dammit, we missed it!

recently (well quasi-recently), for tiff's birthday evening we went to the japanese version of the wwf. the evening started with quick beer drinking before the event started around 7:00. not getting back from work until about 5:45, i had to rush to shower and get ready before heading out of the door to takada, where tiff's apartment is. riding into town like pee wee herman on my bicycle, i slid into town just on the dot. carrie brought me down a beer, and drinks and all, we piled into taxis to head to w.w.f. wrestling - japanese style. we were expecting, and wanting of course, horrible tap beer to sold in paper cups for exhorbitant prices, rowdy, drunk people, and loud catcalls to the wrestlers. well once again, (why don't we expect these things by now?) it was completely different. we walked into the huge auditorium to sober men rushing to get to their seats. being the only foreigners, the place was packed, mostly with males. since we weren't responsible and ticket bearing already, we were placed in the not-quite-nosebleeds section. we plopped down with a cheap can beer buzz, expecting to be wowed. and wowed we were. one of the first things i noticed, was a gentleman sitting in the front row, ring-side, holding an 11x14 framed picture of obviously his favorite wrestler. the event, being a japanese one, started promptly on time to our delight. i think we gave the surrounding, sober, more conservative people a little shock with our sudden outburst of cheers. having gone to a similar american wrestling event for one of tiff's past birthdays, the urge to yell, 'kick his ass!!' was strong within, but i held back. instead we just whooped and hollared wildly. it was absolutely hilarious. the audience was really into it, making us believe they believed, wholly and loyally. they all ooooohed and awwwwed in unison at just the right moments, just like the baseball game we attended some months before. man, do they think this stuff is real? i can't believe it! what made the event just a little better, i mean this genuinely, was that we were placed in the not-quite-nosebleeds section along with the mentally hanicapped contention. they were great!! they tended to like to copy and yell out whatever we yelled out, much to the amusement of their escorts and us. ending at just about the time i couldn't handle big, spandex-clad wrestlers anymore, the show ended. oh by the way, the gentleman propping up his framed wrestler in his lap held it the the entire show, from beginning to end. we promptly headed off in search of more cheap beer and a fun birthday buzz

this is a poster for an event similar to the one we attended, although ours was japanese performers only. look at the western guy at the bottom on the right. what????