THESE DAYS: How Michinoku Pro Changed Junior Wrestling Forever 

The G.O.A.T drops another gem

FUN FACT: Kaientai (TAKA & Funaki) main evented a 2001 WWF Smackdown episode against the heel Two Man Power Trip of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Game Triple H.

I have not cared about wresting in at least thirty years, and have almost zero experience with puro, but your videos and the passion and dedication that you put into them makes the topic extremely interesting for me even if it is as a time capsule of the era and not a nostalgia trip. Excellent work there.

If this is anyone's first KJ video, seriously watch all of them. They are one of the best wrestling documentary YouRubers going!!!

Somewhere out there, Mike Quackenbush and all of Chikara's roster is shedding a tear. Thank you for this video, friend.

This is a fascinating video! Thank you for putting this together!

I’m starting to realize there’s a lot of Kaientai in the early Motor City Machineguns

couple hundred subs on RU-vid, this is the only channel i have the bell on

Gran Hamada's daughter was great in TNA.

We need a video on the real-life feud between the Great Sasuke and Super Delfin.

Michinoku Pro is such a fun watch. Those Kai En Tai multi man tags are LEGENDARY.

when ya think about it, in a way, Michinoku Pro kinda inspired what eventually became Dragon Gate and proved that you can have an alternative to the big 2-3 especially for the smaller/younger wrestlers to show what they can do and prove that you can do Lucha-resu and be successful, will when i have time go back and watch some early Michinoku Pro to see what i can find myself.

Hayabusa's story is absolutely tragic. He is one of the all-time most talented flyers and a true inspiration. RIP.

The fact that someone with the wrestler alias "Monkey Magic Wakita" isn't as much of a household name as Elvis Presley, for me is the ultimate evidence that we live in a Godless universe.

Johnny Saint is such a good example of a very specific kind of ripped, haha. He's almost skinny. You can almost see every vein and tendon, but you can also tell that he could rip a phone book in half and hang by a single fingertip for three hours.

Dick Togo is an always underrated fave of mine !! One of his matches with Liger I had on tape was fire ! I wore it out I watched so much unfortunately .

Great vid. Hope you do some FMW soon.

Man, Michinoku Pro in the 90s was amazing. I used to be a huge wrestling fan back when it was a lot harder to find, learning about and tracking down footage of obscure promotions from all corners of the world. I loved the lucharesu style and think Dick Togo is probably the most underrated wrestler there ever was. I can't watch any current era wrestling, nothing brings me the same feeling as watching the stuff back then.

Great video again Kim. You now have the best Japanese wrestling channel on RU-vid as well as the best classic video games and computers channel on RU-vid.

:O that 55 year old dude would make even Bret Hart blush, that sht was so smooth to watch.

Another phenomenal video

Awesome video, great work. Would love a video about Hayabusa.

Michinoku isn't necessarily my preferred cup of tea when it comes to Japanese wrestling (90s NJPW junior division will always hold a special place in my heart), but I'm a big fan of Great Sasuke, and I love Michinoku Pro for no other reason than it's influence on Chikara. Wish they could've collaborated more, and I wish Chikara was still around, but at least we got some incredible stuff when we did.

The BEST wrestling documentaries on RU-vid nay the world. Bravo Kim

Holy moly you do wrestling content too!? A whole new world to explore, hit the song Disney.

You know, Lucharesue might be one of my favourite styles of pro wrestling out there and watching Michinoku Pro stuff is a big reason why, I honestly have no idea why the 10 man tag with Kiaentai DX vs. the Babyfaces wasn't the main event. I also think a video about Toryumon / Dragon Gate would be really cool to see.

I remember trading for this VHS. I watched These Days so much. Such great grainy memories now

I can't get enough of this channel

Excelente trabajo como siempre

It’s funny to think Cornette almost became the booker for Hamada’s UWF without him knowing or doing anything all because of Dr. Mike Lano having connections with Shinma 😂 😂

RIP Gran Ninanawa 🙏🏽

I’m a fan. Can you one day make a video about anything Dragon Gate

I've had the pleasure of meeting Johnny Saint a couple of times, Including witnessing a 2014 training session he did with Marty Jones. Johnny was even wrestling around with the likes of Piper Niven and Joe Hendry!

The way you describe Kai-En-Tai DX in this as a cohesive unit. The lineage in feel in that to the glory eras of Los Ingobernables (both the original in Mexico and the de Japon version) is very apparent. There's little more cohesive and has better timing as a team than a Rudo lucha stable.

No one does it better than Kim Justice. Now I want a Battlarts video!

Thank you so much for doing documentaries on subjects others haven't touched yet.

