A Major Incident Breaks Out! (9/8 Korakuen Hall Tournament)

The N-1 VICTORY 2025 begins.
Korakuen Hall had truly transformed into a space of pure frenzy, with one intense battle after another, fitting for an opening match.

Behind the scenes of such a highly successful Korakuen Hall tournament, a shocking incident occurred that could have shaken the over 70-year history of Japanese professional wrestling, which began with the great Rikidozan.

It happened before the tournament started.

Just as we staff members had finished setting up the ring and were starting to change into our gear to prepare for the matches,

“I forgot it!”

a shout was heard.

All the surrounding staff turned around at the ear-piercing shout. Then, another cry.

“I forgot it!”

Reminiscent of the “Minasei no Shucho” (Teenagers' Claims) segment from “Gakkou e Ikou!”, the surrounding staff rushed over just like Inocchi and Nagano-kun. It was a situation where it wouldn't have been strange for The Carpenters' “Yesterday Once More” or “Goodbye to Love” to start playing, but the person who shouted was acting strange.

The source of the shout was Referee N-naga.

Everyone was surprised by the sudden shout from a man who is usually quiet and doesn't say much, a man who has rightfully earned the name of the Steven Seagal of the referee world.

Looking at Referee N-naga, his face was clearly pale, his pupils were dilated, and he showed an obvious, unusual abnormality—the kind of look where, if this were the “Exit 8” game, you would definitely have to turn back.

Someone asked,

“What happened?”

He replied,

“I forgot to bring my referee shirt!”

This was a major crisis!
For a referee, a referee shirt is practically a part of their body.

It is synonymous with forgetting Shohei Ohtani's bat, Kei Nishikori's racket, or, in the case of Go☆Jas, his globe.
So, what to do?

Everyone started throwing out ideas.
“Why don't you do it shirtless?”

Referee black pants on the bottom, bare chest on top.

This look, which we've seen somewhere before, is exactly the style of Egashira 2:50 or Esper Ito.
This would require playing Tomoyasu Hotei's “Thrill” or the “Electrical Parade” theme before the wrestler's entrance music. It would cause a significant delay in the tournament, and above all, there would be no dignity left as a referee.
Rejected.
“Why don't you just wear a shirt on top?”

Referee pants on the bottom, a regular shirt on top.

That's the same outfit Kiyohara wore when he rushed out of the locker room behind the bench during a brawl in a Giants vs. Hanshin game back in the day.
If he were waiting in the ring in the “Kiyohara Brawl Style,” it is certain that the entering wrestler would scold him just like Senichi Hoshino.
Rejected.
“I'll lend you mine.”

Referee Nakayama stepped forward.

However, this also had a problem.
Referee shirts are custom-made, and each person has a different size.
Back in the day, Darvish forgot his uniform and borrowed one from a rookie, pitching in a uniform that said “No. 29 YAGI” on the back, and it looked skin-tight—that kind of situation could happen here.
No matter how strict Referee N-naga is, if he ended up in a “Darvish-Yagi” state or an “Lee Seung-yuop-Kamoshida” state, the audience wouldn't be able to focus on the match.

Rejected.

Just when all ideas were exhausted and we were at a dead end, a merchandise staff member appeared, and in their hand, they actually had a referee shirt.
When asked, they said they had ordered new referee shirts in anticipation of the start of the N-1.
By a hair's breadth, we obtained a new referee shirt and were able to overcome the situation without engraving a disgraceful event in wrestling history at the sacred Korakuen Hall.

The Korakuen Hall tournament is over, and the long tour begins.

I want to be careful about forgetting things.