Riders enjoy pro wrestling spectacle on special train

CHIBA — About 50 passengers on a special JR Kururi Line train running in the southern part of Chiba Prefecture on Sunday were treated to a powerful spectacle of real professional wrestlers throwing down, accompanied by commentary.

e unusual event was arranged to promote the line, which has been in the red due to low ridership. e Chiba branch of East Japan Railway Co. planned the event, which included 17 wrestlers from the Big Japan Pro Wrestling and Niigata Pro Wrestling organizations.

e stunt bouts took place in a chartered two-car train making an about 90-minute round trip between Kisarazu and Kururi.

e wrestlers performed such techniques as the Power Bomb Return, a technique of li ing an opponent up and then throwing him down onto the oor, and the Kubi Yonnoji Gatame (a gure-four leg-lock of the neck), in which nearly 10 wrestlers line up to use it.

e wrestlers fought each other with unrestrained energy, displaying techniques that can only be used in the narrow con nes of a train carriage, cheered on by passengers and the play-by-play over the train’s PA system.

A 45-year-old company employee from Niigata, who has been a fan of professional wrestling for 30 years, said, “Compared to watching professional wrestling matches fought in the ring, watching those right in front of me on a train seat was so much more powerful.” (Nov. 23)

The Yomiuri Shimbun Pro wrestlers fight each other in a special promotion aboard a JR Kururi Line train in Chiba Prefecture on Sunday.