Pro-Wrestling On My Mind

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...

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...

Kota Ibushi is my favorite pro-wrestler. Hands down, no contest, no one else comes close. One of the reasons is that, every time I see him wrestle, it feels like a religious experience. The way he performs, he moves, he acts, all of it is a glorious spectacle to behold. Ritualistic dances are par for the course when he is in the ring, as the following pictures show.    I should get these images made into a triptych... Notice Okada in the middle picture, kneeling in reverence, mouth hanging open in awe (as he should be). I would be in this same posture every time I watched a Kota Ibushi match if there was not someone in front of me to block my view. What inspired me to ruminate about my pro-wrestling god today was having another religious experience, though this one was food-based. I tried a croiffle, a croissant waffle, for the first time today. From now on, any time I read about manna from the heavens, I will be imagining this. Dear reader, my soul transcended to a higher pla...