(NOAH) Of "Fate" and a "Starting point" at the Budokan on the 2nd February, interview with Naomichi Marufuji
28th January 2021
Naomichi Marufuji will team up with Jun Akiyama at the Nippon Budokan event (February 12th), which will be held for the first time in about ten years.
Marufuji and Akiyama, who have fought many intense battles at "Noah's Budokan", will team up to confront Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura of "a Budokan un-experienced generation". With the significance of once again obtaining the big stage of The Budokan, fighting Kiyomiya and Inamura, his thoughts on Akiyama and his own personal outlook triggered by The Budokan, we asked Marufuji about his current feelings towards the 2nd February.
Interview with Naomichi Marufuji
Q: The card in which you will team up with Jun Akiyama, has been arranged for the Budokan.
MARUFUJI: I'm glad he answered my call. Akiyama left Noah for various reasons, but since I am a pacifist by nature, from the time he left Noah I have always thought that he might return someday, and I have always wanted to create such a ring to do it in. In that, "Noah's Budokan" has been arranged after a long time, and Akiyama's situation has also changed. I think this tag can be done due to various timings and an overlap of fate.
Q: You stood in the same ring at Noah's Osaka event a year and a half ago, but is this different from that time?
MARUFUJI: Not for me, probably it is for Akiyama though. If anything, at that time I think the implication of a "guest from another promotion" was rather strong. This time, I think the feeling that "Jun Akiyama is back in Noah's ring" is stronger, and of course it is the Budokan. I think that is what he and fans are feeling more than anything else.
Q: At Differ Ariake at the end of 2012, a distinctive singles match of "Marufuji vs Akiyama" was held, which was Akiyama's last match before leaving the promotion. After the match, you sat cross-legged and exchanged words, and while you remained sitting you kept staring lonely at the view of Akiyama's back leaving Noah's ring. More that eight years have passed since then.
MARUFUJI: I think it's better not to go into detail about what words we exchanged at that time. It might not have been the best way to quit, I found it out from the newspaper (laughs). However, the hard feelings in me disappeared at an early stage. I was often asked, "Do you feel angry?" But, when I think about it, what do I need to get angry about? There may be an idea that "Noah was abandoned", but I don't think that was the reason why he left Noah. Rather than that, he wants to pursue the pro wrestling that he wants to do, and rather than being with people who don't agree, he goes the way he wants in a different environment. I think it is natural to have such an opinion. I have been in Noah for a long time, but I think pro wrestlers are in the end, solitary. Because it's an exposed profession, you have to worry about how others see you and their opinions. But, when the wrestler gets stuck what happens when they have gone, will the people they have been with reach out...? That said, I don't think that was the case. I think it was more about "That's too bad" or "It can't be helped". I think that was all there was to it. If so, I think that is a wrestler who will open the way for himself, and I think it is also his strength as a human being.
Q: In the end, you are the only one who can help yourself, and although you have taken different paths, its time to meet again.
MARUFUJI: Yes, I have been thinking that if he has gone out to pave the way for himself, then I have stayed here and paved the way for him.
Q: Noah has labeled their return to the Budokan for the first time in ten years, "Destination."
MARUFUJI: Speaking personally, it's the perfect starting point. It isn't a goal. In the old days, it was natural for us to say "The opening will be at Korakuen Hall, but the final round will be at the Budokan". That was the norm for us. It became impossible as the roster became thin, our scale got rapidly smaller and smaller. I was anxious about this, it it grew smaller as the staff, and the wrestlers, who weren't with Noah from the start, worked very hard, and we were able to return. People sometimes say its because myself, Sugi-chan (Sugiura) and Ogawa have protected Noah! I sometimes say that, but we couldn't do it alone, and I'm grateful.
Q: Not only have you finally reached it, you have also been given a chance.
MARUFUJI: Yes, that's why I want the younger wrestlers and those who have never experienced the Budokan to enjoy the atmosphere and have good matches. I think it will make them feel, "I'm a pro wrestler", more strongly.
Q: Your two young opponents are can be said to be the first case of, "I want you to experience The Budokan".
MARUFUJI: Yes. Perhaps in the company there was an option for Akiyama and I have to match, but for me the completion of the first stage was when I appeared in Champions Carnival in the purification match against Jun Akiyama. It was in All Japan's ring, and even in the emotional parts there was a topical part. So, even if I and Akiyama were to have a singles at The Budokan, I don't think there would be a novelty, and in that case I think it would be better for the two people who have the scent of the "Old Noah", to fight against two young opponents. Moreover, I don't remember tagging with Akiyama.
Q: It is true that you fought many times for the GHC Heavyweight and the tag, for the White GHC, and as unit leaders you fought a conflict (BRAVE vs S.A.T).
