English translation
Yuma Anzai's "Promise to Me" (part 6)
Weekly Pro-Wrestling
No.2326, 2024/11/13 issue, p.20
How do you deal with your juniors?
☆You seem happy.
Anzai:
I finally became a senior!
☆Nagao made his debut, so you finally have your first junior.
Anzai:
At last. I made my debut and entered AJPW, but the others quit within three days or so...
☆It's such an intense world.
Anzai:
Going into the dojo with just a dream, spacing out and hoping you can make it, you have to learn to endure that. I had to face it head-on and I had my spirit broken once, but it's all about if you can put in the effort or not. Saying that, Nagao's really tried his best so far.
☆How do you deal with your juniors?
Anzai:
Getting angry with someone and giving them a warning are different things, aren't they? I decided a long time ago not to get unreasonably angry, but if Nagao doesn't know something and it puts him at a disadvantage, I have to have a go at him.
☆Puts him at a disadvantage?
Anzai:
For example, his etiquette. This is something that's important even before he makes his debut, right? If Nagao does something rude, people might think badly of him, and if he makes his debut in AJPW like that, people might think our standards have dropped. When you've just started out in wrestling, you could say it's natural that you can't do something, but on the other hand, it's not like you can't do amazing wrestling like Aoyagi-san or Miyahara-san from your debut match.
☆Like you?
Anzai:
Nah, nah. Especially at times like that, people have to be likeable.
I've said this a few times, but there are no machines in wrestling. Your opponent is a human, the referee who makes the decisions is a human, and the people who buy our merch are also human. The people who make the cards are also human, and the people who make the merch are human. In places where machines aren't involved, if people don't like you, you're finished. So, if you have people telling you over and over what to do right from when you start, if you just do those things, in the future, you'll be able to start wrestling.
☆But, almost nobody is liked by everyone...
Anzai:
But, that's the most important thing. There are lots of things I'm inexperienced in, but I want to teach the things that I do know. All the seniors have their strong points, and they're happy to learn new things. If Nagao is disliked by people, he won't be able to learn these things. If that happens, he won't be able to grow as a wrestler, and if the newer wrestlers don't grow, then the quality of AJPW will go down. You have to build upon a good foundation. For example, if you can't do a dropkick one day, you can work on it for a month until you can do it, so I often say you have to be someone who isn't disliked... I've just been talking about a load of serious stuff, though (*strained laugh*)
☆It's really different when you become a senior, right?
Anzai:
Hahahaha! At school and university, I didn't know how to close the gap between myself and my juniors, so I don't know what Nagao thinks of me. Maybe there's a chance he doesn't like me, but...
☆It's very interesting, isn't it.
Anzai:
Ahaha. Then there's what my seniors did for me. For example, when times were tough, they'd treat me to meals, they congratulated me when I made my debut, things like that. To repay them, I'm going to pass the baton to my juniors. If Nagao could go on to do that, too, that would be good.
☆I wonder what kind of wrestler Nagao will become?
Anzai:
I wonder. If he can grit his teeth during the hard times and keep training hard, I think he'll be able to face up to anything. I think he'll be fine, but as you can see, he has a cute face, doesn't he? He looks like he doesn't have any fighting spirit (*laughs*).
☆Are you going to teach him how to be cute and devious?
Anzai:
Hahaha! It feels like maybe he can beat me at that (*laughs*).
Translated into English by Michelle @puroresueikaiwa
Please do not use without permission and credit.