#And also the conflicting information and rumours that gets thrown around

[djsherriff-responses]

Regardless if you’re a fan or hater of vivziepop , it’s kinda funny her version of hell is meant to be circus themed considering how often her controversies tend to be clown acts

[iambenjiijackson]

NZPWI - An Olympian In Japan

Yomiuri Sports, a newspaper in Japan, broke the news to the public; that the "super-important-foreigner" New Japan promised after the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show would be none other than TNA competitor Kurt Angle. Angle was meant to appear on the 1/4 show, however scheduling conflicts meant he couldn't attend - it's been many years since the first rumour of Angle arriving on Japanese soil, and of course such an accolade is no doubt to sell many tickets for their 2/18 Sumo Hall show.

But in a wrestling scene many of us enjoy due to the homegrown talent that they have on offer, why are more and more Puroresu companies looking across the waters for talent? Surely the amount of talent from the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, Hiroshi Tanahashi, KENTA and many, many more, would mean a lack of 'gaijin' (a term used to coin foreigners) talent surfacing in Japan?

"They looked big, they were American, they cheated... and Rikidozan would chop them down to the delight of the fans", Showa-era purist Adam Randlis informed me. He would go on to tell me that throughout the JWA, a company formed before All Japan and New Japan, the two household names of Japanese wrestling, that this would be the standard; Western threat, destroying homegrown talent until one of the big stars came and saved the day, and definitively beat the 'evil' American monster. These roles were typically played by Terry and Dory Funk (who broke the norm and become babyfaces for a period of their tenure in All Japan), Steve Williams, Terry Gordy, Abdullah the Butcher, the legendary "Bruiser" Brody and the most famous monster, who made a name for himself in Japan, Stan Hansen. "Many of these athletes wouldn't outstay their welcome, wondering around promotion to promotion to stay fresh. They also, in the case of Stan Hansen, would use their Japanese prominence to make a name for themselves back in the United States."

New Japan has had a string of problems in the past concerning 'big name foreigners' appearing for their company. Now, there is a difference between 'big name' and those ardent gaijin who tour with the company, and funnily enough, those athletes who were at times misused by America promotions have gone on to be successful due to their diligent work-rate and training in a foreign environment - Matt Bloom, who you will remember as 'Prince Albert', has had some incredible matches since moving to Japanese soil; Giant Bernard vs. Yuji Nagata was heralded as a fantastic match involved a big man. D'Lo Brown, Jamal (who was so successful as a monster heel, the WWE signed him back), hell, even Travis Tomko - gaijin athletes who may of not reached a pinnacle of excellence in the United States have normally turned around and made somewhat of a name for themselves. 

However, there has been on occasions problems. At times it's not the fault of the individual athlete, but the circumstances surrounding them. Confused? Well here's a prime example for you:

In 2003, K-1 (a kickboxing/mixed martial arts promotion in Japan) had on their hands a monster superstar named Bob Sapp. Sapp had the look of a monster - a giant, bulky-yet-muscular physique who had some success in the combat code he took part in. He was a commercial success in Japan, with people in awe of him, his charisma, his persona, he was highly regarded in the general media, not just Pro Wrestling. So New Japan decides he would be perfect to place their most prestigious belt on, the International Wrestling  Grand-Prix Heavyweight Senshuken (commonly abbreviated to IWGP). From Hulk Hogan to Keiji Mutoh and recently Shinsuke Nakamura, they've all held such a prestigious title. What could possibly go wrong? The media interest would be incredible!

Unfortunately, a lot went wrong. This was during the era the booking of the company became erratic; the days when Antonio Inoki. who is still regarded as the face of the company, still wanted to cross wrestling over with MMA, when  New Japan wrestlers went to MMA events to risk success in the eyes of many as a crossover athlete, only to lose and destroy any momentum in the pro-wrestling circuit. Sapp, due to his popularity, wins the title and goes over one of the most promising talents New Japan has, at that point a younger Shinsuke Nakamura in a title defence, only to lose an MMA match and refuse to fight his next opponent. The  IWGP loses prestige and you have an unnecessary tournament instead of putting younger talent over.

