Into the Indies 09.20.11: What We Did on Our Summer Vacation
Posted by Ryan Byers on 09.20.2011
I2I takes a look at several American wrestlers who headed to Japan over the summer . . . plus Kenny Omega wrestles a nine year old girl. What more could you want, really?
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Into the Indies, the column that has all of its notes stashed in a Trapper Keeper.
One of my favorite things about following the international independent scene is that you're never quite sure who is going to show up where and when. It's always particularly interesting for me when somebody who I have heard of on the North American scene gets to go overseas, as it represents an important point of growth in the American wrestler's career in addition to opening up a whole new world of fresh matchups that we never thought we'd see. This week, in order to give some props to those who have taken the trip across the Pacific, I thought that I would profile some of the Americans who have had the most success in the Land of the Rising Sun this past summer.
Mentallo
Mentallo is a veteran wrestler who has gotten surprisingly little exposure in the United States given his experience. He's wrestled in his native Canada for various independent groups for almost fifteen years, and he even had a handful of appearances for CMLL in Mexico during 2007 and 2008. He may have been overlooked in the United States, but, when Tajiri's SMASH promotion formed in Japan in 2010, Mentallo got one of his biggest career breaks to date. He was a semi-regular for the SMASH roster, even earning what had to have been a career highlight match when he locked it up with the legendary Jushin Liger.
Mentallo goes head-to-head with Carlito
This summer, Mentallo has been surprisingly absent from SMASH. He's only had one noteworthy appearance for the company, but it was a big appearance, as he got to go up against another icon of puroresu when he submitted to Tatsumi Fujinami's dragon sleeper on SMASH 20 in August. Later that same month, Mentallo got what was no doubt another thrilling match against a star of a bygone era when he was booked for Fujinami's independent promotion Dradition. Mentallo, along with partners Shanshiro Takagi and Masashi Takeda, locked it up in a six man tag team match against Arashi, Tomohiro Ishii, and the man himself, former All Japan Triple Crown Champion and IWPG Heavyweight Champion Genichiro Tenryu. Mentallo also picked up a couple of appearances for TAKA Michinoku's Kaientai Dojo group, facing the likes of Kaji Tomato and former FMW star Ricky Fuji. Hell, he even popped up in joshi company Ice Ribbon for some mixed tag matches. How much more of a diverse resume can you possibly get?
Now that he's branched out beyond SMASH, let's hope that Mentallo gets much more exposure as we roll into the fall.
Jennie Rose
Jennie Rose probably doesn't look all that familiar to a lot of professional wrestling fans, even though she's been all over Ring of Honor's original television series on HDNet and the SHIMMER DVD series. That's because, when she wrestles stateside, Jennie Rose usually dawns a mask and competes under the name "Jumpin'" Jamilia Craft. Craft has turned some heads after becoming the youngest graduate of the SHIMMER wrestling academy (trained by Daizee Haze), and she is exceptionally talented for her level of experience, even managing to come in second in the "Rookie of the Year" polling in the 2010 411mania Year End Awards. Given her rapid progression in the ring, you can imagine that it didn't take long before she got called up by a joshi promotion.
Jennie Rose's alter ego Jamilia Craft wrestles stateside
The joshi promotion in question is Diana, a new company formed earlier this year and built around former All Japan Women's star Kyoko Inoue. For reasons unknown, Diana decided to repackage young Ms. Craft when they brought her over to the company, but, regardless of the gimmick, her talent has still managed to shine through. Rose/Craft has been used as a fiery underneath babyface for most of her overseas run, though she has managed to get some matches against seasoned wrestlers like Union Pro's Cherry. Her stint, which stretched from July to August, also featured numerous matches against wrestlers on her level, including the novice Sareee and SENDAI Girls' DASH Chisako. It is great to see a young wrestler like Craft getting such exposure overseas so early in her career, and I think that you will be pleasantly surprised if you track down any of her matches.
