G1!!! Pro Wrestling NOAH Spoiler NOAH Sunny Voyage 2025 ~ Shinjuku FACE 20th Anniversary ~ - 05.07.2025 A pretty fun eight man tag here where a big lad from the UK, Will Kroos, shone bright. The crowd were loving him and he got a big pop when picking up the win for his team. KENTA and Kenoh (who had a great match together back in January) teamed up here with Ulka Sasaki against Team 2000X, which was a good match completely overshadowed by a woman, who must have been sat on top of the hard cam, constantly shouting "KENTA" the whole match. Main event was an excellent tag match for the Jr belts - the champions Alpha Wolf & Dragon Bane are real talents and I can't wait to see more from them Dragongate Japan Pro Wrestling Spoiler Dragongate Aggressive Gate 2025 Night 2 - 03.07.2025 I haven't watched Dragongate since they were part of the ROH shows in the mid 2000's. I remember it being fast paced and the good news is that carries on to this day, now with a splash of lucha too. There was a great David vs Goliath match with 5 foot 1 Riiita taking on 6 foot 3 Bendito. YAMATO had a really good main event vs Homare, it started slow but ramped up towards the end with some really brutal striking exchanges before the veteran puts away the rookie - ***1/2 Shun Skywalker then came out and after a few minutes of talking he beats YAMATO in a few minutes. Don't know what this was all about, I really need to learn Japanese. Dragongate Aggressive Gate 2025 Night 4 - 06.07.2025 A decent enough show to build to the Kobe Festival on the 13th. We get multiple tag matches which are all ok but nothing worth going out your way to see. If you weren’t sure whether Z-Brats were heels or not you found out for sure when they threw the Love and Peace’s cuddly toy mascot up into the balcony seats. Absolute bastards! The semi main ten man tag was pretty good with Natural Vibes looking strong. Really feel that I’m missing something with these tags, I sense the drama but really need to know more about the feuds etc. For example there were two wrestlers here that just stayed outside the ring beating each other up with weapons. I need to know why! It will come with time. Then the main had a very good match between Shun Skywalker and Dragon Kid. Skywalker took a nasty looking hurricanrana and landed right on top of his head but luckily seemed absolutely fine and moves on to his title opportunity vs YAMATO on the 13th Dragongate Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2025 - 13.07.2025 A decent No DQ match between Strong Machine J and Madoka Kikuta, which had a powerbomb from the top turnbuckle to a table, but the table didn't break (I am the table)! Machine got annoyed with this and threw the table out of the ring, which landed on a cameraman's head causing a bit of panic ringside. The last three matches are great, culminating in a W44MSM in YAMATO defending the Dream Title vs Shun Skywalker. The match starts slow but by the end they are landing huge bombs and massive movez on each other. Skywalker hits YAMATO with a powerbomb type move on the entrance ramp. He then repays the favour with a brutal looking sleeper suplex which gets a two count. Skywalker recovers to land more damage and eventually YAMATO can take no more, suffering a pinfall defeat after half an hour of battling. ****1/2 DDT Pro Wrestling Spoiler DDT Yokohama Night Splash - 05.07.2025 I've tried to get into DDT before and failed. I've now tried again but its still not for me. The wrestling is fine, but due to the language barrier the comedy just doesn't translate well. There's a five way scramble match where one guy ends up on the turnbuckle facing out the crowd. His opponents then take turns to shove each others faces into this guys crack as they take it in turns to pull down his multiple thongs. One guy willingly did it to himself, and to make the most of the situation he even spread the cheeks of this man's bare arse before diving in. The shenanigans were only ended when I think an earthquake hit which caused a man in the crowd to wake up end the match? What a crazy few lines I've just typed there. DDT Beer Garden Pro Wrestling In Ueno - 11.07.2025 Just as I told myself I was quitting DDT I saw a show pop up on Wrestle Universe called "DDT Beer Garden Pro Wrestling In Ueno". I clicked into it and saw the words "Falls Count Anywhere Crocodile Deathmatch" - those are words I can not ignore! Was this a return to mid 90s BJW......? In a word, noooooo. It was wrestlers with crocodile gloves on and then a big inflatable crocodile came out to get the win. I should have known better! It was very silly and quite entertaining. Oh and the guy with the thongs is back in the main event with his opponents all too eager to get a closer look at his taint. I'd love to have a camera on Jun Akiyama backstage watching all this. That's me done with the smaller shows for DDT, but I will watch the bigger shows GLEAT Spoiler GLEAT Ver 19 ~ 4th Anniversary Special Event - 01.07.2025 First time I've ever watched a GLEAT show and I confess to not knowing anything about them. The production was good and I enjoyed the show overall. MxM are currently touring Japan and stopped off here to take part in a really fun eight man tag match. Mason Madden is absolutely huge! And gorgeous obviously. In the space of a few weeks Alberto El Patron has gone from the main event of a AAA TripleMania show to the mid-card of GLEAT (what's the story there?). He was tagging up with CIMA in a match that was fine. There were ref bumps, outside interferrence, weapons - you can take Alberto out of AAA but not AAA out of Alberto. The semi main tag was a hard hitting affair with one chap getting the bottom of his opponent's boot imprinted on his face. Main event was a decent match with a good pace and some nice strikes - ***1/2 Waters44's Must See Matches since 1st July Taichi vs Tomohiro Ishii vs Satoshi Kojima vs Chase Owens - G1 Climax 35 Block A Play-In Gauntlet Match - NJPW New Japan Soul 2025 Night 9 - 06.07.2025 YAMATO vs Shun Skywalker - Open The Dream Gate Championship - Dragongate Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2025 - 13.07.2025 Edited July 18, 2025 by waters44 Quote
