5-Star BOOK Reviews: Mitsuharu Misawa’s Books, Part XIV

This next session of Mitsuharu Misawa’s books is going to be a bit all over the place as it covers more from Ryu Nakata’s perspective. As Misawa’s right hand man, Nakata was deeply involved in NOAH’s creation and management, and his insight is highly useful in addressing things that Misawa himself may not be willing to. His perspective is also important in that he helps discuss the management and financial side of things for NOAH while leaving the in-ring stuff to Misawa. Understanding the business side of things is useful because it helps frame Misawa’s decisions on in-ring style and content. And as we get closer to 2009 – which is when things reach their absolute nadir – it’s important to understand how events proceeded bit by bit. When it comes to Misawa’s own ideas during the NOAH era I’ll cover those at the very end in his book IDEALIST which is far more theoretical, philosophical and, as the name suggests, idealistic on how things ought to be in wrestling, at least from Misawa’s perspective. Until then, though, let’s look at some of the things that Nakata recalls and how they shaped NOAH’s early history.

You can read part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here, part 5 here, part 6 here, part 7 here, part 8 here, part 9 here, part 10 here, part 11 here, part 12 here and part 13 here.

We begin this section with Ryu Nakata talking about various challenges he endured in setting up NOAH alongside Misawa, along with some expansion on topics Misawa himself either started but never expanded on or never finished. Nakata recalls Misawa being exceptionally hurt by one fan at one of Misawa’s last All Japan shows loudly calling him a “traitor”, to the point that Misawa addressed it to the press. Nakata noted that even during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s there was no such thing as jeering from the fans, so any such negative response from the crowd stood out (APOD: either Nakata is misremembering things or he thinks there’s a difference between jeering and booing because there absolutely were cases of AJPW fans booing wrestlers during matches. Maybe not out of legitimate hatred/XPAC Heat but still booing could be heard all the time from the fans, especially in big titles matches or if Akira Taue was involved). Speaking of All Japan, Nakata comments that in the wake of the NOAH Exodus AJPW filled out its skeleton crew of a roster with people from places like Michinoku Pro, Fujiwara-Gumi, BattlArts, and indie groups, and commented that this went against the previous high threshold the company held when it came to bringing in outside talent. He also speculates that, had AJPW not done this and kept it to the remaining handful – Kawada, Fuchi, Mossman – then it’s possible AJPW’s core fans would’ve supported them more which would’ve made things tougher for NOAH. He also recalls some comments made by “Dr. Death” Steve Williams about wanting to crush Misawa; however in his own book Doc describes this as wanting to stir up interest in a possible clash down the road. He essentially “goes into business for himself” (though not out of malice) but nothing comes of it.

Then came pressure over NOAH’s inaugural Departure show in August and Nakata recalls everyone involved feeling extreme pressure; not only financially but stylistically. Given the shocking and dramatic nature of the split there were many fans who were expecting an equivalent shift in in-house style and presentation. But Nakata, Misawa, and those in their inner circle didn’t see it that way:

“Just because All Japan split into two, it doesn’t mean the former All Japan wrestlers could suddenly do something entirely different. You can’t suddenly do something different from yesterday to today. Honestly, for us, the intention was to keep the All Japan style and make minimal changes, like enhancing the production and presentation as much as possible. But we could sense that people around us were expecting something significantly different. That made us feel like we had to make major changes. In reality, after the inaugural event, there were voices saying, ‘What’s this? It’s no different from All Japan.’ But that’s just how it was.” – Ryu Nakata

Nakata echoes the comments made by Misawa’s wife Mayumi about the company willing to take a loss on the opening show and spending on their long-desired production and presentation changes. Nakata insists on making first impressions matter by spending a lot on the opening show and then reducing the level of luxury thereafter since there were so many debts to pay. Nakata also dedicates quite a bit to discuss the importance of adding laser beams to production, noting that it was something he had been wanting to have seen in wrestling for decades. He had asked many times before only to be shut down because they were so expensive. Nakata cites his obsession with adding laser beams to entrances comes from a singer/songwriter named Seiko Matsuda, whose concerts he got to attend thanks to his connection to someone in the music industry. Nakata, not necessarily the biggest fan of the live entertainment in question, got to go to a concert he wasn’t all that familiar with/excited to see and saw the live production people using lasers to draw letters and pictures of animals on the ceiling of the Budokan. Enraptured, he proposed this many times to AJPW higher-ups, only to get rejected.

