(NOAH) "Creating a new Noah junior", "Noah junior regular army" declaration from 11th October in Osaka, interview with Daisuke Harada.

PRO WRESTLING DX

9th October 2020

Daisuke Harada will challenge for the GHC Junior Tag Titles, which are held by Yoshinari Ogawa & HAYATA, by reviving the tag team "Momo No Seishun" ("Peaches of Youth") with Atsushi Kotoge for the first time in about 3 years and 10 months at the 11th October Osaka event. 

RATELS, which he had led, was forced to dissolve by Ogawa and STINGER, and he was betrayed by YO-HEY who had been with him until the end. After being completely friendless, he and Kotoge who he had "broken with" shook hands. Kotoge made the decision to exit FULL THROTTLE, where he was also the "Leader". Everything is to create a new "Noah Junior".

We asked Harada, who released the "Noah Junior Regular Army Declaration", about the background and the true intentions of the Momo no Seishun reunion, the prospects for the fight with Ogawa & HAYATA, and what he would be aiming at in the future. 

INTERVIEW WITH DAISUKE HARADA

Q: You refused to even get involved with Atsushi Kotoge in matches for while, so what is the reason for partnering with him, who you broke with and ignored? 

HARADA: On that day at Korakuen Hall (September 23rd), I was betrayed by YO-HEY and then various teams came in and started fighting, and I was alone in the ring. Kotoge dived in. Certainly at first it's true I was angry and I had the thought, "What did you come out for?". 

Q: Still, you asked for a handshake? 

HARADA: It came out reflexively for some reason. I was surprised as after all there had been a part of me who for a long time had hated him. But he didn't do anything like pull away from my hand, and he took it. Then at that moment "this is cool" came out automatically. After all, for more than half of my career he has been someone who I have been teaming with and so the response to achieve the creation of the future Noah juniors welled up. 

Q: The "Momo No Seishun" tag is the team that triggered the full scale interaction with Noah, and who also reformed to fight the Suzuki Army, but this time you will be a team that has shaken hands to create a new Noah junior. For you, what kind of awareness do you have about the Peach Youth? 

HARADA: It is the "origin". This is the team that at the time of Osaka Pro, was born as the very first "tag team" within the promotion. 

Q: I see. It's certainly an origin of everything. 

HARADA: That's right. It was that team which entered Noah, and when the Suzuki Army stole all the belts, it was Momo No Seishun who took back the belts first and raised the signal for Noah's counterattack. And now the stage put together is once again Osaka. That is the "origin", isn't it?

Q: What kind of starting point do you want this time? 

HARADA: First of all, break the strong state of STINGER (who monopolizes the junior belt), and in order to create the Noah juniors in the future, I want to control this Noah Junior Warring States period*

Q: Including Junta Miyawaki entering it has taken on a state of three people, isn't that the dimension of a "Unit"? 

HARADA: I agree. Instead of intentionally being a Noah junior unit, with the feeling of carrying and creating a new one I want to do it as "Noah Junior". To put it a little more simply, its like having a standing position of a "regularly army junior." 

Q: What do you expect from your new associate, Miyawaki? 

HARADA: Not only to fight with Youth, but more than that, do I expect more success than our tag? He has been missing due to shoulder injury, but in his return match he wrestled without taping. His body was muscular, and he was very motivated. Prior to his return, he said, "I want to create the Noah juniors". I want him to explode with that feeling in upcoming matches. 

Q: Now all the members of RATELS that you had led, have gone to different units as a result. 

HARADA: They can do as they like. However, because they have moved, show me something individual. If you have joined a team and are being just "familiar", I will end it right there. First I want to break the power of STINGER, and then move on to the next. 

Q: How do you see the STINGER champions, HAYATA & Ogawa again? 

HARADA: When I challenged last time, I took the direct loss. To put it simply, "I don't like it". Also, HAYATA has obviously changed by partnering with Yoshinari Ogawa. When fighting him, I really feel that he has changed in tempo and rhythm...the offensive "roughness" is disappearing, there are some difficult parts to attack because it's not the HAYATA I know, but now that I have revived this tag, I am confident of defeating him.

Q: Recently, you have been angry with Ogawa for a long time, such as being forced to dissolve RATELS, but do you want to completely destroy him in Osaka? 

HARADA: Yes, that's certainly how I feel. I'm frustrated as in the last rumble match he just came out to have a fight and then went back leaving it unfinished. However, for a long time I have been fighting with emotion not only with Yoshinari Ogawa, but also HAYATA. So this time, I feel like I am going to be calmer. 

Q: There was a part where your emotions were at war and ran away with you, leading to misjudgement. 

HARADA: Yes, I think emotions will come out by all means, but I am going to keep them down as much as possible. Besides, if I bring out too much, the revival of this tag will be meaningless. The two of us are united in that we want to think about what we want to do with this win. 

Q: The reunion has come after about three and a half years, but are you worried about how you are going to tag? 

HARADA: There is no problem, is there? As I have said many times more than half of my career we have tagged, and so I don't have to check that he is reliable anymore. When we tagged in Niigata the other day (September 26th), I didn't think there was a problem with the tempo and the combination when it comes to matching each other, it is the same as it always was. If we both let our egos get the better, it would collapse I think. However, there is a difference in movement individually than before. 

Q: It is true that for the last three and a half years, you have both taken completely different paths. 

HARADA: I have been fighting with the Noah Junior's all this time, and he has been looking for various changes and doing various things. I think he has had a lot of experience. I think our teamwork will overlap with what we have experienced and I think with that we will win, and we can create new things. 

Q: Now you have to finish it with just an "old song" 

HARADA: I don't think we have that feeling at all. I am watching what will happen from here on. 

Q: Do you want to show the evolved Momo No Shishun tag? 

HARADA: That's right. We have to show that, and I don't think it makes any sense to revive the tag if we lose in Osaka. We will take it in one go. 

Translated from Pro Wrestling DX 

Picture credit: Pro Wrestling DX

*Warring States Period was a period in Chinese history when the seven states of China (this was before the country was unified by Emperor Qin Shi Huang into one country) basically were at war with each other for years, each state being an independent kingdom.