(NOAH) Katsuhiko Nakajima and the 25th September Nagoya match with Keiji Mutoh, who will retire at The Dome next year

Hochi News

16th September 2022

On the 16th September, Noah's Katsuhiko Nakajima in response to an interview with Sports Hochi, declared that he would destroy Keiji Mutoh, will be retiring at The Tokyo Dome on the 21st February next year. Nakajima will have a match in Nagoya on the 25th of this month. 

The Nagoya event will be held as Mutoh's second installment on the retirement road. Here, Nakajima will team up with Masakatsu Funaki to face Mutoh and Kazuyuki Fujita. For Mutoh, Fujita is a junior from the New Japan era and Funaki, who he will face, is a classmate who entered in 1984. The three of them went their separate ways when Funaki transferred to the newly formed UWF in 1989, and Fujita joined the Inoki office in 2000 and fought in MMA. While growing up in New Japan, the three wrestlers, who have had twists and turns in their wrestling lives, gather in the ring for the decisive match in Nagoya. It is Nakajima who has cut in here. He himself describes this match as follows, "Keiji Mutoh and Kazuyuki Fujita will team up, and I will team with Funaki. When I look at the card, there is a historical story about growing up in New Japan and breaking it. I think it's great, but I think it's more like a reunion. Since I'm in it, I have no choice but to destroy that atmosphere"

Mutoh, who announced his retirement in June, began his retirement road to The Dome on the 21st February, with a singles match against Kaito Kiyomiya at the Nippon Budokan in July. Nakajima comments, "Actually, I thought there would be no match with Mutoh on his road to retirement, there are completely different roots". 

The point of contact with Mutoh was after Kensuke Office, which was run by Kensuke Sasaki, who he belonged to in the second year of his debut, participated in All Japan where Mutoh worked as President. At that time, they fought many time in tag matches, and Nakajima still remembers what Mutoh said at that time. "I was a young, and Mutoh was always the main eventer, and since then I have had the impression that he is an amazing person. At that time, I remember being told by Keiji Mutoh to "Do what you want", when I had worries as a young wrestler". 

He said that Mutoh's words relieved his troubles for a moment and took the burden from his shoulders. "However, on the contrary, doing what I wanted was difficult. How do you express that freedom as a wrestler in the ring? Keiji Mutoh's words were soft and gentle, and I was a worried young man, and so I was happy that it took the burden off my shoulders, but freedom was the most difficult thing. You can't be free, unless you have what it takes."

After some time, Mutoh joined Noah in 2021. Although they have made contact again, they have only had a few matches. Still, Nakajima recalled, that "There was an atmosphere that only Keiji Mutoh could bring out". Approaching Nagoya, Nakajima repeated, "Since Keiji Mutoh's retirement has been decided, Nagoya on the day may be in a celebratory mood for his Retirement Road. However, I don't feel like that, and I'd rather eat Keiji Mutoh. I will go to the ring with a different motivation than those three who are in the reunion mood. It's a fight in the ring. There are no celebrations. I want to show my presence firmly and bring a theme, so I want to break it down. I want to fight a match that only I can do, and ruin the Retirement Road."

The opponent for the retirement match at The Tokyo Dome on February 21st, has not yet been decided. 

Translated from Hochi News

Picture credit: Hochi News