My name is Sonal and I love to talk, blog and watch a whole lot of wrestling so a wrestling blog was the only obvious thing to do! Obsessed with wrestling from across the world with a soft spot for Puroresu, cruiserweights and heels. I can probably be found watching more wrestling than actually sleeping and blogging about pretty much every week.
Twitter: @Wrestling_chat
Hi guys, How crazy has 2020 has been? With everything going on in the world, it seems as if 2021 couldn't come any sooner. However, even with all of this negativity, I think it's vital to try and find some positives. Despite conditions making it hard for the wrestling industry, many companies have thrived during the pandemic. In particular, some wrestlers have managed to make the best out of a bad situation and continue trying to put on shows for fans whether in person or through streaming sites. To mark the end of another year, I'm back with my annual wrestling MVP list of the wrestlers who have stood out this year. Just a quick note, most of the stuff I've watched this year is Japanese wrestling (NJPW, DDT and TJPW)! Yuka Sakazaki 2020 has been a great year for in the sense that I've had the time to fully get into Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling. For me, it's something I regret not doing earlier because it is full of some amazing wrestlers from Miu, Miyu Yamashita...
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NJPW Destruction Review
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Hi guys,
After the craziness of this year's G1 Climax and then Royal Quest in London, you'd think that NJPW would take a few weeks off. Nope. September came and straight away we delved into the annual Destruction tour. Because it's been such a long tour, I'll look at each section of it and hopefully it makes more sense and persuades you to watch the entire thing!
The Road to... dates sometimes seem pointless to people. But, to me, they're so vital and some of the best shows of the card. With no real big matches, the wrestlers can have a bit of fun in the lead up to title matches and also we can see the start of new stories. It's the time where we can try and predict what's coming up and also see factions pitted against each other to gain supremacy! Even with no live English commentary, they are shows worth watching!
Young Lion's Cup
For anyone living under a rock, as well as the NJ matches, this tour's also seen the return of the Young Lion's Cup wotj 8 young lions from the New Japan Dojo, LA Dojo and Fale Dojo.
There were some amazing matches throughout the tour from Shota Umino v Ren Narita, Yota Tsuji v Alex Coughlin, Ren Narita's win over Karl Frederick's and the shocking first win of Yuya Uemura against the LA Dojo captain Clark Connors. As well as seeing how much our favourite Lions have grown, we got to really see the talent of Alex Coughlin who hasn't been on many tours compared to Connors and Frederick but also Fale Dojo's Michael Richards!
In the end, we had a tough last few matches which was there to settle the three way tie between Ren Narita, Shota Umino and Karl Fredericks taking place in Kobe. Narita lost his match against Clark Connors and so it was down to 2. In a surprising but maybe not surprising turn, Karl Fredericks beat favourite Shota Umino to win the big ass trophy. I am so happy for Fredericks who is an amazing athlete, but of course upset for the other two, especially Narita who I wanted to win from the start! However, Fredericks deserved it and is a great asset to NJPW.
The first two Destruction dates came on the 15/16 September in Beppu and Kagoshima. We had some huge matches set for the two nights including the IWGP Jr and Heavyweight titles on the line as well as the Tokyo Dome Contract and the Rev Pro British Heavyweight title.
As well as these title matches, we had some great bouts in the warm up matches. Minoru Suzuki and Jushin Thunder Liger reignited their hatred with a theft of Liger's mask and threats galore. Naito and Jay continued to play mind games with each other in the lead up to Kobe. Also, one of my favourite moments had to be Yoh picking up a win over Tama Tonga with a roll up - I mean our little Jr picked up a win not only over a heavyweight but the heavyweight tag champ.
There was a lot of Bullet Club action in this part of the show.
G.O.D retained their tag titles against Yoshi Hashi/ Ishii in an amazing match! Yoshi Hashi really stepped up to the plate and was the star nearly picking up the win. and Birds of Prey. We then had a battle that had Milano Collection screaming SUBERASHI nearly every minute. Will Ospreay and Robbie Eagles put up an amazing fight against ELP/ Ishimori and it was the perfect Jr tag match - a mix between risks, strength and fearing for the wrestlers lives. Of course both matches were won by Bullet Club in less than clean ways with Kenta interfering in G.O.D's match and some dastard tactics from ELP and Ishimori - however, still amazing.
There was also more Bullet Club tactics in the match for the Tokyo Dome contract Main Event. Kenta using heel tactics to try and beat Ibushi and Ibushi just doing crazy things that never stop amazing me but, in the end, Ibushi came out with the win and kept his title shot for Wrestle Kingdom!
However, Zack Sabre Jr's rematch for the Rev Pro title against Tanahashi was the match of the weekend. Even though both guys have fought a lot this year, I don't get tired of watching them. Tanahashi has to adapt to ZSJ's ground base and we saw some great submissions from the Ace. However, after an amazing match, ZSJ got the win with a Cobra Twist of all moves and secured his place as a British wrestling icon - also Boris Johnson is next on his list! I am gutted that Tana didn't get a proper reign as champ, but we'll leave that poor decision to the Rev Pro bookers... However, hopefully we'll keep seeing Tana in the UK and this loss won't affect him too much!
