The Business Of Sumo

Although baseball is, to many people, as American as apple pie and fireworks on the Fourth of July, Japan has made a name for itself in the game, thanks, in part, to legends such as Sadaharu Oh. But the Japanese furor for baseball is superseded by the Pacific island nation’s love for its own creation, sumo wrestling.

This sport, in which extremely large men grapple with each other inside a ring, is part of a deep-rooted tradition in Japan. It’s also a huge business worth millions of yen to the wrestlers and those who train them.

Here, we’ll take a look at how the sport is organized, how much money sumo wrestlers are making, and what corporate sponsors are contributing.

Organization

The governing body of professional sumo wrestling is the Japan Sumo Association, also known as Nihon Sumo Kyokai. Wrestlers of other nationalities are welcome to compete, but professional competitions only take place in Japan.

Association members are former wrestlers and, as such, are the only people allowed to train new wrestlers. All wrestlers are part of a training stable; there are 54 stables in Sumo, for a total of nearly 700 wrestlers. The association provides stables with approximately $550 in monthly training payments for each wrestler who’s not in one of the top two divisions.

There’s plenty of incentive for masters to recruit and train winners: For sumo stables, the cash cows are yokozuna -- or grand champions -- who are worth about $3,000 every two months. Larger stables may receive total payouts that approach $1 million annually.

Sponsors

Big business provides the money that fuels the economies of many sports, and this fact certainly holds true in sumo. Many Japanese corporations sponsor individual top-division matches and contribute nearly $500. The wrestlers get around $250 per sponsor, with the tax man getting whatever is left over.

JCB -- a major player in the Japanese credit card industry with about 56 million card members, 13 million merchants and annual sales of about $56.5 billion -- is a cosponsor of Nihon Sumo Kyokai.

Ticket sales

Japanese Grand Sumo has six tournaments a year that run 15 days each. Three of these tournaments take place at the Sumo Hall in Tokyo, while the others are held in Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka.

In November 2006, the Japan Sumo Association held its tournament in Fukuoka where ringside and A-level box seats were listed as sold out for the last four days of the event. Ringside seats sold for about $120 each and a two-person, A-level box sold for more than $190. Arena seats were a relative bargain, selling for about $26 a piece.

Charges of corruption

With so much money involved, especially for the guys at the top of the sport, it may not surprise you that some people thought everything wasn’t on the up and up.

In 2000, a study on corruption and bout fixing looked at wrestlers who had 7-7 records going into the final day of a tournament. What had drawn suspicion was that about 70% of these heavyweights with .500 records won. However, the study did not find any solid evidence that corruption was taking place. In fact, in a 2006 tournament, six of the seven wrestlers with 7-7 marks lost on the final day and the lone winner gained his victory by default.

Crazy Scott Hall And Comedian Incident

Bill Apter made the following statement regarding the incident last night at the comedy roast:

“First of all I want to thank the people who put this very first “Ring Roast” together. It was handled in a totally professional manner.

With a dias full of wrestlers and comedians there to poke fun at and honor the Iron Sheik, all hell broke loose when comedian “Round Boy” Jimmy Graham made a joke about Owen Hart (and you just do not do that)! Graham is a longtime wrestling fan and I was really shocked at his tasteless remark.

Just a few moments before Graham’s set, Scott Hall had come into the banquet room and was being — Scott Hall — diverting attention and just acting “NWO” cool. When Hall heard the remark about Owen the light attitude was no longer there. He lunged at Graham and pushed him. Amazingly Graham thought Hall must have been “acting” as he appeared to be nearly laughing.

Security was able to calm Hall down and have him leave the room — and everyone at the event was now angered as well by Graham’s crude joke.

Because this was Iron Sheik’s night and it was quickly going down the tubes, Kevin Sullivan, who was a guest,took the microphone and calmed the crowd and told them to please let the program continue.

Hall came back several times but the festivities proceeded.

Another incident took place when Brian Blair offered Sheik his hand and apologized for anything in their past that Sheik found offensive. Sheik went on to tell Blair he accepts the apology but is still better than Blair and then smacked Blair in the face (and none of us were sure it was a “work” or “shoot!”)

