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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...

My Top 5 Jr Heavyweights

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Hi guys, I've always been pretty vocal about my love for Jr Heayweights/ Cruiserweights (whatever you want to call it) and I've been pretty vocal about their treatment in some companies( https://wrestling-chatter.blogspot.com/2019/01/heavyweight-v-jr-heavyweight.html ). In a world where there are so many amazing wrestlers in this category, I gave myself the impossible task of picking my top 5. Just a quick note, there are so many amazing ones that this list is always changing! 1. David Starr There was no way I could have a list on the top Jrs and not have David Starr on the list. Even though Starr has won Heavyweight titles, he prides himself on his stance and is probably the most prestigious Cruiserweight champs (Rev Pro) in the entire world! I think that's why he's at the top. He prides himself on being one of the most well rounded Jrs I've seen with his style perfectly blending mat wrestling and a little bit of that good old high flying. He uses this hybri...

Chatter With: Gabriel Kidd (Part Two)

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Hi guys, Last week I posted part one of my interview with Gabriel Kidd ( https://wrestling-chatter.blogspot.com/2019/03/chatter-with-gabriel-kidd-part-one.html ) and spoke to him about his wrestling beginnings, his influences and taking part of World of Sport. So, as promised, here's part two where we got to the nitty gritty of Kidd's wrestling career, especially his time at the NJPW Dojo, dream opponents and what the future holds for someone with such a long and thriving career ahead of them! I am a massive fan of NJPW, so can’t not mention the fact that I saw on Twitter that you spent 12 days in LA at the NJPW Dojo training under the legend that is Katsuyori Shibata, what was that like? Easily the best and most eye-opening experience so far of my young life. That’s the kind of style of wrestling I watch, I love the Japanese style and old and new Japanese wrestling style. When I got the opportunity to go there and train with Shibata-san, it was just a really eye openi...

Chatter With: Gabriel Kidd (Part One)

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Hi guys,  Last month, I was lucky enough to have had a really great in-depth chat with one of the hottest young veteran wrestlers in the UK Gabriel Kidd. So, here's part one of my interview where we spoke about how Kidd got into wrestling, his influences, Defiant Wrestling and of course his part in the resurgence of World of Sport! So, welcome to my newest segment called ' Chatter With' (do you get it... you know Wrestling Chatter )...  Everyone’s love of wrestling starts at different stages of their lives, how old were you when you got interested in wrestling and what started the love in the first place? I can work out my exact age and I was probably about 9 or 10. My dad’s Irish and I was in Ireland visiting my grandma who had Sky Sports. We were flicking through the channels and wrestling was on. As soon as the screen came on, Mark Henry was in the ring and then the Undertaker’s music hit and he made his entrance. From there, I was just glued to the TV. I love...

New Japan Cup sets the stage for MSG!

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Hi guys, With one of the biggest fields in NJ Cup history, another NJPW tournament has come and gone and what a few weeks it was! This year's New Japan Cup had a massive 32 competitors all fighting for the chance to challenge Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden. The tournament started with some amazing matches on both sides of the bracket and it was only the first round. We had the amazing upset in Chase Owens beating Juice Robinson giving Owens a shot at the US title set for the final night of the Cup. Then another match with championship implications as Kota Ibushi v Tetsuya Naito stopped Naito's dream of being the first guy to hold two of the top belts in NJPW. The second round  had some of the best matches of the tournament. Taichi having a surprisingly clean match against Ishii and the giant killer Ospreay defeated Archer. However, one a stand out match but won't be for all the wrestling purist was Yano v Cabana. There wer...

Bullet Club Back on Top

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Hi guys, About 6 months ago, I delved into the NJPW Faction system and basically ranked them all in order of my personal feelings toward them but things change. Looking back at that post ( https://wrestling-chatter.blogspot.com/2018/07/new-japan-factions-rated.html ), I put Bullet Club at number 3 and maybe I was being a bit too generous because the faction was basically falling apart which all culminated in a split within the faction which I wasn't a fan of. Fast forward to February 2019 and the BC OG's are the sole Bullet Club faction with the Jay White, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Bad Luck Fale, Taiji Ishmori, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, Jado, Gedo and Robbie Eagles. The Bullet Club have now moved straight to the top of my favourite factions and I thought I'd look at the past few months and how they've gone from being hierarchical faction with the 'main cast' to the most dominant faction again! This is especially relevant after the New Beginning Osak...

New Japan Cup Preview (Part Two)

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Hi guys, Welcome to part two my NJPW Preview of the New Japan Cup which starts on the 8th March! This post's going to have a lot bigger names that part one (which you can find here https://wrestling-chatter.blogspot.com/2019/02/new-japan-cup-preview-part-one.html ), and it's also got some match ups that I'm way too excited about. Just a note, I'm sorry this post is so long but I managed to have missed an entire day of matches! Will Ospreay v Bad Luck Fale When I heard that our own jr/ heavyweight hybrid Will Ospreay was going to be in the NJ Cup, I screamed slightly... but that scream faded when I heard his first round match is against Fale. I mean after Ospreay's win against Cobb, anything is possible especially when it comes to someone as talented as Ospreay. He can literally do anything he sets his mind too! For me, Ospreay being in this tournament is a great step forward for the Jr division and I can actually see him going so far . Like Chase Owens, Os...

New Japan Cup Preview (Part One)

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Hi guys, After a week (in which I started my new intensive journalism course), I'm back for a preview of the New Japan Cup which is always exciting and really full on with the schedule! Like all the other tournaments, I'm going to run down all the participants who've been announced and the possible match ups that I'm mega looking forward too! With all the guys chasing Jay White for his title, the stakes are massive! I was initially going to do the usual ‘look at each competitor’ thing, but the card's so stacked and there’s 24 competitors. So I’ve decided to look at them in terms of first matches. They changed it up this year by putting most of the heavyweights which is nice! Also, I’ll split this preview into two posts because there’s so much to write about - I don’t want to blow your mind. Hope you enjoy! Yuji Nagata v Tomohiro Ishii When this match was announced, I was literally over the moon considering what happened at Iizka's retirement show. Both...