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gdwessel · 2 years

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Golden Week Winds Down: DDT, STARDOM, Dragon Gate Results; Hayato “Jr.” Fujita Announces Return to Wrestling After 5 Years Away; NJPW Strong Episode 89 - 5/7/2022

Golden Week is winding down, and as far as the scope of this particular blog, a little slower weekend as far as major shows in Japan. Which is good, because I need to breathe sometimes too! NOAH was originally scheduled to have a show Saturday but that got cancelled due to earthquake activity in Fukushima. There have been shows, however!

DDT / Tokyo Joshi

DDT held a couple of shows over this weekend.

DDT Audience 2022 Tour In Shinjuku - 5/6/2022, Tokyo Shinjuku FACE (Wrestle Universe)

Jun Akiyama, Yusuke Okada & Yuya Koroku [Burning] d. Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Yuki Ishida (Koroku > Ishida, Chickenwing, 12:25)

Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dino [Pheromones] d. Antonio Honda & Kazuki Hirata (Iino > Honda, Sexy Giga Slash, 9:10)

Children’s Day Special! DDTeeeen!! Challenge Match: Yuki Ueno [The 37KAMIINA] d. Ilusion (Frog Splash, 7:48)

Children’s Day Special! DDTeeeen!! Challenge Match: Tetsuya Endo [Burning] d. El Unicorn (Swivel Torture Rack Bomb, 14:14)

46th KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Tournament 1st Round: Kazusada Higuchi, Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani [Eruption] d. Akito, Hikaru Machida & Thanomsak Toba (Okatani > Toba, Northern Lights Suplex, 12:19)

46th KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champions Tournament 1st Round: Daisuke Sasaki, MJ Paul & KANON [DAMNATION TA] d. HARASHIMA, Toru Owashi & Naomi Yoshimura [DISASTER BOX] (Sasaki > Yoshimura, La Mistica, 18:18)

Chris Brookes & Masahiro Takanashi d. MAO & Shunma Katsumata [The 37KAMIINA] (Takanashi > Katsumata, Everclear, 18:42)

CDK get a win leading into the various title challenges between them and The 37KAMIINA coming up. It comes down to Eruption v. DAMNATION TA to become the next KO-D 6-man tag champions. The current DDT generation get opportunities against the participants of the last KO-D Openweight title match, but come up short in both cases.

DDT FRIED Yamada Festival Is It Fried! - 5/8/2022, Kagoshima Shibushi City Unagi Station

Hideki Okatani [Eruption] d. Kazuiki Hirata (Double Arm Suplex, 8:51)

3-Way Tag Match: Sanshiro Takagi & Toru Owashi [DISASTER BOX] d. Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dino [Pheromones] and Chris Brookes & Saki Akai [Eruption] (Takagi > Dino, Sanshiro Stunner, 11:56)

Daisuke Sasaki & MJ Paul [DAMNATION TA] d. Soma Takao & Shunma Katsumata [The 37KAMIINA] (Sasaki > Katsumata, Crossface, 9:48)

Shinya Aoki & Yuki Ueno [The 37KAMIINA] d. Kazusada Higuchi [Eruption] & Yuki Ishida (Ueno > Ishida, BME, 15:05)

Tetsuya Endo [Burning], Jun Akiyama [Burning] & Naomi Yoshimura [DISASTER BOX] d. Shiro Koshinaka, MAO [The 37KAMIINA] & Toi Kojima [The 37KAMIINA] (Endo > Kojima, Swivel Torture Rack Bomb, 13:39)

FRIED Yamada Festival Deep Fried Food! Special 6-Man Tag Match: Shishamo Power, Unagi Power & HARASHIMA [DISASTER BOX] d. Yuji Hino, Yukio Naya & Akito (Shishamo > Akito, Fisherman Suplex, 20:06)

A special show sponsored by Yamada Fisheries. It’s a thing.

Both Konosuke Takeshita and Yuka Sakazaki lost their AEW Rampage matches. Takeshita was expected, and he is having some matches on the US indies coming up that are pretty mouthwatering. Sakazaki, I am not sure what the point of flying her in special to lose to Riho in a tournament qualifier was.

STARDOM

The Golden Week Fight Tour wrapped up with shows yesterday and today, including a title match main event at today’s show.

Golden Week Fight Tour 2022 - 5/7/2022, Osaka EDION Arena Subarena

Saya Kamitani [Queen’s Quest] d. Rina [Oedo Tai] (Star Crusher, 8:08)

Natsupoi & Thekla [Donna del Mondo] d. Hanan & Saya Iida [STARS] (Natsupoi > Hanan, Rolling La Magistral, 10:38)

AZM, Utami Hayashishita, Minami & Lady C [Queen’s Quest] d. Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa, Unagi Sayaka & Waka Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] (Minami > Tsukiyama, Love Shark, 15:08)

Syuri, MIRAI, Ami Sorei & Konami [God’s Eye] d. Saki Kashima, Ruaka, Starlight Kid & Momo Watanabe [Oedo Tai] (Syuri > Ruaka, Suzaku, 14:12)

Giulia, Maika, Himeka & Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] d. Mayu Iwatani, Koguma, Hazuki & Momo Kohgo (Sakurai > Koguma, Modified Clutch Hold, 19:31)

- 5/8/2022, Aichi Nagoya Congress Center

Hina [Queen’s Quest] d. Waka Tsukiyama [Cosmic Angels] (Gedo Clutch, 5:54)

Captain’s Fall 3-Way Match: Tam Nakano, Mina Shirakawa & Unagi Sayaka [Cosmic Angels] d. Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani & Lady C [Queen’s Quest] and Maika, Thekla & Mai Sakurai [Donna del Mondo] Order of Falls: - Hayashishita > Thekla, German Suplex Hold, 4:59 - Shirakawa > C, Implant DDT, 7:53 - Hayashishita > Sakurai, Frankensteiner, 9:17 - Nakano > Kamitani, OTTR, 11:31

