gordi

Asahi Pro Wrestling signs Kato Kung Lee to a contact extending until the January Tokyo Dome show.

Biff Wellington would be a decent starting point for a revived Stampede.

The latest screen caps are from King of Colosseum 2, which is in essence a 3D upgrade of Fire Pro. I used that to reflect the higher production values of Asahi Pro compared to Michinoku Pro But... it's quite a bit more work with that one, particularly since I don't have a translated version of KOC 2, so I am going to have to save it for special occasions only. Have you gotten used to the grappling system in Fire Pro already?

Liger and Sasuke vs. Ohtani and Togo Oh, man. This match. About half-way through, Lance and Wally came in to the control room and said that I had to go into the arena and experience this for myself. I appreciate that kindness so much. I got to see half of what is probably an all-time classic up close, and to feel that immense crowd heat... I guess everyone knew that they were watching something special. Seems like pimping the welterweights so much on TV is paying off... but mainly it's just the way these guys work. They had the crowd, and me, reacting to everything they did. Liger and Ohtani, in particular, had crazy ring chemistry. Mutoh, Fujinami, and Hase vs. Choshu, Chono, and Sasaki Your basic shine, cut-off, heat, repeat, hot tag to Mutoh match. Didn't get over quite as much as you might have hoped, maybe because we ran two matches on one card with the same formula, maybe because it had to follow a damned "four and a half star" masterpiece. Crowd wasn't flat or anything, and Fujinami and Hase were just great in their roles, but... The upside is, they didn't overshadow the Main Event. El Samurai vs. Koji Kanemoto - Welterweight Title Unification match We did everything possible to hype this up in the short time we had, and we puled out the stops on the production values and bells and whistles... but in the end it always comes down to what the boys can do in the ring. And, well... this wasn't just a one-match show. I mean, Liger and Sasuke vs. Ohtani and Togo was clearly the match of the night, but Sammy and Kanemoto were a pretty close second. They worked almost a UWFi-style for about 15 minute, just throwing kicks and locking in hold after hold, with all kinds of reversals and counters and sudden shifts in momentum. Kanemoto was clearly getting the best of things working that style, so Samurai was forced to shake off the damage to his leg and take some risks to try and get the advantage. To his credit, he kept selling the leg and didn't do any really fancy stuff, sticking to simple, straightforward drop kicks and dives. He went for the Samurai bomb, but his leg gave out and Kanemoto almost took the match... but this was El Samurai's night and he fought out, hit a diving headbutt and finished things with a rolling cross armbreaker. The post-match belt-awarding ceremony went on and on, but the crowd didn't seem to mind at all. I was exhausted but happy. We ended up at an outdoor party back in Hakata, where we all gorged ourselves on rich food one last time before piling on the well-appointed Asahi Pro Wrestling buses for the long ride back to Osaka.

