Someone told a rookie Keiji Muto to greet André The Giant with "Fuck you." Poor Muto didn't know what it meant, so he walked up to the ring apron and said it anyway. André slapped him straight off the apron and into the next time zone! That's the world many NJPW young lions grew up in during the 1980s - a dojo culture where senior wrestlers would set up elaborate pranks and watch their juniors suffer the consequences with enormous satisfaction. The shoe polish story is perhaps the finest example. As Inoki's new assistant in April 1985, Masahiro Chono was tasked with polishing shoes for a match against Dick Murdoch. His direct senior kept telling him it needed more polish - three or four rounds of "just a little bit more" - until the shoes had hardened completely solid. The next day, mid-match, both Murdoch and Inoki turned entirely black from the overflow. The looks from the other seconds and the referee needed no translation. The senior responsible had already disappeared from the scene, of course, and was later found absolutely crying with laughter. Shinya Hashimoto got it just as bad. Told that if Abdullah the Butcher went outside the ring he should kick him back in - framed as standard ringside duty - Hashimoto took it completely literally and repeatedly booted Abdullah in the back. A formal complaint came through the referee. Hashimoto was taken off match cards for a while. The incident is believed to be the origin of his dojo nickname: Butcher. The defence these seniors always used? "It's a greeting" or "it's to protect the audience." The juniors had no choice but to say "understood" - and walk straight into the trap. #njpw