Brady Roberts
Never heard of Brady Roberts? Well, neither had I until I was going over some Japanese shows from this past summer. Roberts is a twenty-four year old wrestler out of British Columbia who has received training from some of the Great White North's most enduring independent competitors, including former Stampede Wrestling star "Evil" Eddie Watts. Roberts, despite being twenty-four years of age, can call himself an eight year veteran of the profession, as he began wrestling in his mid-teens. Juggling acting and bodybuilding careers in addition to wrestling, Roberts recently had to add international travel to his busy schedule, as he was called into the fold by SMASH. Roberts made his debut with the promotion on a small show for the company held in Nagoya in May before 400 fans, where he defeated SMASH's blue chip rookie Yusuke Kodama. The next night in Tokyo, Roberts got even more exposure by being part of the SMASH 17 card, competing in six man tag action on a team with former Ring of Honor star Quiet Storm and getting an opportunity to work against New Japan Pro Wrestling junior heavyweight legend AKIRA. We'll see if Roberts is invited back to the company and, if so, how it allows for his career to grow.
Brady Roberts in his native Canada
Mia Yim
Ahhhh, Princess Mia of the Embassy. The Blasian Beauty broke into wrestling roughly two years ago, originally training out of a relatively small school before moving on to the ROH-sponsored SHIMMER academy and gaining additional training under the capable hands of Delirous and Daizee Haze. In addition to her role with the Embassy in Ring of Honor, Yim has started wrestling for SHIMMER and has had a great run managing up-and-comer Adam Cole in CZW. Yim combines the good looks that we are used to seeing from WWE Divas and the in-ring acumen that we are used to seeing from independent ladies, and it is a package that will make her a force to be reckoned with when folks in major companies catch wind of her.
Mia Yim with her trainer, Daizee Haze
Much like her fellow SHIMMER academy graduate Jamilia Craft, Mia was called over to Japan this year by an upstart joshi company. However, Yim and Craft would wind up in different promotions, as Mia was recruited by REINA, which has no relation to Jamilia's Diana despite the somewhat similar names. REINA is noteworthy for having a working relationship with Mexico's CMLL, so it is importing Mexican wrestlers in addition to Americans like Yim, creating a unique mix of flavors that few other joshi companies can offer these days. Yim has mixed it up with some of the greatest female wrestlers going today, wrestling current star Hiroyo Matsumoto in singles action on July 18, getting a tag match against the greatest female wrestler of all time Minami Toyota on August 8, and competing in title tournament action against Ice Ribbon's Ray (a.k.a SMASH's Lin Bairon) on August 20. Yim is headed back to the United States for SHIMMER on October 1 and 2, and now she's bringing a whole world of extra experience with her.
Kenny Omega
Kenny Omega wrestling on Japanese indies is nothing new. He's been doing it for years. So, I really don't have that much to say about him. However, he did do one thing this year which made him stand out. He had a match against a nine year old girl. No, seriously. Here it is:
I don't think that there's anything I can say that will add to that. See you next week.
Cheap Plug!
Do you like joshi puroresu? Do you like SHIMMER? If you're reading this column, chances are that you answered "yes" to at least one of those questions. If you answered "yes" to at least one of those questions, chances are probably also good that you'd be interested in some merchandise related to Hiroyo Matsumoto, one of the brightest young stars in joshi and a former SHIMMER Tag Team Champion.
Well, you're in luck! Artist and joshi enthusiast shupercousin has obtain from Matsumoto and her booking office S-Ovation the rights to produce and market a Hiroyo Matsumoto t-shirt to the English speaking world, with all proceeds going back to Hiroyo. It looks a little something like this:
If you're interested in owning one of these bad boys, visit shupercousin's Hiroyo Matsumoto fansite right here.
Looking forward to the next installment of Into the Indies? Keep an eye on 411's Twitter accounts, and you just might see it pop up!
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