(NOAH) The Man Who Saved The Ark: Akitoshi Saito's Retirement ~ Narihiro Takeda's column

Weekly Pro

11th December 2024 (Issue No. 2330)

After his retirement match in Nagoya on the 17th November, Akitoshi said on the microphone that "there is not a single cloud in the sky," and spoke of his feelings for the late Misawa Mitsuharu and other close associates as he left the ring. He looked as if he had truly retired "without regrets". Although no clear statement was made about his future plans, in the previous series, Director Takeda stated his intention to ask him to continue working for Noah. Another visage of Akitoshi, familiar to Noah fans, is as a commentator for live matches. Although his title will change from that of an active wrestler to that of a former wrestler, he will continue in this role. Considering that there are fewer opportunities for retired wrestlers to talk about wrestling compared to other professional sports, it is a blessing to have this role, but it is also a recognition of the achievements that Akitoshi has made so far. Director Takeda looks back on how Akitoshi was originally approached for this job as follows: "Until then, the wrestlers who had finished their matches would take over as commentators, and we still use that pattern occasionally, but it makes it quite difficult to manage them that way. In recent years, Akitoshi has limited the number of matches he can appear in, so I asked him, "What about the commentary job?" When he accepted the role, Pro wrestling commentary doesn't just involve talking about data and technique, and he includes little behind-the-scenes stories and anecdotes about the wrestlers he usually hangs out with, and before I knew it, he had become a regular. There have been a few former wrestlers who have become established commentators in the past*", but in recent years Milano AT, who is a well known commentator for New Japan, and Akitoshi are two of the best". Of course, this position is not an easy one to win, and there are still very few of them to begin with. "There are also jobs commentating for professional baseball at local stations, and nowadays there are many baseball broadcasts on CS and BS*. In professional wrestling, there are now more broadcasts on streaming sites, so there are more positions than there used to be, but they are still few and far between. When Samurai TV was first established, I hoped that there would be an increase in professional wrestling broadcasts like there was in baseball, and that in proportion to that, the number of retired professional wrestlers acting as commentators would also increase, but that hasn't happened yet."   

Takeda points out that another job that he thinks would be better suited to a former wrestler, not just a commentator, is scouting. Noah feels strongly about the need to put effort into this, which is why they are looking for someone they can trust with the job. "I think that former wrestlers can make appropriate decisions not only for commentary but also for scouting work, so I hope that in the future, there will be someone who can do that kind of work, not just Akitoshi. We can recruit people and have them help us out. This is Masa Kitamiya's role currently, but but we haven't been able to go and observe high school wrestling matches yet, or get to know the wrestling club coach. That's what a pro baseball scout does, isn't it? You can actually look at the players and make judgments like, "He's a pitcher, but he'd be better off as a fielder." I think that someone with experience has a good eye when it comes to finding young people who are playing rugby now, but seem like they could be a pro wrestler." 

In wrestling, New Japan is the only promotion with the publicly-known title of "Head of Scouting," but in July Noah announced the establishment of a scouting department and Masa Kitamiya as the director. Kitamiya is an active wrestler, but in the future, he may play an important role in the position as a retired wrestler. "New Japan is a company, so it has a scouting system, and it also has a system of preparing positions for retired wrestlers. I want to create something like that for Noah too. If your body is still in a bad shape after retirement, you won't be able to do scouting activities. New Japan has announced that Tanahashi will retire in the year after next to focus on his role as president. I can understand their intentions, but a president who seems physically in pain while still suffering from the damage he sustained during his active days doesn't give a good image. In that sense, if it's better to be youthful and energetic, and retiring while still having some energy left is not a bad option. I think Akitoshi can do a lot in that sense in the future." 

That said, in the current state of professional wrestling, only a handful of wrestlers are entrusted with remaining in a promotion after retirement. While that can't be helped to some extent, how to utilize retiring wrestlers will be a future challenge for the company. "There is a sense that they can stay because they created an era and made a great contribution to the company. Not just in professional wrestling, but in sumo too, only a few can become stable-masters after retirement. However, professional wrestlers, just like other professional athletes, have an immense number of options after retirement. They can head out on their own into the food and drink industry or by opening a gym, or by staying and working within the promotion. Another option is in the entertainment industry with celebrity activities like Mutoh* and Choshu", Akitoshi has been providing commentary for the past few years, and he has received a great reputation, so we will continue to ask him to continue doing so even after his retirement. There are also many other issues that we need to clear at the moment, and there are some areas where only someone with wrestling experience can do that. From now on, we would like to create solid examples of success for retired wrestlers and put this into practice."

Related links

Powerful Friendship: See the notes at the end about the sumo wrestlers who became early commentators after stepping away from the pro wrestling ring. 

CS & BS: CS (Communication Satellite) & BS (Broadcast Satellite). CS mainly consists of free channels, while BS is more a subscription based service. 

Scouting: Keiji Mutoh was part of the department originally, but I think due to his physical condition, he doesn't really do this now.

Mutoh & Choshu: A few years ago, Keiji Mutoh appeared on a quiz show which pitted him against some kids (5th graders), to see who was the more intelligent. The children ended up winning. Mutoh muttered that next time he would bring Riki Choshu and double team those kids!