KENTA(NOAH) The reason why KENTA never gives up: the forty-four year old continues to fight on an equal footing, and talks about his return to Noah and his true intentions
28th November 2025
Rolling Stone Japan
In February of this year, KENTA returned to Pro Wrestling Noah for the first time in eleven years. In July, KENTA regained the GHC Heavyweight Championship, Noah's symbol, for the first time in and a half years. KENTA's continued battles with young challengers on an "equal footing" was refreshing and defiant, and hard to believe for a forty-four year-old veteran.
He started his career with Noah*, then tried and failed at WWE, and then went on to be a heel in New Japan. His long-awaited return to his old home is a dramatic reflection of his rocky career in pro wrestling. This is why he remains unyielding.
Q: Unfortunately, this interview comes just after you lost the GHC Heavyweight, the symbol of Noah, to Yoshiki Inamura at Korakuen Hall recently.
KENTA: To be honest, I wish I could have brought the belt with me today.
Q: That said, your serene expression after the match was impressive.
KENTA: Yes. I think some fans felt that the rise of younger wrestlers gave them the feeling that they could see Noah's future. Of course, losing isn't okay, but I'd always wanted to rejoin Noah and compete against the younger generation A loss is a loss, but it was good that there were people who saw it and thought, "Maybe Noah will get even better." Or rather, I think it was meaningful. Of course, I'll aim for the top again. I'm glad that I lost to Inamura.
Q: How did it feel to wear the Noah belt for the first time in eleven and a half years?
KENTA: When I returned to Noah, there were actually people who said, "I hadn't watched Noah for a while, but I started again because KENTA is back". I think it was good that I was able to show them that I had achieved something.
Q: At "N-1 VICTORY", you faced off against various wrestlers in singles matches as champion. Before that, you also defended your title against your eternal rival Naomichi Marufuji. What was your experience like during your time as champion?
KENTA: When I think about it, I'm now the same age as (Kenta) Kobashi and (Mitsuharu) Misawa were when I was a young wrestler. I'm now in a position to face off against younger wrestlers myself, but that doesn't mean I want to act like a senior. I've always had the desire to fight on the same level as younger wrestlers. My first title defense was against Marufuji, but after that, I started fighting against younger wrestlers like Kaito Kiyomiya and Kenoh in N-1. As I've gotten older, I've naturally had more matches like this, and I think it's something I have to do at my age, and I think it's great that I'm able to do it and find it fulfilling.
Q: Misawa passed away at age 46, and you're now 44, so it's quite moving. That said, I think your attitude of "standing on the same level as younger wrestlers" is a major defining characteristic of yours. You fight to your hearts content (laugh) even when arguing, but you don't put pressure on others by acting like a senior.
KENTA: I definitely don't want to crush people from above. I think it's much more interesting for the viewers when wrestlers compete on equal terms, and I think it's much better for pro wrestling if there's a win or loss involved. This is a story from way back when, when Kobashi-san was a young wrestler aiming to reach the top, he was going at it hard with Stan Hansen. At the time, Hansen wasn't acting like he was the senior. He just went all out in the match. Having seen that, I don't want to make any overly condescending comments.
Q: Was the landscape of All Japan that you watched as a fan back then, a big influence?
KENTA: That may be a factor, but I also just don't want to say anything unnecessary. There's social media now, after all.
Q: Your theory on social media and microphones -- why you don't cause a firestorm?
KENTA: Yes, but I'm really good at using X, including the response battles* on X (laughs) But, no, no (laughs). Saying unnecessary things will really complicate matters. Outside of matches, I may tease my opponents, but when it does come to matches, I don't think it's right to praise or insult them on social media. To begin with, I don't really like praising others on social media. If that's the case, just say it to them directly. I find myself thinking, "Hansen would never say that" (laughs).
Q: The Hansen standard (laughs)
KENTA: Even if Hansen was involved in social media, he wouldn't say something like that (laughs). On the contrary, I think that generation had charisma precisely because they didn't have social media. The same goes for Misawa and Kobashi. If Misawa back then was tweeting everything, wouldn't that be kind of annoying?
Q: That would be really annoying (laughs). Misawa's charisma also came from his quietness, where he never said anything unnecessary.
KENTA: Yeah, it's fine that he occasionally made some in-depth comments* in magazines, so it created a nice contrast, but it would be annoying if people started nagging him about it every day. That's why I think you have to be moderate when using social media.
