(NOAH) Hitoshi Kumano announces hiatus from wrestling


9th March 2020
Noah.co.jp

KUMANO: I am sorry for taking your time up at lunchtime...but I am going to get to the point, I am going to take a hiatus from wrestling. Before my debut, I have had nerve paralysis in my left eye. I have been able to wrestle, and live my daily life so I just left it, but recently it has become worse and rather than overdo it I decided to focus on the future by getting surgery and devoting myself to treatment.
Q: What are the specific symptoms again?
KUMANO: At first when I looked down I had double vision, but the symptoms appeared when I started looking straight. At the start when I was seen at the hospital I was told that the trochlear nerve in my left eye was paralyzed. I have continued wrestling without going to the hospital, but now I would like to pursue treatment in earnest.
Q: Is the hiatus period indefinite because the surgery does not always mean recovery?
KUMANO: They said "cured", but there have been many things have led to this decision. I believe that I will be cured, but I would like to talk with my doctor and concentrate on the treatment.
Q: You want to make a comeback without retiring?
KUMANO: Well, there are many things left that I want to do. I haven't gotten to the top of the Noah juniors yet, and so I want to come back with the power to overwhelm them.
Q: Two matches have been decided on until retirement; in Niigata you will go across the stables and team with Ogawa, Kotoge & Ohara against Harada, HAYATA, YO-HEY & Tadasuke in RATELS.
KUMANO: During my pro wrestling life, Ogawa has taught me many things, and Kotoge was my opponent at my debut. Ohara has been the partner I tagged with the longest. I am very happy to be able to partner with them all. My opponents are RATELS. I've worked with Boss Harada when I lost the title match (IPW Junior Championship in Niigata last year). I want to win. I think RATELS are a great team in today's Noah juniors, and I am really looking forward to wrestling them.
Q: At Korakuen, which will be the last match before hiatus, you will face Takashi Sugiura in a singles match.
KUMANO: There has been an opportunity recently in singles matches, but finally, I can wrestle Sugiura. It is a great honor as a professional wrestler because I admire him, and it has been a great honor to say that. Sugiura is the last match before hiatus, and as I don't know if I will be able to return after the accumulation of seven years, so I want to fully experience Takashi Sugiura.
Q: Are you aiming for a return time?
KUMANO: There are a lot of figures... a lot of things are overlapping now, so I don't really have any specific numbers, but I don't think that I will be able to return until I am healed and in a position to get to the top of the Noah Juniors.
Q: What is the most important thing you have left undone?
KUMANO: I challenged for the GHC Junior single, but I haven't won it yet. There is a wrestler who has never won it, so I want to win for that wrestler too. One final thing I want to say is that I wanted to participate in the league match of another promotion...I will aim at that when I return.
Q: What is the most memorable thing before hiatus?
KUMANO: Looking back on it there is the big parting from the person who taught me pro wrestling (Atsushi Aoki), and as a result I was able to wrestle Jun Akiyama who I thought I couldn't wrestle. It may be in an incomplete form, but in order to show my life to Aoki, I want to use this period to recharge my batteries and cure my eye, and I want to be in a state where I can fight, return and go wild.

Link to original article from Noah.co.jp
Picture credit: Noah.co.jp

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