Episode 150: History as a Fan
September 10, 2026
"Can something this exciting actually exist in this world?!"
During my high school days, a single pro wrestling match I happened to watch on TV—I still cannot forget that shock even now. In my life up until then, which had been purely dedicated to hardball baseball where all I knew was chasing a white ball, a sudden and unbelievable light burst right in.
I started watching pro wrestling together with my younger brother, and before I knew it, I was totally hooked. It's no exaggeration to say that living became 1,000 times more fun.
Without the shock of that day, there's no way I would be writing this manuscript like this today.
Ever since, I've been constantly chasing pro wrestling. First as a wrestler, and now as a corporate executive. What I suddenly realized is that depending on the length of one's history as a fan, "what is visible" in the exact same match is completely different.
To a first-time viewer, the sheer impact happening right in front of them inside the ring hits home. To long-time fans following us over the years, the story leading up to that single strike—the setbacks and tenacity—overlaps and becomes visible too. In a way, the "resolution" of the match goes up by the amount of time you've spent watching.
However, the important part starts here. Even if the resolution differs, the total amount of excitement doesn't change. Rather, there are ways to enjoy it at each respective resolution, and in the end, every single person is enjoying it from the bottom of their heart. This is precisely the profound depth of pro wrestling. That's right. Nobody gets left behind.
The late, great journalist Takashi Kikuchi once said this to me in the past: "Past or present, pro wrestling is damn exciting." It was just a single sentence, but there was no phrase that made me happier than that. Back when people tended to say "Pro wrestling these days is...", my heart was saved by those words.
To brand-new fans, as well as fans who have stayed with us for decades, we will keep delivering that "damn exciting" feeling through each of their own focus points.
The me from back then as a high school student, you who might be reading this article for the very first time today, and the veteran fans who have followed us for decades—everyone looks at the same ring and arrives at "damn exciting" from their own respective angles. I think a form of content with such profound depth is truly hard to come by.
This column is pretty educational too, isn't it? (laughs)