how popular is Puro in japan?

[Guest Ravenbomb]

I've heard Wrestling is more popular in Japan than over here somewhere but I've seen/heard nothing that says either way. How popular is Puro and Pro Wrestling in general in Japan?

[Guest wolverine]

"Puroresu" is pro wrestling, so there's no difference there. When Japanese groups are referring to U.S. wrestling, I've heard them say "American puroresu."

 

As far as popularity over there, it's definitely not what it used to be....same with the U.S. The entire business is in a decline, really.

[Guest Black Tiger]

In Japan, Puroresu is seen as a legitamate sport. NJPW Dome Shows, G-1 Climax, AJPW Champion Carnivals, Real World Tag Leagues are all often front page news in Japanese newspapers.

 

The economy is Japan is in a recession at the present time, hence many feds are having problems selling out buildings. The fact that AJ can still do this speaks volumes for Mutoh's ability to draw fans and is a reason he will probably get the position as AJ president.

[Guest DragonflyKid]

Just the fact that a country the geographic size of California has 3 major promotions and many independants that are able to sustain themselves shows how popular it is.

[Guest wolverine]

I wouldn't go so far as to say they're front page news, but they are covered in the sports pages from what I understand.

[Guest wolverine]

Just the fact that a country the geographic size of California has 3 major promotions and many independants that are able to sustain themselves shows how popular it is.

 

Well, you also have to take into account that Japan has about 100 million more people, too.

[Guest DragonflyKid]

Well, you also have to take into account that Japan has about 100 million more people, too

 

 

I still think it says something that a country of 127 million people like Japan has so many options when it comes to pro wrestling and a country like the U.S. with 285 million people basically has only the WWE right now in the mainstream.

[Guest DerangedHermit]

Well, you also have to take into account that Japan has about 100 million more people, too

 

 

I still think it says something that a country of 127 million people like Japan has so many options when it comes to pro wrestling and a country like the U.S. with 285 million people basically has only the WWE right now in the mainstream.

Because the Japanese are smarter! Duh.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Well the Japanese Economy has been in recession for a decade now, I would rather put stock in the Wwfs phantom 'Cyclical Nature of the Business' for explaining why attendance/interest is falling.

 

Or you could just say that all the top draws in the past decade are now old and can't perform to the standard fans are used to. And since there were no new stars created public interest decreased.

[Guest the 1inch punch]

Or you could just say that all the top draws in the past decade are now old and can't perform to the standard fans are used to. And since there were no new stars created public interest decreased.

Doesnt that sound familiar

[Guest Dangerous A]

It does sound like something familiar.

 

 

From 91-93, NJPW did a fantastic job of elevating it's three musketeers, Chono, Mutoh, and Hashimoto into serious money players. Very much like WWE did with it's three musketeers of Austin, Rock, and HHH from 98-2000. Now that all 6 men are either distracted with non ring activities or are just too broke down to bring the goods, the public interest in them has waned. Since WWE and NJPW haven't elevated anyone in their places, business is now swooning for both former mighty companies, and the wrestling business as a whole.

[Guest PlatypusFool]

Has anyone actually ever kept a steady stream of new talent on top of their shows? Has any wrestling promotion ever been able to replace their old stars with new ones who draw just as well as soon as the old stars get too old?

[Guest wolverine]

When Tenryu & Co. bolted in 1990, Baba had no choice but to elevate Misawa's generation into the main event slots. And it turned out to be an incredible success for many years.

[Guest MrRant]

Has anyone actually ever kept a steady stream of new talent on top of their shows? Has any wrestling promotion ever been able to replace their old stars with new ones who draw just as well as soon as the old stars get too old?

No.. because as the stars get old... so do the fans. And some of those fans may not accept the new stars and it takes time to gain new fans and sometimes those new stars are old by the time the new fans come in.

[Guest Black Tiger]

A perfect example is NJPW of 2000, Hashimoto "retired" after he lost to Ogawa, Chono was off with Team 2000 doing whatever they did, and Mutoh was just kind of "there" with shitty knees and then hit WCW.

 

New Japan, pushed Kensuke Sasaki as the top guy, and the fans didn't buy into it, because they knew he was the golden boy of Chosyu, and would ALWAYS win. Sasaki also became very lazy since he knew he was getting the megapush. Tenkoji wound up getting seriously over just by working their asses off in the ring, they had no clue they were in for any type of push until the 1st PPV when they got the IWGP Tag Titles.

[Guest PlatypusFool]

"When Tenryu & Co. bolted in 1990, Baba had no choice but to elevate Misawa's generation into the main event slots. And it turned out to be an incredible success for many years."

 

That's a different situation to what I'm proposing, that elevation was forced. I'm talking about a promotion that constantly builds up midcarders to main event status and then steps them down to make way for yet more midcarders into the main event, in one big cycle.

 

I think that if a promotion created a new star, and, while the new star was on top for a few years, spent massive effort creating another new star to take over when the first got too old, and so on forever, then they would be very succesful indeed. If you did this with several guys from each generation, then you might be even more succesful.

[Guest J*ingus]

One promotion that did exactly that comes to mind: ECW.

[Guest MrRant]

But burned because they couldn't constantly make up new stars or gain new fans. It was primarily the same fans without any noticable bump.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

ECW is a good comparison in that Paul E kept making new stars (but even then he was 'forced to', but I don't think it can compare the cult-like phenominon of ECW to something like New Japan or the Wwf. ECW's fan base steadily went up because so many of its 'hardcores' were incredibly loyal to the promotion; something you don't see with the Wwe, or at least something that is hidden. (ECW had a small fanbase, so if they had 50 000 hardcore fans in NA then on their level it's successful. But if Wwf had 50 000 hardcore fans they'd be dead... So that really effects the numbers - if that makes sense).

[Guest Dangerous A]

Another factor for the ECW situation is that once those hardcore fans felt that ECW started to come off as a farm system for WCW and WWF, then they started to tune out some because the stars ECW just created would bolt. Basically when the mentality of fans goes" So and so is the shit! I wonder if he'll end up in WWF?", that's when you know there is a problem.

 

 

I feel New Japan has had the best transition from midcarders to money players with the 3 musketeers. The transition went from Fujinami and Chosyu to the 3 musketeers. That is the best example I can think of.

[Guest PlatypusFool]

ECW's an odd example, although a good one. Their new stars were created because they were forced to, but it's different to the way AJPW did things in the early 90's. The ECW crowd seemed to accept anyone into the main event, with little or no build at all. A good example is Mike Awesome, who was a mid-carder, then dissapeared, and, when he came back, he was put in the main event and given the world title directly. Because the fans were SO loyal to their company they would enjoy anything they put out, no build was necessary.

 

NJPW's transition from Chosyu to three musketeers was definately a good one, but they couldn't keep it up in a constant cycle, unfortunately.

[Guest HossSauce]

Big difference: Japan has many promotions, but they are all watchable and professional.

 

America has WWE and then a bunch of bush league indy promotions.