New Japan Pro Wrestling: The 2015 Awakening of a Sleeping Giant

There's been an awakening. There had been whispers of a great foreign federation from the far east for a quarter of a century.  For 15 years the WWE has stood atop of the big league mountain in the world of sports entertainment. TNA was a contender for a few years, but fell into the same trap of being WWE lite, like WCW a decade before. There have been no major alternative since then.  But now a foreign giant has been aroused.


I became vaguely familiar with New Japan Pro Wrestling when the Great Muta, an uber talented japanese wrestler, invaded the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling in 1989.  His unique and innovative style of work was nothing like I had ever seen in an American wrestling ring. WCW took us deeper down the rabbit hole 2 years later presenting an annual Tokyo dome show on pay per view, from what I mistakenly thought was a wrestling organization called IWGP, the International Wrestling Grand Prix.  It was a peak through the looking glass at the world that spawned Muta.  It was incredible action, amazing acrobatics and hard hitting style.  The SuperShows looked bigger than any Wrestlemania.  The Tokyo Dome show sported a heavy metal style stage, lighting rigs and pyrotechnic half a decade before WWE ever attempted an elaborate entrance.  It was a true spectacle.

WCW stopped producing the PPV after 1993.  American wrestling fans were treated to some talent exchanges by WCW, WWF and ECW from time-to-time. But quietly I had forgotten about japanese wrestling and history became legend, legend became myth. Every once and awhile, I would hear names mentioned, stories of legendary matches and of a familiar giant show.

In May of 2013, the New York Times introduced me to wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, another mythical figure, who's name I had always seen attached to some of the most legendary stories in wrestling. I subscribed to his newsletter and website and began to hear more and more about that eastern superpower. He would talk about the legends and masters of All Japan and New Japan Pro Wrestling and the tales of 5 star matches never witnessed in the west.  He'd tell us about the renaissance of the mat blowing up in the land of the rising sun. It seemed so far, it seemed so unattainable.  Here in the United States, wrestling had become very stale. It's had a few flashes of greatness with the rise and fall of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. But the lack of competition has kept WWE in neutral for a very long time.  Wouldn't it be great if another big league promotion could penetrate the west and usher in another golden age of professional wrestling?

Soon there were rumblings of iPPVs, internet pay per views, for some of NJPW's major shows, including Wrestle Kingdom, their traditional January 4th Tokyo Dome show. They were shady live streams of the Japanese broadcasts. I really wanted to get into the product, but the language barrier and lack of accessibility were still big issues for me. But then, out of nowhere, from a very odd source, it was announced that the 2015 Wrestle Kingdom supercard would be broadcast live on traditional pay per view with English commentary by world famous wrestling broadcaster Jim Ross.  Jeff Jarrett, a Tennessee wrestling legend and former owner of Impact Wrestling, was starting up his new Global Force Wrestling promotion and had entered into a working agreement with NJPW, which included an English PPV broadcast of their biggest show of the year.

New Japan Pro Wrestling, the second biggest wrestling promotion in the world was invading the United States! It's Wrestle Kingdom 9 on January 4, 2015.  I was already sold.  I took the day off of work to stay up and watch the show live, over night, considering the 14 hour time difference between the U.S. Eastern Time Zone and Tokyo.  But I wasn't familiar with any of the performers, any of the matches, the rivalries or storylines.  Enter in Matt Striker.  Striker was tasked to be Jim Ross' color commentator during the show.  Global Force Wrestling and Matt Striker produced a number of preview specials introducing western audiences to the superstars, or Aces of Puroresu (Japanese Pro Wrestling).   Between Striker and Meltzer's Wrestling Observer website, I started to become familiar with names like Tanahashi, Okada, Nakamura and the dishonorable, villainous gaijin Bullet Club.  One familiar face that remained from the past was Jushin Thunder Liger, who took part in the opening New Japan Rumble contest. Gone were the stars from the days when the Great Muta, Masahiro Chono, Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami would make special appearances in WCW.

