(NOAH): Mitsuharu Misawa's, "All Night Nippon" - he did this for two hours alone.
29th August 2000 (Issue No.992)
"Chan-cha-chah, chan-cha-chan x 2, tochara-chan, cha-charara, cha-cha-chan" (Bittersweet Samba)
On August 8th, two days after Noah's inaugural show, at 1am, Mitsuharu Misawa was at the Nippon Broadcasting System in Odaiba*. But why? It was the "Mitsuharu Misawa All Night Nippon!"
That's right.
Misawa came to the Nippon Broadcasting System to make a live radio appearance. The show was the long running late night show "All Night Nippon", and believe it or not, Misawa himself was the MC! There have been pro wrestlers who have made guest appearances in the past, but the number of them who have been the central figure is limited, especially when it comes to the part that starts at 1am. Akira Maeda* did it once, but it's probably the first time since then. Misawa himself said, "When I first heard about this, I thought there was no way I could do it". He seemed to think it would be impossible for him to be the host. However, in reality, his performance which was broadcast all over the country, was so fluent and so fun, that he could even become a regular on All Night Nippon. This is not flattery, but rather, I think he was able to develop a lively conversation in the middle of the night.
During the Q&A session, many questions were asked by young male listeners who knew Misawa's personality and character, which may be a quality that makes him a good choice for a late-night king. Misawa said, "I prefer radio to television", and his talk, which boarded on breaking the broadcast code, must have satisfied male listeners as much as Master Tsuruko*. However, it is unfortunate that it is impossible to reproduce the entire talk in this magazine. No matter how many pages we could have, there would not be enough to print the entire one and a half hour chat. I felt uncomfortable publishing Misawa's talk in its entirety in this magazine*, which will likely be read by many people, so I decided to present an excerpt of it and present the appearance of Misawa's first All Night Nippon. Thank you for your understanding.
The show started with a pro wrestler, who looked more like a comedian. He then briefly touched on the topic of Noah's launch, and then went into the shows standard title call, "Mitsuharu Misawa's All Night Nippon, dot com!". After shouting out the title, he even had a perfect phrase: "Nippon Broadcasting System will be the key station..." "What will I do today? Well, usually at this time I'm drinking at a bar and feeling a bit drunk, so today I'll be free to talk about anything. I'm Mitsuharu Misawa, and I'm open to questions, advice, sexual problems, sexual worries, sexual worries (laughs), anything and everything". Misawa has always shown the gap between his manly appearance in the ring and at talk shows, but from the very start, it was like this. Misawa is always Misawa. However, since it would be a shame to publish only the casual talk, we decided to publish something more appropriate for a professional wrestling magazine. This is a section in which Misawa cuts down ten wrestlers and fighters, titled "Mitsuharu Misawa's Elbow Cuts Down 10 Men".
1. Keiji Mutoh*
He is a wrestler with skill and talent, whom I have been compared to since I was young. I like watching Mutoh's matches because I never get bored. I'm in a relatively free position, and if Mutoh is in a more free position, I'd like to fight someday.
2. Atsushi Onita
I don't really want to talk about it, but a long time ago, there was a question in the newsletter of Onita's fan club that asked, "Who do you think would win if Onita and Tiger Mask (Sayama) fought?" I answered honestly, "Tiger Mask," but when that came out in the newsletter, Onita became furious.
3. Toshiaki Kawada
Surprisingly, he listens to things like this. He was a year younger than me in High School, and it's been more than twenty years, so he's been with me more than my parents and siblings. He may seem like a quiet person to the public*, but he's actually quite chatty. I think it would be good if we could both improve our wrestling.
4. Stan Hansen
He was a bit of a difficult wall to overcome. He's doing great for his age.
5. Shinya Hashimoto
I've met him twice for a drink, and I wonder why he would announce his retirement, since he's usually such a serious guy. I hope he continues to do his best.
6. Riki Choshu*
He doesn't do many singles matches, but he has the ideal build for a wrestler. To be honest, I don't really want retired wrestlers to return*, but I guess this is a comeback.
7. Rickson Gracie
He's got a career other than as a wrestler, so that's a bit annoying. I've heard that he's not really a big wrestler, but his competitive spirit and passion are apparent on his face, and I can really feel that, so I can't say for sure that I won't have a match with him in the future. It might happen.
8. Naoya Ogawa
I have some doubts about how awesome Ogawa is as a wrestler. He's physically blessed, and I think he has what it takes to be a great wrestler, but right now he's only looking ahead. If he could look around more and share the fun of pro wrestling, I think he'd be less annoying during the matches.
