Speaking recently in an interview with NJPW, Master Wato shared the strategy for his upcoming IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match against Hiromu Takahashi at NJPW Dominion.
You can check out highlights from the interview below below:
On the significance of the title bout and his opponent: “In my mind, the bigger deal is beating Hiromu. In 2017, just before I went on excursion, I teamed with Hiroshi Tanahashi against Naito and Hiromu. After the match, Hiromu had beaten me and came toward me. Without thinking, I remember grabbing his hair. Like my hand moved by itself, it was crazy. I’ll never forget that feeling, in the moment of ‘I can’t just let this guy beat me’. That’s when I felt I had to be a junior heavyweight.”
On his analysis of Takahashi going into Dominion: “He’s incredibly talented, and he doesn’t really have a weakness. That’s a strength in itself. But I think where I am now in my career, I’m at a point where I can find a weakness in him. That’s the plan in Osaka.”
In a recent interview with Tokyo Sports, Kazuchika Okada suggested that the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships should be renamed.
According to Okada, the titles should be rebranded as IWGP Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On the lineup for NJPW Dominion: “I think it’s a card where the top of New Japan and the top of AEW fight, and I think it’s not strange to be the main. […] I don’t know what kind of person Tsuji is, but I don’t think I’ll watch it.”
On renaming the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles: “Of course I know the history of NEVER, but I think it would be better to make it IWGP. The three of us want to liven it up to the point where you say, “Wouldn’t it be better if it were better?”