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http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2004/02/24/359384.html

Apocalypse on his first NJPW tour

By JASON CLEVETT -- SLAM! Wrestling
 
On November 25th, 2003 a very nervous Apocalypse embarked on his first
venture to the Far East. After training hard under the watchful eye of
Tokyo Joe, the man who sent Owen Hart to Japan, as well as current
stars TJ Wilson and Dave Swift, he was deemed ready to head to one of
the top companies in the world.

Apocalypse had a lot on his mind knowing that he would debut in a main
event match at the famed Korekuen Hall, teaming with former WCW star
Scott Norton (who he would team with several times on the tour)
against Josh Barnett and the IWGP Champion Hiroyoshi Tenzan.

"The magnitude of being to Korekuen Hall in the main event was
mind-boggling. The match started with Tenzan and Scott, and then Josh
and I both tagged in, and I had my ass handed to me for five minutes,"
The Dungeon-trained star recalled for SLAM! Wrestling. "I turned it
around when Tenzan tagged in and I did a frog splash, which I hadn't
done in a long time. Scott and I clicked as a team right away. Overall
I felt good about the match."

It was during the match that Apoc had a surprise. Dubbed "The Shadow"
by the promotion, it took him a few minutes to realize that his name
was echoing through the hallowed arena.

"I didn't realize it at first because I hadn't adjusted to the new
name yet. I heard people chanting and didn't know what they were
saying. When Josh put me in a submission hold it clicked. 'Oh they are
cheering for me ... Why?' It was surprising that they got behind me
that way. The crowd in Tokyo really took to me, I don't know why but
it was a nice feeling."

It is obvious that he is humbled by the experience and floored with
not only the fan reaction, but how positive the company and his fellow
wrestlers were.

"I was overwhelmed by everything. After the match in the back I was
close to crying, it was really emotional. To be there and the way the
crowd and the rest of the wrestlers reacted to me was really positive.
When you are used to wrestling in front of 50 – 200 people and
suddenly you are in front of 1,000 people screaming your name it is a
pretty big change. The size and the magnitude of the company makes it
so much better. I felt so appreciated, the other wrestlers work hard
to help you. Even when the office is telling you what you could do
better, they are so positive about it you don't get down on yourself.
It took me a long time to settle down that first night."

It wasn't the last time that Apocalypse would go toe-to-toe with
champion Tenzan. The two faced off in a singles non-title match on
November 30 in Fujisawa City. There was little concern on Apoc's part,
as Tenzan had spent time in Calgary last summer and the two had
trained together. He was thrilled with the results, and considers it
one of his best matches from the tour.

"I was really happy with that. He is a tough guy, for working as long
as he has and being such a great champion. To me, he is one of the
best champions I have seen in a long time, anywhere. He was my
definition of what a champion should be, when he lost the belt I was
very sad. It was a great honor to wrestle him and give him as much as
I could."

A few nights later, fans in Japan and around the world were floored
when Tenzan was upset by Nakamura, a much less experienced but still
very talented wrestler. Nakamura beat Tenzan by submission with a
Shining triangle to an arm lock. Apocalypse watched the match on the
monitor in the back. "Everyone was watching that match. A lot of us
were surprised; no one thought that a young guy like Nakamura could
beat a champion like Tenzan. When Nakamura came out of nowhere and
pinned him, the crowd and the back were all just in shock. I was sad
to see it because Tenzan had only been champion for a few months. He
had helped me a lot, both when he visited Calgary and back in Japan.
It makes it hard to see someone you admire so much to lose. That isn't
to say anything negative about Nakamura, he is an excellent wrestler,
but when you see someone like Tenzan doing so well, to see him stopped
it was like 'Woah, what the heck?'"

Unfortunately, Nakamura was forced to forfeit the title due to injury,
and recently Tenzan regained the belt. To Apocalypse, there is no more
prestigious championship in the world then the IWGP crown. "WWE titles
have been changed around so much people have lost some interest in
them. With two world champions, it dilutes it. Over in Japan it is
different. They have two belts but they are totally different. The
IWGP Title is the most prestigious title in wrestling today, to hold
that belt you have to go through a lot. It has so much history behind
it that could be a book in itself. The fans appreciate that more
because they don't see as much cheap wins. Even if a bad guy wins they
win strong. New Japan has done a really good job keeping their belt
important. Personally I would rather win that belt than any other
championship in the world."

It was the first real overseas journey for the Stampede veteran. In
the summer of 2003 he was scheduled to spend several months in England
for All-Star Pro Wrestling, however he was stopped by Customs who
refused to allow him into the country and wouldn't let him contact his
promoter. With that in mind, Apoc was well prepared to ensure that he
would have no difficulties, with proper passports, visas, and
professional attire.

