Section 1- Results
All Japan: Mutoh & Kawada beat Tenzan & Kojima on Thursday, and have the best record in the tag league so far.
Dragon Gate: Every title was up for grabs in the last ten days. On top, Don Fujii became the company’s top champ by beating Yokosuka in a big upset. Mochizuki regained his IJ title from Pentagon Black, and he sealed the title afterwards. Mochi & Fujii retained their IJ tag belts against Magnitude & Pentago. Lastly, the Muscle Outlaw’z grouping of Doi, Yoshino & Gamma won the trios titles in a decision match against Yokosuka, K-Ness & Onodera. Also, Gamma beat CIMA in their hair vs hair match, on their successful show at Osaka Prefectural Gym. Finally, Stalker Ichikawa has lived up to the retirement stipulation and”¦ is now called Stalker Ichikawa Z.
HUSTLE: Takada beat HG in HG’s retirement match, in a half-full Yokohama Arena at HUSTLEMANIA.
NOAH: In the tag title tournament semifinals, Morishima & Yone beat Ohtani & Murakami while Takayama & Sano beat Taue & SUWA.
Section 2- News
All Japan: Kensuke Sasaki has announced that he will return on the 1/2/07 show.
Dragon Gate: Mochizuki has aimed at two big titles. First, he wants a shot at Fujii on 2/4/07. Second, he and Fujii want a shot at the New Japan junior tag belts held by Jado & Gedo (who haven’t defended since July and have no scheduled defenses”¦). Magnitude has announced that he is now a freelancer, and will be doing less work in DG.
New Japan: Lots and lots of rumored matches are up in the air for 1/4/07. Choshu vs Sasaki, Choshu vs Suzuki, Suzuki vs Nagata, Nagata vs Kurt Angle; lots can happen. New Japan is in negotiations to land Angle, and my guess is that if they don’t we’ll get Suzuki vs Nagata and Choshu vs Sasaki. Considering that Angle had to ask Joe to go home early in his first TNA PPV match, I’d guess that TNA won’t let him work for New Japan just yet.
UPDATE: Suzuki vs Nagata for the Triple Crown has been confirmed, meaning the Angle negotiation is probably DOA. That said I could see them teasing Angle vs Nagata while aiming for Angle vs Nakamura.
NOAH: The two biggest undercard matches for the 12/10 Budokan have been announced. First, All Japan-based freelancers NOSAWA & MAZADA will challenge Sugiura & Kanemaru for the junior tag titles. Second, a 6-man tag with Rikio, KENTA & Yone vs Takayama, Minoru Suzuki & Sano. An interesting tag added to Saturday’s show in Yokohama sees Akiyama, Hashi & Kanemaru square off with the Zero-One team of Ohtani, Murakami & Takaiwa.
Section 3- A mainstream wrestling shill that isn’t Botter?!
Aaron knows what he’s talking about. People going ****+ for Angle vs Joe are crazy and that right there is a great look at why.
Kevin Wilson is a reviewin’ machine. Give him a read too.
Section 4- America the Balloontiful
The Inoki Dojo is associated with a number of very talented, well-traveled wrestlers such as Rocky Romero/Black Tiger, Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, and many more. Its impact on New Japan has been minimal, and in this case New Japan is a step removed from the proceedings, but I believe ‘impact’ is still the correct word here.
Meet the American Balloon. A man of some girth who can do moonsaults. A man who at a mere 19 years old can speak Japanese fluently, in addition to Dutch, Spanish, French, and even a smattering of Russian. And when I say he speaks Japanese fluently, I’m not kidding around. He has what the Japanese refer to as ‘oppai’, which in the case of men is normally only used in reference to Tenryu.
Balloon had just set off on his first tour of Japan with venerably quirky DDT when he agreed to an interview. Between then and now he had several shows and appearances on Samurai TV, while I was busy with analysis and Thanksgiving. Hey, better late than never. Before reading be sure to look over his homepage.
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Q: When did you start training to become a wrestler?
A: Around 4 years ago
Q: How did you learn so many languages, and when did you learn Japanese?
A: I have a Japanese grandmother, so my mother taught me the basics. Then, I had many Japanese friends in school, and training at LA Dojo and Toryumon Mexico also gave me a good outlet to speak Japanese regularly. My Japanese is not perfect, but I suppose it is good enough for getting around and for pro wrestling’s sake.
