Hiroshi Tanahashi is getting ready for the summer, which he plans on spending as AEW world champion.
One of the most decorated champions in all of wrestling, Tanahashi has worn New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s IWGP heavyweight championship a record eight times. Now he is seeking his first reign as AEW champion. He lost in a match against Jon Moxley last year for the belt, but will get a second chance Sunday at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view against reigning champ MJF.
“I feel very honored to challenge for the AEW title,” says Tanahashi, speaking through a translator. “Just imagining myself becoming the AEW world heavyweight champion is pretty exciting.”
If he wins the belt, Tanahashi already has opponents in mind for title defenses. These are all the caliber of bouts that would headline pay-per-views, all keeping that proverbial forbidden door (a term he coined) open. His wish list includes CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli.
“Castagnoli is a great wrestler,” says Tanahashi, who just wrestled Castagnoli in a six-man tag earlier this month in Japan. “I know that he used to team with Shinsuke Nakamura, and that was an emotional link for me. I’d love to have a singles match against him.
“And I want to wrestle CM Punk since I couldn’t do it last year. I have wrestled Bryan Danielson once before when I was younger. But with him being one of the top wrestlers in the U.S. and the world right now, I’d love for us to go again.”
Before he can set up those title bouts, Tanahashi first has the match against MJF.
A victory against Tanahashi would be a significant building block for MJF’s title reign. With other NJPW stars seemingly primed for a victory at Forbidden Door, it would make sense for him to defeat Tanahashi—and he would get plenty of mileage out of boasting about beating a legend.
Unlike his robust praise for stars like Punk, Danielson and Castagnoli, Tanahashi provided a far different answer when asked for his opinion on MJF.
“I have no respect for him,” says Tanahashi. “But I will say that for someone so young, he’s got a lot of self-belief and conviction.”
Tanahashi has earned his place atop the industry. He won over a fiery crowd last year in Chicago at Forbidden Door in an outstanding main event against Moxley, and he now has another opportunity to work under a bright spotlight in AEW.
Wrestling on a joint pay-per-view with AEW is also meaningful because it allows Tanahashi the chance to share NJPW with North America. He has dedicated and devoted his livelihood to bringing NJPW back to glory, and Forbidden Door is a unique way to introduce its brand of hard-hitting, physical wrestling to a different audience.
“New Japan is in Japan, but we are on the world stage,” says Tanahashi. “We train harder and work harder I believe than anywhere else in the world, and we’re full of incredible, exciting wrestlers for fans to follow.”
For the fourth time in his storied career, Tanahashi is one-third of the NEVER openweight six-man tag team champions. This time, however, is especially notable, as his partners are Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii. The background to their story is rich; Okada and Tanahashi are famed rivals, while Ishii—one of the most underrated wrestlers in the world—is inherently distrustful of anyone not connected to the Okada-led Chaos stable. Seeds have been planted for an interesting future between Tanahashi and Ishii.
“Tomohiro Ishii and I are a pretty interesting combination,” says Tanahashi. “We’ve got a unique chemistry, I think it’s safe to say, and I’d like to explore that.”
The Tanahashi-Okada-Ishii trio was successful in their title defense in Osaka on June 4 at Dominion against Moxley, Castagnoli and rising star Shota Umino. Given the opportunity, Tanahashi would relish the chance to defend the titles against Punk and FTR.
“Why not?” asked Tanahashi. “That definitely sounds good to me.”
In addition to his world title match at Forbidden Door, Tanahashi will also wrestle on Saturday’s Collision. That is an extremely compelling matchup against Swerve Strickland, adding to a weekend full of some of the best wrestling in the world.
“Fans can look forward to seeing a classic, traditional NJPW style in the ring,” says Tanahashi. “Whatever expectations you have, I guarantee I’ll go beyond them. So get ready.”
Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.
