NJPW Wrestle Kingdom IX

New Japan Pro Wrestling Proudly Presents...

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom IX

Welcome, cats and kittens to yet another installment of the only reviews that have no interest in a hoverboard because wheels work just fine, Cewsh Reviews! We have a special treat for you tonight as we are finally able to get our hands on the show that we have been building to for lo these many months. I've talked about it on the Cewshcast, I've written about it all over social media and on all kinds of different sites, and our previews leading up to the show were juuuuuuust shy of being insufferably overbearing. All of that hype, anticipation and excitement has led up to one of the most important wrestling shows of the century, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom IX! Tonight we will see the culmination on an incredible feud, a compilation of talent unmatched in any promotion since the dawn of time, and also Jeff Jarrett! You'll see death defying dives, intense slugfests, and i'm going to use the phrase "dropping bombs on each other" so often that i'm going to go on watchlists all over the world. But most importantly, we're going to take a walk through Wrestle Kingdom together, as American audiences and Japanese ones join as one for the first time to ask together just what kind of adamantium skeleton does Tomohiro Ishii have anyway?

So without any further ado, let's do a motherfucking review!

To Be Continued »

How Hiroshi Tanahashi Saved New Japan From Itself

On October 13th 2014, Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated AJ Styles for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. In a grueling fight, he managed to beat Styles with his patented High Fly Flow and capture the most prestigious prize in Japanese wrestling for a record breaking 7th time. As he celebrated, Kazuchika Okada, the man who will challenge for his title at New Japan's premier event of the year, Wrestle Kingdom IX, strode to the ring. The two went face to face, and a buzz rose from the 9,000 people clustered around them in Ryougoku Sumo Hall. For the 5th consecutive year, (and 7th out of 8,) the man known as the Ace of the Universe would fight for the biggest title, on the biggest show, for the biggest promotion in his homeland. For the 8th time, he would face Okada, the transcendent star that he made a household name. And for perhaps the final time, he would lead New Japan into uncharted territory, as the face of a wrestling revolution that seeks to take the United States by storm.

As both men posed for the audience, Tanahashi's legion of fans drowned out the shouts from the Okada faithful, driving Okada from the ring. And that left Tanahashi alone in the ring at the end of the show for about the millionth time, posing with the title he rescued from obscurity, shining in the lights like a golden lion.

To Be Continued »

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 8

New Japan Pro Wrestling Proudly Presents...

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 8

Welcome cats and kittens to yet another installment of the only reviews that use the word "Swag" as a verb, an adjective and an exclamation during sex, Cewsh Reviews! We have a special treat for you tonight, as we focus on the most important non-WWE show of 2014, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 8! Now, if you're a regular Cewshketeer, you've no doubt seen us begging, demanding, cajoling and outright seducing you to buy this show, so that you could share in one of the biggest events of the wrestling year. Some of you did, most of you didn't, but regardless of whether you're reliving the wild night that you saw for yourself, or are looking to find out just what all the fuss is about, we've got you covered. We have a battle to crown the true star of this generation of Japanese wrestling, a battle to decide who their replacement will be, blood feuds dating back to childhood, family wide feuds spanning decades, and a wacky dude and his new demon friend taking on Japan's most ill tempered badass. There's so much going on that we did a whole preview about it already, and if that didn't get you hyped, maybe this will. One of these wrestlers is USED AS THE POLE IN A POLE DANCING ENTRANCE. What the shit are we waiting for?

So without any further ado, let's do a motherfucking review!

To Be Continued »

NJPW Destruction 2013

New Japan Professional Wrestling Proudly Presents...

NJPW Destruction 2013

Welcome, cats and kittens, to yet another installment of the only reviews that own a giant mech robot for crushing our enemies, Cewsh Reviews! We have a special treat for you tonight, and while I may always say that, I well and truly mean it today. Recently, we asked our readers to tell us what they depended on Cewsh Reviews for coverage of, and the resounding answers were Japanese wrestling and TNA. Since TNA is lucky if they can even run a complete show, we're instead going to focus on Japan, and starting here, we will be covering each and every New Japan iPPV from this point on. The reason why we're focusing on New Japan will be clear to anyone familiar with them, but to those who aren't, New Japan has recently been on an incredible out of control hot streak that has led to them not only resurrecting themselves from obscurity, but has seen them rise to be the second biggest wrestling promotion on the planet. With stars like Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada, New Japan has set it's sites on becoming a global product, and are eagerly courting American fans, (meaning you.) So it's lucky for you that you have the trusty Cewsh Reviews team there to get you on the ground floor of the biggest wrestling movement since the late 90s. Yes THOSE late 90s.

