The Era of Women's Pro Wrestling

I've had the pleasure of working with many people in the pro wrestling industry, but this is the first time I've spoken with fellow Keio alumni, so it's very refreshing.

When we talk about the eras of women's pro wrestling, there were three major booms: the Beauty Pair in the 1970s, the Crush Gals in the '80s, and the inter-promotional rivalry era in the '90s. After that, following the dissolution of All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW), it entered a dark age. But don't you think women's pro wrestling is making a comeback now?

It's getting very exciting. The 2000s, symbolized by the dissolution of AJW and GAEA JAPAN, which was founded by Chigusa Nagayo of the Crush Gals, was the period with the fewest spectators. But now, both the audience and the number of wrestlers are growing.

I served on the selection committee for the "Pro-Wrestling Grand Prix" hosted by Tokyo Sports from 2007 to 2013. During what was called the dark age of women's pro wrestling, from 2004 to 2008, the Women's Pro-Wrestling Grand Prix award was listed as "no applicable winner." However, when Emi Sakura won in 2009, it started to regain attention.

After that, the new promotion Stardom was launched, and star wrestlers like Yuzuki Aikawa and Io Shirai (now Iyo Sky in WWE) emerged.

I debuted in 2007, so I have very few contemporaries. There were only four of us: Io Shirai, Mio Shirai, and Pinky Mayuka-chan. But in the class that debuted the year before, in 2006, there were people like Hiroyo Matsumoto, the Jumonji sisters, and the first-generation members of Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling (Senjo).

Arisa Nakajima of SEAdLINNNG, who retired last year, and Hanako Nakamori of PURE-J also debuted in 2006.

Ms. Shizuku, how did you become a women's pro wrestler?

I was a member of the Athena Friends on the pro wrestling broadcast show "Fighting Goddess ATHENA," which aired from 1998 to 2002. Around the same time, Shinobu Kandori appeared in a segment called "Gachinko Fight Club" on another show, and I was shocked to see her and Rumi Kazama training wrestlers for their new promotion, LLPW. On "ATHENA," I watched Shinobu Kandori vs. Yumiko Hotta in a vale tudo match and the cage deathmatch of Nanamomo (Nanae Takahashi and Momoe Nakanishi), and I was influenced by the core aspects of women's pro wrestling.

That sounds like the last gasp of the era of intense pro wrestling.

That's right. GAEA JAPAN disbanded when I was in my third year of high school, but until then, I had never even watched pro wrestling.

I started pro wrestling because when I was struggling to make friends in high school, I felt that the world of women's pro wrestling suited me. Women's wrestling had also become an Olympic sport, with athletes like Miyu Yamamoto, the Icho sisters, Kyoko Hamaguchi, and Saori Yoshida. I was very surprised to learn that there was a world where my physique, which was a source of insecurity in school life, was valued.

What is this "Kirarazuka Kagekidan" that you're involved in, Ms. Shizuku?

"Kirarazuka" is a fusion of theater and pro wrestling. I started it simply because I love Takarazuka too much, but another reason was that when I was depressed because I couldn't get in the ring due to an injury, I thought theater could be a place where I could perform in a different form.

Actually, the catalyst for this was a class I took with Professor Masayuki Okahara in the correspondence course at Keio University. I participated in a school session called "Telling Your Life Story," where we first shared our life stories, and then we would reenact one of the participant's lives through theater. Thanks to this class, theater became more accessible to me.

In the era of the Netflix drama "The Queen of Villains," many characters who found their way into pro wrestling were struggling financially or came from complex family backgrounds, but that's not necessarily the case anymore, is it?

In the past, many wrestlers joined right after junior high school, and the retirement age was said to be 25. Now, like Ms. Shizuku who also works as a priest, many people continue their own activities while being wrestlers. Recently, there's also an increase in cases where people discover pro wrestling while aspiring to be idols, comedians, or actresses.

In the era of the Crush Gals, AJW was the only women's pro wrestling promotion, so leaving AJW meant leaving pro wrestling. Later, Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling and others were formed, creating a new trend.

