History Wrestling / MichinokuProWrestling

-->"It's high-flying, it's action-packed. I'm going to be breathless just calling this."
-->--'''Wrestling/JoeyStyles''', before the Michinoku Pro Six-Man Tag Match at ''Wrestling/{{ECW}} Barely Legal''

Wiki/ThatOtherWiki [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michinoku_Pro_Wrestling has more info on MPW.]]

'''Michinoku Pro Wrestling''' ([=MPW=] or M-Pro) is a Japanese independent ProfessiinalWrestling promotion founded in 1993 by Wrestling/TheGreatSasuke. Bred as the offshoot of Universal Lucha Libre, Michinoku Pro was the second lucharesu promotion created in Japan and the biggest one until 1999, when Osaka Pro split off from it and [[Wrestling/{{Toryumon}} Toryumon Japan]] came from Mexico.

'''Michinoku Pro Wrestling''' ([=MPW=]) is a Japanese independent wrestling promotion founded in 1993 by Wrestling/TheGreatSasuke. Bred as the offshoot of Universal Lucha Libre, Michinoku Pro was the second lucharesu promotion created in Japan and the biggest one until 1999, when Osaka Pro split off from it and [[Wrestling/DragonGate Toryumon Japan]] came from Mexico.

The promotion showcases a very distinctive mix of styles, though most of them emanate from lucha libre, full of high-flying wrestling and appropiate masked aesthetic. Michinoku Pro is famously lighthearted in tone, which allows for comedy wrestling, costumed shenanigans with folkloric Japanese characters and weird gimmicks, and a very national sense of humor and wackiness. Also, it often features garbage wrestling and very stiff action with a bit of shoot-style, and even joshi (female) wrestling in recent times. Michinoku Pro is pretty geographically based: it mostly tours around Northern Japan in small local shows, only visiting the big arenas of Tokyo for special events, which gives it a close-knit feeling. Despite its smaller size, Michinoku Pro has outlived many and more famous wrestling promotions in Japan, and it is nowadays one of the notable marks of the puroresu scene.

The promotion showcases a very distinctive mix of styles, though all of them emanate from the lucha libre it was founded over, full of high-flying wrestling and appropiate masked aesthetic. Michinoku Pro is famously lighthearted in tone, which allows for comedy wrestling, costumed shenanigans with folkloric Japanese characters and weird gimmicks, and a very national sense of humor and wackiness. Also, it often features garbage wrestling and very stiff action with a bit of shoot-style, and even joshi (female) wrestling in recent times. Michinoku Pro is pretty geographically based: it mostly tours around Northern Japan in small local shows, only visiting the big arenas of Tokyo for special events, which gives it a close-knit feeling. Despite its smaller size, Michinoku Pro has outlived many and more famous wrestling promotions in Japan, and it is nowadays one of the notable marks of the puroresu scene.

* BadassGrandpa: The Great Sasuke, Jinsei Shinzaki and Kesen Numajiro are the elders in a promotion full of young wrestlers.
* BiggerBad: Wrestling/UltimoDragon turned out to be the mindmaster behind Kowloon, and revealed that his plan to save Michinoku Pro in 2004 by bringing his wrestlers from Toryumon X had actually been a years-long ruse to take over the promotion from his "friend" Sasuke.

ThatOtherWiki [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michinoku_Pro_Wrestling has more info on MPW.]]

* UnknownCharacter: It hasn't been revealed who played the character Hayashi Rice Man, [[Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels Curry Man]]'s tag team partner. [[EpilepticTrees Many puroresu wisemen]] believe it was Kaz Hayashi, as Rice Man's size and moveset resembled his and his name was a very obvious pun.

-->"It's high flying, it's action-packed. I'm going to be breathless just calling this."

'''Michinoku Pro Wrestling''' ([=MPW=]) is a Japanese independent wrestling promotion founded in 1993 by Wrestling/TheGreatSasuke. It was the second lucharesu promotion created in Japan and the biggest one until 1999, when Osaka Pro split off from it and [[Wrestling/DragonGate Toryumon Japan]] came from Mexico.

%%* FragileSpeedster: Yoshitsune, Kenbai and slightly less Rasse.

** Also Yonge Genjin, a character who was passed to the more famous Tsubo Genjin (Yone went to become Kesen Numajiro, by the way).

* TheStoic: Jinsei Shinzaki. All his selling seems to be grimacing mildly.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: The Great Sasuke's evil version SASUKE, who was less of a jolly CrazyAwesome and more of a vicious CombatPragmatist.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Kenbai to Yoshitsune.
* TagTeamTwins: The Sato twins.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Kinya Oyanagi and Kesen Numajiro.
* ThreeAmigos: Appropiately, Los Salseros Japoneses.
* UnknownCharacter: It hasn't been revealed who played the character Hayashi Rice Man, [[Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels Curry Man]]'s tag team partner. [[EpilepticTrees Many puroresu wisemen]] believe it was Kaz Hayashi, as Rice Man's size and moveset resembled his and his name was a very obvious pun.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: GAINA wore in green and sported green hair.

