[cruhstaller]

> […] Japanese wrestling but only through the Tiger Mask anime[0].[…] This was an interesting contrast because the live action was visibly silly

If you take the WWF (now WWE) as the base yes I can confirm that the silly comment is right. It was their product a more cartoonish-gimmicky style of wrestling. But especially when we look at the Japanese wrestling I would challenge the silly part. Puroresu (Japanese wrestling) had always a more stiffer kind of wrestling and put more weight to it that it looked more like a legitimate competitive sport [1][2].

Also in the USA you had the NWA at that time which always had more the vibe of a real competitive sport with more real characters.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2uQvLlgW5A [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCpkKtyyG0Y

[BryantD]

Depends on which promotion to some degree. The big Japanese pro wrestling promotions (New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling) definitely lean into the legitimate sport side of the art form. On the other hand, light heavyweight oriented promotions like Michinoku Pro and Dragon Gate draw massive inspiration from Mexican lucha libre and tend to be more goofy[1].

But the great thing about Japanese pro wrestling for me has always been the variety. You can watch hardcore death matches involving barbed wire, if that's your thing. You can watch masked wrestlers doing ridiculous high flying. You can watch actual competitive MMA, sometimes with the same wrestlers who participate in worked/scripted matches.

However I am mostly nitpicking because I love this stuff and also I am showing off a bit. You're correct for 95% of Japanese pro wrestling.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RnaIzuVt4g

[cruhstaller]

Yes im completely agree with you that's why I tried my hardest to not use absolutes.

My answer showed probably also that I had some interests in pro wrestling. It's not exaggerated that it's my biggest hobby.

And just to show off a little bit more I'm active in the wrestling business as a co-promoter and also as a manager! I mean it's just a hobby mostly even costing more then it makes but hey it's a lot of fun.

I'm a little bit skeptical of the modern wrestling I'm more of a 80s' 90s' wrestling guy.

I grew up loving WCW and I still I love it and by gosh this promotion is dead almost 20 years (and yeah they did a lot of goofy stuff too…).

Sorry for the babbling! ;)

[_ZeD_]

Yes. However, I still remember how much the "tiger mask" anime last episode was intense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqeTXzoBAfQ