Happiness following disaster; interview with YO-HEY & HAYATA
March 2020
A good time to cure HAYATA'S ribs
Q: Due to the Coronavirus, the event has been cancelled for a month, and this includes the title match. What are your feelings now?
YO-HEY: To be honest, I didn't expect it to be so big, and it was a big thing that the event was cancelled. Then, after hearing the announcement, I realized that the title match was postponed. I was surprised that Noah's big match had disappeared.
Q: The focus was on the 8th March Yokohama Bunka Gym I think...
YO-HEY: The last event before Yokohama Bunka Gym was 24th February in Nagoya? It was a pre-match, but we surfed through and there could be nothing they could say as a comeback. Harada laid Ogawa out, and HAYATA and I did the same to Kotoge and Suzuki, and on March 8th we would have taken the belt at Yokohama Bunka thank you very much. Well, from February 22nd to March 8th it has been a long time without any matches, but on the plus side there was a rumor that Wife had broken his ribs, so its been good to have time to cure it. HAYATA is completely healed, and just riding the waves.
Q: Do you feel discouraged?
YO-HEY: Well, I can't complain, it was what the company decided. The match in Korakuen is on the 29th, and so I'm focusing my mind there.
Q: What is the condition of the injury?
HAYATA: Oh, that was just strategy. I wasn't injured.
YO-HEY: Eh, aren't you injured? Don't worry if you think you don't want to touch on how hard it was (rough)
HAYATA: I was taken home.
Q: You were off for about a month. It is rare to be missing, except when injured etc?
YO-HEY: Honestly, I was uneasy. There were a couple of matches before the title match, and so I was wondering if the condition could be fixed. I think the champions were also worried.
Q: Looking back, does this feel different from the local promotions that you worked for before you came to Noah?
YO-HEY: The biggest difference is that you don't have to set up the ring, and so there is an environment were the wrestlers can just concentrate on the match. So now I can fight as much as I want, and I am thankful for that.
HAYATA: That's right.
YO-HEY: Practice before the match is left up to your own freedom and your own independence. Well, we were two of the most famous stoic wrestlers during our indie era, so it wasn't surprising to see stoic wrestlers in Noah (laughs).
Q: Since you came to Noah, RATELS have been the centre of the Noah junior's right?
YO-HEY: Thanks to the Noah Juniors, it has become an indispensable existence, but now the Noah Juniors is just a struggle between RATELS and STINGER. I want more new stimulation.
Q: Stinger as opponents are unsatisfactory?
YO-HEY: I am always thinking about various strategies, and each time its exciting, but there are times when I think back and I get angry, but there is also a sense of fun. But, there are other junior wrestlers, and HAYATA has always said that there are more junior wrestlers to come (laughs).
HAYATA: Hey...
Q: There was a period when YO-HEY left RATELS for a while...
YO-HEY: Eh, not at all (laughs)
Q: How did you feel when you saw RATELS from the outside?
YO-HEY: To be honest, if you have any questions, please ask me what you want. This might be just my individual opinion, but it was a stimulus to fight against the people I partnered with. While they as enemies made me excited, it also made me feel "That is unexpected?" and "is there such technique and coordination?". It made me feel that. The current STINGER may think that too.
Q: It's fun to fight, so perhaps you want to meet more.
YO-HEY: I feel like that, and I feel that we can improve each other more. There was a time last year which is a void, but I can only remember fighting STINGER.
Q: RATELS are a gathering of wrestlers who came to Noah from Osaka, but Kotoge alone did not join you. What are your thoughts on that?
HAYATA: I don't want to follow that cloak.
YO-HEY: I guess there is that after all (laughs). I feel the senior who went to Noah from Osaka first. I feel it everywhere while fighting. He used to take care of me the most once.
Q: What is your impression of Kotoge's partner, Kotaro Suzuki?
YO-HEY: I think he is highly competant in all aspects of physical strength, skill, sense and pro-wrestling. When he returned to Noah for the Global Junior League match finals, it was my first confrontation. A Kings Road style wrestler, who has travelled through major promotions. I may have gotten used to doing many matches, but I have also felt the difference in upbringing between myself and others, but I have gotten the impression of his being a resourceful person. But, don't you hate it because it doesn't quite fit with the cloak?
Q: Do you feel a lot of Mitsuharu Misawa in Kotaro?
YO-HEY: To tell the truth, I didn't watch Misawa's matches. What about you?
HAYATA: I watched. I saw Noah's launch on television. There is similar movement.
Q: You are of similar ages and careers, and are from the same local Osaka. The current champion team is a combination of seniors and juniors of different ages and careers, and they grew up in a different environment. I think there is pitfall there.
YO-HEY: I think those two are bad. Not only in Noah, but in wrestling as a whole, I don't think there is a team that is so unpleasant together, even at at the time if the Indies.
Q: Well, I don't know of any other team that calls themselves "a couple".
HAYATA: Returning home is like, "What, is this my home?" (laughs)
YO-HEY: Even when we go home, we contact each other. Before that it is the same e-mail, "Coming home tomorrow?"
Q: To that extent, are you on the same wavelength...?
YO-HEY: There is no such other team
Q: It is unusual for the spaces between matches to be so far apart, are you craving for wrestling?
YO-HEY: I want to. I don't know what will happen next, and I have big anxiety about when I will do the match next. The longer you have a period without matches, the more anxious you get, even if its just one week to ten days. There is a sense of getting back in the match, but no matter how much you practice, even to stoics like us, you are not in the usual condition in the ring.
Q: HAYATA was wrestling every during the Osaka Pro Era.