"You have to make sure you dress nice because you don't know what you
are going to encounter," he said. "Getting into Japan was a little
freaky. The line was huge; I had a good half an hour wait. By the time
I got to the counter they had just sent a guy through so they just
looked at my stuff and sent me on my way. I was running through the
airport going 'Woohoo! I'm here!' I knew this time I had all the right
documentation."

It was during his tour that news broke out on the death of Jerry
Tuite, known to North American fans as "The Wall" in WCW and
"Malice"
in NWA-TNA. Tuite was working for rival promotion All Japan at the
time, but his death sent shockwaves through the entire wrestling
community. "One morning we were getting on the bus to head out to the
next show. Norton came on and looked at me and said 'Do you know The
Wall? They found him dead this morning.' The bus just went silent. A
lot of the guys in the company had met him before and spoke highly of
him. It is sad any time you hear of a wrestler dying, and with so many
people going in 2003 it was worse. He was working for All Japan and I
am sure that they took it hard. It was a sad day regardless of
promotions."

On a more positive note, the tour also marked a birthday he would
never forget.

"On the actual day of my birthday I did nothing. We had the day off,
we were going to go out but Scott Norton wasn't feeling well. American
Dragon and I did laundry and walked around. I walked around by myself
exploring and then went home and contemplated throwing my PlayStation
out the window because it had stopped playing DVDS," he joked. "I
started to feel sick that night, I had such a bad fever that I thought
I had SARS. My actual birthday pretty much sucked, but my girlfriend
and my Mom called me and I had a birthday card Mom had given me before
I left."

Things would look much better at the show the following night. "The
wrestlers brought in a birthday cake and the guys sang Happy Birthday
to me, and gave me presents. That made up for feeling low the day
before. Here were all these guys I hardly knew and they had a cake for
me and it was a big deal to them. I was taken aback as I wasn't
expecting it. I will never forget that. I've had some bad birthdays in
the past, so I don't enjoy my birthday anymore. Scott made me realize
how much better things were then I thought and I shouldn't live in the
past so much."

What surprised him even more was his excellent win/loss record: four
wins, nine losses and two main events, rare for a foreigner on their
first tour.

"I was almost surprised when I did win. I enjoyed all of the singles
matches that I had, I worked a lot of talented guys. My first match
was against Toru Yano. He was very impressive, and I was really
nervous. I felt like I had rushed things, so I wasn't as good as I
could be. But I made up for it against Nagai, he gave it to me pretty
good but I still snuck out the win. What really made me feel great
that the crowd was so positive. Even when I was trying to be the bad
guy, they still cheered for me. All of the singles matches I felt
good, sore often, but good."

Just as important as achieving his dream of competing in Japan was the
friendships that he forged with both North American and Japanese
talent. Having studied tapes and respected so many of Japan's top
stars, it was an honor to compete against them and be accepted by
them.

"Shinya Macabe was one of my better matches over there, he taught me a
lot and we got along well. Jado and Gedo were both heels through and
through but they are very funny. I enjoyed sitting and talking with
them. It was hard to really get to know the local guys because I
didn't see them much during the day. The referees Tayama and Uno were
really helpful for anything. I found that Josh Barnett and I had a lot
in common which was surprising. Back in my high school world, a guy
who looks like him wouldn't be friends with someone who looked like
me. We'd drive Scott on the bus crazy because he would be trying to
watch a DVD in front of us and we would be yakking about Warhammer or
music for an hour."

Overall, the Calgary athlete had nothing but praise for the
company."They really are 'The King of Sports.' They don't use the pyro
and effects that WWE has, so it is more real. When two guys get in the
ring there, you don't just expect to be entertained, you expect a
fight. I don't think there is wrestling anywhere like in New Japan,"
he said, before sharing his thoughts on the talent. "They really are
the best, their workers are the best in the world. Guys are always
improving, and I can see the young boys that they have someday being
big. Scott Norton remembered watching Tenzan as a young boy, and look
where he is now. You watch them because you never know who they could
be. It was an experience unlike any other. I haven't worked for a lot
of companies, let alone big ones, but I have no complaints. It was a
dream come true to be there, now that I am home its sad. I am proud to
be in Stampede, but I would like to be there as much as possible."

Reports out of Japan say it definitely will not be the last trip, as
fans and the company alike were impressed with his humbleness, work
ethic and talent. Apocalypse hopes that he will soon be back.

"I hope it is the first of many to come. Since I have been home every
day I miss it. You can only do so much here, all I can do is train to
go back so that I am better then I was the last time. I did the best I
could to make everyone happy, because it made me so happy to be there,
and I don't want it to be the last time."


--- Internet Rex 2.29