We got into Kyushu a full day early, mainly to eat the local ramen. Tonkotsu ramen's soup base is made by boiling pork bones. It's thick, rich, stinky, and easily one of the top five most delicious foods in Japan (in my opinion, anyway). The best tonkotsu is found in the many yatai (basically, street food stalls) in Fukuoka's Hakata district. It's a whole lifestyle here. Even though Fukuoka is in the South West and Wally's from the North East, he seems to know everybody here, and they all seem to love him. I had two huge bowls of tonkotsu yesterday, and another for late lunch today. We also had yaki-kare (Baked curry rice smothered in cheese) which was amazing, and menatiko-don (spicy marinated cod roe on rice) which I didn't much care for but Yuka couldn't get enough of. I can pretty much feel the pork fat oozing out of my pores today, and I've probably gained about two kilos since stepping off the train. Fukuoka is awesome! It's a big city, about 2.5 million people, but everyone seems countryside-friendly, if you know what I mean. The hall is lovely, right on the waterfront and sparkling new. Tajiri vs. Mochzuki Their reward for doing a good job opening the last Michinoku Pro show? A spot opening the first Asahi Pro show! They had the green light to open up their offence a bit more beyond just the stiff kicks, and once again they delivered. Tajiri blew everyone's mind by pulling a complex submission attempt using the ring ropes. He calls it the tarantula. Mochizuki's new gear looks great, and he pulled off a corner springboard jumping high kick. The Fukuoka crowd roared in appreciation, but quickly switched to boos when Mochi grabbed a handful of tights to get the pinfall. Bret and Davey-Boy vs. Nagata and Nakanishi vs. TenKoji vs. The Machines This was mainly a showcase for Bret, as we have plans for him at the November Dome show. I mean everybody had a chance to get some stuff in, but mainly we wanted to get a bunch of footage of Bret looking great that we could use in TV hype packages. If anything, my fellow Canadian gave too much to the young guys, selling like crazy for Tenzan and Kojima. He won clean with the sharpshooter, though. That was the main thing. We want to get his version of that hold over as a killer, to set up a battle of the sharpshooters with Choshu, down the line. Delfin, Naniwa, Smiley, and Yakushiji vs. Kaz, Terry Boy, Funaki, and Black Buffalo The jury's still out on Delfin's maturity, but with Naniwa and Yakushiji selling like madmen, we were able to get Kaz, Terry Boy, and Funaki over as heels with the Fukuoka crowd. To set up for the trios tournament, we are gonna run skits on TV with Black Buffalo, Jado, and Gedo teaching the former good guys how to cheat to win. Buffalo did a great job getting that idea over in this match, cracking the crowd up with his demonstrations of underhanded tactics,and his loud praise for his teammates when they followed suit. Dos Caras, Hamada, and TAKA vs. Jado, Gedo, and Lance We continued that story through into this match, with Kaz, Terry Boy, Funaki, and Black Buffalo remaining at ringside and Jado, Gedo, and Lance saying stuff like, "See! Like this!" whenever they pulled off some underhanded shenanigans. Funaki kept writing things down in a little pocket notebook, which I thought was a hilarious touch. Lance, however, got distracted trying to explain some of the finer points of heeling it up to the boys at ringside. That allowed Hamada to sneak over and hit a hurricanrana for the pin. Hogan, Spivey, and Koshinaka vs. Hawk, Norton, and Scorpio Your basic shine, cut-off, heat, repeat, hot tag to Hogan match. Sends the crowd into intermission fairly happy, pretty much every time. Post-match posing routine probably got the biggest pop of the night so far.

I just now realized what the Red Lions name is referencing. Nice touch!

That's a really nice roster!

Does Funk do the dance? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnBexLcMkq4

The computer screen is the retina of the mind's eye. Therefore, the computer screen is part of the physical structure of the brain. Therefore, whatever appears on the computer screen emerges as raw experience for those who read it. Therefore, Armchair Booking is reality, and reality is less than Armchair Booking.

Gimme a break, Jess! At least no-one can hit my character with the old "She was mine before she was yours! She's damaged goods! Woooo!"

The News and Notes are a nice touch. I'm really enjoying how so many of the threads in this project manage to find ways to use more than one voice and perspective.

Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Just for me, and for the beautiful sexy English language... just this one thing: It's "house afire" not "house of fire."

I met her when she was working one of my friend Kuuga's shows, she seemed really nice and I was impressed with her wrestling. As you say, very physical and a good seller. I'm glad to read that she is doing well.

Then, I chased myself up those stairs, climbed back inside, and spent the night holding the woman I was maybe falling in love with. We didn't, you know, completely consummate anything. I would very much have liked to, but she really didn't seem ready. I mean, whenever I made a move beyond light kissing, her whole body tensed up to the point where she was practically vibrating. But we spent the night together, and a very leisurely morning. Now here we were, celebrating our first big business success as a team. Out of 15,000 people who had bought tickets for the Fukuoka NJPW show, all but eleven had elected to go to the Asahi Pro Wrestling show that was being held instead. The show that we booked. I kissed her full on the lips, but once again she tensed up, like she wasn't sure how to respond. I gently placed her on the floor, and asked if she was OK. She was quiet for a very long time. I waited. She took my hand and led me out to the balcony. She looked around, like she was checking to make sure nobody was listening. Then she was quiet for a while. "Hey, Yuka, listen, if you don't..." "I am a cherry girl." She spoke quietly, it was noisy on the balcony, and she was pretty much looking at her shoes when she said it, but I heard her, and I understood. "So have you ever... had a boyfriend?" "Are you my boyfriend?" She looked at me, and she was so vulnerable in that moment. Genuinely scared that I might say no. I actually, literally, got down on one knee and formally requested that she be my girlfriend, in Japanese. She didn't actually say yes, because she was crying too hard to speak. Later, after we had tea, got some work done, listened to a little Chopin, and tried kissing again with limited success, she said, in Japanese,"You are my first boyfriend." I actually got mad when she said that. Not at her, but at Japanese dudes in general. How is it even possible that a woman like Yuka has waited 26 years for someone to ask her out? I suppose I should just be grateful but... what the hell is going on here? Later, in English, she asked if I could, please, if I don't mind, teach her how to kiss.

