Are you serious?? My fav cartoon comes to life!
I was on social media and stumbled upon this GIF featuring two wrestlers dressed as the main characters from my beloved Tiger Mask W cartoon! This made my day — I had to go find this match and watch it.
In honor of their epic cartoon match, Tiger fought Tiger in real life at a recent New Japan Pro Wrestling event called Wrestle Kingdom 11. The video was on YouTube for a few days but has already been deleted, probably for copyright reasons. Luckily I caught it in time.
The wrestling was OK talent-wise, but it’s just awesome if you’re a Tiger Mask W fanboy like I am (I feel like such a Hipster nerd!). The commentators calling the match (in English) are also fanboys, naming other characters from the cartoon and talking about how much they love watching it.
One commentator mentions how his son rushes home to obsessively watch Tiger Mask W after school instead of any other shows. Yeah, that would’ve been me as a youngster too, especially if no one else was home…
I later learned that the wrestlers under the masks are Japanese heart-throb Kota Ibushi as Tiger Mask, and big swole American Indy wrestler ACH as Tiger The Dark. I always figured it would be difficult for the cartoon characters to breathe under their bulky masks, but these guys are doing it for real!
I dig that these wrestlers obviously watch my Tiger Mask W cartoon. Everybody is getting into it! (perhaps, for some viewers, due to the under-current of homo-sexual tension between Tiger Mask and Tiger the Dark…)
This hold looks painful enough in the cartoon, but in real life, it’s worse.
I’m sure some of you wish I’d get off this Tiger Mask W kick and focus on “real” wrestling. But I just love the dramatic staging, the ring psychology, the classic moves, and I enjoy writing about it, so I’m not stopping any time soon.
True to the cartoon, Tiger the Dark implements the deadly Dark Driver.
For me, much of the appeal of T.M.W. is my awareness that, if I had seen it as a boy, I would’ve been totally mesmerized with excitement. The violence, the idealized physiques, the sexy tough-boy tone of the show would’ve consumed me.
Another accurate portrayal of the cartoon — Tiger Mask loves to use German Suplexes.
As an adult, I still can appreciate the spellbinding appeal it would’ve held in my younger days, and that makes me dig this cartoon maybe more than a grown man should. So get used to it — they’re up to at least Episode 30 now!
Clearly they love the cartoon as much as I do, given they know each character’s patented moves.
The wrestlers pay homage to the cartoon by staying loyal to the characters they’re portraying — the right costumes, the right signature holds, etc.
The producers of the cartoon have successfully bridged the gap between fantasy and reality — by having transported several real wrestlers into the cartoon world, and now, by bringing the cartoon characters to life at this live event. Very cool, Japan!