#wrestler: el desperado

[ekmsoldier]

[thistledropkick]

The poster reads "This summer, instead of college credits, I want you. I'll be waiting, in Ryogoku" And at the bottom it says "Masada Takeshi - college student wrestler"

Masada's tweet says

"I'm real sorry! But I'd actually rather have the college credits."

Despe: "ahhh I'm feeling so attacked right nowwww"

Masada:

"I'm embarrassed to admit it but , , My priority really is earning college credits , , ,"

Despe:

"But four years of college should be enough

I'm doing just fine with about half a year"

Masada:

"That was my plan too but, well, I'm already a 4th year student, I'm running out of time, and I'm stressing out lol"

Despe:

". . . . there's still the second semester! You've got time!"

Masada:

"Am I gonna have to get as many credits as possible in the second semester too? 🤮🤮"

Chris:

"He's our enemy right now, so quit being disloyal and stop flirting with this man"

Masada:

"ah , , ! , ! , !"

[shamelesstrashcollective]

HEAR ME OUT

[dynamitekansai]

ElDesperado5: これでお渡し会かな

[urfavisananimegirl]

El Desperado (the wrestler)

El Desperado (Real Life/Pro Wrestlers) is an Anime Girl!

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Most Beloved NJPW Wrestler Tournament

[wrestlingmgc]

Campeones de Parejas de la Arena Coliseo del CMLL La Fiebre Amarilla

[emry-stars-art]

I’ve spent far too long on this

Edit: here he is

There is little to boost my mood like finding a great Andrew reference to draw and inflict upon all of us as soon as physically possible 😌

[bareee]

Morning stretch

Yal can thank El desperado the wrestler for this idea, started out with ‘Itd be funny if Mark could do the splits like that’ , then went down the rabbit hole of who else could in the group. I could see just about everyone bein able to get down….except one XD

[tzaraat]

[image ID: a coloured-pencil sketch, with four square panels depicting El Desperado and Chris Brookes in a match. the four panels are of varying size, and are arranged along a diagonal from the top-right corner to the bottom-left, with the two bottom panels stacked one on top of the other to form a larger rectanble.

the top panel depicts Desperado and Brookes standing face-to-face, Brookes on the right and Desperado on the left, against a yellow background. both wrestlers' faces are bloody.

the middle panel is largest, and depicts Desperado's chest as it is stapled by Brookes. Brookes' hand, pressing the stapler to Desperado's chest, is visible on the left side of the panel. the stapler, as well as the tape on Brookes' arm and fingers, are left blank. Desperado's chest is bloody.

the bottom two panels each contain a portrait of brookes, one against a yellow background and the other against light-blue. in both he looks straight ahead, and his face is bloody.

all drawings are rendered in light, vibrant colours, with the darkest shadows appearing as a mid-tone grey and highlights dominating. /.End ID}

fires will sometimes burn cold.

[sycamoretrees]

so over the last few months I have been putting together some curated wrestling selections for best pal @benchwarming (a Japanese-wrestling-curious AEW fan), and I thought I would share them here for anyone else who might be interested, particularly if you want to try NJPW or DDT but aren't sure where to start.

@benchwarming: i really enjoyed these matches even when i didn't know the wrestlers or have much context going in! lots of compelling in-ring dynamics, funny bits, and straightforwardly great wrestling

I've included links for everything (and bolded my particular favourite matches), please hit me up if you have any questions, or if you want any other recommendations! I would love to talk to you about Japanese wrestling!!!

