Monster Mashes Attract Masses describes the latest, quirkiest pro-wrestling variant: Kaiju Big Battel [sic]. Kaiju, as any good geek knows, is Japanese for “monster” — in particular, those giant monsters, like Godzilla, that are played by men in rubber suits walking amongst miniature prop cities. I think you can see where this is going:
Upon entering the venue, showgoers are surrounded by screens displaying videos that tell the purported story of how the monster league came into being. Monster minions circulate through the crowd, passing out evangelical tracts to convince audience members to root for their team.Oversized stage props include a towering “Danger Cage” and a miniature cityscape, to be demolished during the show. The immersive spectacles also include live musical performances from hip-hop, techno or indie rock acts.
A human announcer kicks off the show, warning audience members in the first few rows that they’ll soon be covered with toxic slime and building rubble. Soon, fighting explodes onstage, spliced with music and video segments. There are also side antics, such as one documented in a Kaiju.com report from a recent Boston show, in which a faux pop idol named Chikako “wowed the crowd with her stellar rendition of (the monster) Silver Potato’s tribute song, ‘Peel Me Now,’ despite a wardrobe malfunction.”
Between matches, an “urban renewal expert” pops up to reconstruct crumbled cityscapes on the fly.