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Entry #1: "Will your baby be sitting on your lap?"July 31, 2003: So by now you all know that I was lucky enough to be chosen to work the AtoZ Wrestling debut show in Japan. Woohoo!! Japan has been my number one goal for the longest time (that and to earn my Ribera's Steakhouse jacket-which I scored in burgundy). I promised John I would keep a running journal of my happenings over there and give everyone kind of an inside glance at my goings-on over there. But first, a little background into the preparation for this trip. I had just returned home from a trip to Chicago to find out I had no ticket to my TNA dark match and I would have to grab BarbieHead and Momma to head to Nashville. So I am rushing around like a maniac, got pink hair dye in my hair and Lucy Furr rings my cell phone, going "Sister, get on your voice mail, you are replacing me in Japan!". Funny, haha. I didn't believe her at first but after some gentle reassuring from Lucy, I checked my voice mail and sure enough, I was going. I would repeat the first words out of my mouth, but hey, this is a family site. I think. 
I headed down to Nashville, with my fears about the dark on the back burner and my fear and excitement concentrated on this trip to Japan. I had a week and a half to prepare and get everything in order. After getting back from Nashville (and running my cell phone bill up again by repeating calling people and saying holy hannah can you believe this?!?!), I threw myself into training, tanning and getting what I needed packed for the trip. My brother was already in Japan at the time and was awesome enough to email me different words I would need and other useful bits of information. The Saturday before I left comes and sees me at the Ring of Honor show in Elizabeth, NJ. I end up getting stuck in Queens, NY afterwards where myself, Lucy and CM Punk get little sleep before heading back out on the road the next day (stick with me here-there is a point coming around the bend). I finally get back to the House of Honor late Sunday afternoon where the roomie and I finish my packing and wait for some pals who are picking me up and staying up with me all night before dropping me off at Philadelphia International. Man, thank goodness for Greg and CJ, I don't know how I would have stayed up all night without them and the help of some really good wrestling tapes. Monday morning finally arrives and we are off to the airport, where I am completely convinced that there is no ticket there and this is the greatest rib ever pulled by my friends. The lack of sleep contributed to this illogical train of thought. But fortunately, I made it through and was about to head to my gate when the lady checking tickets looks at me, and with a straight face, asks if my baby will be sitting on my lap for this flight to Chicago. Baby? Me? What?!?! Then I realize what she is talking about. My stuffed penguin that I travel with (yeah I know I am 26 but I don't care, Pengy is comfortable as hell on a plane) is sticking out of my backpack. I think nothing of this oversight-that is until it is repeated three more times. I knew I had a maternal instinct but jeez... My flight from Philadelphia to Chicago was a mess due to the delightful weather around Chicago. I end up missing my original flight to Tokyo/Narita Airport but as I got off the Chicago flight, I found another one that gave me about 20 minutes to catch. But I forgot that United usually closes the plane 15 minutes before take off and for those of you familiar with O'Hare, those minutes between terminals is crucial. I ran like Forrest Gump to that next terminal, cell phone in one hand, Pengy in the other, comic books falling out of my backpack and a need to hit the restroom like a champ. Thankfully I made the flight and Pengy and I settled in for what was going to be a 12 hour plus flight. And guess what lucky person gets insomnia after being up almost two straight days at this point? Yup, born under a bad sign me. I ended up watching How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days three times, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind once, Daredevil once and various Food Network shows and even some cartoons. Finally, the time passes and I am in Narita Airport. I am dead on my feet at this point. I make it through Customs pretty unscathed and head out into the lobby where I am looking for....hmmm, yeah I didn't have a clue who was coming to get me. But Mr. Agawa was waiting there, along with Japanese press, to greet me and tape my arrival for TV. That's right, two days of no sleep and 16 hours of travel, and Pengy and I are on National TV in Japan. This is the life!! : ) Entry #2: "Scrambled Porn or Sleep? Hmmm...too many options."August 4, 2003: I left off where I was taping promos at the airport. Once we were finished there, we headed over to the AtoZ Wrestling dojo. The dojo was about an hour away from the airport, and of course my body wasn't going to allow any sleep, so I sat in the back and just watched the Japanese world go by. Now I had been told that cars there are like cars in Europe but to actually sit in one was a little weird for me. Especially the driving on the other side of the road thing. That was hella weird and sometimes frightening. But I digress. 
