Nearly 300 spectators cheered wildly as disco music blared. A spotlight picked out two fighters approaching the ring to kick off a puroresu (prowrestling) event held recently in a Tokyo town hall.

Then a female MC announced, in a startlingly high-pitched voice: "In the blue corner, E.T.! In the red corner, Arm Bomb Fujiwara!"

Both wrestlers were physically handicapped and had to be helped or lifted into the ring. But when the starting bell rang, the men -- both of them sitting and rolling around on the canvas -- began punching each other with all the power and accuracy they could muster.