Pro-Wrestling On My Mind

My heart briefly soared and then dropped back down with a dull thud at the end of the J4G vs. War Dogs match at the New Japan Cup final. When commentary started to get excited about a run-in to aid J4G, my mind immediately went "DOUKI?!" even though I knew it wasn't really realistic. Turns out it was members of Hontai, which makes sense after Tanahashi's post-match overture on 3/17. Tana offered the handshake of alliance/peace after chasing off the War Dogs and it seems like J4G are now a part of Hontai.  I can only assume this means Taka sold his backlog of J4G shirts. Tag Team Partner and I were talking about Tanahashi's initial offer to J4G and he wondered if New Japan is in line for a major stable reset. With Bullet Club fracturing, Hontai getting kind of bloated now that it officially includes Chaos and J4G, and even hints (at least in English commentary) of issues in United Empire regarding leadership, it seems like a possibility. Even LIJ has had a change, ...

First off, happy anniversary New Japan Pro-Wrestling!  If you didn't already know, t oday is New Japan’s anniversary event, being held at the Ota City Gymnasium. It’s an interesting match lineup, with ELP facing a mystery opponent, the Bullet Club fracture being battled out in the 4th match (another post on that strife is coming soon), El Desperado’s 3rd title defense this reign (the match I am most interested in), and, in what is a pretty darn big deal, the main event is possibly Hiroshi Tanahashi’s last chance at capturing the IWGP heavyweight title before he retires. Tanahashi’s challenging Goto is the match that has given me the most food for thought. I am pretty bad about guessing how matches and storylines will play out in NJPW (either that or, as a more fun theory, Gedo can read my mind and always decides “Yeah I’m definitely doing the opposite of what that fool thinks ” ). My initial idea on learning about this match was that Goto is a placeholder champion, that he is defin...

I am highly partial to cutesy merch, even more so if the merch becomes some level of ridiculous in its cutesiness. Thus, when I saw the NJPW 2025 desk calendar for sale at the Tokon shop last year, I had to buy it.  These ‘lil guys really make me want a pro-wrestling version of “Animal Crossing.” Calendars, unfortunately, have to be designed and laid out in advance before they go on sale and, in the time between when this calendar was conceived and released to the public, a few... changes occurred. Take, for example, the page for May: Awkward... and they even put them in May because 5. “The best laid plans of wrestlers and creative...”, or something to that effect. All is not lost though, thanks to my super amazing image editing skills. In what took me a whole 10 minutes, I fixed the calendar to make a J4G version (but didn’t switch the month as United Empire already has April and they don’t need to be brought into this feud).  And, just for the heck of it, I made a pro-Sanaya...

Isn’t the title a great word? Say it out loud to yourself and see if it doesn’t make you smile. I came across “chuckability” in a post on IG rating potential wizard animal familiars. FYI, the American Water Shrew gets a 3/3 stars on chuckability. Creatures getting tossed around makes me think of Jeff Cobb, as throwing full grown men around like they are rag dolls is one of his greatest talents. So now, I have a new dream. I want to interview Jeff Cobb. The entire interview will consist of me asking him to rate every member of the New Japan roster (and a few bonus wrestlers from other promotions) on their chuckability. The followup YouTube series will then feature Cobb putting his rankings to the test. Call me New Japan. I have so many amazing ideas. CHUCKABILITY! And as for who I think who has the best chuckability (because of course I thought of this as well. Not that I could chuck anyone on the NJPW roster,but it's still an amusing thought.), that's a tough call. By virtue of...

“Never do that again Cole, there’s people listening.” - Wade Barrett during the Women’s Royal Rumble The above quote made me laugh and inspired today's post.  The quality of commentary can have such a major impact on pro-wrestling. It’s not necessary for enjoyment, as attending a live event makes clear, but it can greatly enhance or detract from the experience when watching on TV or streaming. Good commentary can elevate an average match to good and great to legendary. Conversely, bad commentary belittles, if not ruins, a match; it can distract from talent and even harm careers. There have been many times over the years where poor commentary has made me reach for (or want to reach for in instances when it was not me in control of the remote) the mute button. Every time Jerry Lawler so much as mentioned women during the Attitude Era filled me with disgust and my brain tried to transform his voice to sound like a teacher from the “Peanuts” cartoons. Michael Cole’s tenure at attemptin...

I had a busy weekend, so I am trying to post twice a day to compensate for skipping Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Since today's first post was about Taiji Ishimori, I figured I would stick with the theme and share one of the best pictures I have ever taken at a New Japan Show: BONE (Soldier)! I snapped this picture on 5/18/2018 at Korakuen Hall. It was the first show of the Best of the Super Juniors 25 tournament and also my very first BOSJ show. This was an A Block match, with Ishimori defeating Will Osprey (that would be Will's head he's stepping on in the picture). Ishimori would end up making the finals of that year's tournament and would face Hiromu Takahashi, one of the best matches I have ever seen and one I was also fortunate to see live. So here's to you, Superhuman Taiji Ishimori (and your super tight pants. And your amazing abs)! Hard to believe this was 7 whole years ago. Let's have at least 7 more years of being ridiculous and looking fantastic whil...

Today's post is brought to you by Captain Holt. No, Dear Reader, this post is not revealing the title of my in-progress dark fantasy YA novel. Sorry to disappoint. Also, spoilers ahead for a 7-ish year old video game. As a Christmas treat for myself, I bought the game "Hades" for my Switch. It had been on my wish list for a while and was on sale for a pretty good discount. I am currently still playing through it (I've beaten Hades three times so far) and loving it.  What made me think about pro-wrestling when playing it was the boss of the Asphodel section of the Underworld, the Bone Hydra. Of course, Bone as the first part of a title directly takes my mind to Bone Soldier, aka Taiji Ishimori. So, every time I fight this creature, especially with the Twin Fists and especially in the early stages when it was still kicking my ass, I think about Taiji Ishimori and wish the Bone Soldier could help me take on the Bone Hydra. Or be fighting against me with the Bone Hydra. W...