Sarah Kurchak Apr 11, 2021. 5 minute read
A Perpetual State of Undress: Tetsuya In the Naked Reviewed
In early July 2020, a brief respite from the despair and mundanity of pandemic life came in the form of a tweet from Daisuke Sasaki. The idiosyncratically but fervently supportive leader (?) of DDT Pro-Wrestling’s DAMNATION faction was considering the production of a nude Tetsuya Endo photobook—to help the unit’s…
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WRESTLING
Sarah Kurchak Jun 29, 2020. 3 minute read
Q&A with Wrestler and Nobody Show Mastermind Miyako Matsumoto
Last April, DDT’s esteemed promoter, wrestler, and van target Sanshiro Takagi issued a challenge to his colleague, Miyako Matsumoto: produce a wrestling show that featured no people at all. Not just no audience, but no announcers, no ref, and no wrestlers. In both concept and commissioning, this was an inspired…
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WRESTLING
Sarah Kurchak Apr 13, 2020. 9 minute read
A Beginner’s Guide to Getting Into DDT
Recent converts can be the most zealous, and this is exactly how I am about Dramatic Dream Team. I’ve been aware of DDT for ages. If you hang out with art nerds who are into wrestling, the name’s bound to come up eventually. But I’ve only been subscribing to their…
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WRESTLING
Sarah Kurchak Mar 18, 2020. 4 minute read
No Wrestling Company Was As Ready for Coronavirus as DDT
In the distant past of a few weeks ago, when things like sports and being able to engage in the outside world still existed in many parts of the globe, Japanese wrestling promotions like NJPW and DDT started cancelling their first wave of shows in response to the COVID-19 situation.…
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WRESTLING
Sarah Kurchak Feb 25, 2020. 4 minute read
In Memoriam: That Time Daisuke Sasaki Had A Sword
On January 26, 2020, DDT’s silken-haired agent of chaos, Daisuke “Charisma” Sasaki, had an epiphany. The Damnation leader was one of three wrestlers who secured an Anytime/Anywhere gauntlet over the course of the Anytime/Anywhere Delayed Entry Battle Royale match at DDT’s Sweet Dreams! that night. He was given one of…
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WRESTLING
Sarah Kurchak Jan 31, 2020. 4 minute read
Sheamus’ Workout Videos Feature Wrestlers at Their Most Relatable
I started lifting weights after almost literally walking into Trish Stratus at the grand opening of WWE Niagara Falls. She was one of three Superstars brought in to christen the briefly successful retail store and ride on Clifton Hill. I was a scrawny and physically awkward 20 year old music…
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WRESTLING
Sarah Kurchak Dec 17, 2019. 3 minute read
2019 in Wrestling: Antonio Honda is Wrestler of the Year
On February 16 this year, Antonio Honda headlined Ryogoku Sumo Hall for the first time. He faced DJ Nilla in the hilarious but surprisingly emotional conclusion to Musclemania 2019, a sprawling four hour epic from the (in)famously unorthodox DDT’s most galaxy-brained offshoot of all. In a PowerPoint presentation before the…
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WRESTLING
Sarah Kurchak Nov 18, 2019. 3 minute read
Gatoh Move’s Lulu Pencil is Important Freelance Writer Representation
Freelance writer Lulu Pencil made her professional wrestling debut on August 28, 2019 and has already managed to achieve something that will forever remain elusive to most of her fellow scribes: a steady, successful upward career trajectory. In just three months, the rising star from Emi Sakura’s Gatoh Move promotion…
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WRESTLING