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The show opens with Warren Walters, 35 years old, new recruit. He is wearing a sling on his right arm. He relates to his job as a chef to being a wrestler, in that the job is never done.
Opening credits.
The Chef
Walters quotes Timothy Thatcher saying that "the age you get into wrestling is the age you stay in wrestling", because it is not a normal world. If you are immature in wrestling then you will tend to be that way.
Walters describes his training in wrestling as similar as his training to be a chef. There is teamwork involved. You have to look out for your brothers, through cleaning and training. He says if you cannot look out for your brothers, then you will not look out for them in the ring.
Walter explains how he aggravated his injured right arm in training and had to put it in a sling. The injury to his arm caused numbness in three fingers so he is waiting for doctor's clearance to resume training. If he has to go through surgery, he says his wrestling career could be over. He is describes himself as a "dad" amongst the other recruits. He spent 17 years training to be a chef, which comes with learning how to be a leader. In the Dojo House, he is the unofficial leader as he is older and is there as he heals from his injury.
Food For Thought
Walters continues saying that he grew up around food and cooking. He does not want praise for his cooking. All he needs are smiles and fully bellies.
Walters explains how he got to the Fale Dojo. It was something he wanted to try, and he knows at his age, this is his only shot. The injury was devastating to him. However, he said, like Fale-san, they both look at the positive and there are other possibilities in the wrestling business.
Wounds
The scene shifts to Mission Bay in South Auckland. Toks Fale says they are at the Bay to have a morning walk before training. He said that it has been a tense couple of weeks. However, morale was boosted when the recruits realized that they would have their first exhibition matches with a live show with paying customers. Fale mentioned several recruits have injuries. Michael Richards has a severely sprained ankle, but he hopes to perform at the exhibition. Fale says that injuries happen when there is a lack of communication. He says that it is a part of the wrestling business, and you have to mentally prepare yourself for that possibility.
Mitch Schoemaker speaks on other wrestlers who are training for this business and are traveling to far place for training. He says he chose here, because it would give him the best chance.
Kohimarama
The recruits begin running up a flight of stone steps for their training.
Mitch Schoemaker continues saying that he worked as a sales and marketing developer for the property industry, for seven years. He was an only child, but with the time spent training and living together, he says he has never been closer with anyone as he has with the recruits in the Dojo House.
Schoemaker remembers traveling to New York City and visiting Times Square, when he was eight years old. There he saw a wrestling poster for a live event. When he returned to the hotel, he got to watch the event on the television and he was instantly hooked on wrestling. His love and interest in wrestling evolved as he got older, from that of a child's point of view to an adult.
Walters explains that he never knew how to get into wrestling. He did not find out until his late 20s on how to go about becoming a wrestler. Walters gives his impression on a bunch of recruits. He points out Richard Mulu who works so hard and give it his all. He says some of the recruits do not put the work in, which frustrates him because he is injured and would like to be training with his teammates.
Hard Times
Schoemaker explains how many recent injuries he has had in the past few months. These setbacks have taking a toll on his mindset.
Schoemaker speaks about the morning activities. When they got to the Dojo, they did their morning cleaning. Everyone sat down to talk. The trainers wanted everyone to air out any frustrations that they had. Schoemaker told his story about feeling sad and missing his loved ones back home. Talking and communicating seem to help. He said there are hard times now and we suffer, but they will get through it together.
Fale again mentions that all this training may seem extreme but he has done it himself. This training is an opportunity for the recruits to invest in themselves to make it in the wrestling business. He asks them, "how much do you want it?" That is not a question for him to answer, but for them. He hopes that they find clarity in that answer because he knows that what he is doing is right in the NZ Dojo. But is it right for them?
Young Lions Assemble
Back at the NZ House, the recruits are building the ring for the exhibition show. Michael Richards explains that the ring that they are building was used by the biggest New Japan stars like Hiroshi Tanahashi. The ring mat was from the G1 Climax when Kenny Omega won. Richards understands and feels the importance of heritage.
Toks Fale and Walters travel to get food for the barbecue.
Schoemaker speaks on his injured shoulder. He has been working around the injury and participating in all the training sessions. He does not feel 100%
Home Again.
Schoemaker continues saying that is was good to be back in the ring. This is his home away from his actual home.
The recruits do exercises in the ring to test the integrity and strength of the ring.
Pukana
We see the first time the recruits doing actual wrestling in the ring. They are in t-shirts, shorts and sneakers. They are into the facials, expressions and selling for each other.
Schoemaker explains that he loves his home, and to come to the NZ Dojo, it was a challenge. At times, he wants to give up, but he pushes himself to fight through it all.
The recruits continue to grapple and enjoy their time in the ring. Even Walters got to grapple a bit without his arm sling. Fale gathers them in the ring. He tells them when he says "Pukana", he wants to hear their Lion's Roar. He yells "Pukana" and the recruits give the loudest screams they could, much louder than in the first episode.
The Director asks Tony Kozina if he is confident about this crew entering the ring. Kozina immediately says "No". He is concerned about some showboating or showing off. He said they should do what they know. Before a live crowd, they want to do something special which will lead to injury. Kozina says sticking to what you know will make them better.
Walters closes the episode saying that even he has an injury and may not succeed, it is not the end of the world. He will gladly help his brothers to get them to succeed.
Trainers:
Toks Fale
Tony Kozina
Mark Tui
Tangi Ropati
Recruits:
Tumanako “T” Te’i (new)
Perenise “Eli” Taito (new)
Warren Walters (new)
Will “Southside” Averil (Returning student)
Dan Peru (Returning student)
Michael Richards (Young lion)
AJ Visage (Returning student)
Lloyd Morgan (Returning student)
Richard Mulu (Returning student)
Andrew “A.V.” Villalobos (Young lion)
Jake Taylor (Young lion)
Sebastian Matters (Returning student)
Tim Hayden (new)
Mitch Schoemaker (new)
My review:
Another fun episode. Following their toilet mishaps, it was great to see the recruits motivated and finally see them in the wrestling ring, even if it was just for fun. My favorite scene of the series so far was watching the recruits wrestling in the ring, with such enthusiasm, with an ukulele music soundtrack playing. When contrasted against the brutal training that they were going through, this was a fun sequence. You can see that these men love wrestling. They want to learn and do this for a living. Tony Kozina is the realist who is worried about problems happening, which is understandable. However, the joy on the recruits' faces were undeniable.
Warren Walters had a great perspective as a recruit. He seems at peace knowing that he may never accomplish his goal of becoming a wrestler, but he is a pragmatic person. I am sure Fale saw this and trusts his perspective, especially for a recruit to comment on other recruits. Walters did not point out anyone in a negative way, but it was interesting that his positive comments were included. I can see why Walters would be considered the "dad" recruit.
Schoemaker's viewpoints were interesting too. The amount of injuries he had in a short amount of time was brutal. The camera cannot capture the mental struggle of each recruit, but it is very cool that the struggle is acknowledged by the trainers and the group is willing to talk about it. I am glad it was not on camera, and I respect Schoemaker for sharing his struggles in his interview.
Please check out New Japan World and http://www.njpwworld.com, to see this documentary.
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