So let's dig into a show where Okada's title is in jeopardy, where a cocky little crusierweight has become one of the greatest heels in wrestling, and where literally every match has someone awesome in it, just waiting to become your new favorite wrestler.

So without any further ado, let's do a motherfucking review!

To Be Continued »

NJPW Invasion Attack 2013

New Japan Pro Wrestling Proudly Presents...

NJPW Invasion Attack 2013

Welcome, cats and kittens, to yet another installment of the only reviews that send you flowers after lariating you, Cewsh Reviews! We have a special treat for you tonight as we look to Japan for a big time follow up to one of the most incredible shows we've ever reviewed, and focus on NJPW Invasion Attack 2013! Now, if you remember our review of Wrestle Kingdom from this year, the first thing that jumps to mind is no doubt how completely over the moon we were for it. The matches were incredible, the rivalries were on fire, and the show was capped by the biggest match that money could buy, as we saw Hiroshi Tanahashi hold off the attack of the upstart challenger, Kazuchika Okada. Well now all of that is coming to a head one more time, as Okada gets one last shot at reducing the Empire of the Golden Abs to rubble and remaking it in his image. One more go round for the hottest feud to hit Japan since the 90s, and that's just one of the wild things on this show. We'll get a crazy heel turn, the strange return of the NWA, and the match that our Puro guy Defrost excitedly named "the greatest match of all time." What more can I say? Let's get this party started.

So without any further ado, let's do a motherfucking review!

To Be Continued »

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom VII

New Japan Professional Wrestling Proudly Presents...

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom VII

Welcome, cats and kittens, to yet another installment of the only reviews that take 2 months to get Japan and back, Cewsh Reviews! We have a special treat for you tonight, as we travel back to Japan for what has become easily the second largest and most significant event of the wrestling year, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom VII. Over the past few years, New Japan Pro Wrestling has transformed itself from the least rotten apple in a rotten bunch of Japanese promotions to I don't even know man. Some kind of super apple? An apple stuffed with diamonds or something? I'm not Dr Analogy, guys. Anyway, New Japan has been on a roll completely unmatched by any wrestling company since the Attitude Era, and now we've come to their version of the Rock vs. Steve Austin at their version of Wrestlemania. Yeah, it's that on. Okada and Tanahashi are going to meet tonight in one of the biggest and most important matches of this decade. But hey, that's only one match on one of the most stacked cards of the year. Want to see if this is all just empty hype? Well then read on, boys and girls. You won't be disappointed.

So without any further ado, let's do a motherfucking review!

To Be Continued »

Cewsh Scouts New Japan

Welcome, cats and kittens, to yet another of our invigorating Sunday Supplements. You may remember that a month or two ago Psycho and I went in depth in breaking down the talent of tomorrow when we did a scouting report on WWE's developmental program, NXT. The response this got was staggering, as people seemed genuinely fascinated to finally get some detailed information about guys they had only heard of, if that, but who would soon be gracing their television screens. (It didn't hurt that the Shield and Big E Langston were called up mere weeks afterwards.) So to continue along the lines of helping to shed some light on parts of the wrestling world that many fans never get a chance to see, this week we're going to be focusing on the Japanese powerhouse that is New Japan Pro Wrestling.

The Official Wrestling Promotion Of House Lannister.

To those of you who don't follow Japanese wrestling, New Japan is a true giant in the wrestling world, surpassed internationally only by WWE and growing with each new day. They've taken a dominant hold of the entire Japanese market with a crop of stars that were either students or unknowns when the last great era of Japanese wrestling was going on. But who are these people who have taken New Japan from Antonio Inoki's great practical joke to the world to a thriving promotion hot on WWE's heels? Well, with the biggest show in wrestling barring Wrestlemania, (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom VII,) having just passed, let's evaluate them, shall we? And hell, with Defrost along for the ride, we'll even use the famous 5 star system instead of grades.

To Be Continued »

NJPW/AJPW We Are Pro Wrestling Love

New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling Proudly Present....

