(NOAH) Now Or Never - Interview with Kaito Kiyomiya

Weekly Pro

13th September 2022

Q: You won the N-1 for the first time, but how were the harsh league matches?

KIYOMIYA: I had a terrible feeling that things weren't going as planned. I couldn't imagine myself in this situation now, there was no turning back, and each day, I wanted to move forward.

Q: Before entering the league, you were saying "I want to find something of myself"

KIYOMIYA: To be honest, I haven't found anything definite. However, I have found that it may be the case. 

Q: To do with what? 

KIYOMIYA: I thought I would come up with something that was unique to me, until I was able to bring out something in my own way that I was good at. With Mutoh for example, wouldn't it be possible to attack the legs with a series of low drop kicks? Or do it with arms instead of legs. 

Q: In the match on the 28th August against Satoshi Kojima, you displayed a low drop kick to the arm of your opponent who was down

KIYOMIYA: Yes, yes. I found something for myself in that part, but when the league started, I couldn't really use it in the actual matches. 

Q: What do you mean? 

KIYOMIYA: Before the start of N-1, I inherited the Figure Four, Dragon Screw, and Shining Wizard from Keiji Mutoh, but I couldn't do it in a real battle, so it was difficult. 

Q: Certainly on the 11th August in Yokohama against Jack Morris, and on the 13th in Osaka against Masa Kitamiya, the matches were lost without bringing out Mutoh's finishers.

KIYOMIYA: I had to win the league. I was thinking about what I would do if I bought them out and lost easily. Perhaps I lacked the confidence. I was really planning it one by one, and decided that if I had the chance I would definitely do it, but...

Q: On the 14th August in Hiroshima during the match against Katsuhiko Nakajima, your ban on using Mutoh's finishers was lifted for the first time since you inherited them? 

KIYOMIYA: I was completely driven, and by chance Nakajima hurt his left knee during the match. I thought there was nothing else but this. If Nakajima didn't get hurt, I think things would have turned out differently. 

Q: Was there a response? 

KIYOMIYA: There was, but I had already decided on both mind and body

Q: During the match with Nakajima, The Shining Wizard was normal, and not a variant.

KIYOMIYA: I think that because the opponent was Suzuki, it became a variant. I was finally able to give form to my own professional wrestling.

Q: On the 19th August it was the match against Masakatsu Funaki at Korakuen, please give more details

KIYOMIYA: With Funaki's style, it's hard to tell where things will come from. From the beginning of the match, the tension was overwhelming, but for a moment I saw a gap, and decided on Shining. After that, I also decided on Shining from behind. I thought that if I didn't make that kind of change, people would predict it.

Q: And it was the debut of the transformed Shining Wizard where you grab and hit the opponents head.

KIYOMIYA: Funaki has been fighting Mutoh for a long time, and I thought there was a danger that if tried to fight back against a normal Shining, he would counter. The Shining currently hits the knee from the side, but when I was studying Mutoh, I saw that the first time he used it he did a vertical knee kick, and so after inheriting, I practiced it several times. Taking a hint from that and trying various things, such as using the head to ensure a clean hit, I came up with this "variant".

Q: For a while following the match against Taiyō Kea at All Japan's Tokyo Dome in January 2001, he used vertical knee kicks.

KIYOMIYA: When I thought that I had to defeat Funaki, naturally I bought out that variation. It was because the opponent was Funaki. It was the first singles match.

Q: In this years league, there were many singles matches for the first time, as was Satoshi Kojima in the final official match on August 28th in Kawasaki.

KIYOMIYA: It was pro wrestling that was completely different from Noah. I have never been blown away by a right arm like that before. I got a sense of Kojima's constant struggle on the front lines of the pro wrestling industry. 

Q: I have an image that you have often teamed up until now, but when you tried fighting as a single...

KIYOMIYA: It was completely different. When we were working together, we were a team, so he was a very dependable as a senior. But, when we faced each other, he was of a size that I had never felt before when teaming up. It's a size that is not just a big body.  

Q: Did you discover anything new while fighting through B Block? 

KIYOMIYA: I feel like I've been able to grow fight by fight, and I feel like I have been able to give form to my wrestling. Suzuki isn't exactly eccentric when it comes to fighting.