Syuri, MIRAI & Ami Sorei [God’s Eye] TLD Giulia, Himeka & Natsupoi [Donna del Mondo] (15:00)

Mayu Iwatani, Saya Iida, Hanan, Hazuki & Momo Kohgo [STARS] d. Saki Kashima, Rina, Ruaka, Starlight Kid & Momo Wanatanabe [Oedo Tai] (Iida > Rina, Vertical Drop Brainbuster, 15:11)

High Speed Championship: AZM [Queen’s Quest] © d. Koguma [STARS] (Numero Uno, 11:35) - AZM succeeds her 3rd defense

Post-main, Thekla challenged AZM for her title.

The next show is New Blood 2 on Friday.

Dragon Gate

Contrary to my earlier assumptions, NOW the Gate Of Passion tour is complete after this weekend’s events. These were non-streamed house shows but select matches end up on the YouTube channel.

The Gate of Passion 2022 Night 20 - 5/7/2022, Fukui Sangyokaikan

Kota Minoura, Naruki Doi & Kaito Ishida [Gold Class] d. YAMATO, Dragon Kid & Keisuke Okuda [HIGH-END] (Minoura > Okuda, R-301, 12:02)

Diamante & Shun Skywalker [Z-Brats] d. Takuma Fujiwara & Ishin Iihashi (Skywalker > Ishin, SSW, 8:02)

Eita, Takashi Yoshida, Strong Machine J & La Estrella d. Masaaki Mochizuki, Yasushi Kanda, GEnki Horiguchi & Susumu Mochizuki (J > Horiguchi, Machine Suplex, 11:40)

Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage] d. Ben-K & Kagetora [HIGH-END] (Dia > Kagetora, Double Cork, 13:39)

Kzy, U-T & Jason Lee [Natural Vibes] d. KAI, BxB Hulk & HYO [Z-Brats] (Kzy > HYO, Running Elbow Smash, 14:13)

The Gate of Passion 2022 Night 21 - 5/8/2022, Mie Yokkaichi Kusuryokuchi Gym

Kota Minoura, Naruki Doi & Kaito Ishida [Gold Class] d. Susumu Mochizuki, Yasushi Kanda & Ishin Iihashi (Minoura > Ishin, R-301, 12:35)

3-Way Match: Ho Ho Lun d. Masaaki Mochizuki & Konomama Ichikawa (Lun > Ichikawa, Reverse Figure-4 Leglock, 5:27)

Dragon Dia & Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage] d. Madoka Kikuta & Takuma Fujiwara (Dia > Fujiwara, Front Cradle, 9:08)

Kzy, U-T & Jason Lee [Natural Vibes] d. Don Fujii, Eita & Strong Machine J (Kzy > Fujii, Running Elbow Smash, 10:40)

YAMATO, Dragon Kid, Kagetora, Ben-K & Keisuke Okuda [HIGH-END] d. KAI, BxB Hulk, HYO, Shun Skywalker & Diamante [Z-Brats] (YAMATO > HYO, Galleria, 15:09)

Susumu Yokosuka Mochizuki and Genki Horiguchi begin their post-Natural Vibes lives. And with that, the tour is over. King Of Gate 2022 starts Wednesday with a livestreamed show.

King Of Gate 2022 - 5/11/2022, Tokyo Korakuen Hall

King Of Gate 2022 1st Round: KAI [Z-Brats] v. Shuji Kondo

King Of Gate 2022 1st Round: SB KENTo [Z-Brats] v. Hip Hop Kikuta

King Of Gate 2022 1st Round: YAMATO [HIGH-END] v. Yuki Yoshioka [D’Courage]

King Of Gate 2022 1st Round: Eita v. Shun Skywalker [Z-Brats]

This week’s NJPW Strong were matches from Lonestar Shootout in Dallas during Mania Weekend. I’ve already posted results here, but now that it has aired, why not post again.

Hikuleo & Chris Bey [Bullet Club] d. Bateman & Barrett Brown [Stray Dog Army] (Hikuleo > Brown, Chokeslam, 12:16)

JONAH d. Blake Christian (Tsunami, 6:56)

“Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Royce Isaacs & JR Kratos [Team Filthy] d. Fred Rosser, Alex Coughlin & The DKC (Isaacs > DKC, Super Powerslam, 11:12)

In other NJPWWorld news, Friday’s TAKA Taichi Mania 2.5 event is now on NJPWWorld, but as a PPV event for about $24. At some point NJPWWorld decided to pivot to PPV events for actual monies. Windy City Riot was one, and both Capital Collision and the Tatsumi Fujinami 50th Anniversary event (that Fujinami himself can’t wrestle at now) are also such events.

For free, on the other hand, is the 60th Anniversary of Korakuen Hall event that was a join NJPW/AJPW show, so go check that out. (Well, free, with a subscription).

Other News

Earlier today in Michinoku Pro, wrestler Hayato “Jr.” Fujita made his first appearance in a ring in almost five years. He suffered a knee injury in 2017, and whilst recovering, a cancerous tumor was discovered on his spinal cord in 2018. He has been recovering from these ever since. Today, he announced he will be returning to the ring, and challenged MUSASHI for the Tohoku Junior title.

Tenryu Project ran a special charity show on Saturday from Tokyo that had only two matches, but also a “talk battle” between Genichiro Tenryu, Kenta Kobashi and Akira Taue.

ZERO1 also ran another anti-bullying charity show in Niigata Saturday.

