Naomichi Marufuji Explains Why He Didn’t Leave NOAH When Promotion Was Struggling After Mitsuharu Misawa’s Passing

Marufuji stuck around when it got rough.

There’s an extensive feature about Naomichi Marufuji on the Sports Graphic Number website. Marufuji’s tenure with Pro Wrestling NOAH was delved into.

He opened up about the promotion’s struggles after NOAH founder Mitsuharu Misawa passed away in 2009. Marufuji explained why he never left despite the hard times.

“After (Mitsuharu) Misawa passed away, it was a very difficult time. The number of fans and wrestlers decreased, and there were times when only 200 people would show up at Korakuen Hall (which has a capacity of approximately 1,600). When we went to regional areas, there were only a few rows of seats, and even then, the crowd was sparse.

We tried various things to keep NOAH going, but every time we did, there were many comments like, ‘This isn’t NOAH,’ or ‘Mr. Misawa wouldn’t have done this,’ which were quite difficult to bear. But we did our best to keep it going.

I naturally have ambitions as a professional wrestler, but I thought that (becoming a freelancer) wasn’t what I should be doing now. What was also significant was the presence of Mr. Misawa and NOAH’s fans. Without them, I might have been free to do something else. After Mr. Misawa passed away, I felt like I had received an invisible baton. There were no complicated reasons; it was a simple reason, and perhaps that’s why I could keep going. I wondered if there was any meaning to my existence if I hadn’t done that.”

Present day, Marufuji is the Executive Vice President of CyberFight, the parent company of NOAH. Marufuji is a four-time GHC Heavyweight Champion and a nine-time GHC Tag Team Champion.