(NOAH) Jun Akiyama candidly talks leaving Noah eight years ago. Naomichi Marufuji, "This was an aspect of life, rather than pro wrestling"
BBM Sports\Yahoo.co.jp
On the 12th February, Jun Akiyama and Naomichi Marufuji will fight against Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura in a tag team match at the Nippon Budokan. In a talk held before the match, Akiyama's Noah resignation drama was talked about.
On the 4th December 2012, a conference was held before the Chiba event with Noah's President, Akira Taue, about the resignation of five wrestlers; Jun Akiyama, Go Shiozaki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Kotaro Suzuki and Atsushi Aoki, which had been published in some sports newspapers. Taue explained, "I have been asked to release them from their contracts this year."
At the 23rd December Differ Ariake event, a singles match between Marufuji & Akiyama was made.
The match went 21 minutes and 40 seconds, and ended with a referee stop due to Akiyama using the front neck lock. After the match, they say in the ring and talked. Akiyama recalled at that time, "At the time that we sat down and talked, I felt it was a break." What were they talking about? Marufuji said, "I won't reveal it", but as a preamble he said, "At that time, there was no certainty that it would be like this, and I wanted the chance to meet again someday. I did wonder if it would be the case, unlike Sugiura (laughs)".
Takashi Sugiura had been furious at the departure of Akiyama and the others. On the 23rd December at Differ Ariake, he had a singles match with Shiozaki, who was leaving the promotion. Marufuji said before the match that he was sorry for what Sugiura might do.
After listening to Marufuji's story, Akiyama talked about himself, who was in the midst of a dispute at the time, "It's not that I didn't want to be able to meet because I had left. In the first place, I couldn't afford to start from scratch again. I don't really look back, I don't know if its good or bad, I immediately forget. I only look forward, so that is why I don't talk too much about times...I forget."
Marufuji, who was listening next to him laughed an said, "I'm softer, so I look back on the past right away". As if to prove his word, he revealed a valuable episode at the time. "After Akiyama had quit, it was just the two of us alone in the waiting room, he said that he would do this because this is what he is like (rough). This is why this is an aspect of someone's life, rather than pro wrestling. I think the fans will also be emotional because it is real."
The two met again in the league match at All Japan's "Champion Carnival" in April 2018, and exchanged a fist bump after the match. Marufuji confessed after this match that the past could be buried saying, "For various reasons, I was able to make a clean break."
When Noah at the Nippon Budokan was arranged for the first time in eleven years, Marufuji had hoped to tag with Akiyama, and this was realized on the 12th February. Although they lost to Kiyomiya and Inamura, who have been entrusted with the future of Noah, the tag of those who build the history of Noah, mesmerized the audience.
Akiyama is now preparing to challenge Tetsuya Endo for the KO-D Openweight Championship after winning the "D-KING GRAND PRIX 2021" on the 14th February in Kawasaki. Marufuji tweeted on the 13th, "You might wonder what the guy who lost yesterday is saying, but I will definitely challenge for the GHC Heavyweight this year!"
Both have begun to head towards their next fight.
When will the day come when Marufuji and Akiyama's paths cross again? It is a privilege for pro wrestling fans to look forward to that day. Wrestling is a magnificent drama, that wrestlers weave into their lives in the ring.
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