(APOD: Nakata’s comments here go hand-in-hand with Misawa’s previous comments about All Japan running in the Tokyo Dome. Though it is still impressive that Misawa and company were able to draw such a big crowd on the strength of their in-ring skill alone, Misawa has made it very clear he didn’t want to run such big venues if the fan’s experience would weaken. He wanted the fans in the cheap seats to have something to enjoy, which was difficult when the All Japan production entered the dome in 1998 with visuals and equipment still out of the 1970s or 1980s. It’s no wonder that Misawa felt so hamstrung and frustrated come 1998: it’s like he was trying to promote what he did solely through radio with his bosses not knowing the meaning of the song Video Killed The Radio Star).

On the same note Nakata notes that both he and Misawa got to realize a dream by including a flower path (entrance ramp) at their events after it was routinely rejected in All Japan. Nakata believes that wrestling fans place heavy emphasis on entrances (APOD: This is more of a wider trend but in from Misawa’s point of view in IDEALIST he notes it’s not as important in Japan compared to elsewhere, though he doesn’t dismiss it’s importance completely), and most other wrestling companies understood this since basically every promotion used one except All Japan.

There was also another important note regarding NOAH’s opening show: by installing a huge outdoor screen to satisfy fans who couldn’t get into the venue NOAH was able to get some new sponsors. Nakata specifically sites someone from a company who watched on the screen in the parking lot and this person would, a few years later, help NOAH’s wrestlers go on a tour of Korea. This same person also set in place a retirement program for NOAH’s wrestlers that would see them engage in, for instance, restaurant management, as a means of supporting themselves after their in-ring careers ended.

Nakata then goes into a key business difference between All Japan and NOAH: the revenue stream from merchandise. All Japan under the Babas had these revenue streams separated entirely with the money from merchandise sales going into one of the subsidiaries (likely Giant Services) managed by Shohei and Motoko. In NOAH these numbers were combined under one balance sheet which allowed NOAH to budget far more easily. (APOD: This also likely allowed some wrestlers to breathe a huge sigh of relief since they likely no longer had the psychological pressure of thinking “my only way of making money is through wrestling”).

After the two-night Departure event, NOAH’s next show takes place in the middle of nowhere in a small village called Minase in Akita several hours north of Tokyo. This ends up being a free outdoor show at a campsite (APOD: Nakata’s book states that Minase had a population of 3,200 but people from other nearby villages also came to the show, leading to an estimated 6,100 people attending, 1,200 more than the previous year’s AJPW show at the same venue), which Nakata states was organized out of honoring offers from anyone who would offer. In the case of Minase, they had previously held joshi and FMW events in the past and they had approached Misawa shortly after the announcement of NOAH’s formation to host an event. In fact, this Minase Village show was decided before NOAH was even registered and Departure 2000 was organized backwards from this show. To further emphasize how important this was, Minase, which can best be described geographically as a small mountain town in the middle of nowhere with the nearest major city, Sendai, being a good two hours away, had fans young and old come from all over to see the NOAH show. And to bring everything together, Nakata notes how the show ended with a fireworks celebration under the night sky.

