#shotaro ashino

[mackdaddyofthecravate]

[scarskelly]

Complimenting the boy and then chopping him real hard in the chest is a good bit.

[busaikuknee]

[wrestlingmgc]

AJPW World Tag Team Champions Gungnir of Anarchy

[kopw]

top watches for september

from this month:

will ospreay vs naomichi marufuji, noah naomichi marufuji debut 25th anniversary show 09/17 — not only my favorite match of the month but my most anticipated one as well! i think it's always interesting to see ospreay be taken out of his usual pace and perform with more breathing room between spots (even if his snappier sequences are what drew me in initially). there are a lot of quiet moments in this match, mixed with that devoted eagerness that ospreay had while he was a junior. it's also a match that is able to tap into something very special thanks to the emotional padding behind it that i think ospreay's other big match from this month (vs yota tsuji) is unable to match

syuri vs mayu iwatani, stardom 5star grand prix day 14 09/03 — syuri is my favorite joshi to watch currently! she wrestles such a loud, hard-hitting style that still feels fresh in the technical scene and she has great in-ring chemistry with mayu here. mayu's reversal of the syu-sekai though... gah! a relatively short match and one of my favorites from the entire gp

bryan danielson vs ricky starks, no disqualification strap match, aew all out 09/03 — the singular non-puro match on this list, which should already give you an idea of how truly great it is. ricky has been a highlight on collision pretty much since it began airing, and the natural charisma that shined through there is ever-present in his recent matches. bloody, brutal, and better than the follow-up texas death rematch in terms of cohesion

zack sabre jr. vs ryohei oiwa, njpw road to destruction 09/08 — i was ecstatic to have boltin oleg in a high-profile match! ...and then it didn't happen. but worry not! oiwa stole the show. it definitely didn't feel as one-sided as it would've if it was oiwa pre-excursion pitted against zack. excited to see more from him

takayuki ueki vs baliyan akki, baka gaijin + friends vol. 8 09/20 — the mad doctor takes on akki, returning superstar of the show, after mecha mummy fails to drill a hole through harashima and is subsequently defeated. it's as silly as it sounds

back catalogue:

shinsuke nakamura vs the great muta, noah the new year 2023 — positively overwhelming presentation in terms of the entrances. misting as a metaphor for relatedness rather than corruption. unstoppable force meets immovable object, up until the object embraces the force. a sentimental finish that stuck with me

katsuyori shibata vs kazuchika okada, njpw sakura genesis 2017 — a holistically tactile bout full of sweaty contact and undying resolve. okada finds himself in the rare predicament of not being the fan favorite! practically impossible to look away during this one

pheromones (danshoku dieno & yuki iino) & shunma katsumata vs akito, kazuki hirata & yuya koroku, ddt sweet dreams! 2023 tour in shinjuku ~ fire! ~ — a typical pheromones match in that it contains loads of their trademark spots (synchronized striptease routines, dramatic jockstrap reveals, "accidental" ass to mouth action) however! this time shunma is there to act as their pup (which he is very much into). a must-watch for fans of public kink in wrestling

atsushi onita vs hayabusa, no ropes barbed wire current mine explosion time bomb deathmatch, fmw 6th anniversary show 1995 — hayabusa comes off as a trapped animal within onita’s environment, only delaying the inevitable with each move. feels and looks like a horror movie, with the counter droning on in the first half and the smoke wafting through the cage of barbed wire in the second. explosions galore!

shotaro ashino vs koji doi, wrestle-1 grand prix 2018 finals — this was my first exposure to ashino and let me tell you... he's so good. his entrance is fuel by metallica, he's cocky, he goes hard in the ring. i'm genuinely shocked he's not a bigger name internationally. nothing too extravagant aside from a few high-impact spots but worth a watch

[jasvvy]

[leaveharmony]

OH dear

[honestlychiefbanana]

Highlights of Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoyagi vs SUWAMA and Shotaro Ashino AJPW New Year Wars

[wheredoisign]

[frentique]

[labontas]

[mackdaddyofthecravate]

[puroresu-musings]

The 2021 Champion Carnival participants

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[wrestlingmgc]

AJPW World Tag Team Champions Runaway Suplex 

[alibomaye]