It does not surprise me that Fale Dojo is the first local promotion to succumb to using AI-generated graphic design and photography for its marketing. To be frank, this is not even within the top 5 morally dubious shit they have done but it's just like man, what the fuck is the point of this.

I suppose with AI-generated graphic design I can understand you're saving time on a fairly stock standard layout—though personally I find it stupid to waste processing power with a bot that's dumb enough to regenerate the logo and background every instance¹—but photography? Do you think this shit is making Tamashii look more attractive to prospective audiences? You have actual photographers documenting every event.

I previously have not brought up that individual indie wrestlers and refs also use generative AI in marketing and merch—and while I do not respect the use of image generation AI either way—the difference is first that those wrestlers and refs use generative AI to create images that aren't trying to look real. Pro wrestling already has the reputation of being fake and lame and using AI-generated photos does not help make it cooler among real sports fans.

Second, I can understand that indie wrestlers are just that: indie. It's equivalent to a mom and pop shop using AI flyers or logos, cringe but whatever. But while I have always called NJ Tamashii an indie wrestling promotion in the past, it's still fucking New Japan Pro Wrestling. You are a satellite branch of the third biggest wrestling promotion in the world, a name which every wrestling fan and every Japanese person knows of. I know that NJ Tamashii and Fale Dojo already has a reputation in the gutter because of those 2023 Reddit posts but there is no reason to make it even worse like this.²

Before writing this post, I was working on a piece about how many of Thailand's corporate websites featured custom graphics mourning the former queen who had passed away in 2025. One of the points was to be about how, if she had passed away in 2026, the graphics would have been made with AI instead—and might that be an insult to the late queen, to put her image though an unthinking algorithm that changes her face, to mourn her with the care of a push of a button? Whatever! Fale Dojo is ahead of the game in paying respects to Siva Afi with generative AI.³

after writing that longass post about how lion's den was ending fale brought it back and i was like man fuck this shit i never gonna talk about him or his promotion again. well now i've added a new section to my site specifically for short posts under 500 words so i can talk about the recent mayhem event.

on-stage

• kam ahhing v kane harris: two new guys. i thought there was an unusual amount of people when i went in... half of them were just kane's family. literally no one else bought special price tickets (those seats are worse anyway). both of them had title cards, despite this being their first (?) match. even though i've watched wrestling for so long, i don't know what good wrestling actually is. whether or not a match feels good is kinda just driven by mass hysteria, so this guy's whole family being there made it feel exciting.
• zac kelly & fiti levi v horus & graham hughes: horus is always fighting in those damn skinny jeans. i was sure he was gonna beat up graham too.
• thor keith & sean tohi v don fale & maximillion: probably my favorite from the night. thor keith improved so much since i first saw him and he was seriously impressive. the jumping necklock was insane—i guess that's the power of the only pro athlete in fale dojo. he's the first international student in a long time, so i'm curious about why he decided to to switch from actual wrestling to this. fale's movements are really slow and luggish it's fun. he moves like a video game big boss fr. maximillion's outfit was perfect!

• generation iron v jl gold & matty short: the australian guy who makes everyone bark like a dog is back. matty short is such classic physical comedy, him being used as a gattling gun was fantastic.
• kurt brown v darryl voll: surprisingly my second favorite match of the night. my notes say it had a very fun cadence but i'm not sure what that's about. the double disqualification/draw was funnn!
• toothless nico bell v johnny recon: nico beating the ref was very funny. i fucking love this dude.
• pretty boys v the ungrateful 1s: at this point going to nj tamashii events is like traveling 1 hour to watch a pair of white boys get sexually harassed every 2 months. but while i do not care for the gimmick of the pretty boys, the ungrateful 1s are seriously the best opponents for them in their self-seriousness. trent hooper has reactions like a cartoon character.

off-stage

• nj tamashii is CINEMATIC! mangere performing arts centre is the only pro wrestling venue in auckland that actually has a full-size projector screen and it looks better than any other when they got the lights prepped too. but even in the one instance where they held a show in central, it was at the TAPAC, another performing arts venue instead of a community hall. maybe that's why i'm paying $30 a ticket each time.
• selling vintage t-shirts for $50 is so funny bro those shirts are like three years old.
• liger was in the audience as the green party's new MP candidate for mangere! kinda iconic to see him talking with fale after the show. they're both relatively old community leader types and the only NZ wrestlers who have a large audience outside of wrestling (fale is truly a full-on instagram reels creator now with a management team and everything). liger is the most woke man i know (in a good way) so if he's chill with fale i'll be too.
• tyler ernst was also there was an assistant. hi
• i haven't shared my blog on my IRL instagram because some wrestlers follow me and i honestly sound very delusional and can't stop bringing up my personal issues 90% of the time. but i do genuinely think maximillion, at least, is trying to raise pro wrestling's profile as a big thing for south auckland what with him constantly holding talks at schools and all. how he has time to do this as a literal lawyer i have no idea.
• couple months back, jake sheehan did a livestream ranking NZ wrestlers based on their in-ring skill and character presentation. these guys love getting messy in public despite the fact that there's only 50 people in the industry. fale was at the top of the top; nico scored high at S; pretty richie and magic mark at A; bruno astro, cian devin, johnny recon, and maximillion at B. so i have to wonder if the dojo training is actually... good...? after all...
• my highlight of the night was probably when a little baby turned around and i entertained her with the teddy bear i had on hand. and her mom gave me candy

why did that end up being 800 words. i'm sick of this damn promotion