Pro-Wrestling On My Mind

"The mistaken use of one word in place of a similar sounding one, often with an amusing effect." This is the Oxford English Dictionary 's definition of a malapropism. What it fails to mention is that said amusing effect could potentially cost you your job (or at least get you a severe reprimand) depending on what sort of slip of the tongue you make in what profession. As a teacher of English as a second language to young kids, malapropisms are a very realistic and dangerous aspect of my career as I can (sometimes intentionally, but mostly unintentionally) make highly inappropriate mistakes in multiple languages. Fortunately, I have managed to go over a decade without a career-ending worthy slip (that anyone heard), but there was one particular period where I had to be VERY careful because of an unexpected threat from the combination of a catchy song and my love of pro-wrestling.  It was the spring of 2018 when the movie "Coco" was released in Japan (though here ...

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...

-Congrats to Hiromu Takahashi for having the dubious distinction of being involved in the only pro-wrestling match I have ever seen that made me feel physically ill just from watching it. -Hiromu has a thing for people who spit water, huh? Or just spit. -Were the rain jackets provided to attendees or were they asked to bring them? -I'm pretty sure at least one person involved in the planning of this event is part of a fetish community and their goal was to make sure all of their friends kinks were seen in some form during this show. -I never thought I could hate mayonnaise more than I already do. I was so very,  very  wrong. -The fan who took a bite of that bread... I'm not sure if Hiromu thought he was a real one or was horrified that someone actually did it. Probably both. Either way, said fan should probably see a doctor for a tetanus booster or something. -I love that Honma's socks are the same color as his boots.    -John Cena's in GLEAT?! -The audience had to s...

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...

Ah, the Young Lions. Such precious babies. And, more importantly, such  good boys. Trained so well. I was reminded of this at Fantastica Mania last Friday during the 4th match. It was El Desperado, Neon, and Templario vs. Los Depredadores (Volador Jr., Rugido, and Magnus). Towards the end of the match, Los Depredadores, being the bad guys, decided to start taking the masks off the other team. Of course, if you know anything about lucha libre, you know that the masks are sacred and this action is, to put it simply, a very big no-no. Of course the Young Lions are trained in how to wrestle, but they are also trained in the culture  of wrestling, so they know the importance of masks. They are also always on duty during matches to do whatever needs to be done, from collecting discarded gear, supplying cold compresses, and (attempting) to break things up when a match gets out of control. In this match, from the SECOND it looked like someone's mask was coming off, every single Young ...

Still tired. It's been a long week. So here's Despy and Titan giving me my money's worth, also at the BOSJ 30 Semi-Final on 5/26/2023. 

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...