Ninja Mack Opens Up About Pro Wrestling NOAH, Last Minute Title Win, WWE And AEW Working With NOAH, More - Exclusive

Wanna make a bet? If so, remember to always bet on Ninja Mack.

Mack recently returned to the United States at GCW's Aura event, just a few days after returning from his third tour in Japan for Pro Wrestling NOAH. This time around, Mack actually managed to put some gold around his waist in Japan when he defeated Hayata for the NOAH Junior Heavyweight Championship. The win appeared to come as a surprise to Mack, as Hayata appeared to be injured and unable to complete the bout, but however it came about, Mack can now add a huge international championship to his ever-growing list of accolades.

In this exclusive interview with Wrestling Inc. Senior News Editor Nick Hausman, Mack opens up about his growing reputation in Japan, getting to team with The Great Muta as part of his retirement tour, WWE and AEW walking through NOAH's forbidden door, and more!

Nick Hausman: Correct me if I'm wrong, you've done three tours with NOAH in 2022, is that correct?

Ninja Mack: Yes, they were going back for my fourth. The first one was a month, the second one was a month, and this last one was eight weeks, so two months. This next time I go around, I think it's about 10 or 11 weeks this next time, going from December, mid-December, to the Tokyo Dome Show for Muta's final show.

Man, how do you deal with all that travel?

Well, I mean, NOAH takes care of me. They give me good flights. It is a good 12 to 14 hour flight, depending if I go straight, or if I have a connection it's usually about 12 to 13, two hour lay-over, four hours home. I mean, you do it in a day and hopefully you get back in time to catch some shows for the weekend.

How is it being a part of NOAH right now? This is arguably, I think the most NOAH gotten in many years. I mean, you have AEW and WWE opening their proverbial forbidden doors to the company right now. What's it been like for you to be part of this big moment for NOAH?

For them to welcome me with all arms, it's been a great opportunity and a great pleasure, especially to be able to work with some of the very best pro wrestlers and talent in the world, and then even to attend this last run of Muta and his shows and see what he does in a ring. I literally got to see it firsthand, being able to tag with him ... His presence is so commanding. So it's been a very great honor to be at NOAH. I'm very thankful for them to allow me to join them and learn from the best there is in the business right now. And I mean, they're buzzing. NOAH's buzzing everywhere. The junior division, the heavyweight division, they got connections with AEW, WWE, they just invested in themselves. All the walkout arenas look so good. The lights look so good. Man, NOAH's turning up.

Is it getting competitive with New Japan? I guess with NOAH kind of gaining a little bit more ground over in Japan and kind of more globally at the moment.

I'm not going to even lie to you, I don't keep up. I'm so focused on growing NOAH and then doing the indie shows I'm at, that I'm fully committed to NOAH that I'm not paying attention to a lot of the rivals. I know we just had a little Dragon Gate crossover and that was just nice to see some other competitors ... With New Japan right now, I'm so booked with NOAH that I'm just trying to get us to a point to where we are compatible ... I mean I'm always looking at crowd numbers, the roster talent, and I think we have a great roster talent, and then I don't even know what their numbers are to compare.

It's crazy because I talked to Timothy Thatcher about a week ago and the same passion I hear in your voice for this NOAH product right now, I heard in his voice too. It seems like the whole crew right over at NOAH are very engaged on really trying to push this thing as far as it can go. You guys certainly have the wind at your backs right now.

Yeah, we have a very good roster. I mean I was fortunate to take Hayata out and become the 50th GHC, Junior Heavyweight Champion. First foreigner in a while to do that ... I mean it sucks on my half that I couldn't pull it off in my first offense against Dante, but to be such a rival of mine, Dante Leon, and for him to come in and then be the fifth foreigner to come win that belt ever. We put a lot of attention on that junior division. And then Timothy Thatcher had a great match with Kiyomiya the other weekend and almost took the belt, and then the night before he actually got him in the match. So Timothy's making a big name in this for himself in the heavyweight division, and I think a lot of the foreigners going there right now are just grinding hard. The travel just opened, I think we're trying to put a big name out there, and then it's the competitors we have, we don't back off each other either, so we're pushing ourselves every single time.