Fast forward to late 2005, where the booking committee has changed, and you have the president of New Japan Pro Wrestling, Simon Inoki, score a coup d'etat by announcing Brock Lesnar as a worker for the company. A million Puroresu marks cry out, wondering after the previous stint of a foreigner holding the IWGP Heavyweight Title, it is such a wise idea.  Brock Lesnar goes over Masahiro Chono (a hero on New Japan soil) and Kazuya Fujita (one of Inoki's pet projects - an MMA fighter.... noticing a pattern?).

The match is conducted in a three-way dance format, something quite uncommon in a New Japan ring, and Lesnar picks up a decisive victory pinning Chono with the Verdict (F-5), and makes three defences of the title - pinning Nakamura in little under nine minutes, then Akebono in a shocking match, and finally Giant Bernard in his longest defense to date - fourteen and a half minutes. He beats Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi (two amateur wrestling alumni, and popular figures in New Japan) in non-title matches, and is touted to drop the title to young generation superstar Hiroshi Tanahashi. This is where the fun started.

You see, Lesnar was only contracted to a certain date. The match was scheduled one, maybe two days before his contract ran up. Due to, what his representatives cited as "work visa issues", Lesnar never showed up, and to this date still has the IWGP Heavyweight Title. New Japan issued a formal apology on its website and included details of how to get ticket refunds. After a year of rebuilding, all the hard work was lost due to someone not wanting to do the job and Simon Inoki instantly lost all his credibility; Lesnar was indeed a pet project of his as part of his "global strategy" with New Japan, and against the calls from most New Japan management, Inoki still stuck with him. An unnecessary tournament took place, and New Japan had to start from scratch again in building a positive reputation - Pro Wrestling NOAH was closing in very, very fast as a reputable organization. 

"Lesnar was a risk from the beginning..." Stuart Max, owner and webmaster of the respected English language New Japan resource site, Strong Style Spirit, remarked "... because his jump from WWE to American Football made it appear like he had lost his passion for pro wrestling. So one could have been forgiven for thinking his only purpose for appearing in New Japan was the big payday (upward of US$30,000 per match) he was getting. Lesnar's reign started well, as he looked powerful and a fresh monster figure, but went downhill quickly. It became obvious that he was almost sleepwalking through matches, giving very little effort, and doing little to make opponents look good. Fans became bored of him, but President Simon, whose main downfall seems to be an obsession with big brand American wrestlers, wouldn't pull the plug. When the time came for Lesnar to drop the belt to Tanahashi in July, Lesnar pulled his double-cross and disgraced the company again. Lesnar cited visa problems as the reason, but that was most likely a cover story."

When asked what the fascination is with the Japanese wrestling community and "big name" American athletes, Stuart informed me that "The company (New Japan) was in a rush to build a new superstars, and had the idea that they could use American celebrities to roll over natives, then drop the belt to a selected figure. However, both Sapp and Lesnar turned their back when that time was near and New Japan was left with serious messes to clean up that damaged the image of the IWGP Heavyweight Title."

Kurt Angle's name has always been bantered around as a possible 'dream' candidate for any Japanese company to have at their disposal. The problem is who would he face? The main candidates at this stage look to be Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi, as they both as mentioned before have amateur wrestling experience and are very popular characters in New Japan; Nagata having somewhat of a renaissance and his work rate being through the roof already this year.

One person Angle won't be facing, to the relief of New Japan fans, is Hiroshi Tanahashi. It's not that the match wouldn't be good, in fact, it could be as exciting as any other combination thrown together (Angle against Nagata, Nakanishi, Yammamoto et. al), but given that Tanahashi is currently the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, it wouldn't bode well politics wise; Angle is far to a precious commodity for TNA to have to job to an athlete it's new turnover of fans wouldn't recognize, while losing a non-title match would damage the credibility of the title Tanahashi, and in fact New Japan as a whole, have sought to garner some prestige back.

Keep your eyes peeled - Angle's invasion may herald a larger contingent of Puroresu stars in TNA.