Q: How was the match against Hideki Suzuki in the final? 

KIYOMIYA: I could really feel the pressure. I think I was the one sweating, and the first 15 minutes of continuous ground battles were tough. 

Q: However, I felt that you had stepped into a part that you put aside 3 years ago

KIYOMIYA: Over the past three years, I've fought Ogawa (Yoshinari), Mutoh and others in singles many times, and I have been trying to build up my confidence. People around Suzuki always say he's eccentric, but as a man he's not exactly eccentric when it comes to fighting. 

Q: Did you feel any technical difference from Suzuki? 

KIYOMIYA: It was completely different, although of course there were the same elements. However, I was convinced that if I learned what I had learned at Noah, I would be able to handle any style. 

Q: You decided to arrange a dropkick from the lariat run on the ramp, which was a Great Muta's specialty. 

KIYOMIYA: I've been really blessed, and I've learned a lot from the people around me. If you are from wrestling then wrestling, judo if you are from judo, karate if you are from karate. Maybe it's because I don't have a background in martial arts, but at the beginning it was Mitsuharu Misawa, whom I admired, after my debut I was always being beaten up by The Suzuki Army, and I learned many things from Ogawa (Yoshinari), Marufuji (Naomichi), Sugiura (Takashi), Nakajima (Katsuhiko) and Kenoh. There was always something I could learn from matches. Over the past two years, I have had the opportunity to have a singles with Mutoh four times. In the course of my career, I have been incorporating more and more things that come to my mind ("this is good").

Q: Because there was no background*, you were able to absorb like a dry sponge

KIYOMIYA: I think so. Getting back to the ramp running dropkick, I had also Muto's movements in mind when I was researching Mutoh, and that day was the Muta Osaka Final. I kept thinking about it as we were fighting on the runway and came to the conclusion that this was the only way.

Q: At the press conference before the N-1 final, Suzuki said "he's obsessed with Keiji Mutoh", there is also criticism that you imitate Mutoh. Not only in technique, but also the arm attacks in the early stages was just like that. 

KIYOMIYA: Personally, I am not thinking of trying to imitate him. In practice, I try to make it look a little like it, but in actual combat, I don't think about it that way. It's a match, so we are competing for victory, and if you don't move yourself, then hidden flaws will appear. So without worrying about imitation, I think that the rich experience that Mutoh gave me is deeply rooted in my body, and made me feel like I was participating in the match.

Q: Certainly, despite being at the young age of 26, you have experienced many intense matches against big names in the industry.

KIYOMIYA: If everyone thought they could thoroughly defeat me, I think they could have ended it easily. However, everyone dragged me out to the very last minute. That is why I am grateful to the wrestlers who I have fought against me so far. I have a strong sense of wanting to cherish these experiences, and this has led to my self-confidence.       

Q: Among that, in the N-1 final, you pinned Suzuki with Transformed Shining Wizard

KIYOMIYA: I was able to get my last win with the technique that was born in the N-1. A purely Transformed Shining Wizard with the name...watch my wrestling, love Noah...

Q: It might be better to decide on a technique name, you tend either to have an original name or it doesn't take root. 

KIYOMIYA: I have an original technique, but for some reason, I stopped using it. 

Q: Transformed Shining also has its own risk if you decide an original name for the technique

KIYOMIYA: I have completely different feelings in regards to Shining!

Q: Then, are you going to give the technique a name? 

KIYOMIYA: I'm thinking of naming it...but I don't have the sense to name it (laughs). Could Weekly Pro recruit for me?   

Q: Certainly recruit!

KIYOMIYA: Please!

Q: Okay, let's link it with Twitter and widely recruit with the hashtag "#Kaito Kiyomiya Shining Technique Name"*  

KIYOMIYA: Looking forward to it.

Q: Now, I would like to talk about the future. Winning the N-1 was your first singles win in two years and eight months? That is a long time to win no major awards, isn't it? 

KIYOMIYA: It was really long. There was a period when I became a tag team champion, but it was a period when I was really at a low point. I was so confused and worried by the pro wrestling that I love so much. I think that I will be able to turn that period into something positive from now on, so I definitely want to seize this opportunity.