There are now nearly 20 active women's pro wrestling promotions, including mixed-gender ones. The number of wrestlers is also increasing.

I've been the president of Sakura Hirota's fan club for about 12 years, and I feel the situation for women's pro wrestling has improved considerably. Around 2011, when I wrote "1985 no Crush Gals," the industry was still in a slump, and wrestlers were continuing while working part-time jobs. Now, quite a few people make a living as women's pro wrestlers.

It's still a tough world with so many wrestlers and promotions, but that's true for any industry. I think it's a big deal that women's pro wrestling has become a viable career. In recent years, Japanese women's wrestlers have been competing in matches for the American promotion AEW, making things even more lively.

Japan is probably the only country with this many women's pro wrestling promotions. There are female wrestlers in major promotions in the US, Europe, and Mexico, but I don't think there are women's promotions with proper technique and coaching systems outside of Japan.

Now, many female wrestlers from overseas come to Japan aiming to join Japanese women's promotions. American star Mercedes Moné even came to Sendai during her off-season to train under Meiko Satomura of Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling. The high level of technical skill in Japanese women's pro wrestling is recognized even by top male wrestlers from the world's largest pro wrestling promotion, WWE in the US, like Triple H.

Television broadcasts of women's pro wrestling in Japan started around 1975, when Mach Fumiake was active, right? Back then, TV stations had the wrestlers sing to boost ratings. Mach Fumiake also debuted as a singer, and the Beauty Pair was also mainly about singing.

What completely changed that was the Crush Gals, Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka. Chigusa Nagayo, a natural-born producer, incorporated the "striking" of men's pro wrestling into AJW, using moves like the lariat and the scorpion deathlock to make women's pro wrestling more intense.

Nagayo had a better grasp of the flow of pro wrestling than anyone. Her "aesthetics of ruin" was about the babyface, the good guy, showing the "beauty of being hurt" to her female fans. The fans would project their own struggles of not fitting in onto the bleeding and suffering Chigusa Nagayo. They would identify with her, thinking, "She's suffering just like me," and cry out. That was the fan psychology of the Crush Gals.

Ring announcer Atsuo Shiono once said, "AJW is a fighting Takarazuka." The Crush Gals embodied the transformation of women's pro wrestling, where they could sing, dance, and fight.

Jun Todou, who was a male-role performer in the Takarazuka Revue's Star Troupe, is Mach Fumiake's daughter.

Is that so!?

Because of that, Mach Fumiake is well-known among Takarazuka fans in their 20s.

I didn't know that. By the way, is the feeling of exhilaration when watching Takarazuka and women's pro wrestling similar?

It's a little different. Compared to the dazzling Takarazuka, pro wrestling is simple. The biggest difference is probably that no one in the Takarazuka audience gets rowdy.

Takarazuka has a very strict culture of etiquette.

So no chants or anything?

No (laughs). But the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater is different from the home base in Takarazuka, known as "the village," and the atmosphere is also different at the various venues on a national tour. The more relaxed atmosphere in the regional areas might be similar to pro wrestling.

Tam Nakano, an active women's pro wrestler who was formerly an idol, said in an interview, "Pro wrestling and being an idol are similar; the only difference is whether your body hurts or not." But actually, that's the biggest difference, isn't it?

That's certainly true.

I once asked an active wrestler who was a former idol, "You've experienced many glamorous stages, so why did you ultimately choose pro wrestling?" Pro wrestling is a job where you are hurt by your opponent, and your pain and suffering are seen from all sides. She said, "The time when you can't be beautiful is overwhelmingly long, but pro wrestling is the only place where you get cheered on for that. That's what's good about it." I thought she was absolutely right.

This is getting a bit into the weeds, but in Takarazuka, there's first the Shinjin Koen (Newcomer's Performance). The first victory or defeat is determined by whether you can get the lead role there, or if not, what role you are given. It's said that if you can't get a lead role in a Shinjin Koen within seven years, you fall off the path to the top.

