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In terms of the trios tournament, the main thing is to try and get The Space Mutineers over as so-called cool heels. The idea is that having charismatic nice guys reluctantly cheating to win while dressed up in deliberately cheesy sci-fi outfits will be a merchandising bonanza. I feel compelled to repeat that my job is not so much to come up with the big picture ideas as it is to do the best I can with what I've been given.

 

At any rate: Kaz Hayashi is now Kingsnake Hardcastle. Terry Boy Teioh is now Trojan Beef Thruster. Sho Funaki is now Smash Fistrock. Black Buffalo remains Base Slabpecs. To their infinite credit, the boys are 100 per cent committed to this.

 

We are also trying to keep the heat up between Kanemoto and El Samurai, for their title rematch at the Dome. And we wanna start a slow build between Liger and Ohtani. And we'd like Skyin' High to come out of the trios tourney looking strong...

 

Finally, in soap opera news: Yuka and I have made a big commitment. We've bought a game system together. More on that in the next update.

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C'est vraiment gentil de ta part!

 

We watched the late-October episode of Asahi World Pro Wrestling presented by Asahi Beer and Asahi Soft Drinks and Asahi Shinbun Newspaper on Asahi TV at my place, with four big styrofoam pots of 7-11 oden and a bottle of Harushika Cho Karakuchi, a dry sake from Nara city. Oden is pretty hard to describe to anyone who has never tried it. It's recognizable stuff like eggs and tofu slow simmered in a soy-flavoured fish or chicken broth with less recognizable stuff like daikon radish, devil's tongue/konyaku, and various type of things made out of fish paste. It's perfect autumn food. It was really important for Yuka that I understand that Kansai-area oden is much better than Tokyo-area oden, due to its stronger-tasting broth.

 

Asahi World Pro Wrestling presented by Asahi Beer and Asahi Soft Drinks and Asahi Shinbun Newspaper on Asahi TV opened with a pre-taped bit where Bret Hart and Jushin Liger spoke about the upcoming Halloween Havoc card in America. Basically, Liger is getting a title shot in WCW, and so he and Bret were politely suggesting that it might be nice if Bret were given a shot at the IWGP belt.

 

Then there was a tightly edited clip of Bret performing his famous five-move sequence on various Asahi Pro wrestlers. So: he hits the inverted atomic drop on Norton, T2000 machine, Lance... while Soichi Shibata slowly and excitedly announces the name of the move and a giant "1" is superimposed on the screen, and so on through the Russian legsweep, backbreaker, elbowdrop from the second rope, and finally number five, the Sharpshooter.

 

We cut to an insane commercial where Choshu is lariat-ing various things, destroying each of them. Yuka says the ad is for Mitsuya Cider (which isn't cider. It's more like Sprite, as I discovered to my disappointment my first week in Japan).

 

Then there is a long sequence of match clips highlighting the trios tournament. Skyin' High come across as the team to beat. From this we segue into the last ten minutes of The Space Mutineers vs. Lyin' Guys. Togo, Gado, and Jedo are dominating while Black Buffalo goes apoplectic on the outside. Eventually Kingsnake, Trojan, and Smash start to bend the rules, culminating with Smash clocking Jado with a prop space helmet, allowing Trojan to get the pin with his feet on the ropes. Lyin' Guys are angry at first, but Buffalo talks them down, and then they seem to understand and acknowledge how far their Ishingun stablemates have progressed... it all ends in handshakes and hugs of congratulations.

 

Gotta go to work! Write more later.

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Another corporate cross-over commercial: Mutoh and El Samurai training. Hill running, calisthenics, heavy bag work, weights, running the ropes and other in-ring drills... then a quick break. Mutoh chugs a bottle of Jūrokucha. Sammy chugs an Ichigeki Sports Drink. Then... back to training as hilariously over-inspirational trumpet fanfares blare in the background.

 

This is followed up by clips of Mutoh and El Samurai making appearances on game shows, talk shows, variety shows, and the news. There are more clips of Choshu playing a heavy in a popular police drama. Then, a replay of the Choshu commercial, and even though I am looking for any kind of reference to Mitsuya Cider, really searching for a connection to the product, however remote... I draw a complete blank.

 

The penultimate segment is a long series of clips from the tag team tournament. We sweated blood trying to pull clips of every single participant getting their best stuff in. Next week should be easier, as we'll have a few more matches to work with. Anyway, we did an OK job.

