Yesterday, I watched a rerun of a pretty old episode of "Tales of the Unusual." I was getting bitten by mosquitoes and looking for anti-itch ointment while watching, so my memory of the details is a bit fuzzy.
The story was called "The Mask." The protagonist is "A," an unknown and seemingly weak junior wrestler in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. A's younger brother, an elementary school student hospitalized with a severe illness, is a huge fan of Jushin Thunder Liger. One night, A asks his senior, Liger, to come and visit his brother in the hospital, because the next day the boy has to undergo a surgery with only a 50% survival rate. Liger is also scheduled to have a Junior Heavyweight title match that same day. "Good luck, Liger!" "You too." After leaving the hospital, Liger is walking alone down a dark street when suddenly, a dump truck whose driver is obviously falling asleep comes right at him!
The next day, A arrives at the New Japan office and is called into the reception room by the president (a shady-looking guy in sunglasses) and a trainer (a bald guy who looks like Kuro-chan from Yasuda Dai Circus). They tell him that Liger got into an accident on his way home last night and is in a coma in critical condition. They want A, who has the most similar build, to take Liger's place inside the mask.
The president says, "With your skills, it's gonna be tough, but just somehow manage to pull off a draw. We'll make up some excuse later about him being in bad shape." [Note: The concept of throwing a match doesn't exist in this story.] A: "No way, impossible." President: "If this match falls through, the company's screwed, damn it, read the room! Your brother's a Liger fan, too, right? Do something about it!" A: "..." The trainer pulls the president out into the hallway. Trainer: "The guy has no match experience, and his opponent is... some-kind-of Great [I forgot the name of the fictional wrestler]. If he takes a finisher, it'll be bad, I can't take responsibility for this (sweat)." President: "But the company..." A, making up his mind alone in the reception room: "I'll do it!"
And so, the match begins. At the exact same time, the brother's surgery begins as well. Liger is in a coma in the same hospital.
The match is a disaster. A, dressed as Liger, gets completely beaten to a pulp. The crowd boos loudly at this pathetic, getting-pushed-around Liger. Around that time, things are looking dangerous for the brother in surgery, as per the cliché. Despite the scolding from the trainer in his corner, A collapses in the middle of the ring. Just then, a ball of light floats out of the brother undergoing surgery. "Liger, do your best..." [Note: The people around them can't see it.] The ball is sucked into Liger in another room, and this time, Liger undergoes an out-of-body experience. The semi-transparent Liger flies to the arena and enters the body of the collapsed A. Even though the referee was already partway through the count, Liger revives. The arena goes wild. He suddenly regains his usual movements, unleashes a rush of palm strikes and a dropkick against Some-Kind-Of Great, knocks him out of the ring, hits a flying body press from the top rope, and does whatever he wants. Once the crowd is fully hyped, he gets the pin, and the match is over.
Both the trainer and the president are overjoyed. As Liger, holding up the Junior Heavyweight belt, is carried on everyone's shoulders in a ring filled with fluttering confetti, his body collapses once again.
The spirit that had left Liger's body returns to it while he is in a coma. At the same time, a ball of light comes out of Liger and returns to the brother. "The surgery was a success!" In Liger's room, a nurse notices. "Doctor, the patient has regained consciousness!" Liger: "...Where am I?" Doctor: "You were hit by a car and were in a coma." Liger: "I feel like I was just having a match..."
The president and trainer stare at A, lying flat on the sofa in the reception room. Trainer: "Apparently his neck bones are broken. According to the doctor, he was in a state of instant death during the match..." President: "Wait, are you saying a dead man was wrestling!?" A close-up of A, who has passed away. In his hand is the mask. END.
It was full of things to poke fun at, but the pacing was good and it was entertaining, so it's all good. The bitter aftertaste is that the younger brother's real brother died while he was cheering for Liger. How is he going to feel when he's told that his brother died...? (*´Д｀) Muto (who wasn't bald) and Hashimoto on the posters on the reception room wall were super young.
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