(NOAH) Osano Kagehiro's "Discovering Pro Wrestling History" ~ The Lone Pro Wrestler, Yoshinari Ogawa retires

6th September 2024

Nicovideo.jp

*Note, this is a pay to see the full article, so I have translated only what is free*

Q: After all the cyber attacks, this is the first time we've interviewed Osano in a while, so we'll have him look back on the latest news in the pro wrestling world

OSANO: Thank you.

Q: First up, is Yoshinari Ogawa's sudden announcement of his retirement. The main reason is the condition of his neck, but what's surprising is that he won't have a retirement match or a retirement ceremony.

OSANO: That's typical of him. He's always been like, "Well then..." and just walks away. Forty years ago, when I became a reporter covering All Japan Pro Wrestling, he was a seventeen year old new trainee. He was the first wrestler I saw make his debut, and because of that relationship we were good friends and he opened up to me, but he generally refused interviews. We have been friends a long time, but I have only officially interviewed him twice. 

Q: But only two interviews means that you couldn't interview him elsewhere.

OSANO: He agreed to do it both times because Tenryu was the theme. When I was making a special issue of "Gong" about the Tenryu Alliance, I asked Ogawa directly, and he said, "If it's about Tenryu, that's fine," so I did it without going through Noah, but after the book came out, Ryu Nakata* complained (laughs). You see, at that time Tenryu had just returned to All Japan and there was tension between them and Noah.

Q: From Noah's point of view, talking about All Japan was not good. That's why you didn't go through the promotion (laughs). 

OSANO: But Ogawa is okay with it if the topic is Tenryu. The other interview was for a G Spirits Tenryu special when he announced his retirement. 

Q: I like that Tenryu was the topic both times. 

OSANO: I want to talk about technique, but that's a no-go. It's fine to talk about that in casual conversation, but it's not okay to write about it. And yet he's been doing commentary for Noah recently, which is surprising (laughs). 

Q: He didn't have a retirement match, he didn't give interviews, and no matter what you try, he won't budge.

OSANO: After he became Tenryu's assistant, he had the image of not listening to anyone but Tenryu. That being said, he didn't directly ask to join the Tenryu Alliance, but Tenryu made him wear a REVOLUTION T-shirt, and told him, "You are in the Tenryu Alliance". That's how it happened, but he had a lot of respect for Tenryu, and although their wrestling styles were different, I think he was attracted to Tenryu's way of life as a person. For example, he was paid for doing laundry during the tour, and by the end of it, he had more than his salary (laughs). 

Q: So the fee for doing your laundry was a ridiculous amount? (laughs)

OSANO: But, because he was with that kind of person, he didn't save any money. He was taught how to spend it, but not how to save it (laughs). 

Q: Tokyoites and wrestlers, they don't hold on to money!

OSANO: The reason why he's always seemed like a loner, is because not a single person from his generation remained, everyone left halfway through. Mister Cacao was also in the same year, but he quit. Also, the year after he joined, guys from Japan Pro Wrestling* came in, and the number of wrestlers increased dramatically, but he was still so thin, so he couldn't make his debut. He finally made his debut in 1985, but he had been more than a year since he joined. 

Q: It takes more than a year from joining to debuting, right? 

OSANO: Kabuki, who used to go back and forth between America and Japan, was so surprised that he asked him, "You haven't debuted yet?". Even after his debut, he had to take long breaks due to a habit of dislocating his left knee, and during that time his juniors, Kenta Kobashi, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, and Koki Kitahara, all rose to prominence, which was an unfortunate life for him as a young wrestler. Ogawa said, "Kobashi and the others were being promoted, but I was just a junior wrestler. I was aware that "I'm not necessary."

Q: All Japan didn't seem to be interested in promoting Yoshinari Ogawa at the time...

OSANO: Well, with a body that thin, there was no way that Baba would even think of promoting him. 

Translated from Nicovideo.jp

(I have taken the pictures from a variety of other sources as there were none with the article)

Notes

Ryu Nakata: Noah's long suffering former manager. A participant in the ticket scandal, he was demoted to a general employee. He passed away (allegedly) of a heart attack in his car outside of a rural gas station in 2014. 

Japan Pro Wrestling: Rikidozan's former promotion. Antonio Inoki left and formed New Japan, while Baba formed All Japan. The promotion was destroyed by massive corruption. 

See also

"Yoshinari Ogawa, a lonely technician"