More About Me

Since the, "About Me" section of this blog is limited to a specific amount of characters, I decided to write a post that discusses more about what I have done in the pro-wrestling industry, beginning with when I first started in it and leading up to now.

Technically, I started back in the 1990's, contributing to, "Pro Wrestling Illustrated" and then, "Pro Wrestling Torch". In 1997, I contributed to The Official Website of the NWO. That same year, I briefly published my own newsletter, "The Wrestling Express".

In 1998, I taught myself how to design websites, and served as a consultant for various independent promotions. That next year, I worked as a website designer/maintainer for Dylan Summers (Necro Butcher) who was running the Texas-based Power Pro Wrestling Federation, and later was involved with Texas Outlaw Promotions.

During the period of 2000-2002, I was involved in many different projects at once. I was working as a website designer/publicist for talent, contributing to WCW.com, writing columns for independent promotions and the website of former WCW star The Stro, and writing for a variety of pro-wrestling media sites (including WrestlingObserver.com and PWTorch.com). In 2003, I began running my own website, World Wrestling Optimum, which consisted of news, articles, and interviews.

In 2004, I started working for the Michigan-based Ultimate Championship Wrestling as a publicist/columnist. They were an affiliate of AWA Wrestling Superstars Live, and I soon became the publicist/columnist of the main governing body of AWA Wrestling Superstars Live as well. During my time working for UCW, I played a major role in bringing in new talent, due to over the years my having had come into contact with many talents being underused and going unnoticed in the industry.

In 2005, I started doing a column for 3PW. With DVDs sold nationwide, they had the potential to become much bigger than they already were at the time, and were very open to my ideas. I pushed for many changes behind-the-scenes. I had encouraged management to improve the production quality of their DVDs, which led to them dealing with a different production company. 3PW management had planned on waiting for it's fan base to increase before getting TV for 3PW. I explained how getting TV for 3PW is what would increase it's fan base, and I was then given the green light to find networks that were interested. Two networks were very interested, and I encouraged 3PW management to meet with them as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the owner of the company instead opted to shut 3PW down, due to losing interest. Working for 3PW put me in connection with the UK-based 1PW, who I worked as a columnist for.

After 3PW shut down, I began working as a publicist for independent promotions, including CHIKARA. I also worked as a columnist for CZW. Interestingly though, it was 2006 at this point yet I'm still most recognized for the work that I had done for 3PW and AWA/UCW.

In 2007 I started working as a columnist for XCW, a promotion that was seen nationally on MAVTV, had a national DVD deal, and also had PPV events. Working for a promotion of national status was my biggest achievement at that point, and two years later I reached a bigger achievement- Big Japan Pro-Wrestling. Along with working for them as a columnist and an Administrator for their Facebook page, I helped bring Big Japan Pro Wrestling together with Combat Zone Wrestling to form a working relationship after a previous working relationship between the two promotions had fallen apart. This new working relationship has led to Big Japan Pro Wrestling having their first event in the United States.

In October 2009 I assisted publicity & promotions company MGM Management with the HULKAMANIA- Let the Battle Begin tour by distributing their press release to pro-wrestling news sites that are popular with Australian fans, and conducting an interview with Solofa Fatu Jr. (better known as, "Rikishi"). Also, in 2012 I wrote a number of columns for Women Superstars Uncensored.

Recently, I have done social media for Great North Wrestling.

I am currently blogging for Michinoku Pro Wrestling. Since the time that I began blogging for them, Michinoku Pro had a sellout, standing room only event on December 13, 2019 at the Korakuen Hall. The Korakuen Hall is known as a place where many historical moments in the Japanese pro-wrestling scene have occurred. It's to Japan what Madison Square Garden is to the pro-wrestling scene in the United States. The event had an attendance of 1,890. That was the highest reported attendance at the Korakuen Hall to date for a pro-wrestling event since April 2015.

[Independent Wrestling TV][PREVIEW] Sendai Girls Dantai Taikou Flash Tournament 10/27/11

Independent Wrestling TV presents Sendai Girls' 10/27/11 Dantai Taikou Flash Tournament, a single-elimination tournament featuring teams representing a number of top Japanese promotions, as well as freelance wrestlers. The first round matches in this video are as follows:

Team JWP
Command Bolshoi
Kayoko Haruyama
Kaori Yoneyama
Leon
Hanako Nakamori
vs.
Team WAVE
GAMI
Toshie Uematsu
Yumi Ohka
Shuu Shibutani
Moeka Haruhi