* TheAce: Not literally, but "ace" is a Japanese term for the top wrestler in the promotion, a place currently occupied by Hayato Fujita and Kenou (who ironically aren't lucharesu wrestlers).
* AssKicksYou: Kesen Numajiro and Maguro Ooma use hip attacks in their matches.

* BaldOfAwesome: Jinsei Shinzaki.
* BaldOfEvil: Maguro Ooma and the Sato twins.
* BashBrothers:
** The Sato twins are this literally. They were one of the most strongly pushed tag teams in Japan, as they were ridiculously effective in tag team matches and almost never lost. At least, until they became the [[GarbageWrestler Brahman Brothers]].
** The Yapper Men, also known as Speed of Sounds.
* BatterUp: Maguro Ooma's spiked bat.
* BigBeautifulMan: Katsuo.
* BiggerBad: Wrestling/UltimoDragon turned out to be the mindmaster behind Kowloon.
* BrattyHalfPint: Taro Nohashi is reportedly the smallest non-midget wrestler in Japan.
* TheBrute: Mango Fukuda.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Kesen Numajiro and ''especially'' The Great Sasuke.
* TheComicallySerious: Kinya Oyanagi.

* CoolMask: Almost all its wrestlers, at least during the 90s.
* CoolSword: Yoshitsune and Kenbai had one in their entry ceremony.
* {{Cosplay}}: Many.

* CreepyTwins: Shu and Kei Sato.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Kesen Numajiro is more than a stocky enka singer. When the occasion requires it, he can outwrestle his opponents with surprising badassery.

* DelinquentHair: Taka Michinoku.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Maguro Ooma during his fisherman gimmick.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: When The Great Sasuke became SASUKE, he changed his red and black mask to a blue and black one.

* {{Expy}}: Terry Boy (aka Mens Teioh) was one to Wrestling/TerryFunk.
* TheFairFolk: Rei's gimmick was something of a fairy from the forest, or something.
* TheFightingNarcissist: Kenou as a heel.

* {{Fundoshi}}: Maguro Ooma wore it, as his old gimmick was a fisherman (fundoshi is used in Japan as a swimsuit).
** Also Otoko Sakari wears it, as [[CampGay he is homosexual]].
* GarbageWrestler: The Brahman Brothers can almost literally work an entire match without a single wrestling move. This is a case of {{Flanderization}}, as while they were prone to hardcore wrestling since their FaceHeelTurn, they always had been very technical wrestlers.
* GayBravado: Macho*Pump.

* GroinAttack: Ken45º has it as a casual signature move, and for some reason he doesn't get disqualified for it.
* HeroicDolphin: Subverted, as Super Delfín was a heel.
* HeroKiller: Hayato Fujita after utterly destroying Yoshitsune and The Great Sasuke.
* HotBlooded: The Great Sasuke, and how...
* HumanNotepad: Hakushi, for religious purposes.
* IHaveManyNames: Specially Yoshitune (Takuya Sugi) and Rasse (Masaki Okimoto): They have wrestled under many names and monikers.
* IdolSinger: The Sato brothers's first gimmick was a BoyBand named Sailor Boys. Back in Toryumon X they were completed by Taiji Ishimori, so The Great Sasuke tried to replace him in Michinoku Pro, with [[DreadfulMusician disastrous results]].
* {{Jerkass}}: Kagetora and Hayato Fujita heel personas.
* {{Kappa}}: Shibaten's gimmick.
* [[KickChick Kick Guy]]: Hayato Fujita, Kenou and the Sato twins.

* LegacyCharacter: Shinjitsu Nohashi, whose gimmick was a little version of Jinsei Shinzaki.

%%* LightningBruiser: Jinsei Shinzaki and Kagetora.
%%* MightyGlacier: GAINA. Only 5'9 but 308 lbs. And most of it isn't fat!
* OddFriendship: The Great Sasuke and Jinsei Shinzaki. A loudmouthed, crazy ninja and a stoic, serene Buddhist pilgrim? Yeah, why not?.

* RedBaron: Hayato "Junior" Fujita.
* ReligiousBruiser: Jinsei Shinzaki, who is a Buddhist pilgrim.

* LightningBruiser: Jinsei Shinzaki and Kagetora.
* MightyGlacier: GAINA. Only 5'9 but 308 lbs. And most of it isn't fat!

* FragileSpeedster: Yoshitsune, Kenbai and slightly less Rasse.

* MightyGlacier: GAINA. Only 5'9 but 305 lbs. And most of it isn't fat!

* MightyGlacier: GAINA.