True to his word, Ryosei Royama held an open workout before his return from self imposed exile. The event was held at the Ryo Suzuki dojo in Morioka, Iwate. Surprisingly, Royama's trainer, the legendary Ryo Suzuki conducted the festivities as representatives for several small scale media outlets were invited. They were told to sit on chairs near the ring set up in the middle of the dojo.
Royama entered the dojo's ring with little fanfare and showed off what had changed about him...His weight appeared to be down, but in it's place lean muscle gained from intensive exercise. His hair had grown out, which he had tied into a pony tail behind his head. A young Ryo Suzuki trainee named Masayuki Kanehara climbed into the ring, and the two had what was supposed to be a "spar"...Royama immediately charged across the ring and nailed the young man with a kenka kick, and began to repeatedly kick him in the face...With the young man seemingly unconscious, Royama put on a display of his new techniques...The first was a Capture Suplex that Royama hit with force and power...The second, was a shoulder lift into a side slam called "Flare Up!"...the final one Royama had to set up the young man in a sitting position before Royama bounced off the ropes and went nearly horizontal before nailing him with a sliding shotei! The force of the blow was obvious as spittle flew out of the young man's mouth & face as he laid unconscious...Royama simply walked away without looking down at what he had done as other ring boys pulled Kanehara out of the ring.
Following the display, Suzuki and Royama both sat down to speak to the media that had been invited...
Suzuki gave a small speech to start off with, saying that when Royama had come to him in 2005, that he had nothing but his name and his heritage as a descendent of the father of "Imperial Japanese Navy" Ryoma Sakamoto. Suzuki called Royama's pride and stubborn attitude the only thing that had gotten him this far...but said that when Royama had returned to him over a month ago, he had given Royama the very "worst" training he could possibly produce. His goal was to drive away any fear and hesitation much like he had done to Tenshin Komatsu in 2003, and to produce a wrestler who never backed away, but never gave in to emotions mixing power with speed, and tactical thinking with courage...Suzuki pointed at the ring, before stating that after one month of "hell training", this was the result.
Royama took some questions from the media...Summarized below...
- He will be remaining in the junior division. Despite being taller then some of the heavyweights, Royama decided that he would rather bulk down and streamline his body through hard work then to move up and be weaker. He's cut ten pounds of weight, and what he has left is muscle based...He stated that he may continue to cut weight until he finds his "optimal" range...
- When asked about HEROICS members Akira Tomizaki, HANZO, and Kazuki Takagi Royama called them his friends, and that he was looking forward to bringing back HEROICS for one night before they all went on their own paths...
- Royama was asked about his heritage, as Royama has mentioned that he is of "samurai descent" before but had never elaborated until now...Royama stated that Ryoma Sakamoto had been assassinated at thirty three years of age, but that he had siblings. Through the family tree, he is an offspring of one of the siblings, and as such "samurai" blood runs through his blood.
- Royama gave a declaration at the end, stating that he was DROPPING his first name Ryosei as a ring name...Royama stated that he wanted something that better described himself...and has settled on "Ikuji" which means backbone, guts, self-confidence, and self-respect among others. From now on, Ryosei Royama will wrestle as Ikuji Royama and called 8/6 his "debut" as who he truly is...
Royama entered the dojo's ring with little fanfare and showed off what had changed about him...His weight appeared to be down, but in it's place lean muscle gained from intensive exercise. His hair had grown out, which he had tied into a pony tail behind his head. A young Ryo Suzuki trainee named Masayuki Kanehara climbed into the ring, and the two had what was supposed to be a "spar"...Royama immediately charged across the ring and nailed the young man with a kenka kick, and began to repeatedly kick him in the face...With the young man seemingly unconscious, Royama put on a display of his new techniques...The first was a Capture Suplex that Royama hit with force and power...The second, was a shoulder lift into a side slam called "Flare Up!"...the final one Royama had to set up the young man in a sitting position before Royama bounced off the ropes and went nearly horizontal before nailing him with a sliding shotei! The force of the blow was obvious as spittle flew out of the young man's mouth & face as he laid unconscious...Royama simply walked away without looking down at what he had done as other ring boys pulled Kanehara out of the ring.
Following the display, Suzuki and Royama both sat down to speak to the media that had been invited...
Suzuki gave a small speech to start off with, saying that when Royama had come to him in 2005, that he had nothing but his name and his heritage as a descendent of the father of "Imperial Japanese Navy" Ryoma Sakamoto. Suzuki called Royama's pride and stubborn attitude the only thing that had gotten him this far...but said that when Royama had returned to him over a month ago, he had given Royama the very "worst" training he could possibly produce. His goal was to drive away any fear and hesitation much like he had done to Tenshin Komatsu in 2003, and to produce a wrestler who never backed away, but never gave in to emotions mixing power with speed, and tactical thinking with courage...Suzuki pointed at the ring, before stating that after one month of "hell training", this was the result.
Royama took some questions from the media...Summarized below...
- He will be remaining in the junior division. Despite being taller then some of the heavyweights, Royama decided that he would rather bulk down and streamline his body through hard work then to move up and be weaker. He's cut ten pounds of weight, and what he has left is muscle based...He stated that he may continue to cut weight until he finds his "optimal" range...
- When asked about HEROICS members Akira Tomizaki, HANZO, and Kazuki Takagi Royama called them his friends, and that he was looking forward to bringing back HEROICS for one night before they all went on their own paths...
- Royama was asked about his heritage, as Royama has mentioned that he is of "samurai descent" before but had never elaborated until now...Royama stated that Ryoma Sakamoto had been assassinated at thirty three years of age, but that he had siblings. Through the family tree, he is an offspring of one of the siblings, and as such "samurai" blood runs through his blood.
- Royama gave a declaration at the end, stating that he was DROPPING his first name Ryosei as a ring name...Royama stated that he wanted something that better described himself...and has settled on "Ikuji" which means backbone, guts, self-confidence, and self-respect among others. From now on, Ryosei Royama will wrestle as Ikuji Royama and called 8/6 his "debut" as who he truly is...
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