I felt uninvested when the show started that Saturday night, early Sunday morning, but no angles were necessary for this event. The matches in themselves and the familiar voice of Good ol' JR were enough to have me invested.  It was a great show.  A hybrid of many different wrestling styles, all in one night.  There was a fast pace, high spotfest; four-way tag team match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. Later followed by a sudo-shoot wrestling match between Minoru Suzuki and the Gracie killer Kazushi Sakuraba. A stiff Togi Makabe and Tomohiro Ishii left me sore after that fight. The Shinsuke Nakamura's semi-main and main event between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada were wrestling clinics.  What an amazing night.. and this wasn't the end.

Right before Wrestle Kingdom, it was announced that AXStv, formerly HDnet, was going to start airing NJPW with English commentary.  Mauro Ranallo, the man who calls Floyd Mayweather's fights and Josh Barnett, a UFC World Champion, would be dubbing commentary over some of the best matches and events from 2013, 2014 and bring us up to date by the end of 2015.  Now I could watch Puroresu every Friday night.  Mauro and Josh's pure sport, hold-by-hold style was the perfect soundtrack to the amazing action AXStv was bringing us every week, in contrast to what sports entertainment commentary had become.  Their knowledge of the product educated me on the intricacies of strong style, the history of puroresu, the young boys, japanese dojos, the arch of the Bullet Club's invasion, the split and betrayal of the new Toukon Sanjushi, the Three Musketeers and the larger than life rivalry between Tanahashi and Okada.

NJPW in an attempt to compete worldwide with the WWE Network, launched NJPW World, an online streaming service.  Even though the commentary would be in Japanese, I took advantage to subscribe in time to watch the last 3 nights of the G1 Climax, their highly rated round-robin tournament to decide who would headline the next year's Wrestle Kingdom show and challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.  I discovered Eonizzle, a fan lead streaming channel that broadcast English audio commentary to sync with NJPW World.  Now I was set.  Tanahashi defeated AJ Styles and delivered a ****¾ match on night 17, Nakamura beating Kazuchika Okada followed them up on night 18 with a ****½ match and concluded with a Tanahashi, Nakamura 5-star classic.

NJPW had made inroads with Global Force Wrestling's partnership and the AXStv show.  But now they were going it at their own.  NJPW announced that their next major show, King of Pro Wrestling, was going to be broadcast in English on NJPW World.  This time lead at the helm by WWE veteran and current Ring of Honor broadcaster, Kevin Kelly, sidekicked by the returning former WWE commentator and current Lucha Underground analyst Matt Striker. Tanahashi defended his Tokyo Dome IWGP Championship challenge-right-certificate against Tetsuya Naito and Okada defend his IWGP Championship against  A.J. Styles.

The main event was set for tonight's 2016 Wrestle Kingdom Tokyo Dome show.  The Rainmaker Kazuchika Okada would have one last opportunity to defeat the One-in-a-100-Year Talent, Hiroshi Tanahashi.  This rematch might conclude the long rivalry between the two top Aces of NJPW who were featured on that first episode of World Pro-Wrestling on AXStv and main evented last year's Wrestle Kingdom.

I'm now reading the book; Lion's Pride: The Turbulent History of New Japan Pro Wrestling. I hope in this coming year I could watch the big shows that do not have English Commentary, now that I'm familiar with the wrestlers and their storys.

I'm hoping 2016 will be the year NJPW grows into the number two promotion in the United States, as they are in the world. I think they have failed to use the AXStv show as an avenue to promote NJPW World and their big shows.  They should consider running some ads during Monday Night RAW, Lucha Underground, Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor.  But it's never too late.  While some long time Jananese fans might think that the NJPW product is becoming repetitive and stale, New Japan Pro Wrestling is a breath of fresh air to American fans like me who are tired of the uninspired U.S. wrestling scene.

