#pujoshi

[modesevenshitpost]

From Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? Vol.5 Ch.23: "Every Day In a Vacation Mood"

[liannaedgelord]

any random tumblr fujoshi could book aew better than tony khan and you can quote me on that

[smileceldaru]

THEY JUST STARTED KISSING WHAT

[sana-yan]

Just 4 Guys formed in January of this year with the "remnants" of Suzuki-gun and became "5 Guys" with the addition of SANADA, quickly becoming a central unit in the New Japan scene. Taichi was the "bridge" for SANADA joining the team, and the latter would later win the IWGP World Heavyweight Title at Ryogoku on April 8, 2023. The two men, who share a common background in All Japan Pro Wrestling, have long resonated with each other and candidly discussed the past and present in a friendly atmosphere.

Interviewer: Toru Ichikawa / Photographer: Yoshihisa Kikuta Published in: Issue No. 2240 (May 3, 2023)

NOTE: This interview was conducted around April 10, 2023. DISCLAIMER: I am not a native Japanese speaker, and while translating, I utilized ichi.moe and yomichan transliteration dictionaries to get the most accurate meaning. I've attached a link to the unedited Japanese text here. Please let me know if there are any discrepancies. I will correct any mistranslation. I also tried to emulate the layout of the magazine as best as I could and add in some extra behind-the-scenes images (which will be noted as my own inclusion). As always, please do not share outside of Tumblr! Thank you, and enjoy!

Taichi sensed the signs of a "big shot" from a young SANADA!?

Ever since their days in Suzuki-gun and in Los Ingos, respectively, the two's singles competitions against each other have shown their roots through their offense and defense.

Apr. 8, 2023. All team members seconded for SANADA in Ryogoku and exchanged jokes backstage.

INTERVIEWER (INT): We arranged a talk between you two at the world's fastest pace.

TAICHI: Nah, I'll do it on YouTube later tonight. [laughs]

SANADA: It'll be released first. [laughs]

INT: That's only just a video.

TAICHI: And this here is text.

(Extra inclusion.) Apr. 10, 2023. Taichi and SANADA pose for a photo to plug Sana-yan's first live on Taichi's YouTube channel following SANADA's victory over Okada at Sakura Genesis 2023.

INT: This is in writing for the first time in this country. So, how did you feel when you look back on Sanada winning the belt in Ryogoku?

TAICHI: As you can see, his match was completely different from the Sana-yan of the past. He was a completely different person. Everyone who saw it felt that, didn't they? The costume, the hairstyle, the entrance music...

INT: Sanada, whom Taichi called "Kenichi Mikawa"* in a comment after the match, had a sparkling entrance.

TAICHI: You're teasing me this early? [laughs] Before the match in the locker room, we had "Scorpio Woman"* playing. [laughs] We relaxed in the room so Sana-yan wouldn't be tense. We thought it'd help him loosen up by telling jokes and drinking tea.

INT: Taichi, you were leaning forward and shouting during the match.

TAICHI: That's right. We were excited, but we were also desperate. We were also afraid that Sana-yan and we could fail at this point.

INT: It felt as though the entire unit was fighting together (with Sanada).

TAICHI: Oh yeah, even if he didn't know it. [laughs]

SANADA: No, no. [laughs] I could hear his voice, and for the first time, I thought it was great to have a second. I heard precise advice such as "rest now" and "attack now," which gave me confidence during the match.

TAICHI: We're not just a unit. We're going to win together. [turning to Sanada] Because LIJ is a business unit, aren't they? [laughs] We aim to win collectively as a team and rise to the top together.

SANADA: It's an amazing feeling, thinking of what we'll be building from here on out.

TAICHI: I wanted to create a unit with a never-before-seen scenery.

INT: The sight of Sanada being carried on your shoulders after the Ryogoku match was reminiscent of the 90s All Japan Pro Wrestling, similar to Misawa Mitsuharu of the past.

TAICHI: Naturally, with me, Uncle Nobu, and Sana-yan in the middle, our blood stirred to do something old school. If you win a belt, it should also have a shoulder ride, no? [laughs] I think it was good for us as a trio together, and I'm sure Uncle Nobu's presence was also very significant for Sana-yan.

SANADA: All three of us (from our debuts to our tenure in All Japan) didn't overlap.