Q: When you won the GHC Heavyweight Championship for the first time in December 2018, you were young and full of energy, but this time you won it with solid ability. In addition, you have had many experienced...the challenge against Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi in a match against New Japan, and after experiencing major setbacks such as being defeated by them, you won the N-1.

KIYOMIYA: I have come this far experiencing so many things, including the singles with Mutoh, the battle against New Japan, the fight with Rob Van Dam, and the fact that I teamed up with El Hijo Del Santo. 

Q: When you experience matches with such big names, you naturally become aware of the top position in the industry.

KIYOMIYA: Right now, I want to beat Kenoh on the 25th September in Nagoya, and take the GHC Heavyweight Championship. That feeling is the strongest, but I always have the desire to spread Noah to the world, and for that reason, I must become the GHC Heavyweight Champion. I want everyone to fall in love with Noah after watching my wrestling, and even among pro wrestling fans, I think there are still people who don't know me. I think it's my last chance to get these people to turn their attention to me, and I have a sense of danger that if I continue like this, I'll end up not being able to make a name for myself in the industry.

Q: Kenoh opposes your accession to superstardom, saying with his burning rebellious spirit "It's a good story! I'll destroy it!"

KIYOMIYA: To be honest, I don't know how far I can do, but if I don't win the GHC Heavyweight Championship on the 25th September in Nagoya, I don't think I'll be able to hold the position that I'm aiming for to lead Noah. After all those experiences, I was finally able to win the N-1. The stage is Keiji Mutoh's second retirement road, and there is something I want to show in the limited events that Mutoh participates in. If I could show Mutoh that I was wearing the GHC Heavyweight, it would make a big difference. That is what I am aiming for. 

Q: In terms of a sense of crisis, if you lose the N-1 in September in Nagoya, Kenoh will lead Noah in the future. 

KIYOMIYA: As a young person, I want to change Noah. But, if I don't win the belt here, then I think Kenoh's era will continue for a while. If that happens, I think it will be quite difficult to create Noah with the young wrestlers I envision.

Q: You and Kenoh are the Noah heavyweight frontrunners at the same time, he is 11 years older than you though

KIYOMIYA: The current environment is completely different, isn't it? The dojo currently is the President of the Athletes*, Masa Kitamiya, me, Yoshiki Inamura, Kinya Okada, Junta Miyawaki is on tour in Mexico, Yasutaka Yano is returning at Shinjuku on the 21st September, Taichi Ozawa debuting at Korakuen on the 15th, the current trainees and Jack Morris who will continue to work hard in Japan after the N-1. Let's create Noah together! I am thinking about that, so I want to transmit it to the younger generation. 

Q: For that reason, you must break through

KIYOMIYA: I have to pass on what I have been taught to the future professional wrestling world, and if I can't make it to the top, then it will end here. With that sense of responsibility, I want to create a path for myself in the future. 

Q: I think fans who think of Noah on a daily basis and people who think of pro wrestling are different, but the public still has an image of Noah as the young man who cried after losing a match to New Japan.

KIYOMIYA: I really feel that standing at the top is a very difficult task, and there are still some parts that are lacking. But, what I want, is the position that Mutoh, Tanahashi and Okada have held. That is why I have been troubled, lost and tormented. If I don't win the GHC Heavyweight Championship on the 25th September in Nagoya, I won't be able to take over that position. 

Q: Those are some good words

KIYOMIYA: I have been able to live a blessed pro wrestling life so far, but as is the case in any world, the chances are limited. I beat Mutoh at the Nippon Budokan in July and conquered the N-1, I will challenge myself with the determination that if I fail here, I'll never be able to stand at the top of the professional wrestling world again.    

Note

*Original line was "no backbone". In Japanese this roughly equates to not having a background in something i.e. being a blank canvas or something that can be built on. In English having "no backbone" means to be cowardly or spineless, therefore I have changed it for Western readers.   

*At the time of writing, no new name has been announced and Kiyomiya and Noah are still using "Transformed Shining Wizard"

*This basically means that Kitamiya is their leader, almost but not quite like a team captain. In rough terms he would represent them as a whole.

Picture credit: Weekly Pro