(NOAH) Mitsuharu Misawa declares launch of business. The name of the promotion is "Noah" (Press conference transcript, July 2000)

The image of mass withdrawal is bad, but this was a choice made in pursuit of an ideal. The many bright faces tell the story. First of all, please read the pattern of the interview carefully. 

Interview

Q: When will the new promotion start? 

MISAWA: I would like to see August at the earliest, and I would like to have the launch event in August* and September.

Q: Is the location Differ Ariake? 

MISAWA: The decision hasn't been made yet, but I think it is likely

Q: How many wrestlers are there in total? 

MISAWA: 25 people

Q: Including staff? 

MISAWA: Regarding the staff, unlike the contracted wrestlers, they are employees. There are complicated circumstances around that, and so depending on the circumstances this may change, so please refrain from talking about it now. 

Q: Are there any candidates for the promotion name? 

MISAWA: That hasn't been decided yet. 

Q: Will you hold a launch of business tour? 

MISAWA: At this stage I don't know yet, but assuming that the launch will be one match, I would like to organise a schedule and make a tour from around October.

Q: All Japan has said that they want you to appear on the next tour? 

MISAWA: I have never heard or recieved any such talk. I don't want to cause trouble to the fans, so if there is a request from then, I am willing to do it if their conditions and our conditions match*

Q: Is that what everyone here thinks?

MISAWA: Yes, it is

Q: What is the most symbolic thing about the gap between your ideals, and All Japan?

MISAWA: It's best that it is in line with the times. I wanted to make the current All Japan Pro Wrestling production and other things more modern for young people. Even old fans sent me fan letters and asked me to do something like All Japan Pro Wrestling. There were quite a few people who said that if we did something a little flashy, it wouldn't be like All Japan, so in that case we decided to do it ourselves.  

Q: When did you decide to quit All Japan? 

MISAWA: After the board meeting on June 13th*.   

Q: There were rumors that you were preparing to start a new group.

MISAWA: No preparations have been made. At the present stage we have not yet made any moves regarding our offices or dojo, and we are not active in terms of entertainment. 

Q: What do you want to do most in your new promotion? 

MISAWA: What I want to do most is to aim for a professional wrestling that both wrestlers and fans can enjoy, although it may be abstract. 

Q: I think you and Kobashi both had fans supporting you fighting in All Japan

MISAWA: I am truly grateful to All Japan for taking care of me from the beginning, but I think I can fight the same as when I was in All Japan, and I am confident that I will be able to fight even better in the future. I am sure that fans are really worried about us, but I would like you to watch our matches from now on. 

Q: It doesn't matter about their personal stories, but how do you feel about having so many wrestlers come with you?

MISAWA: I can only say it's all about the wrestlers, and I am really grateful that everyone here agreed with my opinion. We came together because we wanted to create a really good pro wrestling in our own way. As a wrestler, I would like to join everyone and do my best.

Q: Of course, you have to set up the dojo as well as an office.

MISAWA: Naturally, the young wrestlers will definitely need a practice ground.

Q: Within the year? 

MISAWA: Within the year, I would like to create that as soon as possible. 

Q: Will you be holding the position of managing director in the new promotion? 

MISAWA: I am one of the wrestlers in the ring, and so in the end, I think that is what I am going to do, and with that sense of responsibility I want to lead everyone. 

Q: Did you know the day before yesterday, All Japan's Director Motoko Baba* sent a fax to the mass media as if to denounce you? 

MISAWA: I know. I read it that day. 

Q: How did you feel?

MISAWA: On which point?

Q: After reading the whole thing, it's a criticism of your actions.

MISAWA: There isn't much on my part about this, and I have no intention on commenting on this. It's an internal company issue, and under such circumstances, I have no desire to fight with Motoko. 

Q: Is this the company's internal stance, as you don't want to say such things publically?

MISAWA: Yes. But as for the long term debt, I have heard that I followed Okusan's* intructions to return the debts I had before I became President. 

Q: Will the new promotion invite foreign wrestlers?

MISAWA: As for that matter there has been no movement, and I haven't been able to make contact, so I don't know*.

Q: Is the location Differ Ariake?

MISAWA: Although it hasn't been decided, I think it's likely*

Q: How many wrestlers are there in total?

MISAWA: 25

Q: Including staff?

MISAWA: Regarding the staff, unlike the contracted wrestlers, they are employees and so there are complicated circumstances, and things may change depending on circumstances, so please refrain from asking at this time. 

