(NOAH) "I'll get the pin from Soya with the Dragon Suplex"...Kenoh previews his first showdown with Tatsumi Fujinami on the 2nd December Yokohama Budokan...candid reveal on Noah's official YouTube

23rd November 2023

Hochi News

On the 23rd, Kenoh, Pro Wrestling Noah's GHC Heavyweight Champion, did an interview on Noah's official YouTube.

Kenoh will make his first defense against Manabu Soya at the Ariake Arena on January 2nd next year, and as a pre-match for Ariake, he will team up with his teacher, Jinsei Shinzaki, at the Yokohama Budokan on December 2nd and clash with Soya and Tatsumi Fujinami. Before the much anticipated pre match in Yokohama, where Kenoh and Soya will fight each other with their teachers as partners, Kenoh looks back on his encounter with his teacher, Jinsei.

"The first time we met was when Shinzaki-san came to the Nippon Kempo dojo where I was. He met Daisuke Nakae (Kenoh's real name) when he was a boy. Of course, I knew about Jinsei Shinzaki, a pro wrestler, from then on, so I guess I felt his aura in a way that couldn't be compared to anything I'd experienced before. It's no exaggeration to say that I started watching professional wrestling after watching Jinsei Shinzaki in elementary school, and admiring him. I have very strong memories of watching Jinsei Shinzaki's video, "Jinsei Shinzaki: Breaking the rules" every day when I rented the video during summer vacation".

In 2008, after graduating from Meiji University, he joined Michinoku Pro Wrestling, which was led by Shiozaki. 

"When I was about to graduate from university, I realized that I wanted to become a professional wrestler, which had been my dream since elementary school. I think there were many different organizations to choose from, but I remember thinking that I wanted to go to a promotion that I had always admired, so I ended up joining Michinoku Pro. To be honest, in the beginning, the joy of being able to watch Jinsei Shinzaki's matches for free was the strongest. There was something unique about his entrance music, and just listening to it made me feel like I was back in my days as a professional wrestling fan."

After achieving good results in Michinoku Pro, he transferred to Noah in March 2015.

"When I transferred from Michinoku Pro Wrestling to Noah, I talked to Shinzaki-san, or rather, Shinzaki-san said to me, "Since you don't have anyone to fight with in Michinoku Pro anymore, wouldn't it be better for you to go to Noah, a place where you can work hard and fight?" Because it was already recommended by Shinzaki-san, I thought, "Of course I'll go". 

Here are some of Jinsei's teachings that remain the most important. 

"The thing that I learned the most from Shinzaki-san is, "Create a rival". I think that phrase is the strongest. As a pro wrestler, I was told that the most important thing to do is to create rivals that you can compete with, whether it's pursuing one person or being chased, and I think that's really true. At that time, I didn't know exactly what it meant, but now that I think about it, this phrase is really profound. I want to continue to following Shinzaki-san's teachings and pursue the path of professional wrestling, pushing forward with a clear goal of defeating someone and what my own goals are". 

Will Soya be his current rival? 

"That is a really frustrating question for me, but there is no way that Soya is a rival. He is a wrestler who hasn't yet reached my level. After Kongoh disbanded and he finally felt like challenging for the GHC Heavyweight, that made me really happy, but we are still not rivals, so hurry up and get to my level."

Disregarding Soya, Kenoh will team up Shinzaki to fight Soya and Fujinami at the Yokohama Budokan on the 2nd December. 

"Well, I've teamed up with him a few times in Noah, so I don't really care about that. What I am conscious of is the relationship between Tatsumi Fujinami and Manabu Soya. "Parent and child with meaning". Those words sum it up. Was Soya really a pupil of Tatsumi Fujinami? It's unlikely that anyone would realize that Soya and Tatsumi Fujinami are teacher and pupil. That's what I mean. But, if you dig deeper into the past, Soya was from Muga*. However, there doesn't seem to be that much of a teacher-pupil relationship. There must be something? Maybe I should dig into it again. They are a parent-child team for a reason. The parent-child team vs a team with a lot of parental love. We will see how it turns out, but it's going to be a fun battle from that perspective".

This will be Kenoh's first confrontation with Fujinami.

"I'm a big fan of Jinsei Shinzaki, so of course I know Tatsumi Fujinami, but as far as Jinsei Shinzaki is concerned, I haven't reached his level in my mind. I don't have a sense of it at all, so I don't know if I'm looking forward to it or not. The most interesting thing is getting the pin in front of Tatsumi Fujinami with the Dragon Suplex Hold on Manabu Soya. If I can get the win with that, then I think I will take one step closer to the spectacular view."

Notes

Muga: Now Dradition  

Translated from Hochi News

Picture credit: Hochi News