Falling Markets? by Riki Fudo, October 24th, 1998 Well the world of Puroresu is heating up.  In the past month we've seen the resurgence of Super Japan Pro Wrestling and the announcement of Super Hyper Visual Fighting.  It seems the Japanese end of puroresu is recovering from its slight dropoff at the box office from this past summer.  Many federations tried to fill the void that the original Super Japan left behind in May.  Kenshiro Matsumoto had his J.I.W.W.A., which despite strong talent failed to garner strong box office results.  Pro Japan Wrestling tried to snatch up the best Junior Heavyweights they could find and boasted rising stars Kashan Akuma, Carlos Liger Jr. and Riki Saotome. Now we're quickly approaching the end of the year and some federations seem to be stronger than ever.  Super Japan returned after a long absence and put out a stellar card at the Tokyo Dome on October 10th.  In truth, the undercard was far stronger than the Main Event, but it was a VERY strong showing.  J.I.W.W.A. and Grand Dragon Wrestling Alliance (considered the best women's puroresu organization in the world) both folded in October but its sister promotion R*NGSTARS is fostering the hottest young talent in the sport.  Keep your eyes on Mia Gaynor, Keiko Sakura and Holly Volley.  This "Class of '98" will produce the best crop of female talent in four years. Pro Japan sadly closed after only a few months of business but Hadi Moditian landed on his feet after that and waited only two months afterward to open Super Hyper Visual Fighting.  This is the promotion that I am most excited about.  This ain't no "Puroresu"!! No sir, this is shootfighting, open martial competition and it looks to be intense!! Throw in the Grand Dragon making a comeback under new owner Rob Tucker and the entire Japanese wrestling industry is healthy again.  Or is this the calm before the storm? Backstage rumblings are increasing in Super Japan.  Super Tengu has been reported to be less than thrilled with his position in the company and is even more upset at being programmed into a feud with Jensei Tenru.  If Tengu leaves, he'll take a good portion of the box office with him as he is their top draw.  Jumbo Kobayashi is by no means bowing to Tetsuo Matsumoto's (Super Tengu's real identity) threats.  Add to that still relatively poor box office performance for the initial SJPW shows and it seems the industry could collapse at any moment. Is SJPW as strong as Jumbo would have us believe?  Will disenfranchised All Asian Women's Champion Rekka Sakura do what most insiders in Japan fear and open a new women's organization?  Super Hyper Visual Fighting just might be the Box Office saviour that puroresu needs at this moment.  Shoot style has strong support from the fans these days so that's a plus.  And hey, don't get me wrong, SJPW isn't in major trouble right now.  Their third Tsunami Show is a sell-out already and the first batch of tickets for their big Tokyo Egg Dome Show sold 30,000 in seats in just four hours.  That's half the Dome with a month to go!! Now the question is, will a disenfranchised women's champion and her deranged brother break away and form their own "Family Federation"? Hope Jumbo and Hadi plan on a joint card real soon, or else the rumors of "Matsumoto Pro" (a joke in the SJPW locker room since the beginning, referring to the abundance of the Matsumoto family members that wrestle) may be more than just a fantasy.