(GLEAT) "I only know fighting" ~ Interview with Katsuhiko Nakajima
16th April 2025 (Issue No. 2349)
He suddenly left Noah in October of last year.
After that, Katsuhiko Nakajima competed in All Japan as a freelancer and became the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. He introduced his "fighting spirit style" and caused a big stir inside and outside the ring*. He left All Japan after just five months and became the LIDET UWF Champion in his first match after receiving an offer from Suzuki Hiroyuki, the company's president, in July of last year. He now competes not only under LIDET UWF rules but also under regular rules. In his first interview with this magazine since becoming a freelancer, he spoke about his thoughts.
"Young people have a future. The location has changed, but what I do hasn't changed at all."
"GLEAT is still young, only 5 years old, so it's natural that they're not yet established, but I feel they have potential."
Q: Thinking back to this time last year, you fell from the Triple Crown Championship in All Japan. How do you feel on looking back on this past year?
NAKAJIMA: It was exactly one year ago, on March 30th. After I lost the Triple Crown, I was homeless and had nowhere to go, and LIDET UWF reached out to me.
Q: Before you were approached by President Suzuki of LIDET, were you thinking about where you would fight?
NAKAJIMA: I haven't changed at all. I left Noah because I wanted to fight my own way. Then I discovered the Triple Crown belt, and now I'm following the history of Japanese pro wrestling with UWF. I feel like I'm learning as I go.
Q: What is your impression of UWF?
NAKAJIMA: UWF is a very pure form of wrestling that has eliminated all the unnecessary elements. Historically, it was born out of New Japan, with Sayama, Fujiwara, Maeda, and Funaki. UWF is one of the proud histories of Japanese pro wrestling, and it is something that has a strong fighting spirit and can be pursued. I learned how to fight from the beginning, and since I live in the pro wrestling world, it would be better to say that fighting is all I know in my life as a wrestler.
Q: As someone who advocates "fighting," do you identify with UWF?
NAKAJIMA: Supply and demand change with the times, and pro wrestling has to change too, but fundamentally, the times have not changed and the need for change has not changed. Looking at the history of Japanese pro wrestling, I think it was born out of war, and this is the Japanese pro wrestling created by Rikidozan.
Q: So, were you able to have a match under UWF rules without any problems?
NAKAJIMA: Nothing has changed. Has anything changed about me?
Q: GLEAT not only does UWF, but also G Pro Wrestling, which is a regular match rule. Did you chose UWF yourself?
NAKAJIMA: From the beginning, I had made a promise with the president that I wanted to help him promote UWF.
Q: The original offer was from LIDET UWF. But this year you've been competing in GLEAT matches under regular pro wrestling rules.
NAKAJIMA: I said the at a press conference before I joined GLEAT's G Pro, that "there's no fighting." When I look at G Pro, I see that there's no fighting. I have to bring fighting to it. That's one thing I can do. What do you think? About GLEAT right now?
Q: Well, apart from LIDET UWF, I get the impression that GLEAT hasn't really come up with a specific theme yet compared to other major promotions.
Q: Did you join GLEAT because you felt there was potential?
NAKAJIMA: I feel like I'm now in GLEAT because of UWF. It's the same with (teaming up with) Lindaman, but it's all connected to UWF. I haven't really stepped into G-Pro yet. I think my first time was at the end of last year (30th December at TDC Hall). I teamed up with Fujinami-san and Fujiwara-san there, so I wonder what will happen from now on.
Q: Do you bring your fight into any ring you enter?
NAKAJIMA: Is there anything that resonates with those who don't fight?
Q: Well, I think every wrestling promotion does it their own way, but sometimes I feel like they lack intensity and tension. Do you feel that strongly about it?
NAKAJIMA: Really? I don't know for sure.
Q: Do you feel there's a difference between you and the wrestlers of today?
NAKAJIMA: I think there are fewer fights overall. More like skill presentations. I said that GLEAT was like a "quasi-circus," but do you feel that way?
Q: There are matches like that, but there are also simple fights, and I think it's good that there's a variety in professional wrestling. That's why your individuality stands out.
