BitCrusherr Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 RE : KURIHARA RETIREMENT SHOW Here's the reply I got from my attempt at using the reservation form to secure tickets for Wave at Korakuen. This is what Google translate made of it : And I think I have the inquiry, but was not able to read text There was a bug in my all. Again, please contact us by phone or by mail in other ways. I'm sorry to trouble you. Thank you So I've sent them a direct email in the worst broken Japanese imaginable. With text pasted directly from the site, and the picture link, so they have no doubt which show I'm on about. Thankfully the "2" and "5000" might clue them in that I'm after 2 of the 5000 yen tickets, and they don't get the wrong end of the stick, like I want to book 2 women for a 5000 men bukkake after the show. If you get no joy from that drop me a pm, I have few friends over there, I'll see if I can get anywhere with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 10, 2013 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 10, 2013 Thanks to my native friend-of-a-friend who knows seemingly every wrestler that's passed through Japan in the last two or three years at least - Ohno/Hero's MUM wrote on his Facebook the other day for Christ's sake - I have secured tickets via one of the wrestlers for the Ayumi Kurihara retirement show that two days ago I didn't realize was happening. Thank you BitCrusherr, owe you one. ZABUN/WAVE "Ayumi Kurihara Retirement Show - ~Thank You for Everything~", 8/4/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. Ayumi Kurihara vs. Miki Iida 2. Shu Shibutani & Mio Shirai vs. Sakura Hirota & Kana 3. Dynamite Kansai, Sonoko Kato & Carlos Amano vs. Ryo Mizunami, Aya Yuki & Sawako Shimono 4. Timed Entrance Battle Royale: Yumi Ohka vs. Yu Yamagata vs. Moeka Haruhi vs. Misaki Ohata vs. Cherry vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Kyoko Kimura vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Ranmaru vs. Mii Hibiscus (Apple Miyuki) vs. Ray vs. Shuri 5. Ayako Hamada vs. Sareee 6. Ayumi Kurihara Retirement Match: Ayumi Kurihara, AKINO & Miki Iida vs. GAMI, Aja Kong & Tomoka Nakagawa That card is brilliant for me. A really good mix of girls I've seen wrestle before (WAVE regulars), some current stars I've not experienced (Kana and Ray especially a/k/a Lin "Bitch" Bairon), and some real star names that I never thought I'd see - Hirota, Kato and Amano from GAEA's glory days (and by glory days I mean the TWC era) and in Aja and Dynamite, two indisputable Joshi legends. Real "might be my only chance" stuff here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitCrusherr Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Thanks to my native friend-of-a-friend who knows seemingly every wrestler that's passed through Japan in the last two or three years at least - Ohno/Hero's MUM wrote on his Facebook the other day for Christ's sake - I have secured tickets via one of the wrestlers for the Ayumi Kurihara retirement show that two days ago I didn't realize was happening. Thank you BitCrusherr, owe you one. ZABUN/WAVE "Ayumi Kurihara Retirement Show - ~Thank You for Everything~", 8/4/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. Ayumi Kurihara vs. Miki Iida 2. Shu Shibutani & Mio Shirai vs. Sakura Hirota & Kana 3. Dynamite Kansai, Sonoko Kato & Carlos Amano vs. Ryo Mizunami, Aya Yuki & Sawako Shimono 4. Timed Entrance Battle Royale: Yumi Ohka vs. Yu Yamagata vs. Moeka Haruhi vs. Misaki Ohata vs. Cherry vs. Tsukasa Fujimoto vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Kyoko Kimura vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Ranmaru vs. Mii Hibiscus (Apple Miyuki) vs. Ray vs. Shuri 5. Ayako Hamada vs. Sareee 6. Ayumi Kurihara Retirement Match: Ayumi Kurihara, AKINO & Miki Iida vs. GAMI, Aja Kong & Tomoka Nakagawa That card is brilliant for me. A really good mix of girls I've seen wrestle before (WAVE regulars), some current stars I've not experienced (Kana and Ray especially a/k/a Lin "Bitch" Bairon), and some real star names that I never thought I'd see - Hirota, Kato and Amano from GAEA's glory days (and by glory days I mean the TWC era) and in Aja and Dynamite, two indisputable Joshi legends. Real "might be my only chance" stuff here. Glad you're sorted. I arrive in Japan a few days after the show, so a little bit gutted that I'll be missing out on that. Enjoy! I'll be at the Gatoh Move events in August so be sure to come say hello! