New Japan held it’s annual tryout today for new dojo boys, featuring the usual brutal requirements necessary to even be considered for NJ’s famous dojo. Rather than list them all as I seem to have done a hundred times over the years, I’ll just write about a few noteworthy events at the tryout.
The first will be of interest to some. I’ve received lots of emails over time asking if it’s possible for Americans to get in on these tryouts. There was one there today, 24-year-old William Francis (pictured on left), who is 6′2″ and 225lbs and is a keen American Footballer. His way in involved some luck though, as at the Camp Zama show in October, he went right up to President Sugabayashi and asked for the chance to follow his dream of becoming a pro wrestler. He was given the chance today but as always results of the tryouts will be kept under lock and key, although the reports indicated he did well.
Yuji Nagata, who is known for his extremely strict standards and once dropped this man from tryouts, looked on and said his opinions varied on this year’s cast. At one point, a 22-year-old whose only experience is student professional wrestling tried a dropkick which lacked height. Nagata demanded more height and the young man achieved it, drawing warm applause in the dojo.
Others who tried out included judo fighters and a 15-year-old boy in the third grade of junior highschool.
Will any of these make it to the ring? Only time will tell as nowadays we see far fewer young lions debuting. New Japan has a wealth of young talent, from those leading the promotion nowadays - including Nakamura, Tanahashi, and Goto - to those emerging like NO LIMIT and Okada, so don’t seem in any dire need to mass recruit new ones.
