(NOAH) "For us, the Budokan is the "beginning" rather than the "return". Interview with Yoshiki Inamura.
22nd January 2021.
Noah's new generation, Yoshiki Inamura, will confront Naomichi Marufuji & Jun Akiyama in collaboration with Kaito Kiyomiya at the Nippon Budokan on the 12th February.
Inamura is blessed with a large body, and boasts strong attacking power and toughness, he can also perform aerial techniques and has inherited the Musou from Takeshi Rikio as his special move. He also has a soft side, and loves animals. Although he has been fighting for two and a half years of his career, and in hot pursuit of Kaito Kiyomiya, he is new generation Noah, but what is lacking are "results".
At the Nippon Budokan, a chance arrives with a big card. For Noah this will be the first "return" to the sacred place for the first time in ten years, but for Inamura, he intends to make it a "starting place" in every sense of the word.
Interview with Yoshiki Inamura
Q: Participation at The Budokan, and the card "Inamura & Kiyomiya vs Marufuji & Akiyama" has been arranged
INAMURA: I am happy, more than anything I am delighted
Q: What are your thoughts on this card?
INAMURA: I think the card has a theme of "era" or "generation". Marufuji has been devoted to Noah for over twenty years, and Akiyama was a founding member of Noah, and built an era. Kiyomiya and myself are Noah born, and we will challenge that tag...I think that customers can understand the meaning just by looking at the card. I also instantly felt the meaning of "generation" or "era".
Q: How do you want to fight under that theme?
INAMURA: Out of everyone, I am the one with the lowest career, and the shortest history in Noah, so it may be said that I am the most "unknown Noah" of the four. However, I wanted to be a Noah wrestler, so I entered here and I made my debut, so in the sense of pushing up Noah from the bottom, I think it is meaningless unless I fight hard and get results. Kiyomiya has become one of the symbols of Noah now, but I alone haven't reached that yet. I want to show to the audience that "Noah has Yoshiki Inamura", and I want to let the opponents recognize it too.
Q: You have fought with Marufuji many times...
INAMURA: Yes, but compared to the other seniors, there have only been a surprisingly few chances to interact. There has only been one single, and even in a six man or eight man tag, we haven't had the opportunity to interact too much. I don't think I have experienced everything (of Marufuji) yet.
Q: On the other hand, it will also be your first confrontation with Akiyama
INAMURA: That's right. Around the time I made my debut, I greeted him as Marufuji's second when he appeared in "Champion Carnival", but I think its safe to say that I have almost no acquaintance. I think of him as the same person I saw on TV.
Q: What kind of impression do you have?
INAMURA: The impression that I had when I was in Junior High and High school was strength and fear. I really get that sense. "Strength" is something that each person has, whether it's physical strength, strength in skills, or emotional strength. But that is not the case, you feel something like "human strength". Throughout the match there is a sense of the strong core of the human in wrestling.
Q: Similar to Sugiura?
INAMURA: Hmmm...it's different. I think that it is my "unknown strength".
Q: This will be Noah's first return in ten years to the stage of the Budokan
INAMURA: Honestly, I don't have the feeling of "returning", I have more of a feeling that it starts from there...I feel it particularly because of the match, because there are "two people who have not known the Budokan" and "two people who know Noah at the Budokan" fight.
Q: I think that many people are thinking as to how much you get stoked up is the key
INAMURA: Yes, I think that the most. To be honest, when the Budokan was announced and it was said that it was the "first time in ten years", of course I have been there, but I have never stood in the ring, let alone had a match there and looked out of the audience. I didn't really feel it to be honest. But, when this card was made I became aware of the Budokan immediately...or rather I felt like, "I'll do something big here."
Q: After all, to show "Noah now" and be the most impressive of the four...
INAMURA: Naturally there! However, there is a feeling that "I want to leave an impression", but more than anything else I feel stronger about "Our generation of Noah". I feel that as long as I tag with Kiyomiya. If the person next to me has more career (regardless of partner) I think it will be "I am going to stand out", but this time it will be Kiyomiya next to me. Since this is the Budokan, I think that there will be many opportunities to be seen by fans other than Noah's, and I have a strong desire to let them know that "There are so many amazing guys in Noah's younger generation".
Q: It is also an opportunity to present Noah currently, and the possibilities of Noah in the future
INAMURA: Yes. Of course there are many people who know the greatness of Marufuji and Akiyama. I also think that a lot of people will be seeing me for the first time, rather than Kiyomiya. As I said earlier about standing out, I hope that as many people as possible will think "That generation of Noah is not only Kaito Kiyomiya, but also Yoshiki Inamura". I want as many people as possible to think that.
Q: At the end of last year, you challenged for the GHC tag and lost, but did the tag with Kiyomiya get the response that you can grow much more?
INAMURA: Pretty much. There is of course the movement in the ring, but I think we can grow steadily and strengthen not only our technique, but also our connection in terms of feelings.
Q: In order to connect, is it important to leave results first?
INAMURA: Yes. "I might have lost, but I left an impression" might be good right after the match, but when speaking about it I think that the impression of "losing" will be faint. Naturally, I have to win. As for my own thoughts, it would be best if I could win over Jun Akiyama in the best way, but the feeling that I want to win with Kiyomiya, is stronger than any feeling of "I want to get the pin!" Even in the title match in Nagoya at the end of last year, I think it was the cause of defeat because my feelings ran ahead of me, and I fought too much alone at the end.
Q: So, the biggest impression you want to leave is about getting results?
INAMURA: That's right. I don't want to make it just a "commemorative match". I want to make it a turning point that I can think of when I look back on and say, "Inamura started from that place when he he won that match"
Q: What is the image of Yoshiki Inamura that you have after that?
INAMURA: I want to have a strong presence, not only as a wrestler, but also like an animal. When you see an elephant or a rhino, you may be overwhelmed in an instant, or you may think "this is amazing" instinctively. However, you don't get that impression quite that much when your opponent is human.
Q: But when I see Takashi Sugiura, I sometimes want to run away...
INAMURA: I think with Sugiura and Fujita, the parts that make you feel their "animal strength" comes not just from their bodies, I think it reveals itself in various places. There is no spiritual meaning, but I think there is an "aura". After all, the Budokan is a large venue, so I want to make people think "He's big ..." even from the top seats on the second floor. Eventually, I want to become a wrestler who can make people feel it from the entrance, and who does not bring shame to that unique move the Musou. In that sense as well, I want to make the Budokan "the beginning".
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