TAICHI: We never lived together at the dojo. When Sanada was still young, I once raided the dojo as a surprise. [wry smile]

INT: Why did you raid the dojo?

TAICHI: I was having dinner with Old Man Kihara (Kihara Fumito, the AJPW ring announcer), and we talked about heading over to the dojo. There happened to be a wooden sword at the dojo, so I put on a full-face helmet and went into where the trainees were sleeping. I should have said, "It's a joke," but because I left with my helmet on, the young guys had no clue who I was even at the end. Maybe instead of being surprised, they were afraid. [laughs]

INT: Sanada, you once said that your first impression of Taichi was that he was a "yakara"*, right?

SANADA: Hahaha!!

TAICHI: I guess if you were attacked with a full-face helmet. [laughs]

INT: I think his appearance is more than a "yakara," though. [laughs]

TAICHI: After the raid event, I went to the public baths with Old Man Kihara*, who was doing a diet then. He went into the sauna many times and collapsed from dehydration.

Since Old Man Kihara is such a prankster, I thought, "Yeah, yeah, another one," and let him be until someone had to call the ambulance. As the staff rushed in, I thought I better leave it to them, so I ended up drying my hair with a hair dryer. [laughs]

After I was at the hospital, I called the All Japan Dojo, told them of Old Man Kihara's situation, and asked someone to come over. One of those people ended up being Sana-yan.

INT: At that time, there were young trainees who came to the hospital.

TAICHI: There was another young guy, and he and Sanada said they'd look after Old Man Kihara. Then, Sana-yan poured a bunch of candy on the waiting room chair and started to snack. "We'll eat and wait for him," he said while munching, and I thought to myself: who the hell are these guys? [laughs]

SANADA: At the time, I didn't like alcohol yet, so I gravitated towards sweets.

TAICHI: I told them Old Man Kihara had collapsed, but they appeared unconcerned and ate sweets. [laughs]

INT: In a way, that's a big response. [laughs]

TAICHI: No, really. I was a bit taken aback. I thought this guy was going to be a big shot. [laughs]

INT: By the way, Sanada, did you ever watch a Taichi match when you were a fan? (T/N: Meaning before Sanada became a pro wrestler.)

SANADA: Yes, I had.

INT: What was your impression?

TAICHI: There weren't any, right. [laughs]

SANADA: You had brown hair, no?

TAICHI: I think I colored my hair brown halfway through.

SANADA: At that time, Akira Raijin-san, the leader of the training camp dorms, was like this... [bows deeply] ...in front of Taichi-niyan. For the training camp dorm leader to be like that...

INT: So you had an image of a scary person. [laughs] Taichi, you met SANADA in Mexico before he joined New Japan, didn't you?

TAICHI: Ah, we met for a moment.

SANADA: We met during the month I was in Mexico after exiting All Japan.

TAICHI: It wasn't more than a greeting, just a "hello."

INT: Until Sanada entered New Japan in 2016, you two had no in-ring contact.

Although from a different unit, Taichi, who always cared, made me "feel love." - SANADA

{page 2}

SANADA: But, when I arrived in 2010, Taichi-niyan wasn't in New Japan.

INT: He was working at NOAH around this time, right?

SANADA: Even after he returned, we didn't have a match. Really, I believe it's been a recent thing.

INT: Taichi originally started saying "Sana-yan" because he created a character resembling Sanada in one of his video games, right?*

SANADA: Ah, it was very similar. [laughs]

TAICHI: It resembled him incredibly! [laughs] The name Sana-yan was easy to say, so I ended up calling it that on my own.

INT: There was a period where the two of you kept in touch through the organization's website diaries, but Taichi, did you feel sympathy towards Sanada?

TAICHI: In a way, I was curious about him, being from All Japan Pro Wrestling. I often said this for years since we competed against each other, but it felt like he had something great that was being wasted. Long before I was comfortable around Sana-yan, I said, "At this rate, he'll be a midranger (T/N: midcarder) if he doesn't change." I was a little worried about him. I know it was selfish and meddlesome, but I told him.

INT: Midrangers are overshadowed somewhat, aren't they?

TAICHI: That's right. Yellow or peach would still be better. [laughs] Something "green" is ordinary, like a nobody. I thought that was a waste.

(T/N: Taichi is riffing on the word "mid" sounding phonetically similar to midori, the color green.)

INT: Sanada, how did you take in Taichi's remarks?

