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| Will Ricochet win ours too? Photo Credit: njpw.co.jp |
When I was a young wrestling fan, cutting my teeth on wrestling outside of the limited paradigm of WWF and WCW, the stuff people were supposed to have been doing in Japan was always transfixing. Like a lot of you, it probably started with Jushin Liger and how amazing he was when he showed up in WCW in the early 1990's. Maybe for you TAKA Michinoku and Great Sasuke from Canadian Stampede did it for you. But whatever the reason for it is, the truth of the matter is that a lot of your wrestling fandom, and for that matter the fandom of some of your favorite indy guys, is woven in with puroresu in a way that is inexcapable. Hell, even John Cena uses stuff gleaned from puro. (Blue Thunder Bomb is of course Jun Akiyama, and the STF is really the STS used by Masa Chono.)
Perhaps the best example of this is the jr. heavyweights of New Japan. Even though the recent renaissance of the division is built around the heavyweights, the Jr's still hold a lot of sway. But past the gaijin guys, the division does not have a lot of depth. So what would be the fix for that? Reviving the Dojo system that gave us so many stars in the 90's and 2000's? Going on a talent recruitment drive throughout the small Japanese indies like the one that acquired them Minoru Tanaka, Tiger Mask IV, and others? In their universe, yes. In ours, adding more gaijin guys seems like a good idea.
Firstly, in no particular order, the players.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: Andrew Everett, Trevor Lee, and Ricochet
Ring of Honor: Cedric Alexander, ACH, and Adam Cole
Chikara: Chuck Taylor, Hallowicked, and Kevin Condron
EVOLVE: Drew Gulak, TJ Perkins, and Johnny Gargano
Ok. That's 12.
In the next installment of this, I'll put the blocks together, and pick a winner.
Will we have a better put together tournament than what New Japan is doing?
Stay tuned and find out!
Perhaps the best example of this is the jr. heavyweights of New Japan. Even though the recent renaissance of the division is built around the heavyweights, the Jr's still hold a lot of sway. But past the gaijin guys, the division does not have a lot of depth. So what would be the fix for that? Reviving the Dojo system that gave us so many stars in the 90's and 2000's? Going on a talent recruitment drive throughout the small Japanese indies like the one that acquired them Minoru Tanaka, Tiger Mask IV, and others? In their universe, yes. In ours, adding more gaijin guys seems like a good idea.
Firstly, in no particular order, the players.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: Andrew Everett, Trevor Lee, and Ricochet
Ring of Honor: Cedric Alexander, ACH, and Adam Cole
Chikara: Chuck Taylor, Hallowicked, and Kevin Condron
EVOLVE: Drew Gulak, TJ Perkins, and Johnny Gargano
Ok. That's 12.
In the next installment of this, I'll put the blocks together, and pick a winner.
Will we have a better put together tournament than what New Japan is doing?
Stay tuned and find out!