In a special Misawa Week Friday Five, I'll be asking you questions about puroresu, or the art of Japanese professional wrestling. I expect this to be the least answered of the FFs, and that's saying something since I average less than one reply a week for these :p
1. Are you an avid watcher of puro?
2. If you answered yes to 1, what is your opinion of it, and if you answered no, what is your preconceived notion towards it, be it ignorant or informed?
3. Who was your favorite Japanese wrestler to cross over to America?
4. Do you think their style of big moves, clean finishes, emphasis on strikes, varied match finishes (i.e. not just finisher or flash pin to end a match) and closeness to "real sport" would fly in America? If not all of it, what aspects?
5. Does the fact that Misawa died in the ring turn you off to becoming a puro fan in the future?
1. Are you an avid watcher of puro?
ReplyDelete-Kinda, but only recently have I begun to watch some older stuff, especially All Japan stuff from the 90s and early NOAH stuff. I saw the Joe/Kobashi match from ROH and some of KENTA's U.S. stuff and decided I wanted to see what these guys could do on their home soil.
2. If you answered yes to 1, what is your opinion of it, and if you answered no, what is your preconceived notion towards it, be it ignorant or informed?
-It's ... different from mainstream U.S. wrestling, obviously. Just from watching different stuff (Dragon Gate, NJPW/NOAH jr. heavyweights, older All Japan), there's not really one definite description of puro, but looking primarily at the strong style/King's Road stuff that guys like Misawa were famous for, I think it's a dramatic and exciting - if overly stiff - version of pro wrestling. Would I prefer if guys didn't hit each other really hard on drop each other on top of their heads? Sure. But, when done right, it can create wrestling matches the likes of which aren't seen ANYWHERE else in the world.
3. Who was your favorite Japanese wrestler to cross over to America?
-Probably KENTA, the stuff I saw of his in ROH was always awesome. I was also really excited to see Naomichi Marufuji live on an ROH show last year against Go Shiozaki, and those two delivered a fantastic match on the best live wrestling show I've ever been to.
4. Do you think their style of big moves, clean finishes, emphasis on strikes, varied match finishes (i.e. not just finisher or flash pin to end a match) and closeness to "real sport" would fly in America? If not all of it, what aspects?
-On a smaller, independent level it does. ROH at its best is as close of puro as you get in this country, especially when guys like Bryan Danielson, Austin Aries and, while he was there, Samoa Joe were putting their matches together in a very Japanese style. In the mainstream, less hardcore scene, however, I think it's more important - especially when it comes to the finishes of matches - to get one move over, especially since guys only get 3 or 4 minutes sometimes to have a match on TV. I think it could work, but you'd have to completely retrain your audience over several years.
5. Does the fact that Misawa died in the ring turn you off to becoming a puro fan in the future?
-No. It's horrible that it happened, and I feel awful for Akitoshi Saito, who delivered the same move Misawa took for nearly 30 years, but when it comes down to it, I enjoy good wrestling and will seek it out. I'd have no problem with a toning down of the style, but I'm not disgusted about the wrestling culture that culminated in Misaw's death.