Q: Are there any candidates for the name of the promotion?

MISAWA: It has not been decided yet

Q: Will you hold an auguration show or shows for the launch? 

MISAWA: At this stage, I don't know yet, but assuming that the inauguration will be one match, I would like to put together a schedule and make a tour from around October.

Q: I think that will become the key existence of the new promotion. Momota-san* how did you feel about this action?

MOMOTA: In short, I don't want to explain too much about the details, but I think it boils down to the fact that President Misawa has this many wrestlers.

Q: At the time of All Japan, I think there was a bottleneck in interacting with other promotions, but now that New Japan Pro-Wrestling President Fujinami has made a comment that he would like to discuss it, what are your thoughts on interaction with New Japan?    

MISAWA: I'm not thinking about it at the moment, but honestly speaking, I think I'm thinking more positively than when I was All Japan. 

Q: How do you feel about Kawada now?

MISAWA: Since we are no longer children, I think it's fine to decide which way is your own, and as Kawada is Kawada, and if that's the path he has decided on, I hope he will stick with it and do his best until the very end*.

Q: The number of wrestlers will increase in addition to the wrestlers here in the upcoming launch event?

MISAWA: I'm not thinking about it at this stage, but I think it may change later.

Q: Have you taken the initative to contact other wrestlers?

MISAWA: Not at this stage. The same goes for the wrestlers here, I didn't ask them to come in at all*. Well, we are in different promotions, but Ikeda* wants to work with us in the future, so we have decided to work together in the same promotion.

Q: I don't think that you are thinking that far now, but will the series of events that took place in All Japan until June 9th come to an end, or are you going to carry on that trend?

MISAWA: Since it's an issue of an individual battlefield, and not a company one, I will leave it up to the individual wrestler.

Q: Some wrestlers are currently holding All Japan championships, what will happen to them?

MISAWA: I think we have no choice but to give them back to All Japan

Q: What will happen about TV broadcasts?

MISAWA: I haven't had time to think about that yet*, and at the moment I am only thinking about matches in the ring.   

Q: How do you feel about Giant Baba now?

MISAWA: I am truly grateful for his help, as he was the one who taught me what pro wrestling is all about from scratch. I can only say thank you, but the most important thing is for us to do our best in matches. If you watch, I think you will understand.

Q: Rikio, how does it feel to be in this situation after just debuting? 

RIKIO (TAKESHI): As far as my feelings are concerned, I met with Misawa, talked about various things, and entered pro wrestling. I joined Misawa with the intention of doing my best under him. 

Q: I would like to ask people other than Rikio to make comments as well.

EIGEN (HARUKA)*: I'm sorry, but I can't help it (laughs) Misawa and I had very similar ideas, so we acted together. I think the other wrestlers probably have a very similar idea.

AKIYAMA (JUN): I'm with Eigen

KOBASHI (KENTA): Together with the wrestlers here, I would like to do my best to aim for the ideal professional wrestling.

MOMOTA (MITSUO): Everyone has the same feeling, so in short, I think it's the feeling of becoming one and following President Misawa, and I am the same.

TAUE (AKIRA): Let's all do it together. Also, All Japan, thank you. Thank you very much. 

KIMURA (RUSHER): I will do my best. That's all. 

IZUMIDA (JUNJI)*: I will do my best.

KIKUCHI (TSUYOCHI): Whatever it may be, I will do my best.

OGAWA (YOSHINARI)*: I just have to do my best for President Misawa. Thank you.   

OMORI (TAKAO)*: My goal in professional wrestling is to overthrow the Four Kings with intensity, and in order to achieve that goal, I decided to follow President Misawa because I wanted to compete in a better environment.

TAKAYAMA (YOSHIHIRO): There are strong wrestlers who are worth defeating and stamping down, so I have resolved to do my best. Thank you very much. 

INOUE (MASAO): I will do my best to make a fresh start, thank you. 

ASAKO (SATORU)*: I will do my best to keep my dream alive. Thank you.

MIGHTY INOUE: I am a referee, but President Misawa's ideas are exactly the same, so I followed him. I will continue to do my best, so please continue to support me.

KOBAYASHI (aka KENTA): I will do my best. Thank you. 

MARUFUJI (NAOMICHI): I decided that this was the best way to improve my mental and technical skills as a professional wrestler. Thank you for your continued support. 

