Interview: JACK GALLAGHER

FUJIWARA INTERVIEWS #01: JACK GALLAGHER

My friend Olly, though a deliberately frustrating man, knows his wrestling and can spot a good wrestler a mile off. I dragged him along to a Grand Pro Wrestling (GPW) event in Wigan. On the way home he raved about Jack Gallagher. Though Olly and I occasionally disagree, he had hit the nail on the head. A gritty, sinewy wrestler with a supreme scientific base and a believably belligerent (in-ring) personality, Gallagher is a perfect fit on paper for the range of styles on offer in Japan (or indeed, anywhere else).

During 2013, Gallagher (under the name Jack Anthony) travelled to Japan to work for Zero1, Big Japan, NOAH and Diana and hone his skills. I'd had the idea to interview him at the outset of this blog, and when I finally asked he was only too receptive to share his experiences of Japan, training, the domestic scene and various asides along the route. I haven't edited his answers in the slightest. It was too good from beginning to end, packed with insight, humour, self-deprecation and honesty.

Matches of note vol. 1

FUJIWARA ARMBAR'S MATCHES OF NOTE VOL. 1

I can't review everything I watch. I can't even watch all of everything that gets put out there. I am but a man. However, Fujiwara Armbar Enterprises is all about spreading the word about the sport* we love. This is a new feature that will recap any interesting matches going on in various Japanese promotions with a general focus on recent activity, though I can't promise not to jump back in time now and again.

These aren't reviews as such, just little spoiler-free guides to maybe help you navigate through some chaff. This round-up covers everything from mid-September to early-October, with a couple just outside.
 

NOAH Great Voyage in Niigata

Pro-Wrestling NOAH
Great Voyage in Niigata: Great Voyage x Big Fireworks
23rd September 2014, City Gymnasium, Niigata

One of the Japanese workers with the most tenuous grasp on the status of 'legend' in the jaded and weary eyes of this blog is Atsushi Onita. Never really that good when he was allegedly good as part of All Japan's not-as-good-as-their-rival junior heavyweight division, he is known for his role in importing the deathmatch style into Japanese wrestling - as well as being a populist conservative member of the National Diet (parliament). Why do I bring this up? Well, he's here tonight, under the banner of a handful of cross-promoted matches with the near-dead ZERO1 promotion. 

But more on that later. Now for some housekeeping. Not a great deal has happened since this blog covered NOAH, and July's Great Voyage in Tokyo Pt. 2 event, but let me recap anyway. 

Company vice-president (SHOOT) Naomichi Marufuji, as you may recall, won the GHC Heavyweight Championship from Yuji Nagata in a bout that had a lot of hype leading in that met expectations both in ring and out of it. Stablemate Katsuhiko Nakajima challenged for the title immediately. It was a popular move and on the back of it I declared the company's soft reboot to be in full swing.

ZERO1 Fire Festival Finals

Pro-Wrestling ZERO1
Fire Festival Day 8
3rd August 2014, Korakuen Hall, Tokyo

Despite not being completely knocked out by the Zero1 event that I reviewed early in July, there were sufficient positives to offer the impression that a good day for Zero1 might be a good day for wrestling. I was also giddily high on the thrills and spills of tournament wrestling offered by New Japan's wildly successful G1 Climax, so reaching down the ladder to a smaller promotion offering the same experience seemed like both a nice thing to do in terms of exposure and personally beneficial to me w/r/t entertainment.

fujiwara armbar investigates: Big Japan Pro-Wrestling (BJW)

An occasional series in which, in a bid to further my spotty knowledge of Japanese wrestling promotions, I watch a recent event and assess whether or not I'd watch regularly given the time, money and ability to access.

Promotion: Big Japan Pro-Wrestling (BJW)
Event watched: BJW 28/4/14 (TV)

What did I know about the promotion going in?: Not a great deal. I knew that BJW had a reputation for keen adherence to the seemingly-passe deathmatch style, the kind of beyond-hardcore matches that require a lot of weaponry and props such as barbed-wire, fluorescent light strips and thumb tacks and very little in the way of what somebody like Les Thatcher would call 'real wrestling'.

fujiwara armbar investigates: Pro-Wrestling ZERO1

An occasional series in which, in a bid to further my spotty knowledge of Japanese wrestling promotions, I watch a recent event and assess whether or not I'd watch regularly given the time, money and ability to access.

Promotion: Pro-Wrestling ZERO1 (ZERO1)

Event watched: True Lies, Korakuen Hall, June 1st 2014

What did I know about the promotion going in?: little bits from here and there. In about 2002 I saw a VHS of their first ever show, which was probably the first full Japanese show I ever sat through. The opener featured Naomichi Marufuji, performing moves now made standard by international exposure but at the time were completely breathtaking. A lot of the card featured worked-shoot matches that seemed to be either a man kicking a man who was on the floor, or two men just rolling around on the floor for what seemed like an eternity. Misawa showed up in the main event and all was fine again.