John Lister Talks Purodyssey, U.K. Scene
The Purodyssey author shares tales from seeing 14 shows from 11 promotions in just eight days.
John Lister decided to visit Japan for the first time in 2017, seeing 14 shows from 11 promotions in just eight days.
He documented his journey in Purodyssey (A Tokyo Wrestling Diary), which not only chronicles his visiting venues from the Tokyo Dome to a converted pharmacy, but also describes daily life in Japan. From navigating through the city to surviving the language barrier, Lister shares his experience as a lonely stranger in a foreign land, guided by the allure of strong style and death matches.
On an episode of Corrigan’s Corner on Team LeftJab Radio, Lister discussed his wrestling fandom and shared some pearls of wisdom for newcomers to the Land of the Rising Sun.
For a review of Purodyssey, click here. For the full interview, click here.
Purodyssey is available on Amazon.
How did you become a pro wrestling fan?
Lister: “I’ve been watching since 1985, watching the old British stuff on TV. I wouldn’t say I was a fan, it was just a program that was on. Around 1989, pretty much everyone in town had cable TV so we had WWE programming. Snakes being dragged over people just seemed ridiculous to me. That was also around the time of the Randy Savage-Hulk Hogan breakup and as hokey as it may be, Randy Savage’s intensity dragged me in and got me interested in what would happen next. Here I am nearly 30 years later.”
It’s amazing how that mid-to-late 1980s era captivated so many people and made them fans for life.
Lister: “The longest I wasn’t a wrestling fan was four days. It was after WrestleMania IX and I was so disgusted with Hulk Hogan coming back and stealing Bret Hart’s thunder. I said I’m not watching this anymore, and then four days later my friend said Mr. Fuji has filed a protest over it. I thought, ooh, I have to tune in and see what Jack Tunney says about this!”
(laughs) Good ol’ Jack Tunney. It’s funny how important the authority figure seemed back in the day compared to the past few years when you wouldn’t care if Paige promised to resolve an issue next week on SmackDown.
Lister: “Yeah, and then she would be overruled by Shane McMahon and then he’d get overruled by Vince McMahon and you’re never quite sure who is meant to be in charge. It’s so overplayed. I do enjoy when these new promotions get away from the authority figure and come up with new storylines.”
So when did you decide I want to write about pro wrestling?
Lister: “By the time I started watching, I had already decided I wanted to be a journalist. About a year or so after I started watching, I found some people in the town that I lived who put together a fanzine and had it sold in local shops. It was outselling WWE Magazine but only in one specific market. After university, I started freelance writing and have been writing about wrestling on and off ever since. I’ve been writing for Fighting Spirit Magazine for six years now.”
That’s very impressive to find work in journalism these days, let alone in the diminishing market of wrestling magazines.
Lister: “Yeah, I really enjoy writing for Fighting Spirit. The editor, Brian Elliot, comes from a newspaper background in the U.K. here. He always tells people to write very much in the style of covering wrestling as they would sports or business.”
It seems like the U.K. wrestling scene is thriving.
Lister: “It’s certainly the strongest it’s been since a year or two when it went off national television here in 1988. The independent scene is doing very well here with several companies running 10,000-seat buildings. You’ve got more wrestlers, more people to train to become wrestlers, more merchandise. You’ve got the biggest amount of British people, at least in a couple generations, making wrestling their full-time living. Once you do that, you improve so much more quickly because you’re getting more experience, working with more guys and learning to adjust your style because you’re wrestling every night of the week. It’s very different from independent guys who would work once or twice a month and go out and do crazy moves because they’ve got a month to recover from it.”
After going to Japan and seeing 14 shows from 11 different promotions in eight days, were you burnt out?
Lister: “I never really get tired of wrestling. There were times when I was physically tired, and I think certainly if I’ve gone with someone who wasn’t as dedicated a wrestling fan, I’d have to do a lighter schedule. I wanted to see as many different promotions and as many stars to get that sort of value from the trip.”
If you could have done anything differently on your trip, what would it be?
Lister: “I’d like to have gone to a show on the first day called Hart Hit, run by a promotion that does the old UWF shoot style, much more realistic wrestling with only submissions and knockouts.”
I had barely any knowledge of the Japanese wrestling scene, but after reading Purodyssey, I went on YouTube and browsed around so I think you did a great service in opening fans’ eyes to different promotions, performers and styles.
Lister: “Well, I’m very pleased to hear that. One of the things I wanted to explore was the sheer variety in wrestling and how it’s all in one city. Which in the U.K. there is still an element of travel if you want to see all the different kind of promotions.”
Purodyssey is available on Amazon.
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