gordi

And then suddenly, somehow 90 minutes had passed and there was only half an hour left and everyone was kinda sad because we hadn't had much chance to hang out... but then the master of the club said we could stay an extra 90 minutes and there was much rejoicing. I'd understood, at best, a third of what was going on with all the talk show stuff (but I still enjoyed just being there with my friends, eating and drinking and soaking up the atmosphere). It's easier for me though, when the wrestlers come sit with us at the tables. I can ask questions when I don't understand, and everyone is infinitely patient with me. It was great to see Billyken Kid again. I don't think I had talked with him in about 4 years, but he was all, "Oh! Gordi! Hisashiburi!" as soon as he saw me. (I can understand why I'd be relatively easy to remember, but I still get a kick when they even remember my name). We had a nice long chat, and he regaled our table with stories of wrestling in Mexico and how his mask got designed, and of wrestling Liger and how Mascara Sagrada was one of his favourite wrestlers as a kid (Billyken really lit up talking about him) and how he got to wrestle Mascara Sagrada Jr. in AAA (Blue Demon Jr., La Parka Jr., Mascara Sagrada Jr. & Perro Aguayo Jr. defeat Goku, Jiraiya, Shiiba & Tobikage 10/4/98 - Tobikage is Billyken). All four of the wrestlers at the party are current Dotonbori Pro champions, but Akagi's belt was not ready yet, so we made him one. (Also we were the first people to get to see the other new belts). Later on, he took off his mask and I made believe that I was shocked that Akagi is "Mach" Hayato Nanjyo. That cracked up my table, and fortunately the man himself took it in good humour. He's had a lot of gimmicks: Dark Ranger Hayato Nanjyo Kabuto Daio Beetle a.k.a. Kabuto Beetle a.k.a. Beetle Mach Hayato Miracle Giant and my personal favourite: Miracle Man Young TORU is the current Dotobori Pro Champion. He also beat Koji Kanemoto in August 2017 to become VKF champion. There was a small group of young women at the party who are all clearly in love with him. And of course my main man. Next week, some of the boys from Vancouver All Star Wrestling are coming to Osaka. we were kind of making plans for that. We're going to go to the same awesome all-you-can-eat-and-drink Chinese restaurant where we had the Bonenkai last month.

Bonenkai is the year-end party. Shinnenkai is the first party of the year. Today was the Dotonbori Pro Wrestling Shinnenkai. It was in what I like to refer to only half-jokingly as "Deep Osaka." One of those clubs where there is no sign on the street and it's very difficult to find if you haven't been there before. My old wrestling/drinking buddies Kai and Kenji took me to a couple of "Deep Osaka" places a few years ago and I got a huge kick out of it. Generally those places have a small but loyal regular clientele and one of them has to take you to the club the first time you go. In this case, Cooger sent me the address, but he had also never been there before so he wasn't able to give me any more information other than that it was close to a particular shop in Namba. On Tuesdays I teach a group of mechanical engineers, and I told them of my dilemma (Japanese addresses can be hilariously difficult to figure out). We spent the first 15 minutes of our class working out the most likely location of the party, and the best route for me to take from the train station so I wouldn't get lost. My private students are awesome, basically always ready to help me out with stuff like this even though they are paying for our time together. I went to Osaka an hour early in case I couldn't find the place. I found it immediately. My students' directions were perfect. It's in a part of the Shinsaibashi neighbourhood, close to the famous Glico sign, that is nothing but little restaurants, clubs, burlesque houses, and so on, all piled one atop the other. Once I found the place, I wandered around for a bit, then waited outside the party location to help my various friends find it as they arrived. The building itself is floor after floor of little private clubs and karaoke rooms and such. Our shinnenkai space was, TARDIS-like, much bigger inside than seemed possible from the outside. Comfortable, but intimate. I could see why they picked this space. We got one free drink, and there was a pretty basic but slightly eclectic selection of free snacks (French fries, edamame, gyoza, whiskey chocolates, brandied cherries...) and other food and more drinks were in the extremely reasonable 200-300 yen range. There was a kind of talk show, and a question-and-answer period, and individual wrestler interviews...

