Jonathan Snowden
@jonathansnowden.bsky.social
Author: Total MMA, The MMA Encyclopedia, Shooters, Shamrock, Secret New Project
Online: The Ringer
Substack: hybridshoot.substack.com
“I, myself, am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions.”
Online: The Ringer
Substack: hybridshoot.substack.com
“I, myself, am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions.”
As some of you know, I’m writing a book on the origins of PRIDE Fighting. At heart, it's a pro #wrestling story.
This interview, translated from the original Japanese, represents the kind of primary source material I’m using to build that narrative—PRIDE through a completely different lens. #MMA
This interview, translated from the original Japanese, represents the kind of primary source material I’m using to build that narrative—PRIDE through a completely different lens. #MMA
The Suicide Mission: Nobuhiko Takada, Mark Kerr, and the Price of Pride
An Interview with the Wrestling Star Ahead of PRIDE 6
open.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 2:39 PM
As some of you know, I’m writing a book on the origins of PRIDE Fighting. At heart, it's a pro #wrestling story.
This interview, translated from the original Japanese, represents the kind of primary source material I’m using to build that narrative—PRIDE through a completely different lens. #MMA
This interview, translated from the original Japanese, represents the kind of primary source material I’m using to build that narrative—PRIDE through a completely different lens. #MMA
You know it's cold when the cat has a cat blanket!
January 26, 2026 at 2:34 PM
You know it's cold when the cat has a cat blanket!
This incident has long fascinated me. Two of the best wrestlers of all time in a collision that launched the shootstyle revolution.
Prepare for a deep dive into #wrestling lore.
hybridshoot.substack.com/p/the-kick-t...
Prepare for a deep dive into #wrestling lore.
hybridshoot.substack.com/p/the-kick-t...
The Kick That Broke Professional Wrestling
Akira Maeda, Riki Choshu and the Dawn of the Shootstyle Revolution
hybridshoot.substack.com
January 22, 2026 at 1:42 PM
This incident has long fascinated me. Two of the best wrestlers of all time in a collision that launched the shootstyle revolution.
Prepare for a deep dive into #wrestling lore.
hybridshoot.substack.com/p/the-kick-t...
Prepare for a deep dive into #wrestling lore.
hybridshoot.substack.com/p/the-kick-t...
Coming next.
January 13, 2026 at 10:12 PM
Coming next.
I have found the perfect niche: translating material and writing about a form of wrestling that no longer exists and no one remembers.
Wrestling history is a tapestry and every match has a story to tell. This one, a bout you've likely never heard of, loomed larger than most.
Masakatsu Funaki. Minoru Suzuki. Promises not kept and the road to Pancrase.
The Invisible Wall.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
Masakatsu Funaki. Minoru Suzuki. Promises not kept and the road to Pancrase.
The Invisible Wall.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
The Invisible Wall
Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki were sold a revolution. What they got was business as usual.
open.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:38 PM
I have found the perfect niche: translating material and writing about a form of wrestling that no longer exists and no one remembers.
Wrestling history is a tapestry and every match has a story to tell. This one, a bout you've likely never heard of, loomed larger than most.
Masakatsu Funaki. Minoru Suzuki. Promises not kept and the road to Pancrase.
The Invisible Wall.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
Masakatsu Funaki. Minoru Suzuki. Promises not kept and the road to Pancrase.
The Invisible Wall.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
The Invisible Wall
Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki were sold a revolution. What they got was business as usual.
open.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Wrestling history is a tapestry and every match has a story to tell. This one, a bout you've likely never heard of, loomed larger than most.
Masakatsu Funaki. Minoru Suzuki. Promises not kept and the road to Pancrase.
The Invisible Wall.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
Masakatsu Funaki. Minoru Suzuki. Promises not kept and the road to Pancrase.
The Invisible Wall.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
The Theft of Light: The Night Gerard Gordeau Blinded Yuki Nakai
#MMA #Wrestling #Lore
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
#MMA #Wrestling #Lore
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
The Theft of Light: The Night Gerard Gordeau Blinded Yuki Nakai
Vale Tudo Japan 1995
open.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 1:25 PM
The Theft of Light: The Night Gerard Gordeau Blinded Yuki Nakai
#MMA #Wrestling #Lore
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
#MMA #Wrestling #Lore
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
December 27, 2025 at 9:45 PM
I found a lost missive from famed medievalist Ignatius J Reilly discussing UFC and #MMA.
