(NOAH): "PRIDE? I don't have time for that" Misawa Pro Wrestling is evolving!

Weekly Pro 

5th September 2000 (Issue No.993)

~ "DEPARTURE" 19th August 2000, Differ Ariake

As reported in some newspapers, DES President Morishita sent out invitations to various martial arts promotions for "PRIDE 10". The reason for this is, "I want athletes from all promotions to step onto the PRIDE mat". Naturally, an invitation was sent to Misawa, the president of Noah, but when questioned about the matter, Misawa gently declined to visit the venue. ""PRIDE? I'm not going. I got an invitation, but I don't have time for that." To be frank, it is a negative thing for the world of professional wrestling these days, when winning in PRIDE is enough to raise the status of a professional wrestler. It seems odd that a wrestler is more highly rated for fighting in the PRIDE ring than for fighting in a wrestling ring. This kind of evaluation comes about because professional wrestling, which has a long history, is looked upon as superior to PRIDE, which has only a 3-4 year history. Misawa has always said in talk shows that he wants to make the wrestling world a place where everyone can proudly say they are wrestling fans. What he means by this is that he wants the public to recognize wrestling as a field of its own. He wants to convey the merits of wrestling purely through wrestling alone, without comparing it to wrestlers from other sports or borrowing the stage of other sports. Misawa takes pride in professional wrestling more than anyone else, and it is precisely because of this feeling that he refuses to attend PRIDE matches and does not actively seek to interact with them. 

It is true that there are voices hoping that Noah will join forces with PRIDE, but there is no need to force an alliance. Pro-wrestling can fully convey its appeal without relying on the power of other sports. Misawa's fight that day seemed to be saying this. In the early stages of the match, Misawa rolled up Taue on the outside mat so he couldn't move, and then performed a senton from the runway*. Ogawa followed with a foot stamp. Misawa and Ogawa then pretended to whip each other, spinning around in circles and showing off moves to toy with their opponents. Of course, they didn't just use trick attacks, some fierce elbows were landed. In particular, the finishing move, a spinning back elbow followed by a running elbow*, was so powerful it nearly blew Izumida away. 

While focusing only on the conclusion is one way to enjoy professional wrestling, you can also enjoy the process leading up to it in many different ways.

The thrill of not knowing what's going to happen. The sense of freedom that anyone can enjoy. There are many ways to enjoy Misawa's wrestling.

"Once it's started, there's no end," says Misawa.

Misawa's wrestling continues to evolve without stopping.

Picture blurbs

Kimono clad duo appears! - "I'm thinking about teaming up with Izumida" (Taue) 

~ "Taue counted along with the referee. His attacks are comical, but brutal". 

~ Taue later commented that as both he and Izumida were former sumo, they had both done "Shiko" when younger (this is a slow, controlled squat with a leg lift, holding the raised leg for a second at its highest point before lowering it), and so he thought they would team up. He did have Haruka Eigen (another former sumo in mind), but Taue said with a laugh "he's getting old". 

~ Izumida applied the armlock that defeated Omori in the inaugural show, Misawa commented "I could feel Izumida's enthusiasm" 

~ Izumida said about NO FEAR that they always "hung out together" because they couldn't do anything on their own.

~ "Once it's started, there's no end", Misawa will go Misawa's own way.

~ Ogawa used the usual moves i.e. eye gouging, and he and Misawa confused their opponents by going to do one move, but doing another. Weekly Pro noted that while these moves by Ogawa "were not flashy", "they were the strength of the team". 

Notes

While Misawa didn't like PRIDE/MMA, he had no problems with anyone else doing mixed martial arts, he just felt it wasn't for him, for wrestling in general, or for Noah. Naomichi Marufuji writes in "Heir To The Ark", that he, Yoshihiro Takayama and Takashi Sugiura would MMA spa backstage, and of course both Takashi Sugiura (to a lesser degree) and Yoshihiro Takayama did compete. I do wonder what Misawa would have thought about the influx of ex MMA fighters into Noah, such as Kazuyuki Fujita, Kazushi Sakuraba (who was on the PRIDE poster of the event that Misawa refused to appear at), and of course NoahBorn, Ulka Sasaki.

Misawa & Taue: Taue always seemed to get a fight out of Misawa that others didn't, for example once Misawa choked him with a chair, but early Noah was generally wild and you didn't see anything like this too much in the coming years. 

Running elbow: No. Not a rolling elbow.