Dave Ditch
Monday chalkboard (12/10)
Monday, December 10th, 2007Nick Lembo of the NJACB said that none of the fighters at UFC 78 (11/17 Newark, New Jersey) failed their drug tests. Hidehiko Yoshida says that he will not fight on NYE. Luke Thomas thinks WEC + UFC = The Future. Dave Meltzer says that Paulo Filho might be the world’s best middleweight. Here is […]
Puroresu Focal Shows, Summer 2007
Monday, June 25th, 2007By David Ditch It’s no secret that business is bad for the ‘fight business’ in Japan. On the MMA side, PRIDE is in rough shape and K-1 is far from healthy. On the pro wrestling side, promotions are either downsizing or playing to half-full venues. The top wrestler, Kenta Kobashi, has been out for a […]
UFC: Used For Cash?
Monday, September 25th, 2006By Dave Ditch UFC is the cool kid everybody wants to be around. Some get to be real friends, while others just want the rub of popularity. PRIDE has been looking for the rub. Kurt Angle’s reference of UFC several months ago on ECW was an attempt to get some rub. Was Kurt Angle’s inference […]
Potholes in Kings’ Road
Sunday, July 9th, 2006By Dave Ditch Four pro wrestlers have made headlines so far this month, and all of them have one thing in common: tours of All Japan Pro-Wrestling. Kenta Kobashi was trained there, debuted there, and became a top star there. He was first lauded as one of the best wrestlers in the world during the […]
Brock Lesnar & New Japan: Potential, Pride, Purgatory
Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006By David Ditch It’s difficult to keep abreast of events that span industries (wrestling/MMA), continents (Asia/North America) and years all at the same time. Different narratives weave around each other. The events of the past week involving New Japan and Brock Lesnar highlight these difficulties. It takes someone with a borderline-obsessive thirst for wrestling news […]
Japan, America, Pro-Wrestling & Mass Media
Tuesday, February 14th, 2006Why Japanese wrestling promotions have it easy compared to the US, and how promotions can grow with technology By David Ditch There’s no business quite like the professional wrestling business. Beyond aspects like the content of shows, kayfabe, a thorough lack of established practices and an inability to unionize, wrestling also has a unique situation […]