(NOAH) Noah's Naomichi Marufuji, New Japan are "Delicious Food For Us Now". "Overturn" the number one in the pro wrestling world at the 8th January fight.
Yahoo.co.jp/Sportiva Web
New Japan and Pro Wrestling Noah will clash in a full scale rivalry to be held at the Yokohama Arena on January 8th. Tickets were sold end by the end of 2021, with a lot of cards attracting attention such as the six person tag in which Minoru Suzuki and Kazushi Sakuraba will participate, and a ten man tag between Noah's Kongoh and New Japan's Los Ingobernables de Japón. Both promotions have been intensely moving towards this rivalry since the beginning of 2022.
At the main event of the Nippon Budokan, held by Noah for the first time in history of pro wrestling on New Year's Day, the GHC Heavyweight Champion Katsuhiko Nakajima defeated Go Shiozaki, and achieved his third defense. Afterwards, the members of the unit Kongoh, to which Nakajima belongs came in. When the unit leader and GHC National Champion, Kenoh, took the microphone and turned towards New Japan's top wrestlers Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito and Takagi Shingo.
"I think it's crazy that you guys have been at the top of Japanese Pro Wrestling for years and years. Hey! You can't brag forever. We, Pro Wrestling Noah will overturn this order. On January 1st 2022, this will be the start of the change in the Japanese pro wrestling world. This is the start of the Reiwa Pro Wrestling Revolution."
Katsuhiko Nakajima also declared war in an interview done after the match, saying "I am looking forward to New Japan on the 8th January...and New Japan Pro Wrestling fans, I will destroy you..."
In addition, on January 5th, all of the Noah wrestlers came to the ring at New Japan's Tokyo Dome event. Kenoh and Takagi, who will fight in a ten person tag, clashed in a war of words. The provocation from Noah is conspicuous, but considering the current size of the group of wrestlers, the superiority of New Japan is expected. Will there be a sudden change for Noah? We asked Naomichi Marufuji, a member of the promotion since it's birth in 2000, and who is now the Vice President of "Cyber Fight", who run the promotion, about points of the competition.
Expectations for the young 25 year old star
First, Marufuji revealed his impression when the rivalry was decided.
"To be honest, I was surprised because I thought "We are not going to meet for a while". But rather than me wanting to do something with someone, I want both my wrestlers and the New Japan wrestlers to be involved."
In the past, the involvement between Noah and New Japan dates back to twenty years ago. At the New Japan Tokyo Dome event on October 8th 2001, Noah's Jun Akiyama firsy appeared in New Japan, forming a tag with Yuji Nagata and then fighting against Keiji Mutoh and Hiroshi Hase. Since then Mitsuharu Misawa and Masahiro Chono had a singles match at the Tokyo Dome on May 2nd 2002 and until 2016 various interactions were made, but after that all exchanges were cut off. Marufuji himself participated in New Japan's Tokyo Dome event on January 4th 2010, and took the IWGP Junior Championship. Two years later he had many other confrontations with New Japan such as participating in the qualifying matches for the midsummer "G1 Climax". So, what does Marufuji make of the remarks of Kenoh and Nakajima at The Budokan?
"I don't think it is necessary for me to add to the statements made by individual wrestlers, and not just the members of Kongoh. But the only thing I will say is that they are not wrong. I have been up to New Japan's ring many times, so I don't really feel the great sense of freshness or any surprise. So, I am looking forward to seeing how other wrestlers who haven't had many matches against New Japan or other promotions will be. In particular, I would like Shiozaki (Go), Nakajima (Katsuhiko) and Kiyomiya (Kaito) to be at the forefront of the pro wrestling world after this event."
Of the three that Marufuji has named, what kind of battle will the 25 year old Kiyomiya show? Kiyomiya will team with Keiji Mutoh to take on Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Kiyomiya however, challenged the National Champion, Kenoh, on New Year's Day and lost after a fierce match. He made a comeback at the Korakuen Hall event on January 4th, but has his defeat at the hands of Kenoh had a negative effect on the rivalry with New Japan?
"It doesn't matter. Just because Kiyomiya lost to Kenoh, it does not mean that everything will be negative. He is only twenty-five years old, and his career is still short. Rather, having had such a match at The Budokan, he should be confident in the fight against New Japan."
The positive side of the rivalry from the perspective of the Vice President and leaving the results to luck
Kiyomiya fully understands the expectations from Marufuji and reveals his willingness to compete.
"When it comes to being number one in the pro wrestling industry, there is certainly an atmosphere of "New Japan when it comes to puro", but I have always had my doubts. I am confident that "Noah has the best fight in the ring" and that is something I want to overturn in this battle."
Marufuji hopes that Kiyomiya's self confidence will turn into conviction.
"When I came to New Japan with an IWGP challenge of the G1, there were wins and losses, but I was convinced that the pro wrestling that we ourselves have done, wasn't wrong. I was able to get that conviction and I think they can at this event too."
Marufuji himself will tag with Yoshinari Ogawa, and will fight against Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Zack Sabre Jnr, who once belonged to and participated in Noah.
"New Japan has hit upon a wrestler who can bridge the technological gap with Ogawa to some extent. These two may be able to respond better than the wrestlers who have always belonged to New Japan to some extent. However, Ogawa still has many techniques and I can't help but be reassured and he may be thinking that he can win if he shows 10 out of 100 techniques".
Marufuji has talked about the rivalry as a wrestler who has been leading Noah, but what does the Vice President who runs the promotion think about the fight?
"I think there are definitely positives and some parts to gamble on. New Japan is definitely running in the Japanese pro wrestling world. The number of customers, the number of views (online streaming) etc is probably taking one number off of 0 when compared to Noah. In that way, this will be an opportunity for people who do not know Noah to know and see our wrestlers. There will be wrestlers that you like when you see them, so that is certainly a plus. On the other hand the part that is gambled is...there are always pros and cons in any competitions and battles with other promotions. "Praise" is not a comment that is that noticeable, but "No" is something that both we and our fans care about. The words "it was fun" or "thank you for doing that" is very nice and I am happy with it, but it often ends with "I am glad" and the topic doesn't spread. However, it is not good to spread things like "Why did you do this?" and so we have to think careful about our wrestlers and the front desk and what connects next to that."
In fact, most of the smaller promotions such as UWF International and WAR, which have been involved in past competitions with New Japan have disappeared. Is this danger still lurking in the Yokohama Arena this time?
"In the old days I think there was a level of wrestlers that were good in large groups and many who were a little inferior in small groups. However, we are not going to lose at all in that regard, and I have no intention of being consumed. For us currently our danger is that we may look like "very delicious food". Noah is proud to be a promotion that can see New Japan as that."
As to whether or not to continue the rivalry in the future, Marufuji revealed his worries says "It's hard. If you overdo it then it won't be interesting, and it may be boring to finish it so soon. But we won't know until we try it". At the end he confidently added, "Some people may have never seen Noah before, but I think you will understand that in this rivalry, Noah's wrestlers are tougher and stronger than you think."
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