(NOAH) Kondo towards the GHC Junior Challenge, "I want my position back". His aim is to return to the "Golden Age of the Noah Juniors"
21st November 2023
Shuji Kondo will challenge Daga for the GHC Junior Championship at the 24th November Korakuen event. Kondo has been participating in Noah since April 2022 as a member of Kondo, but with the disbandment of Kongoh this spring, he announced his "fully-fledged entry into the Noah Juniors". While training Junta Miyawaki intensely as a "demon instructor", he also declared to Miyawaki that his challenge for the GHC Junior Championship is to "set an example". Kondo was a member of the GHC Juniors from 2012 to 2013, and at that time he reigned as the "outsider champion", who came from All Japan. This time, Kondo's aim is to raise the level of the young power as the challenger, declaring that "Noah Junior's face is me", and to bring back the "Noah Junior Golden Age", that he himself experienced from the outside. For that reason, his first step is to defeat the champion, Daga. In the pre-matches, his legendary treasure, that he KO'd Daga with twice, the King Kong lariat, is alive and well.
We spoke to Kondo, who is aiming for a comeback for the first time in about ten years.
Shuji Kondo mini interview
Q: What is your impression of the champion, Daga?
KONDO: Well, because he's so clever, I don't know what to do. However, all I have to do is stay consistent and stick to my own style. I know that if I can hit a lariat, it will be over, so that is what I aiming for.
Q: Once again, what is particular about the King Kong Lariat?
KONDO: It's the speed and the angle, but rather than hitting the opponent in their neck, it feels like hitting them and their head dropping off.
Q: If you win the GHC Junior, it will be the first time in ten years?
KONDO: Yeah, it was a fun belt, and really happy memory until I lost it. So, if I win it again, I will do it with each Noah Junior, from beginning to end and with the people who I couldn't do it with back then. I would like those people to take on the challenge as well, and increase my value.
Q: You said, "The face of Noah Juniors, it's me".
KONDO: No matter how you look at it, it's not Eita. (Eita has been saying recently that the he is the face of the Noah Juniors.) It figures that the Noah Juniors shined the most when I was wearing the World Junior. When I was fighting Marufuji-san, that was when it shined the most, and in terms of appearance, I want to return to that position once again. It's not a belt that anyone can win, and it's not a belt that anyone can challenge for. I want to take it that far.
Q: What is the enthusiasm you are feeling?
KONDO: It's not just Miyawaki who I have to set an example to, I have to set an example to the Noah fans, and to the current Noah Juniors too. Anyway, I have to raise the level, and make the belt valuable. I think that is the mission I came here for.
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