Sendai Girls ran shows this weekend, featuring matches against Prominence talents, as that promotion looks to make war with every joshi company imaginable.

AEW’s Hikaru Shida was a surprise wrestler at OZ Academy’s show at Shinjuku FACE earlier today.

BURST ran their first anniversary show today in Saga Kanzaki Base, featuring talents from AJPW, BJW and other promotions.

I don’t see a lot of shows happening by Tuesday, so Tuesday’s post may just be an Upcoming Events one. There definitely will be one this week.

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lazyboycentral · 11 months

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I knew this year's Forbidden Door was gonna be a banger with all the announcements made so far, but the bombshells dropped on tonight's AEW Dynamite sold me big time. Of course the Osprey/Omega and Okada/Danielson fights are pretty big deals, and having SANADA take on Jack Perry is...pretty neat, I guess. But MJF versus The Fuckin' Ace?!! I flipped the fuck out when "MJF" came out of Tanahashi's mouth. This may not be a complete "dream match" for some folks, but to me, this is unbelievably incredible.

Keep the kayfabe going if you must, MJF, but I hope you realize what a big deal this is for you. I'll have to keep telling my IRL wrestling friends why this really is a big deal myself (which if you're a NJPW fan that's to be expected, let's be real). Also wouldn't it just stick it in MJF's craw (and maybe all of AEW's fanbase) if Tana just took the AEW World Championship back to Japan where no one can have it until the next big thing? I mean in terms of narrative that's probably never going to happen, but hey, let a girl dream.

Seeing Will Osprey get his revenge would've been reason enough for me to drop some coin on this PPV, but I was willing to skip it. But this?? It just might be worth the $50...even though I'm already dropping another $50 for AEW Fight Forever when it comes out this month. I guess I wouldn't be much of a wrestling fan if I wasn't stupid with my money, right?

#also when are we gonna see Hiromu Takahashi in one of these? America needs some of that ticking time bomb #aew #all elite wrestling #new japan pro wrestling #njpw #forbidden door #blog post #hiroshi tanahashi #mjf

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navam2345 · 6 months

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Satsang Ishwar TV | 07-11-2023 | Episode: 2198 | Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj ...

#america #japan travel #new japan pro wrestling #japanese #youtube #sociology #geology #natural history #supremegod

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kage-gfx · 2 years

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PWI 500

#️⃣1️⃣3️⃣ Matt Cardona 🖕🏻

#️⃣1️⃣4️⃣ Josh Alexander 🇨🇦

#️⃣2️⃣3️⃣ Jay White 🇳🇿

Darius Carter 🎭

Shane Taylor Promotions ✊🏾

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eldesperadont · 11 months

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hello and welcome to the start of my rough Despe/Hiromu recap essay! I'll go over their history in relation to one another. A big reason for this recap is to explain my fascination with the 10+ year long history of these characters, and why I, a queer person, is so drawn to it — this post will include links, spoilers and cover the first 9 years of their careers. If you have corrections or additional infos pls DM me!!

egg, (2010-2012)

Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado started their pro wrestling training around the same time in NJPWs dojo – both passing NJPW's entry exam in 2009 and training for roughly a year till they officially debuted in 2010.

Desperado in March under his real name, Mikami Kyōsuke, and Hiromu later in August. And here we already have some key moments:

Takahashi's professional debut was a singles match against Mikami. (its on YouTube btw)

Despe's first ever singles victory was defeating Hiromu in said debut match.

Mikami is older and ahead of Takahashi, going on to have an impressive winning record over Hiromu, who only managed to get a sole victory over Despe during their time together as students. (two if you count in a dark match)

Hiromu genuinely struggled a lot as a Young Lion (dojo trainee), having been close to giving up on wrestling if it weren’t for main roster wrestler Tetsuya Naito, who took him under his wing.

So yeah starting off Despe had the upper hand.

This part of their career is the hardest to research given that 1.) the language barrier was way higher a decade ago, 2.) there straight up is barely any footage. So instead, I want to explain the emotional importance of the NJPW dojo background:

The time as Young Lions in NJPW is kayfabe canon. These guys are rivals but also teammates, live and train together, fight with/and each other, cheer each other on in their bouts with the seniors, carry each other to the back when they once again got beaten – these guys are close, they have to, it's them against the world.

And that is the case for pretty much all the homegrown NJPW talent. This system provides feuds with an emotional core; why would someone who was that close be so cruel to each other now? What turns brothers, best friends, partners into enemies? So much room for juicy rivalries with a real weight behind it, after all we watched these guys grow and learn, saw their highs and lows.

Also on a less serious note it's simply amusing to watch old stuff and see two guys that will be bitter rivals, who’s matches will get praise and awards - tag together in mostly fruitless efforts, stumble behind the curtain together and be so clueless about all the greatness they’ll achieve one day thanks to each others hard work.

Young Lions my beloved <3

oceans apart, (2012-2016)

As is custom with most Young Lions both went on excursion: Mikami graduating first, in 2012, and working in Mexico for a year as "Namajague" - Hiromu leaving Japan the year Desperado debuts on the New Japan main roster, in 2014, touring in Mexico and the US as "Kamaitachi" till August 2016.

Both worked in CMLL as heels, as is custom for foreign trainees, starting as masked wrestlers, loosing them in a stipulation match, and also getting their hair shaved at some point.

Here you have unmasked Namajague, who went on to rock a half facepaint look and had half of his hair bleached (in 2014, a trendsetter)

and here you got a young unmasked Kamaitachi (yes he was in a team with Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian in RoH)

These are the years Mikami and Hiromu don’t interact in canon, but in an 2020 interview Desperado confessed that he kept an eye on Takahashi during the latter's excursion, cause of his success in Middle/North America and spectacular matches with Dragon Lee.