Sources:

• 2015 G1-Climax with English Commentary by Eonizzle: https://youtu.be/qinJdPnLEjU?list=PLGYyu3OJTd_bXUDbIbb9oHXcrPjWwOwJr
• New Japan Pro Wrestling Roster: http://puroresucentral.com/NewJapan.html
• Wrestling Oberser: http://www.wrestlingobserver.com
• In World of Wrestling, Trying to Keep It Real
  Dave Meltzer NY Times Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/sports/wrestling-reporter-dave-meltzer-tries-to-keep-it-real.html

A call to rescue Thanksgiving. It’s been hijacked.

Berman’s been complaining about the hijacking of Thanksgiving for years. He’s a very passionate man.  So it’s easy for me to ignore his rants, just as much as he overlooks mine. But there was no denying it this year, and no one seems to care. Thanksgiving’s missing and it’s time to to mount a rescue.  Who can eat at a time like this? A major national celebratory feast is missing. You people are selfish. Thanksgiving is in someone’s trunk right now, with duck tape over it’s mouth. We need help. Let’s form a search party. No one gets to eat on the last Thursday of November till the holiday’s rescued.

I failed to see it for years.  I don’t know why I didn’t notice it.  Berman never failed to sound off every time we visited the mall in November and discovered hung Christmas decorations and jingling holiday music. His grievances escalated last year when retailers completely ignored Thanksgiving and started opening their store on the holiday.  My eyes were finally opened this year when I saw a neighbor, of Berman’s BTW, decorating his house with Christmas lights for Halloween.  For HALLOWEEN!!!!  It’s ridiculous.  The guy did have Halloween inflatables in the front yard, only to be replaced with Christmas inflatables on November 1st.  I bet the guy was waiting by the clock for midnight to replace those dumb air filled cartoon characters.

Even after my enlightenment to this miscarriage of justice, I was apathetic, until it hit home.  Isn’t that how it always works?  A couple of evenings ago, Olivia, my oldest daughter, my first born, my princess, came home, batted her beautiful eye lashes, going through her whole daddy-finger-wrapping routine and asked, “Daddy, can we put up our Christmas tree? Melanie (her little neighbor friend) already put up her tree.  Can we watch a Christmas movie?”  I was horrified.  This evil had entered my home.  I never believed it would happen to me.  I didn’t know what to do.  At first I was in denial.  I ignored her requests.  Then she circumvented my TV viewing authoritah and manipulated her mother to join her cause. Lucia even wanted to introduce the Elf on the Shelf weeks before the season’s greeting.  I had lost.  It seemed like Thanksgiving was lost for ever.  I had to let Berman know of my failure to preserve the Holiday.  But Berman’s a true friend.   “Say NO!” Berman yelled.  He grabbed me by the shoulders, shook me three times, slapped me on the cheek and told me to get a hold of myself.

The Bermaniser was right.  The war for Thanksgiving had to start at home. It’s time to synchronize our watches, split up and win back this feast on all fronts.

My first step in planning this rescue mission, was to think back to when I was a kid and Thanksgiving was celebrated all November long.  I remember Thanksgiving decorations in school classrooms, singing Thanksgiving songs in music class. That’s what I needed.  I need holiday inspiring weapons.  I scoured the land (Hulu Plus, Netflix, YouTube, Spotify and even Pinterest) looking for books, songs, cartoons, movies, TV specials, documentaries and themed episodes of my favorite TV shows and sitcoms.  There was a plethora of resources.  I pulled out the heavy artillery on the first night.  Shock and awe! We watched “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” on Monday night.  What a way to start what I hope will be a daily Thanksgiving countdown and devotional. We’ll be reading, listening and watching something for the rest of the month, and not forgetting to take a moment to remember those we are grateful for.

Thanksgiving deserves the same anticipation and excitement that other holidays get.  While other holidays have been commercialized or used as an excuse for drunken frivolity, Thanksgiving still holds true to it’s original charter, a feast with family and friends, in remembrance of the blessings we have, whether they are many or few.