Paid Members waters44 Posted August 11, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted August 11, 2025 (edited) I'm like the Vicar of Dibley stuffing multiple Christmas dinners in my gob at the moment, but instead of turkey I'm gorging on a healthy diet of juicy G1 action I'm also watching loads of Indy wrestling at the moment and planning a separate thread for that soon. Anyway, here is the puro i've watched recently, please expect spoilers and some NSFW imagery which I will upload shortly @The King Of Swing have you watched any more STARDOM? I will try and have a look at it at some point! This post covers shows from 19th July to 31st July Big Japan Pro Wrestling Spoiler BJW Hatagaya Rokugo Street Shopping District Event Night 1 - 18.07.2025 This is how deep in I am with Big Japan - I'm watching a two match show with one camera in a shopping centre car park. It’s a two night show and there's not much to mention on this night. Two average matches which the crowd enjoyed, but nothing to write home about. BJW Hatagaya Rokugo Street Shopping District Event Night 2 - 19.07.2025 Another two match show from a car park but these two matches were actually very good! Former champ beats rookie Asakura in a pretty decent and surprisingly competitive match. Asakura’s got a bright future! It’s not like he’s about to suffer an awful injury that takes him out for a year anytime soon ? The second match was a very entertaining tag! Despite the show being in a shopping centre car park they didn’t take it easy. Great performances and the crowd really loved it, especially cheering on champ Daichi Hashimoto. At one point a child is used as a weapon and I'm here for it BJW - 27.07.2025 Some good news for BJW but also some awful news. Starting with the good - Sekimoto is back! Yay! Despite the scary neck injury back in May he looks great, and didn't take it easy, suplexing a terrified looking Abdullah Kobayashi off the top rope and then finishing him with a big splash. Welcome back Sekimoto. The bad news is Koshiro Asakura, one of BJW's best prospects, is out for a year with a serious knee injury. He is in a match with the humongous Ryota Hama and fucks his knee trying to pick the big lad up. I appreciate the spectacle but maybe lets not do that spot anymore. Other promising rookie Ryuma Sekimo does impress technically on the undercard, although does end up with his face in someone's arse at one point (what is it with Japanese indies and shoving faces in arses?). There was a great eight man tag match which included Okami on one side and Astronauts on the other, so it was always going to be good. Leyton Buzzard pins the champ Daichi Hashimoto in this match so I expect that to be the next main programme. Kosuke Sato and Jacob Crane have a great match for the BJW Junior Heavyweight strap. They hit each other with some real stiff kicks, elbows and even headbuts. They both took a hell of a beating. Sato survives a belt shot to the face and puts Crane down with a brutal looking brainbuster to retain the title New Japan Pro Wrestling Spoiler NJPW G1 Climax 35 Night 1 - 19.07.2025 A slow start to the G1 to be honest but still some good stuff. Really enjoyed Oleg vs Uemura, the last minute or so was fantastic. There was a great moment where they are both jockeying for position, Oleg going for the bear hug and Uemura going for the underarm suplex. In the end Oleg thinks fuck this and just launches Uemura across the ring. El Phantasmo hit Shota with a nipple lock at one point which looked devastating but was no sold. Takeshita vs Gabe Kidd was great and would have hit even higher heights if Kidd hadn’t have been injured halfway through. Despite that these two still put on a great show, brawling throughout and hitting each other with big bombs. Rematch please! The crowd are absolutely desperate to see Tanahashi win and I really think The Ace will be one of the highlights of this years G1. His babyface work is soooooo good NJPW G1 Climax 35 Night 2 - 20.07.2025 The show starts with Gabe Kidd nursing a leg injury. He can’t perform tonight but details are vague. Uh oh. We could end up losing one of the top guys in this tournament. A lot of this show felt like people were on auto pilot but there wasn’t anything bad. Don Fale somehow managed to catch Yota Tsuji doing a tope which looked awesome. And I know it’s almost universally hated but I love the HOT shenanigans! Yuya Uemura had a great main event with Taichi! Uemura selling is really top notch and Taichi showed some great stuff, especially his strikes. I’m loving Taichi at the moment. We all know the real main event is Takeshita vs ELP. These two had a five star banger at last years tournament and this match is just a little shy of that but is still a W44MSM. At one point ELP does his springboard dive from the top rope over the barrier to take down Takeshita. Unfortunately for ELP he eats a Takeshita forearm instead! Brutal. The two exchange signature moves which wakes the crowd up, before ELP manages to put Takeshita down with his underarm piledriver finisher NJPW G1 Climax 35 Night 3 - 22.07.2025 A great crowd were treated with two excellent matches at the end of the card. Taichi vs Finlay is a great babyface vs a man who is great at getting babyfaces over, so this was always going to be good. Absolutely loved this match and love Taichi showing off how good he is. After swapping stikes and big throws Taichi finally manages to put Finlay away to the delight of the crowd. Main event was Tsuji vs Uemura. These two always work well together. Lots of hard hitting stuff and the pair were jockeying for position throughout the match. My favourite things though were the counters constantly swinging the momentum between wrestlers. Uemura countered Tsuji’s spear with an elbow, then again with a hurricanrana (for a great near fall!), but couldn’t escape