Broadcast isn't even over and this is no question the first match I'm adding to my 2026 list. Two of my favorites managed to flawlessly link together more 1 of 1 unique spots that I've never seen before than any match I've seen in years. As creative as the spots where this was not a MOVES match by any stretch. They were wrestling a style and using the ring in a way totally unique to them. It also feels like they have so much more to give any time they want to run this one back.
- Since rewatching this a second time I think it's even more brilliant. There is zero wasted movement. Every little side-eye glance has impact. When this match started breaking out of the TJPW bubble I was a little worried that we were going to get some hot takes polluting the discourse. Miu and Suzume put so much drama into their choice of moves. So far none of those worries have come to pass. For the long time TJPW fan all of that detail is there but the creative use of the power vs speed story was strong enough to carry it without context.

This one is going to require a rewatch but I'm putting this up while the memory is hot. The injury should have killed this match dead. The match was cooking on it's own and was forced to a prolonged doctor's stoppage that looked like they had to panic book flat finish ruining their plans not just for this match but possibly Stardom's entire year and two of their biggest stars. Now where the magic happens is the second they have the all clear there is zero recovery time. The wrestlers, the crowd, the energy back to 110% beyond where they were. The time from when we have to call off one of the biggest main events, sending everyone home unhappy to an insane apron bump to the floor is about 4 seconds. Would this match have been better without the injury? We will never know but with that injury suddenly these two are freaks just for continuing. The stakes for every little bump are massively elevated. Then they processed to have one of the best matches of the year. I know this preview mentions the word injury a lot but it's nothing graphic. Translations aren't out yet but it sounds like a completely dislocated finger that had to be dealt with during an unlucky dropkick landing. The hand injury really didn't play into the match but became the focal part of the human drama. It won't be until I rewatch this one back I'll get a clear picture but without the injury this match belongs here. Saya Kamitani is on an all time run with the red belt. SLK's white belt run was incredible and dropping it was only a formality to move her into red belt territory.

If we are including the retirement ceremony this is an all timer. For one match Tanahashi and Okada sent me back to the peak of my New Japan fandom. I have been down on New Japan overall for a few years now to the point where I don't actually trust that opinion any more. I have generally been checked out for long enough even my critiques are out of date. What this match did was bring back every memory of why I was getting up in the middle of the night for every single G1 show. Tanahashi forcing his very destroyed body through the last decade of match references and opponents was wonderful to watch. Okada starting out as AEW's Kazuchika Okada and having to transition back to NJPW's Okada was great. I have a lot of worries about New Japan 2026 but this was a fantastic way to close out an era.

After a long, not fantastic Wrestle Kingdom I had to warm up into this one but they had me locked by the end. I've missed most of Tsuji's main roster career but I've enjoyed what I have seen. I'm much more familiar with Takeshita's DDT career. A very strong match up that kept escalating right until the end. That top rope Blue Thunder Bomb is going to be etched in my mind for a while. What made this one was the closing stretch. Instead of building to the craziest moment they slow it down for a final showdown straight out of film. I would like to rewatch this but I don't know if I'm going to get around to it.

Mei and Hazuki had a match on (2025.11.03) Crimson Nightmare that while very good left me a bit underwhelmed because I know how special these two can be. Particularly in the high speed style. This match more than over deliver on any backdated expectations. I'm on the fence if this belongs in this or the next tier but with only two weeks into the year we have time to calibrate. Super hard hitting and filled with creative bumps only Mei does. There is a powerbomb where Mei bounces off the mat. Hazuki has regained the main event spark that made her so good for so long.

Holy shit this was a star making performance for Arisu Endo. To think that Takumi Iroha was a substitution after TNA screwed up the original booking. This crowd was insanely hot for Yamashita to defend the gates of generally isolated TJPW from the antithesis of TJPW's house style Spark Rush. If TJPW is strength through friendship, Takumi & Sareee represent every aspect of the traditional joshi wrestling aesthetic. That clash between styles made this match feel so much more than just an outsiders tag. This was a war for legitimacy. TJPW has wrestlers like Miyu Yamashita who fit the traditional mold but so often people will brush off great wrestlers/promotions because they don't the image of a "proper" wrestler. The match that proceeded this was Mizuki vs a 10 foot tall inflatable giant panda and focused around their previous viral moment and because someone like Mizuki doesn't fit the traditional image of a wrestler you will hear the most insane critiques despite being one of the best in the World. What this match did so incrediblly well is highlight TJPW as more than the silly idol promotion where everyone is friends. Miyu Yamashita is not the special exception. While Miyu Yamashita stands toe to toe with giants like Takumi and Sareee it's the smaller Arisu Endo who represent the heart of TJPW. Never backing down and holding her own against two the the highest walls joshi wrestling has to offer. The kick battles between Iroha and Yamashita are fierce as you would expect. Yamashita & Sareee throw bombs at each other. It's Arisu Endo though who is isolated, having to fight for survival. Arisu stands to exchange stiff dropkicks and forearms with Sareee. She catches Iroha's kicks head on and gains the advantage to the point where Sareee has to break up the action with Spark Rush having to double team to regain position. The only thing that can keep Arisu down is Spark Rushes double teams. Arisu even kicks out clean from a spinning powerbomb from Iroha.