SANADA: It resonated with me that he cared about me even though we were in different units. After all, one wouldn't usually say it, right?

TAICHI: Other guys have the attitude of not giving a damn about what happens (to anybody else).

SANADA: I felt loved that he dared to tell me, especially in a situation like that.

INT: You said you felt loved!

TAICHI: I don't know much about what Love is, but...

INT: Whether or not it was love, there was a lot of resonance between you both when you swung in your singles matches, right?

TAICHI: Somewhere, I realized that every time I did a singles match with Sana-yan, it was as if my true self came out. I was amazed, seeing the self I didn't know I had within me emerging. Conversely, I wondered if it was the same for Sana-yan. If he'd do things he wouldn't in LIJ when he was up against me. I thought what happened in the ring brought us closer together.

INT: How did you see the situation where Sanada could not reach the top?

TAICHI: Watching it, I thought he would surely be a midranger. Takagi, who came in from the middle of the pack, moved with a bang to the place I wanted Sana-yan to go. But you took something like the US title once, didn't you?

SANADA: Yeah, I picked it up.

TAICHI: But you got injured (with an orbital floor fracture). Even though he was in an enemy faction, I felt a sense of dread at the time. In wrestling, luck is also a kind of skill. Maybe Sana-yan didn't have the skills to hold the US title.

To lose the singles belt you worked so hard for due to injury felt like something was still missing, like the gods of pro wrestling said, "You're not ready to be a champion yet; isn't there something more you need to awaken?" I wondered if such forces were at work.

"I want to work with Takagi again and change my landscape." - Taichi

INT: In last year's G1 Climax, Taichi, you said to Sanada, "Why are you in that place?" After you said those words, it felt like the distance and the relationship between you two began to change around that time.

TAICHI: There's the G1, but the actual decisive moment was in the first round of last year's TV title tournament.

INT: The match was in Sanada's hometown of Nagaoka.

SANADA: Around that time, he asked me something like, "Won't you join me?"

TAICHI: It's plain to see. Looking back (at the fight footage), you can see we discussed it in the ring after the match.

INT: What prompted you to make such a direct offer back then?

TAICHI: It was a period where the faction members (Suzuki-gun) were looking in different directions, as there were talks of disbanding, so I was wondering what to do should the unit disappear.

During that time, Sana-yan's usual demeanor would be there, but a different Sana-yan would come out when he fought against me in a match. I thought if he worked with me, the things he couldn't catch up on, the talents he couldn't find results with, all those things I could help cover. So I asked him if he wanted to join me. To which Sana-yan asked, "Is Taichi-niyan going to be in (Los Ingos)?"

INT: He thought you were going to join! [laughs]

TAICHI: "No, no, Sana-yan is coming over here." The topic really started from that point forward.

SANADA: I thought I was being set up when he said that. I wondered if I was getting pranked.

TAICHI: What kinda prank is that! [laughs]

SANADA: I worried it might be some kind of trap.

TAICHI: I thought, "You should have moved up quickly (in the ranking)," but he seemed to give the impression of, "No, I'm fine here." I wished he was a little more greedy. He didn't need anything pretty; if he let go of his obsessive hangups, he could go far. It felt that LIJ's Sana-yan was becoming rigid.

INT: With that in mind, did you consider earnestly recruiting him into the unit at the beginning of the year?

TAICHI: I had been recruiting him since the TV title match, and in my mind, I believed my persistent prods would gradually work. That's why on January 5th (at New Year Dash), when I said that the four of us would go and change the scenery, I was sure he wouldn't join. I believed I was partly at fault for saying needless things, resulting in Sana-yan's poor performance and causing him to lose his way in his matches.

"I didn't want him to revert to the Sana-yan he had been in LIJ; I believe it was absolutely the right thing to do." - Taichi

Taichi / Real name undisclosed. Born March 19, 1980 in Ishikari, Hokkaido. Debuted at All Japan in December 2002. Around 2006, he started to appear on the New Japan ring, and became a member of Suzuki-gun in 2011. Moved up to heavyweight in 2018, and won the IWGP Tag, NEVER Openweight, and KOPW titles. Finisher: Black Mephisto. 177cm, 100kg. SANADA / Real name: Seiya Sanada. Born January 28, 1988 in Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture. Debuted at All Japan in March 2007. Left in June 2013, joined WRESTLE-1, and worked freelance, before joining New Japan in April 2016. He was a Los Ingobernables de Japon member until he left in March of this year. Finisher: Deadfall. 182cm, 100kg.

