(NOAH) "Pain is the real thrill of pro wrestling" ~ Katsuhiko Nakajima's "Pro Wrestling Philosophy".
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Pro Wrestling Noah will hold their Nippon Budokan event on February 12th 2021, for the first time in eleven years since December 5th, 2010. The event name is, "DESTINATION 2021 ~ BACK TO THE BUDOKAN". This is a big match that will influence Noah's "future" from now on.
GHC Heavyweight Champion, Go Shiozaki (39), the GHC National Champion Kenoh (36), and Katsuhiko Nakajima (32) who won the N-1 Victory last year have been chosen for interviews focusing on their "origin" and "future", which will be serialized. The fifth is Katsuhiko Nakajima's "Pro Wrestling Philosophy" (Interview by Takahiro Fukudome)
Katsuhiko Nakajima was taught by Kensuke Sasaki and Masa Saito to "show the fight", during his "Kensuke Office" era. Even now, seventeen years after his pro wrestling debut, the words of the two masters are the backbone that supports Nakajima. Nakajima described the "fight" as follows.
"Don't do anything that doesn't make sense. Persuasiveness. I was told that when I was young. I have always wanted to do something that doesn't make sense."
Specifically, it is in the detail of the technique.
"For example, the position of the headlock is this point."
He divulged the position of "this point" was on the cheek.
"From Sasaki and Masa, I was taught many times, "Never shift from this point", "Don't just stand there, put your body weight on it. It's insanely detailed. The position of your feet with the elbow position, the persuasiveness is completely different depending on where you put your weight, and whether you can do it or not."
From headlocks to foot locks, for simple techniques that are not flashy, the value of being a pro wrestler was instilled in. Nakajima spoke frankly about his ideal image of a wrestler,
"I want to do something that only I can do, not something that I can copy."
The ideal is pursuit of a world that only Katsuhiko Nakajima, and no one else, can show.
"For example, I'm particular about kicking, but I want to show a kick that only I can do. Even using the same kick, I want to kick cleanly and coolly, and I am thinking about how much pain I can convey to the viewer, not to mention defeating the opponent with a single kick. So, how much sound can I make with a single kick? If you can make an amazing sound, that only you can make, not only your opponent, but the person watching it will feel pain. This pain is the real thrill of pro wrestling. The wrestler suffers terrible pain. The greatness of selling comes out there, and as a result, I think it looks good to the viewer. That is something that can only be shown in pro wrestling, and if I can't do that, then I think I should retire".
While revealing the image of the wrestler he was aiming to be, he also spoke of his ideal match. The match was the battle between Kensuke Sasaki and Kenta Kobashi, that took place at Noah's Tokyo Dome event on July 18th 2005. With a total of more than 200 terrifying chops, it remains a legendary match. Nakajima experienced this battle firsthand at ringside as Sasaki's second.
"That match was crazy. In a word, I trembled. At that time there was a sense of unity between the match and the venue. The Dome shook. It was amazing. I still get goosebumps when I recall it. The atmosphere was insane. I hadn't seen much of past historical wrestling, but Sasaki and Kobashi at the Dome, was the most amazing thing that I saw and felt. That is the pinnacle. Seeing it with your own eyes, "Is there such a thing?" I felt that match was the pinnacle for me."
In the match, Sasaki lost to Kobashi. It was a spectacular match which went far beyond winning or losing, and won the "Match Of The Year" award at The Tokyo Sports Awards in 2005. About fifteen years have passed since then, but Nakajima says he understands the meaning of how excited Sasaki was backstage after the match.
"After the match, Sasaki was excited. At the time I was a trainee, so I saw only the surface and said, "It was a great match". I was just impressed. I didn't understand the meaning of being so excited, but looking back although Sasaki had lost the match, more than that he was happy to be able to make that atmosphere. I think it's amazing that he also made more of atmosphere by repeating it during his career. It is hard to have such a match, however, I don't think there is a factor for why they went so far. I think it was the timing and all sorts of other things as well. The title of event was "DESTINY", and that may have been fateful timing".
The event name of Kobashi and Sasaki's Tokyo Dome event was "DESTINY", with the Budokan being called "DESTINATION". Nakajima vows to go beyond the "DESTINATION" of the Tokyo Dome in 2005.
"Noah was at The Budokan. I was in the second year of Junior High, and as my karate teacher liked pro wrestling and Kobashi, so I went by car from Nagoya where I lived, and went to see Kobashi's return match. From then on, there was an image of Noah at the Budokan."
The Budokan that Nakajima had seen, was the match in which Kenta Kobashi, who had undergone knee surgery, teamed up with Mitsuharu Misawa in a return match for the first time in a year and a month on February 17th 2002, and fought against Jun Akiyama and Yuji Nagata. After his own debut, Nakajima participated in Noah and went to the Budokan such as the GHC Junior Championship match against KENTA on 1st March 2009.
"However, this will be the only time when Noah's Katsuhiko Nakajima will be in the ring at the Budokan, and by returning there, it will be Noah's true form. I think this is the start. All I have to do is a match that only I can show, and I very enthusiastic to show that. That is the only commitment, and as a result, various things should remain."
For the first time in eleven years, Noah will return, and for Nakajima it is fascinating atmosphere.
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