In a fit of hubris, I've tried translating this article by Fumi Saito using some online tools and research (because language stuff makes my brain go whirrrr). It's a tribute piece to Adrian Adonis, and Saito talks about visiting Adrian's house for a magazine article in 1985 (FYI: he talks a lot about food/weight stuff, which I find annoying). What's below is my own interpretation intercut with notes, leaving out the original text for the sake of length and legality. If anyone knows about Japanese grammar, I'm happy to hear any suggestions or corrections!
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不良っぽくて寂しがり屋のエイドリアン
Adrian, the Bad Boy with a Lonely Heart
Every year in July, I remember the wide-open gleam of those big dark eyes,* which seemed to reveal both a delinquent and a lonely soul** gazing out from within them.
* 黒い瞳 ([beautiful] black eyes) suggests a slightly poetic voice here. The connotations of the modifier ギョロッと (shining, prominent, round, staring) could range from intimidating (a fierce glare which seems to look through you) all the way to derpy (lazy-eyed, darting around restlessly, "googly fish eyes" lol). I wonder if the ambiguity/tension of the language might play into Saito's juxtaposition of Adrian as simultaneously an antisocial misfit and emotional puppy-dog (which the word 同居 suggests are incongruous, "odd housemates").
** 寂しがり屋 (lonely person/lonely heart) can mean "person who feels loneliness very deeply, who can't stand to be alone, who is desperate for companionship." It can go so far as "needy/codependent," or simply "gregarious, sociable, extroverted, affectionate." I just kept the straight translation "lonely."
These days, few people may remember the professional wrestler known as Adrian Adonis. [...] His real name was Keith Frank[e], but he preferred to be called Adrian.
One day at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku, I called from the lobby to the room where Adrian was staying, asking: “Is Keith there?”
“Who the fuck are you?” he barked back at me.
Adrian is a nickname representing a birthplace near the Adriatic Sea, which is surrounded by the Italian peninsula and the former Yugoslavia.
Adonis is a famous figure in Greek mythology,* a beautiful youth** who was beloved of Aphrodite -- the goddess of love and beauty -- but was killed by the tusks of a wild boar.
* I'm also 99% sure it was legit his middle name?? ETA: Nope, Wikipedia and I are both wrong, it's Allen apparently
** 美少年 (bishōnen) is the word used here (super interesting stuff about gender ambiguity in the linked wiki entry). An alternate translation could be "pretty boy."
[Adrian] was actually born in upstate New York, but he adopted a ring name* which accentuated his Italian lineage.
* I've also heard someplace that he chose "Adrian" because he liked the idea of a tough guy with a feminine-sounding name (e.g. "A Boy Named Sue"). I have so fucking many thoughts about this too, but it'll have to wait until some other time!
It is often said that Italians are prone to weight gain, and Adrian was no exception. He moved well in the ring, had solid wrestling technique, could put on a great match, and was as tough as he was strong, but he tended to gain weight rapidly if he let his guard down.
He always used to say, “I don't eat that much,” but in the wee hours of the morning he could annihilate three orders of Eggs Benedict (which includes egg, a big slice of ham, cream [sauce], and cheddar cheese all on top of an English muffin) with ease.*
* Not that it matters how much he damn well eats, but I'm half his size and could easily crush three bennies if I had been active that day. Saito might mean three entire meals' worth, but that isn't really unheard-of for athletes?? Just stop keeping track of what people eat. Goddamn.
Perhaps because of his unruly personality and mercurial* temperament, Adrian's life as a wrestler has been a series of ups and downs: he debuted in British Columbia in 1974 and moved south through the West Coast area to Washington, Oregon, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
* 気まぐれな (whimsical personality) could connote a range here: capricious, fickle, impulsive, unstable, volatile. Sometimes referred to as "cat-like people"
After a stint in Texas, he headed north to the AWA territory, where he and Jesse Ventura, as the East-West Connection, became AWA World Tag Team Champions. Soon, they were invited to join the WWF in New York City: the big time.
It was around the same time that he first entered the ring with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. During this period, Adrian was arguably at his peak as a professional wrestler, both physically and psychologically. His trademark was a black leather jacket with the initials "NY"* printed on the back.
* Basically the Yankees logo - which is appropriate, because in Japan the term "Yankee" is slang for rebellious youth
In the summer of 1985, I visited Adrian at his new home in Bakersfield, California, after he invited me to come take pictures of the large house he had just built.