As Tam Nakano says, pro wrestling is certainly painful, but there are injuries in Takarazuka too. My favorite, Kairi Hokusho, apparently continued her performance even after her shoulder dislocated during a sword fight. Takarazuka performers also experience pain behind the scenes. Some even seem to lead a harsh life intentionally to get into character.

Ms. Shizuku, weren't you scared the first time you had to take a bump in the ring?

I was scared at first, but it's something you just get used to.

It must be scary, given the risk of cervical spine injury. They don't do as many dangerous things recently, but there have been tough wrestlers like Manami Toyota who created many scenes that made you think, "This is bad!"

In pro wrestling, they fight in the ring where all eyes are on them, exposing their lives in a sense, so I think that's what moves the hearts of the viewers. You don't want accidents to happen, but the sight of them fighting with their bodies, baring their lives and hearts, gives the audience a special kind of inspiration.

A pro wrestler is an entertainer, but it's also a job that exposes them to the risk of injury. The thrilling feeling of stepping into the ring while battling that fear is different from other combat sports or theater.

Ms. Mita, you have many opportunities to interact with young women's pro wrestlers. How do you see them?

In the case of female wrestlers, I used to wonder if they had any hesitation about punching or elbowing their training partners. I mean, I don't think many girls have experience punching someone with their own hands. When I actually asked, the answers varied.

One who had aspired to be an idol said she thought it was scary at first. But as she did it, she came to understand that her opponent coming at her with full force was a sign of their feelings for her. Since then, she wants them to come at her with everything they've got, and she feels she can do the same in return.

When I heard that you can build a relationship of trust with your opponent in the ring, I thought that was something special. I'm also envious of pro wrestlers who can build such human relationships.

When women's pro wrestlers go through a painful match together, it might be described as a complicit relationship, creating a single performance while sharing pain.

Ms. Shizuku, do you feel that kind of solidarity in the ring?

It depends on the opponent. Recently, in a tie-up with a police station, I invited KONOHA from the Kansai region for my 18th-anniversary independent show, and she told me, "It was so much fun because you came at me with everything you had." Apparently, that was conveyed to the audience, and KONOHA's coach also said, "It was really good."

This kind of relationship is easy to build when you're in the same promotion, but as the number of promotions increases, you often have matches with wrestlers for the first time, and the match becomes a process of feeling each other out. In my case, I often face unknown wrestlers from regional promotions, so the opportunity to meet a wrestler I click with is very precious. It's close to the feeling of searching for a best friend.

"The Queen of Villains" also begins with the line, "This is my story, no, our story." The Crush Gals shone because Dump Matsumoto was there, and I think finding a good rival in the same era is really important. Doesn't a wrestler's happiness greatly depend on whether they can meet an opponent to whom they can give their all?

That's a huge factor.

It was precisely because AJW was the only promotion that the Crush Gals and Dump Matsumoto existed, right? Just as Kuniaki Kobayashi was great as the "Tiger Hunter" because Tiger Mask was there, Dump Matsumoto can be said to have built an era because she was on the opposite side of the Crush Gals.

When Satomura goes to the US to coach at WWE, she reportedly shows the young wrestlers in its developmental brand, NXT, footage of Bull Nakano and Manami Toyota and asks, "Why did they move this way here?"

That's also what Satomura was taught by Nagayo. As a first-generation member of GAEA JAPAN, Satomura was apparently told a lot by Nagayo about how women's pro wrestlers should move.

I think anyone who watched "The Queen of Villains" was surprised, thinking, "How did they pull this off?" But Nagayo, who was in charge of the pro wrestling instruction, and the wrestlers from her promotion, Marvelous, said they didn't just give the actresses acting lessons; they taught them pro wrestling from scratch, just like training new disciples. It made sense that everyone in the drama was able to fully become pro wrestlers because they were taught the physical techniques from the ground up.

That's right. The influence of an excellent producer like Chigusa Nagayo is significant.

