NJPW in Singapore! CharaExpo 2015

Wrestling Galore!

Who would've thought? Wrestling in an AGC (Anime, Games, Cosplay) event! Attendees for the inaugural CharaExpo event were treated to a wrestling extravaganza! Bushiroad, the ones behind this CharaExpo exhibition, is also owner of Japan’s biggest wrestling promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling! NJPW has a very big loyal fan following, not just only in Japan, but worldwide! It's the 2^nd most followed promotion in terms of worldwide viewership. 

Okada grappling Makabe

To promote wrestling here, CharaExpo set aside a dedicated area specifically for wrestling. Theres an actual wrestling ring inside the venue! The event is free to be viewed by all. However, to get front row seats and be close or even part of the action, one has to buy tickets at the NJPW goods booth nearby. It costs $5 but knowing that they have a solid roster, this ticket is truly worth it! Purchase of $30 worth of goods entitles you to a free autograph ticket. And this event is not limited to just NJPW. Our own local wrestling promotion, Singapore Pro Wrestling (SPW) also showcased their skills and talents in this event.

Day 1:

Jushin Thunder Liger and Hiroshi Tanahashi during the talk segment

The wrestling area starts off with an interview with two of the top stars in NJPW. They are Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jushin Thunder Liger. Hiroshi Tanahashi is one of the top wrestlers in Japan and widely regarded as the face of NJPW. Jushin Thunder Liger on the other hand, is a living legend, having made a name for himself in other promotions such as WCW and TNA. They gave advices to young budding wrestlers who aspire to be a superstar.  They stated gruelling trials to profile if a candidate are suitable for wrestling. After the trials, they are put into wrestling developmental schools. Both claimed it was their first time in Singapore. Hiroshi Tanahashi was particularly fond of our local delicacies especially Chilli Crab. Jushin Thunder Liger on the other hand, found our locals to be very kind and the girls pretty. Oh that cheeky Liger!

Hiroshi Tanahashi

Jushin Thunder Liger

At 12PM, an autograph session featuring these two commenced. No surprises, the actual queue was quite long. Besides, its not every time we can find legendary wrestling talent gracing our shores.

SPW's wrestlers also manage to get their autographs

1PM, SPW Matches

At 1PM, SPW matches start. The match cards as followed.

Match Card 1: Mighty Mighty / Black Arrow VS  D&G

Match Card 2: Affi / MK VS GST

Match Card 3: “The Statement” Andreuw Tang VS Michael Nakagawa

SPW aren’t stingy when it comes to sharing their matches. Their own media team will upload the matches online on their official youtube (As of press time, videos aren’t up yet. Be sure to check their youtube again!). 

SPW wrestlers in action

Match card 3 is the most entertaining of all. This is billed as a Heavyweight Championship match. Although Andreuw 'The Statement' Tang hails from Singapore, given his "heel" (bad guy) background, he received the most boos. A lot are rallying behind his Japanese challenger, Michael Nakazawa. The Japanese opponent has a very unorthodox way of wrestling. He uses body lotion to keep opponents from having a clean grip and grapple him. It was fun to watch as Michael would brandish his lotion from the most unlikeliest of locations: HIS WRESTLING PANTS! Imagine the antics from Michael as he tries to frustrate Andrew with his brand of wrestling. Climax of the match comes in the form of Michael removing his underwear to yet show ANOTHER piece of underwear. He uses his underwear as a weapon to smother his opponent, only for the Referee to take it. It was seriously an entertaining match. It ends with Andrew getting the better of him and winning the match.

Andreuw 'The Statement' Tang

Michael Nakazawa applying the finishing move

Aftermath: Michael's underwear

4PM, NJPW Day 1 Matches

Rejected by the Avengers, Captain New Japan tries wrestling

At 4PM, it finally arrives. NJPW Day 1 Matches! The match card are as followed.

Match Card 1: Sho Tanaka VS Yohei Komatsu

Match Card 2: Togi Makabe, Jushin Thunder Liger & Hirooki Goto VS Yoshi Hashi, Kazuchika Okada & Gedo

Match Card 3: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Captain New Japan VS Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano

Match card 1 starts off with 2 young talents Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu, showing off their wrestling skills. It was quite a spectacle to see high flying moves and counters. You can tell that these talents are truly giving it their all. Match ends up with Yohei Komatsu winning.

Hirooki Goto

Match card 2 is a triple tag match featuring some of the amazing talents on NJPW. Although Kazuchika Okada is considered a “heel” character, he received the most cheers. To wrestling geeks, he’s known to put up amazing matches and has an amazing entrance to boot.  And seeing veteran Jushin Thunder Liger up there, you can be assured of a wonderful spectacle. Match ends up with the heel group winning.

'Rainmaker' Kazuchika Okada

Match card 3 is a tag match. “Babyface” (good guy) characters Hiroshi Tanahashi & Captain New Japan faces off with Shinsuke Nakamura & Toru Yano. Captain New Japan has a funny entrance video, you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqL2CPwutzE . For Hiroshi Tanahashi, he adopts the good guy attitude by high-fiving audience around the ring. And he will play the air guitar in the ring. Toru Yano is the designated cheater of match. He would do underhanded methods like distracting the referee and using foreign weapons to incapacitate his opponents. His partner though, reeks of awesomeness! Shinsuke Nakamura adopts the cocky attitude and he self-proclaim himself as the 'King of Strong Style'. He has an interesting of entering the ring. This video shows his swagger as he enters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbGfNK_-XIg (of course without the crown). Match ends with Shinsuke Nakamura and Toru Yano winning.

