jazz
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Hi all, I'm starting this thread so we can share our memories of wrestling shows you have attended and/or pro wrestlers you've met in your lifetime. Pictures are more than welcome too!
I suppose I'll start things off with my experiences in Tokyo this last August. I have attended about a dozen WWE shows too, but I want to get some dates together because my memory is hazy, haha. I'll post those later.
Pro Wrestling NOAH @ Differ Ariake
New Japan Pro Wrestling G-1 Climax Opening Night@ Korakuen Hall
Dragon Gate @ Korakuen Hall
Any questions and comments are welcome!
[/spoiler][/SPOILER]
I suppose I'll start things off with my experiences in Tokyo this last August. I have attended about a dozen WWE shows too, but I want to get some dates together because my memory is hazy, haha. I'll post those later.
Pro Wrestling NOAH @ Differ Ariake
I'll just type some highlights and post some pictures:
- Get to the shows early! Especially if the show is at the Differ Ariake arena, because there is only one entrance, meaning that you can hang out in the parking lot and meet the wrestlers as they are coming in. I got to see Jun Akiyama, Ricky Marvin, Naomichi Marufuji, Takashi Sugiura, Go Shiozaki, Takeshi Morishima, Tamon Honda, Kentaro Shiga, Yoshinari Ogawa, and Yoshihiro Takayama as they arrived. Everyone was cool except Shiga, who I guess was running late, 'cuz he blew all the fans off.
-Takayama's arrival deserves a whole story itself, haha. When I saw him rolling in on some classic American hot rod I couldn't help but chuckle because I kept picturing his epic fight in Pride FC against Don Frye and people on some MMA forums referring to him as "the Hawtness" and other ridiculous stuff, and here he was living up to that epic badassery by driving such an awesome car...and then I see him pulling up to park in reverse, and all of a sudden he accidentally steps on the wrong pedal and crashes the back of his car against the back gate!! I think I literally laughed out loud and wanted to shoot myself for not getting video of this, it would cause such a riot on the MMA forums. Fortunately, Takayama was okay but looked (understandably) pissed off, so not one single fan dared approach him. The epitome of badassery :B-)
- Ricky Marvin is one cool dude! I met him before the show and he stayed out there talking to me for a good 30 minutes, he was elated to see another Mexican over there and we had some good laughs at some Youtube videos on his laptop and talked about Japanese culture.. I don't think we even mentioned pro wrestling once during that conversation, other than him informing me that Marufuji had been injured at a DDT show and wouldn't be working that night..which was a bummer, since he is one of my NOAH favorites.
- After all the wrestlers had gone in, Takeshi Morishima came out momentarily to look for someone..I hadn't asked for his autograph earlier so I thought that was the appropriate time, but since some other fans got there first, by the time he signed my ticket he seemed irritated. I would later pay for this!
- the match between Ricky Marvin & Atsushi Aoki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kento Miyahara was stiff as hell..way stiffer than any pro wrestling match I had seen in person up to this point (dont' mean stiffest ever, just what I've personally seen). It was a great live match, I'm still watiing to pick this up on DVD to see how it holds up. After the match was one of the usual throwaway NOAH undercard 6-man tags that went a bit too long for my taste, and then the intermission.. during the intermission, Marvin had been out at ringside, he saw me in the crowd (I was in the 3rd row) so he came over to talk to me, ask me how I was enjoying the show so far, etc. I asked him if he could sign my ticket, but he did me one better, he took me over to his car and got me this bigger canvas board he had a bunch of (I guess it's for autographs they sell?) signed that for me, and then told me to meet him after the show. As I got back to my seat all the other fans where staring at me like "who the hell is this gaijin and why is he getting all this attention from Ricky Marvin?" Haha.
- Takayama match was dissapointingly short..but for the 3 minutes it lasted, he sure beat the crap out of Akiyama and Ogawa. I'm sure he was still pissed about his car at that point and didn't feel like working, haha.
- The main event was GREAT. The original card had a 2/3 falls tag team match featuring Naomichi Marufuji, KENTA, Go Shiozaki, and Takashi Sugiura, with the teams being a surprise to be announced during the show, but due to Marufuji's injury, Morishima stepped in as a replacement (he had already wrestled previously that night vs Makoto Hashi), so the teams ended up being Takeshi Morishima and Go Shiozaki vs KENTA and Sugiura. It was a classic, to say the least! Morishima brutally crushed Sugiura from the moment the opening bell rang and got the 1st fall in just under a minute. I had heard about how stiff puroresu was, but watching it up close really drives home the point...now I can see how Misawa died in the ring, and I"m worried that the lesson hasn't been learned yet.
- Don't mess with Takeshi Morishima. I guess Morishima remembered me as that gaijin fan that had bothered him for an autograph earlier, so at some point in the match when the action spilled outside, he walked over directly and very menacingly to where I was sitting, looking to grab a chair..bastard made me grab my stuff and get upand run for my life!, but he instead grabbed a chair a couple of seats next to me. Haha, you got me, Morishima...