Q: Were you a fan of Japanese wrestling prior to joining the LA Dojo? How did you find out about puro?
A: I always liked Japanese wrestling. I don’t remember how exactly I found out, but maybe from friends in school — I rented a lot of tapes from the Japanese video rental store. My favourites were Hase, Kobashi, Misawa, Kawada, Sasaki Kensuke, Liger, Hashimoto, and Kashin.
Q: You mention being the prize pupil of one Kendo KaShin. What was he like as a trainer, and what do you think made the two of you click?
A: I don’t really know if you could say we clicked or if you could say I am the prized pupil. In Japanese, he called me his Hizoukko, which translates to treasured boy or prized boy, but he specifically said “Not Deshi” meaning not his young boy. So it is more of a black sheep situation than a prized pupil situation. I guess we got along because we are both very unique people with very odd personalities.
Q: Do you have any stories about Kendo to share?
A: I almost got kicked out of the LA Dojo for not finishing a plate of extra large curry.
Q: What was it like training with Ultimo Dragon?
A: Not only Ultimo Dragon, but Skayde, Negro Novarro, and Mazada were also coaches, along with for a brief period, Kenzo Suzuki. All of them had very interesting things to teach, and I learned a lot of interesting llave (mexican style submission) holds. Of course, some of the high flying I can do can be attributed to training in Mexico. Also, for the record, Kenzo Suzuki is highly underrated.
Q: Ultimo is known for training smaller wrestlers. Were there any adjustments to be made for a heavyweight such as yourself in studying under him?
A: Not really. I always try my best to do whatever the smaller guys can do.
Q: What other notable Japanese wrestlers have you had the opportunity to train with, and what were those experiences like?
A: Shinsuke Nakamura was good to train with. He works with mostly basics, but I can learn a lot of little things to add more impact to moves and things of that nature from him. Also, the DDT practice, although I have only had one so far, has been interesting, training with Dick Togo and many other of the DDT people.
Q: How did you receive the opportunity to wrestle in Japan?
A: Through the internet. Sanshiro Takagi saw my webpage and promo video, found me interesting, and contacted me through Mixi, which is basically a Japanese version of MySpace. There is a AmeBaru cult following on the Japanese message boards, like 2channel, WJDestiny, Magma Mates, etc. and President Takagi found me through those message boards.
Q: How have you been received by wrestlers in Japan?
A: Very well. I speak Japanese and wrestle a Japanese style naturally, so I guess it could be said I am the Taiyo Kea or Chris Benoit of DDT. Everybody has been very nice to me. Of course I have my enemies in the ring, though.
Q: How have you been received by the Japanese fans?
A: Very well. The Japanese press and the Japanese fans have been great. I have been in loads of newspapers, magazines, etc. Fans always want pictures and autographs after the shows. After my debut, the internet fans threw me a party and gave me some very nice gifts… A portrait drawn of me from Mr. Ryosi JJ, and then a framed paper signed by everyone, with good luck messages. People who see me for the first time tend to think I am all boobs, but when they see things like the corner Abisegiri (Rolling Wheel Kick) or the Balloonsault, they are amazed at the fact that I can actually wrestle. I feel very lucky to have such kind fan support.
Q: Have you surprised people with your Japanese fluency?
A: Everyone kind of already knew since my coming to Japan was negotiated in Japanese. However, people who are only meeting me or have only heard of me for the first time tend to be a little surprised. Although I think anyone who plans to live and work in Japan should learn Japanese… I think it kind of puts a bad image on foreign people in Japan to make Japanese people adapt to speaking their language when the foreign person is living in Japan, if that makes any sense.
(Ditch: It’s a sad testament to foreign, especially American attitudes that this is the exception rather than the norm)
Q: What are some of your non-wrestling experiences in Japan so far?
A: The most unique of these experiences has to be having been cheered for by about 30 gay men, when singing Kinniku Man Go Fight, Shimauta, and Rainy Days and Mondays at a Gay Karaoke Bar in Hakata, drunk on shochu.
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My thanks to American Balloon for his prompt and courteous replies. Hopefully his current stint in Japan will be the first of many.
