(NOAH) N-1 VICTORY 2022: Behind the scenes of the promotional activities in Osaka, by Tatsu Ishiguro
Noah.Note.Co.Jp
August 9th
Pro Wrestling Noah's annual biggest event "N-1 VICTORY 2022", will finally start on the 11th. From Sendai to Hiroshima, official matches will be held in eight national tournaments. The championship match will be held on Saturday September 3rd, at Edion Arena Osaka 1st Stadium. Prior to the tournament, on July 23rd and 24th, in four cities nationwide "Pro-Wrestling Noah FAN MEETING ～Enjoy N-1 100 times!" was held. It is rare to do such a project so intensively on this scale, and it was realized with the co-operation with local music event planners.
This time, I was in charge of the Osaka venue on the 23rd. It was decided that Shiozaki and Kiyomiya would appear at the Osaka and the Hiroshima venue the next day on the 24th. On the 25th, Kiyomiya stayed in Hiroshima, and Shiozaki decided to return to Osaka, and plans were made to make the most of this schedule for promotional activities.
An unexpected situation occured just as the Shinkansen tickets were being handed over to the two of them, and the day was just about to begin.
Shiozaki injured his neck during a match on the 21st and was forced to miss the match on the 22nd. With the location of the injury, he can't overdo it.
"Cancel the event?"
"Do I have to say that the appearance on the radio is the cancelled and tell the newspapers in the vicinity?"
I had various coping strategies running around in my head.
No, I decided to ask him about his injury first, so I contacted Shiozaki the morning of the 22nd. From he himself, I got a reply like, "I'm fine now, I am looking forward to seeing you tomorrow". When I checked with the company's athlete management supervisor, he was okay to participate.
Well, but shouldn't we let him rest here?
I was confused.
However, I couldn't afford to bother all these different places, so I decided to go ahead as planned. On the day of the event, when I met Shiozaki on the Shinkansen platform I was relieved, and I decided to try and avoid doing anything that make him overdo it and make my injury worse.
Shiozaki appeared right away on a live radio broadcast, and then after that, he commented on the advert for the street vision broadcast. We rented a personal gym at the filming location, but perhaps because the equipment there was the latest and rarest type, Shiozaki started training relatively hard for amateurs*.
"No, please don't overburden yourself! If the injury gets worse, it will be serious and irreversible"
I stopped him many times, but he continued saying, "I am fine so far".
It is true that the weights were lighter than used in normal training for pro wrestlers, and perhaps it was only for a short time, it chilled me.
We where able to shoot several sequences without any problems, and these are currently being broadcast on "Advision" on Namba Sennichimae Street*.
Next was the FAN MEETING event.
After a brief meeting, it was decided that Kiyomiya would be in the first part, and Shiozaki in the second. Initially, each talk show was scheduled to last 30 minutes and others about 15 minutes, but Kiyomiya's talk show in Part 1 didn't even end after 50 minutes. So, while reflecting that I had to properly use the timekeeper, I sent a signal to Yukinobu Kami, who was acting as the facilitator from the side of the stage. From there, we held a lottery, a rock-paper-scissors tournament etc and Kiyomiya passed the baton to Shiozaki in the second part. When he finished his turn, Kiyomiya said "Was it too long? Shiozaki-san, I am sorry for making you wait?". He apologized, but I am just grateful for his working hard to liven up the event and that was the reason why he couldn't manage his time. I am humbled by Kiyomiya, who is always considerate of those around him, and of his seniors. I think that Kami-san, who was the DJ of the radio program that Kiyomiya appeared on and who proceeded with the first and second parts of the event without a break, must have had a hard time. Thank you very much.
Afterwards, we signed autographs and took pictures and the two athletes worked hard until the end with a strong sense of service, so that everyone who participated could enjoy themselves. We have not been able to hold these kinds of events outside of Tokyo, so we would like to continue to hold them.
And just like that, the first day passed and the next day the two of them went to Hiroshima. The day after that, Shiozaki returned to Osaka. From noon there were four sports newspapers and two radio appearances in Osaka, which he appeared in in increments of time. PR activities were carried out at each company on a day of record breaking heat. It wasn't just in the paper and over the air, but also on the web and via social media as the effect is enhanced when spread by a secondary action. This Note is also part of that.
The final radio appearance scheduled from 18:00 ended 30 minutes early, so in a hurry we visited Daisuke Harada's parents home, the "Harada Meat Shop*", to say hello. Each year, when we carry out promotion in Osaka, we schedule it, but this time we thought it would be difficult due to lack of time. I contacted Harada and was welcomed by his family.
With Mr U, the cameraman who helped me with the filming, editing and the moving, Mr Y who arranged the media, everyone at A-SKETCH who helped and the two wrestlers who worked the hard schedule, by combing various strengths, we will proceed to the stage of the N-1 VICTORY. I hope all the venues will have lots of visitors and have a blast. We will continue to do our best. And just like what was said at the talk show, if Shiozaki and Kiyomiya face each other in the finals, it would be the best ending for this promotion. There is still the situation where you can't cheer for them, so please send your hot thoughts.
We are waiting for you at the venue!
Notes
*Osaka outside a shopping centre. Daisuke Harada said that every housewife in Osaka shops there.
*Run by Daisuke Harada's older brother, Akio. Akio and his younger brother have a comical relationship; Harada sent Akio a birthday present of a signed picture of him, when it wasn't even his birthday. He once told Akio that if he and a family member wanted merch, they had better buy it as he wasn't giving them anything free. Once when Akio saw Harada wearing sunglasses and asked "What is this?", he was told "You are jealous. Don't copy me". Akio said that they would be using the Daisuke Harada muffler towel, a treasured family heirloom, to clean the bathroom and the extractor fan. Naomichi Marufuji once complained that Harada didn't follow him, and Akio said that Daisuke had always had a bad attitude. Harada was not impressed to hear that their mother liked Marufuji so much, she almost wanted to adopt him.
Links
For more on Kaito Kiyomiya and how Noah train their young to be respectful of their seniors, see "A Man Named Kaito Kiyomiya"
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