Joshi

This week's Truepenny Show breaks down into two distinct but related subjects, and has two guests to cover some big territory.

Firstly World Wonder Ring Stardom are coming to the UK this weekend and to honour this occasion, Stardom wrestler and the most successful European Joshi of ALL TIME, Alpha Female Jazzy Gabert joins James to talk, Joshi, Stradom, life in Japan, here favourite matches on this trip, the pressure and joys of working of working for a major company, her training and a little bit about what the future holds for The Alpha Female.

In Part 2 Chelsea Pollen of ShouldersUp.Net talks about her journey as a female wrestling fan. Chelsea has a unique and fascinating take on pro wrestling, she talks about her experiences about joining the Internet Wrestling Community, writing and podcasting about wrestling and what drew her too the genre.   

Alpha Female , World Wonder Ring Stardom and Being A Female Wrestling Fan

The revolution in women's wrestling these last twenty four months had to start somewhere. James Truepenny is joined by Shoulders Up's Chelsea Spollen to look at Dream Slam I, AJW's epic joint promotion with JWP, LLPW, and FMW, to find out where women's wrestling has gotten its drive from in recent years. 

They break down the card and look at its influence on the wrestling of today, its effect on Joshi, and what wrestling of that era for women in Japan was like. The pressure cooker effect of joint promotion and the high stakes, high impact matches that makes this a true "Rights of Passage" watch for all wrestling fans. So come join James and Chelsea at Yokohama Arena on the 2nd of April 1993 for what James believes is the greatest wrestling card of all time.

The Greatest Cards Of All Time; Dream Slam 1

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. 

WrestleTalk Podcast Network

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

James is joined by Chelsea Spollen of shouldersup.net and Marcus Green of wrestletalk.tv to discuss the Crush Gals and their epic feud with the Gokuaku Domei pairing of Dump Matsumoto & Bull Nakano, as well as the super over young tandem of The Jumping Bomb Angels. They talk about the impact all three tandems had on AJW and the WWF, as well as how it set up the next generation of Joshi as the Beginner's Guide to Japan continues.

Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 6; Crush Gals, Gokuaku Domei & Jumping Bomb Angels, AJW's Revoloution

By 1990, FMW had gone from MMA curiosity, to serious Indie contender. James and Chelsea look at the rise of the company in that first twelve month period. They look at their developing Joshi division, a first for Japanese wrestling, as Combat Toyoda and Megumi Kudo light a fire under the notion of what a woman can do in a Japanese ring. Atsushi Ohnita main events against an array of opponents and delivers some of the most diverse wrestling in history. 16 year old Mascarita Sagrada pinning men more than twice his size? Check. MMA mixed tags with gloves? Check. Tarzan Goto's Mullet? its all here folks.

Beginner's Guide to Japan; FMW's First Anniversary and the Summer of 1990

James is joined by Chelsea Spollen this week as they don their safety goggles and head back to the land of Double Hell Death and two cards from FMW in 1991. The build up to the companies 2nd Anniversary Show was hampered by the departure of three company executives, and lead heel Mr. Pogo. Tales of laziness and aggravation trailed Ohnita as his early success went to his head. Can our hero pull it out of the fire? Chelsea and James go in depth on the upliftingly violent world of FMW, and of course, there are mullets galore.

The Truepenny Show

The Beginner's Guide to Japanes Wrestling Part 20; FMW in 1991

AJW head into their biggest show of 1992 on a roll of creativity. The Aja Kong/Bull Nakano feud was reaching its crescendo, this would be the main event for AJW's marina based super card. Elsewhere, Manami Toyota takes another step to greatness, quite thrilling under card tag matches are the order of the day, and yet another MMA bout for James and Chelsea Spollen of ShouldersUp.Net to pick apart and guide you forward.

The Beginner's Guide to Japanese Wrestling Part 21; AJW WrestleMarinPiad 1992

James is joined by Chelsea Spollen of shouldersup.net this week to go back to The Beginner's Guide of Japanese Wrestling. Whilst taking a slight detour to pay tribute to the late, great, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.

Its August of 1992, and the biggest tournament in the country's history is in full swing. This card features the semi final and final and some breath taking undercard action as the LCO including their fearless leader Akira Hokuto take on her former partners Suzuki Manami, Yumiko Hotta and Bull Nakano. With other key names of the era involved like Manami Toyota, Toshiyo Yamada and Aja Kong, this card sets the tone for All Japan Women for the next five years.

The Beginner's Guide to Japanese Wrestling; 1992 AJW Grand Prix Final

In April of 1993 the women of Joshi were on fire.  As we looked at least year they had delivered with Dream Slam I in Yokahama, eleven days later they headed to Osaka and tried to pull off the same trick and they may have actually topped it. AJW, LLPW, JWP and FMW come together to deliver a breath taking card featuring Chigusa Nagayo, Bull Nakano, The LCO, Combat Toyoda, Megumi Kudo, Shinobu Kandori, Dynamite Kansai, Mayumi Ozaki, Toshiyo Yamada and Manami Toyota. James is joined by Chelsea Spollen of ShouldersUp.net to explain the action.

