When we hear the word wrestling, there is no doubt that the first thing that comes into our minds is WWE or the World Wrestling Entertainment in America with John Cena, Dwayne Johnson, and Hulk Hogan. And when we hear wrestling in Japan, the first thing that comes to mind is sumo wrestling, with its sacred circular ring and the mawashi or their loincloth.
However, little did we know that there is another professional wrestling in Japan, that is different from sumo but is closely related to WWE. This sport is known in the Land of the Rising Sun as “Puroresu.”
The History
Puroresu is a short term for the Japanese pronunciation of professional wrestling, “puro-fessional resu-ringu.” The term was coined by Hisaharu Tanabe, a professional wrestler in Japan in the 1990’s.
Puroresu was brought from America to Japan by a pro-wrestler named Hamada in 1887. The first wrestling match was sold out because it was something new to the Japanese people. After that, there had been several attempts to make the sport popular in Japan, but all of them failed.
In 1953, Rikidozan, another famous Japanese wrestler, established the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance. Through this, he was able to make the sports popular in Japan. This earned him the title “Father of Puroresu,” almost setting some of the standards for the sport in Japan.
Wrestling Etiquette
Just like any other sports, there are some rules applied in playing Puroresu. However, these rules vary from promotion to promotion.
Some promotions allow wrestlers to pin their opponents down, leading to a knock out win. Somemake them submit to the opponent.. There are also disqualifications if a wrestler break some rules.
Other rules apply depending on the promotion. The Universal Wrestling Federation in Japan does not allow pin-falls and the only way the wrestler can win is by submission or knockouts. Even punches are not allowed in some promotions.
American vs Japanese Pro Wrestling
However, Puroresu is quite different from the American professional wrestling.
In the United States, wrestling is a scripted act treated as a combat sport, with a mix of martial arts and uses a storyline or gimmicks.
Puroresu, on the other hand, is also a scripted wrestling match, like in WWE and in other countries, but more realistic. Unlike the American professional wrestling, Puroresu rarely uses gimmicks for storytelling. Hardcore wrestling is their thing. Their story is always about the fighting spirit of a wrestler. Most of the time, they use the style called “King’s Road” that employs grapples, brawling, and storytelling while using strong movements which are commonly seen in Japan.
Also, the referee will count up to twenty in Japan, twice as in the American count-outs, which is simply until 10.
Joshi Puroresu
Aside from the male wrestlers, there are also female wrestlers in Japan. Women’s professional wrestling is called “joshi puroresu.” Joshi is actually the Japanese term for “woman.” The Zen Nihon Joshi Puroresu or the All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling was established in 1968 by Takahashi Matsunaga.
Female wrestling in Japan is handled by promotions that specialize in joshi, rather than male-dominated promotions. The wrestling styles is a mixture of mat-based work, high-flying acts,strong movements and hardcore matches, just like what are seen in men’s puroresu.
The first ever Japanese female wrestler was Mach Fumiake, who made waves in 1974, followed by Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda in 1975.
Truly, wrestling has gone a long way in Japan, from being a traditional sacred practice into a scripted display of power and charisma. Though having influences from the West, the Japanese were able to fuse themselves into the sport, giving Puroresu an edge in the world of professional wrestling.
Sources:
Banner Photo from Pxhere. (Public Domain)
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