Love confessions, (May - June 2018)

Their rivalry was fully rekindled in the “Best of the Super Juniors 25” tournament, so let’s set the scene:

Takahashi’s successful: having won the most important championship for their weight division in his first year on the main roster. He’s beloved by fans and critics and a valuable member of his mentor's faction, Los Ingobernables de Japon.

El Desperado is struggling: unsuccessfully having fought for singles titles several times in the last couple of years. His only championship victories so far having been in the tag division, after joining Suzuki-gun, a shady group that tolerates him, but not without hurdles. The masked man debuted in 2013 as a cheerful honourable guy, but by now he was just a bitter, sinister bastard.

They will have their first singles meeting in 6 years, and their first on the main roster.

They are winking and nodding towards the fact that Desperado already has several wins over the younger guy, but do not address who Despy really is - officially Mikami Kyōsuke hasn’t wrestled in New Japan ever since he left for Mexico.

Leading up to the BOSJ Hiromu made a booklet in which he describes all of his possible opponents, Desperado's page is kept blank at first, but later Takahashi adds “I know who you are, and I hate you.”

Despy wants to impress Hiromu. He was one half of the IWGP Jr. Tag champs at that point and took both belts with him to the ring - he's also wearing a special mask, that is mostly white, a colour Japanese wrestlers tend to only wear on special occasions/in big matches.

A lot has changed since they last fought 1 on 1 - except one thing: Hiromu cannot beat Desperado.

Both didn’t shy away from using dirty tricks, but in the end Despy has the upper hand once more. As his opponent lays defeated in the ring the masked menace has this to say:

(postmatch promo) (the match)

Hiromu will go on to win the tournament and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight belt from Will Ospreay at the 2018 Dominion show, but the loss to his fellow former Young Lion means that the latter has the right to challenge him, and so he does, in this now infamous promo.

please watch the whole thing: link

(funfact, this happened the same night Kenny won the IWGP Heavyweight Title with Ibushi in his corner, the gays were EATING that day, in pride month no less)

Leading up to their confrontation Hiromu would post a video on his twitter playing the 'love me/not' flower game, landing on "he loves me" - which promptly makes him eat the flower in frustration

On the day of their match, June 18 2018, he brings Desperado a present:

A bouquet in a guitar case, a cruel call back to Desperados main roster debut back in early 2014: after Kota Ibushi won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight belt at Wrestle Kingdom 8 a masked stranger approached the ring with a guitar case, revealing it to carry a bouquet of black roses for the freshly crowned champ (who was a lil confused by the whole situation)

It was the start of Despes unsuccessful run as a face and partnership with Ibushi (which you can read as the first man he tried to pursue).

The masked lad wasn't that fond of Hiromu bringing back old memories.

Their match is an all out war, both using underhanded tactics to keep the other one down, including Hiromu unmasking Despy, who shockingly doesn’t care at all - which is a huge deal, I'm going to quote Japanese NJPW commentator Milano here because he said it best:

“To a masked wrestler that’s your identity. It’s everything. But Desperado has it ripped off and then just puts it on like he was fixing his necktie. He was saying that this very essence of himself wasn’t as important as Hiromu or the belt." (translation by Chris Charlton)

But in the end Hiromu is victorious, finally ending his losing streak. After the match he has some interesting things to say:

(postmatch promo) (the match)

Life’s a b*tch. (mid 2018 - late 2019)

Hiromu's next title defence is in August 2018 in the USA against Dragon Lee, a match I still haven't been able to watch and probably never will. Due to a messed up move from his opponent, Hiromu lands hard on his neck, breaking it in the process. He somehow managed to finish the match but collapsed backstage, immediately being rushed to a hospital.

In the documentary RED HEADED REVIVAL Hiromu shared that he knew right away that something was wrong – he saw his life flash before his eyes and feared that this is the end of his career, but he decided against stopping the fight:

It took Hiromu over a year to fully recover.

That wasn't the only unfortunate incident though: in spring of 2019 Desperado broke his jaw in a deathmatch against his idol Jun Kasai. The timing couldn't have been worse: the highly anticipated BOSJ Tournament for that year being just about to start. Despe had to withdraw mere days before its opening.

Neither of them would make a return till late 2019. And their next actual confrontation wouldn’t be till 2020.

It was a sad time to be a fan of either - with Hiromu we didn't know till his return if he will even be able to wrestle again. And with Despy we had to witness fans being unnecessarily rude to him, ridiculing him about doing a deathmatch in the first place, eventho the injury could have occurred in any type of match. (if I remember correctly, Desperado even deleted his twitter due to the fan backlash)

BUT I'm gonna end this post on a good note:

1.) Despy's return marked the start of a new era for him:

He wasn't gonna apologise, he broke his jaw, so what? Shit happens. He wasn't going to pretend that the situation didn't happen either tho, hell - Despe returned in a shirt covered in blood spots, making direct references to the match he got injured in. (sth he talked about in this video) And his mask? Dons a fractured jawbone now, the cracks filled in with gold - reminiscent of kintsugi, a Japanese method for repairing broken ceramics with a special lacquer mixed with gold, silver, or platinum. The philosophy behind the technique is to recognize the history of the object and to visibly incorporate the repair into the new piece instead of disguising it.

2.) Hiromu wasn't giving up on his way of life either, making a spectacular return - the best was yet to come. Individually and together/against each other.

