MatchNotes: Rest of the World January 2025
We looked at the best matches from North American promotions last week, let's see what the rest of the world had for January 2025...
Our North American promotion MatchNotes was posted last week to great reaction, so we thought, “Why not keep it rolling to the rest of the world?”
We’ve divided the world on those lines (North America vs Rest of the World) to allow more opportunities for certain promotions to shine and to highlight matches that might’ve gone a little under the radar. This will mean the industry giants of AEW and WWE won’t have seats at the table for this category, even if they host a show on another continent.
As a reminder, our goal for MatchNotes is to highlight great wrestling throughout the year on a consistent rating scale. We hope to bring together a multitude of opinions from those who watch wrestling from around the world. Our scale is a hard cut-off of 0 to 5 - no negative points, no stars above 5. We try to rate every match on a card rather than having an arbitrary cut-off for TV matches, but we also are not rating matches that are purely squashes or end due to injury. Our scale is as follows:
0 = Bottom of the barrel, worst ever
0+ = Greatly disliked, actively wanted to stop watching
1+ = Disliked
2+ = Fine, liked it well enough
3+ = Good, actively want to rewatch
4+ = Great, actively want to tell others about it
5 = Match of the Year contender
Without much further ado, this week’s piece looks back on the Top 5 non-North American promotions in January 2025.
#5: Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs Tomohiro Ishii for the AEW International and NEVER Openweight Championships
Wrestle Dynasty 01.05.25
Rating: 4.29/5
Luke “Feels”: “Tomohiro Ishii matches nowadays feel like a passing of the guard, moving from the previous generation to the up-and-comers who are making their presence known now. Today he stands as one of the greatest underdog wrestlers in history for 2 reasons: (1) he's a Hall of Fame worker in a midcarder's body, and (2) he will make you absolutely WORK for your wins. Konosuke Takeshita found this out at Wrestle Dynasty on January 5th when he had to take on Ishii in a double-title match. Takeshita appears to be well on his way to becoming a superstar in both Japan and America. But first, he had to pass the Ishii Test. The curriculum: stiff chops straight to the throat, German suplexes directly on his neck, and needing to wear down the stamina of a man who has about 10 gears before approaching the red. With both the NEVER Openweight and AEW International titles on the line, Takeshita met Ishii at his game, and was able to pull through a victory that was decisive, yet clearly exhausting. Ishii doesn't win often anymore, but he's not letting anyone walk over him as he enters the twilight of his career, and that includes a future ace of potentially two companies.”
How to watch: NJPW World [direct link to match - subscription required]
#4: Konosuke Takeshita (c - IC) vs Shingo Takagi (c - NEVER) for the AEW International and NEVER Openweight Championships
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 01.04.25
Rating: 4.33/5
Ryan: “I think most people expected Takeshita’s Tokyo Dome doubleheader to be an outstanding performance, and for my part I think he easily met those expectations. Takagi served as a great partner for the more-dynamic aspects of Takeshita’s moves such as superplexes, doctor bombs, and poisonranas. The bout was a hard-hitting affair that showcased the best aspects of Takagi’s work. Perhaps the only thing missing here was it going for even longer!”
How to watch: NJPW World [direct link to match - subscription required]
#3: Miu Watanabe (c) vs Mizuki for the TJPW Princess of Princess Championship
TJPW ‘25 01.04.25
Rating: 4.63/5
Chris: “In a main event scene like TJPW's where straying from the norm of the 'Big 3' was a rare and short lived occurrence for the past 7 years, the rise of Miu Watanabe as Princess of Princess champion marked the true start of a new era for the promotion, and this title match against Mizuki exemplifies everything she has become. Gone is the rookie who, despite her explosive strength, struggled against the more experienced roster members. Now Watanabe is the mountain to overcome, making even former Princess of Princess champions like Mizuki scratch and claw for any advantage they can against her. Mizuki herself delivers a great underdog performance as she looks to reclaim championship glory. Hard hitting offense from the champion, wily maneuvers from the challenger, innovative spots, and no shortage of emotion from both makes the main event of TJPW's first major show of the year a must watch.”
How to watch: Wrestle Universe [direct link to show - match begins at 02:54:40 in VOD, subscription required]
#2: Zack Sabre Jr vs Hechicero
NJPW Battle in the Valley 01.11.25
Rating: 4.67/5
Ryan: “When I watched WWF and WCW as a kid, shows that started with cruiserweights, luchadores, and technical wrestlers always attracted me more than ones that started with a thirty-minute promo. The former was exhilarating, the latter quite dull. In those days, technical wrestlers rarely broke through to the upper card; only Bret Hart, Kurt Angle, and maybe Ken Shamrock come to mind. To now live in a world where the eight-time (and latest) Wrestling Observer Newsletter Best Technical Wrestler held the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship while having a series of matches with a technical luchadore who was seen as a hidden gem not too long ago ... well, that's quite the opposite of dull. Being that I attended my favorite of their series (RevPro August 2024), saying this was my second-favorite is essentially saying it's my favorite after discounting the attendance bias. ZSJ and Hechicero cherish building a match's story on the foundation of submissions being the preferred win condition and pins are a cop-out, so unsurprisingly this bout was extremely well-crafted with submissions, counters, and a pace that fondly reminded me of my Match of the Year for 2024 (which, perhaps predictably, was ZSJ vs Bryan Danielson)."
How to watch: NJPW World [direct link to match - subscription required]
Honorable Mentions
Before we get to #1, here are a few matches from the Rest of the World in January 2025 that we wanted to recognize a few matches that didn’t quite make the cut:
Bob Bob Momo Banana (Mio Momono & Yurika Oka) vs. Reiwa Ultima Powers (DASH Chisako & Hiroyo Matsumoto) - Sendai Girls (01.05.25)
Mercedes Moné vs Mina Shirakawa - Wrestle Dynasty (01.05.25)
Hiromu Takahashi, Mayu Iwatani & Yuka Sakazaki vs. House of Torture (EVIL & SHO) & Sumie Sakai - NJPW Battle in the Valley (01.11.25)
Sareee vs VENY - SEAdLINNNG Shinkiba Series 2025 Vol 1 (01.17.25)
Kyoraku Kyomei (Shoko Nakajima & Hyper Misao) vs Yoshiko Hasegawa & Kaya Toribami - TJPW Max Heart Tournament 5 (01.17.25)
Yuki Kamifuku & Wakana Uehara vs Daisy Monkey (Suzume ＆ Arisu Endo) - TJPW Max Heart Tournament 5 (01.18.25)
#1: Kenny Omega vs Gabe Kidd
Wrestle Dynasty 01.05.25
Rating: 4.75/5
AJ: "This match was nothing short of a symphony of violence. I admit, I was someone who questioned the wisdom of having Gabe Kidd as Kenny Omega’s first match back— don't get me wrong, I love Gabe, but he wouldn't have been the first person to come to mind — but I was thoroughly proven wrong here. The match was hard-hitting, violent, and bloody, with Gabe easily keeping pace with his elder and Kenny showing that those concerned about ring rust had nothing to worry about, even as one man against the might of the Bullet Club War Dogs. More than anything, this match cemented Gabe Kidd as the future of wrestling, and regardless of where his career takes him, pro wrestling is in good hands with folks like Gabe Kidd and Kenny Omega leading the charge."
How to watch: NJPW World [direct link to match - subscription required]
We hope you enjoyed this look back on the best wrestling of January 2025 around the world! If you haven’t seen our North American promotions feature (and want to read more gushing-on for Takeshita), check it out below!