 

We had Spivey hitting a big boot, a spinebuster and a savage sidewalk slam; Hogan posing, doing a big back rake, and hitting a double big boot with Spivey on Super Strong Machine. We had Hirata coming back with a big lariat on Spivey, and T2000 machine hitting a backdrop. we had the big axe bomber finish.

 

We pulled some great footage from Fujinami and Hase vs. Lance and Scorp. Lots of reversals and counters, and a fantastic northern lights suplex finisher.

 

Nakanishi looked pretty good in his clips, matching Norton and Hawk with power of his own. Nagata's stiff strikes looked great on camera. The modified doomsday device finisher got a huge reaction from the crowd and Nagata sold it like death.

 

Dos Caras' flying cross chop, Kosh's top rope underhook suplex, Tenzan's Mongolian chops, Kojima's diving elbow drop... then the final series of commercials.

 

And we come back to Kiyoshi Kodama, looking dapper, explaining that there will be four title matches on the November Tokyo Dome card: Mutoh defending the IWGP title, Kanemoto getting one more shot at El Samurai's Asahi Pro Welterweight Title, The Tag Tournament Finals, and the Trios Tournament Finals.

 

We close out with footage of The Bulldog Foundation vs Masahiro Chono and Kensuke Sasaki. The match goes back and forth, with Chono and Kensuke relying on underhanded tactics to overcome Bret's technical ability and Davey Boy's power. The Bulldog Foundation are in control as TV time runs out.

 

Yuka and I kill the rest of the evening sipping dry sake and building Asahi Pro CAWS on Fire Pro. The Create a Wrestler feature is incredibly deep, detailed, and fun. They have so many moves built in to their edit mode, and you can even adjust each character's CPU logic so that they behave like the real wrestler even when controlled by the computer.

 

There are aspects of our relationship that are still coming along a little more slowly than I might ideally desire... but, really, having a girlfriend who actually wants to stay up all night watching wresting and making CAWS almost makes up for that.

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For Halloween I dressed up like The Destroyer.

 

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Yuka was worried that I might get in trouble if anyone saw me wearing an AJPW jersey. I figured that I could make a reasonable argument that since Baba helped set Asahi Pro up in the first place it wasn't really corporate treason...

 

I went to some of the cafes and bars and other places that I usually go to. Without exception, everyone knew it was me right away. A few of the older people I ran into made the specific connection to Beyer. Everyone else at least seemed to get that it was a pro wrestling cosplay. Some people took pictures with me, some people bought me drinks. Little kids everywhere stopped and waved, Whenever anyone said "Happy Halloween!" I was all *innocent confusion* "It's Halloween?" Only a couple of people seemed to get that I was messing with them. Everyone else seemed very confused.

 

I ended up at the Karaage place, waiting for Yuka. The bartender, the cook and a couple of the regulars were there. We killed time by making simple drawings of famous pro wrestlers:

 

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That's my simple Hash and the bartender's simple Muta.

 

Life in Japan often exceeds my wildest expectations. Today was just another one of those days.

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We'd been hoping to get some footage from WCW of the Halloween Havoc show to use on the early November episode of Asahi World Pro Wrestling presented by Asahi Beer and Asahi Soft Drinks and Asahi Shinbun Newspaper on Asahi TV, but so far we'v heard nothing from them. Not just no footage, we don't even have official results yet.

 

In a way, that works out well, though, since we can run four full matches on this episode. There are some skits featuring The Space Mutineers, some clips of El Samurai, Mutoh, and Choshu making TV appearances, a repeat of the Bret Hart Five Moves video, and of course tons of match highlights to fill out the time slot.

 

The main thing, though, is the four full matches:

 

Masahiro Chono and Kensuke Sasaki vs. Saikyo Yaijin: I felt like this was the first match where Chono and Kensuke started to show some real chemistry, working together to put a beating on the young boys. The match told a decent story, with Nakanishi's power and Nagata's technique allowing them to gain an early advantage, forcing the Ishingun members to resort to underhanded tactics to gain and maintain an advantage. The young guys managed to fight back, and Nakanishi trapped Chono in an Argentine Backbreaker, only for Sasaki to take out the big man's knees. Chono landed on top of Nakanashi, and rolled him up for the pin.

 

Li-Ta-Smi vs. Skyin' High: A face vs. face barn-burner showcasing Liger, but putting Sasuke over in the end.

