(NOAH) "The future cannot really be seen, unless we create a new shine by ourselves.". Kojima, the impact of "Waiting", the past...Interview with Kenoh ahead of the Nippon Budokan
Pro Wrestling DX
Q: Immediately after Kojima defeated Go Shiozaki and took the championship, you announced your challenge. Was your decision instant?
KENOH: Originally I intended to challenge Shiozaki because there was the Nippon Budokan event the following month.
Q: What did you think when Kojima got the belt?
KENOH: It was unexpected. Isn't Satoshi Kojima a stepping stone for the young in New Japan? Recently, he's only been doing the undercard without getting involved in the main. I never expected that wrestler to come to Noah and defeat Noah's ace class Go Shiozaki.
Q: Did the phrase, "Noah is not the destination of New Japan's cushy jobs*" Did the phrase come out impulsively?
KENOH: That's something I've always felt. It's not limited to Kojima, Keiji Mutoh or Kazuyuki Fujita...it's not just the wrestlers, but it's also Noah and related staff are also full of former New Japan Pro Wrestling, right? I have felt like the entire management organization is like a cushy job destination.
Q: It figures that Noah must create their own values?
KENOH: Yes. The future cannot really be seen, unless we create a new shine by ourselves. Satoshi Kojima gave water to dying flowers and revived them a little...isn't it like that? Even if you give dying flowers water, they will come back to life for a while, but they will soon die. That is why we have to grow from new buds.
Q: It's not just limited to now, it's also the notion that Noah keeps holding.
KENOH: I really think so. Originally, Kiyomiya (Kaito) and Inamura (Yoshiki) had to appeal more and more than I did, but it's not enough, so I am thinking to take the lead and appeal.
Q: "The New Chapter of The Ark", "New Noah", "NOAH the REBORN", "New scenery..." every slogan was born and faded
KENOH: How many years has that been said? After saying the same thing for more than ten years, in the end, it is reliance on veterans. I haven't been able to take a new step clearly forever. It figures that when you have a match, you shouldn't be having it with the veteran, you should have to be doing it with the new buds of Noah. I think that's why I have no choice but to take the lead and appeal again.
Q: "What I have seen somewhere" not "What no one has ever seen?"
KENOH: Yes. The veterans will just wither and scatter. First, create something new. The new thing that has been created will create the next new thing again. We have to make that kind of cycle. Call a veteran, and if you run out, call a veteran again...is there any future in that kind of cycle?
Q: Does your impression of "withering flowers" change, even if you have actually fought with Kojima?
KENOH: There is no change. But, because he beat Shiozaki, strong is strong. Besides, the water given by Noah is better than the water given in New Japan. Isn't it possible to release that latent power by comfortably demonstrating that ability? That is why his 30 year career has come together, so I will admit that as an ability.
Q: What kind of match do you have in mind?
KENOH: I'm sorry to say that Satoshi Kojima is not an opponent who can fight modern and interesting matches. That's why I want to make the match my own. I don't think the match will be very interesting if it gets made Satoshi Kojima's way.
Q: What is your ideal way to win?
KENOH: It's not how to win, the ideal is to win. The best idea is to show my belt to the fucking assholes who come to the Nippon Budokan.
Q: The Budokan main is now a special stage again
KENOH: But like I have said many times, the goal is to enter last at the main of the Budokan. That is still a checkpoint. Since I have a plan to take the belt, I will continue to defend until the Nippon Budokan event on January 1st.
Q: Once you get the belt, do you want to interact within Noah and create new values, and not outsiders?
KENOH: Of course. Kiyomiya, Inamura, Okada (Kinya) are all good. I want to create an atmosphere as a champion where the young people can speak.
Q: Keiji Mutoh's retirement road which starts from this Budokan, must also be a topical fight.
KENOH: Even so, he announced his retirement at a good time. Keiji Mutoh retires while I forcefully take the belt at the Nippon Budokan, and show off a new era as champion. I think the impression of the generation change of the Mutoh Retirement Road, will also be the road that is the impression of the new era of Noah.
Q: However, you yourself are not young anymore*
KENOH: True, and I understand that the best. Rather, I would rather have Kiyomiya or Inamura delve in that. I want the young people to bite, and then the "professional wrestling brain" will develop a little. I'm still young in thinking.
Q: What do you think is missing from Noah's younger generation?
KENOH: I think it's an need. I wonder if they have no desire. What is "Generation Z?"* Maybe they are generation that has somehow been spoiled. Given awareness of challenges, it may be that they don't feel like thinking and doing it for themselves. How do you meet women? In the past, you had to talk to people on the street, but now you have a matching app. Your smartphone will tell you "people who are likely to match" and you can even contact them? But, in our generation, on the streets we had no choice but to bravely devise "how to match people, who do not match". But now there is a state where a machine can pick up women and "give" them to you, right? I think they are used to being given anything.
Q: A pro wrestling ring is not digital...
KENOH: It would be useless if this wasn't an analog world. It is pro wrestling to show the desire created by humans. Without it, I think I couldn't go to the ring. There is no AI there.
Q: Returning to the match with Kojima, the verbal battle is intensifying in the pre matches. What is your impression of Satoshi Kojima's nature?
KENOH: I think the general recognition is that he's a "Good and friendly person". However, to my intuition, the more people are like that, the more they have a rotten heart. Actually, when I was a fan and waiting by the door for the wrestlers to arrive, Satoshi Kojima was always the one who responded the best. That's why I thought, "He's a good man", but when I grew up and understood the ins and outs of people, he really feels like someone mean...
Q:...First of all, I am shocked that you were waiting by the door....
KENOH: At that time, waiting for them to arrive and leave was natural. I even knew the hotel where the New Japan wrestlers stayed, it was around about the time of nWo Japan. At that time, when I went to to get an autograph from Satoshi Kojima, he gave me two replies "Ah, good!" But, Masahiro Chono, even if he stopped by he yelled at the power of being hit. But now that I have grown up and I have spent time in the pro wrestling world, I think Chono is the better person. I feel like I could peel off Kojima's skin and reveal his true nature.
Q: The other day you pointed out that he was "stingy" and he returned with "cheap bastard"*.
KENOH: I was surprised at how quick that comeback was. I have been told the same thing for twenty years now*, and so I had a little sympathy, right? I have been called "stingy" for a long time...but at The Budokan, we can't have frugal matches. I have Kojima pay the invoice in full, and I will play matches that make the asshole customers pay for a lot of tickets.
Notes
*Does not translate well, this basically means government bureaucrats retiring to high profile jobs.
*Kenoh will be 37 in January 2023
*He actually said "Frugal", but that lacks the same force in English.
*Surprising, as someone pointed out to THE LEAVE the other day just how much the shirt Kenoh was wearing cost.
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