Photo posted by maloned (@maloned)

Sure, Thanksgiving has a few other elements, besides the dinner, but that’s icing on the cake.  I love waking up to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. I enjoy going to the park to play what we hoped would be an injury-free Turkey Bowl football game by a bunch of middle-aged bruts trying to relive the days of their youth.  Then coming home to prep the house and food, with the couple of NFL games playing in the background, for the evening celebrations.

The evening would climax with a night of family and friends enjoying a fusion of an American Traditional Thanksgiving meal, comprised of Turkey, gravy, mash potatoes, stuffing, cranberry, pumpkin pie … and a traditional Cuban, salsa music playing, Noche Buena/Año Nuevo roasted pork, moros, yuca and turrones.

Sure, we all have a few annoying family members that get under our skin, but part of the Thanksgiving spirit is to learn tolerance, to love people unconditionally, loving them for who they are and not who we wish they were.  “To love real people, not ideal people.”

I hope to spread this.  I’ve started a playlist on YouTube and Spotify to keep us in the spirit the whole month through.  I hope Lucia joins me and posts links to kids books, yummy recipes and fun crafts.  I want to take advantage and teach my daughters simple things like table manners, life lessons about tolerance, consideration and gratitude.  I would love to model generosity for the girls by giving and volunteering at a church’s Thanksgiving meal for the less fortunate.

Berman’s going to make sure to complain about how I never listen to him after reading this.  I’m sorry Bro, but I’m sure this won’t be the last time. Thanks for being there and saving Thanksgiving at the Garcia residence.

Lets remember, “what keeps Christmas special is that it’s only one month out of the entire year.” Berman said in his infinite wisdom. Let’s not spoil it by starting the season way to early and let’s not miss out on all the joy of celebrating Thanksgiving. Then the Elf and the Shelf can start making appearances.

Edited by Lynda Fernandez

Farewell to WWE Magazine: A Heart-Felt Thank You From A Lifelong Fan

The last issue of WWE Magazine came out this week and though it may seem like an unlikely source to most, this monthly periodical taught me how to read. Growing up, my mother tried in vain to get me to read. No move on her part, from forcing me to check out books, to reading with me, and more seemed to work. Throughout elementary school I struggled with poor grades, but all that changed when I found a subject I would be passionate about for the rest of my life — professional wrestling. 

It seems like only yesterday that I discovered Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) and the Apter family of magazines. My mother was hesitant to let me read “lucha libre” publications, but when she saw my deep interest, and more importantly that I was reading each and every word printed in them, she supported it. I grabbed every wrestling magazine I could get my hands on and read and read and read. Quickly, and though still young, my fandom matured. Pro Wrestling Illustrated covered all wrestling, but I wanted something even more specific — @WWE (then WWF) Magazine.

   

I loved all things wrestling, but WWE was the undisputed champion of professional wrestling in my youth. I craved learning more about superhero-like superstars Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Iron Sheik, Ultimate Warrior, or Jake the Snake. I would see WWF Magazine advertised on Craig DeGeorge's (now Craig Minervini, a local Miami Marlins baseball announcer) weekly WWF Updates from the Event Center on WWF Wrestling Challenge and Superstars of Wrestling, the local syndicated programs. Trips to my neighborhood Circle K, Walgreens, or Woolworth’s (where I would buy PWI) turned up with no sign of WWE Magazine. Searching for WWE Magazine became a ritual anytime I’d visit any store with a magazine rack. For a long time, it seemed I would never find an issue at all. A year passed before I walked into an Eckerd’s Drug Store and saw Ted Dibiase flaunting the Million Dollar Belt. That day and that cover of the May 1989 issue of WWE Magazine are forever etched into my memory. 

