After four years, my side hustle turned small business turned globally recognized brand, Monthly Puroresu, has been acquired – freeing me up to pursue other interests. And, boy have I done that while working as a digital nomad here in Japan.

When I arrived in Tokyo, my first order of business was keeping my boss Lawrence happy as Head of Copy for Millbrook Media. After settling down, I launched a video interview series with professional Japanese wrestlers, giving them a platform to share unique stories and become more accessible to their fans. I also made some behind-the-scenes connections so that Monthly Puroresu was respected and taken seriously by all Japanese wrestling companies. Went on to hire a Japanese interpreter and partnered with four Japanese correspondents, and ensuring MP secured access to all major wrestling events – same as the legacy Japanese sports newsmen.

https://twitter.com/MonthlyPuroresu/status/1757625150177227171?s=20

A dream came true when I worked the Tokyo Dome as a reporter January 4th at the massive annual Wrestle Kingdom event, which is basically Japan’s version of WrestleMania. Wrestle Kingdom scored over 30,000 fans in attendance and was a major springboard for my final act at MP. I went on to work over a dozen smaller shows; backstage at the fabled Korakuen Hall, in the press rooms of Ariake Arena and Tokyo Dome City Hall, backstage at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring and Shinjuku FACE and so on… It was a whirlwind of handshakes & high-fives, language exchange and personal moments with all the amazing talent in Japanese wrestling.

My assistant editor James Carlin and I onboarded several contributors before I left MP, and as I reflect on building out the brand and processes, the thing I’m most proud of was mentoring these young professionals. Even as the job itself became a drag (wrestling media audiences are… extreme) teaching these kids how to become respected and successful in professional media was a joy. I watched as they grew in their capabilities, opening their minds to hearing multiple POVs of a story (imagine that, viewpoint diversity) and take the tools I myself have been fortunate to learn from the vets who came before.

I started Monthly Puroresu ago simply as “njpw reporter” in 2019 with around 600 followers on Twitter, and as it grew into a fledgling brand using my content strategy, we ended up with around 15,000 at my time of departure. Working directly with our web developer Ejaz, the website sports a first-rate user experience and has grown from 0 to 150,000 annual readers in less than three years. It gives current and future contributors more reach on a technical level, and the readers can enjoy a proper digital magazine experience.

That’s credit to everyone who worked with me, supported MP, and to all the managers and editors who taught me before I struck out on my own.

Of course, we published 13 editions of the Monthly Puroresu print magazine which were a joy to design. It was a Masterclass in supply chain, running a business, learning to handle different personalities. Everyone worked as a team, 7-day weeks, outside of our day jobs and college pursuits. I’m happy to have had the opportunity to motivate so many talented professional editors, writers, and photographers who became as equally passionate about Monthly Puroresu and the niche we were carving out in a crowded media world.

I always told my kōhai they’re not working for me; they are working for themselves – while building something that’ll exist even after we’re gone. We stuck to our guns as engagement farmers and content creators saw our success and worked (sometimes in tandem) to undercut our business, but we always refocused on our mission to document Japanese wrestling culture accurately to create a high-quality magazine style editorial, and always from a reader-first perspective.

Now, it’s time for many of us to take on a new challenge… and I can’t wait to see what’s next for MP under new leadership!