Hirooki Goto continues telling the story of his path to NJPW stardom!

In Chain Reactions, one interview subject nominates the next, as we learn how NJPW names in and out of the ring made it to the cerulean blue. 

Check out part one with Hirooki Goto!

I felt I’d finally achieved my dream.

*(L to R) Naofumi Yamamoto (aka Yoshitatsu) NJPW Tokon amateur wrestling club’s Yusuke Morizumi, Hirooki Goto, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shinsuke Nakamura on their admission into the NJPW Dojo

–Last time we talked about your high school years. When you went into university, you met Shinsuke Nakamura.

Goto: Right. We’d stay together at university wrestling meets, and when we both went to South Korea with our teams.

–Did you become friends then?

Goto: I wouldn’t say that so much as I knew of him. When I was wrestling in high school, we were at a meet and I saw this tall kid wearing a wrestling T-shirt, so from that point he was on my radar, basically.

–What shirt was he wearing?

Goto: It was a Shinya Hashimoto shirt. I remember seeing the big letters ‘King of Destruction’.

–That’ll make you stand out. 

Goto: Right. There was another kid with a Hiroyoshi Tenzan style haircut. I’d see them and think ‘oh, they’re into wrestling’, but that made them rivals of mine in a sense. Like I wanted to make sure I didn’t lose to them.

–But I did hear that Nakamura talked to you about entering the Dojo while he was in university.

Goto: In those days, Kengo Kimura would go to the amateur meets and scout talent, so we talked a bit then.

–Both of you went into the 2002 Dojo tryout. There were a lot of entrants that year.

Goto: Oh, yeah. 70 altogether.

–70! Can you even fit 70 people into the Dojo?

Goto: No, frankly! It was really harsh then. They lined everybody up outside in height order and cut everyone that was too short. Really strict.

–How tall were you?

Goto: About 180 cm (6′). Actually I took it with a senpai of mine from high school wrestling. He had planned to not go to high school and work straight out of junior high with the goal of making it in pro-wrestling someday, but he was still able to practice in our high school wrestling club. 

–And what happened to him?

Goto: Too short.

–That must have been crushing for him. While you were in university, Katsuyori Shibata had been wrestling for those four years. Did he fill you in on what happened in the tryout?

Goto: Yeah, he filled me in on what they did in the tryout, so that was a big help for me. 

–How many of you survived out of that 70?

Goto: Only five. Me, Nakamura, (Ryusuke) Taguchi, Yamamoto (Naofumi, now Yoshitatsu in AJPW) and Nagao (Hiroshi, now retired).

–The class of 2002. How did it feel to make it through?

Goto: Oh, it was awesome. Like I was finally able to live my dream.

–Did Shibata show up to the test? 

Goto: Not the test itself, but he stopped by the day before to see how I was doing and wish me luck.

I stayed in Shibata’s house, with my dislocated shoulder

–You were set to go through the Dojo system, but after you got through the tryout, you dislocated your shoulder.

Goto: Yeah. Just such a dark period for me. Shibata really came through. He helped me convince myself not to give up, and come back stronger.

–What was the recovery period like?

Goto: Well, there wasn’t enough room in the Dojo, so really there wasn’t anything to do but to go home. Luckily though, Shibata invited me to stay with him until I got better, so that’s what happened.

–He really did come through for you.

Goto: I couldn’t do anything but laundry for him, but he let me stay rent free. It meant a lot.

–He had only recently moved out of the Dojo to live by himself.

Goto: But still, he looked out for me. We even ate together. Then as I got a little movement back, I promised him I would be back, and went home to Kuwana for a while. 

–Shibata was really worried for you.

Goto: He really was. I think he felt that if I went right back to Kuwana after I got hurt, that I wouldn’t come back, I’d be too depressed by it all. There was that same friend, U-san that failed the tryout because of his height…

–Did you connect with him when you went to Kuwana?

Goto: He helped me a lot, too. He was my training partner as I rehabbed. I was able to use the wrestling dojo in my Kuwana high school to recover in, and U drove me there every day.

–That was nice of him.

Goto: For sure. There would be classes going on in the school, so we would get into the dojo in the afternoon and train. U kept up, 500 squats a day, and the exact regimen we did in the New Japan Dojo.

–Back then, NJPW had a shop in Nagoya. I read that you worked there for a time?

Goto: Ah, I didn’t actually work there. When they opened the shop, El Samurai hosted a panel there. For some reason I was asked to be there as a ‘former trainee’. This was before the Olympics, and (women’s freestyle wrestler)Saori Yoshida was demonstrating tackles and the like.

–The Nagoya store had a ring, didn’t it?

Goto: A little one, about half size. We used it as a stage. 

–So you didn’t work there?

Goto: Not in the shop, but they had a little kid’s wrestling class out of there called Tokon Gym. I taught a couple of classes there.

When I look back on it all, January 4 2014 will always be the biggest day

–You finally made your debut on July 6 2003 against Ryusuke Taguchi. That must have been an emotional moment for you.

Goto: It was, absolutely. Part of me was thinking ‘finally!’ and on the other hand ‘it all starts here’.

–Did they announce your debut ahead of time?