 

American Stars Hips vs. Cannon Fodder: The surprise finish of the tournament, seeing Hogan, of all people, submit cleanly to a Lance Storm roll-over Single Leg Crab Hold in the middle of the ring. I'll write more abut this later.

 

Lyin' Guys vs. Try and Fly: Probably the best-worked match of the trios tournament so far. Heel Togo vs. face TAKA is an incredible match-up, and one we can build on for the future. This match showcased it beautifully, along with typically strong heel work from Jado and Gedo, some nice high spots from Hamada, and sublime selling from Yakushiji.

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The Hulk Hogan Story

 

One of the Tag Tournament shows was booked into Kobe World Hall. On the night before, a bunch of the guys stayed over in Osaka to tape TV segments, use the company gym, and so on. We had dinner at the hotel's steak and salmon buffet with Lance and his wife Tina, Smiley Norman and his girlfriend and Wally and his wife. The buffet was amazing. even more amazing: Wally's wife is crazy hot... I also think she might be TAKA's sister, but I could be wrong She has a Chinese-sounding name (Shian-Li Tsang, I think) and I'm pretty sure TAKA is 100 percent Japanese... anyway she is drop-dead gorgeous, tall, leggy, and very very nice. Almost as amazing: I think it's supposed to be a secret, so keep it under your hat, but: Smiley showed up with Kyoko Inoue on his arm and they were really affectionate all evening.

 

I was talking about how much I already missed the camaraderie of going to different towns and hanging out after the shows. Wally laughed at me and called me an idiot and said that I'm the booker, so I can easily make an excuse that I need to be *wherever* and just go. "You can delegate, yes? The people you work with are good at their jobs. yes?. So go! Hit the road. Nincompoop." Even Yuka laughed at me. I can't believe it hadn't occurred to me before.

 

Lance was talking about how he'd been going to hospitals and children's homes with the Hulkster on behalf of Make A Wish... and as he was talking about it who walked into the buffet but the man himself. On his arm was... well, not to be unkind, but one of the most ridiculous-looking women I have ever seen. She was a tiny, deeply tanned Japanese bottle blonde with the largest breasts I have ever seen on a woman. It was almost exactly as if my old special friend Yoko had been given saline implants the exact size of regulation NBA basketballs. Yuka punched me for staring, and I shot her a look that I hope conferred, "Yuka, believe me,I am not staring because I like those" Hogan had the staff bring over another table and two chairs so that they could join us, ordered three bottles of the most amazing vintage wine, had them bring over three chateaubriand and a standing rib roast, dominated the conversation, paid for everything... and then we found ourselves agreeing to go to Nakano Children's Hospital early the next day.

 

"Now you'll see for yourself," Lance told us.

 

And, yeah, it probably is just something you have to experience for yourself. What can I say... It's a group of really sick kids, some of them with almost zero chance of survival, laughing and playing and in certain cases even running around a little. It's huge, strong men (In addition to Hulk and Lance, Nakanishi was there), showing their kind and gentle and playful side. Yuka got on the phone to her uncle, but stared weeping uncontrollably as she tried to describe the scene to him. Tina immediately made her way over to lend Yuka moral support. A couple of completely bald little kids were climbing all over Wally and Nakanishi as they howled with laughter. Hogan and his hilariously-proportioned friend were making balloon animals. Lance was reading picture books to a couple of kids in wheelchairs, carefully sounding out the Japanese words and asking them questions about the pictures. Our allotted time passed way too quickly, but I have to admit I was kind of relieved when we had to leave. It was all a bit too much for me. I was emotionally overwhelmed, but I knew we'd be back again. Yuka, TIna, Wally's wife, and Hogan's friend had each agreed to take one kid to the show in Osaka in December. Shian-Li's kid had said, completely clear eyed, that he would see her again in December if he lived that long. We rode back to the hotel in a long black limousine. Shian-Li cried openly the whole way. She was not the only one.

 

While we were riding, Hogan told Lance, "Brother, Stars Hips Eagle came back from WCW with a bit of a bad wheel. Dinged his knee. I don't know if he's going to be able to take that rolling crab of yours." He waited for Lance's response, which was total acceptance and understanding of the situation. "Brother, I want you to slap that bad boy on me." Lance wondered if Hogan's hip was okay for taking a single-leg. "Slap it on, Brother, right in the middle of that ring. Crank it right up. Hulkster's hip is all healed up and ready to be hung and bung!"

