(NOAH FROM THE VAULT) "Leave it to you" Interview with Mitsuharu Misawa and Go Shiozaki (Spring 2009)

Q: Misawa-san, at the end of the match did you say you were going to have a victory celebration? 
MISAWA: I'm not going anywhere for the summer.
SHIOZAKI: I'm another matter, I want to go for a drink (strained laugh)
Q: It has been two days since you won the championship, but do you have a sense of fulfillment? 
MISAWA: Two days, hey? I'm tired, and I feel like it's over now. 
SHIOZAKI: I will feel like I have won the championship when putting on the belt
Q: You have made a full scale tag from fighting in the ring, but before you made it, what were your impressions of each other? 
MISAWA: He's an all rounder, so I wanted to leave it to him to some extent. But more than that, and this may sound strange to say, I want him to enjoy it.
Q: That is how strong a presence Shiozaki is
MISAWA: On the contrary, it would be a problem if that was not the case. 
Q: With the encouragement to do it alone
MISAWA: I can't look down on him and in a sense he does his best because of himself, sometimes I don't have the scope to see it. 
Q: Is the expectation met?  
MISAWA: It's enough.
Q: Shiozaki, how did you feel when the decision was made to partner with the president? 
SHIOZAKI: When it comes to the match, he doesn't feel like the President. I am able to work by myself, and I was able to get the save at important points. I also have fun.
MISAWA: I think we can do it without worrying about each other as partners
Q: When a tag is mutual, the rhythm is as one
MISAWA: When we think about how each other moves, the tempo shifts. In the case of a single it finishes how you chose, but in the case of a tag that is not the case.
Q: You feel that you are mutually able to work smoothly together because of the mutual rhythm in the match? 
MISAWA: It didn't feel like the first time we had teamed
Q: Was it that you clicked from the beginning, instead of trying to see how it would work in a team? 
MISAWA: There would be no sense of harmony
SHIOZAKI: Naturally, the number of people who are teaming together are increasing, and the chairman has made it easier for me. Whatever I tried to do, I was able to come in and do joint techniques.
Q: Will being able to be natural with each other lead to the victory?
MISAWA: I think it's great. Don't worry, the bar is better than the ring (laughs)
Q: ?
MISAWA: He's not as annoying as when in the bar, he's annoying when in the bar (laughs)
Q: Annoying hmm?      
MISAWA: The tension is high, and no matter how hard I try there is no result. We are not on the same wavelength when drinking. 
Q: (Laughs) Aside from that story, Shiozaki, this was your first time being in the main at The Budokan, right? 
SHIOZAKI: I was only thinking about the tag league, rather than being in the main event at The Budokan. I know I have no choice but to win there. 
Q: Misawa, you have experienced the main event of the Budokan many times. How was it, him being next to you? 
MISAWA: Listening to that now it's like "Oh, just like my first time". For me personally, no matter how many times I do it, I'm not good before it and I never get used to it, but there is something like a sense of accomplishment once it is over.
Q: In a career, I think it is great to have the valuable experience of winning in the main at The Budokan
SHIOZAKI: But, from now on it's something that must be done
MISAWA: It doesn't matter what your career is, it depends on the people who make use of chance in the end and hang in there. Well, rest assured that Shio* is looking beyond that.
Q: Shiozaki, you have finished the tournament with the first challenge for the GHC, the GTL participation and a great team? 
SHIOZAKI: I lost the GHC challenge on the way, but I thought I could win the tag league tournament because of that. 
Q: This has been the first league for Misawa for a long time? 
MISAWA: I try to focus only on motivation for that until one ends, and that is what I am doing now. So when I get the next goal I will go for that and until then I am trying not to think too much. I am sure that my concentration is getting worse because of my age and I can't do it, and if it goes on for a long time then the healing power of my body will be weakened, and so I will need to fight more with myself.
Q: I have been wanting to ask you this for along time, but you may have won Tag League with Kobashi and Akiyama, but how is Shiozaki in comparison? 
MISAWA: Hmmm...my condition from that time is different, and there are also subtle differences in feelings. I don't think it can be compared. But, like I said at the beginning, there are things that are more entertaining and enjoyable with the two of us, because I can be more helpful.
Q: Shiozaki is gaining momentum when it comes to teaming up with Misawa, I feel like there is a similarity. Misawa, how do you compare the three in terms of momentum? 
MISAWA: When I think about it, there is more peace of mind than that time. When it was Kobashi and Akiyama, if I didn't concentrate then the flow of the match would be taken away if a mistake was made. 
Q: This is how much you have entrusted the baton to Shiozaki? 
MISAWA: Maybe it's because the outcome was a win, but after completion it was good. 
Q: Did you come to that conclusion because there where many scenes in the match where you felt relieved at a glance? 
MISAWA: Yes, my eyes were bright. I thought it was amazing when I had to rely on him against Morishima at The Budokan.
Q: That was a tremendous shock.
MISAWA: How was it after that? Look, and you will see. I don't know if Shio noticed it though (wry smile)
