I probably spend too much of my time watching Japanese wrestling, also known as puroresu. Puroresu or in my case NJPW is the anti-American wrestling. Stories are told in the ring, no stupid promos that last forever and ever good quality matches because people who are good in the ring get pushed. Other promotions such as NOAH and AJPW somehow appear on my youtube for some reason. I went to my first NJPW event last year by sheer luck because they were having a show close to the person I was visiting.
There is also women's wrestling in Japan commonly known as joshi puroresu with the main company being Stardom which is owned by the same company that owns NJPW. The former owner Stardom Rossy Ogawa who built it up and sold it started his own company over a year ago called Marigold and I don't really follow joshi but matches turn up on my youtube as well.
I love wrestling and The Queen of Villains has been on my radar since it was announced last year and I finally got around to watching the first 4 episodes. The story is about this heel joshi wrestler in the 80s called Dump Matsumoto. Joshi puroresu in the 80s is very different from today. The wrestled in aerobics gear, sing songs before a match and according to The Queen of Villains, fought for real aka shoot unless told to lose by the booker.
I love the Netflix money and the 80s setting. Karata Erika and Goriki Ayame try their best to look decent in the ring. Yuriyan Retriever who plays Dump Matsumoto does not have to do much bumping because she is basically the cheating heel but she plays Dump as this person who loves pro wrestling but was unable to find her niche until she went full heel against Karata Erika and Goriki Ayame.
I do have one problem with The Queen of Villains which made me stop watching after episode 4. This show does not break kayfabe which is wrestling speak for the story tells the audience that the fights are real. Except what I can see on the screen are people taking bumps after dropkicks etc. Nothing that remotely feels like a shootfight.
The Queen of Villains exists in a kayfabe world where they are telling the audience that the fights were shoots, but looked like of puroresu which is two wrestlers telling a story without injuring each other. If you want to do a kayfabe story, then you have to take out the bookers, the dorms and all the real life stuff and just be kayfabe all the way.
I could not continue watching because The Queen of Villains exists in both kayfabe and real life and I cannot reconcile the two. I think I need to rewatch My Dad is a Heel Wrestler. I really wanted to like The Queen of Villains but I can't.
Somewhere in an alternate universe is an awesome no kayfabe Queen of Villains jdorama but this is not it. Meh.
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