Despite these two incidents the fans left (many told me afterwards) very happy with the initial “Ring Roast.” Tomorrow the “Ring Roast” crew hosts the “Legends of the Ring” convention. Check it out at www.legendsofthering.com. I hope to see you there!”

WWE Changing SmackDown Tapings To Bi-Weekly In November

Source: Devin Cutting & ProWrestlingEvents.tk

-- WWE has switched up their TV taping schedule for the month of November. SmackDown will be taped bi-weekly. Here is the updated TV tapings schedule for November:

November 10th in Manchester, England: One episode of Raw and one episode of ECW.

November 11th in Manchester, England: Two episodes of Smackdown.

November 17th in Atlanta, Ga.: One episode of Raw and one episode of ECW.

November 24th in Providence, R.I.: One episode of Raw and one episode of ECW.

November 25th in Albany, N.Y.: Two episodes of Smackdown

December 1st in Washington D.C.: One episode of Raw and one episode of ECW.

SmackDown Rating, Ric Flair Speaks On His Departure

-- Wrestling Legend Ric Flair recently spoke to Charleston.net on his departure from the WWE. "No one respects the WWE more than me," Flair told Mike Mooneyham. Flair went on to say “They have created a remarkable brand in business and sports entertainment. I just felt it was time for Ric Flair to go out and try some new things. I was thinking that I need the right person to help me be successful in the next chapter of my life. And that person is (agent) Elaine Gillespie."

-- This past Friday’s edition of SmackDown scored a 2.4 Fast National rating. The final rating will be out later this week.

Smackdown Scramble shakes up status quo

As soon as Mike Adamle announced on Raw Monday that there was going to be a five-man Championship Scramble for the world heavyweight title at Unforgiven, I’m betting that most viewers knew exactly who the four men were that would be challenging champion CM Punk. Excluding Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels – who will likely face each other at the pay-per-view – John Cena, Batista, JBL and Kane are the top stars on Raw, and, not surprisingly, they are all in the title match.

WWE decided to get more creative with the Smackdown version of the Championship Scramble, which is for the WWE title. Rather than being handpicked, the participants had to win qualifying matches on last night’s show. And instead of putting together a match comprised of the usual suspects (neither The Undertaker nor Edge, who was off the show selling the angle from SummerSlam, are in it), WWE made the bold move to include MVP, Shelton Benjamin and The Brian Kendrick in the contest along with champion Triple H and the ever-popular Jeff Hardy.

Before I give WWE too much credit for thinking outside the box, however, I do need to point out that Mr. Kennedy and Umaga would probably have been in the match if they weren’t injured. Still, WWE could have opted for guys such as The Big Show, The Great Khali, Finlay and Kozlov, and they chose to go with wrestlers who have more upside.

No matter the outcome of the match, it should give a rub to MVP, Benjamin and Kendrick. A main event-level push for MVP is overdue, and a case can be made that the same goes for Benjamin. The biggest surprise was the inclusion of Kendrick. Hopefully, this is a sign that WWE believes Kendrick, despite his lack of size, can hang with the big boys.

Other thoughts on last night’s show:

A babyface turn for Vickie Guerrero and the rest of La Familia doesn’t seem to be the plan, which is for the best. It will be interesting to see what happens next with her and The Undertaker, who said he was coming for her soul. I hate when that happens. I’m also curious as to how things will be resolved between Guerrero and her “husband” Edge when he returns. With The Undertaker-Edge feud having run its course, both guys need fresh opponents. …

It looks as if the seeds were planted for a Triple H-Hardy feud, as Triple H’s outside interference led to Hardy defeating Khali and qualifying for the Scramble. Triple H had a strange look on his face after he realized that he had given Hardy a big assist. …

Had I not read the spoilers for the show earlier this week, I would have bet anything that Kozlov was going to win the battle royal and land a spot in the Scramble. He ended up being the first man out. I liked how the finish was done, with Kendrick winning because Ezekiel caught him after he was thrown over the top rope, and his feet never hit the floor. A tainted victory like that will get Kendrick more heel heat. …

