Koju Takeda

It has probably been explained in this thread but I am too lazy to look.

So is there a subculture of overtly homoerotic wrestling in Japan? Are matches like these a form of comedy with the stripping of clothing? Is the audience intended to be gay men? Or is the appeal more broad?
Came here to ask this exact question because I'm genuinely so confused, although I'm VERY about this lol
 
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This is not the type of wrestling I’m used to wow
The photos in this thread are mostly from the "goofy" wrestling shows they have in Japan. These are rehearsed/choreographed matches that are showed several times at different venues (wish we could've seen the rehearsals, too). So these are shows, not actual matches. Of course, they also have actual wrestling where they beat the crap out of each other. But there's no trunks coming off in those and they are too violent for this thread. Lastly, they have smaller venue/"closed" showes where no recording is allowed. We can only guess what's going on there. Japanese wrestling is indeed a separate universe :)
 
It has probably been explained in this thread but I am too lazy to look.

So is there a subculture of overtly homoerotic wrestling in Japan? Are matches like these a form of comedy with the stripping of clothing? Is the audience intended to be gay men? Or is the appeal more broad?
Yes, you're correct. There are many other wrestlers who do the same stuff as Koju. He's just the most popular and renown. They're not as uptight about nudity and sexuality in Japan as we are in the rest of the world. Google "naked man festival" or Hadaka Matsuri lol. The audience is super diverse at these wrestling shows. Obviously, plenty of gay dudes. However, these are really popular with Japanese ladies, too. Also, I've seen todlers in the audience as well lol. I guess one takes live easier when they weren't burdened by centuries of repressive religions. I'll be posting more photos over the weekend ;)