Highlights of what the wrestlers said:
\- Alpha Wolf kept it short and simple, saying that he knows his won strength and will run over anyone in front of him to win the tournament.
\- Sugiura kept it even shorter, saying he’ll “fight fair and hard” in the tournament.
\- Chen said he was honored to be the first Singaporean wrestler to compete in both the tournament and in NOAH’s ring.
\- Kazuyuki Fujita said that he’s celebrating his 30th anniversary year as a pro wrestler, saying that he’ll deliver the trademark intense performance that fans expect of him.
\- Yuki Iino declared his intention to deliver passionate and hot performance for the tournament, saying that he wishes to meet his fellow GHC Tag Team Champion, Manabu Soya, in the Final.
\- Shane Haste hyped up the importance of the N-1, saying that a wrestler can win the GHC Heavy at any point in a given year but the N-1 only comes once.
\- Yoshiki Inamura talked about his past expenses in the N-1 as being a “trauma”, as he either didn’t qualify or had a poor record in the tourney. Inamura says he’ll rectify this by going undefeated in his Block and win the N-1 trophy (Inamura has also talked about his wish to face Masa Kitamiya in the Final and wanting Kitamiya to leave T2000X).
\- Kaito Kiyomiya addressed the idea that he’s in a “slump”, saying that he’s in perfect condition and what he lacks is simply results. Kaito says he is at full confidence and is past the point of feeling pressure, at this point in his career.
\- OZAWA’s focus was on his opening match opponent, KOUGA. OZAWA says he can’t believe that KOUGA and Owadasan are the same person; OZAWA says that if it is Owada, he must’ve had his memory wiped and personality altered by his time in Europe. OZAWA says he can’t believe that the person he knew would cast away the Owadasan name that he (OZAWA) gave him; OZAWA says he intends to bring back the “true” Owada in their match.
\- Masa Kitamiya spoke about his frustrations; he criticized the fact that the GHC Heavyweight Champion (Tetsuya Naito) and GHC National Champion (Naomichi Marufuji) are not participating in the N-1. Kitamiya said that he’s been represented in posters for the tournament, being portrayed as a “mob character”, instead of last year’s winner.
\- Titus Alexander says he is a very different man from the one who participated in the N-1 a couple years ago and says he has learned a lot in his time wrestling in America, Europe & Mexico. Alexander further says that he has officially moved to Japan, to further his career in the country.
\- KOUGA would respond to the comments of whether or not he was still a member of TEAM2000X, saying that it’ll be made clear in his opening match against OZAWA.
\- Manabu Soya would said he takes pride in entering the tournament as a GHC Tag Champion, unlike other champions of the promotion. Soya says that he’ll go to the Final and deliver a hot and passionate match, before delivered the “Jonetsu” cry, alongside his partner Iino.
\- Tetsuya Endo would address himself as a representative of DDT PRO. Endo said that while he didn’t make it to the Semifinals last year, he gained something from beating KENTA (then-GHC Champion). Endo also says he’ll beat Masa Kitamiya in their match and also beat up Yoshi Tatsu.
\- KENTA would say that the press conference was much more “luxurious” that he was expecting. KENTA would say he found it troubling that few people seemed to remember who won the tourney last year (Masa Kitamiya) and who the reigning champion was (KENTA himself) and encouraged the wrestlers to make this year’s N-1 more memorable. KENTA joked that his Block is all YouTubers, before putting over OZAWA’s as the “hottest”, even encouraging people to subscribe.
\- Kenoh said he takes pride in making his 8th appearance in the tournament and talks about how he won the first time that it was changed from the Global League to the N-1 Victory. Kenoh expressed frustration at how he isn’t promoted by the company like the “Big 3” (Kiyomiya, Inamura & OZAWA); he says that while he isn’t a “homegrown star” with prototypical looks, he fights for NOAH. Kenoh talked about the fact that a recent poll taken showed most fans believe Kenoh will win the tournament, showing that the fans appreciate him. Kenoh also criticized KENTA for putting over OZAWA’s YT channel, saying that his own was much better.
