On the night of Yokohama, 59-year-old Keiji Mutoh and 34-year-old Kazuchika Okada faced each other for the first time on the ring.
Is sold out in advance. The attention was high, and the venue was packed with 7077 spectators, exceeding 6379 on the second day of “WRESTLE KINGDOM 16 in Tokyo Dome”.
Professional wrestling master Mutoh and current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Okada. If you think about it, you’ve come a long way. Like the current Okada, Muto in his mid-30s was the face of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, who wrapped the belt of the IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
In the competition against UWF International in October 1995, he won a give-up victory from Nobuhiko Takada in the main event with a figure-four. Twenty-seven years later, in a group battle, this time as an enemy of the new day, he showed off his dragon screw and figure-four foot to his former and attendant Hiroshi Tanahashi again in the tag match of the double main event. The venue is exciting. It is the vitality of Keiji Mutoh.
What is the “90s wall” common to all entertainment? ]
“In 10 years, the stereotypes of Baba and Inoki will disappear when it comes to professional wrestling, and I think it’s becoming common sense to say that professional wrestling is okada.”
This is what I said when I interviewed Kazuchika Okada six years ago. In the book on the theme of “Farewell Showa Professional Baseball” that I was writing at that time, I went to talk to Okada, who fights against the illusion of Showa professional wrestling. Such a glaring rain maker entered the Tokyo Dome this year in an Inoki-style gown and became a hot topic. The point is that the challenger’s standing position has changed from the side that follows the times to the side that carries it. Immediately after the dome, he fought against Muto, who can be said to be a “symbol of 90’s professional wrestling.”
In the 90’s, the Internet is not so widespread, and of course there are no smartphones. The cycle of entertainment consumption was not as fast as it is now, and there was an atmosphere of sharing one thing with everyone over time.
“Because it’s the world of information now, I’m sure you’ll be attacking bang-bang on the net. Then, at that time, it was easy to make and I was addicted to it.” In (Takarajimasha / 2018), Muto himself talks about the situation of professional wrestling at that time.
[The entrance called “terrestrial TV”]
In the 90’s, New Japan Pro-Wrestling was no longer on TV Asahi at 8 pm, but the big match was still broadcast in golden time, and Muto, Chono, and Hashimoto’s Three Musketeers were on the air at the entrance of the terrestrial TV. Was shared by. In other words, it had an overwhelming name recognition than today’s professional wrestlers.
This situation is similar in the professional baseball world. The other day, Yoshinobu Takahashi was appointed as the new caster of Nippon Television’s “Going! Sports & News”, and Koji Uehara was appointed as the new opinion number of the TBS’s “Sunday Morning”. They are the last generation to be the main force in the giant battle of the terrestrial broadcasting era.
So to speak, many Japanese people know their faces and names. The average annual audience rating for the Giants exceeded 20% in 1999, when Yoshinobu in the second year cleared a batting average of 30% and 30 home runs, and rookie Uehara won 20. Even Tsuyoshi Shinjo, the new director of Nippon-Ham Fighters who appeared on TV off this time, came out based on the Hanshin Tigers in the 90’s.
Of course, there are many great players among active professional baseball players. The 21st Japan Series was a fierce battle filled with the charm of baseball. However, unless it is a historic big success like Shohei Ohtani in the major leagues, there is a reality that they can not compete with the legend of the 90’s in terms of popularity in the world.
[Currently progressive form of Keiji Mutoh]
Okada seemed to confront Muto in an attempt to overcome such a “wall of the 90’s”. Baba / Inoki’s professional wrestling is close to the beautiful nostalgia of a distant day. However, the trouble is that Muto is still active. What’s more, the song “HOLD OUT” that appeared in the Yokohama Arena was played at a loud volume, and it went up to the main ring.
In an interview with Noah’s official channel in advance, he said, “I’m confident,” and while Noah’s wrestlers went up to the ring of Tokyo Dome on the 5th and young Kaito Kiyomiya and Kenoh provoked the New Japan with a microphone, they could afford it. Hold the smartphone camera and take a self-portrait with the expression of.
In the atmosphere of Noah’s challenge to the industry’s No. 1 new day, only the final game in Yokohama was an atmosphere where Okada and Tanahashi touched “that Muto”. So to speak, it was also a rivalry between New Japan vs Noah vs Muto. Apart from the group frame, I have my fight. If you think you’ve shown off an artistic shining wizard, sometimes by setting up a young tag partner, Kiyomiya, you dare to take a step back and show your current position. Just as Okada fights the great “Symbol of the 90’s”, Muto, who turns 60 this year, also fights the huge “self of the 90’s”.
[“Crushing” is old !?]
By the way, I was watching the game from the local stand seat on the day, but it was the first time for me to have a rivalry where I didn’t care about the number of wins and losses of both groups. When I heard that New Japan won 6 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw (including 2 dark matches), I realized that it was the case.
It’s no wonder to write it again, but in the recent New Japan, the corona sickness made it impossible for overseas wrestlers to come to Japan, and the injured players continued to appear, revealing the difficulty of maintaining conditions in infection control. To be honest, it is also true that I felt a rut on the belt front. It seems that many fans are not “disliked” but “pulled” by the series of distressed and solid fouls and intrusions. No matter how much you dislike heels (villains). However, it’s over when the customer draws.
Even the largest organizations in the industry are struggling to mobilize spectators. That’s why, rather than the power of professional wrestling, it was necessary to have a “competitive battle that makes the best use of each other” rather than a “competitive battle that crushes each other”. However, fans will be awakened in the “interleague game”. Don’t get too close, don’t get too far. Isn’t it important how to expand and develop the story that was born here, rather than cutting it off?
As Tetsuya Naito, who excited the 5 to 5 unit confrontation of the double main event (many voices of the best bout of the current box office), commented after the match, “It is not a company-led competition, but the individual player’s name is the opponent’s name. It can be a “competitive battle”, or even if Kenoh and Kiyomiya participate in the “New Japan Cup” and “G1 CLIMAX” individually, there should be merits for both groups.
I wrote so far, and at the end of last year at Tokyo Sports, “It’s not Showa now. I don’t think it’s the time to show which one is crushed. It may have been good in the Showa era. I don’t have it, but this time I want to make it a battle that will continue in the future. I think it would be nice to have something that makes the viewer happy. ” It was real.