{page 3}

INT: On January 5th, at Ota Ward, you envisioned Sanada joining your team.

TAICHI: I told my teammates that Sana-yan might choose us.

INT: Sanada joining the unit wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thing but something that had been set into motion.

TAICHI: Yes, although it was possible we weren't going to be together, we started to feel something the more we had matches against each other. And little by little, each nudge led to the action in March at Korakuen Hall.

INT: Honestly, what's the atmosphere in the unit like now that Sanada has joined?

TAICHI: It's crazy good. We four were already like that, so when Sana-yan joined, I didn't want him to revert to the Sana-yan he had been in LIJ. So, as I mentioned, we played "Scorpio Woman" and tried to make him laugh with our antics. As you can tell from the backstage, he started to laugh more often.

SANADA: I could bring out my natural, true self. I thought it would be best not to embellish it.

TAICHI: If people notice that side of you outside the ring, that aspect would also naturally appear inside the ring. As a result, he's come this far now. To a casual viewer, we might seem childish (with our backstage talks), or they might think we're doing a comedic bit, but I took a chance to do that and genuinely believe it was the right choice since it's led to the present-day Sana-yan.

INT: How do you plan to proceed from here as a unit?

TAICHI: Now that we've taken our first step into the new scene, we'll be a one-trick pony if we just keep calling out, "Sana-yan" this and "Sana-yan" that. Of course, myself, Uncle Nobu, Douki, and... I don't know about Taka [laughs], we should move together to see the new scenery. Uncle Nobu has the juniors (title), and I want to work with Takagi again and change my landscape.

INT: Regarding KOPW, Taichi, you said you didn't care if the title wasn't on the line.

TAICHI: I'd certainly appreciate it if the title was on the line, but I've already lost three times in a row, so who am I to demand they put the title up for grabs? Because of Takagi, I fell into a huge slump last year and couldn't win any singles matches. I have to defeat Takagi, the opponent who made me fall into this state, to move forward. Anyway, I'm only asking for a singles match. If KOPW happens to be included, that would be even better for my landscape.

INT: And as for its rules?

TAICHI: I'm in no position to declare the rules, so Takagi should decide. We could even do a "Return Sana-yan"* match if he wants. [laughs]

INT: It'd be too revolutionary to have the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion move to a different faction in the middle of his reign. [laughs]

SANADA: I want to do a shoulder ride.

TAICHI: You want to do it the other way around? It's a dream, then! [laughs] Will you and Uncle Nobu do it together? For real? Then let's get that on the cover (of Weekly Pro Wrestling) too! [laughs]

INT: Making shoulder rides a regular part of the tradition would be nice.

TAICHI: We'll carry whoever is the central person on our shoulders. Because no one is the boss, or the leader, so whoever stands out at the time is the best. So if Uncle Nobu wins the junior belt, the two of us will do it together.

INT: I would love to see Kanemaru being carried around. [laughs]

SANADA: It's a dream. [laughs]

TAICHI: Old school All Japan style is still a new scenery. [laughs] Even if Uncle Nobu doesn't make the junior title, we still have Douki and Taka... though I don't know about Taka. [laughs]

INT: Sanada, you're set to defend against Hiromu.

SANADA: Hiromu-san said that if he wins the belt, he wants to go up against Naito-san. I feel he's using the IWGP belt and me as a stepping stone, so I want to show him that it's not such an easy belt to win. I barely managed to get this belt, so I want to say that this isn't something that can be taken lightly.

TAICHI: Well... it could be a shot at you. Perhaps there's jealousy that you became a champion after leaving. But there's a chance that if he messes up (against Uncle Nobu), the three of us could be in Fukuoka holding singles belts and riding on each other's shoulders, no? It's a dream~ "Triple Crown Champions!" [laughs]

INT: Is there anything else you'd like to do with Sanada outside the ring?

TAICHI: I'm working two jobs as (a wrestler and) a YouTuber, so I thought it'd be nice to show the world the other side of Sana-yan that hasn't been seen before. He said he's curious about playing pranks, too.

SANADA: I badly want to try. I've seen prank videos on YouTube, and I want to cream (pie) someone in the face with a bam! I want to do it.