NJPW wrestlers in action

Day 2:

For Day 2, the Pro Wrestling area starts the day with a special interview. In addition to wrestlers Togi Makabe & Hirooki Goto, anisong singer Maon Kurosaki & Animator / Mechanic Designer Masami Obari will be joining in! 

Hirooki Goto and Togi Makabe during the talk segment

First part of the interview has both wrestlers entered the ring and being questioned about Singapore and wrestling. Acting as translator was Michael Nakazawa, the very same wrestler who was featured in yesterday’s SPW match. From chicken rice to Merlion, both Goto and Makabe gave an interesting insight on what they truly thought of Singapore.

Togi Makabe

Hirooki Goto

2^nd part of the interview starts with Maon Kurosaki & Masami Obari entering the ring. They were introduced as self-professed wrestling fans. The interviewer asked who are their favourite NJPW wrestlers. Maon said Shinsuke Nakamura and even brought his merchandise towel along. This brought a loud resounding cheer from the fans around. Masami’s favourite wrestler is the 'Rainmaker' Kazuchika Okada. Both their answers got a comical disapproval from both Makube and Goto. You can read more in-depth about their interview here (http://xdanthemanx.blogspot.sg/2015/06/kurosaki-maon-njpw-talk-show-charaexpo-day2.html) . Yeap! I collaborated with Dan from XDanTheManX Online for this edition of CharaExpo. Its been a charm working together with him again (^_^) 

Maon Kurosaki and Masami Obari in the ring. Photo courtesy of CharaExpo.

The talk segment ends with an official taking photo of all the guests.

At 1200PM, its another autograph session. This time is Shinsuke Nakamura and Kazuchika Okada. This time I queued up for the autographs. Although their have the bad guy in-ring persona, they are actually quite nice and courteous in person. I was glad to finally have their autographs!

1PM, SPW Day 2 matches

Match card 1: Triple Threat - Thaibarian VS Dr Gore VS Aerial Sniper

Match card 2: Mighty Mighty / Black Arrow VS Luqman /  Greg

Match card 3: Triple Threat - The Eurasian Dragon VS Affi VS Andreuw Tang

Same as yesterday, SPW showcased their matches first. Unfortunately, since Michael Nakazawa didn't win his match, there was no feature of him for this edition.

4PM, NJPW Day 2 matches

NJPW Day 2 matches starts at 4PM! After knowing that my area has loads of action, that place was fully filled up before I can get there.  DANG! Also due to the success of first day, today we have a very large surprise crowd turnout.  We were also pleasantly surprised that Toru Yano family were invited for the event and they’re seated behind us. Looks like we cant boo them very hard since his kids are around lol!

Matches for today as followed

Match Card 1: Sho Tanaka VS Yohei Komatsu

Match Card 2: Captain New Japan, Hirooki Goto, Togi Makabe VS Shinsuke Nakamura, Toru Yano, Yoshi Hashi

Match Card 3: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jushin Thunder Liger VS Kazuchika Okada & Gedo

Match between Yohei Komatsu and Sho Tanaka

For match card 1, Sho Tanaka has his revenge and won this match.

For match card 2, loud cheers again for Shinsuke Nakamura. Of course whenever Toru Yano is in the ring, I can hear his kid shouts PAPA! It was an interesting match as Toru Yano performs his gimmick of cheating. Shouts of “REFEREE KAYU” resonates around the arena whenever cheating was done. Shinsuke Nakamura and Hirooki Goto shows off their athleticism and skill doing grapples and high risk moves. Togi Makabe and Yoshi Hashi also gave a good show of strength trying to outlast each other. Match ends with Hirooki Goto’s team winning.

Toru Yano! With Maon and Masami looking at the back

Shinsuke Nakamura

For match card 3, its was a high octane match. Both teams give it their all and shows off their amazing moves to get the crowd going. It ends with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jushin Thunder Liger winning the match.

Amazing entrance by Okada

Okada applying the sleeper hold on Tanahashi

Jushin Thunder Liger verbal attack on Gedo...

and Gedo lashes back

At the end of the match, Tanahashi asked all the babyface to enter the ring and he gave a thank you speech to all of the fans in the arena. It was a great spectacle as Tanahashi goes around tapping people’s hands and even gave hugs and took photos to some lucky ones. You can say he is the most family friendly and lovable character in NJPW. NJPW event ends proper with the whole team bowing and waving to everyone.

Thanks NJPW wrestlers for the show!

My Verdict

For the casual anime fans, they would feel wrestling is out of place. However, being a fan notwithstanding, I find it a welcoming inclusion. Even the most casual attendees have found the event entertaining. Comments coming from first-timers and non-wrestling fans around have been very very positive. For me, it was godsend that they brought top names for NJPW here. Of course they don't have current champions like AJ Styles in this edition but it was sure fun! If CharaExpo purpose is to promote this event well, they certainly have done a very very good job. I would hope the NJPW would do an event, strictly wrestling only, here.

I give this wrestling experience:

Awesome Level:
★★★★★stars　

(NJPW should do another show here!)