Pro-Wrestling On My Mind

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...

There's a new interview with Kosei Fujita up on the NJPW website:  https://www.njpw.co.jp/552948 Whenever I think about Fujita, this quote always pops up in my mind: "In an age of performative cruelty, kindness is punk as fuck. Be punk as fuck." - Daniel Abraham The article mentions an example of Fujita's punkness, that he addresses many people, including Hiroshi Tanahashi, as " オマエ." This is one of the many ways to say "you" in Japanese and is typically used by men to address those of equal or lesser standing than the speaker (or to insinuate that you believe the person you are addressing is of equal or lower standing than you). So the 22 year old referring to a decorated veteran who is also the company president with this term would be considered rude by some people. But you know what? Equality is also punk as fuck. Yet Fujita is both a Japanese Young Punk and a Number One Sweet Boy. You can see it in the way he talks and behaves in and outside t...