Benjamin and Finlay had a good, physical match. If Benjamin could just show a little more personality on the mic, there really would be no stopping him. …

I’m not sure if the Kenny Dykstra/Triple H stuff is going to lead to a push for Dykstra or if it signifies that Dykstra is in the doghouse and WWE is just going to have Triple H humiliate him on TV every week. …

OK, I’ll admit it. Even though she is far from a great worker, I enjoy watching Maria wrestle. Actually, I just enjoy watching Maria. Is that so wrong?

Random Thoughts

Thanks for checking out our SmackDown space again this week. It is a huge week for yours truly including the opening of our newest J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Moore, Okla., at exit 116 on I-35 just about 11 miles south of downtown Oklahoma City. You can read all about it on our latest blog at www.jrsbarbq.com.

This is also Bash week as in The Great American Bash (GAB) which was the NWA’s way of countering WWE’s SummerSlam event way back in the day. The Bash often times featured “War Games” which is one of my favorite novelty bouts of all time and which many of you can currently see on WWE 24/7.

The GAB was originally created to be featured south of the Mason-Dixon line for Jim Crockett Promotions by its creator, WWE HOF’er Dusty Rhodes, and the irony of the event being in the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, N.Y., is smile-worthy. The historic, old Coliseum has been sold-out for weeks, hell since the first day tickets went on sale, and I have always liked the fans that attend WWE events in the Coliseum because they don’t give a damn who they are supposed to cheer for or who they are supposed to boo, but go with their gut feelings and natural instincts. They pay for their tickets so they should be able to express themselves in any manner they choose as long as it isn’t breaking the law or offending others with abusive language, etc.

Brian Kendrick has a certain “Brian Pillman” quality about him, and for those that know how highly I regarded “The Ticking Time Bomb,” that’s a compliment to Kendrick. Kendrick will be accompanied to the ring by a large gentleman by the name of Ezekiel, or so we are told, but I am not sure of their business arrangement. I do suggest that all SmackDown fans keep an eye on Brian Kendrick, who is supremely confident of his in-ring abilities, even though he isn’t the biggest dog in the fight. To that I say “so what”?

I just got a great idea for a new reality TV show … BROTHER! It would be set in a car, perhaps even Sgt. Slaughter’s old camouflage limo, and it would be a cross country trip with Bravo’s D-List sensation Kathy Griffin playing “Out-think the Fink” with the future WWE HOF’er Howard Finkel. Hey, one never knows where one finds a little impromptu romance, as these two personalities might create significant “sexual tension.” What a visual … “The Fink” getting “friendly” with the controversial redhead … wait a minute … I just caught a glimpse of said visual and this might not be such a good idea after all. Never mind. Please disperse … there’s nothing more to see here.

Don’t think I have ever seen Ric Flair happier than he is right now at this stage of his life. ‘Ol J.R. had a couple of beverages with “Naitch” Tuesday night after the SmackDown tapings at the lovely Westin Hotel in downtown Charlotte. It was a short night to say the least, but sleep … I don’t need no stinking sleep! A famous man once told me that “sleep is our enemy.” Ric might be visiting J.R.’s Family Bar-B-Q this September if he can work out details on an appearance at the Oklahoma State Fair on September 20. I will keep you posted.

Friday Night SmackDown is a little reminiscent of a primetime soap opera a la Dallas or Dynasty from days of yesteryear or even Days of our Lives, etc., that currently air on daytime American TV. Interesting material to say the least with a rather shocking conclusion as the episode leaves the air. Oh, yeah there is also some nice wrestling action on this broadcast too, including a Kennedy vs. Umaga main event and an intriguing contest between Matt and Jeff Hardy that was competed in a fashion that really surprised me … in a good way. Check out Friday Night SmackDown and help us build the brand, as I am trying to stick around long enough to get my “gold watch.”