They appear to be using closed fists

I agree with SirEdger. It's great how, up and down the roster, you are developing everyone's characters and setting up rivalries.

I get a kick out of Abdullah Tamba being called "Little Abdullah"

Yeah! I got the finals that I wanted... and with some controversy, maybe a rematch down the line?

Austin Idol, Kokina,and Makhan Singh! Great hoss heel team right there. And... who will put on the crazier, more exciting 6-man tourney, JWA or WCCW??? I'm hoping for Idol, Kokina, and Singh vs the Von Erichs as your final.

Actually, kix, I'm surprised you didn't get to this one first: and another of my favourites: Gian from Doraemon and Noaya Ogawa!

I love how the fallout from Starrcade continues to keep the action in the various NWA territories linked and connected. Also, like everyone else, I loved Paul E's introduction to the Lutte audience.

Is it true that, in Albany, they call Stan Hansen "Steamed Ham-sen?" Your layout, your use of photos, and the quotes from the announcers perfectly cover what I imagine a Prime Time Wrestling episode would feel like in this world.

Definitely not an issue for me. In fact, I find myself wondering how far out of whack you'd have to get in order for it to bug me. Maybe if you blasted straight through to mid-August and were doing story-lines about guys cramping up because it's too hot in the arena now... but even then I think I could wrap my head around it. One day? I can't imagine that being a problem for anyone... but who know?

Love Nord winning by CO, and Rose headlining in Portland makes sense.

Appreciate the mention of The High Flyers' fight in Japan. Dusty vs Kham sounds like a great brawl.

Battle lines are being drawn. It's the right way to,set up for what's coming.

Whoa!! Two title changes on one TV show! Guerreros running wild! And I wonder who Bock's team-mates are gonna be.

JWA: Japan Pro Wrestling Association JWA Heavyweight Champion: Genichiro Tenryu JWA Japanese Champion: Tatsumi Fujinami JWA Tag Team Champions: Power Rush (Riki Choshu and Rusher Kimura) JWA Middleweight Champion: Tiger Mask (Sayama) JWA Trios Champions: The Machines (Super Strong Machine, Sumo Machine, & Very Tall Machine) JWA Middleweight Tag Team Champions: (Belts Currently Suspended) JWA Heavyweight Champion: Genichiro Tenryu - defeated Giant Baba (PWF World Heavyweight Champion), Jumbo Tsuruta (NWA International Heavyweight Champion) ,and Riki Choshu (Japan Pro Wrestling Champion) at the JWA Revival Debut Show, April 6, 1985, Tokyo, Nippon Budokan JWA Japanese Champion: Tatsumi Fujinami - Defeated Bruiser Brody on July 28, 1985, in Yokohama, to win the JWA Japanese Championship Tournament. JWA Tag Team Champions: The Fighting Sprits (Antonio Inoki and Akira Maeda) - defeated The American Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) at the JWA Revival Debut Show, April 6, Tokyo, Nippon Budokan The Giants (Andre the Giant and Giant Baba) - defeated The Fighting Spirits at the JWA Revival Second Chapter Tour Opening Show in Osaka, May 16th, 1985 Toukon (Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi) - defeated The Giants during the JWA Tournament on July 11, at the Osaka Prefectural Gym Power Rush (Riki Choshu and Rusher Kimura) - Defeated Toukon November 20th, 1985, in Fukuoka JWA Middleweight Champion: Black Tiger - defeated The Cobra (WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion), Nobuhiko Takada, and Shiro Koshinaka at the JWA Revival Debut Show, April 6, Tokyo, Nippon Budokan Dos Caras - Defeated Black Tiger on June 21, 1985 in Tokyo, at the Festival of Champions End of Tour show. Tiger Mask (Sayama) - Defeated Dos Caras on October 17th, 1985 in Seoul, Korea. JWA Trios Champions: The Machines (Super Strong Machine, Sumo Machine, & Very Tall Machine) - Defeated Tenryu, Hara, & Kawada at the JWA Trios Tournament Finals – on February 24, 1986 in Tokyo JWA Middleweight Tag Team Champions: Animal Hamaguchi and Mighty Inoue - defeated Keiichi Yamada and Gran Hamada at the JWA Revival Debut Show, April 6, Tokyo, Nippon Budokan Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez - defeated Mighty Animals at the JWA Revival Second Chapter Tour Opening Show in Osaka, May 16th, 1985 (Belts suspended when Adams and Hernandez split up without making a title defense)

