(NOAH) "Show the fight" ~ the late Masa Saito's teachings to Katsuhiko Nakajima.
28th January 2021
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 fourth is the unforgettable teaching given to Katsuhiko Nakajima, member of the rebel unit "Kongoh", by Masa Saito (Interview by Takahiro Fukudome)
In 2004 when the WJ promotion folded, Nakajima became a disciple of Kensuke Sasaki, and served as his second. In 2005, when the Kensuke Office was established, Sasaki invited Masa Saito, who he had been indebted to both in public and in private since his own introduction, in as an advisor. Masa moved to Yoshikawa City, Saitama, where the office and the dojo was located.
"I still remember clearly when Masa first came to Yoshikawa, and Sasaki, Hokuto and myself picked him up at the station. From there, Masa taught me at the dojo."
Nakajima looked back with nostalgia on Masa's guidance at the dojo. The practice at the time was one on one with Sasaki, and when Sasaki was absent due to TV appearances, Masa taught.
"As was the case with Sasaki, Masa also had tough basic physical strength in practice. There were a lot of squats in particular, and I did about 1000 every day. It takes about 40 minutes to do it continuously, and I was often told to "make your body bigger" because I was small."
All the practice was tough.
"Everything was tough, and to be honest, I thought about running away many times, but because I worked one-on-one with Sasaki at the dojo, there was no escape (laughs). I used to ask myself that. However, I think I was able to do my best because of that situation, and I think that is because I didn't have anyone else to compare it to. For example if there were other seniors, then they might have become the standard. But for me that that time, the only standard was Sasaki, so all the standards for practice were his, and that is what I had to follow."
There were days when he wanted to escape due to harsh practice, but it was the presence of Sasaki and Hakuto who prevented this.
"Hokuto didn't give much advice on men's professional wrestling. Forme, she was like a mother, Sasaki was a father or a teacher, who it is said I rapidly turned to follow. He would say "Ken-san, says to do it this way, so do your best too." He would cook rice for me, and she was like a sumo stable mother. Their presence saved it."
The rigorous practice of sweating with Sasaki, turned into a support when going to various promotions.
"At that time I was in various promotions, so I would participate in their joint practice. It might sound cheeky for me to say this, but I had the confidence of not going to lose to any wrestler when I found it easy to practice in any group. At the time, I thought that everything was due to the rigorous practice that I got from Sasaki. I was confident because I didn't run away and stayed."
Sasaki's teaching from the match was simple.
"He didn't say that I should be a wrestler in such a way. Don't lose to anyone, show off your fight. I was taught how to be strict in the ring. I was never told to anything in such a way. I was told to find it myself."
And Masa repeatedly said, "Show the fight"
Masa Saito, who passed his spirit as a Pro Wrestler to Nakajima, died on July 14th 2018 at the age of 75 due to Parkinson's disease. At the end of his life, Nakajima took care of Masa.
"At that time, I really remembered the one-on-one practice with Masa, and the time I spent wit him. When I was about 20, he taught me how to do tackles and backdrops. When I tackled Masa with all my might, he was angry but said with a laugh, "I'm over 60 years old." After practice we ate chanko, and Masa loved sweets, but he couldn't eat them because he wasn't physically good. His wife would get angry with him, but when I had some cake he would say, "I wish I could eat that". I would say "Masa, do you want to eat a bit?". I would give him a bit, and I remember him laughing, "Keep it a secret".
On December 2nd 2016, two years before his death, Masa went to the ring at the Joto Kumin Center in Osaka for the first time in four years. Despite being affected by Parkinson's Disease, he wrestled Keiji Mutoh, he made a surprise entrance, invading the ring and wearing a mask of a pirate.
Nakajima, who witnessed this, looks back on this.
"I thought it was cool. He had worked hard with the goal of going up to the ring, and he achieved that. I think there are various ways of thinking, but I don't think anyone can deny what he wanted to do. Honestly, I think it was really cool."
With the appearance of going to the ring while having an illness, he embodied the teaching of "Show the fight", in which Nakajima lays bare his ideals for the future.
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