Stay tuned for the next part, that will absolutely also take me ages to finally put out, I'm apologising in advance,, anyways thx bye!! <3 👹🐱

#el desperado #hiromu takahashi #percht.txt #wrestling thoughts tm #🐱👹#njpw #desperomu #namajague #kamaitachi #mikami kyosuke

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thistledropkick · 5 months

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A while back, I got pretty frustrated trying to figure out what people meant when they used the phrase "strong style." I’d seen people throwing it around frequently in English language wrestling discussion, but I’d never been able to get a real, clear definition for it from anyone, especially not one with actual citations or sources.

I decided to try reading about it on my own. And I immediately learned that people use the phrase "strong style" very differently in English than it’s used in Japanese.

Strong Style has it’s own Japanese-language wikipedia page. Here are the first couple paragraphs, translated by me:

"Strong Style" is a concept / -ism of professional wrestling. It’s a style in which one expresses one’s "emotions (rage)" in one’s wrestling. [The source for this sentence is given as a now-private Youtube interview with Shinsuke Nakamura.] It was conceptualized by Antonio Inoki, and passed down primarily within New Japan Pro Wrestling.

In Antonio Inoki’s "Autobiography of Antonio Inoki" he said that "Strong Style" is the fusion of the Karl Gotch style of offensive and defensive wrestling techniques and the Riki Douzan style that displayed the fearsomeness of pro-wrestling."

The article goes on to say that in addition to the raw emotion and the stylistic amalgam of Riki Douzan and Karl Gotch, Strong Style is also associated with a specific style of wrestling gear - short black trunks, black wrestling boots, and bare elbows and knees.

When I’d heard people use the term "Strong Style" in English, it had felt like it had a completely different, completely unrelated meaning: "something hard-hitting, MMA adjacent, pro-wrestling that’s similar to a real fight." "Strong" taken literally and simply, as physical strength behind physical blows. But the term as conceptualized by Antonio Inoki had a completely different meaning. The "strong" here was at least as much emotional as it was physical, and the inspiration wasn't so much MMA as it was wrestling.

It’s not unusual for this kind of disconnect to occur between Japanese pro wrestling and the English-language fans, but I was still surprised to learn that the meaning of a term this widely used, and this foundational to Japanese wrestling, had been so profoundly lost in translation.

The Japanese-language wikipedia page also addresses this alternate English-language definition of the term. Towards the end, they include a quote from Shinsuke Nakamura, where he says that unlike in Japan, in America people think of Strong Style as "shoot style" with elements of boxing and amateur wrestling. It also includes a section towards the bottom of the page for "Shoot Style" pro wrestling, which it defines as completely separate from Strong Style, with a European origin and unrelated history.

In any case, reading this gave me a real sense of clarity when trying to understand how the phrase is used within New Japan Pro Wrestling.

#njpw #strong style #antonio inoki #new japan pro wrestling #my translation #I found this really interesting when I was reading it so I figured other people might find it interesting too?#I don't think it's so simple as this in reality - different people have different interpretations of what this phrase means #But having some kind of basic definition of it spelled out clearly by the guy who came up with it was really useful to me

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nakanotamu · 3 months

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GOD okay, so. The Stardom Situation. I'm bored at work so I guess this is The Post. I was going to write my thoughts about the new stuff but then just summing everything up got so long and I never wrote that summary post I meant to so I think I'll make two posts instead. jk it's going to be three posts so here is the current situation post and my own personal thoughts about all this are here. Okay, so

Last year around April, then-Stardom president Harada takes Rossy off of booking and apparently stops listening to his advice. Harada sucked, he didn't get the appeal of pro wrestling, seemingly mostly trying to push it as advertising and going for things like their stupid NFT collab. He also pushes a schedule on the roster that isn't workable or healthy, leading to rampant injuries up and down the card. He stops listening to the roster - Giulia came out and said that Rossy's style of booking is to let the wrestlers start what stories they want to themselves, and then book what he thinks would be good from among that. But under Harada, matches just got booked out of the blue without even talking to the wrestlers about it. A particularly egregious example Giulia pointed out was when Ami challenged her for her title and she told her to earn a title shot. Then days later it's announced on twitter that Ami's title shot is coming up in two weeks. Giulia was vocal on twitter about it at the time, saying "What show are you watching?!" and I remember commenting a lot that it felt like Stardom was suddenly being booked by someone who wasn't even watching the shows. Beyond that even the matches themselves aren't being run by the wrestlers, with Giulia mentioning no one telling them what was in the boxes in the money ball match last year and the hazard that presented.

Now, some of this stuff may have been worked - like, I think probably Ami and Giulia knew they had a title match they were supposed to work up to, and the frustration isn't actually that Ami was given it before she "earned" it, but that they weren't given a chance to actually build the feud they were trying to. I think it's worth remembering during stuff like all this that in Japanese wrestling we get pretty much no pure "shoot" interviews or news like you'd get in America. None, like, for real please learn to understand that you shouldn't trust dirt sheets and that almost no one ever 100% shoots in puro. But that said, the interview Giulia gave about this stuff was pretty much the closest to shoot I had ever seen from a Japanese wrestler, short of, like, maybe when Ibushi came forward about what happened to him in New Japan.

On top of that, apparently from Harada on down, Bushiroad staff were incredibly dismissive of the wrestlers and largely ignored them, seemingly seeing themselves as the company and the actual roster as just, I don't even know, some disposable resource and not the entire reason any of them even had a job. Just very backwards thinking, that the real work is running the shows, but as long as you put a show on people will just come to see anybody. Which, lmao, well that didn't work.

This came out when Stardom had a holiday show that needed to be slightly rescheduled, its start time ended up being, iirc delayed by about two hours or something like that. Maybe not the biggest deal to us, but especially for a company trying to seem like a major player like Stardom, this was an extremely bad look. Roster members are extremely mad and start to come forward about not being told about anything like this even though it affects them and they have to be the public faces of it; Giulia even openly talks about trying to find out what had happened and getting completely brushed off by the staff member who had been in charge of arranging the venues. This incident was one of those things that seemingly got a huge reaction not just because it looked bad for the company but because it was the dam breaking. I'd suspected Stardom was having management issues and ended up being more right than I could have imagined.

