#powerpoint guide

A Block part 1 | A Block part 2 | B Block Part 1 | B Block Part 2

Fashionably late, here's part 1 of my traditional annual powerpoint guide to NJPW's Festival of Big Meaty Men!

Due to unfortunate circumstances, like having a job now, I wasn't able to get it out before the G1 started, but better late than never I guess! And it's still early days, so there's still plenty of time to start watching!

It's even more 'no thoughts, just vibes' than usual this year, so if you spot any factual inaccuracies, my excuse is that I'm making my own kayfabe.

A Block Part 1 | A Block Part 2 | B Block Part 1 | B Block Part 2

By (relatively) popular demand... here's part 1 of my Extremely Accurate PowerPoint Guide to this year's Best of the Super Freaks Juniors! I've done a guide for the G1 beefcakes every year for past 3 years, so it's about time the juniors got some love!

Since making my last one of these guides, I have somehow acquired a job and consequently have limited free time, so this is even more rough-and-ready than usual (if that's even possible). If you spot a mistake in there, kindly assume it to be intentional and a hilarious joke.

A Block part 1 | A Block part 2 | B Block Part 1 | B Block Part 2

Here's part 2 of my definitely-not-late-at-all guide to G1 Climax 2025! This time featuring three Bad Boys and two Nice Young Men. If you missed part 1, check it out here! Edit: and part 3 on the first half of B Block is now out!

My traditional guide to the factions of NJPW was a bit trickier than usual this year because of how NJPW's factions are currently extremely fucked. At this point I think Gedo is ignoring them like a cupboard that you know is a complete mess inside but you don't want to open it becuase you're scared of what you'll find.

A Block part 1 | A Block part 2 | B Block Part 1 | B Block Part 2

We're on the home stretch now with part 3, featuring the B Block (the B is for 'British', apparently). Check out parts 1 and 2 if you missed them! Edit: part 4 is now also out!

I was so gutted to hear about Gabe's injury, but I suppose an advantage of being so late with this guide is that I won't get anyone's hopes up unduly... Gabe was one of my most anticipated wrestlers of B Block and this had been such a great year for him so far, so it's rotten timing. Get well soon ya mad lad!

Also, until sitting down to write this I hadn't quite appreciated that all of the notable omissions from this year's tournament were former CHAOS members! No Ishii and no Yano for the second year in a row is just unconscionable! #Justice4Yano

A Block part 1 | A Block part 2 | B Block Part 1 | B Block Part 2

Phew! Here it is, the fourth and final part of my 2025 G1 Guide! If you missed any of the previous parts, follow the links above to take a look!

Unfortunately no one in this half of the block really has much chance of winning the whole thing imo (though I hope to be proven wrong!) But they're all winners in my heart <3

No bonus slides today I'm afraid, as I was running short on inspiration and energy. But if you wanna talk NJPW, my DMs and asks are open, whether you're a scholar of the Deep Lore or just dipping your toes in! Love 2 chat wrestling! I'm horribly behind on the G1 as a result of writing about it instead of actually watching any, but I hope to get caught up soon!

A Block Part 1 | A Block Part 2 | B Block Part 1 | B Block Part 2

It's time for part 3 of my BoSJ guide, where we tackle the first half of B Block! If you've missed parts 1 and 2, you can find them here and here.

After my partner read the draft of this post, she referred to B Block as the 'Cute Boy Block', which I think is acccurate and also Despe would 100% agree.

Stay tuned for the final part, where we look at the biggest freaks of the tournament (which is saying something, let's face it). I honestly don't know how I'm going to fit everything I want to say about Taguchi onto one slide. [edit: part 4 is now out! ]

BoSJ starts tomorrow, so my timing is a bit off, but oh well! Will you be tuning in? Let me know! Especially if it'll be your first time watching!

Oh also, read on for my unhinged rambling theory about how MAO's new tag team name is inspired by a punk song I like...

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* Okay, are you all sitting comfortably? Can everyone see the red string board? So. MAO's team is called Strange Love Connection. Turnstile have a song called T.L.C. (Turnstile Love Connection) which is also a title of one of their EPs. Here it is, for you to listen to (it's real good, especially if you like creative hardcore punk).

Now, we know that MAO likes Turnstile, because he wore a Turnstile hoodie to his wedding with Kazuma Sumi (don't ask – it's a whole DDT thing). It's specifically a hoodie for Glow On, the album that T.L.C. is featured on. See Exhibit A below:

The lyrics to T.L.C. also include the lines "I wanna thank you for letting me see myself/I wanna thank you for letting me be myself" which totally fits given the tag team is two wrestlers who have just left/been kicked out of their factions and are finding love together! They are finding themselves again through each other!

Finally, and I think this is the clincher for me: the text he used for the logo of his new faction looks very similar to the Turnstile logo! See Exhibits B and C:

QED. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. I will not be taking questions at this time.

A Block part 1 | A Block part 2 | B Block part 1 | B Block part 2

Here it is! The fourth and final part of my BoSJ guide! If you've missed parts 1, 2 or 3, be sure to catch up first!

This half of the block is definitely where the freaks reside, God bless 'em. If we end this year's BoSJ without seeing any kissing, I'll be very upset.

BoSJ has already started (oops), but we're only one show down, so there's still plenty of time to dive in! Will you be watching? I won't have time to watch every match this year, but I'll try to catch as much as I can!

And who's your pick to win it? I think it's a pretty hard one to predict this year! Hiromu is always a safe bet, but I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a first time winner. Maybe Fujita or Eagles, now they've dropped the tag belts?

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed! Thanks for all the nice comments, as always! Please do chat to me if you want! My inbox and asks are always open! Don't be shy :) And if you're new to NJPW or wrestling in general, please do fire away with any questions you have!