the third attempt which proved to be too much to overcome. Both matches get ****1/2 from me and must go on to the W44MSM list NJPW G1 Climax 35 Night 4 - 23.07.2025 Another show that’s really just about the final two matches. Konosuke Takeshita vs Great-O-Khan is one of the surprises of the tournament. I wasn't expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised with how much chemistry the two had together. There were some lovely near falls here that the crowd completely bit on, but Takeshita gets the win after escaping an eliminator attempt and blasting GOK with the raging fire. Then the main event has ZSJ vs Shota Umino in a repeat of the Tokyo Dome main event from earlier this year. And it was ok! I'm still not sold on Shota although he does show some glimpses of quality now and then and managed to get past ZSJ here. There was one awesome moment where Shota is running across the ring and Zack somehow jumps up and wraps around Shota in mid air. It was like a spider catching a fly. Great technical stuff from Zack as always NJPW G1 Climax 35 Night 5 - 25.07.2025 Probably the weakest show so far and not much to report. Yota Tsuji and Ryohei Oiwa had a good match which had a lot of flair, some good strikes and fast paced action. Everything else was ok. NJPW G1 Climax 35 Night 6 - 26.07.2025 Block B with the goods again! First a quick note for how Young Lion Katsuya Murashima is getting on this tour, he is by far the highlight of Block C for me and I absolutely love his exchanges with Hartley Jackson. These matches are why I can't skip the undercard, you risk missing little gems like this. On to the really good stuff though and first up is ZSJ vs El Phantasmo. The match opened with a really cool grappling sequence with some lovely counters. ELP sticks with what he knows and starts to fly high, with an awesome looking dive over the barricade on to Zack. Then Zack absolutely slaps the soul out of ELP! The sound rebounded around the arena, it was absolutely brutal. The final stretch of the match is ELP just trying to escape Zacks submissions. He gets through a couple but eventually has to tap after almost 20 minutes of battling. Its a W44MSS and I give ****1/2. Want another W44MSM? Well to the surprise of nobody Takeshita vs Shingo gets the full five banger from me. Absolutely magic because these two know how to SELL!!!!!!! The Young Lions should just watch this on repeat. This was incredible and I just cannot do it justice, please read @JLM excellent review in the NJPW thread instead NJPW G1 Climax 35 Night 7 - 27.07.2025 The undercard is actually quite good today but the crowd are dead unfortunately. We get two minutes of ZSJ vs Takeshita in a tag and it nicely whets the appetite for their singles match tomorrow. Oleg Boltin and Yota Tsuji have a good match. Its really cool how Oleg can counter most moves with pure strength - at one point he caught Tsuji mid-Marlowe crash and just launched him across the ring. He is so athletic as well, he managed to do a standing kamikaze to Tsuji which is pretty incredible. I enjoyed Yuya Uemura vs EVIL for what it was. Yuya absolutely flattens Don Fale with a surprise top rope frog splash to the outside and manages to fight through more HOT shenanigans, picking up the win with his lovely looking underarm suplex. The Ace continues his three star G1 main event streak with a battle against Ryohei Oiwa. Oiwa nearly takes Tanahashi's head off with a strong lariat for one of the biggest wins of his career NJPW G1 Climax 35 Night 8 - 30.07.2025 The opposite to yesterday - this undercard was pretty poor. One funny moment was Gedo tagging in, realising he was in the ring with Oleg Boltin, and immediately tagging back out again. I don't blame him. ELP v s GOK was quite good, highlighted by ELP grabbing a headlock and parading GOK around the arena, stopping at the commentary table to give El Desperado a kiss on the head. GOK eventually gets the win with a top rope claw slam thingybob. Drilla Maloney vs Ren Narita is only noteworthy because by my reckoning its the first blood of this years G1 after Drilla gets his head slammed in to a chair. Drilla gets his revenge with a drilla killa on Narita for the win. I didn't really understand the layout for Shingo Takagi vs Shota Umino. It centred around Shota working the leg, which led to Takagi hurting himself doing the Made in Japan and couldn't get the cover. But after a bit of selling he got up, gave Shota a lariat and a Burning Dragon to win the match. Bit odd. Main event time with Takeshita vs ZSJ. Power vs submission. Takeshita is throwing everything at Zack but he just grabs hold of Takeshita constantly. Some sequences were a little off but that actually made the match more interesting and more like a real life battle. Towards the end Zack is on Takeshita's back, so he climbs to the top rope, falls backward on to Zack to squash him, but he still clings on. The Alpha can't escape and couldn't resist the submissions any longer, so had to tap to the IWGP champ Pro Wrestling NOAH Spoiler NOAH 25th Anniversary ~ New Departure Night 1 - 19.07.2025 I am proud to say that over these next two shows I have officially become a NOAH fan! These two shows were great with absolutely fantastic main events. Night 1 began with a tag with KENTA & Junta Miyawaki vs Naomichi Marufuji & Daiki Odashima which was a great start! Love seeing Marufuji and KENTA slapping eachother around. Young rookie Junta wraps up Odashima in a crazy looking pin for a massive win to a big pop. Great moment. The undercard also has a really good fun tag match with brothers Dragon Bane and Alpha Wolf who look superb! The main event though - absolutely perfect and a W44MSM. Ozawa vs Kenoh for the GHC title. Ozawa definitely has an aura about him. At one point he gets Kenoh down, grabs a camera from a cameraman and starts filming his own match! He does an absolutely lovely lionsault from the top rope straight on to Kenoh - its a thing of beauty, he gets so much height on it. Ozawa starts