(NOAH) Naomichi Marufuji vs Kaito Kiyomiya GHC Heavyweight match signing ceremony (25th February 2019)

NAOMICHI MARUFUJI: Everyone, thank you for joining us today. On March 10th in Yokohama, in the main event it will be Naomichi Marufuji putting on the belt in the end. Please come, oh, and thank you for supporting Kaito Kiyomiya because it will be a new start for me too.
KAITO KIYOMIYA: In Yokohama I will protect this belt, I want to settle this completely with the above generation. I am Noah's face now. With everyone, I will run.

Q: Kiyomiya's arm continues to be attacked in the pre-matches?
KIYOMIYA: This is the first situation that I have had a part of me attacked all the time. Of course I am worried, but I want to be honest about my feelings, but I feel that I want to "surpass Marufuji", rather than feel anxious. I think I want to mask it with feelings.

Q: Yokohama is a place of memories as you won the belt there, do you want to stand there as champion again?
KIYOMIYA: Not only in Yokohama, but new fans are coming to local venues. As children and femals fans are increasingly rapidly, I think I would like to change the view of Noah more and more, not just once, and so I would like to create that at the next Yokohama.

Q: Marufuji, you keep attacking the left arm during the pre-matches, but how satisfied are you with that?
MARUFUJI: I attacked the left arm yesterday, and next, I will go after the leg (to Kiyomiya) I am telling you now, your feet, and your legs.

Q: What is your real intention to wound?
MARUFUJI: Until now he may have gotten results against strong opponents in league and title matches. When I watched those matches, I think it is a battle with technique against each others skill. I think it is a continuation of what to use against each other, using the things you usually do and fighting with results to get results, so...this is a way of attacking in a form that has never been used before. However, this is a form of attack that was done often a long time ago. If he wants to create something new, then I will attack on this one point; old things have to be experienced. Now the arms, next will be the leg.

Q: The color of the mat and the logo will change from Yokohama. Do you think you are attached to the green mat?
MARUFUJI: Of course there is attachment, but more than anything, the fans are more concerned than we are. The "green" or the good history of Noah is engraved in my heart. I think wherever I am, it is Noah. The color of the mat changes, the people around me change, but I don't care about that problem.

Q: It seems to be a event that will impress how much Noah has changed both systematically and visually, but what about standing there as GHC Champion?
KIYOMIYA: As I always want to show new things, I will take the flow in a positive direction. I think that it is fate that my opponent is Marufuji, and I think beyond him there is a real new era, so I will definitely protect the belt.

Q: You will dismiss Marufuji as GHC Challenger, but no one of the younger generation has ever gotten this far?
KIYOMIYA: Marufuji is a big presence in Noah. He is the one who has protected Noah up until now, so going beyond him is not easy, so that is why I think I have to change the times by a challenge. I will be sure to beat him.

Q: Marufuji was your examiner when Kiyomiya entered, what is it like now being the GHC Champion and challenging him?
MARUFUJI: I have been wrestling since he was in diapers, in other words, the entry exam does not matter. Indeed, maybe he has the belt now, but a fresh champion is not the first time in the history of Noah. I want you to grow up wisely, I want you to lead Noah, and I have the feeling that you will create a new era, but I am telling you now that, "I will win" this time.

Q: It is a situation similar to the GHC match when Marufuji faced Misawa as challenger, but you were defeated by Misawa.
MARUFUJI: I have always been Misawa's second, and I had been watching him since I was a fan. I had always thought that I wanted to challenge Misawa as champion, and now this has become a situation like when Misawa challenged me as champion. After all, in the world of Pro Wrestling, there is not one answer. At this time, the past and the present are overlapping, and like that time, I think we have to leave a match that remains in history. At that time, I lost, but history will not repeat this time...I think I will win.

Q: From Marufuji's view, how did Kiyomiya change after putting on the belt?
MARUFUJI: I think that the sense of responsibility is coming out young, and since he is still growing, it may be hard to grow up at once into a person, but I believe he is like a sponge and can absorb whatever, so I think he will grow day by day. However, I don't think it is all like that. I am envious, I know. There are other parts I think about. While looking at the various thoughts, by watching this match, that if the audience sees such a situation, it is not just a match, which is why I think this title match will be fun. I want to welcome Yokohama with many things, not just matches.

Q: What about Marufuji, Kiyomiya?
KIYOMIYA: I have not been attacked that way before so its unknown. I was ripped apart in the match I wrestled yesterday, but because of that, I think I want to show my feelings. How to fight Marufuji? Well, I think I want to stand in the ring at the end of Yokohama, no matter the arm attacks, the legs, or whether they break, at the end of Yokohama I want to stand in the ring.

Link to original article from Noah.co.jp

Picture credit: Noah.co.jp