Just got back about a week and half ago from the WLW / Pro Wrestling NOAH camp. The camp was held in the Eldon Community Center, (Eldon, MO) across the street from the WLW head-quarters. (pictured above) It was about a 16 hr. drive for us (Myself and Manager Abby). We stayed the previous night in Omaha, NE.
Day One - Superstar Steve & Trevor Rhodes (Murdoch) were running the camp. We did some stretching and light warm up. We then proceeded to do some rope running exercises. Myself and Kenny Omega (the only two from Canada) paired together. Pairing together was probably our biggest mistake as Steve & Rhodes could tell we'd worked together before. They instructed us that for the rest of the camp we were not to work together. After this happened, I got the impression that Steve didn't care for us to much. After ropes we did some bumping drills. Nothing to exciting.
At about 11:00 a.m. Kenta Kobashi arrived. Everyone lined up and introduced themselves to him. It was a great honor to meet, in my opinion, the best wrestler on the planet today. After introductions were all done, we broke for lunch.
After lunch, we ran tag matches. I got picked to be on the first team up. My opponents didn't have a clue if the Riddler gave it to them. Needless to say I wasn't impressed, and I doubt the Japanese office and media were as well. This was pretty much the story of the rest of the camp. There weren't to many guys who had a clue about wrestling.
Before the tag matches started, Johnny Ace arrived. He watched some of the matches and was really impressed with Omega. He made reference to Omega reminding him of Brian Pillman. I think if Omega watched some of Pillman's old WWF and ECW stuff he could probably come up with some funny stuff.
At the end of the day, KENTA & Marufuji arrived. Marufuji is a sharp dresser, while KENTA had his collar popped out like he just got his ride pimped by Xzibit. Solid. Introductions as usual. Another honor meeting these two, as they are probably the best junior tag team out there. I can't think of one tag title match or defense they had that wasn't at least 4 stars.
Day 2 - Ken san from NOAH led the stretching and exercises. Here's a short version - ABS: 50 sit ups, 50 leg raises, 50 butterfly kicks, 50 criss cross, legs off the ground for 1 min, then someone lightly jogs on your stomach Chest: 5 sets of 30 wheel barrow push ups, then 20 push ups at Marufuji's pace. If he stops at 4 you have to hold it there, without touching the ground. Every exercise we did of 50, they do 100 in the dojo. The Japanese media had a field day of all the guys who were struggling doing the exercises. I'm sure it will be portrayed in Japan that Americans can't keep up with Japanese training.
After this, we did singles matches. Better day for me. Got to heel a bit. Worked with Dakota, who knows what he's doing, thank God. A lot of guys were more interested in getting their shit in than having a good match.
Day 3 - Pretty much the same things as days 1 & 2. Not as much stretching and exercises though. Went right into tag matches that day. More of the same as before. No matter how much experience I have, they always have me take heat cause I am smaller. How much of a hot comeback is a guy with 4 months in the business gonna have?
Day 4 (During the day) - Same as day 3, except there was fan convention that started at 2:00 p.m. "Super Fans" came in and were allowed to see some bumping and cardio drills we had been doing early in the week. Then, they took pictures with the group of wrestlers and had their shirts signed. Most of the pictures above were taken on the fan day. Marufuji tried to take my mask off after the picture was taken (of him, myself and KENTA).
Day 4 - September 24, 2005 was my first time seeing KENTA and Kenta Kobashi wrestle live. The show started around 7 p.m. I wrestled in a tag match with Kurt Bar vs. Denti Moore & Jon ?. KENTA & Dakota wrestled Jason Bates & Superstar Steve. It was a pretty good match. KENTA worked pretty hard. No KENTA combo though. It's too bad Marufuji was hurt. I was looking forward to seeing them both in action together.
Kenta Kobashi vs. Wade Chism - When Kobashi came out, there was maybe 3 or 4 fans who knew who he was. They were popping for him, but the rest of the fans there were supporting Chism. Kobashi put on a super match, and hit all his trademark spots. Big props to Wade for taking 2 half nelson suplexes.
After Kobashi's match, Harley Race presented him with his very first NWA title. He spoke about the match he watched at the Tokyo Dome of Kobashi's vs. Akiyama where he took a superplex (Exploder) to the floor. He then declared he was passing his title as "Mister Pro Wrestling" , a monacher he gained while touring in Japan, on to Kobashi.
There are a lot more topics I haven't covered. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Please feel free to email me at: [email protected]