(NOAH) Akitoshi Saito History: June 13th 2009, Mitsuharu Misawa...
Hochi Sports
On September 23rd 2002, Saito teamed up with Jun Akiyama to take the GHC Heavyweight Tag Team title at the Nippon Budokan. It's now been two years since Saito joined Pro Wrestling Noah, and as a freelancer, it's not easy to win a belt, but it was also a day when Saito's skills and sincere attitude towards wrestling were recognized. Since joining Noah, the wrestler who taught him the awesomeness of professional wrestling, has been Mitsuharu Misawa.
"Generally speaking, attacking and blocking are natural, but being attacked hurts, so it's scary. However, when I fought Misawa-san, I was imprinted with a completely different level of fear. The fear of being blocked after using all your techniques. If you use all your skills, show all your cards, and even use your trump card, and your opponent says "Bring it on," then a new fear is born. I realized that this is what real passitivity is. Misawa taught me the fear of passitivity."
He further expressed the fear of passitivity.
"Even in New Japan, there were times when my moves didn't work on my opponents, but I could tell that Misawa-san was taking them on purpose. Even without saying anything, I got the message "Please give it your all", and he took them all. I felt that only Misawa-san could do that. If you've used everything you've got, and you've been able to block it, and then you get hit with an elbow, your heart will break, and your head will go flying."
Misawa gave almost no advice on wrestling.
"He never really said anything to me in words. I'm not an old craftsman, but he told me to watch matches and learn for myself".
Saito then pointed to his left cheek, which is clearly raised, unlike the right side.
"This is Misawa-san's elbow. The scar from where it healed is still slightly raised and deformed. It's my medal as a professional wrestler".
It was the pride of a professional wrestler that Misawa engraved on his deformed left cheek. I asked Saito, "Is there anything you want to do?" before his retirement on November 17th. He looked up at the ceiling and wrung out the following words.
"If possible, I want to go back to June 12th 2009. I still think about it many times. Even if I went back, the same thing might have happened... I know there's nothing I can do about it..."
On June 12th 2009, Misawa was still alive. The following day, the 13th, he suddenly passed away in an accident in the ring at the young age of forty-six. The last move he received was a back drop from Saito, which is why he wants to turn the clock back to June 12th, but it's an impossible wish. Time was cruel to Saito.
On June 13th 2009, Saito was the GHC Tag Team Champion with Bison Smith. The main event was the Hiroshima Prefectural Gymnasium, and they were challenged by Misawa and Go Shiozaki. Shiozaki was twenty-seven years old and in his sixth year since debut. Misawa had handpicked him to be his partner in the title match.
"I felt that Misawa-san had a lot of feelings for Shio. Of course, Misawa-san was the main star, but I also felt like he was taking a step back and assisting. I thought to myself, "Maybe he'll be a rising star", but I couldn't give up the belt, and I fought with all my might thinking, "Not yet".
In 2009, the 10th anniversary of Noah's launch in 2000*. Nippon Television, which had been broadcasting Noah late on Sunday nights since April 2001, ended its broadcast in late March. Losing the broadcast on terrestrial TV was a blow to the company's management and audience numbers. As the president and ace, Misawa must have been feeling stressed.
"I had heard the company was struggling, but Misawa-san himself never showed any sign of that. We all trusted him and thought, "It's Misawa-san, so it's fine". He was always ready, no matter what the situation".
In the Hiroshima Tag Championship, Saito fought with all his might, trying to overcome the incredible defensive technique that Misawa had taught him.
"Misawa-san was amazing, I had fought him many times, and didn't hold back. I fought him with all my might. However, I only realized this from watching the video that after Misawa-san gets into the second corner, and hits elbow from there, I saw that he lost his footing when he got in. I didn't notice it during the match, but I wondered why that was?"
As the match was reached its climax, Saito went behind Misawa, and performed a back drop...
Note
Noah's 10th anniversary: Not an error. I double checked this, and this is what it said.
Comments
Post a Comment
Spam will be deleted immediately