In the '90s, when inter-promotional rivalries were happening, television broadcasts disappeared, and Fuji TV's broadcasts moved to a late-night slot. Why do you think its popularity has resurged in the last decade or so?

The increased opportunities to be exposed to women's pro wrestling is probably a big factor. Some people from regional areas come after watching YouTube, while some women become interested through Instagram.

I've been a caster for a specialty channel for over twenty years, but in the past, the only entry points were pro wrestling magazines and terrestrial television. Then a pro wrestling specialty channel was created, and eventually, promotions started their own streaming channels, allowing matches and press conferences to be broadcast individually.

The benefits of the internet age.

The difference from the '80s is that today, the overwhelming majority of people watching women's pro wrestling are male fans. That's why I think every promotion is now trying to increase its female audience. They are trying to attract female fans and increase the number of people who want to join at almost the same time.

For example, Stardom, a women's pro wrestling promotion in the same Bushiroad group as New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), sometimes holds exhibition matches at NJPW events. This leads to female NJPW fans saying, "These girls are cool too!" and going to see Stardom matches. Apparently, the number of women coming to take Stardom's entrance exam has increased from among them.

There are also more opportunities to see it at free events like at shopping malls and festivals.

I also participate in event wrestling.

Apparently, people who get interested at free events then pay to go see a promotion's show or start attending pro wrestling classes held by the promotion. Some people have become women's pro wrestlers after getting into it as a way to exercise after work. The environment that allows people to "just give it a try" is probably a big factor.

I've only ever watched women's pro wrestling from the beginning, so I don't know anything about men's pro wrestling.

In the past, there was a reason for women to watch women's pro wrestling. I think it's interesting enough for women to watch now, though.

A woman who became a pro wrestler said that when she went to see a women's pro wrestling match for the first time after being invited by a friend, she was moved, thinking she never knew there were girls her age living with such full force.

My Takarazuka fan friends come to see my matches, and at one mixed-gender promotion's venue, they say my fans are immediately recognizable because they all dress like Takarazuka fans (laughs).

However, from those same friends, I also hear feedback like, "It didn't resonate with me at all." Apparently, it's because the way it's produced reveals the perspective of the male managers and producers.

In other words, they're not providing what female fans are looking for.

That's right. It's obvious, but productions that emphasize a gravure idol-like quality are not popular with women. Conversely, women's promotions that sell themselves on strength don't have that feel.

The perspective might be different depending on whether the head of the promotion is male or female. But I hadn't noticed that.

So it feels like they're being shown a show from a male perspective.

You know how they say what men find "cute" and what women find "cute" are different? They say visual-kei types are popular, but among women, you hear opinions like, "Is this wrestler really visual-kei?"

What about Giulia (now in WWE NXT), who is like the epitome of visual-kei?

Giulia is popular with women in my circle.

Giulia is cool, isn't she? Yuzuki Aikawa, who went from being a gravure idol to a women's pro wrestler, also had a lot of male fans at first, but then the number of female fans who supported her for fighting while getting beaten up increased.

Someone who came to see my independent show once told me, "Pro wrestlers are in their costumes for such a short time that I can't remember their faces later." They said that once they change into tracksuits after the match, they all look the same.

Since then, at my shows, I've incorporated an ending ceremony instead of an entrance ceremony, and I have their ring names called out as they exit down the aisle so that people can remember their names.

I see. That's a good idea.

In addition to this, I include live commentary as a fan service. I also learned a lot from listening to the commentary of Atsuo Shiono and Masaharu Miyake. With commentary, you can explain to the audience why a wrestler is in pain.

In the '80s, if you said "scorpion deathlock," many people knew what it was, but now, few people know the moves in the first place.

Now you can easily look things up on the internet, so there seems to be the pleasure of digging deeper later. Some venues provide commentary for event wrestling. But the charm of pro wrestling is that it's interesting even if you watch it without knowing anything.

An earphone guide might be good. Now that we have smartphones, only those who want to listen can do so.

That's a great idea. A service like the earphone guides at Kabuki theaters or art museums might be a good fit for pro wrestling.