Team Sendai Girls
Meiko Satomura
DASH Chisako
Sendai Sachiko
Kagetsu
Miyako Morino
vs.
Team Ice Ribbon
Emi Sakura
Hikaru Shida
Hikari Minami
Tsukushi
Tsukasa Fujimoto

Team Stardom
Natsuki Taiyo
Yoshiko
Yoko Bito
Mayu Iwatani
Saki Kashima
vs.
Team REINA
Yumiko Hotta
Aki Kanbayashi
Zeuxis
Aoi Ishibashi
La Comandante

Team DIANA
Kyoko Inoue
Kaoru Ito
Keiko Aono
Jenny Rose
Annie Social
vs.
Team Freelance
Jaguar Yokota
Manami Toyota
Sakura Hirota
Mio Shirai
Nancy Mari

This Sendai Girls event can be seen here. And use the coupon code HW13 for a 5-day free trial to see more Sendai Girls action on Independent Wrestling TV, one of the best streaming platforms for Japanese pro-wrestling.

[Independent Wrestling TV][PREVIEW] Sendai Girls 10th Anniversary Show 2/7/16

Independent Wrestling TV presents Sendai Girls' 2/7/16 10th Anniversary Show. Matches in this video are as follows:

Ayako Hamada
vs.
Mika Iwata

Aiger
vs.
Alex Lee

Hikaru Shida
KAORU
Nyla Rose
vs.
Hiroyo Matsumoto
Shinobu Kandori
Takako Inoue

Cassandra Miyagi
Kyoko Kimura
vs.
Hiroe Nagahama
Syuri

Aja Kong
Rydeen Hagane
vs.
DASH Chisako
Chihiro Hashimoto

Sendai Girls World Championship match
Meiko Satomura (Sendai Girls World Champion)
vs.
Io Shirai

This Sendai Girls event can be seen here. And use the coupon code HW13 for a 5-day free trial to see more Sendai Girls action on Independent Wrestling TV, one of the best streaming platforms for Japanese pro-wrestling.

[Michinoku Pro][UPDATE] 27th Anniversary 2020 Tokyo Conference Vol. 3 6/19/20 event cancelled

Due to the prevention of new coronavirus infection, the 27th Anniversary 2020 Tokyo Conference Vol. 3 event that was scheduled to take place on June 19 at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo has been cancelled. The ticket refund method is as follows:

If your purchase was made at Lawson Ticket: Tickets will be refunded directly at the Lawson and Ministop stores. Please come to the store with your unused tickets.
* Customers who have received the delivery will be refunded at the nearest Lawson store.
* Customers who have not yet been issued a ticket at a store will have the ticket issued once at the store and a refund will be made at that store.

If your purchase was made via e+: The reimbursement method depends on the method that you received/paid for the ticket. Please confirm which refund method will be used here. For inquiries, click here. The refund period is June 1 to June 30.

Customers who purchased elsewhere (wrestlers and staff): Michinoku Pro will correspond for refund and transfer. For a refund, provide your ticket, name, contact information, and refund information (bank name, branch name, account number, and account name ). Enclose it and mail the ticket to Michinoku Professional Wrestling:
〒０２０－０７５２
岩手県滝沢市大釜白山５０－２０　株式会社陸奥　チケット返金係

[Michinoku Pro] The Beginnings of Michinoku Pro and the Journey It Has Made

Michinoku Pro was born when The Great Sasuke decided that he wanted to bring pro-wrestling to his hometown of Iwate. This town is located in the Tōhoku region, and that is the inspiration for the company's name- the north-eastern area of the Tōhoku region was called, "Michinoku" ("end of the road") during the ancient era of Japan.

In Michinoku Pro's beginning, the staff consisted solely of owner/founder The Great Sasuke and other members of the Michinoku Pro roster. Michinoku Pro made its debut on March 16, 1993 at Yahaba Townsman Gymnasium in front of 1,200 fans. It was an impressive card, featuring talents such as TAKA Michinoku, Super Delfin, Gran Hamada, and The Great Sasuke, as well as Black Man and El Signo from Mexico, and Kendo from the Dominican Republic.

In 1995, Michinoku Pro debuted its own singles tournament that is still presented by the company to this day. Called "Fukumen World League", the tournament features masked talents from around the world. Dos Caras, Tiger Mask, Atlantis, The Great Sasuke, and Caristico are all masked wrestlers who are highly respected worldwide and have been winners of the tournament. Michinoku Pro will be hosting Fukumen World League again this year, with plans on involving masked talents from Japan, other Asian countries, America, Mexico, Latin American countries, and European countries.

