* The big part of this article was translated by using ChatGPT. Please note that there may be some awkward wordings.
It was the summer of 1994, when I was a college student in Texas.
It was the year before the release of Windows 95, so the internet hadn’t yet become widespread among the general public. However, because I was majoring in computer science, I had an account from the university that allowed me to connect to their network using a modem from my apartment. I frequently posted on wrestling newsgroups, and I also belonged to online services like CompuServe and Prodigy, through which I stayed in touch with many English-speaking wrestling fans.
In the English newsgroups, there was another Japanese person, let’s call him “K-san,” who was pursuing his doctoral degree at a graduate school in Texas. Together, we worked to promote the term “puroresu” (Japanese professional wrestling) in English-speaking communities.
One day, news came in that Antonio Inoki, the legendary Japanese wrestler, was going to have one of his rare appearances in the United States. It would take place at a WCW event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and it would be broadcast nationwide instead of being a pay-per-view. Coincidentally, my Japanese friend “B” lived in Iowa City, which was close to the event venue. The match was scheduled for August 24, a Wednesday, just before the fall semester started (or so it should have been). Since it was likely to be Inoki’s last match in the United States, I was determined to attend.
Naturally, I invited my fellow Inoki enthusiast, K-san, to come along. He drove all the way from Austin to my apartment in the Dallas suburbs, which took about 3-4 hours, and stayed overnight (I think). From there, the two of us embarked on a journey of over 10 hours to Iowa City in my car. During the trip, we repeatedly listened to a tape containing Japanese music from the early 1980s, which I had just acquired.
In Iowa City, we stayed at B’s apartment, who was a Japanese graduate student there but not necessarily a wrestling fan. He showed us around the university and the surrounding area. It was a safe and peaceful town, quite different from the Dallas area.
The next day, the event took place, and we had already obtained tickets. However, at the last moment, B showed some interest, so we convinced him and hurriedly bought another ticket. In the end, his seat seemed to be better than ours.
The venue had a lot of Japanese fans, as we later learned that it was a tour organized by Weekly Puroresu magazine.
Results (left side indicates the winner):
- The Nasty Boys vs Paul Orndorff & Paul Roma
- US Heavyweight Title: Ricky Steamboat vs Steve Austin (title change)
- Dusty Rhodes & Dustin Rhodes vs Terry Funk & Bunkhouse Buck [Jimmy Golden] (DQ)
- Antonio Inoki vs Lord Steven Regal
- WCW World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan (Flair retained due to a COR)
Looking back, it was an incredible card, and I roughly remember which wrestlers competed, but for some reason, or perhaps naturally, I don’t recall much about the matches other than Inoki’s.
After the event, we returned to B’s apartment and had a great time drinking together. We had beer and tequila, and we even grilled some beef tongue. I can’t quite remember if it happened the night before or that night, but we probably indulged in drinks for two consecutive nights.
The next morning, K-san and I got back in the car and made another journey of 10 hours or more back to Texas. During that trip too, I played the same tape we had listened to on the way there, and I recall K-san getting annoyed and irritated by it (LOL).
As it turned out, Inoki would later compete in a tag team match at the “World Peace Festival” event he organized in Los Angeles two years later. Despite featuring an impressive lineup, the Los Angeles event did not receive much attention among general fans due to a lack of TV coverage (excluding hardcore wrestling fans). In contrast, the Iowa event, where Inoki had a singles match and a television broadcast, left a stronger impression on me, making it feel like it was indeed his final appearance in the United States.
