The most adorable wrestling match you’ll ever see.
On May 8, Differ Ariake, an indoor sporting arena in Tokyo, erupted into chaos as several Japanese costumed characters climbed into a wrestling ring and duked it out in an intense battle royale-style showdown.
This ridiculous event was held to promote the upcoming May 18 release of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s latest movie, Rampage. Called Rampage: Kyoju Dairanto, which roughly translates to “Rampage: A Grand Battle of Giant Beasts,” it’s pretty clear the marketers for the movie drew inspiration for this event from the fact that the movie features Johnson, a former professional wrestler in real life, taking on kaiju-like “giant beasts.”
The stretching to almost twice his heigh trick didn’t really help Nebaru-kun much in the end
In attendance at the promotional event were six costumed characters, many of which are quite well known and popular.
- Andre the Giant Panda: A 3 meter (~10 ft.) tall giant panda whose name is an obvious nod to one of the most famous professional wrestlers ever: Andre the Giant.
- Melon Kuma: A bear with a melon for a head from Yubari City, Hokkaido, a place that is famous for, of course, bears and melons.
- Nebaru-kun: A stretchy mascot from Ibaraki inspired by natto (fermented soy bean).
- Okazaemon: A creepy-cute helmet-haired, cat-ish character from Okazaki City in Aichi Prefecture.
- Fruit Ninja Haruna: A fruit-headed ninja character from Gunma Prefecture. True to its ninja nature, this character was by far one of the most agile and fast ones to compete.
- Chi-tan: Originally from Akihabara in Tokyo but now serving as a tourism ambassador for Susaki City in Kochi Prefecture this character is based on a real-life otter that developed quite a following online. She has a reputation for being extremely rambunctious.
Chi-tan going crazy with a bat outside the ring
The event was a battle of truly monstrous proportions. Of course, with his massive size and bulk, Andre the Giant Panda was the one to beat and the other smaller mascots came out swinging right from the get-go.
The final showdown
The match featured many of the tropes one has come to expect from professional wrestling, including epic entrances and beating up on the referee (see top image). However, perhaps one of the most amusing aspects of the event was Chi-tan. Despite refusing to participate in the match itself because she did not want to “fight her fellow mascots,” she nevertheless, gave quite a show, running around the venue and even pulling out a bat to mercilessly beat a punching bag, all while the other mascots were in an intense battle in the ring.
A very effective finishing move
Ultimately, it all came down to a David & Goliath-style showdown between the agile Fruit Ninja Haruna and the tank-like Andre the Giant Panda. Despite the ninja’s best efforts though, Andre the Giant Panda, came out on top – quite literally.
A true champion
If you’d like to watch this chaotic event for yourself, then you’re in luck, because the 15-minute video below shows it in its entirety.
And here are all the mascots lined up for a photo session. Keep an eye out for stretchy Nebaru-kun.
And finally, here’s a video of all the crazy Chi-tan moments.
Source: Gadget News, News Walker
Image: 「ゆるキャラ大乱闘」イベントがカオスすぎる／Japan’s “Yuru-chara” Challenges Wrestling (Gadget News)