 

It wasn't the planned finish. I don't even know if you can technically say it was meant to be part of the heat segment, considering that the heels were total underdogs in the match. About 12 minutes in, Hogan whipped Lance into the ropes and set up for the big boot... but Lance ducked and slid and grabbed onto Hogan's leg, rolling up and taking him down... and Hogan sold for a few long seconds that he was gonna power out of it, but then he collapsed to the mat and tapped out clean, right in the middle of the ring. I can only assume that it was Hogan's present to Lance, an acknowledgment that Hulkster appreciated having company on those visits, having a quiet guy to read stories to the kids who can't run around and play.

 

Whatever Hulkster's reasoning, the 8000 fans packed into Kobe World Hall went absolutely nuts. In the control room, Yuka's eyes actually welled up with tears. "What a nice thing he did," she whispered. Later I asked Hogan if he wanted us to keep the finish off of TV. He didn't even hesitate. "Throw it up there, brother, for the whole world to see. That Canadian kid beat me fair and square."

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  • 2 weeks later...

You ever get the feeling that the world we are living in is not "the real world"?

 

I guests it sounds goofy, but sometimes I am utterly overwhelmed by a feeling that "our" world is just a figment of the imagination of some being - or group of beings - living in a world that is unimagnably more complex than ours. Lately, as much as I try to shut it out, I feel with something approaching certainty that the being that was primarily responsible for bringing our world into existence is seriously contemplating abandoning us. That probably sounds pretty messed up... but have you felt it, too?

 

It might just be the overwhelming strangeness of changing jobs and locations twice in such a short time... but if I am being honest I believe that my changing circumstances are the *result* of my strange feelings rather than the *cause*

 

I hope that makes sense.

 

Anyway, those are the things I think about while I'm waiting for that footage from WCW to arrive.

 

On a more positive note, the new cinema will be opening soon. There are two Hollywood movies playing: Toy Story and Braveheart. Which one do you think we should go and see?

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Great suggestion! Toy Story was really good. Yuka absolutely loved the Slinky Dog. In fact, "Slinkykins" is her new pet name for my penis.

 

So we've got yet another episode of Asahi World Pro Wrestling presented by Asahi Beer and Asahi Soft Drinks and Asahi Shinbun Newspaper on Asahi TV ready to go, without any footage from WCW. Just as well, though, as there is a ton of ground to cover.

 

We open with a shot of The Space Mutineers doing a late-night cross-country run while The Carpenters' version of Calling Occupant of Interplanetary Craft plays in the background. Smash Fistrock stops and points up as a disc-shaped light scoots across the night sky. We smash cut to the interior of what seems to be a flying saucer piloted by Mie and Kei of the late-70s/early-80s pop duo Pink Lady. Smash, Kingsnake, Trojan, and Base are bathed in a glowing light. We smash cut again and they are back on the ground, wearing aluminum and chrome lamé jumpsuits, comically enormous space boots, and fishbowl space helmets. Pink Lady's 1978 smash hit UFO has replaced the Carpenters on the soundtrack. The Mutineers run off into the distance. Gravity no longer seems to have its normal hold on them.

 

This is followed up with a series of clips of The Space Mutineers cheating to win their matches during the trios tournament. Mainly, they just bonk people with their space boots or bubble helmets while Base Slabpecs distracts the ref.

 

As the commercials play, I confess to Yuka that I still can't see the connection between Choshu's ad and the drink she says it is trying to promote. "Look for the arrows," she tells me.

 

When we return, Bret and Davey vs. Lance and Scorp is in progress. The Bulldog Foundation are dominating, until the match spills outside. Suddenly, a large man wearing sunglasses and a hooded sweatshirt jumps out of the crowd and just levels Bret with a Clothesline. With the ref distracted, trying to restore order, Lance and Scorp lay in the double teams on Davey Boy. The ref comes back in the ring and chases Lance out, but it's already too late. 2 Cold Scorpio hits a Somersault Legdrop from the top corner for the one, two....THREEEEE!

 

As Cannon Fodder celebrate in the ring, the large man removes his hood and glasses. It's Choshu! He kicks Bret twice, hard, and disappears into the crowd.

 

We then see clips of Los Still-Pretty-Good-icos (Kosh and Caras with Kato Kung Lee) beating The Machines. At the end of the clip, T2000 Machine attacks his partner Super Strong Machine, and leaves him lying in the ring.