Ultimately in November Harada is fired and they bring in a new president, Okada. (Not, not that one. Different Okada.) He's been booking since he came in at the start of December. Ultimately they didn't change the cards for the remaining Harada-booked shows or reschedule any of the shows that had already been announced at that point. This leads to Stardom's lowest show attendance ever, at an Osaka show that draws 114 people, thanks to running at 6pm on a Tuesday at a venue that while technically in Osaka could not realistically be reached in time by anyone trying to get there from Osaka proper after work. Rossy at this point is publicly disparaging Harada's choices and policies, and says the method of "just booking any available venue whenever you want and saying when the show is happening on social media can't continue".

It's still early into seeing how things are under Okada, but they seem better, not that better would take all that much. The overall sentiment seems to be, and I would agree, that the booking has already improved somewhat, with stories that are at least for now maybe a little too title-focused but do seem to have the wrestlers themselves more engaged. The schedule has also been a little bit lighter, not that Stardom was ever a particularly low-number-of-shows promotion, but less than last year. Bushiroad also said they would conduct a review of all Stardom staff members, including taking feedback from roster members and regular freelancers, though they wouldn't be able to publish any of the results of that publicly as it has to be dealt with by Bushiroad HR. So it seems like they're trying at least to turn things around, though too early to really say how it'll work out. That was the state of things up to last Sunday.

#stardom #my writing

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fang-revives · 11 months

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MiSu said puroresu built this house and continues to build it. Love him <3

#minoru suzuki #njpw #puroresu #jon moxley

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tltw-wrestling · 6 months

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The Love That Whirls, An Introduction

One of my biggest loves is women's pro wrestling. Ever since the early 2000s when I started watching wrestling, I was amazed by the women who found their way to the top. I loved Lita and Trish Stratus and was floored by how incredible the Gail Kim and Awesome Kong feud was. However, with the lack of exploratory knowledge of the Internet and lack of critical research I missed out on the best of the best from that time that had happened outside of major promotions and what little from Japan I knew about. I ended up falling away from really diving deep into it. I had seen the rise of 4 horsewomen of NXT and learned more and more about STARDOM as it grew in popularity. Social media helped give me glimpses of Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW) and other smaller joshi promotions. AEW also helped with giving me exposure to the international scene, as well as the ill-fated NXT UK. Though, I never REALLY stayed focused on women's wrestling.

In 2023 however, I started watching TJPW more seriously. I wanted to really dive deeper after being inspired watching old joshi matches and video essays about the modern scene. I was also seeing American independent wrestlers I was familiar with participating in TJPW shows. So, I borrowed my friend's Wrestle Universe account and watched TJPW Grand Princess '23. I was amazed by how much fun I had watching, and wanted more. Not just more of TJPW, but I wanted to pay more attention to STARDOM, Marvelous, Sendai Girls, Pure-J, anything women's wrestling I could find. I initially included that with paying attention to more wrestling overall, and was rating matches across the board I enjoyed. Then it dawned on me that while I know that men's wrestling could be great, I was just losing immense amounts of interest. Especially in American wrestling and New Japan. Meanwhile, I was drawn back again and again to the women.

I started with deep diving into TJPW, STARDOM and as much of the American scene that was available to me (AEW, WWE, ROH, Impact and various others). I've put money into WRESTLE UNIVERSE, Marvelous and PURE-J. I got into Actwres Girl'Z, OZ Academy, WAVE and Sendai Girls. I know far more about the current picture than I did in March when I started. This has led me to wanting to not just rate matches or throw a few quick opinions out on Elon's hellhole or anywhere else. I decided that I should really consider covering the women's wrestling scene.

That's where this blog comes in.

While I am not ready to get started yet, I am looking to get fully invested in taking in as much women's wrestling as I can next year. I want a fresh start in January, and cover everything. These women bust their butts, and I want to just appreciate it and tell everyone all about it. From Tokyo Dome week to WrestleMania weekend, from the theaters and clubhouses in America to Arena Mexico. Wherever there is women's wrestling, I want to see it and tell you about it. On top of that, I want to deliver my thoughts on classics from time to time.

The Love That Whirls will be a new venture for me, but I want to try and bring the Internet the best writing I can produce about what I am passionate about. I can't just scream from the rooftops or post loudly from social media to watch things. I have to get as much of what I watch out there for the world to see, and learn about scenes I am less familiar with new and old. The importance of women's wrestling can only be shown if given the love and attention it deserves, and that's what I promise to deliver.

See y'all soon. I might post a classic review or two before the year gets started and offer a look back at 2023 if time allows.

#wrestling #women's wrestling #stardom #tjpw #tokyo joshi pro #world wonder ring stardom #aew #wwe #impact wrestling #joshi puroresu #joshi wrestling #writing

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chaosrainmaker · 1 year

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Osaka tournament!

The opponent, the audience, and the venue were great!

Next stop is San Jose!

I'm going to show America how New Japan Pro-Wrestling fights!

Thank you for your support!

#❝ ꜱᴏᴄɪᴀʟ ᴍᴇᴅɪᴀ ❞ 💵 @rainmakerxokada.

