Almost ten years after my last visit to Japan, I’m a day away from flying back out there. Spending the new year in Tokyo and attending Wrestle Kingdom at the Tokyo Dome has been something I’ve wanted to do for over a decade but real life obligations prevented me from ever going through with it. Luckily for me, this time around everything has fallen into place for me to actually do it and the timing of it means I’m going to the biggest Wrestle Kingdom to happen in years. Not only that but the itinerary I’ve put together for this trip has become the mother of all wrestling holidays. Stardom at Sumo Hall? I’m going to that. NOAH in Budokan Hall? I’ll be there. DDT and Tokyo Joshi Pro having their year opening events in Korakuen Hall? You bet I wouldn’t miss that for the world! Add in shows at Shinjuku FACE, Shin-Kiba 1st RING, TOKYO SQUARE In Itabashi and even Ichigaya Chocolate Hall it all ends up with me pretty much speed running all of the famous and infamous Tokyo wrestling venues within a fortnight.
As for what will get posted on this blog while I am gone? I honestly don’t know at the moment. I’m bringing my laptop with me and will at least post the match results when I can but show reports, up to date news and other stuff will likely be put on the wayside until I return home and get some rest. I did a small one for the DDT show I went to in Saitama back in 2016 (which you can read here). Same goes for any end of trip report where I talk about what the experience is like. Worrying about that sort of stuff would only get in the way while I’m trying to enjoy my holiday. What I’ll likely do is tweet about all the shows I’m going to so you might get not non-DDT and non-TJPW related stuff from me on your feeds for the next two weeks.
What I have done in preparation for this trip is take part in a podcast about it. I was invited onto Wrestling Omakase for a massive roundtable covering as many of the shows happening around Wrestle Kingdom and the New Year’s period as we could. My lion’s share of the recording is in Part 1 for the men’s companies where I talk about DDT, NJPW, NOAH and BASARA. Then I pop up for half an hour in Part 2 as part of the TJPW section. Links to the episodes can be found below:
Wrestling Omakase #276: Wrestle Kingdom Week 2025-26 Preview Part 1 (NJPW, NOAH, AJPW, DDT, BASARA, Ganbare, BJW & GLEAT)
Wrestling Omakase #277: Wrestle Kingdom Week 2025-26 Preview Part 2 (STARDOM, Marigold, TJPW, AWG, OZ, ICE, Marvelous, SEAd, ChocoPro, Diana, Pure-J, WAVE)
Dramatic DDT 
That’s a busy trip and a Joshi fan’s dream in one! Have great time and enjoy the shows! 🙂