A truly inspired diatribe.
A truly inspired diatribe.
The Sanguineous Circus: An Eschatological Examination of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the Collapse of Western Civilization
From the Papers of Ignatius J. Reilly
open.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 7:17 PM
I found a lost missive from famed medievalist Ignatius J Reilly discussing UFC and #MMA.
A truly inspired diatribe.
A truly inspired diatribe.
More like Sky Red amirite. #AEWDynamite
November 13, 2025 at 1:25 AM
More like Sky Red amirite. #AEWDynamite
This is the first time blue sky has appeared as a site referring readers to one of my wrestling posts.
2% of readers clicked from here.
So, thanks.
2% of readers clicked from here.
So, thanks.
I've done a lot of translation for book projects focused on Japanese fighting and wrestling. I'm sharing pieces at Hybrid Shoot.
In 1984, a band of renegades created a new wrestling that would eventually birth Japanese MMA. This is their origin story.
hybridshoot.substack.com/p/the-sermon...
In 1984, a band of renegades created a new wrestling that would eventually birth Japanese MMA. This is their origin story.
hybridshoot.substack.com/p/the-sermon...
The Sermon of 55 Kicks: The Night Tiger Mask Created Shootstyle Wrestling
The Universal Wrestling Federation was a company born of spite and baptized in failure.
hybridshoot.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:02 PM
This is the first time blue sky has appeared as a site referring readers to one of my wrestling posts.
2% of readers clicked from here.
So, thanks.
2% of readers clicked from here.
So, thanks.
What do I, a professional writer with lots of fancy books on the shelf, use as a bookmark?
A randomly selected #wrestling card, a pile of which sits loose in my bedside table for this specific purpose.
A randomly selected #wrestling card, a pile of which sits loose in my bedside table for this specific purpose.
November 4, 2025 at 4:23 PM
What do I, a professional writer with lots of fancy books on the shelf, use as a bookmark?
A randomly selected #wrestling card, a pile of which sits loose in my bedside table for this specific purpose.
A randomly selected #wrestling card, a pile of which sits loose in my bedside table for this specific purpose.
I've done a lot of translation for book projects focused on Japanese fighting and wrestling. I'm sharing pieces at Hybrid Shoot.
In 1984, a band of renegades created a new wrestling that would eventually birth Japanese MMA. This is their origin story.
hybridshoot.substack.com/p/the-sermon...
In 1984, a band of renegades created a new wrestling that would eventually birth Japanese MMA. This is their origin story.
hybridshoot.substack.com/p/the-sermon...
The Sermon of 55 Kicks: The Night Tiger Mask Created Shootstyle Wrestling
The Universal Wrestling Federation was a company born of spite and baptized in failure.
hybridshoot.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:40 PM
I've done a lot of translation for book projects focused on Japanese fighting and wrestling. I'm sharing pieces at Hybrid Shoot.
In 1984, a band of renegades created a new wrestling that would eventually birth Japanese MMA. This is their origin story.
hybridshoot.substack.com/p/the-sermon...
In 1984, a band of renegades created a new wrestling that would eventually birth Japanese MMA. This is their origin story.
hybridshoot.substack.com/p/the-sermon...
Update on me: over here interviewing Tugboat and Bob Cook and Mark Mero. Malenko adjacent guys.
My commercial instincts remain singular. Doing it for the culture.
My commercial instincts remain singular. Doing it for the culture.
November 1, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Update on me: over here interviewing Tugboat and Bob Cook and Mark Mero. Malenko adjacent guys.
My commercial instincts remain singular. Doing it for the culture.
My commercial instincts remain singular. Doing it for the culture.
I get so bored by projects about halfway through.
Any creative types have a strategy for getting through this?
I'm talking specifically about personal projects. Obviously work-for-hire is motivated by a check.
Any creative types have a strategy for getting through this?
I'm talking specifically about personal projects. Obviously work-for-hire is motivated by a check.
October 16, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I get so bored by projects about halfway through.
Any creative types have a strategy for getting through this?
I'm talking specifically about personal projects. Obviously work-for-hire is motivated by a check.
Any creative types have a strategy for getting through this?
I'm talking specifically about personal projects. Obviously work-for-hire is motivated by a check.
Want the real history of Japanese #wrestling?
We're telling those stories one match at a time over at Hybrid Shoot.