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 10, 2013 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 10, 2013 I'll be at the Gatoh Move events in August so be sure to come say hello! Saturday, Itabashi Green Hall (13:00) August 10 I reckon getting from Itabashi to Ryogoku for a 6 bell time is easily doable, so I'm giving this show serious consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 16, 2013 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2013 Good news/bad news/other... Going to try to get to Ayako Hamada's 15 Anniversary show at Shinjuku Face. Doors are half five and it's a Friday, so if there are tickets on the door, I'm there. Card has been announced and there are some interesting matches : Ayako Hamada VS Kojiki Masaaki Mochizuki VS Sakura Hirota Ayako Hamada & Yuu Yamagata VS Zap I & Zap T Tomoka Nakagawa, Susumu Yokosuka & K-Ness VS Ryo Mizunami, SuperFly, & Kaji Tomato Gran Hamada VS Kana Ayako Hamada, Aja Kong & Yuu Yamagata VS GAMI, AKINO & LEON Yes, Ayako's old man is wrestling Kana. Is it wrong that when I saw that my first thought was "dirty old man!" EDIT - Love it : Good news, my host has secured our tickets for the Fire Festival Finals, New Japan at Yokohama, and the Saturday show at Sumo Hall. Bad news 1 : he reports Korakuen on the Friday is "sold out" but expects like last year there will be some standing tickets on the day, and again given that it's a Friday, there will be a considerably smaller queue when the ticket office opens compared to last year (a Saturday) which I was still successful for anyway. Bad news 2 : he implies Finals day is sold out too. This is never a problem we've had before and I guess shows that New Japan is in greater demand than previous years. Good for them, bad for me. Even though it's the Saturday show that has the three matches I'm looking forward to most, the idea of going over, seeing 3/4 of the build up shows and then not seeing the final makes me feel a bit ill. I've asked our mate who knows dozens of the wrestlers if he knows anyone that can get us tickets, so all I can do know is wait and hope. Here is the intended revised itinerary, ideal scenario where everything runs to plan : NJPW, 02.08.2013 (TV Asahi Ch.2) 6.30 Tokyo Korakuen Hall DDT "BEER GARDEN FIGHT 2013", 03.08.2012 Shin-Kiba 1st RING Ayumi Kurihara Retirement Show 8/4/13 Tokyo Korakuen Hall ~ TICKETS GOT ZERO1, 04.08.2013 6.30 Tokyo Korakuen Hall ~ TICKETS GOT BJW Yokohama 05.08.2013 tuesday rest Wednesday 07/08/13 Ice Ribbon Dojo Saitama NJPW, 08.08.2013 (Samurai! TV) 6.30 Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium ~ TICKETS GOT Friday 9th Ayako 15th Anniversary Aventurera Shinjuku Face 6.30 Saturday, Itabashi Green Hall (13:00) August 10 Gatoh Move NJPW, 10.08.2013 (TV Asahi Ch.2) 6.00 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan ~ TICKETS GOT AJPW, 11.08.2013 (GAORA TV) Tokyo Korakuen Hall NJPW, 11.08.2013 (WPW) 3.00 Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan All Japan won't be a problem, I'll get those the week or so before the show. All Japan doesn't even sell out on the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobystag Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 That looks like an absolutely fantastic schedule and I really do hope you get tickets to both NJPW shows, the finals especially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 16, 2013 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2013 My connection says "Okay, i ask to NJPW staff for your G1 tickets" which is a step up from asking the wrestlers, didn't realize he was THAT buddy buddy with them. My hosts suggests we might have a better chance at standing room tickets on the day than the man in the shop was letting on, since there were standing room tickets on the day at Budokan for Kobashi's comeback from cancer. Which as you know was a bigger deal than the G1 final. Any G1 final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted July 16, 2013 Moderators Share Posted July 16, 2013 Is there much of a scalping culture in Japan for buying on the day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 16, 2013 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2013 Is there much of a scalping culture in Japan for buying on the day? Not that I'm aware of, and not that I've seen from any of the 16 shows I've seen over there to date. I could be wrong, but it doesn't seem like something that happens