New Japan/Puroresu Thread

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Bandit]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Bandit]

Mercedes slipped climbing the ropes and fell to the floor and broke her ankle against Willow Nightingale last night. I guess that rules her out for the rumor she was going to be at All In.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Guess she'll be out for a while then.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Bandit]

Kenny Omega was watching that thinking "Well, they're not going to be complaining about the Tiger Driver anymore."

[Bandit]

[Ocelot]

Love Ishii. Kingston is a lucky NJPW/AJPW mark that somehow fell into the business and got lucky to make a living as a glorified WM2K Create a Wrestler.

[Bandit]

Will Ospreay accidentally knocked out Naito for real



He came back to and continued having one of the best matches of the year.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Bandit]

You gotta have that Naito rizz. He's the Japanese Mick Jagger.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I've seen some of the Naito/Okada clips, it looks like it was a very good match.

[Bandit]

I've seen some of the Naito/Okada clips, it looks like it was a very good match.

Naito is probably the perfect mix of old school and new school. He can get 2 minutes of drama out of just entering the ring, then more drama out of just taking off his suit, then more drama going for the first lock up So the vets would love him and he could have fit in anywhere in the territories. But he also takes crazy bumps that could cripple him.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Bandit]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Sounds like the trainer Fale got for his NZ dojo is a bit of a prick.

My Experience at the Fale Dojo

To preface this, I am not discouraging anyone from joining the Fale Dojo. Still, I have recently finished my time there and wanted to share my experience and the experiences of others around me. I was at the dojo for 8 months and saw a lot in my time. I have tried to keep rumours to a minimum and keep this post-factual.

I was only motivated to do this post as wrestlers from back home were contacted by the dojo offering intakes, asking me if it was worth doing. I also had a lot of good times while at the dojo and have made friends and had experiences there that will stay with me for life. But with saying that, the dojo was a complete waste of my money and time. If I had the option to do it again, I would not; here is why:

- They sell people the dream of going to Japan, but this isn't possible. They sent people to Japan before they were ready or were not good enough. Out of the 60 or so guys that have come through over the years, only two people have made it to Japan despite the work, the training and the money paid. But they will keep dangling the carrot of Japan to guys to keep them around and make them money.

- By all accounts, the dojo was a legitimate training school before it became 3-month intakes. Now, some guys will leave the dojo after an intake and cannot do anything besides basic flow/catch wrestling and rolls. They aren’t taught how to wrestle, as is advertised. People leave intakes without being taught to bump correctly or run the ropes. This is partly because they do not have a wrestling ring. They have a boxing ring that was bought as a cost-cutting measure, and in seven years of running, they still don’t have a pro wrestling ring. I absolutely would not recommend attending without at least some prior experience.

- The head coach, Tony Kozina, is one of the biggest problems in the dojo, professionally and personally. He is uninterested in training students. He sits on his phone often and lets students who have completed an intake (3 months of dojo training and not necessarily prior wrestling experience) run the training without guidance. He is also extremely homophobic and abusive. Reducing people to tears in training by criticising them and regularly calling people names such as "fa**ot” or “p*ssy”. He also openly insulted the cultures showcased in local wrestling shows. In the past, he borrowed money for groceries and other things from students that were never paid back as he isn't paid enough to live on if Fale isn't around to look after him.

- Fale is a great coach, very knowledgeable, and well respected by everybody. The problem is that he would instead go out drinking and is not around for training nearly enough. If he were present in teaching more often, students would learn a hell of a lot more. And would leave the dojo knowing more than flow sparring. I have the utmost respect for Fale, but I paid $7,000 to be trained under the guidance of Fale, but this was a false promise.

- There is a cult-like mentality in the dojo. The management constantly talks down upon guys who have left. This is despite them spending potentially years at the dojo doing everything asked of them and some of them being incredibly talented. The previous senior lions were repaid for years of hard work with broken promises and being asked for more money; this resulted in them leaving.

- You are insulted and outcasted if you are heard talking badly about the dojo or positively about other New Zealand or Australian promotions. It leads to a feeling of walking on eggshells. They will also try to paint other promotions in NZ and Australia as the enemy despite most of them doing nothing wrong.

- The serious issue of making people train through injury and sickness. I understand the New Japan style and the need for people to show heart and not let little bumps and bruises get in the way. I have always had this issue in sports where I wouldn't know when to stop, so it wasn't an issue. But they force people to train through injuries that could have serious implications. In my time, there were a few instances that stood out. One guy got badly concussed in the first few weeks of one of my intakes. He was forced to train through it and, as a result, was essentially a zombie for the last 10 weeks who couldn't go a session without passing out. Another guy who turned up out of shape in the middle of summer passed out on the first day of conditioning. He was dragged onto the decking in the sun outside, barely conscious and screaming, with only a trainee to look after him. There was no first aider present to help him in any way.

- The housing situation is ridiculous and is possibly illegal by New Zealand standards. The house is a run-down bungalow that was Fale's family home. It has a mould problem, and many guys are on broken beds or mattresses on the floor. As many as 16 people have lived in this 3-bedroom house with 8 in one room. There is one kitchen, one shower and two toilets between them. The power, hot water and Wi-Fi would go out at least once a week. Rent was also excessive and has nearly doubled in the most recent intake, to live in a room with seven other guys on single mattresses, with everyone being given different deals depending on shady handshake agreements. A bed in this house is more expensive than a standard private room in Auckland.

- The standard price is now $7,000 for the intake, not including rent. This has recently gone up from $ 5,000 per intake despite the number of students more than doubling in a year. People are also given massive discounts if they consider leaving as a retention tool. This can drop to as low as $1000 and be told, "The office sees something in you." While I’m pretty sure the ‘office’ is just Fale on the phone trying to keep people paying. The intake cost is meant to cover the food for the intake and get you one of those tracksuits, which would have been a nice keepsake. This never happened. Many ex-students have also said that the management would add extra costs out of nowhere once they were already at the dojo, and it could be up to a few thousand dollars.

- The management offers existing students incentives to recruit new students, sometimes in cash and other ways. These incentives were also very rarely followed through with.

- If you must work to help support yourself while staying long-term, you will be looked down upon. Management encourages and, in some cases, offers to help people get unemployment benefits so that they can train full-time.

- Training time is taken away to help Fale run chores to save or make him some extra cash. In the most recent intake, students were essentially forced to do litter picking at the women’s World Cup games, and in the past, we had to act as sober drivers for Fale or wash his car. Past dojo students have also had to miss nearly a week of training to help strip out a garage at the house being converted to an extra bedroom.

- They have been using the NJPW Tamashii shows as a big selling point for students to keep them around. Very few students can take part in shows. They would instead use local indie guys to save cash despite them paying to train to be a part of these shows. Students on these shows are also not paid, and most were made to pay for their flights and accommodation for every show.

In conclusion, the Fale Dojo promotes a toxic environment, and if you intend to try to earn a path towards Japan, I cannot recommend it. I have had experiences that will stay with me forever, made some truly great friends and picked up some wrestling knowledge that I otherwise wouldn't have learned. The dojo could be a great wrestling school, and at times it is. However, due to my experience and the experience of many others, I wanted to warn people before they waste their time, money, and body as I did. It’s a massive risk to mental, physical, and financial health and is no longer a way to get into New Japan.

[Bandit]

I don't know why someone who never had a good match is running classes for $7,000. He can't even have a good match with Okada.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

$7k NZ is a bit over $4k US, so it's not as bad as it sounds.

[Bandit]

DDT did a match on a train and did a joke where Kenta Kobashi just happened to be a passenger.