NJPW/AJPW We Are Pro Wrestling Love 
40th Anniversary Spectacular

Welcome, cats and kittens, to yet another installment of the only wrestling reviews that challenge your mind, and irritate your pancreas, Cewsh Reviews! We have a special treat for you tonight as we review a show a full 40 years in the making. See, after the resounding success of the All Together dream shows, and with he 40th anniversary of both companies going on, All Japan and New Japan decided to team up again to bring the house down in a major way. So once again we'll have the best of All Japan going up against the best of our friends in New Japan in all kinds of fancy dream matches of the sort that make fantasy bookers quiver the world over. We'll have two World title matches, all kinds of matches featuring the best young talent in Japan and some of the greatest legends in wrestling history, and even Lance Hoyt. Tremendous draw that he is. And to cap it all off, we will be visited once again by the golden abed god of wrestling himself, Hiroshi Tanahashi, as he attempts to extend his record as the only wrestler in the history of Cewsh Reviews to get a Seal of Approval on every match we've reviewed. Can he continue his incredible streak? Will this show top the feel goodness of All Together? Only one way to find out.

So without any further ado, let's do a motherfucking review!

To Be Continued »

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom VI

New Japan Professional Wrestling Proudly Presents…

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom VI

Welcome, cats and kittens, to yet another installment of the only thing more popular in Japan than Hello Kitty, Cewsh Reviews! We have a special treat for you tonight, as we once again take a trip on over to see what our friends in the Land of the Rising Lariat are up to. But if you’re new to the Japanese wrestling game, or can’t tell one show apart from another, rest assured that this is not just any show. Wrestle Kingdom is the show of shows, the night of kings, and the things that every Japanese wrestler works towards every day of the year until the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] of each January. You could liken it to Wrestlemania, but even that wouldn’t quite say it, because Wrestlemania is just the gala event of WWE, whereas this show features the best from companies all over Japan and America, packed into one supercard to kick off the new year in style so fierce that RuPaul would give it two snaps. This night will see incredible legends meet the challenge of fiery upstarts, the two biggest promotions in Japan clashing and Hiroshi Tanahashi fighting for his life against the world’s biggest dickhead (and he’d take that as a compliment) Minoru Suzuki. But will any of this be any good? Well, the card is great and the deck is stacked, so with our resident Puro Professor Defrost as the benevolent dealer, let’s ante up, and find out.

So without any further ado, let’s do a motherfucking review!

To Be Continued »

All Together in Budokan 2011

New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH Proudly Present…

All Together In Budokon 2011

Welcome, cats and kittens, to yet another installment of the only wrestling review blog that brings everyone together uncomfortably close, Cewsh Reviews! We have a special treat for you tonight, and we really, truly mean it this time. See, a few months ago there was this series of disasters in Japan. You may have heard of it, it was kind of a big deal. Nuclear power plants melted down, whole stretches of the nation flooded and earthquakes shook up everything in between as if the apocalypse was just doing some warm up stretching off the coast of Japan. After the storm had cleared, the Japanese people were left with the daunting task of resuming life as usual with spirits as low as could possibly be. So wrestling answered the call. All Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH and New Japan Pro Wrestling joined together for the first time in a generation to do one supershow under one roof to raise money for the charity organizations that were scrambling to put their nation back together. For one night, wrestlers laced up their boots, walked out in front of thousands of eager fans, and brought a little sunshine into the hearts of people who needed it. It’s a proud moment in wrestling history, and that show is the very one we are reviewing for you here today.

Now such a special occasion couldn’t be handled by just myself, nor by just one co reviewer. For this All Together review, we brought together all 4 of our puro reviewers to converge on this show and give it the attention it deserves. We have Defrost, the scholarly curmudgeon, DDT, the enthusiastic historian, Vice, the incredulous chronicler, and of course, yours truly. We’ll join our power rings together and go all Captain Planet on this fucker.

But before we start, a little soft shoe history lesson from Professor Defrost.

To Be Continued »

NJPW Dominion 2011

New Japan Professional Wrestling Proudly Presents…

 

NJPW Dominion 2011

Welcome, cats and kittens, to the review blog that is is only notably more muscular than any other review blog (except those assholes at Tyrannosaurus Flex again), Cewsh Reviews! We have a special treat for you tonight as we finally and officially kick of Panda Puro Party month with NJPW Dominion 2011. Its been a few months since we’ve checked in with the golden lion of New Japan, and in the time since we left, things have been evolving in a most interesting way. Naito is rising through the ranks rapidly and is being heralded as a future star in a manner very reminiscent of a certain ablicious champion of note. Hirooki Goto has lost his mind and decided to murder Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi has made himself a top name in junior heavyweight wrestling, and perhaps most important, Jeff Hardy isn’t here to fuck everything up. Guess which one makes us the happiest? So let’s jump back into the house that Inoki built (and then demolished and then built again and then demolished again and then…) and see the biggest stars in Japanese wrestling do their fucking thing up right.