NOAH, like All Japan, would embark on regional tours as a means of keeping ties to established fanbases, even though it was well established that these regional tours under All Japan rarely turned a profit. However, Nakata and a close ally Haruka Eigen worked to obtain critical assets for the company, namely trucks to carry the ring & other equipment and buses for the talent. However, both were expensive: each bus cost ¥25,000,000, the equivalent of a house. They considered leasing buses instead but that required financial statements which the newly-founded NOAH didn’t have. Thus their only solution was to charter/rent tourist buses, which were cheaper but came at the cost of being slower, extending wrestlers’ travel time between cities. That is, until Misawa made an executive decision: he was able to procure two brand-new buses with a combined cost of ¥60,000,000.00 by negotiating with a supporter who was a big fan of the Four Heavenly Kings era of All Japan. a year later this same person would help NOAH procure a third bus, giving the company a total of ¥85,000,000 worth of assets.

(APOD: Imagine being such a great wrestler that a fan of yours willingly contributes almost one million dollars’ worth to help your wrestling start-up survive its critical first year of operation).

The stress continued for NOAH into their next big show, which was Great Voyage in Ariake Colisseum on December 23, 2000. According to Nakata everyone went into this show with a do-or-die attitude, noting that they were borrowing money from various places to pay off one debt or another. Though the owners of the venue had never seen 12,000 people in the venue, a large crowd alone wasn’t enough to calm people’s nerves.

The headlining match for that show was a big showdown between Kenta Kobashi and Jun Akiyama(APOD: a solid classic, ****3/4 at least, highest recommendation possible), but arguably the bigger story was the appearance of NJPW’s Shinya Hashimoto on the undercard. Nakata recalls a secret meeting taking place in March of 1999. This meeting, arranged by Hiroshi Hase, featured Misawa, Kobashi, and Nakata on one side and Hashimoto, Muto, and Chono on the other. The purpose of this meeting was to foster collaboration between the Four Heavenly Kings and the Three Musketeers of Fighting Spirit (APOD: some details of these talks were documented in a 1999 book called “Fetal Movement: A New Century of Professional Wrestling Theory” which includes a sit-down discussion between Misawa and Chono). One of the earliest discussions was for NOAH to be used as a vehicle to rebuild Hashimoto as he struggled to rebuild his image following the January 4 incident with Naoya Ogawa. However all of these secret talks ended inconclusively due to either a lack of management involvement on the New Japan side or a general sense of unease or untrustworthiness by the All Japan side that wouldn’t thaw until around the time Baba passed away.

Nakata’s book shifts back to when he and Misawa first met. Though they were the same age Nakata was one academic year ahead and was already working in All Japan’s ring crew when Misawa joined, having started when he was in 8^th grade. They didn’t hit it off from the start: Misawa thought Nakata was weird and annoying while Nakata thought Misawa was another one of the MANY rookies who would quit within his first year. However, they started getting along when Nakata started attending wrestlers’ training camps to observe them learning. As an aside, there’s a quick story where Fuyuki once went to a local butcher shop to pick up some meat for the dojo and the lady there asked why Misawa wasn’t there. She then stated “Misawa-san is wonderful. That boy will become a star someday”. When Fuyuki asked her, “what about me?” she curtly responded, “no, you’re no good”.

Nakata also recalls the three of them – himself, Fuyuki, and Misawa – developing an almost sibling relationship, to the point that Misawa & Fuyuki would accompany Nakata when he’d go visit his girlfriend at her parents’ house. They’d eat with the parents downstairs while he’d spend time with her. Nakata also recalls staying at the All Japan dojo as a guest (he didn’t live there) and when he did they’d make room for him by dragging Toshiaki Kawada’s futon out into the hallway. “I was always made to sleep in the hallway” laments Kawada. There are also some funny stories about the training dojo – a rundown building owned by Jumbo Tsuruta – having its ceiling collapse one summer and its bathroom floor caving in when Haku used the toilet.

Nakata and Misawa likely warmed up to each other because they shared a common background of smaller men in a big man’s world. As the smallest kid in his class, Nakata knew he would never become a wrestler but the ring crew appreciated his help when they ran shows nearby and his parents ran a soba shop and he’d bring them food after helping with the ring. When it came to him becoming a ring announcer, Nakata recalls received support from Haru Gunju, a relative of Keiko Tanaka, the wife of Rikidozan.