It is amazing the volume of photos of all the lovely WWE Divas that one can find on WWE.com. The “Tony Soprano of WWE.com,” the erstwhile Joe E. Styles certainly has good taste in selecting the most beautiful (Bella … Bella) Divas in WWE for the always-improving WWE.com site.

The King and I will reunite this weekend but not on TV, as we will be making an autograph signing appearance at Franklin Square Video in Franklin Square, N.Y., from 4 to 6 p.m. this Saturday, July 19. If you happen to be coming to The Great American Bash or are in the neighborhood I hope you will drop by and say hello. WWE fans are the best … the best Jerry … the best!!

Just for my money, I hope that the WWE Title Bout between Triple H and Edge this Sunday at the Bash closes the show. OK, so I’m not unbiased, so sue me. The WWE Title is and has always been the top single’s title in WWE, and The Game and his newly-wedded No. 1 contender should rock the house.

Edge’s new Slim Jim commercial premieres on SmackDown this Friday night. I saw it and it’s a dandy. Nice wedding gift from his SD General Manager bride.

I wonder how Mr. McMahon is feeling these days. It sure seems as if everyone is tight-lipped on the Chairman’s health status other than the statements that the Boss’ children have made. Could we have a “McMahon sighting” this Sunday at the Nassau Coliseum, and if not, what about on Monday Night Raw from Mohegan Sun, which is a short limo ride for either of the two younger McMahons from their estates in Southern Connecticut. I really miss the Chairman, and I mean that, you knuckleheads.

A new Divas Champion will be crowned this Sunday in a bout between Michelle McCool and Natalya “Don’t call me Nattie” Neidhart. I’m leaning toward the third-generation Diva, which likely means that McCool is as good as champion as I write this.

For you baseball fans out there, here’s a stat for you … Tazz’s son Tyler is hitting a ****ping .620 this season! That’s some big time hitting no matter the level of play. This 9-year-old is well on his way to making a name for himself on the baseball diamond. Congrats, Tyler.

We have some new merchandise on our Web site with many T-shirts priced at $9.99 and our new J.R.’s caps priced at $9.99 as well. Thanks for checking them out.

See you this weekend on Long Island and then on Tuesday down in Philly. I got to get to Philly on Monday so I can have a cheesesteak and catch Raw on TV Monday night. That’s my entire agenda on Monday, a Philly Cheesesteak and to watch Monday Night Raw. What’s there to complain about?

Triple H shows Booker who’s king

To the roar of the Continental Airlines Arena crowd, The King of Kings made his return to the ring after a eight-month absence due to a torn quadriceps. In typical Triple H fashion, he spewed water to the delight of a rabid crowd that chanted his name. With “Time to Play the Game,” pulsating in the background, The Game smiled at the crowd. It was like he’d never left.

With Latin words "Genibus Nitito Canus" in the background, Triple H stared down King Booker – the man who had, for the past month, demanded that he give up his kingly moniker. For your information, Triple H’s Latin text, "Genibus Nitito Canus," translates to “On Your Knees, Dog.” And The Game was determined to bring King Booker to his knees.

However, King Booker tested The Cerebral Assassin and his surgically repaired leg. But when the final bell rang, Triple H stood tall over the defeated monarch. And as both grapplers took the battle outside, each took advantage of the surroundings and slammed each other into the ringside barriers and ring steps. But Triple H continued to bounce back.

King Booker was able to avoid a Pedigree attempt from Triple H, and delivered a Book-End to The Game, nearly getting a three-count. But when Booker climbed to the top rope to deliver a somersault leg drop, Triple H caught the monarch and set him up for the Pedigree. King Booker escaped, but missed a spinning kick and was trapped into the Pedigree again for the pinfall.

The crowd roared as Triple H scored the pin. “The Game is back, and he’s as amazing as ever,” exclaimed Jim Ross, as The Game soaked in an extended celebration.

Will the Raw locker room kneel down to honor the returning King of Kings? Knowing the ultra-competitive Raw locker room, it’s not likely. But after a successful return to the ring, Triple H looks more than ready to defend his throne and claim his spot in the championship hunt.