So without any further ado, let’s do a motherfucking review!

To Be Continued »

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom V

New Japan Professional Wrestling Proudly Presents…

 

NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM V

Welcome, cats and kittens, to yet another installment of the only reviews know to cause Frostbite (heh, get it), Cewsh Reviews! We have a special treat for you tonight, as the reason I’m making cold related puns is because we’ve got our very own Puro Pal Defrost in the house tonight as we tackle the biggest Japanese wrestling show of the year, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom V. For those of you Cewshkateers who have followed us from the very beginning, you will remember that this is the 3rd year in a row that we have reviewed the very greatest that our neighbors to the Far East have to offer, and each year it sets the benchmark for greatness in wrestling that every other promotion in the world strives to compete with. With any luck this will be no different and Defrost will be here to make sure none of us misses a beat.

So what are we waiting for? This is Wrestle Kingdom night motherfuckers! Put on your best suit, grab a date (immediate family members not allowed), and prepare for a classy evening of having your socks lariated off. Its puro time!

So without any further ado, let’s do a motherfucking review!

To Be Continued »

NJPW Super J Tag Tournament 2010

New Japan Professional Wrestling Proudly Presents...

NJPW Super J Tag Tournament 2010

Welcome, cats and kittens to yet another installment of the ever late, ever magnificent Cewsh Reviews! We have a special treat for you tonight as we head over to visit our friends in the land of the rising sun once again, and review NJPW’s Super J Tag Tournament 2010. A show full of nothing but tag matches between small flippy guys is not exactly what you may expect from a team containing a guy who is a self confessed hater of tag team wrestling and flippy spotfests, but we yearn to please here at Cewsh Reviews and we realized that this sort of wrestling had really been brutally underrepresented by us thus far in our reign of terror, so now with the Super Juniors flourishing in Japan again, the fact of the matter is that enough is enough and it is time for a change. Of course, as you may be aware, Japanese wrestling is not our specialty here at Cewsh Reviews. We have some knowledge of it, and in some areas quite a lot, but when it comes to something like this you’re going to need more firepower than that. It’s like microwaving a potato. Just pressing buttons that seem familiar isn’t going to get the job done.

Luckily for us, on the Cewsh Reviews microwave we just have to hit Defrost.

So without any further ado, let’s do a motherfucking review!

To Be Continued »

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom IV

New Japan Professional Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH Proudly Present…

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom IV

Welcome, cats and kittens, to yet another installment of the most valuable (only in mint condition) wrestling review blog on all of the interwebs, Cewsh Reviews! Tonight we have a special treat for you, as we travel to the mysterious land of Japan in search of more wrestling greatness and wrestling oddities in a show called NJPW Wrestle Kingdom IV. You might be thinking to yourself “Cewsh, you review Japanese wrestling shows all the time, and I have no idea who these people with the funny names are. What makes this such a special treat?” Well let me try to put this in context for you. Imagine the WWE Invasion of the early 2000’s. Remember how we got a few dream matches like Hogan/Rock, Hardy/RVD, and Booker T/Rock, but they spread them wayyyy out until they lost all context? Well imagine if they threw all those matches on one fucking show and there was literally no tomorrow, as there would be one winner and one definite loser decided in one place on one night.

Such is the situation here as NJPW, the king of wrestling in Japan, is attempts to stave off the invasion of promotion number two, Pro Wrestling NOAH, in a series of matches pitting the top stars and best of the best against each other to decide which promotion is truly the greatest Japanese wrestling promotion of today. It may be under the NJPW banner here, but this is no foregone conclusion, and it all makes for one of the most exciting wrestling shows of the year.

Don’t believe me? Well kick back, relax, and let the immortal Defrost and I take you on a rollercoaster of thrills and excitement, that may make occasionally stops at Dunkin Donuts to placate Team 3D.

So without any further ado, let’s do a motherfucking review!

To Be Continued »

NJPW Resolution 2009

New Japan Pro Wrestling Proudly Presents…

NJPW RESOLUTION 2009

Welcome cats and kittens, to yet another edition of the award winning (possibly) Cewsh Reviews… Tonight we are honored to once again send our consciousness across the Pacific Ocean to the Land of the Rising Sun, and in particular New Japan Pro Wrestling’s latest extravaganza, NJPW Resolution 2008! With this being our first review after the heavily anticipated (and absolutely awesome) Wrestlemania review, I think that expectations are high for us to continue our rocking momentum on into the second half of our reviewing year.