breakdancing mid match and gets a double stomp in the guts for his trouble, then Kenoh does his own breakdancing to the delight of the crowd. Ozawa wants to keep the dance battle going but Kenoh goes with elbows instead. Kenoh hits Ozawa with a top rope dragon suplex for a good near fall, followed by a double stomp. Ozawa is out but just as the ref is about to count three he’s pulled out the ring by those bastards Team 2000X! Crowd electric! Ozawa then rolls up Kenoh for a quick pin but there’s no ref! The golden rule of wrestling is if you get an invisible pin you’re losing the match, but surely Ozawa’s retaining…? Pace is frantic. Ozawa hits Kenoh with a double pele kick. More stiff exchanges. Ozawa attempts a spinning kick but Kenoh hits him in the face with his boot first. Ozawa slowly gets to his feet and Kenoh absolutely kicks his head off and knocks him out cold! New champ!! Full Five banger from me!!! NOAH 25th Anniversary ~ New Departure Night 2 - 20.07.2025 I'm still in a daze after last night's main event, what a match! And tonight we've got the new champ putting the title on the line vs legend KENTA! The commentator says this will be a chess match wrapped in a street fight and already i'm hooked. They start exchanging stiff slaps, elbows and kicks early doors. Kenoh starts to wilt and KENTA takes the upper hand, grinding Kenoh down with holds on the mat. Kenoh gets free but BAM he is hit with one of the hardest Go To Sleep's ive seen in a while for a great near fall. Kenoh comes round and manages to get KENTA down on the mat with a crossface, lets go and follows up with a double stomp. The pace has picked right up. More strikes. KENTA starting to fade, Kenoh has the upperhand. KENTA is on the mat so Kenoh goes for a big moonsault to finish him off but misses! KENTA rises like a phoenix and hits 2 Busaiku knees for another great near fall. Kenoh barely conscious, he staggers to his feet but is picked up, placed on the shoulders of KENTA and hit with another huge GTS right on the chin. The crowd are going nuts as the referee counts 1, 2, 3 and Kenoh's championship reign is ended after 24 hours. Kenta Kobashi presents the belt to the new champion which is a lovely moment and a perfect end to a great match. I'd go ****1/2 rather than 5 but its definitely a MOTYC and a W44MSM. All aboard the Ark! Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS Spoiler FREEDOMS / Jun Kasai Produce Tokyo Death Match Carnival 2025 Vol 1 - 19.07.2025 Jun Kasai is one of my favourites so I try to watch as much of him as possible. It's amazing how well he moves considering the amount of damage he has done to his body and the fact he is 50! At the start of this match vs Violento Jack he's wearing a suit and looks great! But before you know it the razor boards come out, his suit is ripped to pieces and blood starts to flow. He takes loads of damage here (including a beer bottle smashed into his head which didn't look gimmicked to me) and gets in very little offense, before being beat with a package piledriver. This was pretty short but does a decent enough job to get Jack over as a threat. Main event is a fantastic Glass Board & Fluorescent Lighttubes Alpha Deathmatch for the King of FREEDOM title, champ Toru Sugiura defending against Yusaku Ito. This match is full of glass panes, lighttubes, chairs and even a giant plastic hammer covered in thumbtacks. As the match progresses theres a huge superplex through a glass pane and both men are bleeding badly from their backs. Ito somehow manages to turn a head scissors into a destroyer on to the glass covered ring for a great near fall. He tries another destroyer but Sugiura stops him mid move and drops him right on top of his head, causing a nasty cut which bleeds heavily. Blood and broken glass everywhere. More carnage which culminates in Sugiura smashing a big elbow through lightubes in to Ito for the win. I got so in to this match that at one point I jumped up and sat on my own bollock so I was in a lot of pain watching two blokes in a lot of pain. ****1/2 W44MSM Waters44's Must See Matches since 1st July Spoiler NJPW - Taichi vs Tomohiro Ishii vs Satoshi Kojima vs Chase Owens - G1 Climax 35 Block A Play-In Gauntlet Match - NJPW New Japan Soul 2025 Night 9 - 06.07.2025 DRAGONGATE - YAMATO vs Shun Skywalker - Open The Dream Gate Championship - Dragongate Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2025 - 13.07.2025 FREEDOMS - Toru Sugiura vs Yusaku Ito - King of FREEDOM Championship - Glass Board & Fluorescent Lighttubes Alpha Deathmatch - FREEDOMS / Jun Kasai Produce Tokyo Death Match Carnival 2025 Vol 1 - 19.07.2025 NOAH - Ozawa vs Kenoh - GHC Heavyweight Championship - NOAH 25th Anniversary ~ New Departure Night 1 - 19.07.2025 NJPW - Konosuke Takeshita vs ELP - G1 Climax 35 Block B - NJPW G1 Climax 35 Night 2 - 20.07.2025 NOAH - Kenoh vs KENTA - GHC Heavyweight Championship - NOAH 25th Anniversary ~ New Departure Night 2 - 20.07.2025 NJPW - David Finlay vs Taichi - G1 Climax 35 Block A - NJPW G1 Climax 35 Night 3 - 21.07.2025 NJPW - Yota Tsuji vs Yuya Uemura - G1 Climax 35 Block A - NJPW G1 Climax 35 Night 3 - 21.07.2025 NJPW - Zack Sabre Jr vs ELP - G1 Climax 35 Block B - NJPW G1 Climax 35 Night 6 - 26.07.2025 NJPW - Konosuke Takeshita vs Shingo Takagi - G1 Climax 35 Block B - NJPW G1 Climax 35 Night 6 - 26.07.2025 Edited August 11, 2025 by waters44 Quote
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 11, 2025 Paid Members Posted August 11, 2025 Nice post Waters, still like reading about BJW and other death match related stuff. Quote
Paid Members JLM Posted August 11, 2025 Paid Members Posted August 11, 2025 As an enjoyer of fat guy pro wrestlers I had to know more about Ryoto Hama. Five seconds into my research I found this amazing pic of him doing Vader: Hama Time! Brilliant. Quote
Infinity Land Posted August 11, 2025 Posted August 11, 2025 I know he was just a transitional champion, but I still can't believe AJPW made him Triple Crown champion. Quote
