(NOAH) Noah Juniors Week, Night 6: Interview with Junta Miyawaki

27th April 2022

Pro Wrestling Noah

Q: First of all, tell us about the day before when you intruded into DragonGate's Korakuen Hall event

MIYAWAKI: To start with, they intruded into our match. I was frustrated and angry, and I came to regret that Noah's event and the match was ruined. Following that I was angry that I lost the pre-match, and I am more disappointed than Harada and Alejandro. So, I wanted to take some action. In addition, it feels like I took that action because there weren't many days until the 29th April and I was impatient. 

Q: You were pretty emotional

MIYAWAKI: Well, it doesn't mean that I won't be emotional. I cannot stay calm. The Noah Juniors have been ridiculed and so have the fans. 

Q: The Rygoku event will be held in two days, and it will be settled with Z-Brats there

MIYAWAKI: Yes! I want to take it back. I'm being ridiculed by H.Y.O. 

Q: You are aiming for that on the 29th April, but first of all, you are the youngest in the Noah Junior Regular Army, so please tell us of your impressions of your five seniors.

MIYAWAKI: Yes, well, Harada-san. Harada, as you can see, and as you can tell by watching matches, is the leader and the ace who brings the team together. I think he was a wide perspective and looks at various points both physically and mentally. It makes sense for him to advise us. Especially as my own horizons are narrow and I often charge in recklessly. I think he is amazing. I think that while his fight is intense and full of guts, his heart is calm. He has a wide view and can see the other persons point of view, and I think that is really amazing. 

You would think that the life and soul of the party would be YO-HEY, but it's actually Kotoge behind the scenes. There is so much laughter that comes from Kotoge. He always listens to me when I ask what I should do in any situation, with he thinks its better to do this or to do that. I think he is the spiritual pillar of the Noah Junior Regulars. 

YO-HEY is a chatterbox (smile) I have never seen him silent (laughs) He is always talking about something. Also, his physical ability is extremely high, isn't it? He has a foreigner-like bounce, and after practicing with a foreigner, I thought that it was very much like YO-HEY. Whether you are watching him or fighting him, I think he is very far from the Japanese. Personally, YO-HEY is also a comrade in Dragon Quest Walk* (laughs). YO-HEY's Dragon Quest Walker is on another level and is stronger (laughs).

Haoh. His first match in Noah was with me when he entered Kongoh. His body is much bigger than it was then. It's amazing, as his body gets bigger, his movements are even sharper, and his condition is getting better. So, I heard this when Marufuji-san was arranging the one million yen*, that he had a bicycle. If he can do it, he will go anywhere by it. I thought it was amazing that he said he could cycle anywhere within an hour. I wondered if he was doing that exercise as cardio and vital capacity as he also comes to the dojo by bike.        

Alejandro. He also had his first match in Noah with me. It was at Club Citta. I am from Kagawa, and so I like Benkei and Ushiwakamaru*. He looks like Ushiwakamaru because he is small and whirling. From the first time I saw him I always thought he was like Ushiwakamaru. He is not a very big name, but I listened to yesterday's broadcast and it was an interesting talk. He's wasted as a masked man (laughs).    

Q: You have told stories that we have not heard from anyone else who was interviewed so far. Not let me ask you some questions, including private ones, so everyone can understand who Miyawaki is. First of all, please tell us what kind of wrestler you admire or what kind of wrestler you are aiming to be. 

MIYAWAKI: The wrestlers I really wanted to be where Minoru Suzuki and Shibata. I liked athletes. It's a different way, but I liked that kind of wrestler when I was in Junior High or High School. I liked Funaki* and other wrestlers like that. But when it comes to wrestling, my Dad loves it and so we would watch it at dinner. My Dad is very New Japan and before long I loved The Three Musketeers. So in terms of generation, wasn't it New Japan clique or All Japan clique*? So, I was watching New Japan, but one day I watched Misawa vs Kobashi during their All Japan era on YouTube. Even though I was simply a kid, but this was better, wasn't it? So when I saw what All Japan where doing at that time, I thought this was something different. When I saw Noah it was just the same, it turned out to be just the same, and so I started watching Noah from there. Well, my Dad still likes Inoki and in that vein I love Suzuki and Shibata.

Q: So, is it that kind of wrestler, Funaki or Minoru Suzuki, who are the type you are aiming for? 

MIYAWAKI: There are various things I want to study, in the future I want to use kicks and other blows. Also, I want to perfect the submission move, the armlock that I am using now, even more. It's not a match decider yet, but I want to improve it so it becomes that way once it is used. It's an all-rounder, and I would love to have such a technique to pull out of my drawer.

Q: I believe your costume contains orange. Is orange meaningful? 

MIYAWAKI: I have loved orange since I was little. Since I was a little kid I have been saying that orange is good no matter what I wear. But I like orange, and I don't think I can help myself in liking it. I don't really know. I have liked The Giants* since I was little. The Giants wear orange. I love Naruto. He is also orange. I like Kobashi-san, Kobashi san also wore orange...I don't know if I like orange or orange because it is orange. So, when I made my debut I was asked what color I would like, but it was orange for Noah. I told the costume shop and the company that I was going to do my best with orange to try and repel as much as the pressure as possible. I want to continue using it forever. 

Q: Next, please tell us what your hobbies are and what you do on your holidays. 

