Episode 3 – Wrestling in Japan

Episodes – The Fringe Scholars

Episode 3:

http://archive.org/download/Fsep3/fsep3.mp3

Download Episode 3 (right click and choose Save Link As…)

The legendary B-I Cannon: Shohei “Giant” Baba (left) and Antonio Inoki

In this exciting new episode, Mr. Nelson takes his ever-willing colleague, Mr. Scheurkogel, on another wild ride through the fantastic, but often maligned, world of professional wrestling. Rather than being predictable and myopic, the Scholars dare to travel around the globe to uncover the rich history of professional wrestling from the wonderful nation of Japan. To begin, Mr. Nelson looks at how professional wrestling (puroresu to the Japanese) developed in the country and how it differs from its North American counterpart. From there, the Scholars take an in depth look at two seminal matches from Japan, eventually running out of superlatives while attempting to describe the greatness of these encounters.

So sit back and enjoy. Everything you thought you knew about wrestling (which may be very little anyway, but humour me) is about to be turned upside down and inside out!

(Mr. Nelson would like to thank the love of his life, Julia, for her help with the editing of this episode. Moss helped a lot too.)

Supplemental Bits for Episode 3

Firstly, here are links to the two matches we discussed in this episode:

Terry Funk vs Stan Hansen, AJPW 4/14/1983

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9W-io5xUJE&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp

Mitsuharu Misawa vs Toshiaki Kawada, AJPW 6/3/1994

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqftofXcukE

The following are links to matches alluded to in this episode:

Rikidozan and Masahiko Kimura vs Mike and Ben Sharpe, 2/21/1954

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n5xAQ6sQ30&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp

Misawa unmasking, AJPW 5/14/1990

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Z-QiV6Gr8&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp&index=1

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m4DZzOsbAE&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCy0FaB6nUA&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp

John Cena vs Brock Lesnar, WWE 4/29/2012

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xwvb42_john-cena-vs-brock-lesnar-extreme-rules-2012_sport?search_algo=2

Lastly, here is some bonus material. I would be remiss if I did not include footage of Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki in action. Even better is rare footage of the B-I Cannon in action. In fact, this would be the last time they would team together, for a special All Japan/New Japan “Dream Card” in 1979.

Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki vs Tiger Jeet Singh and Abdullah the Butcher, 8/26/1979

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tclVpMdhT7c

The next link is to something cool I found on YouTube and wanted to share. It is footage from the debut show of Antonio Inoki’s New Japan promotion from 1972:

NJPW Debut Show, 3/6/1972:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlO9EpVr_nc&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp

And for fans of the Misawa vs Kawada match, here is the perfect complement. Held approximately one year after the epic encounter discussed in this episode, here Misawa and Kawada are on opposing sides in what is often considered one of the greatest tag team matches of all time.

Mitsuharu Misawa/Kenta Kobashi vs Tokiashi Kawada/Akira Taue, AJPW 6/9/1995

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALyg-EhxbgI&list=PLdj3IsWCikndRgsT6RBSdcebp_ucz-SZp

Of course, no post would be complete without a link to a Wiki page, so here’s one for those interested in the further study of Japanese wrestling: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling_in_Japan

Last but not least, this site is awesome, devoted to all things puroresu: http://www.puroresu.com/

Enjoy

Kelly