(ALL JAPAN) DRESSING ROOM

Weekly Pro

21st January 1986 (Issue no.127)

...Korakuen Hall in Suidobashi, Tokyo's mecca of professional wrestling, kicked off a glorious year for All Japan Pro Wrestling with a show at 6:30 PM on New Year's Day. Following this New Year's Day showdown, All Japan will hold three consecutives events on the 2nd and 3rd (starting at 12:30 PM). For wrestlers, there is no "New Year's Day." From the 5th, they'll head west to Inazawa, then to Shodoshima on the 6th, continuing their demanding schedule until the Snow Festival showdown on February 5th.

...1971 was the Year of the Tiger. All Japan Pro Wrestling had two main wrestlers born in the Year of the Tiger: Giant Baba (born 1938) and Genichiro Tenryu (born 1950). Speaking of tigers, there's Tiger Mask; surely this promising young wrestler isn't just saying "Tiger, Tiger, Tiger*" over the radio. 

...Tiger Mask has suddenly been in the spotlight in this series, becoming the sun of the junior heavyweight division.

 "I'm the one who's going to stab the tiger in the back," declared Mil Mascaras, Kuniaki Kobayashi, and even Samson Fuyuki, who has returned to Japan in triumph, is raising the banner of challenge, saying, "What's this Tiger Mask nonsense? Fight me!" The junior heavyweight division is shaping up to be a fierce battleground. 

In any case, All Japan Pro Wrestling's annual lineup is heavily focused on a "pure-blood" line centered around Japanese wrestlers, intending to get through this turbulent year in one fell swoop.

All eyes are on Baba's leadership. 

Notes:

Tiger, Tiger, Tiger: In Japanese this is "Tora, Tora, Tora". This was said by Mitsuo Fuchida, commander of the first wave of the Pearl Harbor attack, who signaled the infamous “Tora! Tora! Tora!” on December 7, 1941. 

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