TAICHI: You think that'd work on Uncle Nobu? I'm sure it'd work on Taka. [laughs]

In the upcoming series, Kanemaru and Taichi will be carried on the shoulders... "Shoulder rides" will be a part of this faction's tradition!

The J5G team was on the cover of last week's issue. Will we see this scene again in the next series?

Footnotes:

Kenichi Mikawa is a gay drag personality and onnagata singer.

The "Scorpio Woman" Taichi refers to is the single by Kenichi Mikawa, not the song by Jimi Hendrix.

やから (yakara) is a slang word with various meanings, both positive and negative, meaning someone of the same "clan/blood/background" as you (kindred), or that they're "thugs/delinquents," etc. Taichi definitely fits both terms lmao. This word is mainly used in the Kansai dialect. Since SANADA's hometown is in Niigata, which is in the Chūbu region closest to the Kansai region, he sometimes uses this dialect.

Read more about Taichi and SANADA's first encounter here.

Read more about the creation of the nickname and "The Big Adventure of SANA-yan" here.

I can't believe Uncle Shingo denied us of a "Sanada-on-a-Pole" match, RIP

And this is the end! I hope you had fun reading as much as I did translating. If you enjoyed my scanlation and if you have the means, please consider leaving a tip through tumblr and supporting my translations! No pressure if you can't, and please reblog and support these two guys! :) Thank you very much!

[jariten]

I've seen some confusion expressed about the Princess Jellyfish panel where the Amars are referred to as fujoshi and not as otaku, as some expected it to say. In the original text they're referred to as rotten girls aka fujoshi. While the term is in the present day associated exclusively with fans of m/m shipping and BL, it has in the past been a term some women preferred to use over otaku. In fact you might come across a few old online or print glossaries that have described fujoshi as "female otaku" without any specific qualifications for what obsessive interests they need to have if they want to claim being rotten, just that they most likely enjoy m/m.

Worth noting also that this manga began serialization in 2009 and terminology like this always moves its parameters with the times. Though as stated previously nowadays its generally agreed upon that if you're not rocking with yaoi you're not a fujoshi

The translation notes from Princess Jellyfish volume 1 (first printed in 2016) has a good definition thats reflective of its times.

Also, did you know that female Pro Wrestling fans are called Pujoshi?

[kensukeoffice]

thaank u ryan @pujoshi for tagging me in the wrestling 2024 tag meme. was very fun, very unsurprising also

mvp/wrestler of the year: anzai yuma. his whole reign was really good and memorable and being a people's princess really suits him.

match of the year: nakajima katsuhiko vs anzai yuma. nothing else comes close to it but the ones that almost do include masaaki mochizuki vs mochizuki jr, josh barnett vs yu iizuka, sugiura takashi vs ulka sasaki. sensing a pattern.

favourite feud: whatever prompted men to keep mentioning how nakajima knocked endo out. also ozawa exposing kaito was fun and the love triangle begween oiwa, kaito and kenoh.

favourite tag team/faction: that one time nakajima and hideki teamed and didn't like it, marufuji naomichi and sugiura takashi, hokuto-gun.

favourite show: some of noah's magic mondays were reeeally good. shiozaki's 20th anniversary show too, of course.

breakout(ish star): taishin nagao (no breakout not a star but i like him and he's so good at yelling [name]-san while ringside), yu iizuka, mochizuki jr, ryohei oiwa, ulka sasaki, ryo inoue.

horniest moment: several moments even from nakajima and anzai's title match.

tagging you 🫵

[schadentekkers]

tagged by ryan @pujoshi to do the 2024 wrestling tag meme !! i will be giving predictable boring answers bc my brain freezes and i cannot think of things when i am put on the spot, but i do enjoy things like this anyway so ty for the tag ryan <3

MVP/Wrestler of the Year : drum roll please....... it's gotta be one zack sabre jr... (to absolutely no one's surprise.) he's been on the run of his life and it's been v rewarding to see as the zsj mutualTM <3

Match of the Year : mao vs ueno at wrestle peter pan. i need to do a rewatch actually. god

also gotta mention to no one's surprise, zack and chris vs. mao and ueno at april fool 2024. it literally had everything for me, tumblr user schadentekkers