Goto: About a week in advance, I think. I wasn’t worried about the match itself; I’d been training with Taguchi every day.

–So from that day up to now, what match sticks with you the most?

Goto: No question it had to be Wrestle Kingdom 8 against Shibata. I think when it’s all over and I look back at it all, January 4 2014 will always be the biggest day. (Watch on NJPW World!)

–You were coming back from injury that night; during the G1 Climax against Hiroshi Tanahashi you had broken your jaw in Sendai.

Goto: Right. All the stars were aligning for that match at WK8. The injury, Shibata being the opponent, wrestling in the Tokyo Dome after we’d been to see the matches there together…

–You and Shibata went to the Dome together?

Goto: Yeah. When we were at high school, we were able to go and practice at Takushoku University in Tokyo. It just so happened we had a free day, and that was the day NJPW was running in the Dome.

–What event was it?

Goto: April 29, 1996. Battle Formation. We sat and watched Great Muta versus Jinsei Shinzaki (watch on NJPW World!), and said to one another ‘one day, we’ll be wrestling in that ring’. So our match together was a dream come true, literally.

–The crowd was very hot for that match.

Goto: That was definitely thanks to Shibata. I was coming back from injury, but he didn’t hold anything back and we just went at it full tilt. I’m so grateful I could wrestle him.

–He’s had such an influence on your career.

Goto: He’s been a friend, a guardian, a brother. It’s impossible to put it all into words.

–How did you react to his injury in April 2017 putting him out of action?

Goto: It was such a huge shock. But, you know, when I went to train with him last year in LA, it really hit home that he hasn’t lost a step when it comes to moving, hasn’t lost any of that musculature. I wonder just how bad that injury still is for him. Obviously I can’t speak for him, but when it comes to Shibata, I’d love for him to come back. Teaming with him, wrestling him, whatever. I’d love for him to come back someday.

–The work that he’s been able to do with the LA Dojo trainees is no small feat in itself.

Goto: True. But he’s always had that within himself. He was our captain in high school, and took the team to win the prefectural tournament. He led us into the nationals. He’s always had that ability to rally the troops and be a leader.

–So you must have had faith that Shibata would be a success as LA Dojo head coach.

Goto: Oh, absolutely! I tend to be a little bit selfish in the ring myself, but he’s always been about getting the team on side and having everyone on the same page.

 

The match with Jay was the gear change Shibata had wanted

–So if the Shibata match is what’s most memorable to you, what do you think your best match is?

Goto: I’d have to say the G1 Climax last year against Jay White. (Watch on NJPW World!)

–Your revenge match after losing to him in Kumamoto that April.

Goto: I’ve had some painful losses in my time, but that was possibly the most painful defeat I’ve ever taken.

–It was after that match that you went to LA to train with Shibata.

Goto: Right. I wanted to change my surroundings, go back to the start. Find that fighting spirit again.

–Did you have flashbacks to high school, training with Shibata in LA?

Goto: I did. There weren’t many people training there, so it was like when he and I joined the high school wrestling club and there weren’t many members. We just literally trained from sunrise to sunset.

–When you came back we instantly saw the change in you.

Goto: Oh yeah. Shibata was in charge of my diet and my training, so I lost 10 kg.

–So what did you eat?

Goto: A lot of vegetables, a lot of chicken breast, not much carbs. Once a week as a reward we’d have steak.

–So you were in the US, but you weren’t eating much American food.

Goto: Not at all. It really changed me physically as well as mentally.

–And you credit that time in LA to your win over Jay?

Goto: After I beat Jay, all the effort and all the emotion leading up to that match flashed in front of me. I just felt so grateful. It was a bit like the Shibata match in a sense that something I’d mentally envisioned for so long was made real now. I won’t forget that match.

–Your thoughts on Jay as an opponent?

Goto: It’s so hard to find a weakness in him. He’s very sneaky, obviously, and I think it’s clear to see just how completely he changed during his time on excursion. He’s very similar to Kazuchika Okada in that sense. 

–He’s certainly has a different approach to your straight ahead nature.

Goto: Completely different. I don’t know whether ‘interesting’ is the right word when it comes to facing him, but he was able to pull something new out of me, and the match really illustrated the gear change that Shibata had wanted me to make. 

–We saw a new Hirooki Goto.

Goto: Right. I was reacting in different ways, doing things that were new even for me.

–There are still a lot of fans that want you to hold the IWGP Heavyweight Championship once in your career.

Goto: It’s still my dream, and it’s still my goal. I might be 40 now, but whatever age I am, I’ll always be trying to win that title as long as I’m wrestling.

–Finally, the classic question: what does pro-wrestling mean to Hirooki Goto?

Goto: Life!

Up next on Chain Reactions!

–We’ve had a great time and learned a lot! So, it’s now up to you; wrestler or staff, who’s next in our chain reaction?

Goto: Well, I think it has to be YOSHI-HASHI!

–Why’s that?

Goto: He’s got a really fascinating story about his journey here, a lot of ups and downs. And he has some hilarious old photographs (laughs).

–There you have it! Look out for Chain Reactions with YOSHI-HASHI soon!