Pro-Wrestling On My Mind

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...

I love art in all its mediums. Paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, anything that captures and conveys emotion and beauty. One of the things I miss most about being a student in Tokyo is that my student ID got me into many museums either free or at a great discount. I don't get to go to as many exhibits as I used to since I am no longer a student and I miss it (and believe me, I have reconsidered going back to school in part to get that access again). Perhaps that is why it is one of my dreams, if I ever get obscenely wealthy, is to have two galleries. One would be in my home for me to enjoy and one would be a room or building I donate so that everyone can enjoy some art. For my own gallery, I already know at least one piece I would want adorning the walls. I fell in love with this image the moment I saw it. It's a Renaissance painting transported to the social media era. There is so much going on here to dissect. The location, the perspective, the positioning. Was thi...

Someone was very excited to be playing with his friends from Mexico last night. So much so that he got a case of the zoomies. Hiro- Kamaitachi burst out from the entrance curtain, ran around the ring, up into the north section stands, came back down to finish circling the ring, ran up into the south stands, then finally made it to the ring apron, where he clapped in exhaustion. Anyone who has owned a cat and been awakened by a crash or other loud noise in the early morning hours has probably seen a similar scene.   After wearing himself out, he did what my cats typically do, lie down for a nap and ignore everyone else. However, during this brief respite, the inner golden retriever made an appearance. Sleepy kicks * My cocker spaniel used to move her legs like that when she was having a particularly intense dream or getting really good belly rubs. I can't express enough how much I adore this absolutely lovely weirdo of a human being. It would be a far better world if we could all li...

As the title says, today was Fantastica Mania Friday for me, and it certainly was fantastic! It was the last day of the 2025 series of shows with visiting luchadors from CMLL and the Tag Team Partner managed to get us second row seats. Lots of amazing wrestling, a good dose of silliness, and a fair amount of people ending up in my lap. It was a great night. I also love that NJPW finally cracked a little and basically said "This lucha stuff is too awesome. Audience, clip that (but only 60 seconds or less)." This is one of my favorite pics of the night as it very much captures the personality of my favorite golden retriever soul in a black cat body. Also, it's rare to see these two matched up, and that's a shame because they had some amazing moments together tonight. I'll post more from the show this weekend, but it's bedtime for now. Hope you also had a fantastic Friday Dear Reader!

If you were unaware, LIJ’s Bushi has a karaage * shop in the north-east section of Tokyo** called Marubu Shouten. Now that you know that, hold that thought. A Tumblr post I have come across multiple times on various platforms discusses a drink called “The Flavor.” The original poster, heedra, describes how they have mixed the cranberry flavor of Mike’s Hard Lemonade with Lime Cucumber Gatorade to create a drink that has a taste. What that taste is, however, is unknown. The taste buds recognize a flavor, but you experience a mental 404 error when you try to piece together what exactly that flavor is. As someone who loves to try new and... unique flavors, I have longed to drink “The Flavor” ever since I first read about it. Unfortunately, the ingredients are hard, if not impossible, to come by in Japan. That’s where Bushi and his shop come in. Dear reader, let me introduce you to “クロピス.” Read as kuropisu in the Latin alphabet, it would probably be written as Curopis for a brand name. T...

Hiromu and Naito have a new towel for sale. Looking at them in the promo images, I was struck by a thought that I have had about these two before. You know the whole golden retriever/black cat personality thing? Naito is the golden retriever physically and Hiromu the cat, but, personality-wise, Hiromu is the golden retriever and Naito is the black cat. Maybe this only makes sense to me, but to me it makes perfect sense and these pictures really show it off. To the left is a cat-dog and to the right is a dog-cat.* Do you see it? Hiromu's a cat that's had waaaaay too much of the nip and has the ultra-zoomies while Naito is the older dog whose disdain for everything is always apparent. Watch "Fievel Goes West" or read "Pixie and Brutus" and I think you'll get it. Anyway, long story short, I love their friendship and I may be buying this towel. P.S. Is it me, or does Hiromu look like a fresh-faced tween in his picture? I need to do a post on NJPW boys aging...

