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 ...

One of the most interesting parts of my re-watch of "Lucha Underground" has been catching references. I had not yet started watching NJPW while "Lucha Underground" was airing, so occasional mentions by commentary to New Japan wrestlers meant nothing to me. During this re-watch, however, I have more than once quoted Captain America because "I understood that reference!"  This reminded me, though, of the case of one New Japan wrestler I was aware of before I became a fan, and how that knowledge came from an unexpected source. I like browsing the shelves at a store in Tokyo that has many books in English I often come across some fascinating titles. Back a dozen or so many years ago, the following book caught my eye: In "Lovesick Japan," author Mark D. West looks at court cases and legal decisions to analyze how love, romance, and all its complications are viewed and dealt with in Japanese society, both generally and in the judicial system. One incid...

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, ...

Watching the New Japan Cup final, I realized something during Great-O-Khan & TJP's entrance.  If I tried to move any part of my body in the same way he twists and turns his hand, I'd probably end up in the hospital.   The next time there is an Addams Family live action project, O-Khan needs to fire his agent if they do not get him the part of Thing. He's demonstrated again and again that he would be perfect for the part. Although, I never have seen him snap. I'll be sure to ask him if he can if I ever get a photo opp chance with him. He needs a United Empire wristband. Or maybe a miniature towel.

Never thought I would have much in common with EVIL (except a love of Iyo Sky), but the New Japan Cup proved me wrong. GET OUTTA MY FACE! This may look like EVIL is posing majestically with a timely breeze adding to the scene by dramatically blowing his hair. What is actually happening, however, is EVIL is locking in a submission hold while some of his hair is sticking to his face and he can't move it because his hands are otherwise occupied. Thus, he is attempting, and failing, at the age old remedy of blowing it out of the way with his breath. Ugh, the number of times I have been in a similar situation, especially in the sticky and humid Japanese summers. Or when a hair has become weirdly positioned because of my glasses and I cannot figure out how to move it. So I huff and puff like an imitation of the Big Bad Wolf and hope my own damn hair will stop annoying me and fall back into place, but alas, it does not and I am forced to stop whatever I am doing so I can free my hands and...

Was ELP actually eating oranges while on commentary at the 3/15 show in Osaka? If so, does anyone have pictures? I want "ELP eating oranges" to be my personal "Bitch eating crackers."  

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...

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...

Confession: Today's title is a lie. A double lie, actually, because 1)  I actually learned two things and 2) I learned both of those things yesterday. However, I learned both of these things too close to bedtime, so writing about them happens today. That, and I can rarely resist a reference. So what did I learn? First, I learned that I need to ruminate more. Or perhaps I learned that I should not trust my first instinct. The result of the main event of New Japan's anniversary show last night was that Goto beat Tanahashi to retain the title. Based on what I wrote yesterday about my reconsideration of my initial thoughts on the match, it makes sense. Also, Tag Team Partner watched the match and said he doesn't think Tanahashi's knees are capable of another title run. Sad to hear, and it also puts the kibosh on my thoughts about Tana having a G1 run, though I thought that was a pretty unlikely scenario. On the plus side, maybe I am not as bad at predicting NJPW outcomes as...

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 ...

The synapses were firing again on Friday during Fantastica Mania. When the fourth match entrances started and Los Depredadores came out, I was looking at Volador Jr. and thinking "Who does he remind me of...?" It hit me as we were waiting for the match to start while the referee was checking the wrestlers. Dear Reader, do you see it? Or have I completely lost my mind (or maybe my eyes are just that much worse (they are already super not great) and I need to visit the optometrist)?   

  Look at these cute little punks. They seem so sweet and innocent, don't they? Well, they are NOT. These LIARS want you to believe that it is March. There is no way in hell it is March; it's barely half way through February. I don't know what weird game they are trying to play with these falsehoods, but they should be ashamed of themselves. Pretending it's March when it is clearly not is NOT punk.

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!

Looked at the NJPW website today for info on the Fantastica Mania show tomorrow and saw this: They released another one! And so soon after the last bunch! My wallet is weeping because I can only set aside so much money for merch every month. It's so precious though (as is Uemura. Looks-wise, he's definitely the baby of his Young Lion batch). The eyes and the smile! Uemura and Tsuji need to have a smile-off. On a side note, how are we feeling about the facial hair Dear Reader? My initial thought was "Nah" because it's rather sparse, but the more I look at it (and picture what it may become), the more I am starting to like it. It will be interesting to see how this develops.  

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...

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...