Wonderland: The History of Joshi Pro-Wrestling Ice Ribbon 2016-2021 Review

Disclosure: The author of this book is a friend of mine and introduced me to Ice Ribbon years ago. This has had no influence on the opinions in this review, although obviously my status as a fan of the promotion does affect my appreciation of the subject matter.

This is Charles Short’s second book about Ice Ribbon. Please also check out my review of the first, Be Happy.

Ice Ribbon is a women’s professional wrestling company based in Tokyo, Japan that approaches wrestling in an accessible way to be fun for both the audience and performers.

Wonderland opens with a foreword from Ice Ribbon’s ace Tsukasa Fujimoto herself and a solid section of bios with pictures for all of the Ice Ribbon roster members during the covered time period, before heading into the results section that comprises the majority of the book.

The results section is an incredibly detailed chronicle of match outcomes that picks up immediately after last book and goes 5 years and change through Ice Ribbon’s 15th Anniversary show in early August 2021. It not only covers results for all Ice Ribbon events, but also every match members of their roster participated in for other companies.

The amount of specific information provided and the meticulous record keeping it entails is incredibly impressive. Extensive context is included from match times to attendance figures and even things like when originally scheduled matches were changed (due to injury/illness/etc).

The time period covered in Wonderland is particularly interesting to me as I was attending a lot of Ice Ribbon shows live during this period. It’s really cool to revisit a snapshot of this particular time in the company’s existence.

A number of major moments in Ice Ribbon’s history are covered, including Tsukushi’s re-debut and Giulia’s departure. Short approaches everything without sensationalism or rumor, covering things in detail but appropriately keeping to the factual happenings known to the public.

The book features a number of wrestlers who have gone on to wrestle for other companies, which may be of particular interest to those familiar with their later work and wanting to learn about those wrestlers’ history.

Ease of reference and reading is incredibly important when presenting the sheer amount of data contained a volume like this. Like with Be Happy, and perhaps to an even greater extent, the careful formatting, interesting ancillary information, and inclusion of a variety of pictures keep everything accessible and engaging.

There are also several wonderful little touches that make the book special. One of the coolest is stylized section illustrations by Yappy, who is a talented artist in addition to being one of Ice Ribbon’s own wrestlers.

ThoughWonderland covers five years of the company compared to the first book’s ten, it ended up being longer (including over 150 more pages of content after the results section, compared to Be Happy’s 40). This is due to more context and detail added to returning information sections like title histories, as well as greatly expanded pictorial sections.

A huge variety of event posters, banners, wrestling gear, and merchandise is displayed with explanatory context notes as appropriate. As with Be Happy all of the pictures are in black and white, but that does not diminish the treasure trove of stuff to look through.

The book wraps up with a section featuring career summaries for wrestlers and staff that retired during the subject time period. Like the rest of the book, these are thorough, well presented, and quite informative.

At its heart Wonderland and its predecessor are reference books, and milage will vary with an individual’s interest in this unique little joshi wrestling company. But for anyone with even the smallest bit of curiosity about Ice Ribbon or the wrestlers who worked for it during this time the book is so well done and so overflowing with carefully assembled and interesting information it’s really a must have.