gordi

Referee Joe Higuchi '88 Bleh Beast Kix

Good luck with the surgery!

I'm glad you asked that question! Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. (or more commonly, just "Glico") is one of Japan's larger food companies. Based in Osaka, its many popular products include Glico caramel (which was originally marketed as providing glycogen for increased athletic performance with the slogan "300 Meters in a Single Piece,") Pocky (chocolate-coated pretzel sticks in many flavours) and Pretz (flavoured pretzel sticks without coating). The Glico running man sign is an Iconic Osaka landmark. Sanrio Co., Ltd. is a very, very, very Japanese company that has made an enormous fortune producing cute (or kawaii) licensed characters, most notably Hello Kitty. Inspired by the "I swear I am not making this up" fact that New Japan and Sanrio once teamed up for a Hello Kitty/Pro Wrestling merchandising crossover that reportedly led to an actual massive increase in female attendees at New Japan events... Glico, Sanryo, Fujiko F. Fujio Robotic Cats Manufacturing Concern, and The Shohei and Motoko Baba Business Park have teamed up to create: Gli-San Pro Wrestling. Gli-San Puroresu represents the ultimate in Only-in-Japan corporate synergy: Snack culture, kawaii culture, and pro wrestling!!

Yes! Yellow cards and red cards and all matches 2/3 falls unless otherwise specified: what a great way to make your promotion stand out right from the start.

Dkooky's time is up. I take Manami Toyota, 1991 El Boricua Superkix to finish off round 29, then: Superkix El Boricua Gordi dkookyPunk Lee Casebolt Joeg Grimmas Elliot Low Blow Beast Blehschmidt

Gli-San Puroresu Kayfabe-breaking introduction: My favourite style of wrestling is late-80s to mid-90s Kings Road style: Jumbo, Tenryu, Misawa, Kawada stiff, violent, manly, heavy on in-ring story-telling and long-term character development The best time I have ever had as a wrestling fan was the period from 2009 through 2014, from when I first got settled here in Japan until the sad day when my beloved local indy, Osaka Pro Wrestling, ceased to operate as a regular promotion. On the surface, Osaka Pro could not be much different from peak-years AJPW. With an emphasis on entertainment, high-flying action, variety, comedy, and nostalgia Osaka Pro drew a small but loyal crowd of men, women, and families from a wide variety of age groups and social backgrounds. The idea of Gli-San Puroresu is to combine some of the things I love about peak years AJPW with some of the things I loved about the last few years of Osaka Pro. So, in drafting my roster my hope was that everyone on the card would be capable of working in a believable manner with great stiffness and intensity but also a willingness to bump and sell so that every wrestler in every match has the chance to shine. I also want everyone I drafted to be capable of telling a story in the ring and of working a match that builds to a satisfying conclusion. I'm also hoping that everyone on the roster can bring their own personal "something extra" to the basic requirements of stiffness, intensity, bumping, selling, and story-telling. For example: John Nord's big bumps, Bam Bam Bigelow's amazing agility for his size, Rusher Kimura's grizzled toughness, or Mayumi Ozaki's eagerness to go toe to toe with much larger and stronger opponents. I want to de-emphasize the unfortunate trend to do "too much" in the ring and the tendency to take unnecessary risks. In 1988-1992, that wasn't as much of a problem as it would become by the late 1990s, but still... While I have great respect for the fairly rigid and hierarchical way that Japanese pro wrestling was booked in the 1988-1992 time frame, my hope was that pretty much every wrestler on the Gli-San roster would have a realistic chance to work the main event at a big show, (even if it's as the third member of a three-person tag team). I loved the many different ways that Osaka Pro used Kyusei Ninja Ranmaru and Apple Miyuki on their shows. That inspired me to include a joshi division in Gli-San. Its possible that mixing female wrestlers, more egalitarian booking, and some light entertainment and nostalgia aspects into the Kings Road formula might dilute it too much, but my hope is to end up with a fantasy promotion that features the best of both worlds.

That really is the thing, isn't it? It's absolutely not just grabbing the best wrestlers or biggest names available, it's more about finding the pieces that best complete your particular puzzle.

Great stuff so far. Looking forward to reading more.

Pretty good haul for Joe with his 6 picks!

Megumi Kudo '92 Joe and Jet are next up. I assume we are still skipping Joe.

lol So true... ...I think Cujo, King, and Rex might still be out there, and about 40 or 50 others who used the gimmick at least once. Such as Moondog Fifi

Mayumi Ozaki '92 Grim Punk Joe Jet Lee El B Elliot LB

Gordi takes Dynamite Kansai, 1992 Beast and Bleh are next.

Sakigake Gantetsu '92 (Dick Togo) El B LB El B Lee Jet Joe

Beast Gordi El Boricua Then: Low Blow El Boricua Lee Casebolt Jetlag Joeg dkookyPunk Grimmas Gordi Beast Blehschmidt Superkix

I took Teranishi last round so, Kantaro Hoshino '88, please. Beast is next.

I'm jumping punk too... gordi picks Isamu "Carpenter" Teranishi Dkookypunk has 3 picks if and when... Jet KIx Lee Sir El B Elliot LB Beast

We still gonna wait 4 hours for dkookypunk considering he's missed his last 2?

Gran Hamada. 1990 Lee KIx Jet Joe Bleh

Dos Caras 1989 SirEd dkookypunk Grimmas

There really are. 1988-1992 is just an incredibly rich pro wrestling talent pool. Wrestlers I absolutely love are still on the board late in round 15. That's pretty amazing.

I am REALLY happy he was still available this late. I figure a big dangerous-looking dude who can bump like that would have no problem getting over in a King's Road style promotion,

Great idea for discussion, Castlebolt! I like the way you planned it out. I wanted to put together a very King's Road style roster with a mix of my favourite Japanese guys and gaijin who I feel have what it takes to match up with guys like Hashimoto and Jumbo and to get over in Japan. My dream was to have a singles title, tag title, and six-man title match headlining my super card... And if at all possible to have the top three matches be native vs gaijin, and with a mix of heavy hitters and athleticism and just a touch of nostalgia. I think the top of my card came together exactly as I had hoped. Now I want to put together at least one each of heavy hitting, athletic and exciting, and nostalgic throwback matches on the undercard, with a slightly heavier emphasis on Japanese talent but hopefully still sniping another two or three of the right sort of gaijin wrestler. I have been constantly adjusting my proxy list to fit my strategy based on who is on the board. LowBlow has been doing a great job making picks when I'm asleep or at work (living in Japan means that I am on a different time schedule).

John Nord!!!! HUSS! HUSS! HUSS! Beast LowBlow Elliott S-kix

They are both off the board. (LowBlow beat me to it).