Contrary to their promises of having a press conference at the Hilton Hotel in Shinjuku within two days on the 1st of March in their letter to the Japanese media, Shoji Yoshinaka and Akuma Toyota's press conference did not take place until the second instead...No official word was given for this change, but rumors have circulated that it was an attempt to "keep reporters guessing" by Yoshinaka himself, as word was circulated regarding the press conference just hours prior to beginning.
Reporters who appeared were greeting with a very sparse and spartan atmosphere in the media room. Little to no effort had been taken to "spruce" the room up, with only the Destination BATTLE GROUND logo behind the stage and chairs situated around the room. Compared to the usual offerings by companies, this came as quite a shock to reporters who grumbled vocally at the lack of effort put in.
No one was allowed to go backstage and speak to Yoshinaka or Toyota prior to the press conference, and the press conference did not begin as advertised, forcing the reporters to wait thirty minutes before Toyota and Yoshinaka greeted the stage. Yoshinaka wore a black suit, with his trademark dark sunglasses and jet black hair somewhat smoothed backwards. Toyota's appearance received an immediate reaction in his light blue suit. Gone was Toyota's faux mullet; instead Toyota sported a brand new short hair style with his neatly trimmed goatee.
Yoshinaka opened up the press conference with a keynote speech. Yoshinaka asked the audience of reporters the question "What is pro-wrestling?", to which Yoshinaka replied "A fight to determine who is stronger". Yoshinaka claimed this was what was missing in today's world and why the industry had collapsed. A generation had clung onto fame desperately, keeping the next from experiencing "true fight". They could never evolve as fighters and were left without any ambition or desires towards being great. They were content instead of driving towards success and desire. Yoshinaka directly called out individuals like Kazuma Fujita and Ryo Inoue, two "old stars" who "took the limelight and glory for themselves, leaving none for others". Pro-Wrestling, Yoshinaka said, was not about strength anymore but instead entertainment and trying to please not only the audience but also to please their "superiors".
Destination BATTLE GROUND, Yoshinaka said, would be the "last home of true pro-wrestling". No politics, no worrying about pleasing your "superiors", no needing to dress yourself up like a sideshow character to gain attention. Destination is about combat, to see who is the best, to return Pro-Wrestling back to the old ways where men could be men and not "pretend boy fighters".
With this, Yoshinaka gave the stage to "General Manager" Akuma Toyota. Toyota stated that he was only interested in having strong fighters in Destination. Regardless of ethnicity or style, the only thing that matters is their ability to carry themselves as a warrior. Since the letter campaign, Toyota claimed, he had been bombarded by wrestlers and fighters from all over the world wanting to bring their battle prowess to Destination. Toyota said many had been discarded with little regard, not meeting his criteria of "true fighters". Despite this, Toyota said that just in the three days since the letter, Destination now had a full roster but that he wouldn't expose the roster yet, but that he would reveal who he would face on the very first show on March 14th. With that, Toyota introduced professional MMA fighter and former OLYMPUS FS star, Akira Aoki!
Aoki, his muscles bulging out of his black suit came out to the stage and vigorously shook Toyota's hand. The two posed for photos before Toyota sat down to let Aoki speak. Aoki had little to say, simply stating that he had retired from MMA competition in 2010 but had been looking for a new competitive environment. When he heard Toyota's open letter, even at his age, he felt the need to give it a try. Given Aoki's skillset, the thirty seven year old stated that he would give Toyota all he could handle in his professional wrestling debut!
The three men then opened up the floor to questions for the scant reporters in attendance, but Yoshinaka announced they would only take three questions so "make them good" he stated.
Question #1 was directed at Yoshinaka and Aoki. The question was simple: "Why start in the pro wrestling business now?". Yoshinaka seemed annoyed at the question before simply stating that he "wanted to". Aoki was more gregarious, stating that he had always admired Akuma Toyota's prowess and knew he wanted to take a shot as pro-wrestling at some point in his career. Aoki said he might as well do it as he won't be getting any younger.
Question #2 was directed at Yoshinaka again. "With the recent downturn of business with RubySTAR have you faced any internal pressure in regards to Destination BATTLE GROUND?"; if Yoshinaka was annoyed before, he became absolutely livid at this point. With a stern face and obvious concealed rage, Yoshinaka stated that Destination was only about Destination and RubySTAR's ongoing business had nothing to do with the activities of Destination BATTLE GROUND. He then pointed around the room before stating "that is the last time I will ever answer a RubySTAR related question at one of these."
After a long period of awkward silence, question #3 came, this time directed to Akuma Toyota. "Destination BATTLE GROUND is not the only new Pro-Wrestling company. Do you have any plans to cooperate with Kingdom of Japan Pro-Wrestling?" Toyota immediately answered with a definitive "No." However, this reporter wasn't satisfied, and asked "Why not?". Toyota replied "I have no use for entertainers or ego driven "legends"."
Once again an awkward silence fell over the room before Yoshinaka called the end to the press conference. However, right before everyone could get up to leave, a sudden commotion in the western corner caught everyone's attention. From a side hallway, in walked two men Akuma Toyota knows very well: The ever growing rotundness of Mikio Tsuruya, a long time enemy of Toyota and a man that Toyota helped train Akio "Danger" Kobayashi. Tsuruya, with his long permed hair and pink shirt came into the room, while Kobayashi had his blue face paint and no shirt on. The two paused and looked behind as a third man walked into the room. A spike haired blonde hair fit man, wearing a long trench coat, no shirt, and large cross across his chest; former top gaijin of Project:B ETA last decade, Stephen Priest! Priest's appearance, his first since 2008 in Japan, caused quite a stir as he took a swallow from a wine bottle he was carrying, stumbling into the room as the red wine coated his chest.
Toyota leaped to his feet and demanded to know what they wanted. Tsuruya sarcastically stated that he hadn't been invited and assumed it was a mistake, so showed up on his own. Toyota pointed at Tsuruya, saying he understood a "delinquent" like Tsuruya crashing the conference, and he understood Kobayashi being Tsuruya's "underling". But Toyota pointed at Priest, and stated that he didn't know why HE was here. Tsuruya explained that when they showed up, Priest wasn't being let into the building, so Tsuruya "convinced" the guards to let Priest in. Tsuruya shrugged, saying Priest had followed them from there.
Toyota looked at Priest, who seemed to almost sway back and forth in a stupor, before asking him in broken English "What do you want?". Priest smiled and approached the table. Once there, Priest pointed at Toyota before saying in a clearly rehearsed Japanese statement, "I came to be strongest". Toyota stared at Priest, who simply smiled in return, before asking "You come to fight?" to which Priest responded "I come to fight". Toyota then slapped the table and screamed "Good! You fight!"
Priest seemed pleased while Tsuruya appeared bored out of his mind, and Kobayashi simply scowled. Toyota's angry eyes burned a hole through Priest. Priest nodded his head, took a mouthful of his wine and then SPIT IT INTO TOYOTA'S FACE! Toyota seemed almost paralyzed with rage for a second, before attempting to charge Priest. Yoshinaka and Aoki both held Toyota back as Priest backed away, laughing hysterically as the wine poured down his body. Within seconds, the three troublemakers were gone.
After a few moments of instability, an end to the conference was declared, with futher details to be released soon.
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