NAKAJIMA: I'm just doing what I've always done. I was taught how to fight, so I've been doing it ever since.
Q: When you became a freelancer two years ago, you said you wanted to "change the landscape of the wrestling world," and first took the Triple Crown in All Japan.
NAKAJIMA: I joined All Japan to change the landscape, but ultimately All Japan didn't approve of me fighting Suwama so there was nothing I could do. But it's not over yet.
Q: You were only in All Japan for about five months, but you made a huge impact.
NAKAJIMA: It was a very intense time, and I had the chance to spend time with the amazing young wrestlers of All Japan when they came up.
Q: At the time, All Japan seemed to be allergic to you...
NAKAJIMA (interrupts): Allergies!!! Was it allergies? Maybe the top wrestlers didn't know about fighting, so they couldn't understand the feeling of Triple Crown Champion Katsuhiko Nakajima. He talked with President Fukuda about doing it to liven up All Japan, but I think there were some people among them who didn't like the idea.
Q: Did you want to fight in All Japan a little longer?
NAKAJIMA: At that time I fought most of the main heavyweights, and the only other opponent was Suwama. I was supposed to fight one of the Saito Brothers, but I couldn't because of an injury, so I fought the older brother instead.
Q: If you could have fought Suwama, would that have been a turning point?
NAKAJIMA: I couldn't do it, so there's no milestone. I wanted to have a Triple Crown match with Suwama.
NAKAJIMA: They're very straightforward and fierce, and great young talent is being developed. However, it's a shame that the current GLEAT environment hasn't made much progress in G-PRO, and there are a lot of empty matches. Some aspects became clear in the match against T-Hawk (22nd February, Korakuen), and I said this after the UWF press conference. Since I said I'll "bring the fight," I'm going to bring it.
Q: Is that your motivation for joining GLEAT?
NAKAJIMA: I feel like I'm walking a path that only I can take, learning from history and exploring what's happening now, but I'm still only halfway there.
Q: So is this belt just a milestone?
NAKAJIMA: Correct. One of the most rewarding and rewarding times at LIDET UWF was my fight with Funaki (October 6th last year in Osaka). Teaming up with Fujinami and Fujiwara at the end of the year was a big deal. To them, I was like a rookie, so I said it with care without being rude. I was reborn in a way there, and it was when I shaved my head and went for the strong style...no, it was definitely the XX style.
Q: Will you stick to the XX style no matter what ring you're in?
NAKAJIMA: It's more like an XX style, or rather a fighting spirit style. I don't know if people have misunderstood it, but it's the fighting spirit style that's inside me. When I looked back on my history after becoming a freelancer, I joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a rookie and received a piece of fighting spirit from fighting against legends. That piece was condensed and created the fighting spirit style that is within me. With that in mind, I challenged the mainstream All Japan, and that was the beginning.
Q: Has expressing your own style as a freelancer become an asset?
NAKAJIMA: I wasn't taught by the so-called traditional seniors. My teachers, or rather, my motivation for pro wrestling, were Choshu, Masa, and Sasaki. I entered this industry without knowing anything about pro wrestling, and when I asked "How can I become stronger?" or, rather, "What is pro wrestling?", Masa, Sasaki, and Choshu all said, "It's a fight." So, as a pro wrestler, Katsuhiko Nakajima, has been fighting in the pro wrestling ring ever since he was born. That is his origin and his soul, and now it has changed into his fighting spirit style.
Q: Have you been able to express that more strongly by becoming a freelancer?
NAKAJIMA: I feel relatively natural now. I wonder... It's better than belonging to a promotion. This is my destiny.
Q: Looking at it this way, does it seem like you're more suited to being a freelancer, or that you'd get backlash if you were in an promotion?
NAKAJIMA: Was it backlash? What I still don't understand is why I received such backlash at All Japan? Did I do something? I won the Triple Crown belt and made a big impact as champion. What did I do wrong? I don't think I did anything wrong. I don't understand why I was rejected. As the Triple Crown Champion, I was really frantically focused on improving the younger wrestlers, and I hadn't done anything that would make anyone point fingers at me.