WrestleTime OG

Hiromu Takahashi vs Will Ospreay, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 2020 (x)

Kota Ibushi vs Toru Yano, NJPW G1 Climax 2018 (x)

Stephanie Vaquer vs AZM, NJPW Windy City Riot 2024 (x)

El Desperado vs Hiromu Takahashi, NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2020 (x)

Kota Ibushi vs Shinsuke Nakamura, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 2015 (x)

(more under the cut)

2Wrestle2Time: The Squeakquel

Jay White vs Juice Robinson, NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco 2018 (x)

Jon Moxley vs Toru Yano, NJPW G1 Climax 2019 (x)

El Desperado & Jun Kasai vs Jon Moxley & Homicide, NJPW Independence Day 2023 (x)

Konosuke Takeshita vs Yuki Ueno, DDT Wrestle Peter Pan 2023 (x)

Hiromu Takashi & Jun Kasai vs Minoru Suzuki & Takayuki Ueki, NJPW Despe Invitacional 2024 (x)

Katsuyori Shibata vs Kazuchika Okada, NJPW Sakura Genesis 2017 (x)

Wr3stl3Tim3: Tokyo Drift

Jon Moxley vs Tomohiro Ishii, NJPW G1 Climax 2019 (x)

Toru Yano vs Kenny Omega, NJPW G1 Climax 2017 (x)

Miu Watanabe vs Miyu Yamashita, TJPW Grand Princess 2024 (x)

Kuroshio Tokyo Japan vs Takeshi Masada, DDT Ultimate Party 2023 (x)

Kazuki Hirata vs Mao vs Yoshihiko, DDT What Are You Doing 2023 (x)

Yuki Ueno vs Yukio Sakaguchi, DDT Kawasaki Strong 2021 (x)

[eldesperadont]

hello and welcome to the start of my rough Despe/Hiromu recap essay! I'll go over their history in relation to one another. A big reason for this recap is to explain my fascination with the 10+ year long history of these characters, and why I, a queer person, is so drawn to it — this post will include links, spoilers and cover the first 9 years of their careers. If you have corrections or additional infos pls DM me!!

egg, (2010-2012)

Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado started their pro wrestling training around the same time in NJPWs dojo – both passing NJPW's entry exam in 2009 and training for roughly a year till they officially debuted in 2010.

Desperado in March under his real name, Mikami Kyōsuke, and Hiromu later in August. And here we already have some key moments:

Takahashi's professional debut was a singles match against Mikami. (its on YouTube btw)

Despe's first ever singles victory was defeating Hiromu in said debut match.

Mikami is older and ahead of Takahashi, going on to have an impressive winning record over Hiromu, who only managed to get a sole victory over Despe during their time together as students. (two if you count in a dark match)

Hiromu genuinely struggled a lot as a Young Lion (dojo trainee), having been close to giving up on wrestling if it weren’t for main roster wrestler Tetsuya Naito, who took him under his wing.

So yeah starting off Despe had the upper hand.

This part of their career is the hardest to research given that 1.) the language barrier was way higher a decade ago, 2.) there straight up is barely any footage. So instead, I want to explain the emotional importance of the NJPW dojo background:

The time as Young Lions in NJPW is kayfabe canon. These guys are rivals but also teammates, live and train together, fight with/and each other, cheer each other on in their bouts with the seniors, carry each other to the back when they once again got beaten – these guys are close, they have to, it's them against the world.

And that is the case for pretty much all the homegrown NJPW talent. This system provides feuds with an emotional core; why would someone who was that close be so cruel to each other now? What turns brothers, best friends, partners into enemies? So much room for juicy rivalries with a real weight behind it, after all we watched these guys grow and learn, saw their highs and lows.

Also on a less serious note it's simply amusing to watch old stuff and see two guys that will be bitter rivals, who’s matches will get praise and awards - tag together in mostly fruitless efforts, stumble behind the curtain together and be so clueless about all the greatness they’ll achieve one day thanks to each others hard work.

Young Lions my beloved <3

oceans apart, (2012-2016)

As is custom with most Young Lions both went on excursion: Mikami graduating first, in 2012, and working in Mexico for a year as "Namajague" - Hiromu leaving Japan the year Desperado debuts on the New Japan main roster, in 2014, touring in Mexico and the US as "Kamaitachi" till August 2016.