All those early Super J , J Crowns , Skydiving J Tourneys were must haves in every bodies collections at the time !!! Sasuke and Ultimo quickly became favorites along with a bunch I already knew of like Liger etc.. Then Sasuke went balls out with Onita !!! But I think the Michinoku trios match on the first ECW PPV really got them exposure a little more widestream in America .

I still love the end of the Lyger/Sasuke semi-finals at the '94 Super J-Cup. Maffew put it in an episode of Botchamania. Where Sasuke slipping on the ropes fed into the storyline about how Lyger and the NJPW juniors didn't take him seriously, so Lyger laughed, and turned his back, and when he turned back around, Sasuke hits the Frankensteiner for the win, and Lyger was SHOOK. Which also goes to show how amazing Lyger was at selling in that you couldn't see his face except his eyes barely through the eye mesh, but you could practically read the shock on his Mask. Kinda like how Jim Cornette tells the story of Cactus Jack vs. Mil Mascaras: where Mil hits Cactus with the dropkick that sends Cactus off the apron and to the floor ((the "Nestea Plunge Bump" as it now known as and is trained as in some schools)), and it made Mil's eyebrows and mask lift up in surprise.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS MICHINOKU PRO!!!!! I've been watching through some matches from there on RU-vid and I love it a lot. I really began to understand just how talented guys like TAKA are. I'm so happy to see you covering that promotion, cuz I BEG for anyone who's into flippy stuff to give MPro a chance, whether it's old matches or even today's events.

Once again Mr. Kim Justice I come home from work to another great vid like this !!! Im sure I will comment more because I cant help myself . Thank you !!!

The best puro videos on the internet!! And I don't even wanna argue about it!! Kim you're great my friend!!

As someone who got into puro a little less than a year ago this channel is a tremendous resource.

My first exposure to Michinoku Pro was the ECW Barely Legal Six Man Tag Match. Fantastic match. Best match on the PPV.

Awesome video 💯 Michinoku Pro 3rd Anniversary These Days show is a classic 😎 I hope one day you can cover Super J Cup 2000 & the 1996 J Crown Tournament shows 💪

"Some Canadian guy?" Who are you referring t-- OOOOOOOOOOH.

By far One of the best and most engaging videos I've ever seen on RU-vid, it was absolutely amazing to know what Great Sasuke, Ultimo Dragon, & Muhammed Yone were like before they became who they are today. I've never been wow'd by a wrestler quite like Johnny Saint, he may as well be the greatest technical wrestler of all time And yes it's very upsetting that all of Kuniaki Kobayashi's ring time was cut from the "Legend" 6 man tag match as Kobayashi was still quite good in 1996 Kim, your videos always amaze me and I come out of them learning something new about the crazy thing we love that is called Pro Wrestling ❤ (Also if anyone can tell me the song at the end credits of the video that'd be much appreciated)

Everytime you post my backlog of wrestlers, shows, and promotions to check out gets so much longer. Great work as always

Your videos make me nostalgic for the things I never experienced. Another great one!

Very good documentation. I always thought that Taka Michinoku was and is very underestimated and underrated. He gave a lot to the wrestling world. Have not watched the promotion for quite some years. Was more focused on FREEDOMS and NOAH. Brahman Brothers, Musashi and some other i lost keeping track are still there. Seems like i'll have to watch a lot from the last years.

Me and my cousin receeated this show in firepro wrestling 6ms on Saturn 🔥

First video after becoming a new subscriber and it's a video showcasing one of my all-time favorite promotions? Beyond based.

Even as an Observer reader I feel like I've learned tonnes of stuff from these videos. Great work!

Mate, your videos are so good. You deserve more subscribers. As a huge NJPW fan I hope you keep making videos for years to come. If you can, I would add audio from the matches you see. I think it would add a lot of excitement to your videos.

I am absolutely here for videos on the stars of Batttlarts.

Kim's gotta be Chris Charlton's brother or somethin, I can't get enough of these event/show videos where you can touch on all sorts of stuff.

Please do an in depth video on Pancrase.

The match that really stuck out to me on the show was the Battlarts tag match. I’d seen some of their shows here and there, but after seeing this I made sure to pick up more from around this time frame.

Loved this!! Your videos are always so informing and help me fill in the gaps as far as what I don't know about these certain subjects. From one wrestling nerd to another thank you!!! Would love to see a Hayabusa feature video someday as well!

I love that Dick Togo was such a heel, the fans would boo him just tagging into the match. I recently watched a 6-man tag from Dragon Gate from 2007, where Togo, TAKA Michinoku and MEN's Teoh reunited and were doing their old Kaientai DX spots. Great stuff.