Apparently, when they made the announcement that the Fukuoka show was going to be headlined by a welterweight championship match, they also announced that anyone who had already purchased tickets would be allowed to bring them in for a refund. This afternoon, Yuka came by my place to break the news. "How many?" I was almost afraid to ask. "Eleven..." "Eleven THOUSAND people?!" I could see it all slipping away: The suite, the gifts, the salary, the dream job... the dream woman... "Gordi. No. Eleven tickets." I picked Yuka up and swung her around. Twice. She is my assistant now, full time. We were with Gedo and Jado on a conference call with El Samurai, Kanemoto, and the corporate guy, whose name is Yamashita, when I asked that the question of her being made my assistant be put on the agenda. Yamashita went completely silent for a full minute. Then, you could hear the little beeps as he punched a number into his phone. Then. Yuka's cell started ringing, and she excused herself and left the room. You could hear Yamashita yelling, but fortunately (I suppose) we couldn't hear her replies. At one point, exasperated, Yamashita asked, "Why can't you just get a Japanese boyfriend?" At that, Gedo and Jado almost cracked up. Gedo held up a piece of paper on which he had scawled, "He is ANKLE!!!" He and Jado started silently taking the piss out of me, but they stopped immediately when Yuka came back into the room, beaming. Yamashita noticed that the speaker phone was still on, lost his composure momentarily, regained it, and said in English, "It is not needed to place any item on the agenda. Yuka... uh... Ms. Harada is now personal assistant to the booker." Yuka did a little dance of triumph in her chair at the announcement. Seeing the effort is was costing Jado to keep a straight face almost caused me to crack up. I had a whole thing prepared, in Japanese, about how Yuka was working all day at the complex, then staying up late helping me, and how helpful she was, and so on... but I guess I didn't need it. Too bad, I wanted to show off my Japanese skills. We got back to business and worked out our best-case scenario for the Tokyo Dome, and a rough plan of how to build from Fukuoka to Tokyo on TV. I suggested that Mochizuki be given some proper wrestling gear, as his sleeveless gi looks a little too indie. I was kind of hoping that Jado and Gedo would pick up on the not so subtle hints I was dropping in their direction with that one, but if they did I couldn't tell. I mean, they agreed that Mochi's gear looks indie, but... After the meeting I walked Yuka home. We didn't stop for drinks and we didn't even talk much. I was thinking: I guess what the guys were trying to tell me is that Mr. Yamashita is Yuka's uncle. I figured that kind of complicated things a bit more. At the gym, unsolicited, Smiley Norman had offered advice about being careful with dating anyone from work. I actually think he was taking indirectly about something going on his own life... but it sure seemed to apply to my life as well. He's right, too. It's best to take it slow and to be sure before taking any big steps. If things go poorly, you could be stuck seeing that person every day and it could be really awkward. Now that Yuka is my assistant, and considering she's my boss's niece... maybe I'd be better off trying to find someone else... who loves pro wrestling and video games and classical music... and who speaks near-perfect English and who is fun to spend time with and who is gorgeous and who drinks but doesn't smoke and who really seems to like me. Damn. Yuka seemed to be lost in thought, too. She didn't speak a word over the last ten minutes of our walk. we got to her building and we stood there for a very long time. "Do you want to come up?" She spoke very quietly, but I heard her clear as a bell. This was not an angel-devil situation. This was me, climbing outside my own body, and screaming: Not tonight! Dude! Say: Not tonight! It was too soon, I wasn't sure, we were going to be working very closely for the foreseeable future. Saying yes would be a huge mistake. I climbed outside my own body and urged myself to do the smart thing. I watched myself say, "I would love to." and then I stood there on the street watching myself go inside with Yuka.

