(NOAH) Takeshi Morishima, Diary of Struggle

Weekly Pro

c. Late 2009

Recently, Morishima has often greeted the audience with the microphone after matches. In the past, he didn't have the image of saying anything, such as saying "no comment", but why has this suddenly changed? Morishima greeted the event at the Hiroshima Green on June 13th in the position of Wrestlers President*, standing in the ring after Misawa's accident in the main event, he used the microphone to settle the chaotic situation in the hall. The advice of his partner, Kensuke Sasaki, was behind his choice of action. "When the situation happened in Hiroshima, I thought it would be bad if I let the customers go away without any explanation. Then "I should say something", and when I asked it was "you should talk". It was Sasaki who gave me a push forward. I really appreciate it". That day, the reason why Morishima took the mic was out of a strong sense of responsibility as the Wrestlers President. However, because it was too sudden, he couldn't judge whether it was really good to speak in this situation, and he couldn't make a decision. At that time, the words of a great senior who had a lot of experience, erased Morishima's doubts. After this, when he wins a victory on the same team as Kensuke, he naturally began to address him from the ring. Recently, he has come to understand both the importance and the difficulty of this.       

"Noah basically doesn't use the microphone. It's best to just say nothing and be enchanted with the match, but if you add it and have a microphone, it's easier to understand, so it's a shift change. Sasaki has experienced many situation where he has to use a mic. When a customer leaves, you have to think about the atmosphere of the place and the suddenness of things, such as not saying anything. Sasaki understands this well. And I'm inspired by that aspect too. For example, Sasaki can say "Stand up!" and the customer will say, "Yes!" If he were to say, "Please stand", no one would, right? To have that kind of skill on the microphone is helpful. People who don't like mics may not like it, but I think it would be nice if they could feel a sense of unity with it." There are two main things that Morishima is trying to do with the microphone. One is to speak directly to the audience, and the other is to have fun outside of matches. In addition to Kensuke, he has received advice from singer and media personality Hiroshi Madoka*. "It may not be typical of Noah up until now, but since there are customers who support us, it's okay to feel like a new Noah. There are no restrictions on using the mic, so I think it would be nice to have some fun. I want the people in our promotion to know just how much I and Sasaki are trying to liven things up. It's not like I said I did my best, or that I didn't say I didn't try my best, but even if we scream ourselves hoarse during the match, I want to liven up the audience with a microphone after that. As a champion, I have to communicate to the audience." 

Morishima's mic started from that day, as for a long time it had become a regular occurrence to leave it to Kensuke. I don't know how the 6th December Budokan will go because of the deadline, but I heard that he wants to close out the show next year himself.

Translated from an article by Hikaru Inoue.

Picture credit: Weekly Pro

Notes

Wrestlers President: Like a coach, office manager or team leader. They deal with all issues in the group and represent them as a whole. Naomichi Marufuji did this before being Noah's Vice President again, and Masa Kitamiya has now taken over the role. Currently in Noah Kaito Kiyomiya is the Dojo Director, Masa Kitamiya is the Wrestlers President and Go Shiozaki is the chairman of the Noah Wrestlers Alliance (kind of like higher management)  

Hiroshi Madoka:  Japanese singer, composer, and singer-songwriter