JWA is pleased to announce the card for day 1 of the JWA Trios Tournament January 14th, live on Asahi TV: Trios Tournament Round 1 matches: Baba, Jumbo, and Misawa vs Fujinami, Kengo Kimura, and Hashimoto Tenryu, Hara, and Kawada vs Atisanoe, Afi, and Hickerson Choshu, Rusher Kimura, and Kensuke vs The Machines Fujiwara, Takada, and Funaki vs Dos Caras, El Canek, and Gran Hamada Undercard matches: JWA Middleweight Champion Tiger Mask vs Black Tiger Trios Tournament Alternate Bout: Yatsu, Teranishi, and Koshinaka vs Gordy, Ueda, and Goto Mighty Animals vs Mutoh and Yamada Kobayashi vs Hase

Absolutely smart booking to play to the young guys' strengths. I am well aware of the vignette where Abby eats raw chicken while staring into the camera. That's 100 percent what was playing in my head as I read that bit. Disgusting and disturbing.

Yep. Way to build up, like, half a dozen things with a single post-match angle!

I like how you are building up for the big card by teasing the fans with just a little bit of what they want to see.

This is really a terrific match. It's funny, it's classy, it's charming - part of that surely due to the dulcet tomes of Kent Walton - and it's a very solid British pro wrestling match on top of all that. The joke they pull between the first and second falls is as funny as anything Kuishinbo and Ebessan ever did.

Yep. I was actually thinking, "I'll have to track this one down on the internet later" as the Main Event was going on. I wasn't even drinking alcohol or gorging on carbs or anything, it was just wrestling and mark-out overload. On the plus side, I feel like watching Jericho vs Omega as it happened without knowing the finish kept it from feeling too long. I was caught up in it the whole way.

I'm in pretty much the same boat. I'll follow with interest and try to contribute what I can, but I'm not able to commit to being a major player in this debate at this time. It's the same with your excellent match review exchange idea, Matt D. If I had time, I'd be all over that, too.

Round 2 of the J Cup should be really exciting. Feel free to plunder the Asahi Pro roster as you see fit, for one offs or defections.

Are people really discounting Kenny? I think maybe it's just that we expect that level of performance out o Omega in '17 but we didn't expect it out of Jericho... so we're talking about Lionheart more than Young Master Togo. (EDIT: Just like Mad Dog said) For the record: I was really impressed by Omega's selling of the cumulative damage in this match, and pleased to see that was able to wrestle a compelling match without a go-go-go-go-faster-faster-faster pace. I thought he adjusted to his opponent and to the stip really well. True about Tanahashi. His performance is excusable under the circumstances... but it was fairly bad, nonetheless. I'll have to give the M.E. a re-watch. I was pretty burned out by the time it got started. 5+ hours of wrestling is a lot in one sitting, even for a guy like me. I enjoyed it, but all of the mark-out energy I had in me that night got spent on Ishii and Fale's segment, Cody vs Ibushi, Misu vs Goto, Scurll's entrance and some of Takahashi's spots, and Jericho vs Kenny. I didn't even mark out for Okada's entrance or the Camera zoom-away spot. I was spent. And I think a lot of people are so bummed out by the finish/booking that it's soured them on the match itself.