One would think that, given his uninhibited wrestling style, he would live a similarly free-spirited life back home, but that is not the case.
Hemmed in by desert and rocky mountains, Bakersfield is a valley-basin with midsummer days 190 days out of the year, and the weather is pleasant year-round.
Adrian would get up each morning at 7:00 a.m., do some light road work and stretching, take a quick swim in the pool, and then have breakfast. In the afternoons, he went to a nearby gym for some heavy weight training.
Adrian’s family at this time consisted of his wife Bea, his only daughter Angela, and his pitbull Carrie: three people and one pet. I had hoped that he would relax and show me a glimpse of his soft side in the peace and quiet of his own home, but those hopes were totally shot down. Even when he was with his family, Adrian continued to put on his defiant tough-guy act.*
* The slang term ツッパっ ("tight/tense/pushing") is different from Saito's main go-to term for bad/delinquent (不良), and is sort of an old-school way to say "acting crazy, rebellious, edgy, etc." with a strong connotation of "bluffing, fronting, posturing." The word refers to youth gang subcultures circa 1950's-80's (think leather jackets, motorbikes, etc.) This might suggest that Adrian's still acting out his kayfabe persona at least to some degree with Saito around.
After returning from his workout session, Adrian flopped down on the couch in the living room and told Angela to bring him a cold drink.
He then picked up the remote control from the coffee table and switched on the cable TV. A large satellite dish, about 3 meters in diameter, had been erected in the backyard of the house. Adrian said: "You can watch sports, movies, MTV, CNN, whatever. You can watch about 200 channels.” He was proud to show off his high-tech lifestyle -- for the 1980s anyway.
He said that each day he’d hang around and watch TV like this until dinner is ready.
“What time is dinner?”
Suddenly, a loud voice rang through the house, reaching Bea's ears in the kitchen. Adrian, who was starving and couldn't wait until dinner, entreated* his wife for food.
* The default translation is "demanded" but it mostly means "expressed a pressing desire/need." Also....let the man lie around and eat ffs! He just got back from busting his ass at the gym! His back is messed up! Of course he's hungry and tired and sore and lazy right now!
Bea, who has an answer for everything, brought two chocolate-chip cookies to Adrian in the living room. Adrian took the cookie with a mock snarl* and, staring into Bea’s face,** downed it in one bite.
* The construction is "angry-like/angry-sounding face" as opposed to just "angry face," and the version of "like" used here (たような) implies a similarity to something that doesn't necessarily match reality. The rest of the anecdote sounds like he's goofing too, but for all I know he's legit hangry lol.
** The term にらみ here is tricky. It can mean "glare" or simply "stare, examine, keep an eye on, look at." It's also a kabuki term for an actor dramatically peeling his eyes wide and crossing them, so there's the possibility he's giving her a cross-eyed look. Staring specifically at his wife's face might also imply he's watching her reaction to his cookie-monster schtick (i.e. the mock-exasperation below).
Bea smiled with gentle humour, her expression seeming to say, “Adrian, you hopeless little pest.*”
* しようがない is a casual construction of the phrase "it can't be helped." As an adjective applied to a person, it means "impossible, helpless, annoying, troublesome" but could be used in a more "forgiving" way like, "he can't help it." This is all said in an affectionate tone, with a familiar diminutive suffix for "boy" attached to Adrian's name.
No longer interested in the TV, Adrian put on his Nike sneakers and abruptly went outside. He decided to take a quick drive around the neighborhood until dinner was ready.
His prized car -- for Adrian, more of a plaything really -- was a red Corvette convertible. With the volume on the car stereo turned all the way up, we blasted along the desert highway at 90 miles per hour, going nowhere in particular.*
* Lordy. Every single paragraph in this section is somehow more ADHD than the one before it.
When we arrived back at the house, dinner was already prepared, and Bea and Angela were at the dining table waiting for the head of the house* to return. The main dish was Adrian’s favorite, salmon steak, but Adrian looked moody** and said, “I’d rather just go eat and watch some TV.”
* The word for husband is literally translated as "master" but I hate that lmao
** Alternate meanings: "sullen, morose, unhappy, grumpy, despondent, disgruntled, uncomfortable." Idk, maybe he doesn't want to have his meal in front of this weirdo who won't shut up about how much he eats...