The Beginner's Guide To Japanese Professional Wrestling 27; Dream Slam II

To celebrate Atsushi Onita's 60th Birthday, James is joined by Chelsea Spollen of shouldersup.net and Marcus Green of wrestletalk.tv to discuss FMW in 1993, their Origin and Summer Spectacular Baseball Stadium filling, blood, barbed wire and explosion extravaganzas. FMW were really hitting their stride at this point both financially and artistically. James, Chelsea and Marcus discuss the violence and the drama that made FMW such a success in such a short time.

The Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 28; FMW in '93

"The Japanese Flying Angel" Manami Toyota has retired. James is joined by Chelsea Spollen and Alex Watt to pay tribute to the greatest wrestler to ever live(in James Opinion at least). An emotional rollercoaster ride through her days as a tag team Queen, Ace of AJW,  and her later career working for a myriad of companies where she shed her shinning light on Joshi how it should be done.

The Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 29; Manami Toyota An Angel's Story

James is joined by Alex Watt and Alex Edwards to start a new era for the Truepenny Show by reviewing the year of 2017 in Asia.  They look at the big matches, the ongoing trends and give out the annual Truepenny Show Awards.

Asia Year in Review 2017

The Beginner's Guide to Japan goes forward with our first look at Japan Women's Project. Founded in 1990, the company had a run of quick success in the early 1990s that put them up there with some of the biggest companies in the world. This cross promotional effort highlighted their two biggest stars; Mayazumi Ozaki as she took on Joshi Legend Chigusa Nagayo to try and prove her brawling worth, while Dynamite Kansai challenges for Aja Kong's WWWA Championship in a brutal affair.

James is joined by Alex Watt to discuss this event that really showed there was other ways to do Joshi, but that stable formula was still the mainstay of what was going on. Hard hitting and direct action.

The Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 31; JWP Major Super Queens Flash in 1994

James is joined by Alex Watt and Chelsea Spollen to celebrate the biggest women's wrestling show of all time. Big Egg Universe presented by All Japan Women in association with JWP, WWF, LLPW, FMW, Michinoku Pro, MMA organisations, Amateur Wrestling associations, its a ten hour show of everything all the time everywhere. Headlined by the VTOP Tournament, and a WWF Women's title match between hometown hero Bull Nakano and champion Alundra Blayze. Not only was it long it was of astounding quality, with some all time classic matches and all of Joshi's biggest characters at the height of its Golden Era.

The Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 32; Big Egg Universe the biggest women's show of all time

FMW reached a financial zenith in 1994. With an Anniversary show down looming at Kawasaki Basebal Stadium, Atsushi Onita put his career on the line to seal the sellout deal and 52,000 fans were in attendance. James is joined by Chelsea Spollen of Shoulder's Up to talk about this period of FMW's time, the artistic resonance it had with its audience and what Onita did next.

The Beginners Guide to Japan Part 33;  FMW in 1994

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

James is joined by Chelsea Spollen of Shoulders Up this week to talk about the one and only, Meiko Satomura. If you know James and Chelsea at all you will know that Meiko is perhaps their favourite subject. As she did begin her career in 1995, and the Beginner's Guide to Japan has reached 1995 it seemed churlish not to look at the career of the greatest professional wrestler in the world today. Starting with her time in GAEA, her training and the philosophy of wrestling instilled in her by Chigusau Nagayo all the way up to being the Matriarch of Sendai Girls and the wider Joshi scene and how she has spread the gospel of Joshi around the world.

There is also a look at the film GAEA Girls and the moral conundrum that Joshi brings to the table when it comes to training and the pressures those young women go through.

Whichever game you play, she came to win and she is here to stay. Meiko Satomura #BestintheWorld

The Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 37; Red Dawn The Life and Times of Meiko Satomura #BestintheWorld

Atsushi Onita announced he was going to retire after the FMW 6th Anniversary Show. In the build up to his final match, FMW had to deliver and lay up all their talent for what would happen next. What would happen on the day was a No Rope Barbed Wire Electrified Cage Time Bomb Double Hell Death Match  for the FMW Brass Knuckles World's Heavyweight Championship and the chance for Hayabusa to take the FMW reigns as its Ace.

James Truepenny is joined by Mike Freland of the Total Wrestling Writer's Podcast  to review this landmark event.

The Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 38; FMW 6th Anniversary Show

James is joined this week by Alex Watt to discuss Joshi mid nighties stalwarts JWP and their 1996 show Big Project in Sumo Hall. In a fascinating main event Dynamite Kansai tags with Aja Kong against Kyokyo Inoue and Devil Masami with an early inter-gender match featuring all the lunacy Michinoku Pro could provide. Also includes a joyless performance from Tiger Mask, Heel Manami Toyota murdering rookies, hair talk of course and Dynamite Kansai's ring jacket commentary.

The Beginner's Guide to Japan Part 41; JWP Big Project 1996

James is joined by Chelsea Spollen to discuss FMW's 7th Anniversary show from 1996.

The Begginer's Guide to Japan; FMW 7th Anniversary Show

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

The latest show in the Truepenny Show family is All About All Japan as Christy invites guests to discuss Japan's legendary promotion and its rising stars in her own unique way. Featuring guests from across the wrestling commemorate.

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, Simon Heath, Canadian Indie Expert Anna, Queen of Tokyo and DDT historian Michelle Cain 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.

Tellin' Stories looks back at James' writing  career as he looks back on articles he had written in the past that have become relevant once again or were just a fun read, re read with notes for your listening pleasure.

Joshi

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