Neji Ichiban of Atlanta on Life, Lessons & Legacy

Neji Ichiban shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Neji, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Definitely being able to spend time with my family, girlfriend, and friends with no worries. Just good vibes, good food and good people!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am the “Prince of Passion” Neji Ichiban and alongside me is the “Princess of Passion” Stella Randy, together we take on the world of professional wrestling in an effort to display passion around the world. Once thought to have lost the fire within, I sought to regain my connection to FORBIDDEN PASSION, the incarnation of the Passion of pro wrestling. With the princess of passion, Stella Randy as ethereal conduit, I regained my embodiment of FORBIDDEN PASSION. Through the 7 passions (Burning, Fatal, Soulless, Heavy, Wonder of, Prideful, & ???) passion always prevails. As we travel the world and fight to display passion, the connection will be completed and FORBIDDEN PASSION will be complete.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
Funny enough when I was a child, I didn’t really believe anything about myself. I enjoyed doing things for sure like playing SvR 06 watching a lot of wrestling from around the world, etc, but I felt like since I didnt really do anything outside of myself, I didn’t believe I could do anything. It was very difficult to come to terms with it and after a certain point, I felt like I was destined for lesser rather than greater. Once I found pro wrestling and my quest to complete FORBIDDEN PASSION, I dove headfirst to basically show the child in me that you were destined not just a life of greatness but for a life of passion.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
100%- for those sensitive on this topic, I’d advise to skip as it does have to do with an attempt and if you ever feel like you are getting to that point, please reach out to anyone, it might seem like nothing matters, but it does to someone.

January 2017 I attempted to take my own life. I was at my lowest point ever and was constantly overly criticizing myself, making myself feel less than at every given point and so I just felt like giving up. Luckily, I failed and started to reflect on everything, was sent to rehab and everything to make myself do so. Once I left, I went to therapy and started making steps in the right direction to actually help with my mental health. Fast forward now, I’m pursuing a dream I never thought possible, made friends from all walks of life, an abundance of love from the ones closest to me. It took a long time to get to this point especially after my attempt, I learned a lot about myself and continue to make steps to learning more and taking care of every aspect of that.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
I used to believe that everything had to be done on your own, no assistance. I thought if I single handedly tried to prove myself that everything would get me further than not. I was entirely too wrong about that, now I’m not saying that you should solely rely on the assistance, but having that helps greatly. When you’re able to already have a solid reputation as a good hand and the word of mouth backs that up, it’s an even greater feeling to help more than just yourself in my opinion.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
Pro wrestling was what I was born to do. I was always outspoken, always trying to be at the center of it all, plus I was a huge fan of it overall so of course I HAD to do it. The roaring of the crowd, the chants, being able to perform at the top of my game and interact with so much, it was all written in the stars for me really. I kept it to myself because I didn’t know what people would think due to the nature of the business, but I decided to ignore all of that and go after my passion!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neji_ichiban?igsh=bmhpaDh3aHByd28x&utm_source=qr
• Twitter: https://x.com/neji_ichiban?s=21&t=S1XJVmZbP3Frd9RhD29ndQ
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AK976Qwai/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@neji_ichiban?si=96tQhnYj1884cfem
• Other: FOR BOOKING INQUIRIES- nejiichibanbooking@gmail.com