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, ...

Catching up on New Japan Cup action today as I was able to work from home. I am on the 3/11 show now and I had to step away from my laptop because the timer went off for my spaghetti cooking. Before I left, only Walker Stewart was on commentary. When I came back, I became extremely confused. I thought Walker was doing a pirate impression, or perhaps an actual pirate had, for some reason, joined him on commentary. Turns out, that's just what Drilla Moloney sounds like. Fun fact to learn. For real (these are my dogs)* though, if someone told me he was related to the guy who sings the SpongeBob, I'd be inclined to believe them. On the topic of the New Japan Cup, I've noticed Naito reaching out to little kids to do a fist touch when he's heading to the back recently. It's adorable, but when did that start? I didn't think Naito was child friendly, or even people friendly for that matter. Is this what happens when you tag team with an actual ray of sunshine? And bless...

So Sanada debuted another homemade shirt in his losing effort against Yuya Uemura in the first round of this year's New Japan Cup.  That red font is giving major Disney vibes. Cold Skull better watch it or the Mouse might Skull End him in court. Can't Paradise Lock your way out of a copyright lawsuit. At this point I think we can safely assume what Sanada's favorite English swear word is. And speaking of Japanese pro-wrestlers who definitely have a favorite English swear word, Okada recently released a new shirt via Pro Wrestling Tees. Now, as I like to say to my students, It's quiz time! Who remembers the analogies section of the SAT? If you have no idea what I am talking about, congratulations on not having to go through high school in America or for taking the SAT in 2005 or after (and, if it's the latter, get the hell off my lawn you young whippersnapper). The analogies section gave you a pair of words that were somehow related and you had to pick a correspondin...

This is a Cold Skull: We can all agree on this, yes? Now, dear reader, tell me what this is: Would you not, immediately upon seeing this, think "That is a cold skull."? But "Dragon Quest Treasure" insists on claiming that object is a "Cool Head." The DQ series loves its puns, I've played enough of the main series entries and spin-offs to know that, but sometimes it is best to just be straightforward. The original Japanese name is no better though. It's " いてついた化石," which translates to Icy Fossil. More accurate, but still not correct. As it turns out, though, this is the only thing about DQT that irks me. Otherwise, I am really enjoying the game. I finished the main story of "Hades" and took a break (will definitely go back to finish some post-game stuff and make good friends with the Olympians) and still wanted to fight physically, so "Ace Attorney Investigations" is also on hold at the moment. I'm getting through ...

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...

A second post today because I watched the Royal Rumble and was inspired.  We need a wrestling database akin to Letterboxd. I have my first category ready: Wrestlers who betrayed their friends because they felt they were being screwed over and/or held back and then made their own merch at home to mock their former friends. But only one of them looks like an extra in a Lady Gaga music video. Now I kinda want to see them as a tag team. And, let's be honest, having them become a tag team because of this makes more sense than a lot of other tag teams WWE has thrown together over the years.* *One of my pet conspiracy theories is that a lot of the seemingly random WWE teams we've seen over the years is the result of shenanigans at company parties, consisting of drunk people putting on blindfolds and throwing darts at a roster list taped to a wall.

Another piece of fashion commentary gold from New Year Dash was TJP (again, put this man on red carpet commentary!) noting that the bottom of Sanada's shirt has been getting shorter and shorter since he joined the Bullet Club War Dogs. This kicked my curiosity into overdrive and, when that happens, there is only one solution: RESEARCH! Here's the results of rewatching multiple NJPW events dating back to Power Struggle - Super Junior Tag League 2024, terribly edited screencaps and all. Heel Turns and Hemlines: The Evolution of Fashion in Pro-Wrestling, a Case Study of New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Sanada* So is TJP correct? Is Sanada's shirt getting shorter and shorter as time passes? If so, what does this mean? Let's look at the evidence. Exhibit 1 Power Struggle - Super Junior Tag League (11/4/2024): The sad day when Sanada betrayed Taichi, but what really matters is the fit. The shadows threw me off at first, but the red line marks where the hemline of Sanada's s...

Two posts today because I spent 9/10ths of yesterday sleeping and the remaining 1/10th doing nothing! I love when pro-wrestlers get cute and creative. Like the book on his opponents Hiromu makes for BOSJ every year. Fantastic stuff. I saw a picture on Instagram the other day of Yota Tsuji with an "A Gedo a Day" calendar that he made for David Finlay. Fabulous. I sent it to my Tag Team Partner and, in response, he sent me the following screenshot:  "Speaking of homemade merch..." My mind is showing me such a clear image of Sanada, sitting in his home on the floor with one of those short ironing boards before him, carefully ironing the letters and numbers onto this shirt, chuckling evilly to himself. Thinking "This will show Taichi and those other bastards." Can you hear the "Hehehe?" I can. I love it. That image is going to be popping in and out of my head all week. Also, thank you to the shirt for distracting me from those creepy-ass... sunglasse...

I'm too tired today to write anything with much thought behind it, so here is Robbie Eagles giving me my money's worth at the BOSJ 30 Semi-Finals on 5/26/2023. And this instance was also thanks to Clark Connors. Does he like throwing people into chairs? Or does he get a bonus every time he does? I'm not sure which thought I like more, so I'll go with both.

I'm organizing the 11,000+ photos stored on my phone and was reminded of the following: I once said to my Tag Team Partner that if we get the good seats at any Best of the Super Juniors event and at least one wrestler doesn't end up in my lap, we should demand a refund. I was mostly joking, but not entirely as it happens more often than not, what with all the flipping, jumping, and high flying that goes on in a typical BOSJ match.  We got good seats for the Hachioji show on 5/18/2024, and Kosei Fujita and Clark Connors made sure I got my money's worth. Thanks boys!

Been thinking lately about why I like the wrestlers I do. One great thing about New Japan is that I can say I’m a fan of pretty much everyone on the roster. But, as we all know, there is a difference between being a fan and being a stan. In a match with two wrestlers I like, I light my penlights for the one I stan more than the other. But what makes me stan someone? Having given some thought to this topic, I think it boils down to the following four points: 1) Ability/Style Wrestlers can do so many amazing moves, but I definitely have a style preference. When I was a child, I was deep in the trenches of the Monday Night Wars. One of the things that initially kept me tuned in to WCW was the cruiserweight division. The speed, power, and athleticism that comes with being in the lighter weight class has always fascinated me more than the heavyweight division. I’ve been to more New Japan Best of the Super Junior shows than any other type for that very reason. As I once told a friend who ask...