(BIG JAPAN) Overturning "Boring"! Interview with Akira Hyodo

Translated from Weekly Pro (13th October 2020)

Many wrestlers in Big Japan are very quiet. Daisuke Sekimoto is a man who closes up like that, and while there are many wrestlers with such an image, and on the other hand there are many socially awkward people who find it hard to portray themselves doing anything other than fighting in the ring.

Akira Hyodo is one such person. In the ring he has more competitive spirit than the ordinary person, but is a "sore loser". Although he is an expressive young wrestler, what is at the root of his quietness, except for fighting, but including social media and his hatred of losing? I know that there will be some disagreements from other young wrestlers, but amongst the other wrestlers in the group with a short career so far in Big Japan, Hyodo has grown the most this year; the Yokohama Shopping Street 6 person tag, and his first challenge to Daichi Hashimoto's BJW heavyweight. At the last Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium, Tatsumi Fujinami was absent, and so he participated in the main event. 

Although he still rising, he is still far from producing results, we have focused on the human story behind "What kind of person is Hyodo?"

Akira Hyodo is from Seiyo, Ehime Prefecture.

Although he started playing soccer in the first grade of elementary school, his withdrawn personality made it a disaster. He couldn't communicate with his teammates, who grew angry with him when he avoided the flying ball. Growing fed up with this, he quit immediately as he realized that "I don't want to play team sports".

Then he started judo. His father had some experience in it, which he had started by chance and said, "I hated it, but I stuck at it." However, it was Judo that gave him the opportunity to embrace his "first dream". During a medical examination during a knee injury, he thought "I want to be a Judo Osteopath at the Osteopathic Institute". Therefore, after graduating from High School he thought about going to train as an Osteopath, and decided his future course early.

Late encounter with pro wrestling. 

Hyodo discovered pro wrestling when he was in his third year of High School. He became hooked when shown it by a friend who was a fan, but he didn't think about becoming a pro wrestler just yet. He was travelling to school from Seiyo to Matsuyama, and around this time his hobby was training as he felt that the body of a pro wrestler was cool, but it wasn't something he was thinking about just yet.  

During this period he encountered an old man at the gym, who loved pro wrestling. From him he heard, "There is an amazing man named Daisuke Sekimoto of Big Japan Pro Wrestling". After being told about this, when Hyodo saw Sekimoto for the first time he was shocked that "humans can have such a body" and was amazed when he watched him live. His destiny was decided after seeing Sekimoto, as he changed his mind and wanted to become a pro wrestler. However, he was hesitant to tell his parents that he was thinking about leaving vocational school, and couldn't do it in part because of the tution fee as he was reluctant to change the direction of his goal. He thought his parents would become angry because he was aiming to become a wrestler, but he was told "Once you graduate, you can do what you wish." He thanked his parents and recalled, "I started aiming at it in earnest, without worrying about anything else". It was hard to explain to his teacher who asked him about his plans for future employment, and he said spontaneously which surprised him, "I want to be a pro wrestler". 

Hyodo graduated from Vocational school, passed the National Examination, and held an Osteopathic license. After working part time in a Pachinko parlor in Matsuyama, he entered Big Japan in October 2017. He had tried to enter when he was at vocational school but had failed, so the summer after graduation, he passed the second time with the intention that "I will give up if I fail this time."

Hyodo says he loves the nighttime. Facing his second attempt with unrelenting determination, the park at midnight became his friend. He recalls, "I worked part time in the evening until 10pm. I would go home, have a meal, sleep a little and then around 2am I would run to the park. I was doing squats and push ups late at night, and because I was doing it at the edge of a large park occasionally when people passed by, I could see them thinking "there are strange people". As I was doing mostly squats, I would run back home and get the yoga mat out to practice bridges."

Each day he slept in the morning and woke up in the afternoon. 

Although it was connected to his occupation, the reason for practicing only at midnight also tells Hyodo's story. 

"I don't think anyone would care about it now, but at the time when people around me were working, I felt bad for only working part time. What if someone saw me? I didn't want to do it in the park during the day". 

What Hyodo did when he met malicious people...

Because he is shy, Hyodo is not good at going out. However, he became a pro wrestler because he has extreme competitive spirit. But, he never wanted to show this people during his High School Judo era. To put it bluntly, there were many unpleasant seniors and unreasonably he was sometimes beaten viciously. 

He doesn't want to remember his High School days. At sunset when practice after school was over, there was only one local train that ran to his house every two hours; so he got the train at 10pm and didn't get home until 1am. The next morning he had to leave at 6am, so it seemed that all he did was come home, eat dinner and sleep. However today, Hyodo can talk and laugh at these unpleasant memories. But he can look back, because he has "now". 

What kind of action did Hyodo take? "I didn't tell anyone. There were many spiteful people, and I was scared. I didn't want to say anything". 

In a place where no one could see him, he trained with the feeling that he would "knock them down". So in places other than club activities, he ran alone, and practiced his own training doing things like pulling big and heavy tires. This is the essence of Hyodo. 

"Isn't it awkward to become strong without people knowing, suddenly being able to do what you couldn't? So, not only in High School, but also in Junior High, I did everything alone. I don't like being watched by people, I just don't like it. I don't know why, but I am someone who likes to train alone without being seen by anyone."

Speaking true feelings and the unexpected desire of the G-shock battle with Hoshino.

His personality has not changed, and he is aware that it is not good to express himself. However, Hyodo clearly conveys both strength and defeat in the ring, which is part of being a professional. Even if he is still young, there is no different from his superiors, if the point is that you are a "pro" if you stand in the ring. Recently, he started a hardcore match in parallel with a STRONG BJ fight, because he wanted to embody "unusual". He says, "I am started to become attracted to the unusual. For the first time I will challenge for the Strong Heavy, and I think for me that is runs parallel to Hyodo, and so I want to show you more and more a new Hyodo". 

I think he is at the stage where he has suddenly changed his costume, and has become a wrestler that fans are interested in. It is Abdullah Kobayashi, who continues to give tips on how to change his way of thinking. In interviews, Kobayashi is often provocative towards the wrestlers in Big Japan in interviews, it's not just in magazines but in conveying the words like a joke, it tends to touch the core of the younger wrestlers. It appears that Hyodo continues to be told by Kobayashi that, "You are a boring man", "You are boring, and because you are boring, fans don't follow you."

Occasionally, Hyodo's true intentions can be seen when looking at his seniors. 

Let's look at that. 

Hyodo has always been told that they have heard the same thing over and over again, and someday you have to make them say that Hyodo is amazing. He is a wrestler who is trying to surprise each wrestler while skilfully hiding his abilities. That must be said to be amazing. 

In this interview as well he stated an astonishing desire, "What about what is around me? The best target right now is Kankuro Hoshino. I may be a very strange person, but I am keenly aware of Hoshino's greatness in doing hardcore. There is no one else who so sturdy that I admire as I don't think there are many people who could still wrestle at that age. He is superhuman isn't it? Naturally I want to fight Hoshino, and I want to work with him. I want to do a G-SHOCK with Hoshino."

Picture credit: Weekly Pro