Paid Members waters44 Posted August 11, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted August 11, 2025 24 minutes ago, Egg Shen said: Nice post Waters, still like reading about BJW and other death match related stuff. I’ve got you covered man, watch this space 20 minutes ago, JLM said: As an enjoyer of fat guy pro wrestlers I had to know more about Ryoto Hama. Five seconds into my research I found this amazing pic of him doing Vader: Hama Time! Brilliant. Love it! Hama has been stumbling around Japan a while now. I remember first seeing him in a tag team with Akebono in the late 00s in All Japan, imagine the weight of those two together! I think they even won the tag belts. Quote
The King Of Swing Posted August 11, 2025 Posted August 11, 2025 @waters44 I've been slowly catching up on Stardom's 5* GP. It's been fun though nothing mind blowing, so far. Still got a couple of shows to get through. Tournament season is usually hard work for me. Everything eventually becomes a bit of a blur. From memory, Starlight Kid and AZM had a strong main event on one show. But that's pretty much a given any time they wrestle each other and they've had better matches, in the past. Saya Kamitani, Tomoka Inaba and Sareee have also been pretty consistent highlights. Bea Priestley looks so out of place in 2025 Stardom. The lack of Maika and Syuri, has definitely knocked the tournament down a little. Quote
Paid Members waters44 Posted August 13, 2025 Author Paid Members Posted August 13, 2025 Does anybody subscribe to the AJPW service? I'm tempted but I'm getting to the point where I'm in serious trouble if my wife looks at our bank statements. My main query is does it have full shows from the 80s and 90s? If so it will be worth risking a beating Quote
Paid Members The Ratt Posted August 13, 2025 Paid Members Posted August 13, 2025 6 hours ago, waters44 said: Does anybody subscribe to the AJPW service? I'm tempted but I'm getting to the point where I'm in serious trouble if my wife looks at our bank statements. My main query is does it have full shows from the 80s and 90s? If so it will be worth risking a beating I was subscribed earlier this year to it for a coupleof months, but ended up cancelling, just because I was struggling finding the time to watch it. As for the older footage , the archive section only goes back to the year 2000, and it's mostly individual matches rather than full shows. I seem to think its because they don't own the rights to the 80s/90s stuff, and its owned instead by one of the tv networks. Quote
The King Of Swing Posted August 20, 2025 Posted August 20, 2025 Just watched today's Stardom 5* GP show. Which was the knockout stage to set up the final four. Skipped a few shows leading up to it, due to tournament fatigue. Spoiler Anyway easily the best of the shows that I have watched. Was worried at first due to wrestlers working double duty, due to their placing in the group stage, but ultimately almost every match that mattered delivered. First batch of knockout stage matches. Suzu Suzuki beat Bozilla in an ok match. Suzu will face Saori Anou, later. AZM beat Hanan in a decent effort that was a little sloppy here and there. AZM will face World of Stardom champion Saya Kamitani. Momo Watanabe beat Ami Sourei in another decent match. Momo will face IWGP champion Sareee, in a rematch from the group stage. Rina goes over Bea Priestley in maybe the best match at this point. Nothing mind blowing but Bea was decent and Rina is really over with the Korakuen crowd. Rina will face Natsupoi, in the main event. Losers and rookies tag match to break things up. Skipped it. Quarter finals. AZM toppled her former Queen's Quest stable mate, Saya Kamitani, in the best match of the show imo. Really good stuff and the crowd were well behind AZM's win. Probably got the biggest reaction of the show. Saori Anou beat Suzu Suzuki to advance to the final four. Probably the most predictable outcome but another strong match. From day 1, Anou has been one of my two favourites to win the tournament. The other being Natsupoi. Next up Momo Watanabe goes over Sareee, in a stiff war which made up for a good but slightly disappointing group stage match. H.A.T.E's usual shenanigans take the wind out of things towards the end but still well worth checking out. Crowd was hot for most of the match. Finally Rina scores a shock win over fan favourite Natsupoi, in a solid main event. Though the finish felt a little sudden, to me. Semi finals are set. AZM (Neo Genesis) Vs. Rina (H.A.T.E) Saori Anou (Cosmic Angels) Vs. Momo Watanabe (H.A.T.E) Other than Anou, not the final four I was expecting but it's nice to see Momo and AZM getting so close to the finals and Rina has had a really strong year and is pretty over. I'm still leaning towards Anou, to win the tournament. But it does feel like anyone's game, under Toro Okada's management. Had a lot of fun with this show. After a rocky 2024, Stardom has been consistently solid all year. Quote
TildeGuy~! Posted August 21, 2025 Posted August 21, 2025 Sareee has been easily the best Wrestler in Japan this year for me, her run as a freelancer who just takes over companies is finally getting over in Stardom being booed heavily even against the H.A.T.E faction. I’ve got Rina winning the tournament. The entire show that King reviewed was shown live on YouTube yesterday for anyone looking for it, don’t know how long it’ll be up for. Quote
