I tracked down the Shooter Shota Umino at a bingo hall in Wales, and saw him wrestle in front of 250 people at a bingo hall in Cardiff.
It was surreal. At the time nobody knew either that it would be his last match for the foreseeable future as the United Kingdom gradually moved towards a police-enforced nationwide lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic at the end of March.
The circumstances that the world is now facing will forever make this night a poignant one for those in attendance who are currently confined to their homes in order to minimize the spread of the virus.
I suspect for those in Cardiff, the show will become one of their most cherished and stories in their pro wrestling fandom.
Umino pushed eight-time IWGP Heavyweight champion Hiroshi Tanahashi all the way last year and almost matched 2018 New Japan Cup winner Zack Sabre Jr. in showcase bouts in the New Japan Cup a year ago. He is a star on the rise.
Now Umino finds himself at a community centre in the Welsh capital which is hosting the latest event of popular independent wrestling company ATTACK! Pro Wrestling for his first match in Wales.
It’s a city and country known for its sporting exploits but more so in the form of footballers, rugby players and boxers, although it’s become a hotbed for British wrestling talent in recent years.
For Shota Umino, it’s the latest night on his excursion as a Young Lion from New Japan Pro Wrestling, the number one pro wrestling company in his homeland.
It’s a long-standing and renowned tradition for young Japanese pro wrestlers to travel abroad and take in a new culture and to enlighten themselves by learning a different style of wrestling before returning home equipped with all the skills and tools to put themselves on the road to stardom.
Umino, 22, who debuted in April 2017 in a losing effort against TAKA Michinoku in Shinjuku, Tokyo, was advertised for a main event singles showdown against the highly-rated Kyle Fletcher, a 21-year-old Australian, who now calls the UK home.
Setagaya native Umino, who came to the attention of many when Jon Moxley took him under his wing last year in NJPW, made his UK debut against Fletcher in November and wrestled him the night before this ATTACK! Pro show in Wolverhampton where he slipped to a 0-2 head-to-head record against the Aussie Arrow.
After the main event got underway there was some entertaining tomfoolery with a host of interruptions to give us a three-way with teenager Kid Lykos II only for the hit team of Los Federales Santos Jr. and Chief Deputy Dunne, known as The Anti-Fun Police, to enter the fray and challenge the trio of talent already in the ring.
Santos Jr. and Dunne, unveiled their one-night hire, Japanese powerhouse and STRONGHEARTS enforcer Shigehiro Irie — who was in the country after campaigning at the wXw 16 Carat Gold Tournament in Germany — as their third man.
The impromptu six-man tag main event, on paper and in reality, was unlike anything the young Umino, who has been tipped for greatness, had encountered in his burgeoning career.
That’s what this excursion is all about. Moving him out of his comfort zone, facing wrestlers with vastly different styles and cutting his teeth against new opposition. Shooter, as he’s been dubbed by his American mentor Jon Moxley, was tasked with illustrating his well-polished skillset while also showing more character and engaging in some shenanigans with his rivals — an Englishman nicknamed No Fun Dunne, a Spanish and English-speaking masked man with a Welsh accent, and a countryman who, at a loose end through show cancellations found himself in Cardiff for the night, looked alarmingly happy to be wearing a police helmet and yielding a baton.
Umino did all that and more in a wildly entertaining finale to cap off a barnstorming night of wrestling in his promotional debut.
There was certainly no moment in the NJPW dojo that prepared him for this setting.
Umino, who has traded his usual Young Lion attire of black fitted shorts and black boots for a white jacket, white and purple trunks and white boots, lapped it up, smirking to the crowd with his hands aloft, as everyone in the venue was still trying to process what exactly was happening in front of them.
What the NJPW dojo did prepare him for is a life inside the ring. Regardless of which country and in which promotion he will find himself in during his excursion and his career and no matter whom the opponent, his home from home will be the squared circle.
He is arguably better schooled than any wrestler his age on the planet thanks to the enviable Japanese system having lived at the dojo during his training and first run in NJPW while performing Young Lion duties only to one day be set free to find himself abroad.
Umino first came into the match when the crowd chanted for Fletcher to tag him in to setup an interpromotional domestic confrontation with Irie.
Osaka native Irie, an in-demand freelancer with several European tours under his belt, was overwhelmed by his compatriot in the form of a smashing forearm and vertical suplex and had to resort to brandishing the “fun gun,” as his right hand was now a menacing weapon and was apparently locked and loaded.
Umino was not going to be undone. He lived up to his nickname and declared that “I am the shooter!” as the Japanese gunman pulled out his own “fun gun” to roars of laughter from the crowd and proceeding in disarming Irie.
The 2018 World Tag League participant and two-time Young Lion Cup competitor approached his three adversaries without hesitation and ready to fire off from both hands but Irie showed his wrestling acumen as he rushed to the apron to put on his police helmet and headbutt the unsuspecting Umino in his abdomen.
As Irie smiled with glee and saluted the crowd he called upon teammates Santos Jr. and Dunne to work over the Japanese youngster to the frustrations of the fans who, even before he made his comeback, were savouring seeing Umino in action in person for the first time.
The action was fast-paced and all six men had their moments to shine as Umino elevated his opponents and his teammates by association.
The main event broke down with all six men in the ring as the Welsh bingo hall was alive with the sounds of bodies hitting the canvas.
As Irie pounced Lykos into the ropes, Umino hit a death valley driver on Dunne and the crowd were in their element.
Umino could barely wrap his arms around the sizable waist of Santos Jr. but hurled him up and over for the biggest German suplex of his career.
Irie turned on his teammate Dunne, who questioned his use of the baton on all three of his opponents, only for the Briton to be turned inside out from a lariat by the former title holder in DDT Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and Big Japan Pro Wrestling.
Umino hit a death rider on Dunne before Fletcher put him out of his misery with his patented grimstone finisher.
Dunne said: “I was very impressed by Shota. I hadn’t been able to see any of his work previously or over here in the UK but he’s a great talent with a lot of potential.”
Santos Jr. echoed the words of his teammates: “I was very impressed by Shota! He’s a real professional and I think he’ll have a very bright future in New Japan.”
Dunne admitted that there’s more important things going on in the world now than pro wrestling but it was a fitting match and show before the British scene was temporally put on hold.
“I don’t think anyone could predict it would be this serious but now it’s unlikely there will be wrestling shows until May at the earliest. I’m happy with the match at ATTACK! though so I’m glad that it was that match I had before I couldn’t wrestle for a while.”
It won’t be the first or last standing ovation for Umino but for now it will be the most memorable.
Attack Pro Wrestling has the made the full Road To Sacrifice show and Umino’s latest match available for free on Vimeo. Watch now using the promo code “FREESACRIFICE” at this link.