(NOAH) Keiji Mutoh and Naomichi Marufuji talk about "Mitsuharu Misawa's twelfth anniversary", and Noah still being entertaining.
16th July 2021
After the sudden death of the "leader of the wrestling world", the founder Mitsuharu Misawa in 2009, Noah who have overcome the crisis of survival many times, is about to enter a new golden age. Naomichi Marufuji, who continues to lead the promotion, and Keiji Mutoh, who joined Noah this year, talk about the present and the future of Noah.
"Misawa was like everlasting love".
On May 31st at Pro Wrestling Noah's Korakuen Hall event, Keiji Mutoh and Naomichi Marufuji, who where participating in a tag match in the main event, went to the ring with special memories. It has been twelve years since Noah's founder, Mitsuharu Misawa, died in an accident during the match on June 13th 2009. This day, which marked the 13th anniversary milestone, was an event held as a memorial to Misawa. Noah, which was established independent of All Japan in 2000, became a subsidiary of CyberAgent due to the transfer of management on January 29th. From September 1st it became one of the brands of CyberFight, a subsidiary of the company's pro wrestling business, with events being broadcast twice a month on internet TV "ABEMA".
On February 12th this year, Keiji Mutoh defeated Go Shiozaki at the Nippon Budokan and seized the GHC Heavyweight Championship. At the age of 58, it became a big topic that at the age of 58 he had achieved the "crowning of the three single heavyweight titles of the three major Japanese groups", which included the IWGP Heavyweight of New Japan and the Triple Crown of All Japan. Three days after winning the "Grand Slam", he announced suddenly that he would be joining Noah. Mutoh explains his reason as this, "I have been on the management side in All Japan and W-1 (Wrestle-1), but now Noah has all the tools I wanted at that time. (In the days of promotion management), I approached various TV stations, including commercial broadcasting networks and tried my best, but nothing came of it. Noah now has tools such as ABEMA that can be viewed anywhere with a single Smartphone, and it also has the ability to stream overseas. Moreover, as Corona spread in the spring of last year, we were able to have empty arena events before others in the industry, and deliver it to the fans. I felt a great potential."
Speaking of Mutoh and Misawa, in the 1990s they were always compared as the young aces of New Japan and All Japan, respectively. To the fans that know the history, it will be all the more mysterious that Mutoh was the "face" of Noah which was made by Misawa. It was the same for Mutoh, "There was no connection between All Japan and New Japan when we were there, it was like a gap between the United States and The Soviet Union during the Cold War. We were compared as rivals, but a meeting could not be considered in that situation. However, since we were compared so much, I had the feeling like he was something like an "arranged marriage". I had never met him, but he was like I fell in everlasting love with someone. When I joined Noah, I thought it was fate".
Two years after Misawa founded Noah, Mutoh left New Japan in 2002 and became the president of Misawa's old home, All Japan. After that he led the new promotion, W-1, but this was dissolved in April last year. Mutoh then came to Noah as a freelancer, which triggered him to join Noah in February of this year. "Since last year, many businesses have suffered due to Corona, and after the closing of W-1 there was the ring called Noah that was created by President Misawa, which is why I can continue pro wrestling in this way. So now in gratitude, it is my mission to make Noah, the promotion created by President Misawa, a popular promotion again."
In the mid-2000's, Noah was called the "industry leader" in the pro wrestling world which was under pressure from the popularity of Mixed Martial Arts, with their success of running events at the Tokyo Dome in 2004 and 2005. However, this prosperity did not last long. In June 2006, Kenta Kobashi, who was the most popular ace at the time, was absent for a long time due to kidney cancer. In addition, main wrestlers continued to be injured or absent, the generation change did not proceed well, and spectators gradually declined. At the age of 46, Misawa had passed his heyday and full of injuries, he continued to push excessively while going up to the ring in the main, and the tragedy occurred in June 2009. After Misawa's death, Noah suffered a series of hardships which continued with the decline in spectators which did not stop, the resignation of major wrestlers and the retirement of Kobashi. The company's structure changed many times due to the deterioration of business conditions, and at one point there was a collaboration with New Japan. In the ring, Noah were overwhelmed by the Suzuki Army, led by Minoru Suzuki, and were ridiculed as "The 2nd New Japan".
Misawa always said there is no "If".