The King Of Swing Posted August 24, 2025 Posted August 24, 2025 Stardom 5* GP Final. Well it's finally here and I was really excited for this show. Skipped the pre show match. Spoiler Saya Kamitani, Natsuko Tora & Ruaka (H.A.T.E) Vs. Hanan, Saya Iida (Stars) & Bea Priestley. H.A.T.E go over in a pretty bland but passable trios match. 5* GP Semi Final. AZM (Neo Genesis) Vs. Rina (H.A.T.E). AZM wins the first semi final defeating Rina, in a really good match. I know a lot of fans were hoping for Rina to win, but I think this was the right result. Rina's pretty much cemented herself as a future star, so losing here doesn't hurt her at all. AZM on the other hand has kind of been stuck in a holding pattern for some time, and needed the win more, imo. 5* GP Semi Final. Saori Anou (Cosmic Angels) Vs. Momo Watanabe (H.A.T.E). Good but not as good as the previous match, imo. Some H.A.T.E shenanigans, but not as irritating as during the Momo/Sareee match. More importantly though MOMO WINS AND IT'S A FORMER QUEEN'S QUEST MEMBERS FINAL. Even though Anou was my pick to win. AZM/Momo was the final I was personally desperate for, due to their long history as Queen's Quest stable mates, tag team partners and eventually enemies, following Momo's betrayal of Queen's Quest. Natsupoi, Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara (Cosmic Angels) Vs. Waka Tsukiyama, Hanako & Rian (Empress Nexus Venus). Alright but probably the most skippable match on the card. Waka eats the pin to surprise of probably 3 people. Post match appears to be setting up Aya and Sayaka as challengers for Waka and Hanako's, New Blood tag titles. I can see Aya and Sayaka, taking the belts. Cosmic Angels, really need a title win. Mei Sera (Neo Genesis) Vs. Saki Kashima (God's Eye) Vs. Yuna Mizumori (Cosmic Angels). Yuna wins a fun little three way match, Saki was her usual goofball self. Looks like Yuna will be the next challenger for Mei's highspeed title. Suzu Suzuki, Rina Yamashita & Akira Kurogane (Mi Vida Loca) Vs. Hazuki, Koguma & Dark Silueta. Decent trios match though I wasn't particularly impressed by Silueta. Still can't quite get my head around Rina Yamashita, working Stardom shows. She fits in well. Anyway MVL get the win. Starlight Kid & Miyu Amasaki (Neo Genesis) Vs. Tomoka Inaba & Ami Sohrei (God's Eye). Tomoka and Ami go over, in a rock solid tag team match. Inaba has future star written all over her and her upcoming White Belt match with SLK, should be an absolute banger. Some standard trash talk between SLK and Inaba, post match. Future of Stardom Championship. (C) Hina (God's Eye) Vs. Ranna Yagami (God's Eye). Hina retains in a decent if pretty standard Future title match. Hina (younger sister of Hanan and twin sister of Rina) seems to finally be finding herself during this reign. Which is good to see. Yuria Hime challenges Hina, post match. Meh. IWGP Women's Championship. (C) Sareee Vs. Konami (H.A.T.E). It's Sareee. It's Konami. Obviously this was going to be a good match and it was. H.A.T.E shenanigans again and Sareee was obviously going over, but still a really good match. Crowd a little more divided here. Definitely leaned Konami, but an audible Sareee section. Post match Suzu Suzuki, challenges Sareee to a title match. Yes please. 5* GP Final. AZM (Neo Genesis) Vs. Momo Watanabe (H.A.T.E). Excellent main event and match of the show. I was about to rip my hair out when H.A.T.E started with their usual shit, but in a wonderful moment later in the match, Momo put a stop to it. Momo wins clean with Peach Thunder, in a very popular result. Even though I was hoping for AZM to get the win. Momo finally winning the big one was long overdue and a genuinely emotional moment, so I can't complain. Overall a good show. The undercard is mostly filler but still decent. The matches that matter all delivered to varying degrees. Stardom has a formula that they mostly stick to. Which can make reviewing shows a bit of a chore, which is why I've never really bothered until now. Of course things can go wrong but overall I think this year's tournament can be considered a success. People were elevated, matches/feuds were set up or continued and fans got an emotional and popular result in the final. Job done. Quote
The King Of Swing Posted September 7, 2025 Posted September 7, 2025 (edited) Stardom To The World 2025. Stardoms first show since the 2025 5* GP Tournament Finals. Spoiler Rina (H.A.T.E) Vs. Ema Maishima. Rina quite easily puts down the rookie, in a passable effort. Highlight is Rina attempting her 'spit at the ref' spot but he avoids it, getting a good response from the crowd. Maishima gets some offense in and has potential. But it's still early days. Waka Tsukiyama & Hanako (Empress Nexus Venus) Vs. Aya Sakura (Cosmic Angels) & Kikyo Furusawa. The current New Blood Tag Team champions go over Aya and Kikyo, in a decent match. Surprisingly Aya eats the pin and not her rookie partner. Billed at I believe just shy of 6 feet tall. Hanako is always an impressive sight, but is still lacking intensity, imo. Yuna Mizumori & Sayaka Kurara (Cosmic Angels) Vs. Mei Seira (Neo Genesis) & Dark Silueta. Mei and Silueta go over, in another decent tag team match. Though Sayaka is clearly late breaking up a pin near the end, which was awkward. Momo Watanabe, Konami & Azusa Inaba (H.A.T.E) Vs. Rina Yamashita, Itsuki Aoki & Bozilla (Mi Vida Loca). Show finally kicks in with a fast paced and occasionally hard hitting trios match. Konami seems more motivated lately than she has been in ages and Rina Yamashita is just fucking cool, and showing that she can absolutely go outside of a death match setting. I would definitely be down for Konami Vs. Rina, in a singles match. Bozilla doesn't do much but still looked impressive and Azusa Inaba (younger sister of Tomoka) is another one to keep an eye on. H.A.T.E go over with 5* GP winner Momo, pinning Itsuki. Hina, Saki Kashima, Ranna Yagami & Kiyoka Kotatsu (God's Eye) Vs. Hanan, Saya Iida, Momo Kohgo & Yuria Hime (Stars). Huh so Yuria is officially a member of Stars. Must have missed that. Not much to say about this one. Pretty standard 8 woman tag, that gets a bit sloppy at the end with Hina having to repeat a spot after botching. God's Eye win with Hina pinning Kohgo. Nobody really stood out in this one. AZM & Miyu Amasaki (Neo Genesis) Vs. Natsupoi & Saori Anou (Cosmic Angels) Vs. Lady C & Ami Sohrei (God's Eye) Vs. Hazuki & Koguma. Everyone brings house show energy for a fun though un-spectacular 4 way tag, that never really gets out of first gear. Lady C and Ami get the win, with Ami pinning Miyu. Typical middle of the card