(NOAH) Naomichi Marufuji "I think in wrestling, the possbilities are infinite" - strength learned from Misawa"

 

Taishu.jp
18th January 2018

"This year it is the 20th anniversary of my debut. More than half my life has been spent as a pro-wrestler. When I compare that half from birth, and the other half from becoming a wrestler, it feels like it has happened so quickly"

"Giant Baba informed me of my debut three days before"
"When I debuted, Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsurata came, and also Misawa too because I was his attendant. Originally I was a professional wrestling fan, so when I entered this world all these people that I had seen on television and in magazines were suddenly all so real. I was so happy at first. Of course, it was strange to wrestle such people and to form tags with them.
I still remember my debut match. I was told three days before.
Baba: Can you have a match?
Me: What? If you say I can, I can't say "I cannot" (laughs)

Although my debut match had been decided on, it had only been five and a half months, and I had no tights. so I borrowed some old ones of Misawa's. In that era Baba bought the trainees ring shoes. It took place in a venue in Ozaki City, Aichi Prefecture. It was so sudden and I lost in 6 - 7 minutes so neither my parents or any of my friends were able to come, but I was still very happy."

The calling of Professional Wrestling
"By a simple calculation, you wrestle 130 matches a year in your own group and attend matches in other promotions, you may be doing as much as nearly 3000 matches. When you do as much as that there are times when you do experience a slump. You don't really have a clear cause, such as physical strength or skill failing you, that is not fun when wrestling and this atmosphere will be transmitted to the fans. Therefore, their reaction is worse, and professional wrestling stops being fun, it is a vicious circle to be in.

In such a case you wind up becoming injured. So take a short rest, and refresh your body. Study presentation and expression in movies and in theatre. When you come back from injury, the fans who have not seen you for a long time will start to get excited again.

I have also experienced a slump, but after twenty years I have never thought of quitting professional wrestling. I think it is a calling. Everyone experiences it I think, and it is hard after your debut and your introduction and it is hard to overcome it, but drink delicious sake, eat delicious food around the country. There are many interesting counters and fun things to do.

The mass of strength that was Mitsuharu Misawa
"The charm of wrestling is realistically expressing unrealistic things like you have seen in cartoons and anime where you express unrealistic things in realism. Acquiring it takes skills, techniques and physical strength, the difference is whether you give up or not. It takes necessary strength to go one step further, it is not something you can get through practice.

In that sense it was a great asset to be Misawa's attendant. He was a man who was a mass of strength. About wrestling, he did not really have any advice to give, but Misawa had a lot of colleagues and I was always surrounded by them. Even outside of the ring he was someone who attracted people. That I was able to see this so soon in my career was a valuable experience.

I have an underlying fear. "I don't know what is left to do". Before that happens, I will do what I can. That is why I have done this for twenty years. My 20 year anniversary is this year, and I want to show I am a professional wrestler in good shape and to make more people watch wrestling, not only by doing things in the ring, but also by doing things outside the ring. I want to do something like that. I think the possibility of wrestling is infinite".

Link to original article (in Japanese)