Royal Quest Weekend Experience

Hi guys,

So, I'm back from London after the NJPW Royal Quest show and what a weekend it was. If you follow me on my social media (and why wouldn't you?) then you'll probably have seen what a whirlwind I had. Because the show hasn't aired yet, I won't review the show as a whole but just tell you my highlights and the atmosphere. Also, because of everything that happened, I'm going to divide the post between the two days - just a note, this will be more of an experience post but please enjoy and of course, I will write about the show just not in so much detail!

Friday 30th August

Arriving in London, I was just excited to get out of Manchester and enjoy a weekend about me to forget my worries. It was amazing being back in Stratford where I spent most of my uni days and it felt like coming home in a way. Anyway, checking into the hotel, I was taken off guard when I walked into the foyer and saw Rocky Romero and Robbie Eagles sat in the foyer. I was shaking but got the balls to ask them for a photo and ask Rocky to sign some Roppongi artwork I had. What a coincidence? Well it wasn't. Turning around and looking into the restaurant, I did another double take because I swore that I just saw Yujiro Takahashi and Taiji Ishimori sat down. I politely asked both men in Japanese if I could have a picture and they were more than happy too. Then, as I was ready to head up, my favourite Young Lions Ren Narita and Shota Umino came and as I politely asked them for a picture again in my limited Japanese. I started wondering if I was actually staying in the same hotel as all the stars because it was just too weird.

After getting to my room and composing myself. Me and my mum decided to grab a drink and hopefully catch Owens before getting some food at Westfield. Sat in the seats, I turned around and saw G.O.D -  I mean could I be any luckier. As expected both guys were so nice and genuine. Bullet Club really are sweethearts in disguise and an hour later, Chase arrived and added to that. We had a quick chat about his tourist escapades and was also nice enough to sign my artwork. It felt as if I was speaking to just a normal, genuine person - not someone I've spent years watching.

I went to bed that night not actually believing my luck and being sort of scared that I'd wake up and it would all have been a dream. However, the dream was just starting!

Saturday 31st August

Waking up the next morning, in between the time I woke up and went to the meet and greet (3 hours), I managed to catch Red Shoes at breakfast who seemed shocked I wanted to meet him and impressed with my Japanese, Sanada and Taguchi on the way to and from Tesco. However, the highlight was meeting Sho and Yoh of Roppongi 3k on the way to Westfield right before the M&G. For me, it meant a lot because they loved my artwork and Yoh liked my shoes. But seriously, these guys are my favourite tag team in the world - they are so adorable!

I then got to the meet and greet and, despite the enclosed space and fear of an anxiety attack, it was an amazing experience from start to end. Meeting Tanahashi and Naito was something I never thought would happen and what made it even better was how nice they both were! Tanahashi was so charismatic and spoke amazing English, I mean we were literally talking about where I was from and the art I had. He immediately put me at ease. The same with Naito! Greeting him in Japanese, he really seemed intrigued by that and started asking about my ability and whether I'd been to Japan. The one thing that made me emotional was when he saw my Naito art and asked if I was a professional artist. It's the small things like this that make everything I do worth it.

However, the biggest highlight came was gidted to me from some people who follow me on social media! I initially hadn't been able to meet Jay White but these two amazing girls gifted me a chance to meet him and I couldn't have been more grateful! What was bizarre was that, even before I got to the table to introduce myself, Jay recognised me and was like 'Hey Sonal' which was mind blowing for someone like me. He seemed genuinely happy that I managed it to meet him and what was even weirder was when I got my artwork out (I had a lot for a lot of NJPW wrestlers - its a hobby), he remembered the art I got him to sign last year at SSEUK. It's weird what people can remember. I mean obviously I always remembered that day, but it touched me that he did too.

The Show

If that wasn't a crazy enough weekend, the show hadn't even started. Getting into the beautiful Copper Box, I was amazed at how close I actually was to the ring and, from the word go, the show was beyond my expectations. Everyone around me was in great spirits and it just felt like we were all there for the same reason: to enjoy some damn good professional wrestling!

I'm not going to reel off the card because you can watch it yourself and this isn't a review. However, here are my show highlights:

- The pop for Roppongi 3k when they came out for the opening match and the deafening chants of Rocky Romero, Funky Weapon and even one for our little Shota Umino (SHOTA NOT SHOOTER - please stop calling him that)

- Jay getting all that heat from the crowd whilst I was the only person (with my mum) cheering for both Jay and Chase against the crowd favourites Tetsuya Naito and Sanada
- The pop and cheers for Aussie Open making technically their New Japan debut

- The entire Copper Box crowd shouting 'Fuck You Brexit' and 'If you hate Boris Johnson, clap your hands' during ZSJ v Tanahashi in solidarity with out very own Socialist Vegan Hydra. 

- The look on Tanahashi's face when he won the British Heavyweight title and heart the crowds shouting Go Ace

- EVERY SINGLE SECOND OF MINORU SUZUKI V KAZUCHIKA OKADA - I mean it was a pro Suzuki crowd and every second was hard hitting and the perfect combination of both guys styles from drop kicks, submissions and Suzuki elbows that rattled my bones.

- Sanada coming out in a damn handsome suit and challenging Okada for the title in perfect English.

Honestly, it was some of the best wrestling I've seen live or not. Okada v Suzuki was everything I could've imagined and so much more! It was hard hitting, violent and full of grace - I could have easily watched it for the full 60 minute time limit!

So, that was my experience at Royal Quest and, as you can tell, it was a whirlwind that has made these last few months seem irrelevant for even a few days.

As always, let me know what you think about the show and to keep up to date with all things wrestling and be first to know when I post something new on here or a new podcast (or even when if you just want to chat), follow me on social media at:
(@Wrestling_Chat on Twitter and Wrestling Chatter on FB and WrestlingChatter96 on IG)!
I will also be posting more photos and stuff on these sites so keep an eye out!

Until next time,

Bye