Sartre’s Wrestler: Why Kaito Kiyomiya is an Ace of Bad Faith

By: H.M. Ryan

Did Kaito Kiyomiya take the proverbial rocket and strap it to his own back? Or did others strap it to him?

The 29-year-old ace of Pro Wrestling NOAH exists in what one observer called ‘a weird purgatory’ – ten years after his debut, holding legendary accomplishments yet somehow feeling inauthentic. To understand why an inauthentic aura surrounds Kaito Kiyomiya, we must first understand the philosophical concept of ‘bad faith.’

Jean-Paul Sartre’s concept of ‘bad faith’ – the self-deception by which humans deny their radical freedom and pretend they have no choice in their actions – finds its perfect embodiment in the café waiter from Being and Nothingness. The waiter’s movements are ‘a little too precise, a little too rapid’ as he plays at being a waiter, trying to convince himself he IS essentially a waiter rather than simply choosing to wait tables. He reduces his complex human existence to this single role, pretending he is a waiter the way ‘an inkwell is an inkwell.’

Kaito Kiyomiya quickly rose from teenage prodigy to Pro Wrestling NOAH’s youngest-ever heavyweight champion in 2018 at 22 years old. Now 29, Kiyomiya represents both the promise and the peril of being positioned as wrestling’s future.

Kiyomiya, for his part, seemed destined for greatness. In 2009, at the age of 13, a young Kaito rented a DVD of the inaugural GHC Heavyweight Championship tournament final between Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshihiro Takayama. “It was cool,” he later told Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine. “From then on, Misawa became my hero. For a long time, I would only watch Misawa’s matches.” Following Misawa’s sudden death and NOAH losing its television broadcast during this period, Kiyomiya remained committed to his dream of leading NOAH. Middle school saw him create his own workout routine and take up kickboxing when his school lacked an active martial arts club.

Immediately after graduating high school in 2015, Kiyomiya joined the Pro Wrestling NOAH dojo, moving into the dormitory and beginning months of intensive training under figures like Daisuke Harada, Masa Kitamiya, and Atsushi Kotoge. The training proved “even harder” than he imagined, but Kiyomiya persevered, later noting, “I didn’t like studying very much, so for me wrestling was the only way.” Naomichi Marufuji took notice of his dropkick during training, telling him, “Your dropkick is good. Cherish it.”

Of his training group, only Kiyomiya would make it to the professional ranks, debuting as a teenager – the first ever teenager – at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Differ Ariake event in Tokyo in a losing effort against Hitoshi Kumano. The next few months predictably proved to be a challenge for the NOAH rookie. Still, by June 2016, the young upstart had earned significant victories, including winning Minoru Suzuki’s 48th Birthday Anniversary Royal Rumble Match.

Excursion to Canada in 2017 saw Kiyomiya undergo a dramatic physical transformation, gaining over 30 lbs to reach 220 lbs. “Every day I ate my fill, and I was determined to enjoy everything, even the hard things,” Kiyomiya explained, noting his diet focused heavily on steak while maintaining daily gym sessions alongside his wrestling training. When he returned to Japan in December of 2017 to confront newly-crowned GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenoh at Korakuen Hall, the venue went silent. Who was this new competitor? Could it be that Kaito Kiyomiya?

Though he would lose the subsequent championship match against Kenoh in January 2018, he took hold of the title for the first time almost a year later, defeating Sugiura on December 16, 2018, at Great Voyage in Yokohama vol. 2. Three years of professional experience led to this triumph. At 22 years old, it looked to be the start of a one-man dynasty in Pro Wrestling NOAH.

And it was a good start. Kiyomiya’s 384-day reign from that day to January 4, 2020, ranks as the second-longest for a first-time champion, behind only Kenta Kobashi’s runaway 735 days. During his reign, Kiyomiya successfully defended the title seven times before losing to Go Shiozaki at Korakuen Hall. During this reign, Kiyomiya further connected himself to NOAH’s legacy by introducing a new submission move inspired by Misawa’s camel clutch and Toshiaki Kawada’s stretch plum.

If this first GHC Heavyweight Championship reign wasn’t enough to set ablaze the trail to becoming NOAH’s ace, Kaito Kiyomiya’s two subsequent reigns might have done the trick. All told, Kiyomiya spent 801 days as GHC Heavyweight Champion across his three reigns with the belt. In addition, his three N-1 Victory tournament wins currently tie the record, including his 2024 victory as the reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion – a first in the tournament’s history. 

And, in one of the most overt torch-passings in the history of professional wrestling, all-time great Keiji Muto provided his stamp of approval post-match, with Muto officially passing down three of his signature moves: the Shining Wizard, the Figure Four Leg-lock, and the Dragon Screw (“three sacred treasures”). Kiyomiya eagerly incorporated these rewards into his arsenal.

Muto’s retirement show – February 21, 2023, at Tokyo Dome – presented the perfect opportunity to show what the next level looked like for GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya. His opponent: New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada, then the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. The match, however, lasted 16:32 before Okada secured the win in fairly dominant fashion, hitting Misawa’s famed Emerald Flowsion followed by his own Rainmaker for the 1-2-3. Kiyomiya humbly accepted “the difference with Kazuchika Okada” and the atmosphere of Tokyo Dome, and losing to one of the greatest ever in his prime is hardly a black eye on one’s legacy. 