Bea shrugged a little as she lowered her voice and muttered: “We have two babies at home: our five-year-old Angela, and the other one is Adrian.”
Adrian was like a mischievous freckle-faced boy in a man’s body. Although he acted the part of a heel, he was really a sweetheart;* however, he had a strong attention-seeking streak** and was caught up in his own world, always dreaming about “somewhere not here.”
* 甘えん坊 means "spoiled/pampered," but it's commonly used to mean something more like "darling, pet, baby" -- someone who wants to be loved and taken care of, but in an endearing, cuddly sense, (e.g. "aww, what a big baby"). 甘えん坊 may also use their cute charms to get their way. It can veer a bit into "clingy" or "love-starved," and I've seen both the terms 'sugar baby' and "puppy boy" used in this context
** 自己顕示欲 translates to "desire to reveal oneself" and it covers a range of connotations: showing off, wanting to be recognized, obtrusiveness, vanity, insecurity, etc. (a.k.a. needing to constantly be told he's the most specialest boy in the whole wide world).
[Caption: Adonis relaxes in the pool at his house. When playing diligently with his only daughter Angela, he turned into a typical dad; but in other situations, to my surprise, he was still in a delinquent mode at home.]
A short time later, Adrian suddenly stopped coming to Japan. In WWE, where he signed an exclusive contract, he gave up the biker gang-style leather jacket and took on an effeminate gay gimmick.
He began to appear in the ring wearing pink or purple tights and heavy makeup, and he dyed his hair blonde instead of dark brown. He also put on quite a bit of weight, and before he knew it, he was one of the biggest wrestlers in the world.
Adrian had been seduced by the excitement of the WWE but soon became relegated to secondary status: a little fish in a big pond. He managed to continue wrestling for a while, but his heart wasn’t really in it. He had a long tour schedule and was almost unable to go home -- though he had plenty of extra money to burn -- and started using drugs* every night.
*Interesting side-note: the words for “drugs” and “drag” are the same set of characters (ドラッグ)
Yet, when Adrian returned to the New Japan Pro-Wrestling ring about three years later, his hair had returned to its natural color and he was wearing his “NY” black leather jacket. He was still quite fat, but he was constantly talking about his weight-loss regimen.
He was also falling back in love with pro wrestling once more. But at 34 years old, the wayward boy had vanished from Adrian's face, leaving only a lonely* man behind.
* Again "lonely" might have a more positive connotation here, but I really can't say for sure.
“I think I’m going to do a run in a small territory,” Adrian was saying. After his first trip to Japan in a number of years, he went on a summer tour of Newfoundland, Canada.
July 4, 1988. On the night of Independence Day, a van carrying Adrian and three fellow wrestlers on a winding uphill mountain road swerved to avoid a moose, and was thrown through the guardrail down into the lake several dozen meters below.
The view from the driver's seat was backlit by a summer sun that did not set until midnight.
The Adonis of Greek mythology met his fate upon the tusk of a wild boar, but Adrian Adonis the professional wrestler was done in by a wild moose.
Adrian, an Italian New Yorker, was not “born on the 4th of July” but he went to heaven on the 4th of July. In spite of all his troubles, he was just beginning to find joy in wrestling again. God Bless His Soul．
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WHEW. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!! My main takeaways:
Bea is stronger than any Marine
Adrian really was a babygirl princess meow meow boy wasn't he? Love that for him. Go home and be doted on, you hyperactive lil muffin
It must have been so awkward to be in this weird, half-kayfabe, compulsorily intimate social situation?? Like some dude from work is staying in your home, and you have a heelish asshole rep to maintain, but you also have a wife you love and a kid to play with and a coke habit to maintain on the DL...eeegh no thanks
oh my god is that why he tried to sprint out of the house to "go for a drive" and was mysteriously cranky after the writer tagged along...?
It's interesting to see some of the cultural divergences playing out here. I had a hell of a time with some of the language because certain words inherently considered "negative" in English might have a neutral or positive meaning in Japanese. So too, some actions I might consider neutral (e.g. raising your voice to call to someone who's in another room) are treated as bad behaviour. Maybe my family's just rude af... 😅
In all seriousness though, somebody please get this gremlin some dopamine and self-validation oh my god
Never go to dinner with the writer of this article