The dojo was nothing like I imagined. But then again, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. From the outside, it looks a giant warehouse. Inside there are two floors: on the first there is the training area, kitchen, bathroom, and shower; on the second floor is the offices and sleeping quarters. All very simple but perfect in a way. There are no distractions from training here. It is a wonderful environment for training. Seeing how the dojo is set up, how they go about each and everyday of training shows me why Japanese women are superior to the vast majority of American women in the ring. (I am sure someone out there is going to argue with me about my choice words--save it. The best of the American females know who they are. I am not ignoring them or putting them down in anyway. More power to those ladies as they open doors for the rest of us.) The training I watched this first night was pretty inspiring to me. They train day in and day out, giving up their lives to perfect their craft. I knew right from that moment there I wanted to come back to train extensively. And I hadn't gotten into the ring yet! So I hung out and chilled at the dojo for a few hours, met the girls there and talked over things a bit with my tag partner for Friday, Sachie Abe, and our opponents, Rie Tamada and Baby A (Bebe!). After they finished training, the girls who stay in the dojo all cooked a meal to share and were kind enough to invite me to stay for my first Japanese meal. I sat down with them to enjoy my rice and fish when something soft and furry comes flying past me. Again here I used words not to be said in a "family" environment. But in a nutshell our conversation went like this:
I think they were ribbing me. But I will admit I was bummed the next few days that their "pet" didn't come visit me again. Boooo. After visiting the dojo, I was dropped off at my hotel, which was just a few minutes away. I checked and headed up to my room. Which was, as in true Japanese custom, very small. Paul London had informed me before I left that everything is smaller. So I get in there, and decide since it is only 8:00pm, I was going to watch some TV. Twelve channels, one which didn't work and one which was scrambled porn that cost 100 yen a movie. After realizing I didn't understand the normal channels and was too tired to decipher the scrambled porn, I turned off the lights in hopes of quieting the sudden loneliness I felt and went to sleep. Entry #3: "Eat your heart out, my beloved Barbiehead!"August 8, 2003: It is 5:30am on my third day of my trip. I am wide awake, can't sleep anymore and have no clue at this point how to get around or where to go. Groan! I don't even have to be up and functioning for another five and a half hours!! This is when Japan gets really lonely. No one to talk to, no way to email and I can't understand what is on the TV, although there was this charming little commercial (for bandages or wound ointment I am assuming) with little blue drops of something doing a dance around a bump on this chick's skin. Hmm...maybe it was wart remover. I don't know, but anyway, my morning consisted of a protein bar, some water, this commercial and more scrambled porn. 
Finally, the time has come for me to return to the dojo and start my training with the ladies in my match: Sachie Abe, Rie Tamada and Baby A (Bebe!). We train for about four hours, on and off, in the ring and out. Eventually, April gets to the dojo right from Narita Airport to hang out and meet everyone again. Towards the end of the day, I hear the few words that would bring Barbiehead to her very knees: "Would you two like to go see Toryumon tonight?". Would we? Hells yeah!! Not only do I get to torture BH with stories of Toryumon, I get to mark the hell out for all these awesome workers she has told me about. What could possibly make this better? Woohooo!! The show is at famous Korakuen Hall!! Where on earth did I stumble upon such a ray of good karma? April and I shower up and hit the mean streets of Tokyo, looking for love in all the wrong places. Ok, not love so much as really amazing wrestling in a right place called Korakuen Hall. Did I mention it was at Korakuen Hall?? Sorry, that was me getting all giddy again. My bad. The show was amazing to say the least. Reminded me how much I want streamers. Afterwards, we found a Sizzler in the Hall to grab a bite to eat (which for me was a salad and some ice cream Fast forward to the next morning Afterthought: For those of you who thought I was cruel to Barbiehead, please take solace in the fact that I brought back my Toryumon/Korakuen Hall show pass for her to keep. See, I am not so bad. Entry #4: "Riberia's--I have dreamt of this day"
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G.L.O.R.Y. Wrestling is thrilled that our own Allison Danger has agreed to give us the inside story about her recently completed week-long trip to Japan (with fellow G.L.O.R.Y. Girl April Hunter). Over the next several days, Allison will be giving G.L.O.R.Y. fans an exclusive insight into everything that happened during her time in The Land Of The Rising Sun...and she'll tell us in a way that only this unique G.L.O.R.Y. Girl can!
