Naomichi Marufuji On Why He Stuck With Pro Wrestling NOAH After Mitsuharu Misawa’s Passing

Naomichi Marufuji recently talked about why he decided to stay with Pro Wrestling NOAH when the company was struggling following the passing of Mitsuharu Misawa. Misawa passed away in early 2009 and that led to hard times for the Japanese promotion. Marufuji stayed with the company throughout, something he said in a Sports Graphic Number interview was in part due to feeling like he’d received the baton from Miswawa and had a responsibility to see the promotion through. You can see highlights below:

On NOAH’s struggles after Misawa’s passing: “After Misawa passed away, it was a very difficult time. The number of fans and wrestlers decreased, and there were times when only 200 people would show up at Korakuen Hall (which has a capacity of approximately 1,600). When we went to regional areas, there were only a few rows of seats, and even then, the crowd was sparse. We tried various things to keep NOAH going, but every time we did, there were many comments like, ‘This isn’t NOAH,’ or ‘Mr. Misawa wouldn’t have done this,’ which were quite difficult to bear. But we did our best to keep it going.”

On staying with the company: “I naturally have ambitions as a professional wrestler, but I thought that (becoming a freelancer) wasn’t what I should be doing now. What was also significant was the presence of Mr. Misawa and NOAH’s fans. Without them, I might have been free to do something else. After Mr. Misawa passed away, I felt like I had received an invisible baton. There were no complicated reasons; it was a simple reason, and perhaps that’s why I could keep going. I wondered if there was any meaning to my existence if I hadn’t done that.”