MIYAWAKI: My hobby is that I love radio. For the past two or three days I have listened to Midnight Owarai Radio or Radio Cloud, which is why I am really looking forward to Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the first half of the week. That's why when I am travelling I am listening to earphones and smiling, especially Audrey's All Night Nippon. I listen to it every week (he goes on to say that the referee from Marufuji's 10,000 yen challenge plays a teacher in one of his favorite radio shows). I was very surprised that characters who often appear on the radio use Kansai dialect*. I love curry to death. I love making curry and I make spice curry at home. I can't stop changing the amount of ingredients. It's little to trouble to freeze what I can't eat. I bought an iron skillet as there are times when I fry onions for hours a day. I also really like computer games and play them on my days off. I play them all the time after training. I love Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. What I am playing now is FPS APEX. Sometimes O play all day long. I listen to the radio, make curry, play computer games, and never leave the house (laughs)

Q: Now, I would like to ask you about the Ryogoku event again. I have talked to the others, but please tell me what you think about the current situation in terms of the fact that the sales are not good for the 29th.

MIYAWAKI: Well, from the fans point of view, or from my own, there will be a lot of juniors on the second day. We will come out, there will be foreign junior wrestlers, many juniors will come out and moreover, there will be a lot of heavyweight title matches. If you are paying the same amount of money, then you are going to pay attention to the second day. It's a different way of saying that you are going to get a good deal, but if both divisions are there, then personally I would pay more attention to the 30th. I also think it's a lack of the Noah Junior brand, I don't think anyone would think about it if it had higher commercial value. However, the fact that the juniors are worthwhile, makes me think that you should go to the juniors. That is why it is said that the value of the brand is insufficient. There is a shortage of announcements, transmissions and popularity. But all six of us Noah Juniors have the desire to overturn that. I'm practicing desperately, and thinking about how customers will come, and trying my best to tweet. I think we are getting closer and closer to success. 

Q: Also, and I am asking everyone about this, but how did you feel when you watched the video of Jushin Liger, who will visit, Marufuji, and the comments and videos of Kotaro and the Perros roundtable? 

MIYAWAKI: Firstly, I was very disappointed when I watched Liger. It was frustrating as there was no one thing wrong. Everything was right, nothing was wrong, and he was very convincing. It has been said that Liger's image of Noah ends at Ogawa-san, and there is no image of being homegrown talent. It's very frustrating. At first I thought I would have a match and put it on Twitter or in Weekly Pro, but it's a very different story when it comes to commentary. I feel like wrestling a match for Liger, and just like Alejandro said yesterday, I want to transmit to the extent that he says "Wow". I am not angry that Marufuji was the one who cushioned the blow, but I think there is definitely a frustrating part to the Noah Juniors now. Also, Nakajima and Kotaro are not the exact opposite in what they are saying. Nakajima says the current Noah Juniors are better, and Kotaro says it was better in the old days and that the current wrestlers haven't been able to establish a foundation. That is why I want to brush up on observing the old Noah Juniors and creating a new one. 

Q: Please tell us what you think about the match at Ryogoku? 

MIYAWAKI: I take responsibility for what I said at the press conference, but I am angry because they intruded into the match, and I was told that I was 0 points or minus 100 points. Noah fans are also angry, I think. I fought the pre match with that frustration, but I lost as a result. I think Noah fans were also wondering what we were doing, and had more frustration. I will fight Z-Brats H.Y.O, Shun Skywalker and SB KENTo with that regret, which I will take back from those three in a six person tag. That will be the highlight of the battle against Z-Brats. Alejandro and Harada and I have accumulated anger and irritation, and I will fight them with it. 

Q: It seems that H.Y.O was listening earlier

MIYAWAKI: He heard nothing. He didn't understand a word. 

Q: Finally, please tell us what kind of event you would like to make the 29th April Ryogoku event. Is there a theme? 

MIYAWAKI: If this junior only Ryogoku event is successful, then the value of the Noah Juniors, which I mentioned earlier, will increase steadily and as a result, I think we will be able to create the best Noah Juniors in the world. I think this event will be a turning point in the pro wrestling lives of these six Noah Juniors. Like myself, I don't think it's easy to see the turning points in someone's life, and I don't think it is something you can pay to see, but you can see this live and I want you to see that. 

Notes

*Computer game

*Marufuji's One Million Yen Challenge is a drinking competition to see who can outdrink him. So far no one has, and the Noah Junior Army (minus Daisuke Harada and Atsushi Kotoge) got so wrecked that YO-HEY passed out, Junta Miyawaki lasted until the end but fell asleep, Haoh was so drunk he started speaking English and Alejandro almost slid off his seat and at one point took off his mask, which was pinched by Marufuji.

*Miyawaki is another Shikoku boy, along with Kenoh and Yasutaka Yano.

*Miyawaki's hometown, Takamatsu, was the site of the battle of the Taira and Minamoto clans in the Genpei War, which took place in Yashima. Miyawaki is likening himself and Alejandro to the warrior monk Benkei and the famous Samurai Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Ushiwakamaru was Yoshitsune's childhood name. In modern media Yoshitsune is often the smaller (and far more agile) character.   

*Masakatsu Funaki. 

*Kenta Kobashi once touched on the same in an interview, back then fans were only into one, people were not really into both

*Yomuri Giants, a baseball team.

*Kansai dialect: Regional southern dialect, more casual in tone and nuance than standard Japanese (i.e. Tokyo Japanese). Equivalent for English speakers would be listening to someone speak in a West Country accent or a southern American accent and using regional slang. 

Translated from Noah.co.jp

Picture credit: Noah.co.jp