There’s also a quick aside: Nakata confirms that it was Sato, Baba’s close personal aide, who gave trainees like Misawa the freedom during training because he achieved more success in America despite being smaller.

“Sato allowed young wrestlers to do anything, and as a result, they could fight freely, leading to the creation of the Lou Thesz Cup and later the Asunaro Cup (a league for young wrestlers). That’s definitely true. Until then, young wrestlers had not been in the spotlight, but Sato changed that and made the preliminary matches in All Japan interesting. I still think Sato is the most wonderful among professional wrestlers.”

But this freedom came at a cost. Nakata, who watched Misawa’s matches closely and expressed concern over how his matches unfolded:

“The battles of the Super Generation Army, which directly confronted the overwhelming strength of Tsuruta, Hansen, and others to create a new era, gained enthusiastic support from fans and became a powerful driving force for the revival of All Japan. The Super Generation Army’s intense fights evolved into the “Four Heavenly Kings Pro Wrestling” woven by Kawada, Kobashi, and Taue (with Akiyama later joining). Day after day, in any local venue, their relentless fighting style, which involved a dangerous exchange of techniques, was extremely harsh, surpassing the limits of intensity.

“Whether it was Korakuen Hall or a local venue, the matches were literally life-threatening, and I genuinely felt sorry… There were parts that were hard to watch. For example, in boxing or kickboxing, if someone falls, it can end there. They don’t have to suffer further pain afterward. But in pro wrestling, they are dragged back up and still have to continue. They are forcibly lifted and made to fight. I was watching, thinking, ‘Please stop it already.’ They were doing that every day. It was quite painful to watch.”

Nakata could only hold his breath at the harsh battles unfolding by Misawa and others. “Baba also acknowledged that what we had been doing was different. It was something completely new, probably. Misawa was leading the way. When you see that, everyone else naturally tries harder. He’s not someone who complains. He won’t say he needs a break. He does things that make you think, ‘Is this even possible!'”

The extreme fighting style of Kawada, Kobashi, and others, who fought to their limits, left even Baba speechless. While the Super Generation Army and the Four Heavenly Kings became the mainstay, Baba had not yet considered handing over All Japan to them. Baba believed, “Ultimately, it won’t work without me.” He thought that without his backing, All Japan would be preyed upon by untrustworthy individuals in the wrestling world, and he felt it was his duty to prevent that. Baba intended to continue as the support behind All Japan.

The extreme pro wrestling practiced by Misawa became the foundation of NOAH’s wrestling.”

And yet Nakata couldn’t deny that this style also yielded immense financial success for the wrestlers on top of its critical success, noting that All Japan profited more from the Four Heavenly Kings Era than New Japan did during the original Tiger Mask era:

“The popularity of the Super Generation Army surpassed that of the original Tiger Mask. The Super Generation Army not only became the savior of All Japan but also brought significant economic prosperity to the promotion. “It was incredible. Everywhere was packed to capacity, with bonuses and allowances. There was a time I received a bonus of 5 million yen. It truly was a Super Generation Army bubble. The popularity of Terry Funk before that was also great, but this was about three times as amazing. In the past, the annual broadcasting rights fees were, at their peak, around 600 million to 700 million yen, and we were making a profit… When we were airing during prime time, with people like Wajima and Choshu, there were also many payments to Japan Pro Wrestling, so there were questions about how All Japan was doing.

During the Super Generation Army boom, pre-sale tickets were selling like hotcakes at any local venue. It was common for a single event to generate 10 million yen just from ticket sales. Occasionally, if an event only made 8 million yen, other sales staff would be astonished and say, “What? Your place didn’t reach 10 million!?” There were even enthusiastic fans who would call the office every time the series schedule was announced to reserve pre-sale tickets for almost all venues in bulk.”

