Maki Itoh is goin’ down to South Park to have herself a time.
Earlier this month, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling and Maki Itoh announced that she was taking an in-ring sabbatical due to an arm injury. According to the announcement, Itoh had been experiencing numbness in her arm and needed further testing.
She has since posted an update, noting that she’s getting better. There’s no timetable for her return, but Maki Itoh also said that she’s using the time off to brush up on her English, thanks to watching episodes of South Park.
“Update: It’s been about a month since my injury. It’s getting better! Maybe a little more? Lately I’ve been watching South Park to study English. And I fell in love with Butters. Sorry for all the maki itoh simps,” she wrote on Twitter.
South Park inspires
Maki Itoh is not the only pro wrestling personality that is inspired by South Park. AEW owner Tony Khan has previously shared how the Comedy Central series has directly influenced AEW TV.
Khan previously revealed that the initial Fight For The Fallen stage was inspired by the tenth episode of season thirteen called ‘W.T.F.’, a parody of WWE. He also told F4WOnline.com that the Hangman Page / Kenny Omega breakup video was also inspired by a scene from the show.
“I’ll give you the perfect example of that. I had the idea watching South Park as I get a lot of ideas, there’s an episode where Stan’s girlfriend breaks up with him and all he can hear is ‘Don’t Know What You Got (‘Til It’s Gone)’ by Cinderella. And he’s just really sad. I was like ‘I’m gonna do the Kenny Hangman video to this. It’s perfect, it’s different. It would be a different take on it, it would be a different use of the song, it’s a totally different relationship.’”
“‘The idea of ‘Don’t Know What You Got (‘Til It’s Gone)’ when the guy wrote it was actually closer to what Kenny and Hangman is about than it is about a love relationship. It’s about success and it’s about when it all goes away and trying to get it back. It’s not as easy as you remember to get it. I heard it like ‘man, that reminds me a lot of this thing with Hangman and Kenny.’”
He said Hangman initially balked at the idea, but he saw the final vignette and loved it.
Read More: Joe Hendry: ‘Scott Tenorman’ Marked South Park’s Move From Fart Jokes To Something More Clever