Favourite Feud : i didn't follow it v closely since i'm not an aew guy anymore, but the only one i could really think of was strickpage.. psychosexual feud of a lifetime

Favourite Tag Team/Faction : 37kamiina my favorite polycule

Favourite Show : despe invitacional! surprise card, the crowd's energy, despe in a jock.. a great time all around

Breakout (ish) Star : idk if i consider her a breakout star per se but i feel miu watanabe really came into her own last year. her winning the title from a pillar and her subsequent title run were great. also ofc takeshi masada and kosei fujita.. it's been a lot of fun watching them grow as wrestlers under the tutelage of their respective senpais

Horniest Moment : i mean it's gotta be chris vs despe staple spot, if not just the entirety of their match. chris wanted to fuck that man so bad it made him look stupid

Most Anticipated in 2025 : looking forward to zack's title reign lasting forever and ever

not sure who's already done this, but i'll no pressure tag @gotmeontheropes @midcarder @sasakidaisuke @naritaren and @rennarita

+ anyone else who sees this and wants to do it !

[smileceldaru]

JUST LOOK AT THE POTENTIAL HERE

[wunderwirker]

ryan @pujoshi tagged me to do the wrestling 2024 tag meme, ty ryan!! i have so far strictly avoided this for 2024 bc its been so hard keeping up with even only Noah but it was good to think through the year in farewell

⭐ mvp/wrestler of the year: Kaito Kiyomiya. its not even a question. you look at what an ace is and he checks all the boxes

⭐ match of the year: usually i pick the match i rewatched most but i did that for exactly 0 matches of 2024 (brain bad). actually sorry to go for a whiteboy but kaito vs jack in the n-1 fucking Slammed unexpectedly

⭐ favorite feud: Kaito/Kenoh leading into the formation of AR. i have a Lot of thoughts and criticisms about the general lack of non-title feuds in noah up until recently, but this satisfied my cravings

⭐ favorite tag team/faction: GLG. loved those guys. they were so creative and fun in the ring and had a great balance of hot men. jack/ag gave me exactly what i love about tag wrestling

⭐ favorite show: Star Navigation March 31st i enjoyed thoroughly. also lets give it to Monday Magic, both spring and autumn. always enjoyable, even though the Cursedness base rate is higher but thats wrestling for ya

⭐ breakout star: Ulka Sasaki, beautiful man with big ideas who isnt afraid to get owned. Junta "I have found my identity now" Miyawaki.

⭐ horniest moment: listen. i looked into my gif folders and theres too many gifs named like "katsu bulge" or "ulka sex sex neck" or "mounts kaito" for me to choose from. okay actually lets go with ogawa/yo-hey insane mating press pin

⭐ most anticipated in 2025: need them to come over to europe again so i can ask ozawa whose sweat tastes best. also Katsuhiko maybe wrestling more often again. also at least 1 more Noah faction

tagging: @namajague @f00t-fic @kayzeejinx @axel-mania @heffalumpfreezone

[busaikuknee]

@pujoshi tagged me for the wrestling 2024 tag meme! thanks, ryan

2024 was, for me, a weird year in wrestling. there was a lot i liked but very little i loved—which, when worded like that, sounds kind of dire! but it forced me to branch out and check out a lot of stuff i might not have felt motivated to otherwise, so at least i've got that to balance it out. anyway, let's get into it.

🔶 mvp/wrestler of the year: this was the hardest category to pick for. i kept going back through the year and testing out potential answers, but none of them felt right. then, when i was looking through my abandoned-halfway-through-the-year spreadsheet and saw this comment for musashi vs fujita jr hayato (july 1st, 2022)

i suddenly realized that the answer had to be hayato. it feels a little strange to pick someone who, for reasons out of his control, barely wrestled in 2024. maybe i'll wake up up tomorrow and realize that there was a really obvious alternate answer that i just blanked on. but in this moment, i'm going with my gut. heal up, boss.

🔶 match of the year: i think it has to go to this year's dead or alive cage match; it made me feel fucking unglued in the best way possible. when dragongate's good, it's unimaginably good.

close seconds would be yuki ueno vs mao (july 21st) and shoko nakajima vs miu watanabe (may 6th), half because they were both stellar matches and half due to the enthusiasm of the people i watched them with. i <3 joy

🔶 favorite feud: this past year has been light on feuds i've been super into, which i think feeds into my feelings regarding the year as a whole. i'm going to tentatively go with the kiyomiya-ozawa drama that closed out 2024. the pick's partially because it was a genuinely excellent way to build up what ozawa's Deal was while he was out due to injury, but mostly because it was very, very stupid. which is important. a feud's gotta be just a little dumb for me to sink my teeth into it.