Nakata ties this bubble period to the wider economy, which began to pop, plateau, and then slow down from the mid-1990s onwards. There was no immediate effect on AJPW’s bottom line but attendance at local shows dropped significantly towards the middle of the decade and in some cases merchandise sales were cut to a quarter of bubble year levels. Fans still attended shows but stopped buying merchandise. NTV continued to back AJPW throughout this period and in some cases provided sponsorship money for foreigners arriving for big tours. But by 1996 the real Four Kings Bubble burst and that forced everyone to tighten their belts, including Nakata who had to take on additional roles such as that of a truck driver and merchandise handler.

Nakata shifts back and notes that NOAH started doing special themes Christmas shows on December 24^th. The cards and other elements to these shows were usually decided by fan vote as Misawa placed a heavy emphasis on fan engagement and satisfaction. As such, wrestlers would learn their matches for these shows from reading fan results and they’d adopt Christmas-themed messaging on their gear (APOD: or in Misawa’s case, red tights). Sometimes the wrestlers would do Japanese renditions of Christmas songs and carols, such as “When You Wish Upon A Star”, which apparently has significant deeper meaning for Nakata because the lyrics contained Nakata’s heartfelt wishes to the fans. He concludes by noting that these Christmas themed shows would escalate…but in terms of fan support and not anything negative. Mirroring the escalation of the in-ring style, the NOAH Christmas videos would increase in anticipation and thus needed to get bigger. At one point NOAH created a character named “Mr. Sanpachi”, based on a school drama, and they’d spend an entire day filming what was supposed to be a lighthearted Christmas story.

As the years went on production for these events also increased, putting more strain on an already thin company budget. To really hammer home just how high these expectations got, at one point NOAH’s management floated the idea to bring Chosuke Ikariya to do a holiday appearance. Ikariya was once a hugely popular comedian on the TV show “It’s 8 o’clock! Everyone Gather!” which, if you’ve been following these book reviews, is the same longstanding series that guys like Kobashi and Kawada watched as children. Talks took place to get Ikariya to NOAH for their 2002 Christmas show and Misawa’s side offered an amount that “wouldn’t be rude to offer” given their budget but talks stalled not because of money, but because Ikariya fell ill. In May 2003 he was diagnosed with cervical lymph node cancer and within a year it metastasized, leading to his death in March 2004. Since he passed away Nakata never got to realize his vision of a Christmas show, which would’ve looked like this:

“If Ikariya’s appearance had been realized, it is possible that Kobashi, being called by Ikariya, would have donned a swan neck on his lower body and passionately sung the Higashimurayama Ondo, creating an unimaginable scene.”

(APOD: Since we weren’t able to get that vision, here’s the next best thing: a collection of NOAH Christmas videos that includes, among other things, Misawa being wholesome as he delivers presents to kids dressed as Santa Claus and Kobashi showing off his natural blonde hair)

APOD: There wasn’t all that much wrestling-related in this section and it was more focused on the operations end of things. That said, it’s still interesting to see how NOAH ran as a business and how some longstanding issues going back to the All Japan days affected NOAH’s formation and initial operation. Never forget that Misawa had to don the manager’s hat in All Japan in sudden fashion with minimal (read: nonexistent) experience and following the Exodus he became a business owner via baptism by fire. Nakata played a key role in taking on some important responsibilities and his insight into something we as fans might not think are big deals – arranging travel, show bookings, buying buses – gives a small window into the kinds of business decisions actually go into a wrestling promotion. I don’t know how many of you as fans have ever daydreamed about what you’d do if you had the money to run your own wrestling promotion but I can imagine most of you would be thinking about which wrestlers you’d sign and the matches you’d have. The less exciting – but still important – practical side of things might not’ve been on your mind in those moments of imagination, but luckily Nakata’s recollections here help give a better understanding of what life was really like as the key operations manager for a wrestling company trying to rub two nickels together to create a dollar.

Thanks for reading.