(NOAH) "Donmai, Donmai" ~ Mitsuharu Misawa's diary ~ 7th March 2008

Cheers!! This is Misawa. 

Aaaahh, aaaahh, aaaahh! My neck hurts... Oh, my God. I can't move it. 

Thank you to all the fans who supported me at the Budokan on March 2nd. I wasn't able to live up to your support, but I'll try my best again when I'm in good condition. I was taken to the hospital by ambulance after the match, so I'll explain briefly as I'm sure some of you are worried. At the hospital, I had a CT scan of my brain and an X-ray of my cervical spine. The test results showed no abnormalities in my brain. The cervical spine was sprained, but this is "normal"... I think anyone who has had whiplash can imagine, but it hurts ten times more than a normal(?) whiplash.

I can't brush my teeth normally, I can't wash my face, and so on. It's such a bother. I'm sure you're wondering, "You can't brush your teeth? You can't wash your face? Why?" When you brush your teeth, your head moves, right? The pain is so great that I can't brush my teeth without holding my head with one hand, and the same goes for my face. If I don't hold it with one hand, it hurts and I can't wash it.

But I can't not brush my teeth or wash my face like Ippei, so I'm doing my best despite the inconvenience (though I don't actually know how often Ippei brushes his teeth and washes his face).

Now that the match is over, I would like to congratulate Morishima from the bottom of my heart, without any nasty comments. I hope that he will take this time off to rest and prepare for the tough battles ahead. It's been exactly 10 years since Morishima's debut, and this is his first GHC singles title. For me, the stronger impression now is not so much the date when I first became singles champion, but the strength of the joy I felt then. Of course, like now, I was never depressed by the weight of the work of being champion while also enjoying the joy of winning, and at first I was so happy I couldn't contain myself. Then, as I defended the title over and over again, I realized how difficult it was to defend the belt, rather than just winning it, and a new battle began from there....As a fellow wrestler, I can't support Morishima openly, so I'll just be doing it from behind the scenes...but I'm rooting for him.

Now that we've been talking about such heavy topics, I'd like to answer Aoki's question.

"What flavor of ice cream do you like?"

Does this mean "only ice cream" and not including sorbet or shaved ice? Speaking of flavors, when I was a kid, there weren't Baskin-Robbins or Haagen-Dazs like there are now, so there were only a limited number of flavors, like vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Lady Borden was expensive, and so my parents couldn't afford it, so perhaps I am influenced from back then, but vanilla is definitely the base. If you ask me which one I like best, I'd say the strong milk flavor like the ones they sell at drive-ins in Hokkaido, rather than the strong vanilla flavor. With Haagen-Dazs, I think people would understand if I said "rich milk" rather than "vanilla." Even so, today's ice cream tastes much more luxurious than it did in the past. Even so, today's ice cream tastes much more luxurious than it did in the past. When we were kids, we would buy one at a candy store, either a slurp in a plastic bag that was folded in two, or a vinyl bag that had frozen candied apricots in it. Back then, it was enough, but now that I think about it, those weren't really "ice creams." Speaking of ice cream, there's an "egg ice cream." It brings back fond memories for people of a certain age, right? The ice cream has a unique vanilla flavor, and is contained in a balloon. You have a hard time getting the rubber band that secures the top off, and if you try to eat it outside, it will slip out and fall off, so buying it on the go is a suicidal act. It's an ice cream that brings back many bitter memories...Younger people may already know that reproduction versions are now being sold in some convenience stores, but what do you think? Oh, I also remember that I also liked ice cream with adzuki beans, or rather sweet bean jam. I've ended up talking a lot about ice cream, but going back to the answer to the question, my favorite ice cream at the moment is rich milk vanilla flavor. If you find any delicious ice creams, please let me know in a fan mail.  

Finally, a question for Shiozaki, who was announced to be taking part in the tag league*. I think you're still not used to life in America, but can you tell me about some of the mistakes you've made while traveling abroad alone? By the way, how are you doing?

Although it's cold in the mornings and evenings, it's definitely spring-like in Tokyo during the day. Speaking of spring, I think I wrote about it last year, but although it's a path that everyone goes through, I think there are many people who are planning to move to a new environment in April and are full of anxiety right now. I hope that you will stay positive and that your anxiety will one day turn into good memories.

This was Misawa! See you in two weeks.

Notes

Lady Borden: A luxury ice cream brand launched in 1971 between the American Borden company and Japan's Meiji Dairies company. If you were born in the Showa era, this is the ice cream you remember. 

Shiozaki/Tag League: Darkly ironic, as Shiozaki would be Misawa's last partner in the tag league of 2009...

Date: Either by misprint or because Misawa wrote it wrong, this diary entry is dated 2007!