🔶 favorite tag team/faction: i was thinking about ddt factions a few weeks ago and came to the realization that—while they may not have had the craziest or most attention-grabbing year—burning had really grown on me throughout 2024. don't really have an explanation for it, just really enjoyed their vibes. they, of course, then disbanded days later. i really know how to pick 'em.

🔶 favorite show: wrestle peter pan, maybe? long as hell (as big cyberfight shows tend to be), but a great time from top to bottom.

additionally, while i can't pick out any show in particular, i've consistently had a ton of fun with tjpw and ajpw. there's been multiple times where i've sat down fully intending to just watch one match and ended up catching a whole show. good times! hopefully this continues into 2025.

🔶 breakout star: my immediate and inexplicable investment in ulka sasaki has paid off. watching him gradually grow more comfortable in-ring throughout this past year has been a joy. i'm excited to see where this next year takes him!

tied with him is kosei fujita, who i believe should win every belt ever.

🔶 horniest moment: this was the second hardest category to pick for. i spent forever wracking my brain until i remembered that i did watch kazusada higuchi, harashima, and yukio sakaguchi vs tetsuya endo, daisuke sasaki, mad paulie (may 19th, 2019) last year. it's a fun but largely unremarkable match unless you're a specific genre of pervert, in which case it's a GREAT match. miss you every day, sakaguchi.

🔶 most anticipated in 2025: i originally wrote out a long explanation for this, but i'll cut it short and just say that i'm very excited for what 2025 has in store for pro wrestling noah!

i never know who to tag for these things, but if you decide to take a stab at it, i'll read through your post and clap like a little seal. peace & love o/

[fagcrisis]

using @thistledropkick's post as an excuse to also do the wrestling 2024 tag meme!

im gna go ahead n tag @maxbuck @jupiterjunebug @bang-bang-gang and @pujoshi if u feel inclined to do it :)

MVP/wrestler of the year

Match of the year

favorite feud

favorite tag team/faction

favorite show

breakout(ish) star

horniest moment

most anticipated in 2025

its long as hell so its going under a readmore lmao

wrestler of the year

this is a pretty tough question. i got into a lot of new promotions this year and fell in love with so many people i didnt even know existed before, but I think it has to be miu watanabe. her run as princess of princess champion has been fantastic, proving herself to be new pillar of the company. with yukas departure and miyu+maki doing a lot more work overseas there is definitely places at the top of the (very chillaxed) tjpw food chain and miu has been filling that role. watching her go from an underdog to the benchmark in a little over a year has been so satisfying amd every match she had during her run was great. i think losing to mizuki capped off her reign well and im excited to see what the future holds for the new ace of tjpw!

honorary mentions for: jacky kamei, who quickly became my favorite guy in the world this year, mika iwata who, despite being hampered by some confusing booking did a great job defending the senjo title against some fun opponents, and also saori anou about a hundred times, and chris brookes who makes my list every year

match of the year

honestly this was gonna be puro but something happened to me in august, so its swerve strickland vs bryan danielson. it is the live wrestling bias, and the fact that that show was so good it made me actually keep up with aew for a grand total of 2 weeks before i realized i hate that fucking company, but also its just a damn good match. theyre both guys who are willing to go the extra mile and some more for a spectacle, and anyway, its a good memory

honorary mentions: chris brookes vs daisuke sasaki (both of them), dragon dia vs junta miyawaki which is just, so fucking good. go watch it yall. and miu watanabe vs ryo mizunami

favorite feud

gold class vs z-brats! starting out with minoura losing his hair, and betraying riiita, and the whole thing leading to big hug disbanding somehow. it was a gut wrenching thing to watch, especially with big hug disbanding because of the whole situation. i almost stopped watcjing wrestlimg early in the year and dragongate really pulled me back. its just very effective storytelling and i felt like my life was at stake at points

honorary mentions: toni storm and mariah may, i dont watch aew but i salute lesbianism

