end of the tour, from the start, last suppa

Phewww... We just wrapped this thing up. Twenty four days and sixteen matches later, Nick and I are spending our final night in Japan. We will be boarding a plane tomorrow morning with a third successful tour under our belt. After our very athletic opening match in which we teamed with a young wrestler by the name of Ryoma who I believe is the future of Dragon Gate, we sat in the cheap seats and watched the rest of the pay per view. Nick and I talked about how excited we were, being a part of a huge show like this in Japan. It's surreal sometimes to think about how far we have come. Eight years ago, my dad built me my first wrestling ring in my backyard. I dreamed of one day becoming a professional wrestler and traveling the world, competing just like all of my childhood heroes did. Truth be told, I taught my self how to wrestle. Obviously, I've learned along the way from different trainers and from the experience that you get from wrestling so many different people. But, the hours I spent watching videos and emulating what I saw in my own ring starting at the age of 16 years old for hours on end is the reason I believe I have reached the success that I have. I was absolutely obsessed with professional wrestling and was going to do it no matter what. I will always be in debt to my parents who saw the potential in me. They handed me the very first canvas for me to paint all of my ideas on. If I didn't have a supportive mom and dad, this whole story might be a little different.

We were just taken out by a sponsor to grab a bite to eat after the show. He took us, Susumu Yokozuka and Kagetora along with 12 other friends/family to an EXPENSIVE Italian joint. We ate salad, pizza, pasta, Kobe beef, and chicken wings for about 3 hours straight. We signed a couple of magazines and even a plate that the sponsor bought from the restaurant, took some group photos and headed back to the hotel. I have to say, we ended the tour on a very strong note. It was probably our most fun night out.

We ate, slept, traveled, trained, set up rings, tore down rings and wrestled with this wonderful group of people who I consider my fraternity brothers. No matter what happens, I will never forget my stay(s) in this unbelievable country. Dragon Gate has helped Nick and I mature in wrestling and become better at what we do in and out of the ring. There really isn't a promotion out there that fits the Young Bucks better than Dragon Gate.

I get to see my family and my beautiful wife in about 24 hours! I am so thrilled that words cannot express my excitement. We've got an hour drive to the Nagoya airport, a 90 minute flight to Narita Tokyo, a 2 hour lay over there, and then a 12 hour flight to LAX.. It's going to be an intense day of travel. We get in around 10:00 am on Wednesday - in which I will be headed straight back to my other job.

I'm not sure if I will keep this blog going... I do know that I really enjoy writing and I would absolutely love to keep it up for the sake of memory. (One day I plan to write a book). This blog has made this trip fly by. Stay tuned for more... hopefully!

Thanks for coming on this ride with me!

God bless!

Matt