My Top 5 favorite Promotions to watch
The reasons why I watch them & how you as a new fan can watch it
Since I lost the fun watching full-time only WWE Shows in the Summer of 2018 I started & tried new Promotions outside of the WWE World. When the whole pandemic started I watched even more. As of right now, I watched shows from 26 different Promotions in 2021 and I'm gonna tell you my top 5. I didnĀ“t include AEW since most of you already watch it.
5)
On Number 5 we have one of the most underrated promotions in the world right now. Ring Of Honor. You can watch every episode FREE on FiteTV every Monday. Every episode is around 50 minutes long & easy to watch. The Storylines are pretty simple to follow and the pre-match Promos are awesome to learn more about the Characters and the in-ring is at least solid.
Special about ROH is their Pure Division which is contested under special Pure Rules which came back in the first taping after the break because of Covid. The current Champion is Jonathan Gresham
The most important Wrestlers in the current product are the Wrestler in the Factions āThe Foundationā, āLa Faccion Ingobernableā & the newly founded āVLNCE UNLTDā and they are featured in almost every episode but outside of them, they have some other well-known names like EC3, Mike Bennett (known as Mike Kanellis in WWE), The Briscoes & Matt Taven.
4)
Next up we have the Japanese Promotion DDT. Most of you maybe saw some Comedy Clips and thatās it but DDT is more than Comedy. You have maybe one Comedy Match at a Show and still, there is 80% Wrestling in this match and only 20% funny Comedy. Apart from that, you will find so many great Wrestling matches. You can watch DDT on the Wrestle Universe where you also can watch the other Cyber Fight Promotions for example Pro Wrestling NOAH or TJPW
The two Main Titles in DDT are the KOD (King Of DDT) Openweight Title which currently is held by Jun Akiyama & The DDT Universal Championship which is held by Yuki Ueno. Both are having great matches in every defense and you know that a Title match with those two involved only will be great. Other strong divisions are the KO-D Tag Team Championship & The DDT Extreme Championship. Basically, every serious booked Title brings in great matches and overshadows the few comedy parts of the Show.
The best way to start the promotion right now the DDT Day Dream Believer 2021 Show from the 14th March and then I would recommend the DDT April Fool 2021 Show from the 11th April with that you covered every important Title Story in DDT.
The only big disadvantage is that you donĀ“t have subtitles for the Promos. For that, I would advise you to follow the @ddtpro_eng Twitter Account. It gives you live coverage of every DDT & TJPW live show and helps you to understand the Storylines.
3)
On number 3 we have the sister Promotion of DDT Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling or TJPW. Like the name already spoils it. Itās a Joshi Promotion which means a women only Promotion. Like DDT you can also watch it on Wrestle Universe.
TJPW has a lot of great women who can wrestle & entertain you at the same time. Most of them are coming from the Idol Business where the Women dance & sing in a group and they are all trying to be as likable as possible. Thatās why there is only fully Heel Group and that is the current Princess Tag Champions NEO Biishiki-gun (Mei Saint-Michel & Sakisama also known as Mei Suruga & Saki Akai) who just won the titles.
TJPW establish many Wrestlers outside of Japan with Maki Itoh, Yuka Sakazaki & Shoko Nakajima who all appeared on AEW while Yuka & Maki were on Dynamite & in the Womenās Eliminator Tournament. Shoko was on Dark in a match against Riho. Also, some other Women like The Ace of TJPW Miyu Yamashita appeared in the US Indy scene a few times but neither of them holds the two singles titles. The International Princess Championship is held by Yuki Kamifuku.
The most important title in TJPW, the Princess of Princess Championship is held by the White Dragon Rika Tatsumi.
The best way to start TJPW is with the last Korakuen Hall Show āStill Incompleteā. On this show, every Title was defended and it had some more high stakes match and even the undercard was good. Worth watching & a simple way to get into TJPW. The same problem with DDT is also here. The subtitles for the promos. For that, I would advise you like for DDT to follow the @ddtpro_eng Twitter Account.
2)
New Japan Pro Wrestling is the Promotion that got me outside of the WWE Bubble. Dominion 2018 was the first full show I watched from NJPW and the Okada vs Omega Main Event is still my favorite match of all time. Since then I watch the Promotion regularly and in 2021 I watched every televised show of NJPW. You can watch every televised show on NJPWworld
But why do I love NJPW so much? It is easy. Pro Wrestling at his best.