9. Vader
With that body, I think he's all-rounder, he can jump high and take defensive falls. He's number one among foreigners, isn't he? He's also said he wants to compete in Noah*.
10. Masahiro Chono
(Suddenly a message was received from him, "Congratulations to Misawa on the launch of the new promotion. Don't go too crazy on the radio tonight".)
I've had drinks with him a couple of times, and he has a very positive attitude towards pro wrestling, which I really like. I don't know all the wrestlers in New Japan, but I think he's the one who thinks about pro wrestling the most. When I talk to Chono, I think he's a wrestler I can really trust. I personally like him.
After finishing the segment with this punch line, there was a Q&A session with listeners. Here are some excerpts from the answers...
"I'd like to make a belt* as early as this year"
"I'd like to discuss exchanges and hear the opinions of the wrestlers"
"I'm happy to see Akiyama's growth. He's a wrestler who has his own personality, so I'm happy for the company, but as a wrestler myself, I personally think he's an asshole"
"We are considering a round-robin tournament at a later date"
In addition to faxes and e-mails, Misawa also tried his hand at phone consultations. After giving advice on one of his desired sexual problems, the second person to contact him, was none other than a certain person!!
Caller: This is "Wish Upon A Star". I wanted to look cool like Hiromi Go*, so I had my hair cut by the hairdresser who cuts his, but I ended up looking like a Monchhichi*, so I'm wondering if I should continue to aim to be like Go?
Misawa: We have wrestlers like that backstage too. Where do you live? Yokohama? How old are you? 33? This is Kobashi, isn't it? You'll never become Hiromi Go!
Even Kobashi joined in, and the show was a big success. Misawa seems like he could do well as a regular on radio shows, and I hope you can get a sense of that atmosphere from the magazine. After all, Misawa managed to hold the show for two hours by himself, and at the end of the performance, he commented that it was "fun." When asked if he wanted to do it again, he replied, "If there's an opportunity." It would be no surprise if there was a second All Night Nippon with Misawa Mitsuharu! But live broadcasts are scary, so if you want to hear the full version, you'll have to find someone who recorded this broadcast, although it's important to realize that he's different from the image he has in the ring.
Notes
All Night Nippon: The show started on October 1st 1967, and is still going to this day.
Odaiba: Artificial island off of Tokyo
Akira Maeda: Who would have more to do with Noah in the decades after Misawa's death, rather than when Misawa was alive. Maeda joined Naomichi Marufuji's "M's alliance", of which Misawa was an honorary member.
Master Tsuruko: Tsuruko Shôfukutei, radio personality and Rakugo perfomer (Japanese storyteller). According to Wikipedia, "He is known as one of the entertainment industry's biggest fans of dirty jokes".
Not publish the whole talk: Probably to the relief of Ryu Nakata.
Keiji Mutoh: They teamed up, but sadly they never fought, and Misawa never lived to see Mutoh come to Noah, be GHC Heavyweight Champion, and then retire under the Noah banner.
Misawa & Kawada: Although their relationship was characterized by jealousy, and they did have the notorious "Karaoke Fight", there was a bond somehow, although they were never as close as Misawa and Kobashi or Kawada and Taue. After Misawa died, Kawada said wrestling held no fun for him to do now.
Quiet Kawada: Kawada later said that this was Baba who told him to do this in order to maintain his quiet angry demeanor, but in reality, he loved to talk and he loved comedy. A few years ago he was very ill and it was thought he was going to die, and so he asked the hospital to put on comedy shows for him. I mean, just look at Hustle...Misawa would have loved it.
Riki Choshu: Ten years after Misawa's death, Choshu would inaugurate Noah's GHC National Title.
Retired wrestlers making a comeback: On his own retirement, Kenta Kobashi made a promise to both Giant Baba and Mitsuharu Misawa in heaven, that he would never break his word and return to the ring. Kobashi, influenced by Misawa in a lot of things, probably had this in mind.
Vader in Noah: He would come to Noah in October of that year, with his last match with the promotion being in January 2003.
Make a belt: The GHC Heavyweight would be established on April 15, 2001. The first belt was ruined by someone (thought to be Matoko Hashi, cleaning it with an abrasive material that removed the gold), so Misawa commissioned a new one. This second belt was active until November 2019, when it was retired, and a new one inaugurated. It is thought that Kenta Kobashi, who the old one was handed to, now has it.
Hiromi Go: Japanese singer
Monchhichi: See Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monchhichi). As I had heard of this story before, I bought a doll from Haneda Airport.
Picture credits: Weekly Pro
Translated from Weekly Pro/Original
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