English translation
週刊プロレス Weekly Pro-Wrestling,
2024/1/31 No. 2284, p.53
DDT's Wrestler to Watch in 2024 is... Rukiya
"From the first victory to number one!"
Rukiya takes his first steps two days after writing his autograph board
"I want to be a wrestler who can win even competitive matches"
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Although he may not seem to have a big presence in DDT, day by day Rukiya's earnest fighting style is drawing attention to him. With a big fighting spirit and a loud voice, he faces his opponents with determination. He has had many opportunities to fight with Jun Akiyama, and each time, he fights with spirit, and his directness has started to leave an impression.
When we went to Shinjuku on January 5th to interview Rukiya, he wrote "From the first victory to number one!" on the autograph board. He said, "First, you have your first victory. From there, I want to become a wrestler who can aim for the top". Two days later, in his hometown of Osaka on January 7th, he tagged with Sanshiro Takagi in a match against HARASHIMA and Kazuma Sumi. He pinned Sumi for the three count, he achieved his first personal victory. His goal is set. He quickly achieved the "first" thing he wanted to do, all because of the huge effort he put in last year.
He had a fateful encounter with DDT. He got into pro-wrestling during his first year of junior high school, and he soon decided he wanted to be a wrestler. He watched NJPW all the time, and in addition to the baseball he'd been practicing from his last year of kindergarten until his third year of junior high school, "with an aim to achieve the
willpower to fight", from his first year of junior high school, he started practicing MMA. He also started enthusiastically training in judo when he entered high school, as well as grappling in his third year. This was all with the aim of becoming a wrestler.
But, he had a setback. In his third year of high school, he took the entrance test for a certain wrestling organization, but he failed. "I hadn't been thinking about going to university, and my parents said, "If there's something you want to do, it's best if you work towards that", so while I was working part time, I was always practicing... I did grappling practice and training". However, one year later, he failed the entrance test again. Furthermore, the year after that, he failed again. He failed the test three times. His heart was broken, and he was on the verge of giving up. "I didn't even enjoy watching wrestling because of that. I took the test three times, and I failed every time. I thought it was impossible for me to become a wrestler, and I thought about giving up. Then, when I was really feeling down, I saw DDT in Osaka."
For Rukiya, who had only been watching NJPW up until then, DDT was like another
world, and he felt a renewed sense of amazement as he thought, "There's fun pro-wrestling like this, too".
"I really got into it, and I thought about taking their test. Watching DDT made a big impact on me, and it made me want to take their test. It felt like I'd seen a new world. Sauna Kamiina and the others weren't just doing pro-wrestling, they were doing stuff like tug of war, and it looked like they were having so much fun. Everyone looked so happy doing what they were doing, and that left the biggest impression on me. I wanted to be like that. I thought, it must be so good to do everything with a smile."
Of course, not all of DDT's matches are happy matches, but there are certainly matches that make everyone smile. Rukiya, who had been on the verge of giving up, started thinking more positively.
"No matter the size of the opponent, you have to face them head on and fight. Even if you're knocked down, you have to get back up, and keep fighting. I always do everything with a feeling of, "I'll keep getting back up until I die". My favourite fight style is rugged and straightforward pro-wrestling. I really like Tomohiro Ishii, and I think (Kazusada) Higuchi and guys like that are cool. I'm going to get my weight up and get bigger, and I'm going to try my best to become a heavyweight. I want to be a wrestler who can get the three count even in competitive matches (against other organizations).
Now, DDT has a large pool of young wrestlers. "I want people to say, "Rukiya's match was good", I want to be the top young wrestler in the pro-wrestling world, and I want everyone to know my name", he says strongly. I want everyone to pay attention to the simple honesty of this young wrestler.
(Nara)
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
The thing he did in 2023 that left the biggest impression was... His daily, steady battles!
Shortly after making his debut, he started to stand out due to his continuing efforts in his matches. So far, he hasn't had a particular impact in terms of results, but fans across the country have started warming up to him due to his resolute but modest fighting spirit, even against opponents such as Jun Akiyama. On January 7th in Osaka, while quietly fighting a tough battle, he had his first personal victory since debuting.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Written by Tomoyuki Nara for Weekly Pro-Wrestling magazine (Japanese).
Translated into English by Michelle @puroresueikaiwa
Please do not use without permission and credit.
