Once cameras turned on, the faint sound of the crowd's roar could be heard in the background. At first sight was the camera man approaching Ryuu and his group of backdancers from behind. Sakamoto had a simple white towel wrapped over the back of his neck, which was draped over his shoulders. Droplets of sweat provided a decent sheen over his slightly tanned complexion against the light of the camera. The interviewer would remain off shot, with his voice now audible.

"Excuse me, Mr. Sakamoto, can we get a word with you?"

"Alright guys, good show tonight, let's catch up for practice tomorrow, okay? Ne, shitsureishimasu!~"

Arching a brow, Ryuu turned to face the camera and the interviewer. A grin came across his face almost immediately. How he had missed promo time while he was away.

"Absolutely, what's up?"

"Ryuu, first of all welcome back to professional wrestling. Second, it looks like you were thrown a curveball in your first match back being placed against Nuke Fusion, someone who has also not been seen in action in awhile. Did it deter you or worry you any having to face another returning star?"

Ryuu nodded and smirked with a brief 'thank you' before placing his hands at his sides, listening to the question. Brushing a few strands of hair from his face, he responded.

"Well, to be honest, no, not really. The excitement I felt being able to go back out there and do what I do best--you know, entertain, swoon women, the usual--took precedence over whatever pressure I had piling on me last week. Sure, you could say I'm under pressure to win the tournament now because I've been to the mountain top before and yeah, Nuke also knows what it's like to be up there, but there's always that theory of coal and pressure. When you put pressure on coal, diamonds are made. Diamonds, like myself and other active competitors from some 5 years ago, are forever. And I proved that last week. I started in these territories when I was 23, deciding to take some time off to reassess a few things in my life and well .. you saw what happened. Hiro talked me out of living an ordinary life and now I'm back at 28, smarter, seasoned .. a bit more mature I'd say.

Sexier? Without a doubt.

More dangerous? No question."

"Ryuu, talk us through your incredibly brief match last week. It seems like it ended abruptly, but probably is no surprise based on your in-ring style."

At this point, the short match from bell to bell was overlayed with live audio. The most noteworthy thing was the retaliation forearm shot that seemed to knock his opponent unconscious for the 1-2-3.

"Right, it's still the same Sexy Strong Style as I dub it. The training you receive in Japan I feel doesn't age. It's a very .. hard style to combat because you're basically tortured day in and day out in the dojos. I started at a very young age so finding those sweet spots to knock someone out like that is basically elementary at this point. If I throw a leg kick in the match, it's to knot up a quadricep or cause a disruption in the blood flow of the femoral artery. If I chop, I always aim to collapse a lung. And if I throw a forearm shot, you'd better believe I'm aiming to cause a short circuit in your nervous system."

"You've chosen a stage for your return that seems to just carry a strong contrast to your personality. In doing so, you've also garnered a little bit of ire from the male fans of Blood Bath Wrestling. In short, why?"

The idea that he had gotten boos from a few of the male audience members actually made him chuckle a bit, smiling that handsome 'eye smile' of his.

"Hahaha, well .. truth be told I wasn't too excited at first that Blood Bath Wrestling was calling me out here. A lot of what takes place here is career-shortening. It's honestly a dark place with some bad ju-ju floating around here. And while my flash and style, with J-Pop dance moves and singing, is very different .. I like to say it offers decent refreshment for people who want something a little different than all the hellspawn and demon talk, black clothes, black doom, black everything around here. I say this with confidence and not out of my ego, but I pride myself on being a shining light here. Right, the words 'f**' and 'gay' get thrown at me a lot, but at the end of the day, I silence the doubts because I can hang with the best of them and take their best shots. Best thing of all?

I do it while kissing the girls, dancing up a storm, and being as captivating as possible. It's a hard combination to beat."

Stay tuned for more ...