80s/90s AJPW fanbase

[Hollinger.]

Something that has interested me in reading some of the puroresu history translation threads has been notes about what kind of stuff played better on the rural AJPW shows vs the bigger shows. It got me wondering about what the traveling fanbase was like for the company. I know hardcore fans here have no problem traveling a couple hours to see shows when certain promotions come through and would think it’s the same elsewhere. Did the hardcore AJPW fanbase not travel to more rural shows? Just a case of a more regular schedule meaning fewer fans needed to travel to get their fix?

[sek69]

I would say at least part of the answer is Japan's public transportation system (even back then) makes it easier for fans to attend shows in the city as opposed to outlying areas. G

[NintendoLogic]

I'm not aware of hardcore fans traveling to rural shows ever being a thing. On the contrary, those shows primarily drew older and more traditional fans. Meltzer once wrote that even in the 90s, the main draw for All Japan's spot shows in the countryside was Giant Baba. You also have to remember that Japan is far more densely populated than the US, so there's far less need to travel great distances to attend a sports or entertainment event. It's kind of like asking if someone living in NYC would travel to a WWE house show in, say, Utica.

[ohtani's jacket]

I would be extremely surprised if a person living in a major city traveled to the rural areas to catch shows. Considering All Japan ran shows in all of the major cities, I can't envision why anyone would travel to see a house show. It's possible that folks traveled from out of town to see some of the bigger cards in another city, especially folks coming to Tokyo, but I'd wager that most fans only attended shows in their area. 

[KinchStalker]

Wada states in the Ichinose book that it did happen with a few superfans. He recalls times when he would recognize as many as fifty faces from the previous show, and he would advise the SGA/Tsurutagun guys to take their six-man tag in a different direction than the night before. (See this post.)