I like to think, Dear Reader, that I am a person of, at minimum, average level intelligence. However, every now and then something happens that gives me the feeling that even a circle is sharper than I am. Case in point: Wrestlers and their teeth. Specifically, Shinsuke Nakamura and his teeth. When I first got into New Japan, Nakamura was still a member of the roster (though his tenure would soon come to an end). I also watched a fair number of old New Japan events online to catch up with who was who, faction histories, etc. One of the first things I remember thinking about Nakamura is “Huh, he has no teeth.” I would see close-ups of him during matches and there would always be a solid black line where his teeth would normally be. I thought it looked kind of odd, and my brain just assumed he’s lost his teeth as part of his MMA exploits, some match with a crazy stipulation, through an accident or who knows what and never bothered to get any kind of replacement. It never occurred to me t...

My dream job is to work from home, being paid to read, play games, write, and sleep. Unfortunately society has yet to see what a major contribution this would be from me and I have not found someone willing to pay me for these valuable skills. Thus I am daily forced to leave the comfort of my bed to do a “real job”. Fortunately, I quite like my real job.* That job, if you were wondering dear reader, is teacher. English teacher, to be specific. One of the things I like about my job is that we are allowed, and encouraged, to show our personality when teaching. Liking pro-wrestling is a significant part of who I am, so mentions of it pop up during lessons from time to time. Take, for example, when I had to teach about the past tense. One unit addresses usage of the past tense in relation to changes in states of being (e.g. "In spring it was X, now it is Y.")  This was being taught in October and King of Pro-Wrestling happened during the lessons in the unit, so I used the results...

Pictured: Yota Tsuji's nickname on full display as he makes his entrance at Wrestle Dynasty.  Not pictured: The author-photographer once again shaking her head and wondering who in the hell thought this was a good idea. “Gene Blast.” Ugh. Every time I hear it, or even just see it, I cringe HARD. It is SUCH a BAD nickname. How did it ever get past quality control (I assume New Japan has some level of quality control)?! Did no one workshop this nickname among other wrestlers/staff (Chris Charlton is RIGHT THERE!)? Among a sample selection of fans? I really like Tsuji and his 1,000 watt smile. But “Gene Blast” makes me want to bang my head against the wall until I forget I heard it. There is no way a native English speaker was asked about this moniker before it was approved, unless it was a completely pure soul who has never had a dirty thought in their life or someone who heard “Gene Blast” and thought “Oh, they can’t be serious. This is going to be HILARIOUS.” If it’s the latter cas...

I went to visit one of my favorite families today for a rousing (and surprisingly peaceful) game of Monopoly. One of the niblings won a copy of the game in a dance off and wants to play it as much as possible. Who am I to say no to the whims of a child? This made me think about children and whims, eventually bringing me to a consideration of the opposite scenario: Children doing things (or having things done to them) because the whims of their parents. And this led to "Damn, I really miss seeing babies dressed up as Kushida!" I feel like, before Kushida left for his stint in WWE, seeing babies dressed up like him was a somewhat regular occurrence at NJPW shows. It at least happened enough that I have a solid memory of it. However, once he came back, I have not really seen it. I've seen a fair number of people who dress up as Hiromu, and there is one girl often at shows who dresses as The Great-O-Khan (and her costume is AMAZING), but I don't see people dressing up the...

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. 

Watched New Year Dash. TJP should be on commentary more often. He should also be on the red carpet at major awards shows criticizing the fashion of attendees because his analysis is spot on. When Yota Tsuji came out, TJP gleefully exclaimed: "I just found Carmen Sandiego!" And by God, he was right!        This is the same person! NJPW, find a way to capitalize this with some weird new YouTube series! In the meantime, my inner child is going to give me giggle fits for at least the next week every time I think of this.

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...