Thursday, December 27, 2007

Corporate Sponsorship -- Japanese Style

The most obvious difference between athletic companies' sponsorship of lady wrestlers in Japan, as opposed to in Europe, is that there are no teams for companies to sponsor. Instead, each lady is free to contract with as many sponsors as she can attract. For example, Yuki Kato, above in the Adidas grey one piece, also has contracts with Asics for her knee pads, Mizuno for her elbow pads and Puma for her wrestling shoes.
Yuki's opponent, Kazuha Ogura, has two sponsors -- Speedo for her suit and Mizuno for her elbow pad. Given that each sponsor supports several women, it's not uncommon to see ladies wearing clothing from the same manufacturer going up against one another.
Yuki is known for her flowing brunette locks, exuberant approach to wrestling and her custom high-cut suit.
Unlike in American or European pro-style matches, low blows are an accepted part of the game. Below, Kazuha finishes Yuki off with a quick downward leg strike between Yuki's legs.
Aki Hirakawa, pictured below, has taken an entirely different approach towards sponsorship. Instead of being covered with a cacophony of different labels like a Nascar driver, she has an exclusive arrangement with Speedo. Aki's only labelled apparel is her one-piece suit, and her logo-free elbow pad, knee pads and wrestling boots compliment her signature red and beige suit.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

1) I like the Japanese approach better, as long as the result is the same as the European style in that the girls end up more naked than not.

Your analogy to Nascar is a good one, with 17 different logos on each girl. Maybe as the gear is stripped from one girl, it is thrown to the crowd, perhaps at the end of the match. That would definitely add some buzz.. like party favors, or promotional items given away at NBA games.

By the way the arm breaker here might be a submission...

2) This girl in bolue is stretched seven ways to sunday. She is going to need a good massues to even put her back together... even if she ends up winning.

3) That custom high cut suit is getting a work out in that Boston Crab. Customizing might be a great way to get some sponsorship too. While the girls would obviously wear different suits every time, you could sell more by customzing them. This kinda sounds like the buzz before the US Open as to what the Williams sisters are going to wear.

4) Nice head lock, and you are right about that high cut. Very nice.

5) Ahhh... the quick crotch buster. These blows should be encouraged in all types of wreslting. Nothing says "Don't even think about getting in the ring with me ever again..." like a quick strike to the honey pot.

6) The opposite of customzing... make yourself a trademark outfit, and I like that one, especially the almost flesh tone sides... cut tighter than tight and high cut, but not whorishly so...

In the end, these tights are going to end up in a the middle of the ring anyways...

At least that's how I see it.

bbb4