Category: In Depth
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Kenoh. The protagonist of Pro-Wrestling. Part One.
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In Pro Wrestling, like in other mediums, part of the key to success is not going unnoticed. Making our presence felt in some way. There is one wrestler out there, vowing to change the hierarchy for years, now taking this statement to a whole other level.
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The Growing Pains Of Kaito Kiyomiya, Aged 26 ½
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The singles match with Okada has the potential to reveal a matured, post-Mutoh Kaito or, yet again, could define Kaito by who and what he is not.
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Not Yet Limitless: The Night NO LIMIT was Made
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LEGEND’s next challengers approached, but it wasn’t your usual suspects. A young wrestler struggling to breakout on his own, and his junior that had made waves in the previous Best of The Super Juniors were here to call their shot. YUJIRO and Tetsuya Naito made their first ever challenge for the IWGP Jr tag straps,…
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The Ace, The Wrestler, and Second Chances
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For Katsuyori Shibata, his departure and then return to New Japan Pro Wrestling in late 2012 was rooted in several years of genuine animosity. This provided the groundwork for an eventual feud with company Ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi. One centered around Shibata’s second chance. Now in a vastly different landscape, this second chance would ultimately have…
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Clearing the Rainy Skies-II, the Endless Waltz
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While the Wrestle Kingdom match between them was about control, not just over each other but also the company as a whole, their Dominion match is about pain, punishment, and at times the teasing denial of it.
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Shun v Jason
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Shun Skywalker vs Jason Lee 03.03.2022 is a terrifying match. Hearing that, a variety of ideas might pop into your head. Death-defying stunts, a brutal deathmatch, perhaps. Classic horror movie wrestlers like Rosemary or Abadon. But it isn’t like any of those things. It isn’t like anything before it. Rather than bringing you the fun, cheesy…
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Switchblade Era
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New Japan Pro Wrestling commonly presents stories told in cycles and parallels. Whether it be a hero finally overcoming the odds after repeated failure, or a battle to determine the face of the company, these stories tend to revolve around heroic figures. 2022 saw the culmination of a redemption arc, though with the focus on…
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Haoh and the meaning of loss
Loss and losing is an essential part of wrestling. It’s part of compelling struggles retold a thousand different ways. Even our favourites need to lose. After all, who doesn’t love a redemption arc?
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Mayumi Ozaki vs Saori Anou: How to build upon and twist catharsis
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Professional wrestling as a medium has one main goal among others, which is to allow the audience to feel emotionally invested into what is presented to them. Accomplishing such a feat in any form of art or, in the case of wrestling, in “a medium with artistic potential”, never is an easy task which should…
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“Don’t say rivals”: The match that marked the beginning and end of a rival story.
When Harada walked into the arena, he was facing an opponent who could barely acknowledge the ties between them, who repeatedly denied their connection as rivals or as partners. But by the end of this match, something important shifted.