Heenan at RR '92 is such a good example of commentary adding a ton to the story. A lot of Japanese indies, particularly Osaka Pro and Dragon Gate, are really good at cluing newer fans in to what is going on at their live shows.I always appreciate the extra effort they put into that.

I don't really think that it's necessary to make all that much of the language barrier. When I first came to Japan 8 years ago I could barely speak a word and I understood even less... but when one guy came stomping and glaring out to the ring all dressed in black while the crowd booed and minor-key music played; and the other guy jogged out in gold and yellow to a jaunty tune, slapping hands with everyone at ringside; I still somehow managed to get the basic idea. I particularly remember one match: Tigers Mask vs. Ebessan. A mix of comedy and violence, the kind of thing Osaka Pro excels in. As they circle each other, they are discussing some kind of question, obviously of import to both men. Based on crowd reactions, it is something that is maybe only important to the two of them. Some minor thing. They seem to agree on some particular point. They lock up, exchange holds, break cleanly. The discussion continues. Further agreement, further clean wrestling. Then... a point of contention. They no longer see eye to eye. The crowd is howling with laughter, but the two wrestlers do not find this funny. The match gets more violent. The argument grows louder, and more contentious. Then, suddenly, they manage to find common ground. The voices grow soft and friendly again. Collar and elbow. An exchange of holds. A clean break. In a tone of voice that clearly communicates, "Yes, but..." Ebessan raises one more point. Tigers Mask flies into a rage. Whatever Ebessan has suggested, he cannot accept it. They sprint to the finish, Tigers destroying Ebessan with his biggest bombs. I could barely understand a word at that time, but I had zero trouble following the broader story. (As it turns out, the specifics were that they were discussing the best toppings for ramen).

Ideally, promos and commentary play a big role, building up to and reinforcing the story and helping us recognize beats and motivation. In practice, however... it doesn't always work out that way. I agree that Solie, at his best, was very good at helping tell the tale. Jim Ross, too, at his best, could shine a light on the important details. Joey Styles and Lance Russell were capable of doing it. Even late 80s Schiavone... But then, think of the last three years of WCW and how bad Schiavone became. Think of Mike Tenay's competent color work in WCW compared to the braying jackass he became in TNA. Think of what Mongo or Mark Madden or Dusty or current, cartoonish Jerry Lawler or JBL, at their get-myself-over worst, take away from the story in the ring. Think about how often a heated, hate-filled promo leads to a flashy, high-spot laden match. Yikes!

http://deadspin.com/tag/virgilbag Have you seen the insane series of stories people told about Virgil on Deadspin? Looks like you might be underplaying the insanity

Love that version of Helmsley: Fans are going to be sipping tea and enjoying fine scones at ringside...

I can't disagree with that. For example,my opinion of what was going on with Batman v. Superman as probably wildly different from the Director's opinion... Same could certainly be true of, say, TNA or Death of WCW booking, etc...

tl/dr version: - some, but not all matches definitely tell a specific story - we are free to interpret a given match however we like, but it is possible for our interpretations to be wrong.