breakout(ish) star

CHI CHI!!!!!!! i started watching sendai girls and evolution joshi this year just to put things on while working and i really fell in love with her. shes been great eith the revived senjo jr title, she has great kicks and she just had a great match against stardoms aya sakura which you should watch as well. shes been wrestling for something like a year and honestly, it doesnt show. im so excited to keep up with her career, she has great things ahead of her

favorite tag team/faction

big hug you will be sorely missed!! this is the category where i will not be able to pick a favorite, so let me list some good ones. i loved big hug. i loved that they loved each other so much, they worked so well together. finally mante was able to use kamei as a weapon with his permission. they were so fun. im still upset

not hug, also, were really good. their tah title run was fun as hell its the definition of Dudes Rock. their whole coworkers who hate each other shtick is really good and its incorporated into their moveset and teamwork really well, with doi being reluctant to help dk at points and moments of miscommunication, but they always manage to make it work

team 200kg had such a fantaszic year, two absolute powerhouses walking into the ring to a rock ballad with a comical amount of belts. chihiro hashimoto has always been a really great heavy hitter but this was the year when yuu really became her equal. the yuu roll is the most electrifying move in wrestlimg argue with the wall. their ajpw tv title run with shuji ishikawa was great, just 3 big strong people suplexing fools through the floor. one of those teams you would be insane to dislike

favorite show

so we got two shows tied here. dragongate's dead or alive 2024 show is what finally got me into the promotion after seeing 2 of my friends gush about it for over a year, and i was kicking myself for not getting in on it soomer to be honest. that show made me so invested in jacky kamei in about half an hour that i was clutching my knees and screaming and crying basically the entire time. greatest cage escape spot ever. im putting the entire show here and not just the cagematch because that show also had the twin gate match where not hug won the titles and that was also heaps of fun, and anyways its the worst dg show i ever watched it deserves the spot

tjpw x eve was not, i dont think, on a lot of peoples radars, but it was magical in a lot of ways. obviously tjpw had to kind of send the b team, but to us teej heads there is no such thing as the b team and everybody in that building who had to stand because they fucked up the seating tickets was absolutely Elated to see himawari. raku got a huge cheer, and a you sick fuck chant, i got to see aja kong live and in person which made me almost faint on the spot. i love eve as well and half the british wrestlers on that show had to go and wrestle a 4 woman hardcore match later that day on a revpro show i also attended, so massive props to them. miyu said in her promo closing the show that she wanted this crossover to happen for a very long time and she hoped she could do a much better one next time, which im also hoping for!

horniest moment

this seems to be the year of kissing men so its not easy to pick but it is probably everything that happened in that despe/chris match. i can only dare hope that we can surpass ourselves next year

most anticipated im 2025

as opposed to last year, im excited about plenty of things! im excited to watch meiko satomuras retirement series as it draws to a close, im excited to see how chris brookes's championship reign goes. im very hyped for suzume as international princess champion and im just generally excited to see what dragongate has to offer me this year. im also tentatively hyped for some new japan stuff, the wk weekend shows were, not necessarily great but i think they set up some stuff that could be. and ofc im excited for wrestlimg to suprise me again this year!

[gordo-majima]

pujoshis hold up half the wrestling world

[smileceldaru]

I'm begging you, please never forget about the pujoshi term

[sana-yan]

the upcoming shinnichi champion is j5g "job interview" themed and it's going to be great I can feel it

[thistledropkick]

The New Japan talk show Shin Nichi Champion held another fan survey about Desperado recently.

The last time they did one of these, it was aimed towards wrestling fangirls (although Desperado did clarify on twitter that fans of any gender were welcome to participate.) The results from the mostly-fangirl survey were:

Favorite Desperado things (pujoshi edition) :

His entrance

Voice

Eroticism / sexiness

The way he nicely folds his t-shirts before his matches

His otaku-ness / nerdiness

The more recent survey was aimed towards El Desperado super-fans.

Favorite Desperado things (super-fan edition) :

His great backstage comments and wrestling commentary

His otaku-ness / nerdiness

His love of pro wrestling / respect for his fellow wrestlers

His emotional expressiveness as a masked wrestler

He is kind to his fans

You can watch this episode here if you subscribe to New Japan World. The hosts spend this episode trying to make Desperado like the talk show by making him as happy as possible.

[fang-revives]

Dave Meltzer stars are nothing compared to one (1) review from a pujoshi friend saying the match made them insane.