KAKIHARA (MASAHITO): I will do my best.

KANEMARU (YOSHINOBU): Do my best

MORISHIMA (TAKESHI)*: I have no regrets about the path I chose, so I will do my best.

HASHI (MAKOTO)*: I want to do my best here. Thank you.

HONDA (TAMON)*: Regardless of whether the path we have chosen is good or bad, we will do our best to make people say that we have created something wonderful. With that in mind I decided to follow President Misawa. I'll come up with an answer so that everybody can say it's good.

SHIGA (KENTARO)*: I made my own choice, and acted in this way. I would like to continue to do my best.

IKEDA (DAISUKE)*: The other day, I had just become a freelancer, and this happened to me. I have decided to follow the great man, Mitsuharu Misawa, and I look forward to working with him.        

At the press conference, the name of the promotion, which was said not to have been decided yet, has being called "NOAH" as a strong candidate now. The name Noah comes from "Noah's Ark", which is a phrase that appears in Genesis in the Old Testament. Misawa decided to take twenty-five athletes and six staff members on board, and set off on a great voyage without being swallowed by the flood. There is a high possibility that the start of the worrisome launch event will be held at Differ Ariake in early August. There are many things to do, such as setting up offices, registering as a company, and looking for a dojo. Misawa will probably be even busier than the year he was president of All Japan. 

However, Misawa summed up the situation that is likely to come in the future with, "it is worth doing". Not all the fans are satisfied with his actions, but nevertheless he chose to go on this voyage, and many wrestlers followed suit. As Momota said, "suffice to say, so many wrestlers followed". Misawa also understands that from now on, there is no choice but to convince the fans with a new battlefield.

On the day the press conference was held, All Japan Pro Wrestling reported that Mitsuharu Misawa, the twenty four wrestlers, the one trainee* and the six staff members were leaving the company, and had received a letter by proof of delivery mail that they would not be renewing their contracts. All Japan Pro-Wrestling has completely split into two groups: those who have departed and those who have remained. There is no going back. In the future there is a possibility that All Japan and Misawa will discuss a tour, but participation is only possible if conditions are met. Misawa cites the participation of all the wrestlers as one of the conditions. 

The turbulent week that began with the regular board meeting on the 13th, led to Misawa declaring the launch of a new promotion. It may be inevitable that at the end of the century, when the Showa era Giant Baba and Tsuruta passing away, making the 21st century imminent.   

Notes

*Misawa would name these first shows "Departure" as a way of giving the finger to All Japan. 

*All Japan and Noah would work together. It was hardly a warm and pleasant experience. The two sides were glacial, no one interacted, Steve Williams baited Misawa, Kawada said he didn't think "Noah was necessary to be here" and without waiting for the event to finish, Misawa put everyone on the bus and took them back to Differ Ariake. See also "Four Days in April: Noah, All Japan and their troubled history"   

*June 13th: The day when Misawa was stripped of his presidency by the board of directors in All Japan, and nine years later the date he would pass away in the ring. That is a very eerie co-incidence. 

*Motoko Baba: Baba's widow. She and Misawa had always had a strained relationship. There were a lot of rumors and a lot of stories about Motoko Baba and Mitsuharu Misawa not getting along, one of them was that Motoko had been told by a fortune teller that "A green man will bring misfortune to the Baba family". What is known for certain is that Misawa actually asked Baba to have her removed from All Japan. 

*Mrs Baba. Misawa is referring to her here in a highly formal way, which honors her as Baba's wife. 

*Sadly Misawa would not live to see the first foreigner (albeit a Noah Born) crowned as GHC Heavyweight Champion.

*Noah would stay at Differ Ariake until 2016, when the site was sold and they relocated to Saitama. The old site was demolished and an Olympic village was built up there. They would return to the new arena and be the first promotion to hold wrestling there in late 2022.

*Mitsuo Momota: Rikidozan's son. Walked out of All Japan with Mitsuharu Misawa and left Noah in 2009 after Misawa's death, resigning his position as Vice President and turning freelance.

*Kawada's path would eventually take him to Noah, where he would wrestle his final few matches, before having a final one (so far) in New Japan. Sadly by this time, Misawa had passed away.

*Misawa's story about not asking wrestlers to come with him is not exactly true. Naomichi Marufuji says he was not asked, but expected to follow. Takashi Sugiura says that Misawa asked him, while Yoshihiro Takayama said that he was asked to come to Noah by Mitsuharu Misawa during a dinner they were having when Misawa suddenly said, "I'm planning to leave All Japan, and go to a new place. Will you come too?" He had felt something was up, but thought little of it.

