Scarletlikesounds

Anyways, I wanna see Asuka & VENY vs. Spark Rush

Still 50/50, nothing's given me the indication she's doing anything other than retiring to Japan but as long as there's no retirement match and no official retirement announcement its safe to assume she'll wrestle again at some point, question is when.

MLW trying to rebuild their roster is always welcome to me so I'm genuinely hoping that they succeed just so we have more places to make money in America (they saved my boy Kozone from joining PC hell), but I'm not sure how well that'll go. I mean, there's clearly both an appetite and a low bar for studio wrestling in America rn, so maybe it'll go somewhere? I feel like they're putting in a lot less effort than ROH rn even though they'll probably surpass them in the studio wrestling push thanks to the wild amounts of ROH stigma nowadays.

With all the joshi fans I've seen I'm slightly surprised she didnt make it slightly further up, but not particularly surprised given shes not exactly a big name.

Really good, solid list but I think Yuji Nagata & Bob Backlund are a little low here. I love the way this is formatted.

Honestly, I have 0 Idea

Also, weird thing I've noticed but this French stuff translates really differently culturally, because the heels often come off as the faces to me- like every match poor bollet or tejero just wants to wrestle and these gremlins keep refusing to wrestle them and constantly evading them and then they tie them up in the ropes and try to beat on them when theyre helpless before abusing their rightful anger to throw them out of the ring- such dastardly behavior! for shame Buyten, for shame.

Hoooooly fuck I watched that Chemoul/Bordes vs. Tejero/Peruano tag and its a strong fucking 9/10, what an incredible incredible match. I think its the best catch I've seen, above Bollet vs. Weicz, Henker vs. Leduc & Cesca & Cesca vs. Catanzaro I also watched Tejero vs. Bordes and it's not quite as good but still showcases how great the two are as workers.

It definitely starts a little exhibition-y but it gets there eventually. Lotta charming stuff here, love the facials and the monster bumps that Moser takes. First introduction to them and I like these guys a lot, especially Moser.

Ben Chemoul was electric in the one match I saw of his, near the top of my list of guys to get into. Aquiles actually managed higher for me just because what we have paints such a clear consistent picture of him and is so so good. Shoko is wonderful but I never really considered her for the list. Momono made my list in about the same spot. Arik Royal is a wonderful shout, love the Fred Yehi series. I haven't gotten the Daniel Garcia hype. Mei Suruga is really good, but I think shes more top 300/200 than 100 for me. Trevor Lee maybe deserved a spot on mine. KUSHIDA carrying MLW lol. Orange Cassidy has been a real highlight of getting into weekly AEW viewing and perhaps if Id seen his older chikara stuff id have thought about him. Sekimoto is cool but feels like an inferior combo of Tanaka and Okabayashi (I'm wrong). I've seen very little Munewori Sawa and I wouldn't mind recs. Yuji Nagata has consistently been my favorite NJPW guy ever. HARASHIMA would have had a very good shot at my list if i'd seen more.

You just know Callum Newmans gonna bolt too when he gets offered an AEW contract next year. New year, same shit. I saw the argument on the Trish and Sarah podcast that this is a pretty normal thing around this year and that the reason Tsuji is losing the IWGP is because his real crowning moment comes later...but, no???? Just no. I mean I get that, but you have one guy who stands there and represents the company to the whole world and steps up to the plate and makes it mean something, then you have him drop it after a couple months to another clearly AEW bound guy. Frustrating.

He was a lower candidate for me but perhaps I could've reconsidered him further into the process. Of the big 4 in RINGS, Tamura, Han, Yamamoto & Kohsaka, Yamamoto always felt the most "pro" and least shoot of them all. He really had that rebellious little shit energy to him that came to life in the ring.

Another great match for a stacked January and the perfect introduction to Sportiva for me. Four rookies in a small restaurant put on this incredible match that just really spoke directly to my pro-wrestling loving heart. It's all simple stuff but it's ordered and done to perfection. I implore y'all to check this one out. The match in question is the main event here.

Really good way to start the year. Mei Seira is a standout in a japanese field full of top notch underdog babyfaces right now, and seeing Hazuki just torture and wipe the mat with her was great. Hazuki brings this twisted creativity to the match that just keeps popping you with new tricks to just rip apart Seira. Loved this match.

For my money Yuto-Ice has the best performance of anyone all year so far full-stop. And honestly I think it's up there for single match performance of the decade. This man has singlehandedly revived the meaning of fighting spirit for me. His selling of the arm here made me feel the weight of everything, and the sheer emotion he gets out of it is just nuclear. And tbf, that doesn't happen without an incredible Oiwa performance as well, who really sells the hatred of it all and makes it feel like a genuine battle. None of this is to detract from some solid OSKAR and ZSJ bits at the beginning but I'd say the beginning is like a 7/10 match that kicks into a 10/10 match when the arm "dislocates". Yuto-Ice suddenly feels like the unlikely frontrunner to replace Tanahashi, if such a thing is possible. Let's Get High! Big Up!