The following is the first part of the Fale’s Roar feature interview which details his early childhood, career, and opening the Fale Dojo (AKA New Japan New Zealand Dojo), the focus of the recent Lion’s Roar docuseries on the New Japan World streaming service.
The New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) dojo system is known for providing initial training for popular names such as Keiji Muto (Great Muta), Jushin Liger, Masahiro Chono, Shinya Hashimoto, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Koji Kanemoto, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Bad News Allen (Bad News Brown in World Wrestling Entertainment [WWE]), and numerous other from its Noge Dojo in Japan. The legacy of the Noge Dojo began with the first graduate, Makoto (Don) Arakawa, who made his debut on September 19, 1972, shortly before Yoshiaki Fujiwara, who made his debut on November 12, 1972. Karl Gotch molded the original training regimen for dojo students, who eventually became known as Young Lions.
Wrestlers such as current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, Bryan Danielson (Original Los Angeles [LA] Dojo), Samoa Joe (Original LA Dojo), Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Jay White, Too Cold Scorpio, and Prince Devitt (currently known as Finn Balor in WWE) are 2nd Level Trueborns (dojo graduates), having first received their initial professional wrestling instruction elsewhere.
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Antonio Inoki opened the Original LA Dojo on April 1, 2002, which was the first attempt by NJPW to extend their dojo system outside Japan. While the dojo would eventually close notable individuals such as Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, Rocky Romero, TJP, Ricky Reyes, Mikey Nicholls, and Karl Anderson each trained extensively under the watch of Inoki.
The new LA Dojo was launched in March 2018 with Katsuyori Shibata as the head trainer. Since its reemergence, graduates include Karl Fredericks, Gabriel Kidd, Clark Connors, and Alex Coughlin. Currently, Kevin Knight and The DKC are official LA Dojo Young Lions.
“I was born in Tonga; everybody knows where Tonga is right now because of the volcano. So, I was born there; I grew up with my grandparents and moved to New Zealand when I was six,” said the former IWGP Intercontinental, three-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion Bad Luck Fale. The NJPW Noge Dojo graduate is also the founder and head trainer (wrestling) of the Fale Dojo (NJPW New Zealand Dojo) in Auckland, New Zealand. “…What we had was cassette tapes sent from America [United States of America], and the only tapes we had were WWE [World Wrestling Entertainment] and that’s how my wrestling interest started.” Fale said regarding his time growing up in Tonga before moving to New Zealand.
Being a fan of Andre the Giant and King Haku, Fale’s grandfather introduced him to professional wrestling. “…He’d watch all the time, so that’s all we watched every day, and that’s what started my interest in wrestling,” Fale answered when explaining his introduction to professional wrestling. His interest in wrestling continued after moving to New Zealand when he was six, leading to him becoming a rugby player in his new country.
Fale would detail his introduction to the Japanese culture through his rugby travels, “Once I got to graduate high school I was offered a scholarship to play for a university team in Japan [Tokuyama University], so I accepted that and went to Japan in 2001. [I] Played for the university, and got my degree in Japanese; at a Japanese university, as well,” Fale continued his rugby career after graduating college. “Once I finished university, I was offered a contract to play for a company team, which is professional in Japan…I played for a couple of years and couldn’t find another team during the market crash back in 2007 or 2008.”
The uncertainty around the market crash led Fale to try out for the NJPW Noge Dojo. “While I was waiting around for another team, a friend of mine told me about a tryout for wrestling [professional], and if I wanted to stay in Japan, why not try that out. So I went and tried out, not knowing what company it was cause all I knew was the WWE style and that type of wrestling. I had no idea what puroresu was; I saw it here and there while I was in Japan, but I had no idea puroresu was such a big thing here in Japan, and all around the world for that matter.”
It didn’t take Fale long to learn that he would be entering the world of puroresu after impressing during his tryout with NJPW. “I turned up tried out, got the call a couple of days later that said I made it, and not knowing what I had achieved, the newspaper picked it up and ran with it. The headlines here in Japan were rugby player becomes pro wrestler.”
Fale had friends calling him and congratulating him on his entry into the prestigious NJPW Dojo, which would eventually open the doors to beginning the Fale Dojo in New Zealand.