 

More commercials, then we run down the Tag Tournament results: Dragon Hearts and Chono and Sasaki are the top two teams, and so they will meet at the Tokyo Dome to determine the first-ever Asahi Pro Tag Team Champions. Los Still-Pretty-Good-icos and Cannon fodder have surprised by finishing as runners-up, and will face off in Tokyo in a number one contenders match.

 

After another short break, we run down the Trios Tournament results. Space Mutineers and Skyin' High (Sasuke, Delfin, and Naniwa) have earned the right to compete for the new belts at the Tokyo Dome. There is a log jam underneath them, though, and so we have two tiebreaker matches to continue our show:

 

Ohtani, Kanemoto, and Mochizuki vs.Togo, Jado, and Gedo was a showcase for Togo's amazing athleticism and toughness, as he kept saving his teammates from the superior striking of Cry 'n' Die. In the end, he hit a huge Diving Senton on Mochi to seal the win.

 

LiTiSmi vs. Try and Fly was another athletic showcase. Liger almost had the win several times, but in the end TAKA stole it away with a Michinoku Driver on Tajiri.

 

After one last break (I saw the arrows, I still don't get it) we get a full run down of the Tokyo Dome Card:

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Asahi Pro Wrestling at the Tokyo Dome: Chapter the First

 

Main Event, for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Mutoh vs. Bret vs. Choshu vs. Norton

 

For the Asahi Pro Tag Team Championship: Dragon Hearts (Fujinami and Hase) vs. Masahiro Chono and Kensuke Sasaki (Chono and Kensuke)

 

For the Asahi Pro Trios Championship: Skyin' High (Sasuke, Delfin, and Naniwa) vs. The Space Mutineers

 

For the Welterweight Championship: El Samurai vs. Koji Kanemoto

 

**** BREAK ****

 

​#1 Contenders Match: Hulk Hogan vs. Road Warrior Hawk

 

​#1 Contenders Match: Liger vs. Ohtani

 

​#1 Contenders Match: TAKA, Hamada, and Yakushiji vs. Togo, Jado, and Gedo

 

​#1 Contenders Match: Los Still-Pretty-Good-icos vs. Cannon Fodder

 

Davey Boy, Nakanishi, and Nagata vs. Tenzan, Kojima, and T2000 Machine

 

Tajiri and Norman Smiley vs. Masaaki Mochizuki and Black Buffalo

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Asahi Pro Wrestling at the Tokyo Dome: Chapter the First

 

Hope you guys liked your free seats. It kinda sucks that we really didn't get a chance to hang out but it was great to at least see you again. Hopefully you can make it out to Osaka some time. Also, I'll almost definitely be able to schedule a longer stay around the January Dome show. Yuka and Tina said that you guys were really nice to, and helpful with, the Make-A-Wish kids. Thanks for that!

 

What did you think of the show? Here are my thoughts:

 

Conventional wisdom holds that Junior matches don't get over all that well in the Dome, so we decided to shine the spotlight on the bigger guys this time around. I think it worked out fine, but I am curious to know your thoughts. Did you want more Liger and Sasuke, less Hogan and Choshu?

 

The situation around the Main Event was pretty sensitive. Don’t tell anyone out this, but: SirEdger, who was the NJPW booker before the sale, had made some arrangements with Scarlet-Left, who is the booker for WCW. I was pretty excited about those arrangements, and felt strongly that we should honour them. A couple of the older Japanese guys on the business side were not so sure about that, mainly because their company has no pre-existing relationship with Ted Turner and in fact in certain areas Asahi Group see Turner Entertainment as competition. Also, some of the Asahi board members are friendly with Rupert Murdoch, who sees Turner as a rival. Apparently, their beef goes back to something that happened at – no fooling – a yacht race.

 

So, that is where my life has taken me: Billionaire’s yacht-race beefs have a direct impact on my job now.

 

Anyway, part of the deal was that we would put the strap on Bret Hart for a couple of months, which of course I was all for considering Bret is absolutely one of my favourite workers. But… something’s going on over at their offices, we are still waiting on footage from Halloween Havoc, and it has the corporate suits on our side worried.

 

I don’t know Scarlet-Left all that well, but based on our interactions so far he seems like a good person and I trust him… but it isn’t just up to me… so that’s why the Main Event ended the way it did. I’m really hoping to get some feedback from you guys on how that all went down. It’s also why Scott Norton was in the Main Event of a Tokyo Dome show: One of my bosses was actually worried that Bret might go into business for himself, and Norton was the insurance policy to take care of any potential problems.

