Truepenny Show - Beginners Guide To Japan

James and Marcus celebrate 19 years of Ring of Honor as they produce their Anniversary PPV.

ROH 19th Anniversary

James is joined by Ben Spindler to look back into the history of Lucha Libre and the second schism in Lucha as CMLL starts to unravel. However there are some big stars in big matches as Ultimo Dragon, Vampiro, Pieroth Jnr Lizmark, El Satanico and Pirate Morgan combine for a hellacious card in Arena Mexico.

CMLL In 1992 Wth Ben Spindler

James looks at today's action in the BOSJs 29 as Hiromu Takahashi takes on Yoh.

Today At BOSJ 29 Night 8

Darragh and Martin take a look at Forbidden Door from AEW and NJPW.

The Wrestling Rewind #98 - AEW Forbidden Door Review - 05 - 07 - 22

The Truepenny Show starts a new series covering the entire history of Japanese Professional Wrestling. James is joined by Marcus Green as they tackle the emotive subject of Rikidōzan and his promotion the Japan Wrestling Alliance. They look at the cultural context that enabled this new spectacle to shine in Post War Japan, how Rikidōzan became a national hero, his promotion that set so many standards and practices for Japanese wrestling, and his influence on the wrestlers of today. 

WrestleTalk Podcast Network

The Beginner's Guide to Japanese Wrestling - Part 1 Rikidōzan & The JWA

James is joined by Chelsea Spollen of Shoulders Up to talk through the early history of Joshi, its customs and traits and the business model that created some of the most artistically pleasing wrestling of the 70s and 80s. Joshi now hits our screens via Asuka in NXT more regularly than it has ever done before, so James and Chelsea delve into the the style that has changed the way mainstream wrestling looks at women. 

The Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 2; Joshi, The Beauty Pair & Jaguar Yokota

James is joined by Chelsea Spollen of shouldersup.net to discuss the birth of New Japan Pro Wrestling. It has been over 40 years since Antonio Inoki founded the promotion and now it stands tall as the biggest in Japan and second biggest in the world. James and Chelsea guide you through the early years, the big name stars and That match with Muhammad Ali. They also look at the birth of Strong Style, and the concept that began in Europe with Karl Gotch and evolved on the world stage.

The Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 3; NJPW, Inoki & The Making of Strong Style

The Beginner's Guide to Japan continues as James is joined by Alex Edwards to look at the early days of All Japan Pro Wrestling. After the demise of the Japan Wrestling Alliance in 1972, Baba founded his own promotion and set off on a twenty year journey that would see him become one of the most artistically and financially successful promoters in the world. The development of his "King's Road" style is the subject of today's session, and how he got from a fairly conservative American style promotion, to filling Sumo Hall every month with his own hard hitting brand of wrestling, is a story well worth telling.

The Beginnner's Guide to Japan Part 4; Baba, AJPW & the Start of the King's Road

As Antonio Inoki moved on wards into the 1980s, and New Japan's grasp on big money business continued in Japan. Two wrestlers helped bring it to new heights. Riki Choshu and Tatsumi "The Dragon" Fujinami were two exceptional wrestlers that captured the hearts of the Japanese fans. James is joined by Chelsea Spollen of shouldersup.net to examine this era of Japanese wrestling.

Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 5; Choshu and Fujinami, NJPW's First Generation

In 1990, just after Wrestlemania VI, Vince McMahon joined forces with Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki to produce Wrestling Summit, a super show at the Tokyo Dome, featuring wrestlers from the WWF, New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling. It gave a fascinating insight into the differences between North America traditions and the creative world of puroresu which was just about to reach its peak. James Truepenny is joined by Alex Edwards to discuss the show  and beyond the match quality, the politics and impressions of a show that encapsulated a lot of what was happening in the wrestling world and its future for the next ten years on two continents.

Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 11; Wrestling Summit

James is joined by Marcus Green for a trip back to 1993 and the "1st Anniversary of Revolution" show that WAR produced alongside NJPW and the WWE. With the last three matches featuring the then darlings of the NJPW Locker Room The Three Musketeers, it was sure to be a huge night for both Japanese companies as a wrestling legend Genichiro Tenryu faces off against NJPW rising star Shinya Hashimoto, a bizarre WWF tag team match, and one of the best hair/moustache combinations in wrestling history!

The Truepenny Show

The Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 30; WAR 1st Anniversary of Revolution

In the week that North and South Korea finally come together to talk peace after half a century of stand off, James and Si look at the depth of wrestling diplomacy that was Collision in Korea, the NJPW/WCW/AJW Co-Promotion that was unbelievably held in North Korea at a time when no one got into North Korea

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair  and Antonio Inoki have their first ever meeting in a match in the main event. Scott "Flash" Norton wrestles "The Destroyer" Shinya Hashimoto  as the pair try and redefine what Strong Style was about before your very eyes. The Steiners reignite their feud with Kensuke Sasaki and Hiro Hase.

And of course Bull Nakano, Akia Hokuto, Manami Toyota and Mariko Yoshida steal the show.

The Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 34; Pyongyang International Sports and Culture Festival for Peace

Mike is joined by Tony Cottam this week to discuss Scott D'Amore and Impact Wrestling's relationship with Ring of Honor, Matt Riddle's transition to NXT, they pay tribute to Jose Lothario and discuss what Tetsuya Natio may or may not have done during his recent contract negotiations with WWE.

FWR - Episode4

James is joined by Alex Watt to discuss the late, great Rollerball Mark Rocco.

Brit Wres And Beginner's Guide To Japan Special The Life And Times Of Rollerball Mark Rocco

Darragh and Dave are joined by James Truepenny of the Truepenny Show to go through their nominations for the Year End Awards.

The Wrestling Rewind #51 - Year End Awards - 2020 With James Truepenny

Darragh and Dave look at WWE Smackdown in the late 90s edition of Smackdown in their retro review and look forward to Hard to Kill from Impact wrestling.

The Wrestling Rewind #52 - The Triple H Challenge Aka WWE Smackdown 23rd 1999 - Hard To Kill 2021

Three shows that try and give well rounded discussion to everything in wrestling around the world.

The Wrestling Rewind is hosted by Darragh O’Connor and Dave Stephens as they take an in-depth look at the stories in North American pro wrestling from the previous week. They look at WWE, Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor with a wry sense of humour but go deep on the issues facing the industry in North America.

If it's wrestling and it's a little bit different, The Truepenny Show covers it. James Truepenny and his crew of wrestling experts from around the world; Chelsea Spollen, Christy of Wrestling Sexism and NJPW Gifs, Alex Watt, Alex Edwards, Marcus Green, John Dinsdale of Steel Chair Magazine and Simon Heath take you on a journey around the pro wrestling world.

Today at . . . is James’ show where he gives a quick round up of the day's action at any given event around the world on any wrestling day. The G1, The Best of Super Juniors, World Tag League and Wrestle Kingdom week have been covered so far with more shows to look at throughout the year.

Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 11; Wrestling Summit

The Truepenny Show Channel

Related tracks