MARUFUJI: It is. So, if this was a memorial event, it wouldn't be about fighting two young people, but fighting with Akiyama against choices such as Ogawa, Saito, Sugiura etc, who have been in the ring with him in the past. However, this time it is Noah's new "starting point", so I think that Kiyomiya and Inamura are very suitable opponents.
Q: Because you have fought him, you know the severity of Jun Akiyama when facing young power.
MARUFUJI: It's relentless. He says he has "mellowed", but his unique atmosphere hasn't changed yet, and when Noah was launched he had a strong presence of tension that made you not want to get too close. It wasn't just in the ring, but regularly. There aren't many people who have that kind of tension right now. I have experienced, so those guys should experience it too! That is not a reason, however, but experience is a good source for the future, isn't it?
Q: Jun Akiyama will make a title challenge at DDT'S anniversary, two days after The Budokan.
MARUFUJI: Yes, I think Akiyama himself had to make a very difficult decision to go to the Budokan. Not to mention the fact that he decided to have an operation on his left knee in a hurry. I had a similar operation last year and returned in about three weeks, but after all, an operation puts a lot of strain on your body, so I wonder if there is an element of "state of mind" bought to the ring, which I think will help. People might say, "I don't want that", but I would like Akiyama to stand out. Well, in the post match comments I said, "I want you to move at 9-1", but I think that Akiyama and I can make it 1-9 or 5-5 depending on the situation. The only thing that I can say, is that if you add it up, it will be 10 or more.
Q: Indeed. Inamura seems to be especially fired up about this card.
MARUFUJI: Yeah. I want him to transmit that intensity more and more to The Budokan. Especially because there has been reason to have a pre-match. Of course, the match will begin, and depending on how you say "how to take" this to the Budokan, even if the the match content is the same, the excitement will be completely different.
Q: Are you thinking about any movements unique to Marufuji & Akiyama in the ring?
MARUFUJI: I don't know. I wouldn't talk about something like "let's do this kind of combined technique on the spot", and Akiyama wouldn't feel like that either. That's why I am looking forward to what will be born.
Q: What is your condition?
MARUFUJI: Recently, it's been getting better. I go to the Shizuoka Clinic every month that Akira Maeda told me about. When I did an event with him, the moment I greeted him he said, "Your neck is not in good condition?" He looked at my right arm and said on the spot, "If you keep on going like this, you will be disabled in old age". The neck injury (osteoarthritis cervical radiculopathy), is one that I have had for a long time, and so it's not completely healed, but I feel that I can bring it to a good condition, even if it is just 1mm.
Q: So, as wrestler, will you take the opportunity of The Budokan to emerge again as a wrestler?
MARUFUJI: Yes, as I have said previously, last year was Noah's 20th anniversary year and I wanted to put on the belt and go to the top and lead, but I couldn't do that because of my own lack of ability. Noah will make a new start this year, and I would like to jump to the top again.
Q: After a twenty year career, your style has become more mature.
MARUFUJI: The way I fight has changed in the last few years, and I think I am creating something called "the current Marufuji". I think it is obviously different from me a few years ago, so I wonder if I can get the belt if I create it a little more so I can make it my current "strength". I don't think that it is something you can reach if you say it without thinking, that is why Shiozaki is a wonderful champion now. However, when I think of something that has been grabbed, I think I can go and take it if I challenge...
Q: Shiozaki will stand in the main of the Budokan, but how do you see the GHC match, "Shiozaki vs Mutoh?"
MARUFUJI: Mutoh is in the same unit (M's Alliance), and I want to cheer for him, but it's complicated, isn't it? In the returning to The Budokan, I want Noah's wrestlers to close it out, but I also want Mutoh to win as he is on the same team, but having Keiji Mutoh close out The Budokan after such a long absence. Well, at the Budokan, the main event between Noah wrestlers was good...I think there are different opinions, but from my point of view the situation is like this, "Noah is where Shiozaki stands", so I think the opponent does not have to be Noah, because it is "Noah" when Shiozaki is there.
Q: Suddenly from the beginning, there is no sense of achievement between Noah in the main?
MARUFUJI: Yes. Certainly, if it was a main event between Noah then it will be a happy ending no matter who wins, but that would be too mundane. It is more interesting to have an imagination like, "What happens if Shiozaki loses?"
Q: Do you know what your feelings will be at the time, no matter the result?
MARUFUJI: So to speak, I am on the wrestler side of things, so I don't think that fans will find it interesting if things are done within the expectations of the wrestlers. After all, unexpected things happen and its interesting. Well, setting aside the "result" being good or bad, Noah these days is often doing something unexpected. So, how will I stand next to Akiyama at The Budokan? And what kind of feelings will I have after the main? I can't assume anything at all, and that is why I want you to look forward to it.
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