"Come At Me You Bastards" ~ Kenoh's column (23rd April 2019)

Q: This was recorded in the middle of the 11th annual "Global Tag League" while eating Genghis Khan* on the 13th April in Sapporo.
KENOH: 50 Funky powers are beaten. I feel different from the others in tag league. Kiyomiya and I are not just a team that has entered. Kiyomiya chose me as a partner, who has made an idiot of him so often, but he has humiliated me as well, and I'm partnering with a junior. You can see we are not ready to like each other. This will lead to results. We will win, and we will show the new face of Noah...well, I wish I could have pulled out some more than 50 Funky Powers.
Q: It is like a match without froth, and the Sapporo Classic* advances.
KENOH: This time, the theme is beer. Bitter used to make an impression on me once. I didn't think the flavor was good, it was too sour at first, and so I drank Chūhai*. It was my college days and there were a lot of establishments in Kabukichō, I was in one where Godzilla was. I used to drink alcohol that tasted like antiseptic or ethanol even though I didn't like beer as much as the others who drank it.
Q: You drunk a giant sour.
KENOH: Yes. I had a good time drinking it. When I was a student, when my part time job had finished at 11.30, I would rush to the karaoke shop! You could drink a pitcher of sour for 1,000 yen an hour - it was delicious.
Q: So, when did you start to like beer?
KENOH: It was probably during four years of university. There was a classmate in the same year, that drank so much I was influenced by him. Because we had no money, we went to drink more than ten cups of beer that would cost 100 yen or so on discount service days*, we drank more than ten within two hours.
Q: So, what is your favorite brand?
KENOH: When I was a student it was premium malts, and then there was Sappro. It tasted carbonated, strong and delicious. It was at "Pepper Lunch" just before Meidaimae station. The Black Label was very delicious, but it was two cups per person though. I think the beer here is delicious. When I come to Sapporo I drink "Sapporo Classic", if I am in Okinawa, its "Orion". In Okinawa, Asashi is also made as well as Orion, I don't like it so much. There was also a time when any bottled beer was the best.
Q: Can you talk about some memories about beer?
KENOH: As a student I had a part time job in a Izakaya* at the east exit of Shinjuku Station Berg, called "My City Store Shinjuku". I have a memory that Löwenbräu from the customers was so delicious. In England I drank Heineken which is a beer from the Netherlands, which was nice. I drank Estreja in Spain, which was beautiful. In Bali I drank Bintang Beer, in Korea it was Kas. There is Baeren in Iwate. But, I didn't like Qingdao when I went to China, it wasn't cold at all.
Q: So, when did you get to be particular about it?
KENOH: It started with Asahi Super Dry five years ago; back then I didn't mind them, but I hate beer bubbles now.
Q: Why do you hate beer bubbles?
KENOH: They are not nice. Beer is a liquid you drink, why does it bubble? Try and drink it once without the bubbles, its amazingly good.
Q: What do you like about Asahi?
KENOH: Its tough, like the brand (rough). The most important thing about beer, is the condition. The moment is born when it is served in an ice cold glass. But, it is also bad I hear that it is bad if the shop and the server do not clean the glasses properly.
Q: Certainly
KENOH: Temperate control is important in beer. Even in wrestling brand is important, New Japan, All Japan and a brand called Noah. The quality of the match is important, and Noah is proud to have always had this. But, if you compare it to beer before becoming the new system, the temperature control was sweet.
Q: You have connected it to wrestling.
KENOH: Noah is the Super Dry Asahi of professional wrestling. The new system will be reborn in places other than in the ring, and it is an optimal condition, and such a condition will provide the best wrestling. Beer should be cold, but wrestling should be hot. If you want to see hot wrestling, you have to come to Noah.

Genghis Khan: a mutton and vegetable dish cooked over a cast iron grill. 
Chūhai: or "shōchū highball" is a canned alcoholic drink.
Discount Service Day: When restaurants have a discounted service 
Pepper Lunch: Franchise in Tokyo that sells "fast steak"
Izakaya: Japanese pub or bar that serves small meals along with alcoholic beverages.

Translated from "Weekly Pro" (23rd April 2019)
Picture credit: "Weekly Pro".