Author: John Hill
“I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.” ― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein. Halloween was upon us. A reminder for those in the Western world that rationality, science, and logic are not sufficient barriers against the veil of superstition. The same minds which produce discreet logic, develop advanced technologies and make incredible discoveries about our material world are…
Sixteenth-century English poet Edmund Spenser wrote in his Epic poem “The Faerie Queen” the following line: “For there is nothing lost, that may be found if sought.” The quest. The journey. The mission. It is a simple metaphor for our lives, shrunk, and encapsulated within a story. The story of Momo Watanabe; an unassuming Gen Z standout, represents at this current moment the breakdown of the simple metaphor. For Watanabe, like many young people, has yet to reach her apex. This is the story of Momo Watanabe and the Queen of Queen’s Quest. Momo Watanabe – Growing Pains Momo Watanabe…
Sareee, known now on the cusp of her WWE NXT debut as Sarray, is a Joshi wrestler from the Itabashi-ku district of Tokyo, Japan. Born on March 13th, 1996, “Sarray” is a ten-year veteran, making her professional debut in April 2011, at the age of fifteen. At just over five feet tall and just over 60kg, Sarray wouldn’t be looked at twice among other Joshi talent of her generation. She wouldn’t, except for her respected history among Joshi greats, having been trained and tested by the Joshi world’s most legendary talents. This is a look a Sareee prior to her…
Mayu Iwatani. House lights. Moving and attentive darkness. Stars. Dark matter. Is “all the world a stage,” or is the stage merely a pastiche for the universe? Think about it. What do we call the dense masses of matter and gravity which burn so brightly that their light is seen long after their life? Stars. What then do we call the great ones, the performers and characters who grace us with their presence, compel us to tears or laughter or anger, and are remembered long after their own lives? Stardom. It is a great metaphor for the lives of creative…
Public figures, athletes, politicians, and celebrities. They each carry the weight of public scrutiny. Often, when fans uncover who their idols really are, the truth can be tragic, ugly, or underwhelming. It is not often that a public figure will incorporate that idea; that they may be ugly on the inside, as part of their persona. This is Maki Itoh. Maki Itoh – Introduction Maki Itoh is a wrestler who began her career as an idol who made appearances with her idol group before transitioning to wrestling. Though she has only been wrestling for about four years, she has captured…
The Oneida people, also known as Onyota’a:ka, are one of the six nations that comprise the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy. Onyota’a:ka translates roughly to “people of the standing stone.” There were many reasons given for this title in the exploration of Standing Stone and the Great Law of Nyla Rose. It was thought that the Onedia could shapeshift and change into stones when pursued by warriors. It was also thought that when the Oneida would travel that they would set up their homes and build their camps around groups of standing stones. This is the story of the standing stone…
Suzuki-gun. January 4, 2011. New Japan Pro Wrestling. Wrestling Dontaku 2011. In the era before New Japan World, before Bullet Club, and before “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada, there stands one man at the top of the mountain. This isn’t about him. It’s about his opponent, and the grudges that follow him, hungry for blood. The coming storm that would leave a path of destruction that would terrorize the promotion that he calls home. Satoshi Kojima, at the end of his main event match against Hiroshi Tanahashi, could still hold his head high. He was forty years old–a veteran, and one…
If there is one thing professional wrestling has never been short of, it is “bull.” Wrestling has contended with Pitbulls, British Bulldogs, Brahma Bulls, and even Bull Buchanan. For every thousand cliches, there’s one that stands out from the pack, so to speak. For the moniker of “bull,” that figure is Joshi trailblazer and icon, Bull Nakano. Bull Nakano Becoming the Bull Bull Nakano was born Keiko Nakano on January 9th, 1968, in the Kawaguchi prefecture of Japan. Nakano began wrestling for All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling (AJW) at the age of 15, making her debut in 1983. Training in…
Let’s get this out of the way first and foremost; match ratings are not everything in wrestling. No single individual or publication can lay claim to a matches’ quality. That’s not what makes retired Joshi wrester Manami Toyota a “trailblazer”. She wasn’t the first anything. What made Manami Toyota special was that from 1987 to 2017, she was one of the hardest-working, iconic, and unique wrestlers regardless of gender. There is no way that this humble piece can capture the breadth of her talent. But the Queen still deserves her roses. Manami Toyota | The Beginnings In high school young…
A familiar experience to all is the long wait. A time where you expect something to happen, and it ends up being delayed. Maybe it was a bus, or a delivery, or a meeting. Life simply does not follow a perfectly straight line. This happens at the macro as well as the micro-level. The career paths of authors, musicians, artists, and athletes are full of diversions, detours, and delays. One such career is that of Ryo Mizunami. Ryo Mizunami is a wrestler from the city of Nagoya in Japan. Mizunami would face many hardships, stalls, and delays on her career…