Q: That said KENTA-san, I still think you are very good at using social media.
KENTA: I get told that sometimes, but it's not that big of a deal. I just try not to tweet anything unnecessary. I spend about an hour thinking about each tweet to make sure I don't make any mistakes.
Q: Do you revise your posts?
KENTA: I don't just think about what to write, I imagine what could potentially happen if I tweet it. I consider whether it would be a positive or negative thing for me. If I feel like it's unnecessary, I sometimes stop posting.
Q: Have you always felt like that?
KENTA: I am sure I did, but now you have to be especially careful with social media.
Q: Did you learn anything from your time in America?
KENTA: Hmm... That might be part of it, but my personality might also play a big role.
Q: You also walk a fine line when it comes to teasing fans (laughs).
Q: When you were in New Japan, you were a heel, so I imagine you were often the target of abuse
KENTA: There were a lot of DMs saying things like "Die" or "I'll kill you."
Q: Even in those circumstances, he still managed to tease the fans with your humor, including the way you ended your post match comments.
KENTA: I had completely gotten over it at that point, so even when people told me to "die," I didn't really think anything of it. Because, at the time, I was doing things in the ring that deserved to be criticized like that. What was actually toughest was when I first appeared in the "G1 CLIMAX" right after leaving WWE and joining New Japan. At the time, I was constantly told things like, "KENTA's boring" and "Go back to Noah", so that was mentally tougher.
Q: Even so, you have overcome many challenges without losing your sense of humor, and now it has become your killer phrase (laughs). I think "You're fat!" was also quite pushing the line, but when you say it, it somehow becomes OK.
KENTA: I think a lot about that boundary. I feel like saying "fat" would be a no-go. Even though it has the same meaning, saying "You're fat!" is a softer way of saying it (laughs).
Q: Maybe it's gentler? (laughs).
KENTA: It's definitely softer than "fat" (laughs). I'm conscious of saying things in a way that doesn't hurt people's feelings as much as possible. In fact, at autograph signings and the like, there are quite a few people who say, "I wish I'd say "You're fat!" Even women.
Q: It seems so (laughs)
KENTA: Pro wrestlers have a lot of catchphrases, but I don't think there are many who have "You're fat!" (laughs), so I think that's something unique to me.
Q: I really don't think there are any (laughs). I feel that the fact that you've always kept a sense of humor in the end, even though you've had such a turbulent career in pro wrestling, is a big factor in your continued tenacity and perseverance in the ring. I think you're the best Japanese pro wrestler on the microphone right now.
KENTA: No, not at all. But I think the experience of not doing well in WWE was a big factor. I've always loved comedy.
Q: In middle school, you where in a comedy duo called "TwinBee," and in high school, you were in "Country Bumpkin" (laughs). I read about it in your autobiography, "Footsteps".
KENTA: You've read that? (Laughs) Before going to WWE, I think I was trying to act cool in some ways, partly because of my age. But when things didn't go as I wanted in WWE, I started to think, "I have to bare everything." I
n a good way, I think that thinking, "I have to show who I am" and "It's too late to act cool now" made it easier for me to show my true self. If I had been successful and things had gone well there, I might have still been trying to act cool.
Q: You never know what's going to happen in life. OZAWA, who brought a breath of fresh air to Noah both inside and outside the ring this year, was so defeated in a verbal battle with you. I think this will remain a unique case
KENTA: Is that true? (laughs). But I think OZAWA is really smart. Even when we were having response battles on X, I had to use my brain the most when I was dealing with him. Whatever I said, I had to imagine multiple ways the other person would respond, and think, "If they come at me like this, I'll respond like this." It felt a bit like playing shogi. With other people, I can tell without thinking too much about it that my next move won't be a very strong comeback, but that wasn't the case with OZAWA.
Q: Have you always been good at arguing?
KENTA: Well, I haven't really had many verbal disagreements. If it gets too serious, it's not interesting for the viewers. If there's not that little element, especially in this day and age, when you see people having what feels like a serious fight on social media, it can be really painful for an outsider, and you start to feel sad, wondering how it's going to end.
Q: You'd probably say, "Nah, do it somewhere else" (laughs).
KENTA: So, just like professional wrestling, I think X battles
needs to be entertaining to a certain extent. I'm not sure how well I've managed to do that, but I'd like to create interactions that viewers will find interesting.
