By John Moore
Tiger Mask W – Episode 6
Aired November 5, 2016 on TV Asahi/Crunchyroll
The title card opened this week’s episode and the show was titled “Idol vs. Heel”…
Tiger Mask was running along the beach training. At a GWM gym, Takuma was getting a massage. Miss X told Takuma that this was happening since wrestling is not only about strength but also about looks. Takuma put on his gear and took pictures at a photoshoot…
Back in Japan, Ryu Wakamatsu was eating lunch with Kazuchika Okada. Okada allowed the young lion to eat with him. On the same patio they saw two teenage idols named Hama Nam and Yaki Udon. Okada wasn’t familiar with them. Ryu mentioned how they were booked to sing some pop music at the New Japan show later on. Hama told Yaki that she was just about to send out a tweet to tell their fans that New Japan tricked them into singing at a professional wrestling show. Yaki agreed since she thought it would protect their image against the barbaric professional wrestling stigma.
The idols saw Tiger Mask and thought it was odd and ugly seeing a buff man in a cat mask exercising on the beach…
Haruna was back at the Takaoka workshop showing her dad some of the merchandise she came up which contained bobble heads and t shirts. She then rushed to the New Japan arena…
There were some female wrestling fans outside of the arena going over the card which featured CHAOS vs. GBH as well as Gorilla Jeet Singh vs. Tiger Mask. The girls saw that the show was also featuring Japanese Pop Idols Hama Ham and Yaki Udon which they thought was disrespectful to professional wrestling. The large group of female fans all agreed in unison about the absurdity of having pop idols on a wrestling show. They were also in a rush to head to the merchandise stands where Togi Makabe and Tomohiro Ishii were taking pictures…
Elsewhere Ryu Wakamatsu was using a new rolling key lock to defeat his opponents. Even though it was effect, Ryu was so tired that he caused a double pinfall due to fatigue. Nagata went to the ring and Ryu couldn’t even get up. After the ring was cleared, the pop idols entered the ring. The female smart mark fans gave the idols the evil glare. The fans pointed out how the idols posted disrespectful tweets on pro wrestling. Nagata saw the tweets and was a bit outraged. The idols explained themselves and acted like they were above pro wrestling and the marks.
Nagata said we all like pro wrestling and he tried to play peace maker. The fan pointed out that New Japan playing politics is what is keeping them from becoming a global pro wrestling company. Nagata agreed. Nama Ham and Yaki Udon were mocking Nagata from aside causing the large amount of female wrestling fans to point out in unison that the idols hate pro wrestling. Nama Ham pointed out that they just care about the money. That drew more heat from the fans. Nama and Yaki then thought that playing heel was fun so they started to slap their asses in front of the fans.
The fans started to throw stuff in the ring because they said they were here for pro wrestling and not pop idols. Suddenly the foreign wrestler Gorilla Jeet Singh made his way to the ring waving a sword…[C]
John’s Thoughts: Again, more filler and no progression on the Yellow Devil storyline, but it looks like whoever is consulting the writing to this show is trying to educate non-wrestling fans as to some of the reasons why people watch pro wrestling. This week’s lesson is heels and how they draw heat. Also, how promotions can sell out to the mainstream including New Japan.
Gorilla was scaring the fans and idols with his giant sword and roaring. Gorilla took a bouquet of flowers and ate it. Gorilla took his Scimitar Sword and was about to walk to the idols. Tiger Mask ran in to the rescue. The idols were taken to the back by Okada and Wakamatsu.
1. Tiger Mask vs. Gorilla Jeet Singh. Gorilla still had his scimitar in hand. The referee threatened to disqualify him and took a chop. REF BUMP! Tiger Mask overpowered Gorilla and knocked the sword out of his hand. The idols mocked pro wrestling again from the outside. Tiger Mask gave Gorilla a clothesline and double knee dive. After a chop Gorilla tried to plead innocence.
Gorilla punched Tiger Mask in the nuts and pushed the ref aside for another ref bump. Tiger Mask no sold it and managed to hit a dropkick on Gorilla. Gorilla did make Tiger Mask slip midair. Gorilla pushed the ref down again for another bump.
John’s Thoughts: I know this is New Japan, but did they borrow TNA bookers for the night with no disqualifications and ref bumps?
Gorilla went for a knee dive of his own but only hit mat since Tiger Mask rolled out of the way. Tiger Mask then locked in and hit Gorilla with the bridged German Suplex to pick up the win.
Tiger Mask defeated Gorilla Jeet Singh via pinfall in 2:26.
Gorilla got up and blamed his loss on the referee being Japanese. He went to get his scimitar again to do something but retreated due to Tiger Mask scaring him with a death glare. This match made the pop idols like pro wrestling for some reason. Okada entered the ring which drew cheers from the New Japan fangirls. He talked about everyone here being supporters of pro wrestling. Okada said to stop the hate and to make wrestling fans look good they should listen to the pop song from the idols. Okada then introduced Nama Ham and Yaki Udon who sung their pop song. Tiger Mask was prepping backstage and the pop singers went into Anime Ending mode. The pop singers were cheered in the end…
Backstage Nagata and the pop stars thanked each other. The pop singers said their respect for pro wrestling came from Tiger Mask and Okada saving them from that odd situation with Gorilla. Nama Ham and Yaki Udon then went to tiger mask and thanked him. They also mentioned how they’d like to thank Gorilla for teaching them this lesson. Nama Ham and Yaki Udon discussed how they thought that Gorilla’s gimmick was a work and how he must be a scholar in real life. They entered Gorilla’s locker room and he did his savage yell to scare them. This made them think that some things in wrestling aren’t a work…
Elsewhere Ryu Wakamatsu was flirting with Haruna at her merch stand. Haruna brushed him off. The pop idols told Tiger Mask at the beach that they liked pro wrestling now. He pointed out how he heard them mock him for exercising on the beach. Haruna ran to Tiger Mask and showed him some of the Tiger merchandise. The episode ended with Tiger Mask looking into the moonlight…
John’s Thoughts: At least while we’re in the filler portion of the anime, the show is trying to get anime fans into professional wrestling. Maybe this is due to the influence of some sort of consultant being from New Japan and they probably want to draw some eyes to the New Japan product. This show is obviously a promotional tool for New Japan in addition to being a reboot of the Tiger Mask series. The show also isn’t afraid to take their shots against WWE. This episode, if we’re talking pro wrestling 101, is an introduction to the purpose of heels and the pop singers were both the conduit of being a heel and of being a fan learning the importance of heels. It was in the title, Idol vs Heel!
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