Both worked in CMLL as heels, as is custom for foreign trainees, starting as masked wrestlers, loosing them in a stipulation match, and also getting their hair shaved at some point.

Here you have unmasked Namajague, who went on to rock a half facepaint look and had half of his hair bleached (in 2014, a trendsetter)

and here you got a young unmasked Kamaitachi (yes he was in a team with Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian in RoH)

These are the years Mikami and Hiromu don’t interact in canon, but in an 2020 interview Desperado confessed that he kept an eye on Takahashi during the latter's excursion, cause of his success in Middle/North America and spectacular matches with Dragon Lee.

Love confessions, (May - June 2018)

Their rivalry was fully rekindled in the “Best of the Super Juniors 25” tournament, so let’s set the scene:

Takahashi’s successful: having won the most important championship for their weight division in his first year on the main roster. He’s beloved by fans and critics and a valuable member of his mentor's faction, Los Ingobernables de Japon.

El Desperado is struggling: unsuccessfully having fought for singles titles several times in the last couple of years. His only championship victories so far having been in the tag division, after joining Suzuki-gun, a shady group that tolerates him, but not without hurdles. The masked man debuted in 2013 as a cheerful honourable guy, but by now he was just a bitter, sinister bastard.

They will have their first singles meeting in 6 years, and their first on the main roster.

They are winking and nodding towards the fact that Desperado already has several wins over the younger guy, but do not address who Despy really is - officially Mikami Kyōsuke hasn’t wrestled in New Japan ever since he left for Mexico.

Leading up to the BOSJ Hiromu made a booklet in which he describes all of his possible opponents, Desperado's page is kept blank at first, but later Takahashi adds “I know who you are, and I hate you.”

Despy wants to impress Hiromu. He was one half of the IWGP Jr. Tag champs at that point and took both belts with him to the ring - he's also wearing a special mask, that is mostly white, a colour Japanese wrestlers tend to only wear on special occasions/in big matches.

A lot has changed since they last fought 1 on 1 - except one thing: Hiromu cannot beat Desperado.

Both didn’t shy away from using dirty tricks, but in the end Despy has the upper hand once more. As his opponent lays defeated in the ring the masked menace has this to say:

(postmatch promo) (the match)

Hiromu will go on to win the tournament and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight belt from Will Ospreay at the 2018 Dominion show, but the loss to his fellow former Young Lion means that the latter has the right to challenge him, and so he does, in this now infamous promo.

please watch the whole thing: link

(funfact, this happened the same night Kenny won the IWGP Heavyweight Title with Ibushi in his corner, the gays were EATING that day, in pride month no less)

Leading up to their confrontation Hiromu would post a video on his twitter playing the 'love me/not' flower game, landing on "he loves me" - which promptly makes him eat the flower in frustration

On the day of their match, June 18 2018, he brings Desperado a present:

A bouquet in a guitar case, a cruel call back to Desperados main roster debut back in early 2014: after Kota Ibushi won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight belt at Wrestle Kingdom 8 a masked stranger approached the ring with a guitar case, revealing it to carry a bouquet of black roses for the freshly crowned champ (who was a lil confused by the whole situation)

It was the start of Despes unsuccessful run as a face and partnership with Ibushi (which you can read as the first man he tried to pursue).

The masked lad wasn't that fond of Hiromu bringing back old memories.

Their match is an all out war, both using underhanded tactics to keep the other one down, including Hiromu unmasking Despy, who shockingly doesn’t care at all - which is a huge deal, I'm going to quote Japanese NJPW commentator Milano here because he said it best:

“To a masked wrestler that’s your identity. It’s everything. But Desperado has it ripped off and then just puts it on like he was fixing his necktie. He was saying that this very essence of himself wasn’t as important as Hiromu or the belt." (translation by Chris Charlton)

But in the end Hiromu is victorious, finally ending his losing streak. After the match he has some interesting things to say:

(postmatch promo) (the match)

Life’s a b*tch. (mid 2018 - late 2019)

Hiromu's next title defence is in August 2018 in the USA against Dragon Lee, a match I still haven't been able to watch and probably never will. Due to a messed up move from his opponent, Hiromu lands hard on his neck, breaking it in the process. He somehow managed to finish the match but collapsed backstage, immediately being rushed to a hospital.