Every promotion eventually experiences their first major rulebreaker faction, and for Michinoku Pro that moment occurred in the 90's in the form of Kaientai Deluxe, consisting of Dick Togo, Mens Teioh, Shiryu, TAKA Michinoku, Shoichi Funaki, Hanzo Nakajima, and Super Boy.

Kaientai Deluxe battled against the fan favorites of Michinoku Pro in many matches, a highlight match being the encounter between Kaientai Deluxe (in the form of Dick Togo, Mens Teioh, and Shoichi Funaki) and the team of Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, Masato Yakushiji, Super Delfin, and Tiger Mask at the Michinoku Pro 3rd Anniversary event in October 1996.

Kaientai Deluxe even made their presence known outside of Michinoku Pro, with Dick Togo, TAKA Michinoku, and Mens Teioh, appearing in ECW as representatives of the Japan branch of the Blue World Order faction, where they feuded with The Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada, Gran Naniwa, and Masato Yakushiji in 1997.

Kaientai Deluxe's influence moved to WWE that next year, as Togo, Michinoku, and Shoichi Funaki all wrestled for the company representing the faction. But the Kaientai Deluxe era in Michinoku Pro did not end before TAJIRI and Gran Hamada represented the faction that year as well.

In August 2002, history was made when Michinoku Pro crowned its first Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Champion. The company's singles title was won by Dick Togo. Since then, other notable wrestlers have become a part of the Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Championship's legacy, such as The Great Sasuke, Kenoh, Atlantis, TAKA Michinoku, Super Delfin, KAGETORA, Takeshi Minamino, MUSASHI, and current Champion Rui Hyūgaji.

In April 2003, The Great Sasuke became a legislator in the Iwate Prefectural Assembly. He had been running Michinoku Pro up to this point, but with his political career being an additional responsibility in his life, Sasuke asked Jinsei Shinzaki (who was one of the wrestlers on Michonoku Pro's roster at the time) to run the company for him.

In November 2003, after its appearances in WWE and ECW years earlier, the story of Kaientai Deluxe came full circle, as Dick Togo, Hanzo Nakajima, Mens Teioh, Shiryu, and TAKA Michinoku reunited in Michinoku Pro to form the faction once again, defeating Chinnen Hokkai, Hayate, Jinsei Shinzaki, Kazuya Yuasa, and Kesen Numajiro at Michinoku Pro's 10th Anniversary event.

In July 2004, history was made again, with Michinoku Pro crowning its first Tohoku Tag Team Champions. Jinsei Shinzaki & Último Dragón won the title, and since then the Tohoku Tag Team Championship has also been won by other standout teams such as Katsuhiko Nakajima & Kensuke Sasaki, Dick Togo & The Great Sasuke, and current Champions Yapper Man 1 & Yapper Man 2. The teams with the most outstanding records as Tohoku Tag Team Champions are the teams of Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita, and Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei. Brahman Shu & Brahman Kei hold the record for the team with the most reigns as Champions, with 4 reigns under their belts. During their first reign, Hidaka & Fujita held the title for a record length of 725 days. During that reign, they unified the Tohoku Tag Team Championship with the UWA World Tag Team Title, a title which has a very historical past that began in the Mexico-based Universal Wrestling Association.

Kaientai Deluxe made one more appearance in December 2018 at a Michinoku event, as Dick Togo, Mens Teioh, and Shiryu represented the faction in a match against Super Delfin, The Great Sasuke, and Ultimo Dragon. Both teams battled to a time limit draw. Only time will tell whether Kaientai Deluxe will reunite again in a Michinoku Pro ring in the future.

In December 2019, Michinoku Pro had a sellout, standing room only event with an attendance of 1,890 at the Korakuen Hall, the highest reported attendance at the Korakuen Hall to date for a pro-wrestling event since April 2015.

[STREAMING] Independent Wrestling TV and Japanese Wrestling

Japanese pro wrestling is popular all over the world, but locating sources to watch it is not always an easy task. Independent Wrestling TV is the solution to this problem. IWTV is a streaming platform that presents over 3,000 events from over 200 promotions located in every corner of the globe, including Japan's Sendai Girls, FREEDOMS, and HEAT UP. IWTV is available on Android, iOS, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, and online.

IWTV is available for a monthly subscription of $10.00 or an annual subscription of $100 (which would save you $20), HOWEVER- if you use the promo code HW13, you will receive a 5-day free trial!

Click here for a 5-day free trial.
Use the promo code HW13 when you subscribe.

The Biggest Names and Places in The Japanese Pro Wrestling Industry

Check out my article about NJPW and Michinoku Pro for Taiken Japan.

https://taiken.co/single/the-biggest-names-and-places-in-the-japanese-pro-wrestling-industry/