When you talk about being part of the Muta retirement tour, you got to tag with him, right?

Yeah.

Give us some insight into what it's like to work with, and what did you learn, I guess, from Muta, or what have you learned from Muta while working with him?

Just his presence. I believe every person, every wrestler has a certain aura to them, certain energy level. And to walk in a room with him and just to feel the energy change because he's in the room, people are on their toes. I mean that's one of the best ever of all time to sit there and listen to talk to, for him to even listen. Everyone shuts up. I mean, it's words of wisdom. So the presence he had is the biggest thing I noticed.

The guy in the ring can still go ... He's a little hurt on his knees and his hips, but he is still going out there and hitting Shining Wizards, teaching Kiyomiya to be the next champ and the next great one for NOAH. The guy's put in so much work, and he still continues to put in so much work. So I just — to share a ring with him, I'm glad I was able to get that opportunity before he does retire. And then even Mayor Fuji was in that match, Hayata was in that match, Jack Morris was in that match. It was such a star-studded match that it's such a great opportunity.

The last time I talked to you I think was just before your first tour in NOAH, and I know when you and I last talked, you were telling me how you really wanted to go over there and you wanted to up your game. You saw yourself as very much developing in your style and your career. How do you feel now as we kind of close out 2022?

Leaps and bounds. I still think I've got to continue to grow. I was able to be on the PWI Top 100. I actually was number 99 this year, thank you PWI. It was my first time being ranked, so I think it's been a pretty good year, and all the work I'm putting in is paying off. Even in Japan, or if not even Japan, this last week since I've been home, I'm still putting in six to eight hours in a ring or in a gym and committing wrestling as a job. It is.

So I mean, I'm doing more than 40 hours a week, but I've really committed to the wrestling career ... My wrestling precision, everything's getting better. Man, I can't say enough to how much I've grown, but I still have so much more to grow. So I still don't feel like it's enough. I know I've grown, I see it, but it's not enough to still be with the top level stars, and that's my goal and my comparison. I always compare myself to the top guys.

Well I mean, you got a bigger spotlight on you now than I feel like you may have ever had in your career. And we talk about the forbidden door stuff, and we're seeing a lot of Japanese promotions kind of working with U.S. promotions right now. I mean, I think just moments ago Karl Anderson announced he's going back to New Japan, and all the DDT Pro and New Japan stuff going on in AEW. With you guys now in the mix, are you getting more looks from WWE and AEW?

I believe there's going to be a lot of opportunities going forward, but I'm so focused on NOAH and growing that and seeing what we can make out of it, that I'm actually going to have, I had my one last GCW show last weekend. I only have a couple indie shows coming up before I go back. And they're pretty big matches in some big indie promotions.

Next week, December 3rd, MCW with Dante Martin. I think that's a very big match that's going to get a lot of eyes to be put on. I mean he's a young star, young high flyer from AEW that's been competing with some of the best talent in the world. So for me to be able to go against that, it's an honor and I'm very excited.

And then even the next week, December 10th in Chicago, I got Davy Richards, so that's a little future and past of NOAH meeting at an indie show before I go back to Japan. And then it's a good three month run in Japan to see what more opponents NOAH has for me, what the plans are. Are we going to go bigger opponents? Am I going to get my revenge match and go for a championship run again? So I do got a lot of plans going forward. I hope to capitalize and find out what they are.

Obviously you were briefly the GHC Junior Heavyweight champion. You beat Hayata there, as you mentioned before. Now this seemed very out of the blue, I've read things about your title win here. Mack, was this always what was supposed to happen? Did you know that you would be walking out that night as the champion?

