All Japan Pro-Wrestling megastar Kento Miyahara will be stepping into the ring with Pro Wrestling NOAH superstar Katsuhiko Nakajima on July 15th in a massive main event for NOAH’s One Night Dream event.
Kento Miyahara was interviewed by Pro Wrestling NOAH on the promotions YouTube Channel to discuss the highly anticipated match with Nakajima.
To kick off the interview, Miyahara was asked how he felt when the huge match was announced:
There was talk that the two of us would fight each other, and I honestly feel that the time has come. At Keiji Mutoh’s Tokyo Dome event (21st February 2023), I met him in the ring for the first time in a while, it was a six man tag though. There was a little fire attached to that time, but while we were both active as pro wrestlers in All Japan and Noah, it was a match that always registered with me when pro wrestling fans said, “I want to see it someday”. When I saw this card, I wondered if that time had come.
Miyahara was then asked if he ever wanted to fight Nakajima:
No, it feels like we were fighting without fighting. We’ve never been in direct contact with each other, but this is what makes professional wrestling interesting*. It’s not like I’m fighting, but I feel like I am fighting something, like position in the pro wrestling world, right? You were fighting with that sort of thing, weren’t you, constantly? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t aware of it. I just think you think so too.
Miyahara commented on what he felt Nakajima’s strength is:
I think he’s definitely one of the top three wrestlers in the industry right now when it comes to being “strong”. Rather than being in the top three, there is no doubt that he is a wrestler who fights to be both number one and number two. However, I wonder if that “strength” is shown in Pro Wrestling Noah’s ring. You were stronger in Kensuke Office, weren’t you? That’s how I feel. When he appeared in another promotion like Kensuke Office, he was really strong, wasn’t he? The ambition of trying to make something in that one match or defeat this guy etc in another, was amazing. That’s what I thought when I saw him up close. At that time I was nothing more than a young man, but in the mind of this young wrestler, Nakajima had an expression that he was going to devour something. It’s just that now time has passed and because I’ve become a superstar, this is a story of before wholly becoming a superstar. On July 15th, we may be able to see Katsuhiko Nakajima, who even Noah fans have never seen before.
Miyahara was asked his thoughts of him being the face of AJPW wrestling in a Pro Wrestling NOAH ring:
I have nothing to say about going into Noah’s ring as the face of All Japan on July 15th. I always hear what pro wrestling fans have to say, but there aren’t many voices saying that Kento Miyahara attacked Noah in regards to this match. The reason for that is the fact that the two of us are facing each other, and that is more important than this match being All Japan or Pro Wrestling Noah. I can feel that firsthand, so honestly, I don’t feel like entering Pro Wrestling Noah as the face of All Japan on that day.
Kento Miyahara wrapped up the interview with this messages for the fans:
On July 15th, at One Night Dream, Kento Miyahara and Katsuhiko Nakajima, will finally face each other in the ring in an unlimited match. Please look forward to it at Korakuen Hall on July 15th.
(H/T TO Noah’s Arkive for the transcription)
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