Today we follow the revolutionary first steps of Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki as they broke away from New Japan.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
We're telling those stories one match at a time over at Hybrid Shoot.
Today we follow the revolutionary first steps of Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki as they broke away from New Japan.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
The Kids Who Burned a Kingdom: The First Brave Steps of the Revolutionaries Who Built Pancrase
How Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki Forged Their Own New Reality
open.substack.com
October 14, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Want the real history of Japanese #wrestling?
We're telling those stories one match at a time over at Hybrid Shoot.
Today we follow the revolutionary first steps of Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki as they broke away from New Japan.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
We're telling those stories one match at a time over at Hybrid Shoot.
Today we follow the revolutionary first steps of Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki as they broke away from New Japan.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
Some news I'm excited to share: I'm telling the Malenko family story in cooperation with Joe & Dean Malenko.
From Boris's heat-seeking territory days to Joe's journey with Karl Gotch & Dean's mastery of the craft—the definitive story of wrestling's first family of "shooters."
#wrestling
From Boris's heat-seeking territory days to Joe's journey with Karl Gotch & Dean's mastery of the craft—the definitive story of wrestling's first family of "shooters."
#wrestling
October 12, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Some news I'm excited to share: I'm telling the Malenko family story in cooperation with Joe & Dean Malenko.
From Boris's heat-seeking territory days to Joe's journey with Karl Gotch & Dean's mastery of the craft—the definitive story of wrestling's first family of "shooters."
#wrestling
From Boris's heat-seeking territory days to Joe's journey with Karl Gotch & Dean's mastery of the craft—the definitive story of wrestling's first family of "shooters."
#wrestling
Reality Is a Work: The Unbreakable Man Who Had to Break
Jonathan Foye's new book for Hybrid Shoot has me thinking about NOAH. This is the story of a match I loved.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
Jonathan Foye's new book for Hybrid Shoot has me thinking about NOAH. This is the story of a match I loved.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
Reality Is a Work: The Unbreakable Man Who Had to Break
Kenta Kobashi's 2002 Return was Pro Wrestling NOAH At Its Finest
open.substack.com
October 10, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reality Is a Work: The Unbreakable Man Who Had to Break
Jonathan Foye's new book for Hybrid Shoot has me thinking about NOAH. This is the story of a match I loved.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
Jonathan Foye's new book for Hybrid Shoot has me thinking about NOAH. This is the story of a match I loved.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
Attention to whom it may concern: We're going to read all the Christies.
October 8, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Attention to whom it may concern: We're going to read all the Christies.
We have a new pro wrestling book for sale at Hybrid Shoot. Would appreciate your support.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
Finding Gods on the Green Mat: Book Announcement
They built a dynasty, faced a tragedy, and fought their way back. It's time to tell the Pro Wrestling NOAH story.
open.substack.com
October 8, 2025 at 1:05 PM
We have a new pro wrestling book for sale at Hybrid Shoot. Would appreciate your support.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
Neat flowers randomly appeared in the yard.
October 6, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Neat flowers randomly appeared in the yard.
New piece of art for the home office.
One of the most successful pro wrestlers of the 1990s and a formative figure in establishing MMA in Japan.
#PRIDEFCBook
#MMA
#Wrestling
One of the most successful pro wrestlers of the 1990s and a formative figure in establishing MMA in Japan.
#PRIDEFCBook
#MMA
#Wrestling
October 4, 2025 at 12:01 AM
New piece of art for the home office.
One of the most successful pro wrestlers of the 1990s and a formative figure in establishing MMA in Japan.
#PRIDEFCBook
#MMA
#Wrestling
One of the most successful pro wrestlers of the 1990s and a formative figure in establishing MMA in Japan.
#PRIDEFCBook
#MMA
#Wrestling
What are your favorites so far?
Listening to it a second time and right now Opalite, Actually Romantic, Cancelled and Wood stand out to me.
#TaylorSwift
Listening to it a second time and right now Opalite, Actually Romantic, Cancelled and Wood stand out to me.
#TaylorSwift
October 3, 2025 at 1:17 PM
What are your favorites so far?
Listening to it a second time and right now Opalite, Actually Romantic, Cancelled and Wood stand out to me.
#TaylorSwift
Listening to it a second time and right now Opalite, Actually Romantic, Cancelled and Wood stand out to me.
#TaylorSwift
October 2, 2025 at 1:45 AM
September 29, 2025 at 2:13 PM