He’s been “The King of Old Schoolâ€. He’s been a “P-Force†man. He thought he could leave the road life and stay home with his wife and son. He was wrong. Now, after a year spent away from the familiar confines of Zero-One Max, Steve Corino is back. Or should I say Mr. Wrestling 3. He talks about his un-retirement, the abysmal Pro Wrestling Expo, and his other activities! Plus the usual content.
Section 1- Results
All Japan: Muta retained against Suzuki, and Marufuji retained over Kondo.
Dragon Gate: The big (for them) show at Osaka Prefectural Gym on the 16th seems to have been close to a sellout, which is quite good since there were worries after CIMA got hurt. Shingo retained against Yokosuka, Yoshino retained against Dragon Kid, Cyber Kong & Yamato retained against Doi & Tanisaki, and Tozawa Juku is no more after they failed to win the trios belts.
New Japan: TenKoji won the tag league, beating Nakanishi & Yoshie in the semis and Makabe & Yano in the final.
Section 2- News
Dragon Gate: Mochizuki, Fujii & Magnitude defend the trios titles on the 29th against Gamma, Kanda & Horiguchi. Opening round matches for King of Gate include Doi vs Dragon Kid, BB Hulk vs Saito, Mochizuki vs Gamma, and Yokosuka vs Yoshino.
New Japan: The year-end tour wraps up with shows at the Aichi and Osaka prefectural gyms. Aichi includes Chono & Choshu vs Nakamura & Goto, Ohtani & Tanaka vs Nagata & Kanemoto, Makabe &Yano defending against Nakanishi & Yoshie, and Tanahashi vs Bernard, which headlined last year’s December show in Aichi. Osaka features Yujiro & Naito defending against Jado & Gedo, Low Ki defending against Taguchi, Goto vs Bernard, and Tanahashi vs Makabe. Tanahashi’s matches are building towards…
January 4th, where Tanahashi challenges Mutoh for the IWGP title. Also on that card will be Shelley & Sabin getting a junior tag title shot, Angle, Nash, the Dudleys, and Mistico. TenKoji or the Dudleys will get a tag title shot. Looks like no Triple Crown defense.
NOAH: Sasaki vs Saito is set for the 12/7 Budokan show. We’ll also get Akiyama vs Morishima in a #1 contenders match, and Kanemaru & Suzuki defending the junior tag titles against KENTA & Ishimori. Marufuji will defend All Japan’s junior title against Kikuchi on the 27th. Last but not least, there will be a two-night 32-man singles tournament on 12/23 and 12/24. Each match will have a 10 minute time limit.
Section 3- Shill and Tell
Clark writes more about current All Japan than I care to!
WWE had a bad fiscal quarter! They could use the profits of that “bad†quarter and buy any company in Japan ten times over.
Clark’s new column is kinda hard to find! But it references Jumbo vs Misawa! So read it!
Section 4- Corino Interview 2: The Revenge
A year ago I had the opportunity to pick at the Garden State brain of one Steven Corino. Things were very different back then. He was heading into the twilight, talking about glory days, etc. Now he’s back in the limelight and ready to make newer, better glory days for himself. Before I begin, here’s his newest Livejournal update, covering a lot of the same ground but with added details. Enjoy!
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Q: Going back a little ways, in the interview last year I forgot to ask about your time in HUSTLE. Any thoughts on your time as Monster C? Did you get to interact with guys like Takada and Anjo? Or, dare I ask, HG?
A: I actually was an agent for Hustle the first year leading all the way into HustleMania. I designed the whole match with Kenzo and the actor and was really pleased with how it came off. I stayed on as Monster C just as a wrestler. The Hustle style was too weird for me and I was always getting frustrated. Yoshiyuki Nakamura (VP of ZERO1) would always tell me “Just have fun Corino-san, Hustle is entertainment” but watching Kawada sing and dance just struck me as wrong! haha.
I dealt with Anjo on almost a daily basis and liked him. Anjo speaks great English and was good to the boys. Takada said what he had to. He doesn’t know alot of English and his Japanese is a lot harder then regular Japanese so I had a hard time understanding him at time.
HG was awesome. Just a nice guy that really tries hard out there. I don’t know how true this is but I had heard that he went to school with Tanahashi (New Japan) and they actually trained together a bit so he understood pro-wrestling. He never had a star attitude and was almost shy most of the time.
Q: I got a chance to interview Scott Norton, and he had praise for just about everyone… except Naoya Ogawa. Did you ever have a hard time with Ogawa?
A: I don’t think anyone likes Ogawa! I don’t hate him but I also don’t put up with his superstar attitude either. I would make fun of him with Hashimoto-san while talking over matches in ZERO-ONE. I always thought he was kinda full of shit but he did appear in the Olympics and he was over. He just thought he knew pro-wrestling more then most guys..
Q: After your retirement from full-time wrestling at the end of 2007, you were able to get a good job without travel. What made you jump back into the world of professional wrestling?
A: I really wanted to retire. I felt tired and I was ready to move on. Or so I thought. I think I would have really left if it wasn’t for Mr. Wrestling II and a trip to Hawaii where he offered to endorse me as Mr. Wrestling 3. Johnny is a wonderful man and I thought it was such an honor for him to pick me to wear the mask and become #3. There have been a few guys that have worn a mask and called themselves Mr.. Wrestling 3 but never endorsed by Johnny Walker. After the end of 2007 I brought up the idea of wearing the mask on occassion like Invader used to do in Puerto Rico and he loved it. He told me he wanted me to be different then him and Tim Woods and create my own legacy.