Q: Crushed like something out of a manga
MISAWA: It's been a long time since I heard it put like that. If it was Disney, he would be fluttering like paper (laughs) Well, I was aware, my eyes were bright and I was half conscious, I thought he had gone crazy.
SHIOZAKI: I thought my face was broken (wry smile)
Q: Why did you open up while recieving such an attack? 
SHIOZAKI: I thought that if I didn't win here, then I wouldn't be able to move on. If I took it, I had the feeling that once and for all, I would snap.   
Q: What do you see as the keypoint in the league overall? 
MISAWA: Unlike in the past, I had a 2 or 3 days off, and so I managed to stay focused. In my case I'm holding my neck and my waist, so I was lucky I didn't have to go out. 
Q: There were a few battles in a row
MISAWA: But, there is the travelling. The average person gets tired just by going to a hot spring, it's like coming back extra exhausted for one night.
Q: Pro Wrestlers have matches without other people in hot springs too, right? 
MISAWA: On the other hand, because I used to take care not to get injured it is good to mentally to take a day off. The day before the holidays is good. But it's like resting your body, if you can't rest your mind, then it's easy to get injured.
Q:At the final stage, you bought out a combination technique of the Go Flasher and the Emerald Flowsion. Did you intend to do that? 
MISAWA: Perhaps we both thought it, I don't know. Ultimately it was at The Budokan, and maybe it was here for each other! I think about that from time to time. 
Q: The idea was hot, and you were able to bring it out in the final battle? 
MISAWA: Show it, and your partner can do it easily
Q: Privately Misawa-san, what is the fall out from the Budokan match? I think there were more occasions when you left it to Shiozaki than in other league matches. Did you have that kind of awareness? 
MISAWA: I wasn't aware of it, but concerning the result I agree. Thank you, I sense it now 
Q (laughing): Shiozaki, what was different from the league match that day? 
SHIOZAKI: It was the battle to win the championship, and so this match was something I could lose. I knew that the scores were beforehand, and I was strongly motivated to win more than that. 
Q: Did you have to win by your own strength to win the league and challenge for the GHC again? 
SHIOZAKI: On the contrary, I think it was a good situation even though it was a draw. 
Q: Misawa, you have been away from the forefront of the GHC since dropping it, and although you have been away from it for a while, you have to return right? 
MISAWA: (After giving a sharp look) I didn't feel like taking a step back though. It's just a hassle to think about what to do on my own, and it's just a matter of making a decision.
Q: Do you want to keep this team going? 
SHIOZAKI: I do
MISAWA: Shio is in a position to find a better partner from now on, someone who can build a future. Unlike me, right? 
Q: Will you be with Shiozaki until he finds a different partner? 
MISAWA: I feel like it will be a plus for Shio (the rest of the sentence doesn't translate well, but Misawa says something with a laugh like but if his condition worsens, then he will be the first to return)    
Q: Is there something that you want to tell? 
MISAWA: He knows that you will come across various scenarios, and that some things can only be understood only in the matches. I am telling you, because Shio is a wrestler who can understand this for himself.
Q: Misawa, you have a lot of trust in Shiozaki
MISAWA: If I didn't we wouldn't be able to tag, but I didn't think it could be done this easily. I'm careful when I set up tags, and so it's not limited to Shio, as the President I need to be careful when I set up tags.  
Q: On the 6th May at the Budokan the tags of Kobashi and Akiyama were formed? 
MISAWA: How about it? I'm not sure because I haven't heard anything. I haven't heard anything from Kobashi yet, so I don't know. Kobashi still has a lot of things to say, so maybe that's what he felt when watching the league.
Q: I think there will be a match in the future, Misawa are you thinking about the type at that time? 
MISAWA: In my situation? 
SHIOZAKI: Would it be against DISOBEY*? I don't know. I just think it would be interesting to tag, and if there is a match then I will think about that at that time. 
Q: Is it likely that your fight with DISOBEY will change from an individual battle to a team one? 
SHIOZAKI: I have been talking about bringing Noah to life, so I am looking at the approach of returning to that sentiment. 
Q: You are not thinking of joining DISOBEY? 
SHIOZAKI: I am not considering it. 
Q: Misawa, what are you aiming at? 
MISAWA: If it's interesting, you just have to do it. As far as I am concerned, to make a team the single belt is the tag. No more than that. After all, when it's a single it's only you. If we can show how excited we are, then I think we should do various things. It's everyone who makes Noah interesting.
Q: Before this tournament, you had an image change in the magazine "Fighting Hair". How was it? 
SHIOZAKI: Easier, my hair does not get in my face 
MISAWA: It's a hassle to go, so I only go once every six months. I cut it myself yesterday. I will go if I can't help it, but I've been told by professionals that it is good.      

*Nickname for Go Shiozaki that seems to persist in Noah even after Misawa's era. 
*DISOBEY where Mohammed Yone and Takeshi Rikio

Translated from Weekly Pro
Picture credit: Weekly Pro

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