AshC Posted September 9 Posted September 9 I stuck this on social media after the G1 final, for a mixed crowd of wrestling fans and non-fans. After the best part of 35 years, I had pretty much stopped watching wrestling on TV... Every match seemed the same. All of the meaningless video game fight sequences. The opening dance routine, with stand-off at the end. The 'let's pull my best amateur dramatics face' storytelling. Dives in every match, Canadian Destroyers left and right, kicking out of everything, ever. My favourite wrestler of the last 25 years is Hiroshi Tanahashi. Without speaking a word of English, the man spoke volumes. He was the spiritual successor to Bret Hart, a man who made people care so deeply, without sacrificing the fundamental foundations of what professional wrestling is... A sport. You can have mad angles, I love my mad angles. But the burning sun the entire thing orbits around is the presentation of a competitive sporting universe - even if it's one that accommodates undertakers and repo men as participants at times. 😂 I've gone on a tangent... so, I subscribed to the NJPW streaming service to see the last match of Tanahashi and it was glorious, the best match presentation of the year. This weekend, I watched the final of the G1 tournament, which, to the uninitiated, is the biggest annual tournament in pro wrestling. A star maker and a solidifier of legends. NJPW have lost almost all their top guys, be it to retirement or the American scene. And so, two relative newcomers were given the big final; Yuya Uemura and Ryohei Oiwa. And in this huge, spotlighted match, one of the biggest on the global wrestling calendar, they veered away from how people think we must present pro wrestling in the 2020s and put on this *absolute struggle*, a believable sporting contest, with high stakes and logic. It wasn't smoothly polished to the point was transparent, wrestling wasn't meant to be... what fights are? They're a *struggle*. And, after years and years of this perception that things have to be a certain way, as this particular group of modern fans pops for certain things, it's fascinating to see the reception for it. High, high praise. Huge. Because pro wrestling still works! This match could end up being an outlier. Or it could end up being one of the most consequential matches of the century. Maybe I'll be watching a bit longer yet. Quote
Paid Members Statto Posted October 19 Paid Members Posted October 19 Couldn't think of a better place to put this - just had this advertised to me on Instagram: My Dad is a Heel Wrestler | JFF Theater https://share.google/4bi64JvFsBFR8iqPq A movie from about a decade ago starring Tanahashi (and featuring a bunch of other NJPW guys of the time), streaming for free with English subtitles (if you create an account) until January at the link above. No idea if it's any good, mind.  Quote
simonworden Posted October 26 Posted October 26 I was at Vietnam Pro Wrestling's Brawl Hallow's Eve last night and following the main event they played a video of Yota Tsuji challenging Ares to a match at NJPW Bound for Unbound on Nov 20th. As I consider Ares a genuine friend, I'm absolutely stoked for him naturally. Quote
Paid Members gmoney Posted October 26 Paid Members Posted October 26 My brother was at that show as well. I think I've posted about this before, but he's had no interest in wrestling his entire life, but started going to VPW shows in his fifties and really getting into them. He was very impressed with Zack Sabre Jr. Quote
simonworden Posted Tuesday at 04:46 AM Posted Tuesday at 04:46 AM 18 hours ago, gmoney said: My brother was at that show as well. I think I've posted about this before, but he's had no interest in wrestling his entire life, but started going to VPW shows in his fifties and really getting into them. He was very impressed with Zack Sabre Jr. Yeah, you mentioned it before. Glad he is still going. The shows have a massive non-wrestling fan audience 4 of my group of 6 are not fans in the slightest outside of VPW. Zack isn't a huge favorite of mine but I really enjoyed his match and considering it was so different to the usual style it went down really well on the night. If you ever head over for a visit I would suggest timing it to attend one of the shows. I'll even buy you a headache inducing Heart of Darkness beer. Quote
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