Q: This ties in with what you said about seeing things from the same perspective as young wrestlers, but reading "FOOTSTEPS" it seems to me that you've always been the type of person who has had a strong aversion to being behind held down from above.
KENTA: That's right
Q: That's why I think you feel strongly that you won't do those things to younger wrestlers.
KENTA: That's true. Even when I was on the high school baseball team, I never treated my juniors the same way my seniors treated me, and that feeling has become even stronger since I started professional wrestling. I think I've always had the feeling that I would never do to juniors anything that I wouldn't like when done to me, but I think that feeling has grown even stronger since I started professional wrestling.
Q: You take it no matter how hard the younger wrestlers hit you.
KENTA: Yes. That's exactly what my style was like, so I always think, "Take it!" Misawa in particular took me on no matter how bad my condition was. It's a big deal to have a senior like that.
Q: I think the exquisiteness of your use of social media and your microphone performances is the result of you taking full advantage of the career you've had up until now.
KENTA: Thank you. Between my Noah debut and and my time with WWE, I had some time off due to injury, but I still managed to become the GHC Heavyweight Champion and I think I had a pretty impressive career. Then, when I went to WWE, a lot of things didn't go well. It's all my own fault, but there were a lot of things that just didn't line up, like the surgery on my left shoulder and my change of ring name (my ring name in WWE was Hideo Itami). The wrestlers who went to WWE after me didn't have ring names that changed much from when they were in Japan. When I was in WWE, there were ideas for ring names like "Fighter Jet" or "Fracture" (laughs).
Q: "Fracture" is something I really, really hate (laughs).
KENTA: I really hate it (laughs). But, including that experience, I definitely gained a lot from WWE. I learned styles in matches that I didn't use in Noah, and on top of that I also gained experience as a heel in New Japan, so I think it's all of that combined that has brought me to where I am today.
Q: You experienced major setbacks in WWE, but he persevered, winning belts in New Japan. Then, in February of this year, you rejoined Noah after an eleven-year absence and once again won the GHC Heavyweight. What kept you going?
KENTA: Despite the setbacks I experienced in America...or rather, when things didn't go well, the main reason I was able to persevere was the scene at Korakuen Hall when I left Noah.
Q: You mean the send-off match at Korakuen Hall in May 2014?
KENTA: Yes. The sight of the audience sending me off so warmly on the day of my last match at Korakuen Hall has always stayed with me, and I always felt like "I can't end it like this." Since they sent me off, I felt like I had to achieve some results in America, otherwise I would be embarrassed or sorry to even show my face at a Noah show. So, even after going to America and coming back to Japan, I felt like I couldn't show my face until I had achieved results.
Q: Is that why you decided to wrestle in New Japan after leaving WWE?
KENTA: That was one reason. If I had just returned to Noah as if nothing had happened, I might have been welcomed back to some extent, but I think that was just being selfish. After being sent off with such a bang, and then failing, and then being accepted back as normal, it just felt strange to me. Also, New Japan was just starting to expand into the US at the time, so I wanted to make a name for myself in America. Of course, since I went to New Japan, I also wanted to make it there.
Noah fans sometimes called me a "traitor," but I think I also felt that I had to do something that was worthy of being criticized in New Japan. In the end, I had a singles match with Kenoh at Nippon Budokan on New Year's Day this year, and I feel like that's how I naturally returned to Noah.
Q: Did you have any worries about rejoining?
KENTA: I didn't worry about it. Of course, I was curious to know how my family would react when I told them, but they told me to "do whatever you want." I had always thought that I would have to return to Noah someday, even before I went to America. I left in 2014, and nearly ten years had passed, so I was thinking, "Maybe it's about time," and then a lot of things came together.
Q: The current Noah is a completely different company from the old Noah. How did you feel about that change?
KENTA: Even when I was in New Japan, I felt that it was a different company from the old Noah. But as long as the name "Pro Wrestling Noah" remains, and as long as there are members from back then like Misawa, Marufuji, Kobashi, Sugiura (Takashi Sugiura), and Yone (Mohammed Yone), I don't think it's a completely different thing. Even though most of the wrestlers in the locker room have changed, the atmosphere there certainly remains just because those people are there. There are also many young wrestlers, and with the addition of media outlets like ABEMA, the company is becoming very solid.
Q: Back in the day, Noah, for better or worse,
had a certain "Showa-era pro wrestling promotion" vibe to it.
