(NOAH) "Why Noah is fighting now"

Broadcast on Noah's official YouTube on May 26th 2020

KAITO KIYOMIYA

"Feeling like "lets go" with my whole body, to convey the energy to the customers in front of the camera"

KEIJI MUTOH

"I am suffering too, and I want you to see it as it is."

NAOMICHI MARUFUJI

"Keep "Wrestling's lights" running

APRIL 2020, CORONAVIRUS & NOAH

Due to the spread of the Coronavirus infection, all promotions were worried about continuing their activities. Pro Wrestling Noah in the form of television matches, kept moving without stopping. Recording was performed after applying thorough preventative measures to all things related to wrestlers, management staff, shooting team, etc. What do the wrestlers think when going to the ring on 19th April television match? Their thoughts during this "Emergency" situation. 

PRO WRESTLING NOAH, 1ST DAY FIGHT

GO SHIOZAKI

33rd GHC Heavyweight Champion 

"The Burning Champion"

"Despite Corona, I am grateful to have been able to have had matches. When I was wrestling empty arena, I thought of when Rikidozan wrestled in the street after the war, so now I have to show a fight to the death in the ring. On the 29th March, there was an empty arena match at Korakuen Hall. Facing a wrestler who I never had a singles match with before, I don't think that it would have been possible without that situation. The match had a thirty minute stare battle."

The "thirty minute stare battle"

It was a stare that lasted for thirty minutes...

"I think it was a match that was possible because no one was expecting the thirty minute stare. There were no customers in the venue to convince, but the the tens and thousands of people watching, I was keen to have a match that could be transmitted to them."

Important things now for someone involved in pro wrestling.

"When I first entered Pro Wrestling, I was deeply impressed by the fact that whether injured or not, you would still stand up, and I wanted to be that way. I want to convey the belief in what I'm doing, and that I will stand up with my heart. Whatever the adversity is, Pro Wrestlers always stand. I want to show the soul of wrestling to the world. 

KATSUHIKO NAKAJIMA 

Go Shiozaki's tag partner

"Kick King"

(Doesn't really translate well but Nakajima says something like that without his partner next to him, he has been lonely. It's made matches difficult.)

"Honestly, I am lonely...even if there are no customers, it is nice to be able to have pro wrestling matches and show it through the screen...but I want to deliver an intense battle that goes beyond that. Under any situation we are pro wrestlers, and we want that. For the fans, who I call "HOMIES", we will provide what they want as pro wrestlers in any situation. Pro wrestlers are pro wrestlers, we live strong. No matter what happens, as pro wrestlers, we stay strong.

KAITO KIYOMIYA

"Supernova" 

The young ace is confused 

"As a professional wrestler, I want to show extraordinary things in the ring, and the fact that there are no customers is confusing. A loud cheer always echoed. When the wrestling match is carried out, there are things that are composed of eye contact with customers, eye contact and their own reaction to their reactions. I was wondering what the onset of that was. Just to reach fans that we can't meet directly, we don't make changes based on "rules". The bar is set at 120%, and the feeling of being "in the ring" is transmitted to the customer through the camera, so with my whole being I feel "Lets go!". The great cheer that I get when I go to the ring, I hold in my heart, to convey my feelings to the customers watching. I feel like "Lets go" with my whole being, I am a pro wrestler and I have core feelings that I want to rejuvenate, and with that cheering I will bring a "voice" from myself.

TAKASHI SUGIURA

First generation GHC National Champion

"The Killing Machine"

The Boss is calm. When training he drives to the dojo by car to avoid crowds, and is still masked even when no one is there. 

"Not only Japan, but the world is in trouble, I want to guard what I can and resolve this quickly. It's the 20th year of my career, and so I was worried about the first empty arena match until just before it...at first I really wondered what our motivation and tension would be like when we went to the ring, but the opponent was there and so I could concentrate my focus on him with the camera. There is always the sense that the customer is watching because it is being filmed, so in that way not having an audience doesn't matter, it feels unrelated."

The answer from the GHC National Champion defense to the empty arena situation is "same as usual". 

"There are a lot of wrestlers who are fighting for their own way of life and with various feelings while watching our fight. There are so many people, so I think it is okay to see it and be entertained, especially in a situation like this, especially if you are watching television or looking at the internet. I hope that this (stress) can be reduced, and it's good to have fun as usual."

KAZUSHI SAKURABA

"IQ Wrestler"

"There is nothing that I can see that I can do, I can't have matches, I can't practice. I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm at a loss. I don't have any experience of having no customers. (To the staff) How does it feel? I don't know. I have been wondering whether or not I should do it by imagining the reactions of people watching on the television, but I don't know how to do it. For even a man who has a decorated history, it's a fight that can't be imagined. Still, I think that when I lose a match I do not think that it is completely negative, but in many ways I think positively. I think how in order to make progress how to change this state in the right direction. I have been able to take advantage of this positive thinking, and although this situation has been hard for everyone, I would like to have a match that will make you feel letter, so lets do our best.

KEIJI MUTOH

"Pro Wrestling Master"

The Pro Wrestling Master laments, that the final match of WRESTLE-1 was empty arena. This is the second time in his 36 year career that he has wrestled in closed events.

"Even the training routine that I have been doing all year long can't be done now, and even the gym is closed. Life is getting tougher because my knees are bad, I am a pro wrestler who cannot self weight train. Life as a pro wrestler is getting harder." 

What Mutoh felt in an empty arena match

"The time, the place and the opportunity to become a first class wrestler is smoother than I thought, sometimes I interacted with customers, and sometimes I was good at targeting that one girl. You can't throw a line to a customer, when you can't have a match."

Still, the pro wrestling master felt that the future of pro wrestling was in empty arena matches. 

"I feel that the "Empty Arena Match" feels like the "future of wrestling", and if you think about it as camera is not reflected during the match, you could make pro wrestling in a different form, such as having a trampoline being prepared in entry. Because of the camera no one sees everything, I don't know how many things you could see in places that do not appear. 

Possibility of "future of wrestling" in empty arena matches

"I am suffering too, and I want you to see it as it is. I'm doing my best to see the image, and if you can see it and even be a little more energetic, you can get better, and won't lose to corona (rough). Wrestling is unbeatable."

NAOMICHI MARUFUJI

Vice President of Noah\Noah’s Genius

The Vice President Wrestler

"Everyone is doing something in these circumstances, and I'm enjoying it."

The Vice President Wrestler has hope.

"Until now there has never been away to get the empty arena events delivered either on network or television, so furthermore I think it will be utilized as more content for the future whether there are customers or whether it is watched on screen. Data that customers are watching is strong, and although there is anxiety, it is a progression. We are doing this with a positive outlook, and I don't think we could proceed otherwise. What we do now is only a plus, so when the customers come to the venue, there is no negative. The important thing now as someone who is involved in pro wrestling is to, "Keep the lights of wrestling" running. Keeping that constant, keeping trying and not stopping. Wrestling has this history. People have grown up watching it, enjoying it and receiving courage from it, we will not exterminate the wrestling that keeps things going. Wrestling will not stop! We will do what we can to keep the lights of pro wrestling running. I will do it in what form I can. I have been thinking about what I must bequeath for a long time, so I will always stay in Noah, and we will always win".

Gif credit: Noah GHC YouTube