Hello, this is Zhoushan from the Quality Control Department.
Suddenly, Monosus Pro Wrestling Club was established. The main activity is watching matches.
Why the Pro Wrestling Club?
Until now, I had only ever known the word "professional wrestling," so I have written about how the professional wrestling club was founded, up until the time I went to watch my first match, and what happened after that.
It all started with a misunderstanding on her part.
My senior, Chikako Okubo from headquarters, is a huge pro wrestling fan.
One day, Okubo came to work wearing a T-shirt with an illustration of a masked wrestler on it.
The only piece of pro wrestling-related information I had was, "Apparently, the writer Nishi Kanako is a fan of Tanahashi!", but it seems that this got to Okubo's mind that Funayama is a Tanahashi fan.
On August 31, 2018, I received a call from Okubo first thing in the morning.
"Liger and KUSHIDA are coming to JA!"
L-L-L-Ga...??
When I asked for more details, I found out that New Japan Pro-Wrestling wrestlers would be making a guest appearance at an event to be held at JA Agri Park near the company.
As I listened to the story, I became more and more interested, and we were excited to attend together. However, the event was during working hours, so we decided to give up and just prioritize work that day.
At the time, I never imagined that Okubo's misunderstanding would lead me to take my first step into the world of professional wrestling.
Shall we go see some pro wrestling?
Okubo quickly changed his mind and made a proposal.
"Want to go to a real wrestling match?"
The sooner the better.
Four people, including beginners, were selected as members, led by Okubo and Sakuyama , who are veterans of professional wrestling.
Luckily, I was able to get tickets and decided to watch a New Japan Pro Wrestling match.
This is the first activity for the Monosus Pro Wrestling Club with its six members.
Let's head to Korakuen Hall on October 16th!
In order to ensure there was time to look at the merchandise, we moved up the scheduled meeting time by 30 minutes so everyone was fully prepared.
On the train ride there, everyone took turns reading the Weekly Pro Wrestling that Sakuyama had circulated in advance, doing their homework again.
Although I was nervous as it was my first time at the venue, I took a commemorative photo with Piccolo as soon as I arrived.
The man dressed as Piccolo is the president of New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
I feel excited when I see the ring.
The venue has a capacity of about 2000 people. Our seats were ringside, and the tickets cost 6500 yen. (There were many empty seats, but the venue was full just before the match started.)
Before the match begins.
Here are three things I learned from my first visit.
- I'll sit and watch.
- You can bring in food and drinks. (Food and drinks can be purchased at the venue. However, it is cheaper to buy them at a nearby convenience store. It is unclear whether this is the case at other venues.)
- There will be no breaks. (You can take breaks as you like between matches.)
Of course, it depends on the venue and the match.
Although each match was 20 or 30 minutes long, all matches on this day were around 15 minutes long and went smoothly.
Sorry for the wait, the match begins!!
Let's start with the young players' matches.
The crowd gradually gets excited as the players appear.
Next up was the entrance of Kota Ibushi, who I fell in love with after watching the match that day. His back view was also cool.
I'm sure many of you are familiar with the ace wrestler, Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Cheers erupt and the venue is instantly filled with excitement.
Impressive.
The finale is the Los Ingobernables ceremony.
The crowd erupted in excitement as players who were not scheduled to play that day appeared.
The game is over and we have a debriefing session.
After the match, we had a debriefing session with beers in hand near the venue.
Each participant announced which player they were most impressed with and what they liked about them.
The crowd was excited with comments such as "I was happy to see Kokeshi (the name of the technique)", "BUSHI (the wrestler) was so cool that I couldn't help but scream", and "I never thought Naito would come", and veterans also shared stories from the past such as "Okada was the best at Tenryu's retirement match". (Beginners couldn't keep up with the conversation, so they listened to the explanation and looked it up on their smartphones while participating.)
All the members were left soaking in the afterglow and the reflection meeting ended with them promising to come and see the performance again.
Pro wrestling is so cool.
It's just so cool.
The time flew by as I was engrossed in watching every match, with the many techniques that the athletes were able to pull off thanks to their incredible physical abilities, the fun-loving fans, and the overall atmosphere of the venue. The athletes were serious at times, but they also made us laugh at key points. Sometimes I was so amazed by their unrealistic techniques that I couldn't help but laugh.
Before watching the game, I was worried that it would be so painful that I wouldn't be able to watch.
In fact, there were some scenes that looked painful and made me look away, but they were very few. More than that, I felt it was a wonderful show (I'm not sure if that's the right word). The entrance music and costumes of the athletes were also attractive.
Seeing is believing. I was really happy to be able to see it for myself, get moved, and learn about the new world of professional wrestling. Thanks to the wrestling club, I was able to enjoy watching the matches.
The time card is like a gong for me, an 8-hour challenge.
Why am I so fascinated by professional wrestling?
I thought about this while writing this article.
What I came to realize was that I felt an unexpected commonality with the wrestlers and sympathized with them.
That means that I, who work, am also fighting every day.
What made the biggest impression on me about watching the cool wrestling was the sight of the wrestlers, sometimes serious, sometimes having fun, entertaining the audience.
Their attitude reminded me somewhat of myself, a positive person who takes his work seriously, but also tries to have fun and have some fun at the same time, as I go about my daily tasks.
A professional wrestler's battles take place in a ring, but for me, the ring is my workplace.
There are apparently 11 major men's professional wrestling organizations in Japan alone.
As a result of this match, some members have become interested in other wrestling organizations, and even overseas organizations, and have begun studying them. Professional wrestling is deep and interesting.
On March 6th, the anniversary of the founding of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, all members of the wrestling club are planning to go watch the match. Looking forward to it!
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