(NOAH) "Now I really want the belt", Interview with Kotaro Suzuki

15th April 2020
Pro Wrestling DX

Kotaro Suzuki made his challenge for the GHC Junior Championship which is being held currently by Yoshinari Ogawa, who is also his teacher and a senior student*, at the 29th March Korakuen Hall event in front of an empty audience. Since he entered Noah, Kotaro's relationship with Ogawa has been mostly a "united front", but finally he has started a "confrontation."
Kotaro has made many dry comments on the Noah Juniors, but "Now I really want the belt". In the interview he speaks on his fixation with Yoshinari Ogawa.

Q: What was the reason again as to why you attacked after the match and then made your challenge?
KOTARO: Maybe because Ogawa has the GHC Junior? From the moment he won it, I was saying "Feel free" in interviews after matches, I thought "if we continue to tag like this, I am not going to have a chance to do it", so I decided to act. The method might have been a little rough, but I don't think Ogawa would take me seriously if it wasn't.
Q: You said you had an allergy to title matches, and made dry comments about the value of the GHC Junior, but does the current GHC Junior look bright?
KOTARO: It's shining. Because Ogawa has it, I really want it! I think the value has increased because Ogawa is wearing it, and I really want the belt now.
Q: Ogawa was once your teacher, and a senior student, what does he mean to you?
KOTARO: I haven't noticed any weakening, after returning to Noah I have often thought "Ogawa has not changed." Well, in Ogawa's head is a "Universe" and that his way of thinking. New things are always being born, and its impossible to read what he is thinking. How can I respond to that?
Q: You have hardly fought, but worked together a lot.
KOTARO: We had a single match, but I think it was at the time of my debut. Anyway, it's an old event that I can only remember peices of, and that is why I want to do it now. I feel the same way as I felt last year when I did a single with Marufuji. When I returned to Noah it was Ogawa and Marufuji that I thought that were the two people that "I must challenge".
Q: And now there is a belt it has spurred you into action?
KOTARO: Yes, after all Ogawa's last catch (out of all the GHC belts that he has held, aside from the GHC National), is the GHC Junior? It is good again.
Q: How will you get the belt when the match is arranged?
KOTARO: Speaking of Ogawa he has "infinite ideas and techniques", but its basic techniques. Nowadays, many people they don't do the basics, so I think there are some parts that look new. I have been taught that it is "as naturally as possible", and that is why I have the technique of "Ogawaism". I was taught by him.
Q: It may be difficult for you to compete using Ogawaism and overcome the teacher.
KOTARO: My career has been spiced by the "Ogawaism" that I am doing now. The basis of my pro wrestling is formed by "Misawaism", "Ogawaism" and "Ricky Marvinism". If you want Lucha, then Ricky is the master.
Q: It will be completed when you compete integrating with the "Kotaro Suzuki original?
KOTARO: That is what it is
Q: What kind of method do you want to use for the defeat?
KOTARO: I think there is an amount of speed and power, I think there is a lot there, and so I would like to come down to the aspect of strike and power. However, the technique part is supported by the "Ogawaism" technique.
Q: However, even if you attack with strikes or power strikes, before you notice it, Ogawa is winning...
KOTARO: I have seen that kind of thing going on many times next to me, so I know. That is why I can't afford to stop being alert, even momentarily. I think it will be a tight match.
Q: If you take the belt you will go to the centre of the Noah juniors, but what do you think of the current Noah Juniors?
KOTARO: Now its just sucking on fingers and watching while others are having fun with STINGER and RATELS. I always think about that. When Ogawa caught it no one did anything, and who will come for it if I take it? I am more worried about who will come for it than how I will stir things up.
Q: Regarding STINGER, Ogawa says it is already dissolved.
KOTARO: I am thinking that unless I try it for myself, then I won't know. Well, if it is done for then I can create a new one. Will it be STINGER or something else? Anyway, I won't know unless I try it. What will be born?
Q: Finally, this year is Noah's 20th anniversary. What about the situation where the long sought battle with Ogawa will be realised?
KOTARO: Yes. When I had one with Marufuji last year, was ten years after Misawa died, and now Ogawa in Noah's 20th year. I feel it is destined, and the meaning has become more important...that is why I want to see the Coronavirus subside, and have the match in front of as many people as possible.

* Yoshinari Ogawa trained under Mitsuharu Misawa, who in turn trained Kotaro Suzuki. Due to Ogawa's generation and status in Noah, it's more fitting to call him a "senior student" rather than "Older brother".

Link to original article from Pro Wrestling DX
Picture credit: Pro Wrestling DX