666 (Triple Six) is a company founded by a wrestling poltergeist named Onryo (his billed weight is 0kg) and ‘The Crazy SKB’, the outrageous frontman of a punk band who also wrestles and is widely known for his love of setting off fireworks during matches. Some of the independent promotions are introducing new innovations (and possibly insanity) to the world of wrestling. She founded her own company, Oz Academy, in 1998 and, even at 45 years of age, she still wrestles – while apparently also studying towards a qualification as a nursery school assistant. Ozaki describes herself as ‘the bad girl you love to hate’ and is one of the few female wrestlers who has competed in hardcore matches. If you prefer something a little less girly, Mayumi Ozaki is a legend of women’s wrestling who worked for several promotions in the '80s and '90s. Thanks to the company’s more feminine image and their recent collaboration with pop idol group hy4_4yh, they have a dedicated otaku-type fanbase. Ice Ribbon is known for recruiting and nurturing original talent, introducing aspiring actresses and models to life in the ring as well as notably debuting very young girls – for example, current favourite Kurumi, now 14, debuted at just nine years old. Popular joshi puro (women’s wrestling) company Ice Ribbon holds regular intimate events at its training dojo in Saitama. There is strict training and dedication involved, which has led to Japan producing some the best female wrestlers in the world.
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You couldn’t be more wrong if you think female wrestlers are just playing at the sport. The wrestlers don’t just work hard in the ring – after a match, you can get up close and personal with them at the merchandise table, where they’ll sign autographs, pose for photos and sell you a T-shirt, even if they’re still covered in blood, sweat and broken glass!Ībove: Ice Ribbon – not just fun and games BJW is also known for its classic strong-style fighters including Japan’s ‘Muscle Monster’ Daisuke Sekimoto and recently retired Strong Heavyweight Champion Shinya Ishikawa who favoured an English-inspired ‘catch wrestling’ technique. Death match fighter Jaki ‘Black Angel’ Numazawa’s face paint makes him surprisingly popular with children, and fan favourite Ryuji Ito recently celebrated his 15th year in the business with a match against 144kg Abdullah Kobayashi.
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As well as tables, ladders and steel chairs, a death match can include more unusual weapons such as lightbulb tubes, panes of glass, barbed-wire ropes, fire, explosions and, notoriously, once even a tank full of piranhas.
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NJPW is also home to the flamboyant ‘King of Strong Style’ Shinsuke Nakamura – ‘strong style’ is a type of puroresu that incorporates full-force strikes and submission holds, usually employed by wrestlers coming from a martial arts background.īJW (Big Japan Wrestling) is a well-respected independent promotion which distinguished itself from competition in the late ’90s by specialising in extreme hardcore ‘death matches’. Two of their Japanese wrestlers, ‘High Flying Star’ Hiroshi Tanahashi and ‘The Rainmaker’ Kazuchika Okada, are household-name wrestlers of the moment. While they maintain a Japanese approach, their association with overseas companies and the large number of foreign wrestlers on their registery make them accessible to fans across the globe. NJPW (New Japan Pro-Wrestling), founded by Antonio Inoki in 1972, is one of the biggest wrestling promotions in the world. Above: BJW's death matches include, shall we say, unusual weapons.