So with no further nonsense, let’s all get our faces rocked together.

To Be Continued »

NJPW Sumo Hall 02/15/09

New Japan Professional Wrestling Proudly Presents...

NJPW SUMO HALL 15.02.09

Good morning and good afternoon cats and kittens, and welcome to yet another educational extravaganza provided to you by the guys you know and love. In the purple corner, the Desert Viking, the Autobot from the Capitol City, the man they call VICE. And in the orange corner, the Best of the Midwest, the Lothario from Ontario, the irresistible force known as CEWSH. I want to see a good clean review here boys, so watch the witty low blows and come out snarking.

Ah, here we are, on the Road to Wrestlemania, and for the most part, the entire wrestling world waits and watches as WWE takes center stage as their biggest event of the year draws near. But since the delay between No Way Out and Wrestlemania is so long, we’d like to take this opportunity to once again shift your attention back overseas to the land of the Rising Sun in Japan. As you may recall, we reviewed the gigantic NJPW from the beginning of the year (check back through the thread newcomers) and we absolutely loved it.

After that show though, there was some unfinished business to be taken care of between the combatants however, so NJPW has unleashed yet another enormous show, in both magnitude and interest, and we just wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t review it for you.

So with no further ado, let’s take you to the action…

To Be Continued »

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom III

Cewsh: Oh Wrestle Kingdom, you sexy bitch. This is the first Japanese show that we ever watched together, and, for both of us, was really the first time we'd seen what NJPW is as a promotion these days. We were very, very impressed. But more than anything, this is the first time that either of us laid eyes on the hunky, dreamboat Hiroshi Tanahashi, who has become sort of an unaware mascot of our fine review institution.

-------------------------------

New Japan Professional Wrestling Proudly Presents...

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom III

Welcome ladies and gentlemen to yet another Rajah Award nominated edition of Cewsh Reviews. After a holiday hiatus, thanks to no major companies wanting to hold any important shows over the winter holidays, we have decided to bring you the very best in international wrestling to get you primed and ready for us to explode into a new year of show reviews. Now many of you may well be entirely unfamiliar with Japanese wrestling, or may know just enough to recognize a few names, so we’ll do our best to catch you up to speed on what may be the most important wrestling show of recent times. Even if you have no intention of watching this or any Japanese wrestling show, hopefully this review will get you more acquainted with the goings on of our funny talking neighbors across the ocean.

To Be Continued »

WCW/NJPW Rumble in the Rising Sun 1991

Cewsh: 20 years ago, the world was a very different place. People listened to cassette tapes and watched VHS videos of movies like Ghost and Red Dawn, and other Patrick Swayze movies that are lost treasures today. The wrestling world was just as different, with WCW just coming into its own and pulling itself away from the memory of the NWA little by little. Part of that, was a partnership with NJPW that they held in good standing for nearly a decade after this.

This is the fruit of that partnership, and a juicy fruit it is.
 
Much like Vice. WOOP WOOP WOOP!

----------------------------

World Championship Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling Proudly Present...

WCW/NJPW Rumble In The Rising Sun 1991

Welcome, welcome, cats and kittens to yet another Swatch Watch sponsored edition of Cewsh Reviews. This week we have a special treat for you all, and while we always say that, this time we truly have tapped into to something very different for us. That’s right, we’re hopping into our wrestling time machine, setting the dial to 1991, and slapping a “Japan or bust” bumper sticker on that bad boy, as this week we tackle the WCW/NJPW Supershow from 1991 entitled “Rumble In The Rising Sun”. The best of New Japan gets pitted up against the best of WCW in one of the very first international supershows, and we are beaming with pride to cover this epic and important show with all of you.

Will the famous Cewsh Reviews wit manage to avoid making nothing but 90s jokes from here on out? Or will we have to cut…it…out? You’ll just have to keep reading to find out, as we pass our judgmental lens over yet another piece of wrestling history. We're also going to make a concerted effort this time out to use pictures and gifs to bring the past to life for you. To give you some idea of what we see, and to share the experience with us. We'll see how it goes. Come on along for the ride.

So without any further ado, let’s do a motherfucking review!

To Be Continued »