I received an email today that was very critical of my New Japan coverage on this site. This was from a long-time reader of SSS who remembers how thorough and comprehensive my coverage of New Japan used to be, with detailed descriptions of every house show, every press conference, and so on. This person, who I will not name as I respect any opinion of my site, suggested I should close SSS because “others do it better now”.

I’m the first to admit my coverage isn’t nearly as good as it once was and hasn’t been for a long time but there are reasons for this. The primary reason is time, I just do not have the time to spare like I used to and often have to rush to get reports up. Now I have to work more and have other things that take up big chunks of my time.

Secondly, while I have had since 1998 and always will have a strong emotional attachment to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the other things in my life mean my passion for it isn’t as strong as it used to be. It is natural that when you can’t focus on one thing as much as before that your interest in that thing becomes less intense.

For the last couple of years, I have struggled to make the time to even watch New Japan, whereas in the past I used to watch everything from the secondary tapings to the internet-only matches. Now I have to limit myself to carefully selected matches. Does this mean I don’t know every little thing about New Japan now like I used to? Yeah, probably, but I like to think my longevity in following New Japan since 1998 and covering it in some form since 1999, means I still know a lot of things that many others don’t.

Now, as for the person’s suggestion I should close SSS, I have often wondered if I should when my coverage becomes so basic that it might not interest people anymore but as far as I can tell this site still gets decent hits and is still read by many hardcore and casual puroresu fans. So I still have no plans to close it even though I can’t give as much of my time to it anymore. And while I run this site it will give New Japan/puroresu some relevance in my life and probably stop the risk of me drifting away from it like countless people I’ve known have over the last ten years.

And so that is it, Strong Style Spirit will remain open indefinitely until a time comes when I simply can’t do it anymore – but I don’t think that time will be any time soon. The site is now over a decade old and will be much older before it bites the dust. I am sorry that my coverage may not be as good as it used to be but I will do my best with the time I can spare for SSS.

– Stuart

By semi-popular demand I’ve revived an old page that I never got around to putting up after the switch to WordPress in 2008. It is a list of wrestlers from the dojo who debuted with New Japan, and the year they started. Only New Japan trueborns (dojo graduates) and semi-trueborns (who started elsewhere, but were taken into the New Japan youth system) are listed, as well as original characters (such as Tiger Mask).

Titles/Tournaments/Data -> New Japan Debut Directory

There is a lot of other old data that I hope some time to get back up but my time is a lot more limited nowadays than it used to be, so it may take a while.

Just a shout-out to announce that the Puroresufan.com network’s Pro Wrestling NOAH fan page, Green Destiny, has returned! It closed quite some time ago after falling inactive but has finally found a new webmaster that I feel can get the site moving again.

So if you like Pro Wrestling NOAH, please bookmark Green Destiny. Content is going to be added over time but the skeleton and updates are already there.

Have you seen the January 4th Tokyo Dome show yet? It was very much an event worth seeing in full and on a big screen with surround sound. Well, our sponsor IVP Videos is now offering the event on DVD for a ridiculously low $1.99. And along with this release, IVP have added over 250 brand new DVDs titles to their catalogue, so go and check ‘em out!

My time is a lot more limited these days, so finding time to re-add old data has been difficult to say the least. But I’ve managed to upload a bare bones roster list, fully up to date, with champions listed.

- New Japan Roster

The permanent link is on the left, just under the Results/Schedule (constantly updated, just added some new posters today) link. When I get time I hope to work on getting the History section back up and running, and will also probably re-add profiles in time.

IVP Videos is bringing the specials this Christmas that lets you stack up on quality puroresu at awesome prices! Right now, they are having three sales going on for anyone who wants to grab a stack of Japanese pro wrestling to watch.

- Buy 15 DVDs for a discounted cost of $37.99
- Buy 25 DVDs for a discounted cost of $54.99
- Buy 40 DVDs for a discounted cost of $79.99

The more you buy, the cheaper it is per DVD - the 40 for $79.99 deal works out at less than $2 per DVD. OMG! So please visit one of the sponsors that helps keep the Puroresufan.com network up and running, IVP Videos, and take advantage of this offer while it lasts.

I’ve been told I should post about this - SSS’ results archives ARE back and fully up-to-date, if you haven’t seen them. Just above this post or whatever is the top news post at any time is the link “[New Japan Results & Schedule]“. If you click that, you’ll be taken to the complete archive of New Japan results. It has been there a while, but I think some have been mistaking it for another of these blog tag links.

As for other data, well I’ve been busy with other stuff lately, so nothing is done yet. I do tentatively have a wiki set up, but the whole thing and how to use it (from an admin perspective) is a little over my head and I haven’t really had time to look into it yet. If there are any puroresu lovers and EXPERIENCED WIKI USERS (who know how to use admin tools) who would be interested in helping run a wiki full of Japanese pro wrestling profiles, title histories, and lots more, drop me an email (toukonstuart AT gmail DOT com).

Welcome back to Strong Style Spirit!

Most Puroresufan.com Network sites have (or will have shortly) new WordPress blog technology installed to really bring us into the 2000s… yup, the old news script and all hadn’t been updated since 2001, which left us open to many security vulnerabilities, etc.

Anyway, the front page is now back, and I’m still debating how to implement the horde of permanent data each site has, whether to do a wiki or something else.

The forums have reopened at: http://www.puroresufan.com/forum

Comments for posts on this site are back, and whether other Puroresufan.com webmasters want to open their’s is their own choice. SSS’ will be open unless it leads to any problems - remember, I can view IP addresses and then not only ban trolls from commenting, but from viewing any Puroresufan.com site if I want, so please post in a civil manner and use a consistent username.