KENTA: Yes. Right now, it feels like it is aiming to be a globally recognized company, and I feel like New Japan, likewise, is changing with the times.
Q: However, I also get the impression that you, especially right before you left for WWE, were trying to do things that are similar to what Noah is doing now, including sophisticated merchandise designs.
KENTA: Even back then, I think there were times when I vaguely thought, "I'd like to do something like this." But now the company is so secure that we don't have to go to such lengths. In a good way, it allows us to concentrate on matches. In the past, wrestlers had to do a lot of advertising and sales, but now, even things like posters are made by the staff, and they make really cool things. Merchandise has also changed. In the past, there were a lot of things that I thought were "lame" (laughs), but now there are a lot of things that people actually want. Because of that, I sometimes find myself thinking, "I want those old, tacky T-shirts" (laughs).
Q: You've been commuting back and forth between Japan and the US since 2019. Have you gotten used to the pace yet?
KENTA: I've gotten used to it. Japan is my home country, so I don't have the stress of, say, going back and forth between the US and the UK. I don't feel like "I don't want to go back to the US when I come back to Japan." I think traveling back and forth is also refreshing.
Q: How do you unwind in the US?
KENTA: I have a dog at home, and I go to watch my kids play sports. People over there like movies, but I don't go to the movies that often. I used to listen to a lot of hip-hop, but now I listen to more of the Japanese songs I listened to when I was a student: GLAY, Shogo Hamada, Mr.Children, Spitz, etc. But once life in America became more real, I stopped listening to rap as much. I was like, "I don't want to listen to English even after coming back to Japan" (laughs). When I was in Japan, I might have listened to Western music and rap to look cool, but now I just naturally listen to a lot of Japanese music.
Q: Finally, please tell us about Noah's Nippon Budokan event on New Year's Day 2026, "LINE Yahoo PRESENTS NOAH "THE NEW YEAR" 2026," and your vision for 2026. Now that you've lost the belt, what do you want to bring to Noah?
KENTA: I did originally want to bring the belt with me to this interview, but I lost it. I still feel the bitterness of losing, and of course I want to aim for the belt again someday. However, whether I have the belt or not, my desire to entertain and excite the audience remains the same. Whether the belt is on the line or not, I want people to think, "When I watch KENTA, Noah's wrestling is interesting." Also, this isn't the "Hansen theory" I mentioned earlier (laughs), but I want to value a sense of equality.
Q: I think there are some things that are possible because you don't have the belt.
KENTA: Yeah. I think that by losing the belt, I'll be able to do more. I don't know yet what the card for New Year's Day at the Budokan will be, but I hope it will be the first event that will get people looking forward to 2026.
Q: As a big fan, with Noah and WWE now so close, if Shinsuke Nakamura steps into the NOAH ring again at the Budokan on New Year's Day, I'd love to see him and you interact.
KENTA: Yes. It would be amazing if that were to happen. It's not impossible. It would be a little awkward, though (laughs). They say "It would be fun to have our wrestlers go back and forth between each other," but in reality it's a little awkward (laughs). But I do think there's a possibility that I could do something that I couldn't do in America, in the Noah ring with a WWE wrestler. I'd like to show the NXT coaches that.
KENTA: Tanahashi debuted a little earlier than me, but we're pretty much the same generation, so we've been aware We grew up in the same era, with Nakamura and Tanahashi in New Japan and Marufuji and KENTA in Noah. With a wrestler like that retiring, I have some thoughts. "We're reaching that age too." That said, I don't have any plans to retire just yet. Tanahashi has had an incredible retirement road so far, which is so typical of him. I hope he stays injury-free until the very end.
Q: In September, you met with your "soul-mate" Katsuyori Shibata for the first time in a while at "TAKAYAMANIA EMPIRE IV," and I'm curious to see how your story with Shibata continues.
KENTA: We've even talked about "I don't know when that will be, but let's go on a tour of indie promotions in America together" (laughs). In that sense, it's still a dream that I'd like to make come true at some point.
Notes
Starting his career in Noah: No, he debuted in All Japan on 11th March 2000, and had about twelve matches there before the walk out to Noah. He has spent most of his career in Noah (and says he wants to finish his career there), but he debuted in All Japan.
Response battles: Someone said "Kenta is chicken". He told them to apologise to Kobashi!
Misawa and comments: Not all his comments were in-depth....
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