10 Subjects Dark Side Of The Ring Should Cover Next
7. The Death Of Hiromitsu Gompei And The Japanese Dojo System Of Yesteryear
The old dojo system of puroresu, historically, was notoriously unforgiving.
Much like the end, in-ring product, it was a suitably - grimly - more intense method of training than its U.S. counterpart. The young recruits were made uniform and docile - they had to earn their identity as pro wrestlers in a process spanning years - and, in addition to the presumably very painful standard training, had to strengthen their neck muscles in excruciating exercises designed to ultimately withstand the excessive rigours of the Japanese style.
Power corrupts, and the trainers wielded an excessive amount of it over the trainees, which allegedly mutated into bullying and terrorism by the 1990s. Rumours of needless sh*t-kickings and openly diabolical behaviour had emerged from its underbelly, which might substantiate the claim that Hiromitsu Gompei was killed, via manslaughter, in the New Japan Dojo. A big star in Hiroshi Hase reportedly left the company in the wake of a controversy blamed on Kensuke Sasaki, who had, per the allusions of less secretive foreign talent recounted by Matthew Randazzo V in Ring Of Hell, induced head trauma in the young man by suplexing him repeatedly for a perceived failure to complete tasks. The line was crossed in 1995.
How closer did the trainers get before that?