 

Tajiri and Norman Smiley vs. Masaaki Mochizuki and Base Slabpecs

 

Good, solid opening match. Tajiri and Mochi could do this in their sleep now, I figure. Smiley and Buffalo brought some extra entertainment value. Crowd laughed where they should laugh, cheered where they should cheer… can’t ask much more from a Dome opener.

 

Davey Boy, Nakanishi, and Nagata vs. Tenzan, Kojima, and T2000 Machine

 

So, obviously this was to set up a face turn from Super Strong Machine. Asahi Pro has been making money, so the suits gave us the thumbs up to keep him around. I think the whole thing might have gotten over better in, say, Korakuen. When T2000 Machine ripped off his mask to reveal that he’s Tatsutoshi Goto and then Michiyoshi Ohara ran in to help him beat down TenKoji… only the hardcore fans seemed to “get it.” How about you guys?

 

At least everyone popped when Super Strong Machine ran in for the save. As I said, main thing was the face turn, and that went well.

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#1 Contenders Match: Los Still-Pretty-Good-icos vs. Evers & Scaggs

 

Man, I hope you guys enjoyed this one. What did you think of Lance and Scorp's new "Lethal Weapon" type gimmick? Obviously, we are thinking about turning them face as well, eventually. They are totally over with the crowd after beating Hogan's and Bret's teams in the tournament. The problem is, we want them to work as heels in Osaka next month. So... we had a clean-fought, mostly technical match with some high flying, and a clean pin by Scorp on Dos Caras, followed by handshakes and then... BAM! Post-match beat-down. Crowd seemed to buy into that one, too.

 

And, by the way: You do *NOT* want to use the term "Pearl Harbor Job" when discussing post-match beat-downs in Japan.

 

Evers and Scaggs vs. the winner of Dragon Hearts vs. Chono and Sasaki in Osaka! Does that necessarily mean a Dragon Hearts victory? Probably, right?

 

#1 Contenders Match: TAKA, Hamada, and Yakushiji vs. Togo, Jado, and Gedo

 

In contrast, this was worked in a straight-up good guys vs, bad guys style. Hamada and Yakushiji are so good at getting sympathy, Togo, Jado, and Gedo are all natural dicks (no pun intended), and TAKA is such a great fired-up babyface... I love this combination. I love heel Togo vs. face TAKA. Next time, we'll give them even longer, we only kept this one short-ish because of the conventional wisdom about Dome crowds.

 

And now Lyin' Guys will face the winners of Space Mutineers vs. Skyin' High, in Osaka... Does that mean the good guys will definitely win? Can you see the curve ball coming?

 

​#1 Contenders Match: Liger vs. Ohtani

 

Hopefully you guys enjoyed this one! It's one of the best matches we can put out there. Keep it to yourselves but we will probably see a epic re-match in Nagoya in February. Liger gets the win, barely, but Ohtani beats him down and rips his mask a little after the match to stay strong.

 

#1 Contenders Match: Hulk Hogan vs. Road Warrior Hawk

 

hawkho2.jpg

 

Frankly, I was worried about this one going on after Liger vs. Ohtani... but these guys played to the cheap seats, Hogan sold a massive beat-down from the Road Warrior, Hawk kicked out of the Big Leg Drop and the first Axe Bomber... and they had the crowd in the palms of their hands. I'm sure that Liger vs. Ohtani will come across as the much better match on tape... that's part of my problem with analyzing matches that way. The boys' job is to work the live crowd, first and foremost. That's what Hawk and Hogan did today.

 

hawkho.jpg

 

 

And now Hogan will be fighting for the IWGP belt next month.

 

(off to work, write more later)

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For the Welterweight Championship: El Samurai vs. Koji Kanemoto

 

This was more or less a shorter, tighter version of their headlining match from last month. They wrestled to a stalemate on the mat, Kanemoto took a clear advantage in the striking section, El Samurai was forced to go high risk, Kanemoto almost had him, but El Samurai escaped and hit a couple of big moves. The ending was different, though, as they finished with both men struggling to hit one final big move: El Samurai went for the Samurai Bomb, but Kanemoto blocked it, got behind, and went for the Tiger Suplex, which El Samurai barley escaped... In the end, El Samurai won out. He went to shake Kanemoto's hand after the match, but got slapped in the face.