In the documentary RED HEADED REVIVAL Hiromu shared that he knew right away that something was wrong – he saw his life flash before his eyes and feared that this is the end of his career, but he decided against stopping the fight:

It took Hiromu over a year to fully recover.

That wasn't the only unfortunate incident though: in spring of 2019 Desperado broke his jaw in a deathmatch against his idol Jun Kasai. The timing couldn't have been worse: the highly anticipated BOSJ Tournament for that year being just about to start. Despe had to withdraw mere days before its opening.

Neither of them would make a return till late 2019. And their next actual confrontation wouldn’t be till 2020.

It was a sad time to be a fan of either - with Hiromu we didn't know till his return if he will even be able to wrestle again. And with Despy we had to witness fans being unnecessarily rude to him, ridiculing him about doing a deathmatch in the first place, eventho the injury could have occurred in any type of match. (if I remember correctly, Desperado even deleted his twitter due to the fan backlash)

BUT I'm gonna end this post on a good note:

1.) Despy's return marked the start of a new era for him:

He wasn't gonna apologise, he broke his jaw, so what? Shit happens. He wasn't going to pretend that the situation didn't happen either tho, hell - Despe returned in a shirt covered in blood spots, making direct references to the match he got injured in. (sth he talked about in this video) And his mask? Dons a fractured jawbone now, the cracks filled in with gold - reminiscent of kintsugi, a Japanese method for repairing broken ceramics with a special lacquer mixed with gold, silver, or platinum. The philosophy behind the technique is to recognize the history of the object and to visibly incorporate the repair into the new piece instead of disguising it.

2.) Hiromu wasn't giving up on his way of life either, making a spectacular return - the best was yet to come. Individually and together/against each other.

Stay tuned for the next part, that will absolutely also take me ages to finally put out, I'm apologising in advance,, anyways thx bye!! <3 👹🐱

[thistledropkick]

Desperado is doing a book signing event in a popular nerd bookstore tomorrow, along with Hikaru Sato, a fellow student of Suzuki's. Hikaru Sato is well known for his love of dressing up in maid dresses, sweater dresses, and so on, and he's been trying to convince Desperado to dress up in some kind of similar outfit since last year when Desperado's photo book was originally announced.

Desperado's been tweeting about trying to decide on an outfit for the event, and has listed a variety of options, but it seems like he plans to keep it a surprise until the actual book signing. But he tweeted this today:

Despe:

I happened to see a video that said something like "Before going to bed tonight, make sure you did your best all day!"

The first thing I thought of was "I have to buy some underwear that I'm okay with people seeing for tomorrow's book signing"

Tomorrow, which will it be

[watchtheleavesfall]

A little Pride Month celebration I finished just in time for the end of Pride Month. (I posted it on twitter but not here. Whoops.) Five wrestlers I haven't drawn yet and our very own queer icon El Desperado. Done in ohuhu markers and coloured pencils.

[yoshihashismattebum]

2024 in Wrestling - Tag Game

Thanks for the tag @sycamoretrees ! This is a great idea! To paraphrase someone (Mark Twain maybe?): sorry for the long post; I didn't have time to write a shorter one.

So, without further ado...

MVP/Wrestler of the Year

Honourable Mentions:

It would be remiss of me not to mention Konosuke Takeshita. The man has been on a tear across three different promotions this year, including having one of the best G1 runs by a newcomer in recent memory imo. If only his booking had been more interesting in AEW...

Bryan Danielson also casually produced banger after banger and tons of great stories in his final year as a full-time wrestler. Just one of the best to ever do it.