What even is pro wrestling? The 6th edition in January 4th tradition of Shoko and Misao testing the limits of what can even be called a pro wrestling match. This year they dress the rookies up has horse girls à la mobile game/anime Umamusume and have them race laps around Korakuen Hall so that Shoko, Misao & the fans could place bets on the horse girls. My favorite thing about this yearly tradition is how they love throwing the rookies into the deep end. Uta, Ren & Shion who debuted in the opening match did a wonderful job in the chaos. If you're look for the great pure sport of Karl Gotch look elsewhere. If you're looking for a lovely time check this one out.

The selling from Sayaka Kurara is so incredible in this match that when she does her rebound elbow from the second rope and her knee caves in I thought she was legitimately hurt. It wasn't until a second later it clicked that Tomoka has been targeting that knee and this was going to be the story of the match. Tomoka picks apart Kurara's knee while Kurara fights through clearly at a disadvantage but using her great rear chokes to wear Tomoka down. Every time Kurara rallys her knee prevents her from taking advantage. This was a wonderful with two young wrestlers have so much to give. Kurara with her art background looks at wrestling in such a unquie way while Tomoka is very traditional. This match also have me flashbase to the great Starlight Kid vs Tomoka Inaba Wonder of Stardom match from last year.

This was wonderful from the first hints of the build where Arai gets destroyed by Miyu Yamashita in 1 minute 5 seconds. Getting her suprise comeback a few weeks later in a 6 way elemination match with some of the toughest TJPW has to offer. The awesome preview tags where Miu and Arai continue to push each other starting with the moment that Arai full nelsons slam off the apron to the floor of Korakuen. All the way to emotional post match. Now where this match shine is how laser focused Arai is with sticking to her gameplan of targeting Miu's back. Beneath pink bow and idol performance Miu is a monster amoung monsters. Miu is able to out power and out wrestle Arai but Arai sticks to the one thing that has brought her success. The moment this match really grabbed me like I was hoping was when Yuki Arai pump kicks Miu's back while sitting on the top rope and pulls her off with a delayed full nelson. Yuki Arai has always be divisive with the western fanbase but I've always been a supporter of her because she has nailed absolutley everything TJPW has ever thrown at her while maintaining a completely insane split schedule. Now that she is wrestling full time you can changes in not only her wrestling but her body as well. In the run up you couldn't miss that she no longer fit into her gear because of how much muscle growth she has achived in a short time. They packaged all of this into a very cohesive package. If Miu had a more focused gameplan she probably retains but Arai sticks to her guns while Miu generally dominates in the big exchanges. As the match goes on Miu's own strength based offence become a weakness that every move starts to take it's own toll on top of Arai attacks.

Fuwa continues to impress. 9 matches into her real wrestling career and she is already standing toe to toe with monsters like Hazuki, Iroha and Sareee. Instead of being carried she has been able to hang with wrestlers at the highest level without looking out of place. She's taken the charisma from her previous career and matched with a physical wrestling style far beyond her experience.

This isn't even the best match on this show but the entire storyline of Maki Itoh finally finding a friend/disciple in Stardom has been so heart warming and fun I couldn't not put this in the fun tier. They built this entire match around getting rookie Kikyo over and playing with their fears of loosing each other. Very good match but this is wrestling as emotional theater done extremely well. The Maki Itoh in STARDOM doubters are taking L after L.

This is here for the same reason as Itoh vs Kikyo and more. This is by far Rian's best match to date. Rian and Natsupoi have had a slow burn mentorship going even though they are from different units. Their most recent match was only a month ago and Natsupoi kicked the hell out of Rian. This time Rian is fighting for every little scrap she can find. Natsupoi is giving Rian the world here and thanks to the Cinderella Tournament having Over the Top rules there is a possibility of Rian over coming the significant gap between herself and one of the best wrestlers in the world Natsupoi. Rian and Natsupoi parallel each other so well. Natsupoi came to wrestling with a rythmic gymnastics background so she's always been athletic but people have forgotten how awkward of a wrestler Natsumi Maki could be during her rookie years. I truly hope this is another chapter in Natsupoi slow adoption of Rian.

In 2026 I don't get to watch nearly enough Ice Ribbon so when this show got added to my Omakase watch list I jumped at it. Ancham is one the best kept secrets of the indies. Yuuka has always been amazing and is just comming out of retirement after 9 years away. This is the high speed chaos style matches you don't get anywhere outside of the joshi wrestling indies. 20 minutes of action packaged down to 13 minutes with 2 distinct halves. The first half being insane choas out in the crowd involving ice buckets, screaming into the house microphone & rolling people up in the floor mats, and the second half being a rapid straight tag match. This is the type of match that works best in small buildings with the crowd pressed right up against the apron. I don't typically do star ratings but for Omakase I gave this a glowing 4.25. I've added the youtube digest version.

13 Years, 10 Months & 8 Days since their last and only singles match. That previous singles Mayu was roughly a year into her career and was Natsumi's 14th match ever. With Natsumi being one of the few credible challengers for Mayu's Superfly belt I was a little disappointed that is match was for both titles. That said they managed to pull me in with a very different match than I expected that played off the titles having different time limits. I'm a little unsure where to place this match but it got me very excited for a follow up later down the line.