over there, unless it happens much further away from the venues than it does here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Of Swing Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Other than special one off shows do wrestling shows even sell out that often anymore? Genuine question by the way because the impression I have had for some time now is that pro wrestling in Japan is nowhere near it's glory days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 16, 2013 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2013 Other than special one off shows do wrestling shows even sell out that often anymore? Genuine question by the way because the impression I have had for some time now is that pro wrestling in Japan is nowhere near it's glory days. In general, no they don't. Take Korakuen which is where the hardcore wrestling fans gravitate to - New Japan sell it out standing room only, Zero One come close for the Fire Festival (which is a special show like you say), but Noah and All Japan don't manage it. The only other company I've seen sell it out the last two summers was Stardom, although that was a cross between wrestling fans coming to see wrestling, and horny men just coming to see Aikawa's tits bouncing. Since her retirement their Korakuen attendance went through the floor. Every other place I went to see New Japan - Yoyogi, Yokohama - still had empty seats, except Sumo Hall for the special occasion of the finals. Interest is on the up for New Japan though, my host reports having to try several locations - Lawsons, Korakuen ticket office, the New Japan shop - to secure our Yokohama and Ryogoku (Saturday) tickets, and all the finals tickets in the outlets are gone. Demand is way up from last year. Makes sense, the roster is a lot stronger in depth, particularly on top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Of Swing Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 Glad to hear that New Japan is seeing a turn around it certainly shows from I have seen of the promotion so far this year. Hope you have a great trip raid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 16, 2013 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2013 Thanks, I always do. Remarkably no matter how much planning I do, there's always unexpected wonderful things that I didn't plan for. This is the last time I take the flight with any intention of coming back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 23, 2013 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 23, 2013 (Shameless bump) My native associate has been successful in getting me and my host two tickets for finals day via whoever it is he knows in the office. I'm so happy. I was trying to explain to mama the other day what it would be like going over and not being able to see the final in terms of everything else being great, but not having that big climax at the end. I couldn't use the metaphor I wanted, given that I was talking to my mother, so I settled on "it's like having Sunday lunch and being given a plate with lovely roast potatoes, all the carrots and leeks, stuffing and lovely gravy, but..... what?? Where's the pork?? Oh...." So as a bare minimum, I've got the DDT show on the Saturday (virtual guarantee we can just rock up to 1st Ring and get in), third annual Joshi/Fire Festival double shot, and three nights of New Japan. Obviously once I'm there, I'll hope to upgrade to four nights of New Japan and a fuckton more. Especially the Ayako show. Dirty old man..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted August 3, 2013 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 3, 2013 Just a quick bump in lieu of a real write-up, had first beers and actual wrestling of this years jaunt tonight at the final night of DDT's "Beer Garden Fight 2013" at Shin Kiba 1st Ring, a glorious mix of wrestling show and barbecue/piss up where the wrestlers cook you shit. The matches were a great mix of proper wrestling and comedy (if you've seen Danshoku Dino, you know what to expect of DDT) and my highlight was a four way elimination between GAMI, two lads and a cat, where you could be eliminated by pinfall, over the top rope or being judged to be too drunk to continue. Can't argue with that for Y1000 which is less than a tenner. Best value show I've been to since we go into All Japan for free two years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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