Top Wrestling MVPs 2020

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...

Rocky Romero 'Sneaky Style' Review

Hi guys,

For this week's post, I'm moving away from my usual wrestling posts with something I used to do on my music blog: an album review. But I'm not completely mad because there's a link to wrestling, I promise. 

I've tweeted a lot about how much I love NJPW's Rocky Romero. He's got the charisma, talent and is both an amazing wrestler and commentator. However, he's also an amazing musician and has released a lot of EPs over the past few years and has today released his newest album perfectly named 'Sneaky Style.' With 11 tracks, I thought I'd have a look at the songs and maybe give you some reasons to go out and buy/ stream it!


In the usual Rocky Romero style, the album starts of with the intro track Sneaky Style featuring the one and only Kevin Kelly. Its the perfect way to start the album with a nice slow and steady tempo with a nice mix of singing and rapping: 'I'm the King of Roppongi and the King of Sneaky Style,' is followed by a nice little insight into Rocky's career from Roppongi Vice to Roppongi 3k and even shout outs to his fellow Jrs (even Bushi which shook me). The addition of Kelly with his commentary style vocals was a really nice touch and a great start to a great album.

What I love about this album, is the number of collabs on the album! The first full length collaboration is with Colt Cabana and is T-Shirt Trap. Starting off with a really nice techno effect, it's a great nod to two veterans in the business and a nice mix of seriously good music and more light-hearted lyrics heavily based on the merch business in wrestling with a nice few shoutouts to the likes of PWG, Young Bucks and more! There is then I'm The One ft Mega Ran and G1ToTheRescue. So, I won't pretend to be a rap enthusiast, so I don't really know either of these artists. But, by god it's such a good song that could easily be played on the radio from the lyrics to the tempo: it's got the chance to go mainstream! We can't talk about the collaborations on this album without mentioning probably the biggest get for Romero. Chico Drip features the one and only king of wrestling Chico El Luchadorr. I don't know how much Rocky had to pay or the royalties Chico is getting but it's worth every penny! You've got twice as much sass and swag in one swag and it's a tag team I'd pay to see (obvs to Chico, sorry Rocky).


There are so many amazing songs on this album for everyone to enjoy and what's great is the track 28 which is a nice halfway mark for the album breaking the album into two. Simple with a really nice Cuban theme, it's like Rocky Romero epitomised in a song: full of attitude, rhythm and style. This contrasts with the likes of Summer in Tokyo and Perseverance that has a softer beat to it with some amazing vocals mixing with Rocky's amazing ability to rap. Antidote is yet another song with a completely different dynamic more similar to the techno vibe of T-Shirt Trap. All of these songs just gives the whole album such a diverse sound. 

One of my favourite things on this album is the addition of both Roppongi 3k and Romero's NJPW theme tune. I always listen to the Roppongi Vice one from one of Rocky's old album and it will be amazing to be able to blast out the RPG3 theme and Nakazuso Road in the car and attempt to not kill the rap! It nicely brings together the fact that yes Rocky is an artist, but he's also a wrestler and the two can work together and appease both music and wrestling fans alike.



Ending with Last Train 2 First Train, gives the album a perfect ending that's literally not only summing up the entire album, but Rocky's whole career with some nice references to wrestling and music in general! It perfectly concludes an album that has to be one of Romero's best (and that's saying something because his other albums are, as the young kids say, lit).

I mean if this review hasn't persuaded you to go and listen to the album, then you're obviously mad. The album is perfect for wrestling and music fans alike with some catchy tunes, amazing lyrics and a vibe that is so fresh and new. Rocky has knocked another banger of an album out and how someone can be so talented at so many thinks, I will never understand - it's just not fair!

Here are some links to listen to the EP and you won't regret it!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/72WdtABOqEp3Nrt0RWWelr
Itunes/ Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/sneaky-style/1484826885
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Rocky_Romero_Sneaky_Style?id=B4gfcaxr6w7g76qtpat4ywasyjy
Bandcamp:https://rockyromero.bandcamp.com/album/sneaky-style

To keep up to date with everything Rocky does and when he drops a new banger, give him a follow on Twitter at @AzucarRoc and make sure to support his work by buying/ streaming the album through the links on his site. Also, keep supporting Rock and the rest of Roppongi 3k in anyway you can!

As always, talk to me, let me know what you think and let me know what you think about this album! You can do that, and up to date with all things wrestling and be first to know when I post something new on here, with my social media at:
(@Wrestling_Chat on Twitter and Wrestling Chatter on FB and WrestlingChatter96 on IG)! I also have a new podcast on MixCloud https://www.mixcloud.com/WrestlingChatter/ which I post fortnightly and will use to keep you up to date with everything on this tour in between the start and end, as well as all the other promotions you love!

Until next time,

Bye

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Top Wrestling MVPs 2020

Introduction to NJPW

World Tag League Preview