The sense of unity in a venue filled with the cheers of the crowd is one of the great pleasures of attending a live event, but it was tough during the COVID-19 pandemic. I imagine it was a difficult situation for the wrestlers as well.

I have a very frustrating memory. In pro wrestling, there's a rule for escaping a hold by reaching the ropes, but the count for this was mistakenly tallied too high.

The audience couldn't speak up, so they couldn't point it out, and the match just proceeded quietly. After the match, the officials also said I had exceeded the limit and told me my championship would be stripped... Of course, the audience all noticed immediately.

That's the worst-case scenario.

Niconico Live was broadcasting, so I insisted, "There's no way it was three escapes. Please check the footage." I didn't have a second with me at the time, so it was a tough situation.

After experiencing matches with no audience during the pandemic, I realized just how complete pro wrestling with an audience was. I've heard that some fans who left during that time have not returned.

On the other hand, it seems that being able to watch online has been a big plus.

With the spread of streaming, it seems some people felt it was "easy to watch at home." But the people who enjoy watching and cheering together in the venue are coming back.

But that culture hasn't fully returned, has it? I also get invited to pro wrestling-related talk events because I wrote "1985 no Crush Gals," but for a while, the venue attendance dropped and I wasn't paid. Now, it seems there are more people watching the streams.

Is that so?

Because people from far away can watch via stream, sometimes I get paid more than before even with fewer people in the venue. Bull Nakano also has her "Bull Channel," so I can see why everyone is focusing on streaming.

The number of overseas fans who have seen Japanese matches on YouTube and other platforms is also increasing. New Japan Pro-Wrestling holds a big show at the Tokyo Dome every year on January 4, and various other promotions hold events to coincide with it, so there are events all over Tokyo. Around the New Year, a large number of overseas pro wrestling fans flock to Tokyo.

For some reason, they know about me too, and foreign pro wrestling fans will approach me saying, "Are you Mita from Samurai TV?!" When I ask, "What are you here to see?" they'll say, "I'm going to watch a Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling match now, and then I'm going to Shinkiba 1st RING." Everyone is incredibly knowledgeable (laughs).

The relationship between WWE and NJPW is similar to that of Disney and Ghibli, isn't it? Disney and WWE are the mainstream, while New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ghibli are number two, but they are also the solid one-two in the world. Japanese pro wrestling is more of a subculture compared to WWE.

I see. Many overseas wrestlers who come to Japan love Ghibli films, and many of them even go to the Ghibli Museum. Japanese pro wrestling has a different kind of appeal than WWE.

When Meiko Satomura recently had a match in Germany, paper streamers flew during her entrance call. I don't know where the German fans got them, but I thought that move was very subcultural.

Paper streamers are a Japanese culture. There's a stationery store in Asakusabashi called Tanaka Shoten that has paper streamers of every color. Maybe the German fans found it.

I feel like that kind of Japanese culture is now sweeping the world on an unprecedented scale. Japanese women's pro wrestlers are popular in America too, with Satomura being invited as a coach and Bull Nakano being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Several have gone to the US, haven't they? The fact that "The Queen of Villains" is being streamed on Netflix means it's being watched overseas as well.

That's right. "The Queen of Villains" was aiming to be number one in viewership worldwide. The year 2024 was the year that "women's pro wrestling" was once again shown as content that could reach that general audience.

In the US, Sukeban has appointed Bull Nakano as commissioner and is booking Japanese women's pro wrestlers. That promotion looks like nothing more than a rich person's hobby in the US, though.

Sukeban is an American promotion featuring Japanese women's pro wrestlers, and they're spending a lot of money on it. They have the wrestlers wear "gyaru" makeup, fusing it with Japan's "kawaii" culture. The makeup and costumes are incredibly elaborate, but the nail art is so long that it seems a bit difficult for the wrestlers to compete.

