GoBack2Normal

21 comments

1. He’s got a point.

2. Dammit, someone get Chase away from KENTA.

3. There’s being careful, and there’s being too careful.

4. The people are used to being told what to do, Its a culture thing and its why so many youth were marched into war- just telling facts

5. Come on kenta you’re better than this.

6. Only way this changes is if more people start speaking up and refusing to go along with these arbitrary rules and recommendations.

7. Just in time for the World Cup 🧐

8. He’s right, I saw masks at the venues way before the pandemic in Japan, people will always wear it and be protected, there’s no reason to keep this absurd limit

9. 3 years ago*

10. I feel like this conversation comes up every few weeks at this point, and it never stops being ridiculous. It was somewhat understandable when Japan had those restrictions across all sports, but singling out pro wrestling makes it more frustrating than anything.

    At this point, I just want this to be over. There have been so many great matches that have been blemished with a lack of crowd noise. You can’t even make the argument about being careful anymore, considering how other sports in Japan allow loud crowds. Someone needs to sic Suzuki on one of these higher ups.

11. I wish I lived in a country that takes the risk of Covid as seriously as Japan does.

12. Based Kenta

13. The win against Germany was a huge moment that will probably be seen all other Japan. Maybe seeing the fans going crazy for the goals may sway public opinion, hopefully accelerate the process of reducing restrictions.

    I guess you can’t blame them for being safe rather than sorry, but it does feel a bit too long.

14. I’m fully vaxxed, still wear a mask the majority of the time I go out, and I recognize that the pandemic is not over. COVID fucking sucks, and even if you’re vaxxed and “low-risk” you can still suffer very bad long-term effects from it.

    But here’s a reality check: the only thing that would eradicate it is a worldwide full lockdown. That is not ever happening. So it’s an illness we are going to need to live with, and that means unfortunately some people are still going to catch it, get sick from it, and die from it.

    The goal now is continuing to do what we can to minimize the spread and keep transmission rates low. Unfortunately a lot of countries have given up on that. Japan is one of the ones that hasn’t.

    That said, there is a balance between still being cautious and preventing people from starting to live life again. And I do think Japan is being a little too cautious with this particular rule. I see no reason they can’t start moving towards allowing all socially-distanced and masked crowds to cheer, and making a point to monitor how that effects transmission rates to decide how to proceed from there.

    **TL;DR:** KENTA saying this doesn’t mean he’s an antivaxxer or whatever (and he was actually very pro-masking starting very early on). He’s expressing a common frustration and, IMO, being realistic. And reality is something I think a lot of people at both extremes of the issue have lost sight of. COVID zero isn’t happening. It’s about risk management now. And that involves allowing people to choose to take *responsible* risks; such as attending a wrestling show with a fully masked cheering crowd, then continuing to wear their mask in public and testing afterwards to minimize transmission.

    EDIT: Shoutout to the user who replied with a bullshit “BuT WhAt AbOuT the FLU???” question and then immediately blocked me so I couldn’t respond. Very mature behavior.

15. Is Wrestle Kingdom going to be a no-cheering event too? that would fucking suck

16. The reason it’s still like this in Japan might be because nobody ever said, “ok pandemic’s over, back to normal.” So the preventive measures from two years ago mostly just remained, and it hasn’t occurred to anyone to remove them. Heck, there are still schools that have “silent lunches” where they aren’t allowed to talk because their masks are off while eating.

    Japan has always been resistant to change, and these restrictions have somehow become a new normal that everyone is too reluctant to attempt to change,

17. Honestly I would love a ban on this topic cause it’s the same arguments again and again.

18. As someone living in Japan right now, it’s pretty crazy how everyone still wears a mask. The covid numbers have gone up, but the deaths aren’t high by any means… besides, I went to a bar to watch the World Cup yesterday, and everyone was packed in like sardines drinking (without masks of course). Such a contradiction.

19. Wherever the hell Ice Ribbon and TJPW have been doing shows the cheering restrictions have been clearly lifted. I’ve noticed at some of their shows recently that there has been audible cheering and even streamers. However the crowds were small, so I think it’s a company thing at this point. A choice has to be made between asses in seats or cheering. And it’s clear which is more important to the folks at Bushiroad

20. Try and stop fans from cheering when Kenny comes out

21. Yeah, but the picture on the left isn’t a halal sausage fest