Destruction in Kobe
The final night of the Destruction tour in Kobe had to be one of the strongest cards of the entire tour! It was full of action from start to end. As I said before, we started with some Young Lion matches including the finals of the Young Lion Cup. There were also some other stand out moments. Shout out to Yoh from Roppongi 3k who managed to pin the other half of the heavyweight tag champs with a roll up win over Tanga Loa! Shingo and Goto also put on an amazing special singles match which was shockingly won by my boy Goto - it was as tough and hard hitting as everyone expected and I could watch these two slug it out all day.
Bar those matches, there's something everyone's talking about: KISHIN LIGER. After attacking the King Minoru Suzuki during his entrance, Jushin Thunder Liger went on an absolute crazy spree with the King who was more than ready for the mad man. But, a hit to the head with a chair changed everything. When it seemed as if Liger was fixing his mask, he was actually removing it to reveal his alter ego Kishin Liger. Kishin Liger went ape shit crazy on Suzuki and suddenly forgot who he was hitting everyone he could with a chair, including Young Lions and his best buddy Hiroshi Tanahashi. It was like he was channelling everything he hated about Suzuki. I can't wait to see what comes from this in the lead up to Liger's retirement.
However, for anyone who knows me, they'll know that everything just led to the final match: Tetsuya Naito v Jay White for the Intercontinental title. The lead up literally had me so excited for this match and it happily didn't disappoint. Going just over 20 minutes, it had everything from high risk moves, sneaky style and a whole lot of mind games. Both Naito and White had times where they got the upper hand over their opponent and I had to hide behind a pillow for some of it because they went full on. Naito tried to kill Jay the same way he nearly killed Ibushi at Dominion and Jay tried to counter it with a suplex. If you want a full run through of the match have a look at this post I did (https://prowrestlingpost.com/andnew-jay-white-wins-iwgp-intercontinental-title/).
What was funny was that there wasn't much interference from Gedo which made the result even better. With one Bladerunner, Jay White got the win and is now the new IC champion! Crowds started leaving as White lifted the title and its proof that he's one of the best heels in the business. Goto then came out to challenge Jay for the title, after beating him in the G1 and I screamed internally because #LoveYouGoto. If that doesn't happen, I think that, since Yano beat Jay in the G1, I think he should be the next challenger and who knows, maybe we'll be seeing Yano as the first dual champion!
Whatever happens in the future, this win from Jay makes the next few months leading up to Wrestle Kingdom exciting! Who's going to be that first dual champion (if it doesn't turn out to be Yano)?
With King of Pro Wrestling in less than two weeks and the heavyweight title on the line, all this might be a lot clearer but it looks like everyone's jumping on Naito's dream and the queue is getting longer and more interesting!
As always, let me know what you think about the show or this post. Also, to keep up to date with all things wrestling and be first to know when I post something new on here or a new podcast (or even when if you just want to chat), follow me on social media at:
(@Wrestling_Chat on Twitter and Wrestling Chatter on FB and WrestlingChatter96 on IG)!
Hi guys, How crazy has 2020 has been? With everything going on in the world, it seems as if 2021 couldn't come any sooner. However, even with all of this negativity, I think it's vital to try and find some positives. Despite conditions making it hard for the wrestling industry, many companies have thrived during the pandemic. In particular, some wrestlers have managed to make the best out of a bad situation and continue trying to put on shows for fans whether in person or through streaming sites. To mark the end of another year, I'm back with my annual wrestling MVP list of the wrestlers who have stood out this year. Just a quick note, most of the stuff I've watched this year is Japanese wrestling (NJPW, DDT and TJPW)! Yuka Sakazaki 2020 has been a great year for in the sense that I've had the time to fully get into Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling. For me, it's something I regret not doing earlier because it is full of some amazing wrestlers from Miu, Miyu Yamashita...
Hi guys, For me, New Japan Pro Wrestling has to be one, if not, the best company in the world for giving us amazing wrestling content. With the introduction of their streaming site NJPW World, more worldwide shows and English commentary (from the AMAZING Kevin Kelly) on most of their shows, it’s becoming a massive rival for other massive companies. But, when I started watching it a while back, the whole format was really confusing because it was so different from what I was used too. So, in the lead up to Wrestle Kingdom (which is the biggest show/s of the NJ calendar year), here’s a beginner’s guide to New Japan Pro Wrestling (Shin Nihon Puroresu) for anyone who wants to watch NJPW but has no idea where to start. History New Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in 1972 by wrestling legend Antonio Inoki after he left the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance promotion. Inoki put himself as the star of the company and drew on the experiences of foreign wrestlers (Gaijin’s) like the Bri...
Hi guys, I think I've already made it clear how excited I am for this year's Best of Super Jr tournament. However, in the midst of my excitement, I forgot all about the fact that it was a combined tour with World Tag League, probably because we didn't hear any announcements about the line-up - until now! Just like the BoSJ, this tournament is going to in a single block format and is full of some of your favourite tag teams in Japan. Without further ado, here is my preview of the 2020 World Tag League! FinJuice (Juice Robinson and David Finlay) Will New Japan fans be treated to another round of Happy Beers from last year's World Tag League winners? Well, I'm just happy to see them both teaming together again in Japan. David Finlay and Juice Robinson are the epitome of what a babyface is and just radiate this positive energy despite all the obstacles in front of them. Since they started teaming together, they've both had a career rejuvenation with their best frien...
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