After the dissolution of Chigusa Nagayo's GAEA JAPAN, Meiko Satomura was invited by Jinsei Shinzaki of Michinoku Pro Wrestling to launch Sendai Girls' Pro Wrestling (Senjo). At that time, Shinzaki told me he wanted to create a promotion that would be supported by the local community, like the Rakuten Eagles and Vegalta Sendai. After Satomura became the president of Senjo, there was a time when she participated in a men's promotion and fought against a male wrestler. At that time, there was a young male wrestler listening to her microphone appeal while sitting in seiza, so I asked him, "What's wrong?" He said that Satomura was a wrestler he had admired since he was a child.

For him, who is from Miyagi Prefecture, Senjo's pro wrestling was something that was naturally shown on the evening sports news, just like baseball and soccer. Therefore, The Great Sasuke of Michinoku Pro Wrestling and Meiko Satomura of Senjo are as amazing as Baba and Inoki.

Knowing that Meiko Satomura is so loved in Miyagi Prefecture as "the star we raised," I was impressed that what Shinzaki was trying to do had truly taken shape.

Satomura is truly amazing. The presence of Senjo for the people of Sendai is far greater than we imagine.

Satomura is excellent as both a wrestler and a coach, and she is the one who made Senjo a locally loved form of entertainment.

After the Great East Japan Earthquake, Shinzaki left Senjo, but Satomura worked hard to build up the promotion with a local focus, even with no dojo and few wrestlers. And now she's being invited from the UK and Germany, performing Death Valley Bombs on huge wrestlers who must be 190 cm tall. She even ended up receiving a coaching offer from the world's largest promotion, WWE.

Women's pro wrestling in the era of "The Queen of Villains" was not global standard content. It was the era of television, and girls all over Japan went crazy for it as it toured the country, but in the end, it was a domestic culture. That's amazing in itself, but pro wrestling is becoming more and more global now.

Sakura Hirota's fan club also has a large number of overseas followers, and they all come to see her independent shows. There are people all over the world who love women's pro wrestling, and wrestlers from places like Romania and Argentina come to Japan asking to have matches with Senjo.

What's amazing is that even WWE star wrestlers like Sasha Banks (Mercedes Moné) respect Satomura. The era of American dominance is already over, and Japanese women's pro wrestling is showing a presence like Ghibli. That's the fun of women's pro wrestling right now. I think the content will only get bigger from here.

I also run my own independent shows, but that's not really an activity within the framework of women's pro wrestling. I invite male wrestlers and people from other industries, and sometimes I incorporate elements of Takarazuka. Recently, I've also been doing a public practice session called the "Fighting Salon Project."

A salon?

That's right. This project is designed to show the audience our practice, and it's based on an idea from Kenichiro Arai of Dragon Gate. You could call it a pro wrestling workshop, but for example, we show them how to take a wrist lock or apply a headlock before the match, and then they watch the match with that knowledge.

That's interesting!

I also explain things like how it hurts if you twist this part this way, or how you can counter this move. When I incorporate theatrical elements from Takarazuka, I demonstrate how to clap or hand out penlights to increase audience participation.

My friends who come to watch also say, "This kind of production is great." Today's wrestlers are all so skilled that it's hard to convey the difficulty, but this has become a good opportunity to show the audience the finer details.

These demonstrations are also useful for participatory events where we learn arrest techniques and self-defense in collaboration with the police.

You have a wide range of ideas.

I can do these kinds of events precisely because it's not a big business. At a special fraud prevention event held with the police, about 500 people gathered.

When you do things in the community, there's the advantage of being able to cherish each and every connection. The community-based approach also becomes an option for people who "want to give it a little try."

Shinshu Pro-Wrestling, based in Nagano, is a promotion that started from a tie-up with the local idol group Parallel Dream, and its wrestlers have gradually increased their local name recognition by appearing in local commercials. They treat it as "play," but their participatory activities like the "rubber band match," where four audience members hold a rubber band to act as corners, are popular.

That's a wonderful idea.

Shinshu Pro-Wrestling is very active. In January 2020, just before COVID, they were holding a road show in the plaza of Tokyo Skytree. And that was on January 4th.

So, that was up against New Japan's major show at the Tokyo Dome.