 

I missed what happened next, as Wally, Jado, and Gedo came into the control room to allow me the opportunity to go out and watch one match as part of the crowd. By the time I made it over to where you guys, Yuka, Tina, and the Make-A-Wish kids were sitting, Pink Lady had started their live performance and The Space Mutineers were on their way to the ring.

 

For the Asahi Pro Trios Championship: Skyin' High (Sasuke, Delfin, and Naniwa) vs. The Space Mutineers

 

I can see why the corporate types love to run the Tokyo Dome: It's just so many people. So many tickets. So much merch. So many soft drinks....

 

But... all that cash sure does come at a cost. Unless you are right up at ringside, there is simply no sense of intimacy. People ar too far away from the action and too far away from each other. It's no wonder that it generally takes a big heavyweight spectacle of a match to really get the Dome crowd going.

 

Sasuke, Defin, Namiwa, Kaz, Funaki, and Terry Boy have been working together for years. Their ring chemistry and timing are through the roof. The live appearance from Pink Lady and the elaborate entrances had the crowd heated up and these guys did everything possible in the essentially lost cause of trying to keep that heat going. At least the dive trains and the big finish got pops. I missed most of the belt-awarding ceremony as I made my way to the back, How did that go?

 

Coming to Osaka in December: Liger vs. El Samurai! Space Mutineers vs. Lyin' Guys! Tehnico vs. Technico. Rudo vs. Rudo.

 

For the Asahi Pro Tag Team Championship: Dragon Hearts (Fujinami and Hase) vs. Masahiro Chono and Kensuke Sasaki

 

hasecho.jpg

 

I'm gonna be honest here: AJPW has their tag tournament coming up. Over the course of that tournament, there will probably be 10 or 12 matches that are better than this one. This was a good, solid ***1/2 level match but nothing more. The strong points were Hase on the mat bringing out the best in his opponents, Kensuke on offense just beating guys down, and Chono's heeling. The weak points were Fujinami going to the sleeper too often, some weak selling from the heel team, and a so-so crowd response. The ceremony awarding the new belts to Dragon Hearts was impressive, at least.

 

Coming to Osaka: Dragon Hearts vs. Evers & Scaggs

 

Main Event, for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Mutoh vs. Bret vs. Choshu vs. Norton

 

chomu.jpg

 

That's quite a lot of star power in one ring. Norton may not have that type of special charisma, but he does have a tremendous physical presence. They worked this like a Dome Main Event, starting slowly, building and building. Bret and Norton brawled out of the ring, giving the spotlight to Choshu and Mutoh... Choshu clocked Mutoh with a Lariat, and Bret rolled back in to stop the pin, then Bret and Riki worked dueling Sharpshooters as the first real high-spot... Norton and Choshu worked power vs. Power, bulling each other around the ring... Bret and Mutoh tested their technique against each other... You might think that Mutoh vs. Norton would have been the worst segment of the match, but they worked speed vs. power quite effectively. The only really contrived spot was Mutoh's big running Clothesline, and it got a nice pop. Choshu did the majority of the work, but every time Bret or Mutoh got the advantage Norton cleaned house. Eventually Bret and Mutoh worked together to take out Norton's knee, then Bret hit his big five moves on Norton, culminating in the Sharpshooter. As he was doing so, Choshu clobbered Mutoh and sunk in a Sharpshooter of his own. Norton and Mutoh tapped out at the exact same moment. Bret and Choshu had a long stare-down in the middle of the ring, then started brawling. Both dressing rooms emptied to break it up. The Ishingun members carried Choshu back to the heel dressing room on their shoulders. The Seiki-Gun members did likewise for Bret.

 

Bret was quietly given a replica IWGP belt to take back to America with him. Asahi Shinbun newspaper, and Asahi TV news both announced that, since Choshu had caused Mutoh to tap out and Mutoh had been the champion, Choshu was officially the new champion.

 

Hopefully, we'll be able to make a deal with WCW for a re-match to settle things some time in the future.

 

For now, though: Hogan vs. Choshu next month!

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Thank you, gentlemen!

 

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Most of the boys got ten days off after the Dome Show. Many of them came to Osaka to work out at the company gym, cut promos for TV, and so on. We brought Pancrase fighter Takaku Fuke in to do a seminar on mat work.

