(NOAH) "The tag of freestyle and Greco is the strongest", the unconfined relationship of the 50 year old tag champions, Takashi Sugiura and Kazushi Sakuraba
Yahoo.co.jp\ABEMA TIMES
Interviewer, Munehiro Hashimoto
Currently, in Pro Wrestling Noah, the tag team championship is currently by Takashi Sugiura and Kazushi Sakuraba. Both are wrestling veterans, Sugiura is 50 years old, and Sakuraba is 51 years old. However, the Noah mat always boils with a match that does not make you feel your age, and in the "Sugiura Army" which Sugiura leads, has powerful people such as Kendo Kashin and Kazuyuki Fujita.
On the 12th February at the Nippon Budokan, the Sugiura Army fought a twelve man tag match against Kongoh. While the Tag Team Championship defense has also been arranged, we asked Sugiura and Sakuraba to talk about the strength and freedom of The Sugiura Army.
Q: Have you both known each other from wrestling?
SUGIURA: No, it is from the time of PRIDE when I went to practice at the Takada Dojo
SAKURABA: In wrestling, the professional competition and the student competition are different, so the classes were also different because of ranks.
SUGIURA: I weighed from 82kg to 85
SAKURABA: I was 68, the same as Ishizawa
Q: Do you have any awareness when wrestlers of the same generation enter pro wrestling?
SUGIURA: The same generation, not in the lower generation.
Q: And now in Noah, it can be said that that generation is in the same unit in Noah with Kendo Kashi and Kazuyuki Fujita. Sakuraba, how is it fighting in Noah?
SAKURABA: It's a different kind of fun
SUGIURA: You can do what you want (laughs)
SAKURABA: There is more I want to do...
SUGIURA: This person is useless, I tell him to do Jumbo Tsuruta's "Oh!" (Laughs), and that's no good
SAKURABA: That is because I went to Chuo University, the same as Tsuruta.
SUGIURA: The people watching Noah now probably wouldn't know (laughs), even if suddenly Sakuraba did say "Oh!" it would be "What?"
SAKURABA: During the match, I often ask "Can I do it?", but most of the time I hear, "No good. Do it as you would normally."
Q: From the time you were pro wrestling fans, you wanted to do various things (laughs)
SAKURABA: I'm glad I did the first drop of Road Warrior Hawk lately
SUGIURA: That was just right because Kitamiya was bleeding. Basically, he does what he wants, except for "Oh!". He can do that if the customers understand it, and in wrestling it's not always possible to tell them.
SAKURABA: No, Tsuruta will probably be transmitted
SUGIURA: It's not a kind of teacher-student relationship, right?
SAKURABA: Certainly, I've never met him (laughs).
Q: Sugiura, it seems difficult to bring all the members of The Sugiura Army together...
SUGIURA: I don't do anything. Because it's not well organized, I don't have any stress, as I think it's a mess.
Q: Sakuraba, you bought a fresh feeling to an elimination match with a large number of people.
SAKURABA: Oh yeah. I also want to determine the opponent by a tug of war*
SUGIURA: It's Showa* again
SAKURABA: I haven't seen wrestling in the Showa era, and in Heisei* I was busy wrestling. But, when was in college towards the end I wondered why I did wrestling, and said "I want to do pro wrestling", and so I applied for UWF
Q: As for your roots, they are not U-type or martial arts type.
SAKURABA: That is why I can have fun in Noah. I think its okay to be more at liberty.
SUGIURA: No, you are at liberty enough. Because you do freestyle, it was just right to team with me, who did Greco-Roman
SAKURABA: The strongest tag is between free and Greco, isn't it?
Q: I think it's amazing because you are Noah's tag champions in 2021.
SUGIURA: I think Noah is also changing in that way. I think that Noah previously had a very high threshold from the perspective of wrestlers from other promotions, and it was difficult to approach. Noah is now incorporating various things, and it was The Sugiura Army that is well into that. It's a unit that wouldn't be possible if this were the old All Japan, or the early Noah.
SAKURABA: Come to think of it, aren't you the only person who is signed to Noah in the Sugiura Army?
SUGIURA: That's right*
SAKURABA: You stuck with it.
Q: Sugiura, do you think that within Noah it's like "Even if it is new, it is pivotal?" Where do you think Noah is like that?
SUGIURA: You can see it in the title match of the GHC, because the essence if Noah's fight is there.
Q: In December of last year, Go Shiozaki vs Takashi Sugiura was a fierce fight. Are there any changes in the technique that you use, or the style of the match as you and your career both get older?
SUGIURA: Well, I am not the type who has used flashy techniques for a long time. I can't do the Middle Aged's Lift because of a hernia, but that's about it
Q: Watching you, it's always a head on fight with veteran-like cunning, not a fight against old age
SUGIURA: That's right, I've just noticed it now you have said it. It's probably because I can still go.
Q: Are there any things that you are aware of in practice? Take breathing for example (i.e. increases heart rate and strengthens stamina), which is important.
SAKURABA: Breathing is done during the match. Do a tackle battle. That's enough to make you catch your breath.
SUGIURA: That's like circuit training (laughs), like when combat drills are practiced.
SAKURABA: If you have a match two or three times a week and do that, the cardiopulmonary function will not decline. It's not possible for a normal 50 year old.
SUGIURA: The fact that there are many matches in pro wrestling is a plus (laughs)
Q: Despite the fact that Sakuraba is also QUINTET, you have always been a match and continued to appear.
SAKURABA: I have matches and I practice. I also practiced over New Year as I had free time.
Q: There is also a defense match for the Tag Team Championship, but is there anything you would like to do together in the future?
SAKURABA: First of all, "Oh!". I also want to try Giant Baba's Coconut Crash and Palm Split, and even if I do it, it won't be identified.
SUGIURA: That's why it's no good...
*TUG-OF-WAR:Like at the RATELS produce, ropes are placed in the ring, the two sides line up facing each other and each take an end from interwining ropes that have been laid out in the ring. The two wrestlers who hold opposite ends of the same rope will face each other in the ring.
*SHOWA: Reign of Emperor Hirohito from December 25th 1926 until January 7th 1989.
*HEISEI: Reign of Emperor Akihito from 8th January 1989 until his abdication on 30th April 2019. We are currently in the Reiwa era.
*Not entirely right, while the rest are freelancers, NOSAWA Rongai is also signed to Noah.
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