HAYATA: You had to do it, but your intuition goes wrong when you do it that much. Moving was also difficult. In Osaka it was the venue as soon as you left the room.
YO-HEY: I don't hate those days on the indies, because of them I have now. Since the Indie days I have had the self confidence that I could go to Noah.
Q: I want the spread of the Coronavirus to stop soon, however where...
HAYATA: There was a period of time before the Yokohama Bunka Gym event, but then it stretched even further. I wasn't very mobile, so I wonder if it was better. Next from the title match and so forth it doesn't matter, I am going to try to do my best.
YO-HEY: There has been no announcement, but your injury has healed.
HAYATA: Even though I have had to rest, it starts again from the pre-matches.
YO-HEY: (Does not translate)
MAGNUM HOKUTO*: By the way, its nice to see wrestlers who have been coming to this store for a long time going to Noah and playing an active part
YO-HEY: Recently, the store was introduced on "BRUTUS", and for those who have taken care of me when I was in Osaka, I am going to show them doing my best in a major, and bring them a title so they can think more and more. Also, it is said about this person in the Pro Wrestling world that it is the "West Yokozuna*", it is this person who is going to fight against Kotoge (laughs).
HAYATA: Me? Same as Mag-san
YO-HEY: Is it that big?
Picture credit: Weekly Pro
*Magnum Hokuto: Japanese critic and comedian, former pornographic actor.
*A sumo success story with plenty of sex appeal, worshipers' worries, annoyances, and pride
HAYATA: Hey...
Q: There was a period when YO-HEY left RATELS for a while...
YO-HEY: Eh, not at all (laughs)
Q: How did you feel when you saw RATELS from the outside?
YO-HEY: To be honest, if you have any questions, please ask me what you want. This might be just my individual opinion, but it was a stimulus to fight against the people I partnered with. While they as enemies made me excited, it also made me feel "That is unexpected?" and "is there such technique and coordination?". It made me feel that. The current STINGER may think that too.
YO-HEY: I feel like that, and I feel that we can improve each other more. There was a time last year which is a void, but I can only remember fighting STINGER.
Q: RATELS are a gathering of wrestlers who came to Noah from Osaka, but Kotoge alone did not join you. What are your thoughts on that?
HAYATA: I don't want to follow that cloak.
YO-HEY: I guess there is that after all (laughs). I feel the senior who went to Noah from Osaka first. I feel it everywhere while fighting. He used to take care of me the most once.
Q: What is your impression of Kotoge's partner, Kotaro Suzuki?
YO-HEY: I think he is highly competant in all aspects of physical strength, skill, sense and pro-wrestling. When he returned to Noah for the Global Junior League match finals, it was my first confrontation. A Kings Road style wrestler, who has travelled through major promotions. I may have gotten used to doing many matches, but I have also felt the difference in upbringing between myself and others, but I have gotten the impression of his being a resourceful person. But, don't you hate it because it doesn't quite fit with the cloak?
Q: Do you feel a lot of Mitsuharu Misawa in Kotaro?
YO-HEY: To tell the truth, I didn't watch Misawa's matches. What about you?
HAYATA: I watched. I saw Noah's launch on television. There is similar movement.
Q: You are of similar ages and careers, and are from the same local Osaka. The current champion team is a combination of seniors and juniors of different ages and careers, and they grew up in a different environment. I think there is pitfall there.
YO-HEY: I think those two are bad. Not only in Noah, but in wrestling as a whole, I don't think there is a team that is so unpleasant together, even at at the time if the Indies.
Q: Well, I don't know of any other team that calls themselves "a couple".
HAYATA: Returning home is like, "What, is this my home?" (laughs)
YO-HEY: Even when we go home, we contact each other. Before that it is the same e-mail, "Coming home tomorrow?"
Q: To that extent, are you on the same wavelength...?
YO-HEY: There is no such other team
Q: It is unusual for the spaces between matches to be so far apart, are you craving for wrestling?
YO-HEY: I want to. I don't know what will happen next, and I have big anxiety about when I will do the match next. The longer you have a period without matches, the more anxious you get, even if its just one week to ten days. There is a sense of getting back in the match, but no matter how much you practice, even to stoics like us, you are not in the usual condition in the ring.
Q: HAYATA was wrestling every during the Osaka Pro Era.
HAYATA: You had to do it, but your intuition goes wrong when you do it that much. Moving was also difficult. In Osaka it was the venue as soon as you left the room.
YO-HEY: I don't hate those days on the indies, because of them I have now. Since the Indie days I have had the self confidence that I could go to Noah.
Q: I want the spread of the Coronavirus to stop soon, however where...
HAYATA: There was a period of time before the Yokohama Bunka Gym event, but then it stretched even further. I wasn't very mobile, so I wonder if it was better. Next from the title match and so forth it doesn't matter, I am going to try to do my best.
YO-HEY: There has been no announcement, but your injury has healed.
HAYATA: Even though I have had to rest, it starts again from the pre-matches.
YO-HEY: (Does not translate)
YO-HEY: Recently, the store was introduced on "BRUTUS", and for those who have taken care of me when I was in Osaka, I am going to show them doing my best in a major, and bring them a title so they can think more and more. Also, it is said about this person in the Pro Wrestling world that it is the "West Yokozuna*", it is this person who is going to fight against Kotoge (laughs).
HAYATA: Me? Same as Mag-san
YO-HEY: Is it that big?
Picture credit: Weekly Pro
*Magnum Hokuto: Japanese critic and comedian, former pornographic actor.
*A sumo success story with plenty of sex appeal, worshipers' worries, annoyances, and pride
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