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keiteay · 29 days

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Second straight day of big departures from what I usually post... Just wanna give everyone a little background on Japanese ballplayers and athletes in America, and the type of support systems they tend to bring with them to the US. A common refrain in the reactions to the Shohei Ohtani saga has been along the lines of, "Shohei really let his interpreter, of all people, access his bank accounts? That seems way too fishy." A lot of sports fans, with a good amount of justification, look at the hype that comes with the signing of Japanese players with MLB teams — and more so the money on the contracts that those players sign — and assume that they must have a team of assistants and handlers who look after their every need 24/7 as they navigate life in this new country and new league. People would be shocked at just how small that "team" can actually be. Oftentimes, it's just the interpreter (either team-assigned or hired by the players themselves) and however many family members they bring with them to the US. In some cases, especially for lesser-known athletes, it's just the family. And occasionally, it's just the athlete coming here entirely on his or her own and not knowing anybody upon arrival. On that last point: WWE used to have a partnership with F*ll S**l where they would get students to help with the production of live shows at their training facility just outside of Orlando. Not too long into the venture, WWE signed a wrestler from Japan on a development-type contract. Now, this wrestler was well-known in the Japanese scene, and had received enough of a push that he wore the championship belt several times during his career. He was also married with kids.

So he gets to Orlando. He doesn't speak much English (if any), doesn't bring his family with him, and doesn't have much in the way of contacts or a support system in the US outside of whatever the WWE arranged for him upon arrival. Bear in mind that this is all before we had things like instant translator apps on smartphones, and before Japanese-language services became more common worldwide. It eventually got to the point where WWE had to look for someone, anyone, who spoke Japanese, and got Strip Mall U to track down my mom — who I'm guessing was the only Japanese speaker in the entire company — and enlist her to help him with some of the basic paperwork for life in America: setting up a bank account (but not running it), trips to the DMV, and so on.

For WWE's part, they gave my mom free tickets to the shows in exchange for helping this wrestler out, which her (and my old) co-workers might have cherished more than she did. And for the wrestler's part, he managed to carve out a career in the US in the years afterwards; his Wiki indicates that he still does occasional shows in the US, albeit in the independent circuits. But the fact that they wound up entrusting someone who was a complete stranger to the wrestling world to serve as a de facto liaison to one of their overseas performers was, and still is, pretty wild to me. And regardless of whose plan it was for his support system to be that thin from the jump: if that's what it looked like for an entertainer of that caliber and fame, then it would stand to reason that the amount of help that is afforded to, or is possibly asked for by, the typical Japanese pro athlete in the US isn't all that much higher... and in that scenario, having just a single point of support for the athlete, or the athlete plain fending for himself or herself in an unfamiliar country using an unfamiliar language, could absolutely lead to some unintended consequences. I should make clear here that none of this will prove definitively that Shohei Ohtani is free of any and all wrongdoing. There's certainly a non-zero chance that he's actually a degenerate who stays up all night placing bets on random D2 college basketball and lower-league Japanese soccer games, and is using his now-former interpreter as the ultimate fall guy. But I do think this background might explain (what I personally think is) the more likely possibility that Shohei was okey-doked by his own interpreter, slash accountant, slash media liaison, slash workout partner, slash clubhouse attendant, slash Ubereats driver, etc etc.

#shohei ohtani #大谷翔平 #shotime #野球 #baseball #sports #sprots #entertainment #japan #merica #words #musings #kei teay

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sybilius · 6 months

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trick.............or treat

You got New Japan Pro Wrestling's Ace, Kazuchika Okada. I am ever so fond of him. He may be too often in the title picture for anyone's tastes, but god is he ever That Good. His feud with Jay White made me insane. He's also just SO SILLEH when he's not being the serious Ace man, here's him goofing while stealing another wrestler's gear (a tradition when he comes to America):

anyways. I love skipper and I bet you'd love him too :")

#kazuchika okada #boots i bet you'd get into his Balloon okada era...#njpw #tumblr trick or treat #pro wrestling

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bluraydisco · 1 year

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A bunch of news sites are reporting that Vince McMahon is selling to a Saudi private investment firm making more money than God, it returning back to a private company, Thusly offering more money and incentives to talent contracts amongst other things. This will also lead to a power grab by McMahon to take the reins of creative again.

If these rumors are true, this is possibly the reason why Stephanie McMahon resigned. I am certain that there will be mass layoffs coming soon for the wrestlers and creatives that Triple H hired back to the company. People that Vince doesn't see value in.

I'm also sure that Triple H, William Regal and the newly appointed head of continuity Rob Fee will see either their roles diminished or be let go all together as well.

It will also lead to an exodus of one of their most popular characters right now, Sami Zayn. (who is of Syrian descent).

It might also lead to their stacked women's roster being depleted and every lgbtq person within the company either being fired or let go.

Just note this is just speculation on my part due to the fact about how the Saudis treat women and homosexuals. However, thanks to a Twitter follower of mine (Alex Morrison) I understand the ins and outs of how these investment firms work. They own many soccer teams in the UK, including women's league, which are thriving financially and they are paying the players well. I thank Alex for his insight into these side of things.

I hope that this is just a private investment firm that won't have any influence on the company itself. But I, personally, highly doubt it.

It's strange that a company that was so "pro American" especially during the Hogan years with the "giant foreign heel" rising against America and "Hulkamania" will come to a deal with such a ruthless organization. Heck, they are so "USA" that they often fundraise for certain orange-tinted Buffoon's that claim to be for "America First".

Another odd thing, and a fact about Vincent Kennedy McMahon, is that he created the character of "The Million Dollar Man" to be a send-up. He was taking the piss out of rich people because he detested so much how they acted and flaunted their wealth and means. How money changes people's perspective through age and time is equally interesting and disturbing. " Greed is good", I guess.

In the end it's all about the dollars and it doesn't have to make sense. They've had pay-per-view events for the Saudi Prince for multiple years now. In a way I'm not really surprised that this is happening.

