Fujita Talks His World Tour
Pro-Wrestling NOAH’s Ryohei Oiwa has left the Noge Dojo to compete in NOAH, while Kosei Fujita is embarking on his own “world tour.” After already wrestling in the US and the UK in August, Fujita is set to travel to Australia in September as part of TMDK. From a Young Lion to a potential rising star, we had the opportunity to speak with Kosei Fujita about his official graduation and what lies ahead.
“Not being able to hold my end of the bargain still hurts”
-So now that you’ve graduated from Young Lion status, how do you feel looking back at the last two years?
Fujita: It feels like a really short time, definitely, and since coming together with TMDK especially, feels like it’s flown by.
-How was life in the Dojo?
Fujita: You know, obviously the top company in Japan is going to be the strictest in terms of training. I guess that training itself changes with the times, but for me, I joined and then the next day it was a hell of a lot of bumps.
-How was the dorm life?
Fujita: The first year, I was rooming with Oiwa. We kept enough to ourselves, in a good way, top where we didn’t get in one another’s way, we didn’t have any issues. It was pretty smooth sailing.
-How did you spend your free time when you weren’t training?
Fujita: After I debuted and we started to get a little more space and free time, I bought a motorbike and went on rides. Just for a change of pace, I wouldn’t decide a destination, just went riding around Kawasaki and down along the Tama river here. Just to get away in the middle of the night.
-Who did you work as an attendant for?
Fujita: Before I joined TMDK, I worked for Makabe-san and Nagata-san. Mostly I was working for Nagata-san; he would take me out to eat a lot, really looked out for me.
-How did Nagata react to you joining TMDK?
Fujita: Well, things got a little bit tense after that…
-You made your debut during the pandemic, without having cheering fans. Was that difficult for you?
Fujita: When I started there weren’t any cheers, and so that’s all I knew from a wrestling perspective. It didn’t trouble me, but when I did first hear the cheers of the crowd, that was really awesome.
-May 26 in Yoyogi at the Best of the Super Jr. semifinals, you pinned Gedo with an O’Connor Bridge and got the perhaps the biggest pop of your career to date. Any memories of that night?
Fujita: That match was a big turning point for me. Zack had taught the roll to me behind the scenes, and I was trying to get it in every match, ha.
-Are there any other matches that spring to mind looking back on the last couple of years?
Fujita: I think the singles match I had with Minoru Suzuki in Roppongi (August 20 2022), and the eight-man tag when I teamed with Tenzan, Makabe, and Okada against BUSHI, Naito, Takagi, and SANADA (June 21, 2022).
-You did say before that you looked up to