The one who has continued to support Noah to this day is Naomichi Marufuji, who has been a member since the launch and who served as a second of Misawa during his (Marufuji's) trainee years. "It has been hard since Misawa died. The number of customers and the number of wrestlers decreased, and when we went to the countryside, there were only a few rows of chairs and the number of customers were still sparse. I did a lot to save Noah, but each time I was peppered with words like, "This isn't Noah" or "Misawa wouldn't do this", but I was desperate to rescue it."
Marufuji has regrets that Misawa was unable to change the generations during his lifetime.
"When I became the GHC Heavyweight Champion (in 2006), I lost to Misawa in three months and he was champion again. I sometimes thought that, "I could have beaten Misawa there and have led Noah, it would have been different". However, Misawa always said, "there is no such thing as "if", so I didn't look back".
Marufuji is a wrestler who has been called a "genius" since he was young. He could have been a great success in other promotions and abroad if he had left Noah, which was difficult to manage, so why did he remain?
"It is the presence of Misawa and of Noah's fans, without that I might have been free to go elsewhere. After Misawa died, I felt like I received some invisible baton. There is no complicated reason, and it is for that simple reason that I did it. I can't imagine calling myself anything other than "Noah's Marufuji".
Mutoh also acknowledges the size of Marufuji's presence. "Even after President Misawa passed away, Kobashi retired and various wrestlers left, the "Noah-ness" did not disappear because Marufuji remained. If Marufuji was not here at a very difficult time, the people who had supported Noah for a long time would have left, and it would probably have finished there. That is why I think it is no exaggeration to say "Marufuji's Noah".
"Preparation for life" shown by a legend in his 50s
Currently, Noah is not only affiliated wrestlers, there is a large variety of freelance wrestlers who participate and this enriches the roster. In particular, the legends in their 50s such as Kazuyuki Fujita, Kazushi Sakuraba, Masakatsu Funaki and Kendo Kashin, who are also active in Mixed Martial Arts are legends in their 50s who are so active that they remind us of a "second heyday". Marufuji is proud to say, "Only in Noah's ring can the young wrestlers fight the legends without any hesitation". However, the future cannot be based simply by relying on great veterans. The young hits such as ace candidate Kaito Kiyomiya, are indispensable, and that is the biggest challenge for Noah today. That is why Marufuji encourages inspiration.
"The reason why the veteran wrestlers still get support is the way of the lives. Mutoh's appearance of putting on a great match while having artificial joints in his knees, makes me feel prepared to do pro wrestling like Misawa. Therefore, I don't feel the significance just by saying that the young people "will surpass that generation" or "the creation of new things by the younger generation". They really have to show they are prepared for this way of life".
On the other hand, Mutoh places emphasis on the technical side of the young.
"When I was young, the rookies in the first match wrestled only with basic skills, and the event gradually got a lot more flashier towards the main. In the end Inoki was the most glittering and closed it out. But now youngsters only rely on flashy techniques, and I am doing a lot of mat wrestling in the main, so it is the opposite of what it used to be. After all, pro wrestling is "martial arts", so basic martial arts are indispensable. If you can't take someone's arms as you don't know how, how can you express a fight? There is no empathy with the customers. In that sense the presence of Sakuraba is great. With his arrival Kiyomiya and the other young wrestlers have started to learn techniques at the Sakuraba dojo, and I think they will be able to do great pro wrestling in the future."
The young people are learning techniques from the veterans, and Noah is about to return to its foundations of pro wrestling. Now that they have CyberAgent as a back up and the aspect of the hardware of things has been enhanced, they will solidify that foundation. It will take time, but they are trying to create the future.
On June 6th, "CyberFight Festival 2021" was held at the Saitama Super Arena. This was the first big match in which four CyberFight groups - Noah, DDT, Tokyo Joshi Pro and Ganbare ☆ Pro Wrestling, met together for the first time. The main event was Mutoh vs Marufuji for the GHC Heavyweight title. Mutoh displayed a battle to lift the ban on doing the Moonsault after a double knee joint surgery in 2018. But during his battle to do this, the damage caused by hitting his knees on the mat meant that Marufuji won the match with his original knee kick, the "Tiger King Zero".
In the future, Marufuji will take the lead as the champion but the man who has been protecting Noah for twelve years does not feel like he has a second blooming of the championship.
"In Misawa's day, every event, the Nippon Budokan was full and now Noah is finally standing at the starting point to gain the support of pro wrestling fans again. Right now we are still in the stage of having CyberAgent give us a chance, and it is up to us to make it or break it. The wrestlers and the staff want to work together to become the number one in the industry."
Pro Wrestling promotions are the most interesting when the wrestlers are united and rising. Now in the 21st year since it's launch, it is the season for Noah.
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