I've learned a good portion from this. Hell, all of these video you put up I've learned something.

Keep up the good work

Brilliant as always. Your wrestling docs are top shelf, Kim.

I randomly stumbled across your channel and i am working my way through every video. Your knowledge and research is amazing, and it so fun to get to learn the details of things I am aware but just at a surface level. Thank you for all the hardwork this must take!

I'm very new to Japanese wrestling and this channel always gives me a new story or match to watch, thanks man.

Going back to this and did I hear you say there was gonna be a Dynamite Kid video?

You need to do a rundown about BattlArts with how well you built it up in this video during the BattlArts Tag Match.

Partly commenting for the algorithm but mainly to give the proper kudos for the work you put in on the channel - it's phenomenal stuff as a whole and I loved this little dive into Michinoku Pro + all the things it lowkey gave the pro wrestling world even though they weren't doing it under the bright lights of Tokyo or Osaka.

Keep doing what you’re doing, brother, it’s really great stuff 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰.

*6:59* GOAT 🐐 Was there a promotion called EMLL at one point, or does he mean CMLL? As soon as I heard Asai, I knew it was on 🐉

Awesome video it's criminal how The Kaitenta guys were comedy jobbers when they were in the WWF

Thanks for the amazing video ❤

Thanks kim! I have a best of m pro comp sitting in my hard drive and this will help with context

Man i love this channel. Thank you for the excellent content and please keep the uploads coming!

Love these videos so much! They're fascinating

Thank you for explaining who the guy in red is. At one night stand, he's the guy that even smart marks didn't recognize

Keep up, the good work man. Really love your stuff.

37:44 hey it's the man affectionately known as Power Ranger in ECW.

WHATTT !! Satoshi became Mohammed Yone ??? Well damn . I learn something new every time I watch your vids ! I had no clue ! And would have never guessed . Then again I wasnt huge on Yone either . But still , thats cool to know . I think I may appreciate him more now !

Great work!

I loved Hakushi. WWF while he was there, is the first wrestling I ever saw.

Thank For the History Video 📖🙊🤯🇯🇵🤼‍♂️🌟🥇🏆

Feeding the RU-vid gods. I love your videos.

Could you do a video on the J-crown? That would be awesome

Some scary drops on Sasuke's head in that match. I wonder if that was on purpose, accidental, or simply his opponents being unaware of his injury.

Love theese video can we have a video on the JCUP

Would absolutely love to see you do a lucha deep dive at some point.

I remember when I was a kid. Me and my friends always think that Michinoku Pro was a wrestling promotion that founded by TAKA Michinoku after he left WWF(E) 😅

It amazes me how you are eventually gonna find a way to cover literally the entire landscape of puro

I hope you do a Battle Arts video, it deserves the deep dive treatment as I know you'll do it justice (pun may or maybe not intended)

23:07 The Hater is the greatest Heel ever. Guy comes out to “Ugly Kid Joe” The Haters gimmick was 15 years too soon, he would of been the perfect “Player Hater” of the modern day

Most of the original members of Michinoku Pro are still active and performing well into their 50s.

Lucaresu is my personal favorite style of wrestling spawning from my intro to puro through WCW and guys like Ultimo Dragon and Liger. I then heavily got into tape trading with Toryumon and rolled backwards into M-Pro and Osaka Pro and forward into DDT. For a while in the US scene i only followed Chikara (Who Mike himself credits M-Pro and CMLL for influencing) and ROH both of which along with PWG innovated what is now profitable American indie wrestling. Lucharesu and Joshi are my babies that saved my love of pro wrestling through the dying days of my first love, WCW, and WWF/E’s dominance and questionable storylines. It’s nice to nerd out about them to folks who get it. While Stardom has helped Joshi mentioning Dragon Gate or DDT is like explaining quantum physics lol.

Excellent!!! 5🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Please do a video about Stan Hansen’s entire career in AJPW!

The full version of the Dynamite Kid trios is easily accessible online. The clipped version is for the better. "Dynamite held up his own" is being very kind. He was very, very, very bad here and could barely move.

Wasn’t ready for the Lenny Lane cameo

There's a great 2011 documentary on the Great Sasuke on RU-vid.

Super Dolphin was always amazing

*46:25* R.I.P. Legend

having been completely ignorant of michinoku pro aside from knowing the name before seeing this video, my assumption was that the promotion was founded by TAKA Michinoku since it wouldn't be the first thing he named after himself. so to learn that he wasn't the founder but he did compete in Michinoku pro was a trip 😆