*Daisuke Ikeda

*TV Broadcasts: Noah would take All Japan's spot.

*Haruka Eigen: Former sumo wrestler turned wrestler who followed Misawa out of All Japan, and was appointed to a management position in Noah. Following his involvement in the ticket scandal, he was demoted to a general employee, but remained on good terms with the roster. He died of a heart attack in November 2016. 

*Junji Izumida: Former sumo wrestler turned wrestler. A seemingly jolly comedy character on screen, which hid a very bitter personality in reality. While moaning about what he saw as his lack of career progression to Jumbo Tsuruta, he was told that "life is different for everyone, and so is wrestling", but he failed to take this advice. The whistleblower on the ticket scandal, he left Noah and wrote a tell all book which was not and is not considered to be factual, and died of a heart attack in January 2017. His body was not discovered for three days as he lived alone. It also appeared that he had been the victim of a fraud involving embezzlement by a woman, who squeezed him for his earnings and what little savings he had. Unlike Eigen who is still remembered well, Izumida has pretty much been airbrushed from Noah's memory. 

*Yoshinari Ogawa: 23 years later Ogawa is still doing his best, bringing up new generations of Noah. He remains the only person left now in the promotion from this press conference along with Takashi Sugiura and Naomichi Marufuji.  

*Takao Omori: Unfortunately a "better environment" was not to be created by Omori who cost Misawa talent on day one when his opponent (Masahito Kakihara) walked out and refused to stay alleging that Omori had been too stiff, and Omori himself would stop a match against Shinya Hashimoto claiming the same reasons, although the real reason was never discovered. He stayed in Noah until about 2004. Rumor had it that Misawa had dismissed him, Misawa always denied this, but Naomichi Marufuji said that Misawa had always regretted having to dismiss him, and wanted to make it up to him if he could.

*The Four Kings: Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue collectively. Toshiaki Kawada chose to stay with All Japan, but ironically, all four would end their careers in Noah, in Misawa's case it was tragic, in Kawada's he spent the majority of his final in ring days in Noah before having his last match (to date as he never officially retired) in New Japan, while both Taue and Kobashi had retirement ceremonies. Taue and Kobashi cannot return to the ring due to their health (Taue had stomach cancer, which Kawada believed came from stress of running Noah after Misawa's death, plus his heavy smoking and strong alcohol sumo habits and Kobashi due to his physical condition), but Kobashi said he promised Misawa and Baba in heaven that he would never break his word and return. As for Kawada, he was challenged by Taichi in October 2022 to get back in the ring, but at the time of writing nothing has come of it. Taue and Kawada these days both run restaurants (Taue a steakhouse which members of Noah visit and Kawada a ramen shop), while Kenta Kobashi holds lectures on Cancer and overcoming it, does commentary for various promotions, occasionally runs produce shows and mentors the next generation of wrestlers, especially Kaito Kiyomiya.  

*Satoru Asako: Retired in July 2002. Misawa sponsored his training as a physiotherapist, and he stayed with Noah to work as both a road agent and a trainer. Later he retired and opened his own clinic, where he continues to treat the current roster (as of 2023).  

*Takeshi Morishima: His sad story can be read here.

*Makoto Hashi: Jun Akiyama's trainee. Due to the shorter age span between them (compared to Misawa and Marufuji or Kobashi and KENTA), they were more like brothers than master and student. Hashi retired from wrestling in 2012 due to neck injuries and has since worked as a physiotherapist. He got Marufuji back to the ring when Marufuji was injured in his hectic 20th anniversary year.   

*Tamon Honda: Left Noah to freelance in 2010, and was last seen in Noah in 2019. Runs a wrestling school now. 

*Kentaro Shiga: Left Noah in 2010 to freelance, but dropped off the map in 2013 and now works a job outside of wrestling. Naomichi Marufuji said he hoped that Shiga would come to the Giant Baba memorial in 2021, but he didn't. It has also been said that Shiga's stepping away (although he never officially retired) may have been due to a hernia in the neck, which was sadly discovered to be a degenerative disease.  

*Daisuke Ikeda: Left Noah in 2004 to freelance and run his own promotion, Futen.

*Takashi Sugiura 

Translated from Weekly Pro

Picture credit: Weekly Pro