Tetsuya Naito on Critisms of His Physical Condition and In-Ring Ability & Him Not Being a Fan of Large-Scale Factions in Wrestling

Pro Wrestling NOAH’s official website held a recent interview with current GHC Tag Team Champions Los Tranquilos de Japon (BUSHI & Tetsuya Naito). One of the topics discussed included Naito’s thoughts about the fan criticisms of his physical condition and in-ring ability at this late stage of his wrestling career.

“It’s true that there are moments where I think, ‘I could do that back then, but I can’t do it anymore.’ But I think that’s something every wrestler has to go through at some point. However, when I thought, what should I do now? Because I could no longer do that, I think I am who I am today because I was able to compensate for it with something even better. If I hadn’t found that ‘this is it’ moment, I don’t think I’d be here right now. So, the fact that I’m here is proof that I was able to change my style, or rather, successfully switch gears… I feel like I’m only now starting to understand things that senior wrestlers told me ten years ago.”

Naito and BUSHI also gave their thoughts about their current time and careers in NOAH so far.

Tetsuya Naito – “I didn’t know much about the wrestlers who are competing in NOAH, so it’s really refreshing. It’s fun to compete in venues I’ve never been to before, and above all, I’m really happy that I can show the Japanese audience who Tetsuya Naito is now and who Los Tranquilos de Japon is. To be honest, on January 1st, I wasn’t all that interested in NOAH. But after stepping into the ring and catching a glimpse of the other wrestlers’ matches, I’ve become really interested, and I’m having a lot of fun competing in Pro Wrestling NOAH right now. That’s exactly why I want to defend the GHC Tag Team Championship—it’s my reason for being here—and I feel really fulfilled.”

BUSHI – “I had a certain encounter last November that led to my joining NOAH, and I feel like my life has really changed over the past six months. Take the recent defense match we had at the Kobe Sambo Hall event—I heard it was the biggest crowd in Sambo Hall’s history for a NOAH show. I feel like I still have room to grow, and I want to see things I’ve never seen before… So, as long as we have a reason to be here, you should really use us more. While we still can. Yeah, because we’ll draw even bigger crowds.”

Naito also gave his thoughts about him not being a fan of large-scale factions in wrestling and his belief that the more members there are in a group, the harder it becomes for the group to establish the direction they want to go in.

“So far, I don’t really feel like, ‘This is lacking, what should we do?’ RYUSEI just made his debut, but I feel like he’s getting better day by day, and I’m really looking forward to seeing him grow. If there are any gaps, we can just fill them in together. I’m not really a fan of just saying, ‘We’re missing this, so let’s add this person.’ When a problem arises, we all think together and solve it… I think that’s something that can only be done with a small number of people. That’s why, ever since the Los Ingobernables de Japon days, I haven’t really been a fan of large-scale units. When the number of people increases, it becomes harder to decide on a direction. That’s why I feel like Los Tranquilos de Japon is moving forward in a really good direction right now.”