Strong Style vs King's Road

[SolidGoldBomb]

Mr. Tanabe,

A friend told me you were a very knowledgeable person on puroresu so I was hoping you could help explain to me, the differences in these two styles. I have asked this same question on other message boards and have gotten answers like..."Both terms are completely made up and are bandied about in an attempt to get over as smart by clueless guys who look like Comic Book Guy and play too much Firepro." I wanted to ask a reliable source like youself though, what your thoughts on these terms were...where did these two terms come from? I know King's Road was Giant Baba's style of wrestling in AJPW and Strong Style was Inoki's style in NJPW, but what are the defining characteristics of Strong Style & King's Road Style? Did Baba or Inoki ever use the terms "Strong Style" or "King's Road" themselves to describe their style? And when did each style really start, how did it come about and where? Thank you for your time and consideration...

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

"King's Road" is more of a slogan than a wrestling style. At least that's how I understand it.

Simply put, "strong style" is a pro-wrestling style in which wrestlers focus on presenting the wrestling skill (not necessarily high spots) and strength more than gimmicks and showmanship.

In fact, there was a discussion on this before. Click here for the thread.

[SolidGoldBomb]

Ah, that helped clear it up for me. A slogan not a style...I see

Domo arigato Tanabe-San!