And of course El Desperado was out there living his dream, getting his arse out on live TV and having the horniest match I've ever seen.

Winner:

Zack Sabre Jr.

It had to be him, didn't it. First Brit and only the second non-Japanese wrestler to win the G1. First foreigner to win a Wrestle Kingdom main event. Champion of the world and of my heart 🧡 And every step of the way he's risen to the occasion, never disappointing in a main event position and stepping effortlessly into the role of champion. Long may he reign!

More after the cut!

Match of the Year

Look I can't possibly be expected to pick just one match, especially when I barely remember what I watched last week, let alone at the start of the year. So here are 6 matches that I enjoyed a lot, in no particular order.

ZSJ vs Gabe Kidd - NJPW G1 Climax 34

Everything I love about British wrestling and Japanese wrestling rolled together into one match. Two tough bastards beating the shit out of each other, with some flashes of technical brilliance.

ZSJ vs Bryan Danielson II - NJPW New Beginning in Osaka

I love a wide variety of types of wrestling, but if someone asked me which was my favourite, I would probably just show them this match. Intense, technical and violent, with a beautiful flow to it. Just magic.

Hiromu Takahashi & Jun Kasai vs Minoru Suzuki & Takayuki Ueki - Hardcore (Lego Deathmatch) - Despe Invitational

I am a strong believer that comedy wrestling is just as capable of greatness as 'serious' wrestling. This is a prime example. Everyone played their roles to perfection. Hiromu busted himself open on a railing before the match even started. Minoru Suzuki underestimated Lego. I don't think I stopped laughing the entire way through.

Chris Brookes vs El Desperado - DDT Wrestle Peter Pan

Extraordinary. Pro wrestling as art. Pro wrestling as a love story (or perhaps a 'lust story'). Would honestly have been *less* horny if they'd just stripped off and started having full-blown sex in the middle of the ring. It's rare to see violence and blood conveying affection/sexual attraction rather than hatred in wrestling, but wow did they ever here.

Hangman Page vs Swerve Strickland - steel cage match - AEW All Out

An interesting comparison to Chris vs Despe! Similarly bloody, similarly horny, but here the message is very much of obsessive hatred, however much they also clearly want to fuck each other. The ending also made me feel profoundly uncomfortable in a very effective way.

Will Ospreay vs Michael Oku - Rev Pro High Stakes

The best match I've ever seen live. It's testament to how good it was that I was prepared to miss the last train home rather than miss the end of it (thankfully they wrapped it up just in time!) A beautiful blend of drama, emotion and plenty of cool movez. Plus one of the best, loudest crowds I've ever been a part of.

Favourite Feud

I struggled with this one a bit, because 2024 was the year I stopped watching AEW regularly, and NJPW a) doesn't do feuds in quite the same way and b) was a bit light on big rivalries this year, imo. Still, there's one feud that immediately stands out...

Hangman vs Swerve

When they went back to this rivalry again so soon after their initial 2023 feud, I was a little concerned, because I thought there was no way it could be topped (pun only slightly intended). ...and then Hangman burned down Swerve's childhood home... A perfect blend of classic American wrestling melodrama, strong bloody violence, and psychosexual insanity. I thought it was really clever how they swapped the face/heel roles round while still making the characters feel authentic (please take notes MJF and Adam Cole).

Favourite Tag Team/Faction

Struggled with this one as well. My only regular promotion now is NJPW, which isn't exactly a bastion of great tag wrestling... I'm also generally just not a huge tag team guy.

Hon Mens:

Bullet Club War Dogs have been enjoyably camp and pleasingly violent, but the focus on Jake Lee joining really soured things for me, as I find the man incredibly tedious.

LIJ have also had a banner year as well I think, with the Naito/Hiromu stuff and Tsuji's rise. But Bushi is still there, so I can't in all good conscience pick them (joke) (mostly)

Winner:

Ichiban Sweet Boys (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita)

I just love this pairing. Eagles is one of those wrestlers that I've always liked but never loved, but he seems to be having so much fun with Fujita, and it's just infectious. And Fujita is one of the most exciting junior prospects in NJPW in a while I think. Looking forward to their title reign a lot!

