(NOAH) Noah returns to "the sacred place"...the Nippon Budokan event will be held on February 12th, 2021! Thoughts revealed by wrestlers and others.

ABEMA TIMES

6th December 2020

It was a long awaited announcement for all wrestlers, company officials and fans. Pro Wrestling Noah will hold an event at the Nippon Budokan for the first time in eleven years on Friday February 12th next year. When it was announced on the screen at the Yoyogi event on the 6th December, there was a big applause in the hall.

During their heyday, Noah held big events many times at the Nippon Budokan. It is a venue where many famous matches that fans remember have been held. Kenta Kobashi, an old boy of Noah, says "The Nippon Budokan is the sacred place of pro wrestling". 

"I started to manage Noah in earnest from the time of the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in March last year. Regarding Noah, I am a newcomer, but from the time I became involved, I was aware of returning to the Nippon Budokan". These are the words of Narihiro Takeda, who served as the president under the old system, amd who was given responsibility for the location. The hurdle is high to rent the Budokan in the first place, but when the vacant schedule came out, he unconsciously said, "I'll do it".

"President Takagi and Director Yamauchi are always saying that the direction that CF (Cyber Fight) should aim for, is the top of the industry. I the enhancement in the ring, and the expectations of the fans was all rubbed into my brain".

Continuing the intense matches and gradually increasing big matches, the Nippon Budokan is the destination that has spread the appeal of the new Noah to new fans. 

Naomichi Marufuji, Vice President of CyberFight said, "I think this is exactly when we use the word "emotional". 

This is probably because he is someone who has been with Noah through the good times and the bad times since the launch of the promotion. 

"We can return to the Budokan, which the great seniors enchanted and built up. Back then, having a match at the Budokan was normal. I have really felt over the past few years how great it was, and it's been eleven years since I realised it. I once thought that I might not ever return, but now we can go back there again. I think that feeling will not only arise from not just the matches, but also the path to the venue."

Marufuji sees Noah returning to the Nippon Budokan as "now". 

"There are only a few faces left from Noah's launch, and I think it is a place where only a few people from that time could ever return to. The wrestlers who chose Noah's ring, and continued to fight without giving up, it's the same with the staff, and I am truly grateful to CyberAgent as well as all of those who have supported Noah in the past. Above all, the fans who have continued to believe in Noah and continued to support us, and everyone who has become newly interested in Noah. I can only thank you."

What will will you show at the Budokan? That is of course, a "Noah-like fight". 

"The best expression of gratitude in returning to the Budokan is still "Watch the match, show, fascinate." I would like to show all the wrestlers and the staff, that it is Noah who can show the fight in Budokan". 

Go Shiozaki vs Takashi Sugiura was the main event at the 6th December Yoyogi event where the return to the Budokan was announced. The GHC Heavyweight champion, Go Shiozaki, said "I want to stand as the champion in the main event at the Budokan. To do that, I have to protect this belt." Looking to the future he said, "The Budokan is a special place, both for me and for Noah. By experiencing this, I think that the current wrestlers and the staff can also get a huge amount of experience. From here, Noh should be able to go up another stage."

Returning home to their Holy Land. Home to the Nippon Budokan. A major step in "business reconstruction" is noted here, and a new era will begin. 

Translated from ABEMA Times

Picture credit: ABEMA Times