My introduction to Pancrase and subsequently Evan Tanner came entirely by accident. I was ordering some bootleg New Japan Pro Wrestling tapes from a sketchy tape trader I found on a Geocities site and if I bought 4 tapes I got 1 free, so I told him to send me a copy of the 1998 Pancrase Neo-Blood Tournament since it had a cool title. I was no stranger to MMA in 1998, but it was the first Japanese MMA I ever saw, and that means something to every young man, right?
The tape is next to me right now, I’m cleaning out my closet getting ready to move and I found that video and my old VCR tonight. So it must be complete coincidence the Evan Tanner documentary Once I was a Champion released it’s official trailer today right? Or is it a cosmic being from above? Either way, I’m not going to front like Evan Tanner changed my life or was my favorite fighter, but if there is a movie that is coming out in the next year that is more likely to make me cry than Once I was a Champion, please let me know so I can avoid it. Check out the official trailer right here while I find my old RCA cables, I have a date with Pancrase tonight.