It's actually an interesting allegory to late stage capitalism and the rise of the extremist politics, in a way. Money talks and bullshit walks as long as an elderly, out of touch white man that holds all the cards is in control.

Also, this Billion Dollar Man and his corporation/conglomerate subduing all, if any, creative youth movement from within. It's a tale as Old as Time.

So far this is only a rumor. A very big rumor. WWE has not confirmed the sale. However I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

I am hoping for the best for Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Stephanie, Rob Fee , Bray Wyatt and the other big names that have returned during Vince's brief "retirement". Anyone affected by this news.

I hope that they would be able to, if they are all relieved of their duties, create their own promotion. A promotion that loves the business for what it is and even though money is good, the art form of pro wrestling will always be the central point.

I might reluctantly continue to watch WWE as long as Triple H is in charge of creative. But if it turns back to the cluster fuck it was during late stage McMahon, I'll just say: "Thank Christ for the AEW, Mexico, Japan AND the thriving Indy scene".

In the end, the Federation (or the "E" as they call it) will die when Vince McMahon does. Professional wrestling lives on. If worse comes to worse, there are alternatives out there. Subscribe to #iwtv to see the purest and most passionate form of professional wrestling

Okay I'm off my soapbox now.

#VinceMcMahon #WWE #SaudiDeal #StephanieMcMahon #TripleH

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hostilecityshowdown · 2 years

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Chris Benoit featured in the July, 1994 PWI Scouting Report.

full transcription:

HOMETOWN: Edmonton, Alberta HEIGHT: 5′10″ WEIGHT: 218 YEARS PRO: 7 RATING: No. 44 (”PWI 500″) STRENGTHS: • Speed. Can make his moves as quickly as anyone. • Japanese influence. Wrestles the best aerialists, and learns from them. • Very calculating. Has an uncommonly high success rate on risky maneuvers. WEAKNESSES: • Jet lag. Frequent shuttling between Japan and North America wears him down. • Dry image. Lack of glitziness hurts him in the eyes of some U.S. promoters. • Easily provoked. Is susceptible to brawling, which plays away from his greatest strength. OTHER COMMENTS: Canadian veteran who’s won the British Commonwealth title and teamed to win the Stampede tag team championship with Ben Bassarab and Keith Hart... Learned much of his skills from the famed Stu Hart, then honed them training with New Japan Pro Wrestling... Was in WCW for several months, making little impact... Recently faced Sabu in a battle of aerialists. Benoit won by countout, but refused to accept the decision, and Sabu won the match. OUTLOOK FOR 1994: Benoit’s outstanding technical abilities and meat-and-potatoes style endear him to wrestling purists, and his brilliant aerial skills have also won him a cult following. Benoit’s success in Japan hasn’t yet been duplicated here, and he didn’t do much in WCW. His career is similar to The Kid’s, without the big break Kid got last year in the WWF. Benoit desperately needs some sustained success in a U.S. independent federation to get the recognition he deserves.

#[ vann ]#chris benoit #[ colour commentary ]#acknowledging benoit's time in japan is so important to me thank you pwi #long post #pwi #pro wrestling illustrated

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cavenewstimes · 19 days

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How Willow Nightingale’s Japanese Wrestling Experience is Influencing Women’s Wrestling in the US

The One Big Thing AEW star Willow Nightingale credits her personal and professional growth in wrestling to her experiences in Japan, highlighting the significant impact Japanese women’s wrestling has had on her career and the broader landscape of women’s wrestling in America. Key Takeaways Willow Nightingale has competed in Japan for Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling in 2022 and New Japan in 2023,…

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realhankmccoy · 2 months

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here’s a funny thing about the American cuckbaby:

’waahh! Wwwaaaaah! Everybody trying to feminize everything here it’s cruel look at that feminized fuckhead Jason’

meanwhile: Europe, SE Asia, E Asia sit there existing speaking 3 languages, far more ‘feminized’ fresh and clean and faggoty stylish than that feminised fuckhead Jason yet knows how to manage —

These cucks just being static nonentities mindlessly reproducing dingy grody dirty mess that is America’s fear of letting go of it’s Pro Wrestling shows and NFL and John Wayne guns and other dehumanising that takes

what could have been a man

and turns it into a parody of a man like a cartoon violent version with severe lack of language skills or critical thinking

that’s why travel is important kiddos

if you get to New Zealand or Italy maybe you can see what a man is

The real threat to men is coming from crap up on high in the empire that stupid cucks down below might believe — crap from Jordan Peterson and Camille Paglia And Trump and Elon Musk trying to turn men into babies as they have and mistaking a Babyish ape like Eminem for a man

and I really mean that.

Camille Paglia thinks Tim Allen is a man too

this dumb bitch needs to turn off her tv and letting it tell her

because Tim Allen is absolutely not a man in Turkey or Japan where there actually are men

Tim Allen is a cartoon ape parody of a man mmmmkay

I’m almost surprised Camille Paglia hasn’t popped up to tell us Kid Rock is a model of full masculinity yet. I’m guessing her simple mind sees ‘Kid’ and counts him out… who knows but I almost wouldn’t put it past her.

if men in america should be learning from Eminem and Tim Allen I am definitely out of here. What a shitpile country and that’s what the cultural critic comes up with???! For fuck’s sake

Camille cannot figure out men. It took her forever to come around to Led Zeppelin appreciation didn’t it? I mean what she’s some sort of genius for figuring out David Bowie was good? Good for you but I’m pretty sure that doesn’t take insight? At least that’s accurate compared to holding up Eminem — the opposite of Bowie, there being very little in common beyond black BACKUP singers — and screaming ‘look what I found to save us all!’

#Tim allen #camille paglia #elon musk #jordan peterson #donald trump #Kid rock #David bowie

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