Tetsuya Endo’s New Unit Is BURNING!

Tetsuya Endo has officially formed his own unit! After weeks of planning and consideration, the project nicknamed Atsumare Entetsu no Mori has become a reality. Endo met with Kenta Kobashi again yesterday to put the final decisions together. Endo told Kobashi he wanted Yusuke Okada and Yuya Koroku to be part of the group but couldn’t find anyone to fill the chief advisor role like Kobashi recommended. Kobashi said the group on paper sounded weak so he invited somebody to meet with them. It was Jun Akiyama!

Kobashi said it would be interesting to see Endo & Akiyama team together because Endo needs an element that Akiyama provides to improve. They can still wrestle each other in singles matches, but Kobashi advised that they should be on the same side. Endo pointed out that he and Akiyama are complete opposites in wrestling style but he understands he can learn from him for that reason. Akiyama welcomes the idea of taking the advisor role and letting Endo be the unit leader. They can chase after many championships but Endo needs to be the one who says he will go after the KO-D Openweight Title. In this situation, Akiyama sees himself as the fierce dog who needs a master to rein him in otherwise he will bite everyone. Endo liked the idea and invited Akiyama to join him.

After the members were decided, all that was left was to name the new unit. Akiyama suggested The Beatles because Endo likes to collect beetles. Kobashi laughed and said that was no good. Endo then suggested calling themselves BURNING because he will be working with Akiyama. There was some resistance to the idea. Akiyama explained it has been used a few times which makes the name hard to establish. Also Kobashi’s association with the name is so strong that Endo will have to work really hard to cover for it. Endo claimed he is ready to do that and Kobashi gave him permission to use the name. Tetsuya Endo’s new unit is officially called BURNING!

This is the 4th Generation of BURNING. 1st Generation was in All Japan from 1998 to 2000. 2nd Generation was in NOAH throughout the 2000s. 3rd Generation was the 2012 exodus of talent from NOAH led by Akiyama jumping over to All Japan.