This thread highlights the importance of not being all bi-polar, "it must be this or that" when talking about pro wrestling. SOME matches absolutely tell a story. Often, but not always, a simple one. If I were to say: - in match A a veteran main event star faced off against a younger up and comer. The veteran not only respected the younger wrestler, he was close to the younger man's family as well. However, the younger man wanted to take back the title the veteran was holding. So, while there was respect, there was also animosity. In match A, there was a point where the referee was out of commission. The veteran had a clear opportunity to win the match and retain his title, by cheating. He had to decide, did he want to win this way? He chose not to cheat. In the end, the veteran lost his title but gained a great deal of respect from the crowd. In match B, the younger wrestler from match A had risen to the point of being a top world title contender. However his younger brother, who had always felt like he was living in his older brother's shadow, was consumed with a jealous desire to prove himself the equal of his more successful sibling. On this night, the younger brother would pull out all the stops, and prove to the world that he was in fact as good as his older brother. In match C, the same wrestler from matches A and B had become the respected veteran: a former world champion, tournament champion, considered one of the best ever. An up and comer, himself a recent tournament winner, challenged the veteran to come and fight. At the beginning of match C, the veteran was generally considered the good guy and the brash challenger was more or less playing the role of heel. But, as the fight progressed, the younger wrestler won more and more of the crowd over with his toughness and determination. In the end, the younger wrestler, bloody and beaten, passed out from pain rather than giving up when trapped in the veteran's submission finisher. I doubt anyone here would have great difficulty figuring out what matches I am talking about, based just on the stories they told. SOME matches tell stories. Sometimes they are more complex. There were these two tag teams, you see: One, a pair of handsome athletic heroes. One hero, the Ace of the company. The other hero, his right-hand man and protege. The other, a pair that was perhaps less handsome, less athletic, less heroic... but they were tough as nails and over time maybe even if they were not portrayed as the heroes so much, you could get behind them as the never-say-die under-dogs. Time and again the Ace had saved his protege's bacon against the two ungainly tough guys. In this match, the protege was coming in with an injured leg, which the two tough guys wasted no time in going after, dealing out hellish punishment. With the protege all but out of the picture, they turned their attention to the Ace, just beating him horrifically. Eventually, the protege sacrificed himself to try and save the Ace... Do I need to continue? Is there even one person on this board who had to think long and hard to figure out what match that is, based simply on the story it was telling? SOME matches absolutely tell a specific story. It's fine if you wanna add your own perspective to the interpretation, but if you think Bret vs. Owen from WMX (or their cage match, for that matter) was NOT in any way telling a story about the younger brother needing to prove himself... well, you are kind of a dumb guy and you just don't get things. Not all matches are like that, though. Indulge me for a moment: Most of Richard Strauss' orchestral works are meant to paint a very specific image. In Ein Heldenleben there is CLEARLY a passage where what is going on is that Mr. and Mrs. Strauss are getting it on. In Don Quixote there is a passage where sheep are being disturbed and if you know the story you can easily tell what is happening. Any person with adequate hearing, not suffering from any kind of specialized musical synesthesia, and at least aware of what sheep and sex are should easily be able to distinguish between those two passages, and understand which is which. Even a dumb guy who is bad at getting stuff should have no problem. The problem was, at one point there were all kinds of musical bozos who wrote about EVERY Classical piece as if it were meant to paint a very specific picture. That is simply not the case. So, the pendulum swung 100 per cent in the opposite direction. It became, and remains, deeply unfashionable to write about any piece of classical music as if it is meant to tell a specific story or paint a particular picture. Both extremes are stupid, and wrong. That's also true in pro wrestling. Some pieces tell a particular story. Some matches tell a particular story. Some. Not all. Saying all matches tell a specific story is stupid and wrong, Saying every single match is entirely open to interpretation? Also, stupid and wrong. It's case by case. It depends. Hector Berlioz' Symphonie fantastique was meant to tell a particular story. According to Wikipedia, "The symphony is a piece of program music that tells the story of an artist gifted with a lively imagination who has poisoned himself with opium in the depths of despair because of hopeless, unrequited love." Which is accurate enough. Good job, Wikipedia. Of course, we are free to interpret it in our own way. Maybe it has some particular resonance for you or reflects something in your life that in no way involves opium or unrequited anything. Fair enough. If we listen to it together and understand it similarly, you and I will likely have different opinions about various aspects of the story being told and that is a good thing... BUT... if you insist that it's about a dude going fishing with his buddies on a cloudy day beside a peacefully burbling stream, and it's right because you are free to interpret it however you want... then, you are stupid and wrong and you have your head stuck up your own rear end. Beethoven's Symphony no. 5 probably isn't about anything. But, if you think it has an unhappy or even an ambiguous ending, you are mistaken. That blaze of C Major sunshine has a near-universal meaning. If you insist that you have the right to hear it as a bummer if that's what you want to do, you should try listening again with your head removed from your rear end. Same if you wanna insist that Bret vs. Piper from WM8 was a battle of who had the better full nelson (not that anyone ever would, but...) in this case, it's actually possible for an interpretation to be wrong. So, perhaps, the degree to which storytelling" is actually the story you as the viewer are telling may in part depend on just how far you have yours stuck up there.

It's a nice idea, using Stan Hansen as your voice there. I also wonder how and where Hansen met (I'm assuming) Orihara.

I was all, "Wait! What?" then I remembered you are writing in "Dave's" voice. I also found it funny, "Dave" saying "...whether or not UWFi even realizes it and capitalizes on it also remains to be seen" when UWFi has had Tamura headline two shows already.