Favourite Show

Mention, Honourable:

Rev Pro High Stakes in February is probably one of the best live shows I've ever been to. Great atmosphere and a stacked card, with pretty much every match being enjoyable (and the Anthony Ogogo match providing a perfect opportunity for a piss break)

Winner:

Despe Invitational

In a year when AEW seemed to lose a lot of what made it fun for me, it was such a pleasant breath of fresh air to watch a show where 'fun' was the guiding principle. Literally every match on the card was fun in a different way: from the insanity of the Lego match, to the ribald joy of the main event, to the token 'sensible' wrestling match in the cooldown slot that a comedy match would normally be in. I have never laughed so much at a show I don't think. Despe is a genius.

Breakout (ish) Star

Honny Mens:

Will Ospreay. Hear me out on this one, okay. I know Ospreay has been a global star for years now, but 2024 was the year he finally found success on a massive stage. Not everything he's done this year has been totally For Me, but there's no denying that he's knocked it out of the park in AEW. I'm so happy for him!

2024 was the year I started watching DDT regularly, and discovered the joy of seeing Takeshi Masada in increasingly LGBT situations. With only 2 years of wrestling experience, he's already so impressive, not just in terms of his wrestling, but also his charisma and character. One to watch!

Winner:

Yuya Uemura

It may seem strange to pick someone who spent half of the year injured, but if the metric for "breakout" is 'opinion of them at the end of the year vs opinion of them at the start', then Uemura is the clear winner for me. After a lackluster performance at Wrestle Kingdom and in the months following, I was almost ready to write him off as having come back from excursion too soon. But then he had an absolutely incredible G1 run where he blew me away with how mature and intelligent his wrestling was. It's such a shame he got injured, because I honestly think he'd be in the mix for NJPW MVP now if not. Very excited to see what he does when he's back!

Horniest Moment

Oh man. So many contenders. A good year for horny wrestling!

HonMens:

Hangman and Swerve's promo where Hangman said "I want you on your knees"

Yota Tsuji vs Yuya Uemura - hair vs hair match - NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo.

Seemingly only @sycamoretrees and I watched this one, because I've never heard anyone else talking about it. But wow is it horny. If you're a fan of men being pulled up by their hair to crotch-level... absolutely do yourself a favour and watch this one.

Whatever toxic throuple Mariah, Toni & Mina had going on in AEW

ELP vs. Takeshita - G1 Climax

Winner:

Chris Brookes vs El Desperado

It had to be. The horniest match ever wrestled. 6 stars. 10/10. No notes.

Most Anticipated in 2025

More DDT!

One of the best parts of wrestling in 2024 was getting to watch more DDT (thanks @sycamoretrees !)  It's quickly become my favourite promotion. I intend to watch even more in 2025!

Takeshita in NJPW

I was so excited when NJPW announced that Takeshita had signed a contract with them. Cannot wait to see what his NEVER reign looks like. So many exciting match-ups!

The Rise of Gabe Kidd (hopefully)

Gabe has been so exciting to watch in 2024. And his big match with Kenny at Dynasty (which I still haven't seen yet!) is going to get even more eyes on him. I'm hoping that 2025 is the year he really starts to get a proper push. Would be great to see him challenge for (and win??) a major belt at some point!

ZSJ: Forever Champ

Was so pleased that Zack retained his title at Wrestle Kingdom! Really excited to see what's next for his heavyweight title reign, now it's clear he's going to be more than a transitional champion.

Okay. Phew. That's it. Now to tag some other people.

@thewaythroughthewoods @livelaughlariat @unpairedbracket – no pressure, but I'd love to read your picks!

Anyone else who wants to be tagged, consider yourself tagged! Go on! Treat yourself!

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