- After the show, I met up with Ricky Marvin again, talked about the show, and he got me one last gift, he brought his bag from the locker room and he had a bunch of NOAH trading cards (only Ricky Marvin cards, though), and he signed about 10 of 'em and gave them to me to give away as a gift. He even asked if I knew the way back to the city, otherwise he'd have someone drive me to the city. That's the kind of guy Ricky Marvin is!
pictures:
http://s371.photobucket.com/albums/oo154/suchacolor1/Tokyo 2010/Pro Wrestling NOAH/
- Get to the shows early! Especially if the show is at the Differ Ariake arena, because there is only one entrance, meaning that you can hang out in the parking lot and meet the wrestlers as they are coming in. I got to see Jun Akiyama, Ricky Marvin, Naomichi Marufuji, Takashi Sugiura, Go Shiozaki, Takeshi Morishima, Tamon Honda, Kentaro Shiga, Yoshinari Ogawa, and Yoshihiro Takayama as they arrived. Everyone was cool except Shiga, who I guess was running late, 'cuz he blew all the fans off.
-Takayama's arrival deserves a whole story itself, haha. When I saw him rolling in on some classic American hot rod I couldn't help but chuckle because I kept picturing his epic fight in Pride FC against Don Frye and people on some MMA forums referring to him as "the Hawtness" and other ridiculous stuff, and here he was living up to that epic badassery by driving such an awesome car...and then I see him pulling up to park in reverse, and all of a sudden he accidentally steps on the wrong pedal and crashes the back of his car against the back gate!! I think I literally laughed out loud and wanted to shoot myself for not getting video of this, it would cause such a riot on the MMA forums. Fortunately, Takayama was okay but looked (understandably) pissed off, so not one single fan dared approach him. The epitome of badassery :B-)
- Ricky Marvin is one cool dude! I met him before the show and he stayed out there talking to me for a good 30 minutes, he was elated to see another Mexican over there and we had some good laughs at some Youtube videos on his laptop and talked about Japanese culture.. I don't think we even mentioned pro wrestling once during that conversation, other than him informing me that Marufuji had been injured at a DDT show and wouldn't be working that night..which was a bummer, since he is one of my NOAH favorites.
- After all the wrestlers had gone in, Takeshi Morishima came out momentarily to look for someone..I hadn't asked for his autograph earlier so I thought that was the appropriate time, but since some other fans got there first, by the time he signed my ticket he seemed irritated. I would later pay for this!
- the match between Ricky Marvin & Atsushi Aoki vs Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kento Miyahara was stiff as hell..way stiffer than any pro wrestling match I had seen in person up to this point (dont' mean stiffest ever, just what I've personally seen). It was a great live match, I'm still watiing to pick this up on DVD to see how it holds up. After the match was one of the usual throwaway NOAH undercard 6-man tags that went a bit too long for my taste, and then the intermission.. during the intermission, Marvin had been out at ringside, he saw me in the crowd (I was in the 3rd row) so he came over to talk to me, ask me how I was enjoying the show so far, etc. I asked him if he could sign my ticket, but he did me one better, he took me over to his car and got me this bigger canvas board he had a bunch of (I guess it's for autographs they sell?) signed that for me, and then told me to meet him after the show. As I got back to my seat all the other fans where staring at me like "who the hell is this gaijin and why is he getting all this attention from Ricky Marvin?" Haha.
- Takayama match was dissapointingly short..but for the 3 minutes it lasted, he sure beat the crap out of Akiyama and Ogawa. I'm sure he was still pissed about his car at that point and didn't feel like working, haha.
- The main event was GREAT. The original card had a 2/3 falls tag team match featuring Naomichi Marufuji, KENTA, Go Shiozaki, and Takashi Sugiura, with the teams being a surprise to be announced during the show, but due to Marufuji's injury, Morishima stepped in as a replacement (he had already wrestled previously that night vs Makoto Hashi), so the teams ended up being Takeshi Morishima and Go Shiozaki vs KENTA and Sugiura. It was a classic, to say the least! Morishima brutally crushed Sugiura from the moment the opening bell rang and got the 1st fall in just under a minute. I had heard about how stiff puroresu was, but watching it up close really drives home the point...now I can see how Misawa died in the ring, and I"m worried that the lesson hasn't been learned yet.
- Don't mess with Takeshi Morishima. I guess Morishima remembered me as that gaijin fan that had bothered him for an autograph earlier, so at some point in the match when the action spilled outside, he walked over directly and very menacingly to where I was sitting, looking to grab a chair..bastard made me grab my stuff and get up
- After the show, I met up with Ricky Marvin again, talked about the show, and he got me one last gift, he brought his bag from the locker room and he had a bunch of NOAH trading cards (only Ricky Marvin cards, though), and he signed about 10 of 'em and gave them to me to give away as a gift. He even asked if I knew the way back to the city, otherwise he'd have someone drive me to the city. That's the kind of guy Ricky Marvin is!
pictures:
http://s371.photobucket.com/albums/oo154/suchacolor1/Tokyo 2010/Pro Wrestling NOAH/
New Japan Pro Wrestling G-1 Climax Opening Night@ Korakuen Hall
- highlights to come later, but here are the pictures for now:
http://s371.photobucket.com/albums/oo154/suchacolor1/Tokyo 2010/New Japan Pro Wrestling/
http://s371.photobucket.com/albums/oo154/suchacolor1/Tokyo 2010/New Japan Pro Wrestling/
Dragon Gate @ Korakuen Hall
- highlights to be added later, here are the pictures:
http://s371.photobucket.com/albums/oo154/suchacolor1/Tokyo 2010/DRAGON GATE/
http://s371.photobucket.com/albums/oo154/suchacolor1/Tokyo 2010/DRAGON GATE/
Any questions and comments are welcome!
[/spoiler][/SPOILER]