I managed a Gold’s Gym for about six months and hated it. I loved the members but I was there 80 hours a week and missed being on the road. Once this life gets in your blood its so hard to get it out. Terry Funk and I joked once that we are never going to retire again, just quit! So I started a new company called Pro-Wrestling 3000 (3KWrestling) and a Dojo that Ricky Reyes and Mark Mest run and we did good at first but then we, actually me, lost a few sold shows and then the company was in debt. Ryan Kavangh (B4W) and Ricky Reyes came in as owners and we are going to re-start with January and hopefully do ok.
Q: Was there a particular reason why you weren’t on Zero-One shows over the last several months of 2007?
A: It was a contract dispute with the sponsor of the ZERO1 shows at the time. I was guarnteed a certain amount of dates and a certain amount of money and the sponsor wanted to cut the money so I decided to resign. I always kept close with everyone and it was never a situation where I just got pissed off and quit. I was tired and needed a break after doing 66 tours in six years and both me and Nakamura-san thought it would do me and the company good to take some time off to re-package.
Q: You were recently involved with the three-show Pro Wrestling Expo at Sumo Hall. How did you come to be a part of it?
A: The promoters of Pro Wres Expo contacted both Chono-san and First on Stage (ZERO1) to help them with these shows. I go into it a lot in my next blog but they were shows that were doomed from the start. Its a shame because Mr. Ono, the sponsor, has a good heart and wanted to promote peace through pro-wrestling. As hokey as that seems he tried his best. Its a shame that we didn’t have a lot of good gaijin talent. There were at least four guys, including one of my guys, that didn’t belong there at all.
Q: You refereed several matches. Have you done that much over your career? How does it compare to wrestling?
A: I like it. I only special refereed once in 1998 before doing it for ZERO1. Although Mr. Wrestling 3 is causing trouble in ZERO1, Steve Corino is a company man and just a referee for ZERO1. It sounds pretty complicated and it is but the man under the mask is different then the guy that did so many tours of Japan. I think you might have seen the last of Corino as a referee though in ZERO1.
Q: What else did you do for the shows?
A: I am the gaijin agent. Basically I am the middle man and babysitter for the gaijin talent. The ZERO1 office will want me to book someone and then I make sure their ticket is ordered, let them know what they need to expect, and help them with everyday life in Japan. Japanese pro-wrestling and American wrestling is so different due to the style and culture that some guys can’t get it. That is where I come in to help.
Q: Chono was also one of the people working backstage. Did you get much chance to interact with him, and if so, what was that like?
A: Chono is super cool. Just like Hashimoto was. We have that connection because we were both close to Hashimoto-san. He asked my opinion on everything for the Expo shows and we tried our best to make the best out of what we had. The shows were not that bad. The TNA talent was amazing and showed the indy gaijin talent that most of them are not ready for TNA with the exception of Ricky Reyes and Hartley Jackson. Bambi Killer from Austria looked and worked the best I ever saw him.
Q: By all accounts the shows were a failure, with low attendance and bad matches. The company that set things up was responsible for using Sumo Hall and choosing the talent; what went wrong? How could they not have seen it coming??
A: I think Mr. Ono saw it way too late. Doing it at Korekan Hall would have been much better or even at Differ Arake. The choosing of the talent, the gaijin talent actually, was wrong. The LADojo guys had no idea what to expect and either did one of my guys. Some of the matches were good like Hidaka vs. Daniels, Tanaka/Sekimoto vs. Shelley/Sabin, and the first battle royal (only because of Kikutaro keeping it together!). Everyone tried hard but with the building 90% empty it was hard for these guys.
Q: On a brighter note, how excited were you for your Zero-One return a few weeks ago?
A: It was like I never left. I got a good year of not making that 16 hour trip and I was ready to come back and I think the crowd was ready for me to come back. Its my home and will always be my home.
Q: You’re set to go back to Zero-One next week. Do you anticipate going back regularly?
A: Yes, I will be back regularly for (hopefully) the next couple years. With this whole ZERO1 vs. WPF, Mr. Wrestling 3, and more stuff going on there is a lot of room for me to re-invent myself in the eyes of the Japanese fans. For many years I was looked upon as a comedy wrestler and now it looks like we are finally making that change.
Q: You’ve become a regular for WWC in Puerto Rico. How did that happen, and how are things there?
A: Carlos was looking for a vet to come in and help out a little bit. TV ratings are good but house shows are down and that is where I am trying to help. For 35 years fans have gotten used to screw job finishes and house show matches that don’t matter. I, along with Chuck LeGrande, are trying to get more clean finishes and update the product. We have some good talent, we just need to teach them how to draw money. WWC is not like an indy in the US or even Japan, its the last terrortory and the individual at the top needs to be the guy that draws the fans in. Its hard.
Q: Any other Corino/Wrestling 3 appearances you’d like to plug?
A: Both me and Mr. Wrestling 3 will be in Puerto Rico this weekend and then off to Japan next week, back in Puerto Rico for TV, and then I am home for a week!!! While I am home my 12 year old son Colby and I will take part in a charity show where we will appear as a tag team for the UWC group in New Jersey.
Q: Anything else you’d like to say to the readers?
A: Thank you for being interested in Japanese wrestling. Alot of gaijin fans don’t understand everything about it but I love to see fans talking about the style. Remember that there (should be) a reason for everything, even if you can’t figure it out in the beginning. Hell, I have to watch to follow sometimes!
Also visit SteveCorino.com and CorinoWrestling.com for your Steve Corino and Mr. Wrestling 3 t-shirts. Christmas is coming!!!
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My thanks to Steve for his prompt replies!
NEXT TIME: Kobashi in ’08! Which is like half of the must-see puro for the year!