stuff. Natsuko Tora (H.A.T.E) Vs. Mayumi Ozaki. Easily the worst match on the show but Japanese fans are almost always pretty hot for a Joshi legend match. And it's no different here. I will say though that at 56, Ozaki still moves pretty well. Probably because she completely changed up her wrestling style, long ago She also sold/took some bumps for Tora and actually lost but of course even then it took all the usual H.A.T.E shenanigans. Better than the usual legend stuff but that's a low bar to clear. Ozaki getting a cheeky chain shot in post match, was pretty funny. IWGP Women's Championship. (C) Sareee Vs. Suzu Suzuki (Mi Vida Loca). Time for the good stuff. Sareee eventually puts Suzu away with a wrist clutch exploder, in a really good, hard hitting war. Crowd were hot for this and more evenly split than they usually are for Sareee matches. Only really getting on Sareee's case when she was being a dick. Sareee has done a great job integrating the IWGP Title into Stardom shows, and brings a different kind of energy that really stands out. Closest comparison I can think of is 90's AJW. Wonder of Stardom Championship. (C) Starlight Kid (Neo Genesis) Vs. Tomoka Inaba (God's Eye). Match of the show. This was the match I was most looking forward to, and it absolutely delivered. The story here is both SLK and Tomoka trying to destroy each others legs. SLK retains with the wonderfully named, Black Tiger Leg Killer, in an excellent back and forth match. If Stardom haven't already quietly signed Tomoka (and Azusa, for that matter) they fucking better sign her. She's just too good to let go of. Main Event. World of Stardom Championship. (C) Saya Kamitani (H.A.T.E) Vs. Bea Priestley. Good match but impossible for me to really get invested in, since Saya was obviously retaining. Still though, both wrestlers gave it their best. Saya puts Bea away, with the Star Crusher, in a good main event. Post match NJPW Strong Woman's Champion AZM challenges Saya to a double title match. Well that's another banger to look forward to. Will probably end in a time limit draw but Saya's history with AZM, gives this one some added spice. Can't wait. Overall another good show from Stardom, even if nothing major happened. The undercard is mostly decent, though easily skipped, if you only want to watch the main matches. All of which delivered. Edited September 7, 2025 by The King Of Swing Quote
The King Of Swing Posted September 10, 2025 Posted September 10, 2025 Time for another Stardom show. September 10th 2025. Stardom Nighter 2025 in Korakuen. Meaty looking Korakuen show, featuring four championship matches, with Neo Genesis Vs. H.A.T.E, headlining for the Artist of Stardom (trios) titles. Spoiler Pre Show. Hazuki Vs. Ema Maishima Vs. Akira Kurogane (Mi Vida Loca). Current Sparks Joshi Champion, Hazuki goes over in a decent little three way. Tapping out Maishima, with the Lion Tamer. Nice show of respect from Hazuki, to the less experienced wrestlers, post match. Typical pre show stuff. Main Show. Waka Tsukiyama, Hanako & Rian (Empress Nexus Venus) Vs. Aya Sakura, Sayaka Kurara (Cosmic Angels) & Kikyo Furusawa. Hanako hits Sayaka with the JP Coaster, for the win in an entertaining trios match. Feels to me like Stardom see big things in Kikyo. She's definitely confident for a rookie and is already pretty decent in the ring. Sayaka is still a little sloppy at times, this time clearly failing to kick out of a pin on time. Stardom were right to cool her off, following a pretty big push earlier in the year. She has potential and is pretty popular. But is still a long way from being a major player, imo. Suzu Suzuki, Bozilla, Rina Yamashita & Itsuki Aoki (Mi Vida Loca) Vs. Ami Sohrei, Lady C, Saki Kashima & Kiyoka Kotatsu (God's Eye). Really fun eight woman tag, hurt by a pretty unsatisfying double count out finish. Saki Kashima, is a treasure that must be protected at all cost. Her 'Saki Vs. Bozilla Dream Match' t-shirt, got a good laugh out of me. I need that match NOW. Kiyoka impressed me here. She's tiny which makes her a great babyface in peril, but she also brings some good fire in her comebacks and has some nice strikes. Mi Vida Loca, just piss attitude and charisma. Okada (no not that Okada) should be doing his best to lock down Rina Yamashita, who I genuinely believe could easily slot into the main event scene. Everyone got a chance to shine in this one. Despite the flat finish. Natsupoi & Saori Anou (Cosmic Angels) Vs. Tomoka Inaba & Ranna Yagami (God's Eye). Good tag team match that ends just as it really got going. Saori pins Ranna, with I guess a Blockbuster into a bridging pin. Probably has a name, but no idea what it is. Future of Stardom Championship. (C) Hina (God's Eye) Vs. Yuria Hime (Stars). New ring gear for Yuria, that is very Mina Shirikawa, in style. Actually it might be Mina's old gear, but could be wrong. Anyway. I had zero interest in this match going in but it turned out to be a highlight of the show, for me. A little awkward at points but Yuria wrestled like she had a point to prove, and Hina held up her end. Hina retains after nailing a Frog Splash, in a match that over delivered, imo. Yuria definitely came out of this looking better than she did going in. Hina on the other hand is finally starting to catch up with her sisters, is slowly getting pretty over and showing some much needed attitude. Post match Hanako steps up to challenge Hina, next. Not a match I'd considered but I'm moderately interested to see how it goes, considering the size difference. Saya Kamitani, Natsuko Tora, Momo Watanabe & Azusa Inaba (H.A.T.E) Vs. Hanan, Saya Iida, Momo Kohgo (Stars) & Bea Priestley. Another entertaining eight woman tag, only this time with a conclusive finish. Usual H.A.T.E antics, but they work better in a big multi match and in moderation. Hanan eventually puts Azusa, away with a bridging back suplex. No one really stood out here. Just a fun match. CMLL Japan Woman's Championship. (C) Dark Silueta Vs. Koguma. Match was going pretty