After that, it seemed every store had caught on and WWE Magazine was just about everywhere. I was still young though, and had to secretly ride my bike to the Westchester Bookstore in order to buy up every issue I could. My clandestine adventures hidden from my mom lasted a few years until I got my first summer job as a telemarketer with the Police Athletic League. Now I was able to become a subscriber and get WWE Magazine delivered straight to my home. Yes, this was via what is now known as snail mail, but back then there was no Internet and the anticipation caused by waiting was part of the fun. From that point on, the steady flow of information about the WWE began in earnest. Month after month I was reading about my heroes and most importantly I was reading a lot. 

Today, the WWE holds an annual WestleMania Reading Challenge where WWE Superstars visit local schools as they tour the country to encourage young fans to read. Though they didn’t do the challenge when I was a kid, I like to think of myself as an unofficial success story. For 27 years I’ve read WWE magazine and since the very first one, I’ve been a devoted fan of wrestling — a lifer — one of those kids who never grew out of the orchestrated action of sports entertainment. Because of the influence of WWE Magazine, my grades rose, I won turnaround student of the year, and ultimately received a bachelor’s degree from Florida International University. For that, I bid a fond farewell and loudly shout “THANK YOU” to the magazine that quite literally transformed my life. 

Edited by Ruben Diaz @RMartian.

Groundhog Day Alarm Clock Experiment

One year ago today, on #GroundhogDay 2012, I made this radio clip into my alarm clock ringtone to see how I would experience the movie after a year of waking up to it.  

Sure enough, today, on Groundhog day 2013, every time Bill Murray's alarm clock went off  I experience the same anxiety I do when it wakes me up in the morning. #GroundhogDayAlarmClockExperiment

2012 Year in Review

Check out my biggest moments from the past year. http://fb.me/2efGZFvkj

sorry @CMPunk.. @HulkHogan is the Best in the World, not you or Stone Cold @SteveAustinBSR

CM Punk's yearlong WWE title reign, the longest in 25 years, has sparked the debate about who the greatest WWE champion of all time is, and where do guys like CM Punk, John Cena, The Rock, Stone Cold, and Hulk Hogan stand on that list?
On title reign length alone, Bruno Samaritno is hands-down the greatest wrestling champion of all time, while on sheer number of title reigns, Ric Flair's 16 world championships tops everyone. But greatness, especially in the world of professional wrestling, goes well beyond numbers or stats.
By my estimation, two things matter more than any stat when it comes to greatness in sports entertainment: dollar signs and butts in seats. By those metrics, two names top the list of greatest superstar of all time—'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan. Both men were at the center of the last two major booms in wrestling's popularity.


This time last year, at the beginning of CM Punks title reign, Punk said during an interview on the Soscia Network (@TheBrianSoscia) radio show on Mix 106 from Philadelphia, "Steve Austin, the biggest star in wrestling period. Bigger than Hulk Hogan by a landslide, I might add." (http://youtu.be/vitX9LX-d-k#t=8m0s) 16-time World Champion Ric Flair echoed the same sentiment at his WWE Hall of Fame induction. "Steve Austin is the biggest star in the history of the WWE. I'm so tired of saying Hogan's the biggest star of all time, it ends tonight." (http://youtu.be/6hQhO1sPbEI).

But is this true? While Steve Austin is arguably the top star of the WWE during the "Attitude Era", when WWE turned the tide against WCW during the Monday Night Wars, the swelled wrestling audience of the late 1990's wasn't drawn in by Austin, but by the heel turn of Hulk Hogan and his formation of the nWo. Austin, Goldberg and the Rock (the biggest crossover superstar of the Attitude Era) began their rise to fame because of the attention Hogan drew.
Simply put, Hulk Hogan was the catalyst for wrestling's popularity in both the 1980s AND 1990s.