Q: I'm sure your presence has inspired the young wrestlers.
NAKAJIMA: If I had been there longer, then the landscape would really have changed. My time there is probably a dark memory for them, but it was absolutely necessary for All Japan. The young wrestlers seemed really frantic to have had their gold stolen by an outsider, and became very energetic. I thought that was a very good thing.
Q: Regardless of what was going on inside of the ring, people outside of it were talking about a mastermind...
NAKAJIMA: It was Suwama who brought it up in the first place. I didn't say anything myself, and I was wondering afterwards, "What? Who? I didn't do anything, so why are they saying all this?"
Q: Even though you lost, your match against Anzai, which was your final Triple Crown challenge, was also very memorable.
NAKAJIMA: I think it was the jumping knee that hit really brutally, and he ended up doing a German suplex. he was really determined to do that. Overall, I was the one pushing him, and I was even planning to have a Triple Crown match with Suwama afterwards. I was planning to have two matches that day.
Q: You said it publically
NAKAJIMA: Suwama defeated Anzai in under eight minutes, but he didn't let his guard down, and he naturally thought he would win. However, now that I think about it, I think that was a manifestation of his desire to protect and liven up All Japan.
Q: You could even say that you brought Anzai to that level.
NAKAJIMA: I hope so, for All Japan.
Q: There was a lot of criticism afterwards about the content of the match, in which you were the one doing the attacking, with the exception of the jumping knee and the German suplex.
NAKAJIMA: It can't be helped, because there was a clear difference at that time. When I was told that I would be fighting for the triple crown with Anzai, I thought, "It's too early," and "Don't take this lightly." I just put my fighting style on the line, but in the end he won the match with a powerful jumping knee and German suplex.
Q: Are there any wrestlers at GLEAT who have the potential to fight like Anzai for the LIDET UWF belt in the future?
NAKAJIMA: I think there is. If there is a fight, demand will naturally be created and excitement will build.
Q: Is it your mission as the principal person to continue this fight?
NAKAJIMA: As the UWF champion, I want to keep the wonderful history of Japanese pro wrestling alive. That's my mission as a champion, and UWF is a treasure that only Japan has. I think it would be a dream come true if this could spread even more.
Q: As the UWF champion of the Reiwa era, do you want to spread U even more?
NAKAJIMA: I want to respect and protect the history of UWF while evolving it. I believe that I can do that with the current LIDET UWF. Now that I'm wearing this belt, when I look at past UWF footage, I think, "This is the origin." UWF is a simple, stripped-down version of pro wrestling's glamor, a bare-knuckled fight.
Q: For Japanese pro wrestling, it's a matter of digging up the assets of the past.
Q: Is the GLEAT ring the place where that can happen?
NAKAJIMA: I think GLEAT has to be untouchable in a sense. The same goes for LIDET UWF. GLEAT is untouchable in that sense because they're not actually part of a professional wrestling federation, and they're connecting UWF to modern professional wrestling. But as long as the "pseudo-circus" is here, it has to change, and they have to create new fights, or it would be a waste for the young wrestlers. They have to understand the essence and create their own style, otherwise it will just end up being just copycat.
Q: It was the same when you participated in All Japan, and you have high expectations of the young people and you rate them highly.
NAKAJIMA: I wanted to do something about it because I had the chance. The young people have a future. I was in the middle of the All Japan Championships, so this is just a change of venue. In my mind, nothing has changed in what I'm doing.
Notes
The stir in All Japan: Nakajima started doing a kind of parody of Antonio Inoki, which included running down Giant Baba. The whole thing was deemed to be "vulgar" and insulting to both Baba and Inoki's memory, plus the man who held the rights to Inoki's image threatened legal action. However, there was an interesting storyline behind this, as to the fact that someone was masterminding the whole thing, and there where some hints that it may have been Noah's Kenoh (another candidate was Suwama). Sadly, we will never know as the whole thing was dropped and Nakajima left All Japan.
Masa Saito: See interview with Katsuhiko Nakajima from 2021, "Show The Fight"
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