well with Silueta, heeling it up nicely. Then Koguma, hit a swinging DDT on the floor and after a short time the ref called for the bell, awarding the match and the title to Koguma. Obviously everyone was confused but watching it back, after taking the DDT, Silueta immediately clutches at her wrist and shoulder, signalling to the ref. Looked like she landed awkwardly on her arm. Horrible thing to happen and I hope that Silueta, recovers quickly. Koguma is visibly upset and shaken, but from what I could make out, it just looked like really bad luck and not anything that Koguma did. Post match it looks like Koguma's tag team partner Hazuki, challenges Koguma to a title match. New Champion: Koguma. Highspeed Championship. (C) Mei Sera (Neo Genesis) Vs. Yuna Mizumori (Cosmic Angels). This one was going really well until Mei, uncharacteristically botches a springboard twice. Thankfully nobody is hurt and both are quick to get the match back on track. Highspeed Title matches went through some sort of rule change a while back and I can't recall them all, outside of a shorter time limit. Match ends in a time limit draw. A strong effort despite the botches, late in the match. Hopefully this is building to Yuna, eventually defeating Mei, for the title. I'm a big fan of Mei, but she's had the title for ages and rarely defends it. Time to move on. I'd also ditch the new rules, which I think Okada (no not that Okada) might have done post match, but not entirely sure. Oh, looks like Waka wants a title shot. LOL. Main Event. Artist of Stardom Championship. (C) Starlight Kid, AZM & Miyu Amasaki (Neo Genesis) Vs. Rina, Konami & Fukigen Death (H.A.T.E). H.A.T.E capture the Artist belts, after Konami forces SLK to tap with a choke, in a really good main event. AZM and Rina, have great chemistry. Hope we get more matches between them, down the road. Post match, the usual heel antics from H.A.T.E. with Konami targeting SLK. H.A.T.E now hold the World, Artist and Goddess (tag) titles. Along with the 2025 5* GP winner. Hanan, Saya Iida and Momo Kohgo, then challenge the new champions to a title match. Should be decent. New Champions: Rina, Konami & Fukigen Death. A solid show that is obviously hurt by Dark Silueta's injury, along with a couple of botchy moments and a couple of non finishes. Main event and Future title match are the biggest highlights, imo. Quote
The King Of Swing Posted September 13, 2025 Posted September 13, 2025 (edited) Stardom kicking of a run of smaller shows. Starting in Nigata. Is that the unmistakable smell of fun but uneventful multi matches, in the air? Credit to Reddit. Suzu Suzuki and Mei Sera are both out due to injury. Apparently Suzu's absence was planned in advance, so must have been working hurt. As for Mei, I'm guessing she must have picked up an injury on the previous show. Hopefully it's not serious. Spoiler September 13th Stardom in Nigata Sanjo. Hazuki, Koguma & Ema Maishima Vs. Rina Yamashita, Bozilla & Akira Kurogane (Mi Vida Loca). Fun trios match to open the show. Ema naturally takes a good chunk of the punishment, but does get to take Big Boz, off her feet with a head scissor takedown. Of course it's futile in the end and Bozilla eventually puts Ema away, with a huge piledriver. Ranna Yagami (God's Eye) Vs. Kikyo Furusawa. Mostly basic stuff here but it's nice seeing Kikyo, in a singles match. Ranna, pretty fresh off of a couple of strong showings against Sareee, naturally goes over but Kikyo actually makes her work for it. Lots of submission attempts from both, but in the end it's a kick to the head that does it for Ranna. Post match, Kikyo slaps away a handshake from Ranna and gets a 'well fuck you, then' kick in return. Ami Sohrei & Lady C (God's Eye) Vs. Natsuko Tora & Rina (H.A.T.E). A good tag team match ruined by Tora, returning to her shitty Oedo Tai roots, by getting deliberately DQ'd after hitting Lady C with a chair, despite clearly having the match won. Never understood that shit back in the day and still don't understand it now. Guessing Ami and Lady C, might be being positioned to challenge Tora and Ruaka for the Goddess belts. But this match didn't do them any favours. Hina, Saki Kashima & Kiyoka Kotatsu (God's Eye) Vs. Waka Tsukiyama, Hanako & Rian (Empress Nexus Venus). EXV go over in the most average match on the show. Waka gets a rare W, after catching Saki, with a small package. BOOOOOOOOO. Just realised that I've never talked about Rian. And that's because she has absolutely no personality or presence. It's almost impressive. Starlight Kid, AZM & Miyu Amasaki (Neo Genesis) Vs. Saya Kamitani, Momo Watanabe & Konami (H.A.T.E). World, Wonder and Strong champions, as well as one third of the Artist champions, all in the same match which just screams "house show finish" and it went just as expected. A decent match that ends in a double count out after some standard H.A.T.E brawling, on the outside. Nothing else to say about it, really. Some post match trash talk from Saya, and she ends up fighting to the back with AZM. Main Event. Hanan, Saya Iida, Momo Kohgo, Yuria Hime (Stars) & Bea Priestley Vs. Saori Anou, Natsupoi, Yuna Mizumori, Aya Sakura & Sayaka Kurara (Cosmic Angels). Big ten woman tag to close the show. Perfectly acceptable house show main event. Saya Iida, picks up the win for Stars, after nailing Sayaka with a stalling brain buster. Bea is teaming with Stars so often, she's either joining them soon or turning heel on them. I'm fine with either option. Still though. Both Stars and Cosmic Angels, still seem pretty directionless after both units lost their founding leaders, Mayu Iwatani and Tam Nakano. Hopefully they get some much needed momentum, sooner rather than later. A perfectly acceptable Stardom house show. Easy to skip completely, but if you fancy a couple of hours of easy going wrestling, then you could do much worse. Only Tora, really drags things down a little. Edited September 13, 2025 by The King Of Swing Quote
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