Watch this compilation of finishing moves from All-Japan Pro Wrestling in the early-to-mid-1990s without wincing at least once and you will impress me:
What’s interesting about this to me is that All-Japan’s death rate (and it is sad to say that death rate in wrestling is something that can be quantified) is so low. There’s only one guy in this video who directly died as a result of wrestling, Mitsuhara Misawa (green and white trunks). [EDIT: In comments, Rev rightly points out that Gary Albright died of a heart attack mid-match in 2000, so: two, not one.] Terry Gordy died of a blood clot, Doug Furnas of complications from Parkinson’s and Steve “Dr. Death” Williams from throat cancer, but none of those can really be blamed on their wrestling careers. All of the rest of the people in this video are still quite alive and in many cases are still actively wrestling, and this is video from almost twenty years ago where every other move looks like they’re actively trying to break the other guy’s neck. This, I think, speaks very well of Japanese wrestling’s training culture.
Related Articles
20 users responded in this post
Well, most of the people in that video shouldn’t be actively wrestling any more. Kobashi in particular is in lousy shape.
Amazing era, though, and certainly the culture is healthier than that of North American pro wrestling. I’ve always assumed based on no evidence that steroids weren’t as prevalent over there, since Vince wasn’t exerting his influence. Also puroresu is heavily influenced by the likewise healthier Mexican pro wrestling style.
Summary: don’t wrestle anywhere near Vince McMahon.
Your list is missing two:
Gary Albright (heart attack in ring)
Jumbo Tsuruta (complications from kidney transplant)
I did forget about Albright, but in my defense so did most people.
There ar a ew missing. The “Oh My God He’s Dead!” lariat that Hansen gave Kobashi is an obvious one. Hell there is only or 2 clips of Hansen in there in general. The worst of those has to be Kawada’s Ganso Bomb on Misawa. I remember when I first saw that, I cringed. Easily the ugliest unprotected piledriver ever~!
Besides the steroids I think more of the WWF/E wrestlers died because of the brutal schedule. I’m sure the All-Pro schedule was busy but there’s no way their guys were on the road for the entire year.
the schedule is one thing but the King’s Road Style (AJPW style of wrestling) was th most physically demanding styl of wrestling in the world. They would run a 4-5 day schedule, with a 1-2 week break between tours depending on time of year. The guys on the top of the card worked matches that traditionally ran 20 minutes to full 1 hour draws. They worked a tighter, stiffer style of wrestling that demanded more on the body than the WWE main event style. Kenta Kobashi and Misawa both had their bodies wrecked b the tyle. Misawa’s autopsy revealed that he really shouldn’t have been able to walk since he had the spine of a 90 year old man.
ACE CRUSHER!!!
I wonder how Japanese rings compare to American rings
Wow, Pro Wrestling on NES makes so much more sense now.
Yeah, AJPW didn’t have a kinder schedule by any means. Although I suppose the travel wasn’t as bad, since Japan’s a good deal smaller than the US.
Something tells me Japan doesn’t have the painkiller epidemic that the U.S. does (and pro wrestling largely did).
I’d say painkillers did more to kill American pro wrestlers than steroids ever did.
As for sickest Japanese finishers, seeing a 180-lb. Japanese woman do a “double stomp” (it is what it sounds like) from the top of a cage onto the abdomen of her opponent was a bit of a harrowing experience. There was, like, NO way it could’ve been “faked.” The woman just up and jumped on another person’s stomach from about 12′ up.
Sonjay Dutt, who wrestles sometimes for TNA, does the even sicker variant of that move: the moonsault double stomp. He did one on PPV only about six weeks ago!
The key to the double stomp is, I am told, a combination of not hitting your opponent with locked legs (e.g. bent knees, so you can absorb a lot of the impact when you land) and immediately jumping off.
LOVE Sonjay Dutt. Saw him and pretty much most of TNA’s X Division roster at JAPW shows years back. Miss those shows…like ECW but with a bunch of 20-minute technical clashes instead of blood. Oh, and the coked-out stylings of Tedy Hart.
The loose knees thing makes sense. I think the folks who would voluntarily take that thing oughtta get a bonus.
Considering the plethora of data that now indicates a connection between traumatic brain injuries (like those sustained by American Football players, Boxers and other athletes who regularly sustain concussions) and the early development of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. I think that categorically dismissing the very real chance that it could be related to a career that appears to require one to regularly land on your head may be a bit hasty…. Just saying.
Another possible contributing factor to the longevity of the Japanese wrestlers MIGHT be the fact that Japan has Universal Health Care, where as the US does not have it (or at least until recently did not have it)
It was nice seeing some of today’s most popular ‘Finishers’ being used as simple moves.
” I think that categorically dismissing the very real chance that it could be related to a career that appears to require one to regularly land on your head may be a bit hasty…. Just saying.”
I’d say that definitely has a lot to do with it. Particularly in Benoit’s case, as he routinely performed a diving headbutt from about 7 feet in the air.
Though, on the other hand, somas definitely had a hand in the deaths of a bunch of wrestlers.
And the rash of wrestlers from the 80’s dying in the late 90’s and into the 2000’s from an “enlarged heart” certainly points to steroids.
…Well, I didn’t wince until I got the ‘actual kicks to the face’ bits, but a lot of those moves were so ludicrously over-the-top acrobatic that I was more just gaping a little.
And I’m not really surprised green-and-white pants guy is dead, considering that by halfway through I was already noticing that he seemed to be specialized in taking head blows and was starting to feel sorry for him. Man, it’s kinda ridiculous that there’s a death toll on a form of cheap entertainment.
Actually, Japan has a problem with trainees dying or being HORRIBLY injured while training. They keep this from being publicized, but it happens far too often.