No, I did not know at all. So just the difference of indies to Japanese wrestling, I'm not told very much. And then going in into it, things can change on a whim just like we saw in that match. So you have to be experienced enough to go with everything. And then also just, I mean capitalize on every opportunity, make the best you can out of every situation. Unfortunately, Hayata was hurt and wasn't able to continue. So we put Ninja Mack's name in the NOAH Junior GHC Heavyweight Championship book, and it's history.

So I mean, I got to capitalize on every opportunity. But now losing it just 11 days later, I have so much more to grow and continue to go for another one. And then just to see what's going forward after that.

It's almost like a too-perfect storyline for you, coming back to NOAH after this. And what was it like for you in that moment, realizing, "Oh man, I am about to go into the history books." How did that feel for you, kind of realizing that in the moment?

There's a little part of you that's worried about Hayata, because you see another man in front of you break his elbow, fracture his elbow. We are in a competition, so I mean, I'm very happy I won, but there's a piece of my mind just worried about Hayata, a piece of my mind that you know, actually just won the 50th championship of NOAH's wrestling history, which is mind boggling.

I think that was the first time it's been done in 12 to 13 years. And I mean, it took a moment to actually kick in and actually hit you that you're now in the history books for them forever. So that was a big moment and a big opportunity in my career that I'm very happy that I was able to seize.

Well the man who holds that title now, Dante Leon, you're going to be taking on him and The Leaf Mask, December 20th, Tokyo Dome Festival ... What's going through your mind here? What do you think fans can expect when they see the three of you all get in the ring here at this show?

Knowing Dante and as much as we got, that's already going to be very exciting enough. And for this other opponent that I don't even know about, I've never seen him on the roster ... I mean, having that mystery, and then already knowing me and Dante are going to go at it a lot, I mean, what's that mystery? There's so much you can add to that.

How has it been for you, adapting to that Japanese reaction from the fans? What do you think about it?

And I can only experience and speak from the experience I've gone through. I've been very embraced by the Japanese fans since I've been there. It's been very heartwarming and they've been very welcoming of me. So to first start getting their voice at the Hayata match on October 30th, that was the first time we were actually able to hear the fans, and to hear the fans the first time, because I said this was my third tour, so this is probably five to six months in ...  to hear their voices for the first time was something amazing.

And they were still being spread out. So they're not even full out arenas yet. That was only, I think 2,800 to 3,500 people, that wasn't even close to a full 7,000, 10,000 people. So to hear their voices was nice. But the six months before that, they were only allowed to clap. They weren't allowed to make noises.

Because of what, the pandemic restrictions, correct?

Yes sir. And they still got to sit separate, so it's a little different at first. But then also, to hear their voices the first time was very nice, and they've been very heartwarming of me. So they were screaming for Ninja pretty loud. It's a good thing to hear.

How is the language barrier for you? Has it been a big problem or no?

No, I think at a certain level of wrestling you can go off a body language, and lucky enough, a lot of the NOAH guys are very smart and they speak good enough English for me to be able to get through. But at the same time, I'm trying to learn some Japanese just to be able to communicate better. Then as you're spending more time over there, it's just smart to learn the language if you're going to be in that culture. But I think at a certain point they're also good over there with their wrestling, that it really is a lot of body feel, body language, where communication isn't too big of an issue.

Well, as you're talking to me right now, you're wearing your mask. Is it mask all the time now?

For NOAH, I've been fully masked. I've been going no mask off when I come back to America. I was de-masked a little bit, but when I first started wrestling as Ninja Mack, when I would wrestle luchadors, I would take the mask off, more of a proper respect of them ... I wear a mask because I'm a ninja. But also at the same time, when I would wrestle American wrestlers, I'd keep the mask on, more of an intimidation process.

And then just as I involved with the black and the red, with the two different colors and the gambling scheme, I mean the whole, "Wanna make a bet" ... since I've done two different colors, I've kept the mask on. Except there was one time for Blood Sport that I took my mask off. But I feel like in that fight tradition, that fight world, that MMA feel, it wouldn't be fair to wear a mask, or maybe it could be a disadvantage to wear my mask in a fight feel, so out of respect, I took it off for that match.