The Wrestlers are in two different divisions. The Jr Heavyweight Division & the Heavyweight Division. The difference between those is the weight of the Wrestler.
NJPW has some of the best Wrestlers in the world in both divisions and they deliver in every big match. In the G1 Climax which is a round-robin tournament with 2 Blocks each 10 Wrestler then you at least find three-four MOTYC in 19 Shows.
NJPW also created in the summer of 2020 a weekly show in the US called NJPW Strong. Itās an hour show with Wrestler from different Promotions like ROH, MLW, the Indys or their own Rookies called Young Lions. They just created the NJPW Strong Openweight Title which Filthy Tom Lawlor won on Friday after winning the final of the New Japan Cup US
At the beginning of the year, it would have been number one but right now it has a little down. A lot of booking problems for example they decided to put their two Top Titles (The IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Championship) together to one title the nearly created IWGP World Heavyweight Championship which is currently held by Will Ospreay or Upper midcarders losing to Jr Heavyweights in random singles matches.
The shows are still good but right now it is in their own shadow from being near perfect in the last few years. Pre Pandemic NJPW was by far the best Wrestling Promotion in the World not only in-ring but Gedo perfected storytelling & long-term booking over years. I hope after the Pandemic they go back on the right path
#1
On number One we have my favorite and right now the best Promotion in the World Stardom. They have their own Streaming Platform with subtitles called Stardom World.
Stardom is the biggest Joshi Promotion in the World and that is well deserved. They delivered over years on the top level with top talent like current WWE Stars Io Shirai, Kairi Sane & Toni Storm who all hold a lot of Championships in Stardom.
Stardom is faction-based. Everyone is in of the 5 factions except their newest Rookie. The 5 factions are STARS (the Babyfaces with the Ace Mayu Iwatani as the Leader), Odeo Tai (Heel group with Natsuko Tora as the leader is the group where they care more about personal wins than about official wins), Donna Del Mondo (with the Leader and the biggest Star Giulia DDM is the most popular & most protected faction in Stardom right now), Queens Quest (created by the former NXT Womenās Champion Io Shirai QQ is the group with the young stars. The oldest member isn't even in her mid-twenties) and the last group is Cosmic Angels (led by Tam Nakano CA is the newest group in Stardom after splitting from STARS at the end of 2020)
Stardom has 7 titles. It sounds very much for a roster with not even 30 Women but it isn't. Due to the factions, you have a lot of contenders for both the Artist Of Stardom (Trio Title) which is currently held by the Cosmic Angels and the Goddesses Of Stardom Title (Tag Team Title) which is held by DDMs Giulia & Syuri.
Stardom has two gimmick Belts. The Future Of Stardom title where Wrestler only can challenge if they either have under three years of experience or they are under 20 years of age. It also has the SWA Belt. It is a gimmick belt where you can only challenge the Champion if you have another nationality than the Champion who is currently Syuri. She is representing the Philippines.
Another Belt is the Highspeed Belt and the name speaks for itself. Fast-paced action is normal for a Highspeed Title match. The current Champion is Natsupoi from DDM.
The two Main Belts are the World Of Stardom Title & the Wonder of Stardom Title. The Wonder Of Stardom Title also called the White Belt is the second most important title in Stardom. Sometimes it even Main Event above the World Of Stardom Title. The title is currently held by Tam Nakano.
The Main Belt of Stardom is the World Of Stardom Title also called the Red Belt. The current holder is Utami Hayashishita from QQ. The Red Belt is the most important Belt in Stardom and normally Main Events every big Show.
The best way to start Stardom right now is with their last PPV the āStardom Yokohama Dream Cinderella In Springā. The Show has 4 important big matches and showcases every woman on the Roster. From that point on I would watch the first Day of the Cinderella Tournament. The Cinderella is a twenty women single elimination tournament where the winner gets a wish which is most of the time a shot at a Title. These two shows are important to watch to get a lot of knowledge about the current Stardom product. With these two shows (combined length of five hours) every beginner should know what is going on in Stardom
That was my first post. I hope you liked it.. Please, give me some advice on how to get better at writing. Thank you.