5-Star Book Reviews — page 5

And now we get to the most important part of Toshiaki Kawada’s career: his peak in the Four Pillars era. Though this period is generally defined as spanning from May 1993 to December 1995, this chapter in Kawada’s book goes much longer, going into 1999. With so much happening in this critical timeframe (Kawada’s first world title reign, his first pin over Misawa, Bridge of Dreams, and an absolute litany of outstanding matches), you’d think that Kawada would be open and detailed about his perspective on these things.

Well, you’d be wrong…

You can check out parts 1 & 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here, and part 5 here.

So after being treated like dirt as a high school wrestling trainee, like dirt as an unremarkable and forgettable rookie in All Japan, and like dirt while being poorly used in three different promotions in three very distinct territories in North America, Toshiaki Kawada returns to wrestling in All Japan…where he is promptly treated like dirt. In fact, Kawada’s wrestling career stalls for a long time and, as this chapter reveals, it seems like it takes literal acts of divine intervention for things to align well enough for Kawada to actually start achieving any legitimate success.

You can check out parts 1 & 2 here, part 3 here, and part 4 here.

And now we have one of the most interesting of chapters: Kawada’s journey to America. Like most if not all Japanese rookies, Kawada was sent abroad for seasoning. It was hoped that he would come back with knowledge of other wrestling styles and techniques, plus a stronger ability of communicating with the audience. Unfortunately, Kawada’s experiences abroad would leave him at best disappointed, at worst embittered.

You can check out parts 1 & 2 here and part 3 here.

So this chapter deals with Toshiaki Kawada’s transition from amateur wrestling to pro-wrestling, his first interactions with Giant Baba, and what’s expected of him as a trainee. Sadly it’s not the start to a superstar career; if anything it’s more akin to what his life was like as a wrestling trainee in high school, and for those that’ve read my first review of his book, you’ll know that Kawada’s schedule was absolutely unforgiving.

Anyway with that let’s take a look at how Japanese wrestling rookies were treated forty years ago…

Some wrestling fans collect figurines. Others collect replica title belts. Others still have tape libraries of events and matches long lost to time. Myself? I like to read, especially about my favorite wrestlers, which is why, following my first trip to Japan last year, I bought something that few people have: a Japanese wrestler’s autobiography.

But not just any wrestler’s: Toshiaki Kawada’s.