(NOAH\DDT) DDT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH IS GO SHIOZAKI VS KONOSUKE TAKESHITA

Noah.co.jp
21st December 2018

It has been a wonderful experience for Go Shiozaki, who participated in "D-KING GRAND PRIX 2019", and has finished Block A with a victory at the top of the block. On the 30th December, at Korakuen Hall, he will face Konosuke Takeshita for the championship victory.

The interview held on the 21st is as follows.

SHIOZAKI: It has been worthwhile coming out to D-KING GRAND PRIX 2019. I recieved a better incentive that I thought, and it was not a mistake to come here. I will fight with Takeshita in the championship match, and I think I have come this far deservedly, and so as well as defeating Takeshita, I will engrave the name Shiozaki as the winner of the D-KING GRAND PRIX 2019.

TAKESHITA: First of all, it goes without mentioning that I want to raise the value of the D-KING GRAND PRIX, and I want to engrave the name of the winner as Konosuke Takeshita. However, honestly, I don't want you to see this as a single match just to decide who wins the D-KING GRAND PRIX. Of course, there is a the viewpoint of DDT vs NOAH, but I don't want to be bound even by that. Konosuke Takeshita vs Shiozaki, there is no mistaking it, this card is definitely Japanese; it is the top fight in the professional wrestling world. I think this is a card that can be delivered to the world. All promotions are different, and I think the important part is packed in there. So, I am here in a position to meet the enemy outsider, but I am not fighting for DDT, on the 30th I will be fighting in a singles match for me. I want to decide who I am.

Q: Shiozaki, is there anywhere you felt particularly inspired by?

SHIOZAKI: It was from the first battle with Higuchi, and that exceeded what I thought, but I think that is a natural result. There was a match where I lost to the champion, was I prepared with the appropriate skills that I had? I tried not to watch the other wrestlers matches as I wanted to do the match on instinct when I saw them in the ring, and so I could wrestle normally as myself. I haven't put much feelings into thought, amongst them, Takeshita in the championship match. How much is the feeling? Inside in my feelings, I am divided, and since emotion is not impression, how much will you show me? In this D-KING GRAND PRIX 2019, it will be a hard struggle that I will face over the final championship, so I would like Konosuke Takeshite to confront me with his individual feelings.


Q: If you win, in February you can challenge for the KO-D Openweight Championship at Sumo Hall.

TAKESHITA: At the time of the last D-KING GRAND PRIX, I was participating as champion, but there was not a motivation there at the time. For two years in four consecutive tournaments, I was in the main event, in the last event, the main event was given to someone else. I didn't think too deeply about it at the time, but I did feel jealousy when Sumo Hall finished. So, if I win this D-KING GRAND PRIX 2019, I can confirm Sumo Hall with a sense of security. My motivation began when I was watching the D-KING GRAND PRIX after it began, I was watching all the official A Block Fights, and Shiozaki rose to the winning place of Korakuen Hall on the 30th December. The anticipation was overwhelming as I was changing from my original motivation, to wanting a singles match with Shiozaki. So of course the main event in Sumo Hall is in the corner of my mind, so to tell the truth, the 30th December is a special thing for me at Korakuen next week.

SHIOZAKI: Just like Takeshita said, I am not looking ahead to it. It is only the D-KING GRAND PRIX 2019 match. I want to show the puroresu that I have cultivated on DDT's ring. I want to show you that fight.

Q: Takeshita, Shiozaki has come to DDT and won the what is your impression about winning the league match?

TAKESHITA: When I was Akito's second, I watched from ringside and I saw it at close range. There was meaning, he is a professional wrestling, the strength, the cleverness, my body feels it; it is an awesome thing to understand. This is what I want to fight. I feel 100% about this. After all, when you look at the strong, there is a desire to fight, there is a desire not to lose, you are not a wrestler unless you want to win. To have such a feeling about only one man, honestly, it makes me happy. I have had matches against various wrestlers, and there are still a lot of amazing ones. To tell the truth, December 30 is going to be exciting, and although I am excited, I am more scared than anything else.

Q: What is your attitude towards the strong fight?

TAKESHITA: Let me show you in the D-KING GRAND PRIX by fighting the league, that I think I am not a wrestler, who wants to lose to anyone, all the wrestlers I have fought, I have knocked down. I think that is the simple and straightforward emotion of the man who fights in the ring. Takeshita has that in the ring, I will let you have that feeling. Beyond that, I think I want to win standing at the top of the world.

Link to original article from Noah.co.jp (in Japanese)