 

A bunch of the guys - particularly Hase, Lance, Dos Caras, Kanemoto, TAKA, Funaki, and Nagata - were in the gym with him all day long, working on the finer details. He was incredibly generous with his time and knowledge, and the boys soaked his advice up like eager little sponges. It was really something to see. The next day I saw Lance working with Hase on some of the stuff they had learned, and later Wally asked me to come back to the gym to help him tape Nagata and Kanemoto as they worked on the finer points of their technique.

 

For TV we are mostly going to run a long re-cap of the Dome show with some promos and so forth to set up for December's show in the new arena here in Osaka.

 

We're having a fan vote to see which title match will be the main event: Hogan vs. Choshu for the IWGP belt, or Liger vs. El Samurai for the Welterweight title. What do you guys think? Feel free to vote by fax or by postcard (available in the weekend edition of Asahi Shinbun).

 

Asahi Pro Wrestling in Osaka Asahi Arena (card so far):

 

Main Event: either Hulk Hogan vs. Riki Choshu for the iWGP title

 

or

 

Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs. El Samurai for the Welterweight title

 

The Space Mutineers (Trojan, Fistrock, and Kingsnake) vs. Lyin' Guys (Togo, Jado, and Gedo) for the Trios Title

 

Dragon Hearts (Hase and Fujinami) vs. Evers and Scaggs (Lance and Scorp) for the Tag Titles

 

** Break **

 

#1 contenders matches:

 

Mutoh vs. Chono

 

Ohtani vs. TBD (There will be a TV match to determine his opponent)

 

Sasuke Delfin, and Naniwa vs. TAKA, Hamada, and Yakushiji

 

Big the Great Bulls (Hawk and Norton) vs. TBD (by another TV match)

 

** and more! **

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Oh damn, my fax machine is broke and I don't get Asahi Shinbun 'round here. I'd take the risk of giving the main event to the Welters though. I always find it a good idea ot having a real breathtaking spectacle come up last. Kind of like a concert, where often the last song is one to come down, where as I'll happily take an upbeat song so I can get out with a rush of adrenaline ond drain my last energy.

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There are a ton of chain restaurants in and around the Asahi Business Park complex. We often go there to eat when we are busy, and I'll tell you all about them sometime soon. This week, though, we had some extra free time and so Yuka and I went out for some local Osaka soul food. For whatever reason, there is no easy direct connection from here to the Dotonbori entertainment district, and I find changing trains or subways in Osaka to be kind of a pain in the ass that I try to avoid as much as possible, so we only go there if it's a good-weather day and then we take the Loop Line to either Tsuruhshi or Taisho and walk into Namba. In a way, that's a good thing because it means that the special Osaka foods we eat there will always feel like a real treat to me.

There are three main dishes that we have to try if and when you make it out here:

Takoyaki: The undisputed king of Osaka street food. Octopus balls! Bite-sized pieces of octopus with ginger and green onion in an egg-and-flour batter cooked in a special pan that gives them a distinctive spherical shape. The first time we tried these, it took some degree of convincing... and to be honest, even now Yuka is more into them than I am, but they are really good. I have a thing for Akashiyaki, which is basically the same thing except the batter is more eggy and less floury. Akashiyaki goes great with sake.

Okonomiyaki: I like Takoyaki. I LOVE Okonomiyaki. Every English guide book says these are like pancakes. They are not like pancakes, except in terms of shape and cooking method. In terms of flavour and texture? Not at all. Sometimes people say they are like pizza. They are round and you can choose your toppings... but really okonomiyaki is entirely its own thing. The best restaurants let you cook them yourself, teppan-style. Yam flour batter, lots of shredded cabbage, a little green onion, poured out (pancake-style, I admit) onto the hotplate... As far as toppings are concerned, I love buta tama (pork and egg) and mochi cheezu (mochi and cheese). Yuka likes seafood, particularly squid.

Kushikatsu: Generally: meat, veg, or seafood, skewered, battered, sometimes breaded, deep-fried, and dipped in sauce. The sauce is usually served in a pot that is shared by everyone near you at the table or counter. Every single time i have gone for kushikatsu, the staff have explained to me that it is not cool to double-dip. My top ten kushikatsu: Shrimp, asparagus and bacon, smoked cheese, lotus root, okra, classic pork and onion, tsukune (chicken meatballs), scallop, chorizo, kisu (smelt, a small white fish). We'll sometime take the train to Shin Imamiya and walk into the place where kushikatsu were invented: The slightly grotty Shinsekai neighbourhood. You just follow the smell of hot oil from the station, and you'll end up on a street that is basically just one kushikatsu restaurant after another. Great with beer.

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