Even if you wanted to credit Austin with the wrestling boom of the mid-to-late 1990s, it's hard to argue that it was a greater boom than that of the 1980s. Hardcore fans of the Attitude Era, because of it's edginess and popularity, argue that it was greater than the second Golden Age of the 1980's, but our numbers—dollar signs and butts in seats—don't lie. At the peak of the Monday Night Wars, RAW and Nitro averaged a combined 10 million viewers over a 6-year period, some of which were counted twice, since many fans switched back and forth and watched both. During the 1980s, Saturday Night's Main Event averaged 14 million viewers, also over a 6-year period.

More than Austin ever has, Hulk Hogan transcended wrestling. In 1979, his larger-than-life feud with Andre the Giant in the WWWF filled Shea Stadium. In 1980 he was crowned the first IWGP champion, beating Antonio Inoki, in New Japan wrestling, which would become the largest wrestling promotion worldwide. Hogan entered the mainstream with his small, but unforgettable role in Rocky III, which ignited a small boom for the AWA, and then the largest wrestling boom in history in the 1980s with the birth of Hulkamania and Rock & Wrestling. The golden age of the 1980s peaked with Wrestlemania III when the event packed the Pontiac Silverdome with more than 93,000 people. Still, that's only a third of Hogan's career at the top of the wrestling mountain. Rocky III was only the beginning for Hogan and Hollywood, as he would go on to star in more than 10 films.

Austin's anti-hero rebelliousness resounds with most of today's wrestling fans in the same way that Batman resonates more today than Superman. Older fans grew up with a good vs. evil simplicity, while new fans love a good guy with a bad attitude, who walks the line between good and evil. Many fans today are also enamored with Steve Austin's transparent love for the sport, fans, and the boys in the locker room, more so than Hogan's self-centered, self-promoting ways, and reputation for holding others back.

Whatever your feelings are along those lines, Hogan's effect on sports entertainment has been unequalled by any other wrestler to this day. Not only has he put more butts in seats and more money in the pockets of promoters and fellow wrestlers, he has done so for more than 30 years. That longevity alone puts him at the top of the wrestling mountain and may even qualify him as being one of the greatest entertainers ever—period. Just think for a moment of how many musicians, actors, writers, or painters have had careers of 30 or more years while maintaining a die-hard fan base like Hulk Hogan. The names are few and far between.
Some might argue that The Rock has transcended like Hogan and possibly even more so, or that John Cena makes a strong case for the title of The Greatest, but the truth is that Hulk Hogan, not Steve Austin, is the greatest wrestling superstar of all time, and Stone Cold, Cena, The Rock, CM Punk, and the popularity of wrestling over the past 30 years, have him to thank.
Jim Ross's perspective on Hogan's rub on Wrestling: http://youtu.be/415HU_y1rig

Writting and Editing Contributions by @RMartian Ruben Diaz

Thank you to everyone for making Chloe’s first birthday and baby dedication special.

We wanted to keep the tradition of having guests sign our baby's photo book on their first birthday. But it just happens to be that it was lost in the shipping process and is being re-sent. So.. we couldn't have our guest sign it. But this is the year 2012.. books are now digital and so should signings. Sign Chloe's first year photo book for her to see for many years to come. http://on.fb.me/NXPcez

Chloe's first birthday was planned and ready to be at Key Biscanye's Cardon Park..
but Issac decide that he was going to try and spoil those plans.

But even the threat of a Hurricane wasn't going to ruin this day for Chloe.  Everyone braved the weather and came to our house for a wonder celebration and the blessing of Chloe's dedication.

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Watch, view and sign:

Chloe's Birthday to Birthday! Birth and First Year 20 minute epic.   VIDEO: http://on.fb.me/QLP2G2

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Chloe's 1st Birthday Party and Baby Dedication – Picasa Photo Album   PHOTOS: http://on.fb.me/OnZELs , http://on.fb.me/PnH72N

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Chloe.. the Photo Book of the Year you were Born   PHOTO BOOK: http://on.fb.me/NXPcez

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Chloe's First Birthday Party and Baby Dedication   VIDEO: http://on.fb.me/PWFRGp