That's right. After the match, a wrestler who participated left, saying, "I'm off to '1.4' now," and headed straight for the Tokyo Dome. Local promotions and wrestlers are putting unique, resonant ideas into action like that.

After trying all these different things, the conclusion I've come to, full circle, is that "fans don't look that closely" (laughs). It was fun, it was intense, he was big, good luck next time—I think it all boils down to that.

That's right. Just a quick look and getting a "Wow, that's interesting, strong, big, fast" is enough to make you happy.

Exactly. Just being physically large is enough to surprise the audience. The match at Tokyo Skytree even had an out-of-ring brawl that spilled over to the nearby police box (laughs). Everyone has a great spirit of service.

But what I want to say to young wrestlers is that those wrestlers have also undergone considerable training. I think wrestlers should never forget that. It's fine to focus on individuality, but it's not good if the essential things are neglected.

My daughter used to be a ring announcer for student pro wrestling because of her boyfriend's influence. Then she said she was going to be the ring announcer for New Nemuro Pro-Wrestling. I thought this was a problem and that she needed proper training, so I asked the late Yoshiharu Imai of AJW and Masatoshi Yamamoto of JWP to train her.

New Nemuro Pro-Wrestling is an amateur pro wrestling promotion started by brothers who run a toy store in their hometown. In 2017, a large costume called "Andreza the Giant Panda" became a huge hit. That led to them participating in a Big Japan Pro Wrestling show.

Because it's such a popular promotion, my daughter was taught what a ring announcer's job is by Imai and Yamamoto in a karaoke box. So, my daughter is Imai's last disciple.

Andreza is really big, isn't he? Three meters tall. And cute.

We're in an era where an amateur pro wrestling promotion from Nemuro can suddenly get featured in "Shu-Pro" just by making a giant costume. And within that, content from 1985 like "The Queen of Villains" can suddenly be re-evaluated. I think there's a very free atmosphere in pro wrestling as a whole right now, and it's great.

All Japan Pro Wrestling often has exhibition matches with Shinshu Pro-Wrestling. That's because a Chinese restaurant in Matsumoto supports All Japan.

Nowadays, whether it's NJPW or All Japan, when a major promotion holds a show in a regional area, it's common for local promotions to cooperate and put on exhibition matches.

So that's how things are these days. The line between amateur and pro has almost disappeared, but when you see the wrestlers up close, you think, "Wow, real pro wrestlers are amazing!"

Women's pro wrestling doesn't attract attention with physical size, so it becomes important how wrestlers polish their individuality and skills. Unlike men's pro wrestling with its 180cm, 100kg bodies, I think the fact that it's girls doing it is what makes it special.

That's right.

But when I got Momoe Nakanishi's autograph and shook her hand, her hand was so thick that I thought, "This person isn't human!" (laughs). A pro wrestler's greatness can be conveyed with just a handshake.

When I shook Hirota's hand, I felt she was delicate, so I guess it depends on the person. If pro wrestling is different from Takarazuka, it's that the wrestlers appear as themselves. In theater, actors don't show themselves on stage.

I once wrote that a pro wrestler wears a mask to play a character, but that mask is translucent. The person there is not 100% themselves, but whether they are a heel or a babyface, their true self comes out, and if it doesn't, it's boring. That's what's interesting about pro wrestling.

A while ago, I was invited by TAJIRI to participate in a SMASH match, and his final words in the act were memorable. He said, "If you want to see high-precision pro wrestling, you can just have robots do it." He said, "Pro wrestling is done by humans, so life is reflected in it." I still haven't forgotten those words.

Those are great words.

You can put all your joys, sorrows, anger, and pleasures into pro wrestling.

Exactly.

One female wrestler said that pro wrestling is the only job where you can sublimate hatred. The wrestlers put all their joy, anger, and hatred into their bodies and clash with their opponents. The viewers can entrust their own frustrations and struggles to the wrestlers in the ring. Pro wrestling, where both the wrestlers and the viewers can put their entire lives on the line, is truly profound.