Losing one’s GHC Heavyweight Championship to a recently joined Jake Lee less than a month later, however, might be. This defeat marked a period of reflection for Kaito Kiyomiya. He formed a partnership with New Japan’s Ryohei Oiwa until a September 2024 match between the two sent Oiwa back to NJPW.

In May 2024, Kiyomiya formed the faction All Rebellion, which included former rival KENOH and the masked wrestlers Alejandro and Cristobal. Their mission: to bring NOAH “to the top of the industry” and create a “new NOAH.” In the few years leading up to the formation of All Rebellion, Kaito Kiyomiya – still a young competitor himself – began training Taishi Ozawa and, in effect, sculpted who was to become the snake in NOAH’s garden. Ozawa’s betrayal came in November 2024, and in the events to follow, Kiyomiya would lose his GHC Heavyweight Championship to Ozawa on New Year’s Day 2025.

Notably, the Budokan audience supported OZAWA over Kiyomiya, representing a dramatic shift in fan sentiment and marking perhaps the lowest point in Kiyomiya’s career as his protegé surpassed him with crowd support. A rematch in May 2025 saw Kiyomiya come up short once more. With the N-1 Victory 2025 tournament beginning September 8th, Kaito Kiyomiya – a three-time winner – finds himself in A-Block alongside the likes of KENTA, Tetsuya Endo, Ulka Sasaki, and Daga.

But even if he does win a record fourth N-1 Victory tournament, and even if he does go on to win another GHC Heavyweight Championship – what does Kaito Kiyomiya think of Kaito Kiyomiya? And what does this all have to do with Sartre?

It’s important to note the differences between the Kaito Kiyomiya of 2025 versus the Kaito Kiyomiya of 2018 or even 2023. 2022-2023 saw Kiyomiya with a much larger physique than his current form, a trend consistent with his ascension to the top of NOAH, specifically his Canadian excursion. Was gaining muscle mass what Kiyomiya believed he needed to do to become the face of one of the biggest wrestling companies in Japan? Was this a role in which he saw the shape of past stars and contorted his body to match? And comparing his physique from even just a few years ago to his physique now, does this loss of muscle mass succinctly symbolize his current identity crisis?

Perhaps it was accepting Keiji Muto’s “three sacred treasures” that began showing the cracks in Kiyomiya’s authenticity as ace of the Ark. Did incorporating Keiji Muto’s legendary maneuvers into his arsenal, rather than forging his own path, lead to him simply performing someone else’s identity – someone else’s role – instead of forging his own path?

Japanese wrestling culture adds complexity to the world of professional wrestling through the “ace” role – the promotion’s top star who must embody company and cultural expectations. The ace faces unique existential pressures beyond those of a regular member of the roster: their identity becomes deeply intertwined with promotional needs, success becomes measured by one’s ability to draw audiences, and succession – whom they receive the nod from, and who they eventually give the nod to – creates anxiety about authenticity and worthiness.

Taking into account Sartre’s theories, his overall performance as the top star in Pro Wrestling NOAH, and his recent struggles, is it fair to call Kaito Kiyomiya an “ace of bad faith”?

The fundamental insight for understanding this assertion lies not in simple inauthenticity but in wrestling’s unique demand for authentic commitment to acknowledged fiction. The ace must embody an ideal while remaining human, maintain character while acknowledging performance, and serve promotional needs while expressing individual creativity. This balancing act creates a paradox that illuminates broader questions about identity, performance, and authenticity in contemporary life. 

Professional wrestling’s kayfabe, like Sartre’s waiter, reveals how modern existence often requires performing authenticity rather than simply being authentic. The difference lies in consciousness – the wrestler knows they’re performing, the audience knows they’re watching a performance, yet both commit to the fiction’s reality. This conscious engagement with necessary illusion might represent not bad faith but a distinctly contemporary form of authentic existence that acknowledges performance as fundamental to human identity while maintaining awareness of its constructed nature.

Perhaps the most pertinent example of authenticity in Pro Wrestling NOAH can be seen in its top heel and Kiyomiya’s former student, OZAWA. “The Real Rebel” doesn’t take anything too seriously in the ring, often performs his opponent’s moves as well if not better than they do, and his sense of humor – which he loves showcasing in the ring – could be described as juvenile at best. But through his actions in the ring, OZAWA is authentic to the core. And as seen by his recent matches against Kiyomiya, the crowd understands and appreciates this authenticity.

Did Kaito Kiyomiya choose this path that he’s been on? At the age of 13, while​​ watching the Misawa DVD, did he choose to become the ace who would lead the company into the future? Or is that the role that was presented to him by the likes of Muto and Kenoh, a role which Kiyomiya is now struggling with in the face of more popular stars like OZAWA? Is Kaito Kiyomiya authentically the ace of Pro Wrestling NOAH? Or has he simply just been playing the part?

It’s difficult to say. A mean streak has cropped up during Kaito Kiyomiya’s recent matches, most notably against OZAWA. Perhaps Kiyomiya will continue pushing that envelope. Or maybe the 2025 N-1 Victory tournament could see the start of Kiyomiya finally settling into the path he decides he wants through the choices he makes, whether that be as the top star of the company or just a great wrestler on the Ark.

For Kaito Kiyomiya to entirely ditch the “ace of bad faith” label, he will likely need to choose his role consciously, perform it skillfully, and maintain awareness of the gap between self and performance. By mastering this paradox, only then will Kaito Kiyomiya finally ascend to the Authentic Ace of Pro Wrestling NOAH.