(NOAH/LIMIT BREAK): To Nagao "Just think of this as a percussion instrument, and I will make sure it resonates" ~ Interview with Akitoshi Saito on his first defense of the World Heavyweight Championship
Pro Wrestling DX
Q: First of all, what are your honest thoughts for your first defense?
SAITO: One of my goals was to win a belt in a match (against REAL ZERO1), so I feel a tremendous amount of tension and a sense of purpose.
Q: You have been out of action since early April due to a lower back contusion. What is the status of your injury?
SAITO: I'm a professional wrestler, so when I go to the ring on April 27th, it means I am at my best.
Q: In 33 years of career, you have won your first singles title, and you won the World Heavyweight Championship.
SAITO: Up until now, I had only won tag titles, but strangely enough, I was able to win a singles title for the first time on March 31st, which is three months after my 33rd career debut. The number three made me think that maybe it was "that person*..."I have been aiming for a singles belt, but I have never been able to win it. However, if I were to use the example of summer vacation homework, when you realize that you only have a few days left to submit it, it gives you a tremendous amount of energy. In the same way, perhaps 33 years later, I was able to grab it and think, "I have to go now!" I guess you could call it a fight or flight response.
Q: You also felt the support of an invisible force?
SAITO: I felt it. The day I won the belt at Yasukuni, was the hottest march on record. When I stepped into the ring, there was a huge gust of wind for a moment, and I thought, "This is it." The setting is the sacred place of the Yasukuni Shrine, and so I felt a mysterious support.
Q: As TEAM NOAH, what did you think of the battle against REAL ZERO1?
SAITO: The name of "Noah" is extremely important to me. Within Noah, TEAM NOAH, is a team that emphasizes Noah even more. As someone who has been fighting since the company's founding, the essential question is "What is Noah?". I am sure that everyone has their own opinions, but since I came in from the outside, I think I know Noah as seen from the inside as well as the Noah which is seen from the outside. I wish I could convey the essential part of what Noah is through competition...
Q: What are your feelings on TEAM NOAH?
SAITO: I'm sure there are many different teams, but at Yasukuni, the leader, Shio*, carried the flag himself, and the other members took their position as seconds. I felt reassured and realized that no matter who on the team stepped forward, everyone would support them immediately, and we were all on the same vector. So what is Noah and what is the same old thing? There is a sense of unity in conveying this to everyone. When someone comes out, I take a step back and support them. I think we're a great team because we have that kind of spirit, but we're also a unit that inspires each other, and it's a sense of giving back. If someone inspires me, I have to give something back, and if I'm going to give something back, then I will give back something good twice. It would be great if we could create a good cycle in which when you give something back, even better things come.
Q: On the other hand, you also have a long relationship with ZERO1.
SAITO: Yes. I was on the card for ZERO1's inaugural match, even though I was a freelancer then. It was around about the time I quit New Japan, and started working for Noah. Just when everyone was wondering what side Saito would take, he showed up wearing a Noah t-shirt. That happened, and I also went to the Fire Festival.
Q: The stage where you first universally claimed to be Noah, was actually the stage of the ZERO1 launch?
SAITO: Yes, and being able to win the belt there as TEAM NOAH was also very emotional.
Q: In your first defense as the World Heavyweight champion, you will face Satsuki Nagao, who is in the fourth year of his career.
SAITO: He's still early in his career, but once he put his name forward and became the challenger, he was already the challenger. I once read a letter of challenge at the Tokyo Dome* (New Japan), but at that time it was only a year or so after my debut. But for me, in my mind, I just wanted to fight and win, regardless of my career. That was all I had mind. But when I faced him in the ring, and I felt his enthusiasm, I only see him as someone that I should face in a championship match.
Q: Did you have the thought of teaching him a thing or two*...
SAITO: Not at all. But, since I have had a long career, I have experienced things that he has not, and I think that "LIMIT BREAK" has an atmosphere that feels like old professional wrestling. It is impossible to experience the atmosphere of that time without a time machine, but this time we will be able to ride one called "LIMIT BREAK", so I think that everything should be experienced before having the championship match.
Q: Nagao has a desire to make ZERO1, which is currently divided into two, Tochigi and REAL, as one by winning back the belt.
SAITO: The reason you split up is because we each have our own thoughts. It's a division for the sake of survival, isn't it? The same is true of cell division in living organisms. However, if you want to make the name ZERO1 more robust, it's better to tear or break your bones or muscles a little, because when you recover, you'll come back bigger and stronger. That's why I think what he's trying to do and what he has in mind is wonderful, and that's why I want to do it with all my might.
Q: Responding to feelings with feelings, Saito-san seems like the perfect person to have a conflict with when you feel troubled.
SAITO: What I want to say is, think of it as a percussion instrument. If you hit it, it will definitely resonate. I want to tell you to come and express your feelings.
Q: What kind of defense would you like to have?
SAITO: Of course, I'm now the champion, but I'll always be a challenger, and that belief hasn't changed. I believe that the significance of having a title match in the main event of LIMIT BREAK, is that I have to convey something to the audience, my opponents, and my friends, so there is a point in this title match, I want to leave a meaning behind. Of course, I don't know if I will be able to leave any points this time, but if I can leave something then I would like to get a big score and accumulate championship matches one by one, where I can zoom out and say "Ah, this is what Saito wanted to show!".
Q: The situation, in which you defend the title as the singles champion in the main event, is fresh as this is the first time for you to do so.
SAITO: It is refreshing. This is my first time in competing in a singles defense, and it is his first time as well. This is the first time that TEAM NOAH will have a title match, and this will be the first time that Nagao is fighting, because he wants to unite ZERO1! This is probably the first time I've ever fought thinking that way. There are many firsts, and I'm sure there is some confusion and hesitations that come with being a first timer, but if people can watch it with that humanity and those conflicts in mind, that is why I want to create a new, emotional, hot and heart-wrenching fight.
Notes
"That person": Misawa, in some readings the number three becomes pronounced as "Mi".
"Shio": Go Shiozaki. Mitsuharu Misawa called him "Shio", and the name seems to have stuck.
"Statement of challenge": Once upon a time in Puro, people used to read out an official written statement. Akitoshi Saito did do this in Noah a few years ago.
"Teaching him a thing or two": Japanese phrase is to "lend your chest", this basically means that the junior can learn from the senior in a practice match or so, there is no equivalent in English.
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