OZAWA Blasts Tokyo Sports For Choosing Kaisei Takechi As The Rookie Of The Year

By: Lewis Carlan

The Tokyo Sports Award winners for 2025 were announced on Dec. 16th with Saya Kamitani making history by becoming the first woman to win the MVP award.

The choice of Kamitani did not sit well with Pro Wrestling NOAH superstar OZAWA who felt that the MVP accolade should have gone to him. He said the result left him furious and renamed the Tokyo Sports Pro Wrestling Awards the “Favoritism Awards”.

In a video released on his YouTube channel, OZAWA stated “it’s extremely disappointing that off-ring achievements account for the majority of the evaluation, and I think this is truly a defeat for the pro wrestling world.”

OZAWA then went on to blast the choice of Kasei Takechi as the Tokyo Sports Pro Wrestling Rookie of the Year on the strength of competing in only 5 matches in 2025. OZAWA criticized handing the Rookie of the Year award to someone who only wrestles as a side job.

The NOAH star stated that Takechi won only because “he came from a popular group [THE RAMPAGE] and brought pro wrestling to the public.” OZAWA stated there were many other rookies who worked hard all year thus making them more deserving. He went on to say that if this logic holds up in 2026, then next years Tokyo Sports Pro Wrestling MVP will be Fuwa-chan who is re-debuting for STARDOM after a long period of inactivity. Fuwa-Chan is a YouTube star with over 1 million subscribers and over 1 billion views on her channel.

Photo Credit: OZAWA

From OZAWA:

“Today, I want to talk about the “Tokyo Sports Pro Wrestling Awards.” This is about the so-called “Tokyo Sports Pro Wrestling Awards,” or rather, the “Favoritism Awards,” and I’m honestly furious. I’ve been strongly asserting to the public that “I should be this year’s Pro Wrestling MVP,” and I’ve even gone to great lengths to curry favor and lobby the Tokyo Sports and the selection committee members, even giving them custom-made castella cakes from Bunmeido. As you all know, the results are in. I didn’t win the MVP; I only won “Match of the Year.” The MVP went to Saya Kamitani of the women’s pro wrestling promotion STARDOM. …To be honest, after seeing these results, I have to say, it’s a complete defeat. The number of votes was overwhelming, leaving no room for anyone else. Kamitani’s victory was decisive. A complete defeat, a crushing defeat, an overwhelming defeat. But this is a “defeat for the pro wrestling world.” Looking at the reasons for the award, things like “appearing on terrestrial television” and “spreading women’s pro wrestling to the public” are listed first. Reasons like “defending the title seven times” are added later, but ultimately, the evaluation is mostly based on spreading pro wrestling to the public. But that has nothing to do with pro wrestling, does it? The award is decided more by television appearances than by what happens in the ring. As a wrestler, it’s extremely disappointing that off-ring achievements account for the majority of the evaluation, and I think this is truly a defeat for the pro wrestling world.”

OZAWA then proceeded to criticize the choice of Takechi for Rookie of the Year:

“The same goes for the Rookie of the Year award. Kaisei Takechi of THE RAMPAGE won, but how many matches did he have this year? A person who only wrestled a few times as a side job becomes the most brilliant rookie wrestler of the year. Ultimately, he was also evaluated because he “came from a popular group and brought pro wrestling to the public.” There were many other rookie wrestlers who worked hard and excelled in the ring. If this logic holds, then next year’s MVP will be Fuwa-chan. She has more name recognition than anyone else and the power to spread pro wrestling to the public. The Tokyo Sports Pro Wrestling Awards, once again this year, pandered to public opinion and showed favoritism towards the Bushiroad Group. “The Pro Wrestling Awards have absolutely no authority”—that’s what Inamura said, right? I heard Inamura saying that. Is he jealous because he didn’t win any awards? Let’s not do things like throwing insults at the award winners, including myself. I’m already furious, so to avenge the insulted winners, I’m going to crush him at the January 1st Nippon Budokan!”

On Jan. 1st, OZAWA will return from injury and challenge Yoshiki Inamura for the GHC Heavyweight Title at NOAH The NEW YEAR 2026.

(H/T goes to meraWRESTLING for all English quote translations)