(NOAH) Daisuke Harada & Minoru Tanaka ~ GHC Junior Heavyweight match signing.

Noah.co.jp

9th March 2019

Q: Please give your enthusiasm for the title fight
TANAKA: My mind is focused on tomorrow. Until now I have worn junior belt on of various groups such as New Japan, All Japan, ZERO-1, WRESTLE-1, FMW...this is the last domestic belt (the GHC Junior) I "want". However, I wanted to raise the attention towards the title match, which was very small. If a match is the main event of a big event or another, then the degree of attention before the match is different, as is the reverberation after it. One day, I would like to have a junior match in the main. I thought it, and I tried it, and regardless of the match order, even if it is third from the top of the four big titles as usual, it is still a match where I challenge for the single heavyweight championship. I don't want to lose the match, and I want to have the belt I have been thinking of for about ten and a half years, when I decided to quit New Japan.
HARADA: This is the second time I have fought Minoru Tanaka for this belt. It is the same as last time, Minoru Tanaka, it is not the order of the match on the card, but showing the content with confidence. I think that. Tomorrow, Noah is going to change. New logo, new mat, new theme song. I think that many things will come out of as "the last new regime". I think that going through all the topics, this title match will start tomorrow, as I will start making Noah Juniors the best in juniors in the world.

Q: Minoru, you fought last time as an "outsider", and the feeling ran deep, but what is different this time?
TANAKA: More than a year has passed now, the taste is fresh, and watching the match will change. My thoughts towards the belt has also changed, the last time it was "I want a belt that I have wanted for a long time". It is difficult to describe how my thoughts on the belt have changed, but now they are totally different. I think that the weight of the belt is the same as last time, but the "weight" for me is different. However, the feeling that I want to win hasn't changed.
 
Q: Why did you want to change the GHC Heavyweight Championship so it is different from the usual match order?
TANAKA: It is as you guessed; if it doesn't become a main on the day, there is only one part to challenge.

Q: Harada said he wanted to return the "Golden Age" to the Noah juniors, but he used the words "the world's top juniors" and "world".
HARADA: There are countless promotions in the professional wrestling world right now, and plenty of independent produces, and so according to that I think there are countless battles in juniors. As long as someone is a member of the Noah juniors, you can create the best matches in the world, so I think I can speak with confidence.

Q: Harada is also different from the last time he was champion, are your thoughts on Tanaka different?
HARADA: I guess it hasn't changed much from the last time. After all, this is the situation to defend the belt, the last belt he wants is the GHC Junior after acquiring the belts of various groups. My only thought is that I don't want him to get it so easily.

Q: Minoru, is your aim to get the belt, or do you want to accomplish something and get it?
TANAKA: As expected, one year and two months ago, the purpose was "to get it". It was only, "I want to get the belt I want last". However, I have a vision for it this time. When I wanted the belt the first time, Marufuji, KENTA and Sugiura were fighting for it, it was awesome. At that time I was in New Japan, during the "dark era" as it was called, and the excitement that was being caused by the Noah Juniors was reaching my ears. That's why I want to make it a belt that echoes in the industry, and since I am going abroad this year, I want to make it a belt for overseas wrestlers as well. I want to make it a belt that resounds with the pro-wrestling world...so as I am going to New York in April, I want to show that the GHC junior is unbelievable, so the vision is different from last time. However, before that, I think I must get it tomorrow.

Q: You heard Minoru's story?
HARADA: I want to make it the "World's Best" and I also want to do various things, but, as the GHC Junior is a Noah belt, I think that it must be a Noah wrestler who does those things. I think I should be the one to do it.

Q: It is Minoru's 25th debut anniversary this year? 
TANAKA: The timing is my 25th anniversary. However, I have been thinking carefully about this for ten and a half years, and if I win, I want to tell the world. I want to make it a belt again that has echoed in that industry, just like that time. At that era of selling out the Nippon Budokan; Misawa, Kobashi, Akiyama, all amazing people, but the GHC Junior was also a factor that raised the company's business. It may be impossible for me to remain a freelancer, but also for Noah which is changing tomorrow, so lets raise the company with the juniors. I think the best Noah Jnr, is the one who wants to see a lot of customers. My 25th anniversary is a chance "timing", it is the best time to make it echo both in the industry, and the world.

Link to original article from Noah.co.jp

Picture credit: Noah.co.jp