The IWGP Tag Team Champions give their first interview together
After a brief spell away from the IWGP Tag gold, Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi reclaimed the IWGP tag team Championships at Wrestle Grand Slam in the Tokyo Dome at the end of July. Now their first defence of their third reign will see the champions take on two sets of challengers in Tetstuya Naito and SANADA of Los Ingobernables De Japon, and YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto of CHAOS. We sat down with the champs to get their thoughts on the bout, and the tag team scene at large.
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It actually feels like we’ve reset and like this is our first time.
–From losing the IWGP Tag Team Championships to Tetsuya Naito and SANADA in Sapporo to winning them back again in the Tokyo Dome in a direct rematch, it was quite a wild two weeks in July for the two of you. Can you sum up what happened?
Taichi: I think it’s pretty obvious. Sapporo, there was all the buzz of being in my hometown, and we let that get the better of us. I’ll admit that. But we got better and made things right in the Tokyo Dome. There was no real surprise to it in the end.
–Zack, your thoughts?
ZSJ: Winning back the titles, even though it’s our third time as champions, it actually feels like we’ve reset and like this is our first time. Like, we got past G.o.D and now we’re back where we originally should have been.
–It was a long road from losing the titles to G.o.D on January 4 to recapturing them on June 1 in Korakuen. That July 25 Tokyo Dome match was a long one at 37:58.
Taichi: Not much different to Sapporo (36:57). But that’s the level of competition, and the level of the opposition we had. I was worried if we weren’t careful it could have gone the full 60 minutes at the Dome, but if it had, we would have walked out without the titles.
–And the bulk of that time, Zack, you had your knee attacked by Naito and SANADA.
ZSJ: It was definitely tough. I think we have undeniable chemistry and that’s why the two title matches we’ve had have been that length. But it was certainly a challenging experience. It wasn’t just my knee, but my pride on the line. I was determined to beat Naito by submission after two loses in a row to him but ultimately I knew getting the guaranteed win was more important.
–You had to put personal pride aside.
ZSJ: That’s why I went for the clutch. Tag wrestling is about being a team, and it’s more important to win for my team. I was the one that lost in Sapporo…
–It seems you took your part in the loss quite personally. But Taichi, was it a shock to you to lose in your hometown?
Taichi: Like Zack said, taking the titles from G.o.D was a big deal for us. It hit the reset button and got us back where we should have been. To lose so quickly was rough, and I felt bad for Zack- we lost as a team, but he took responsibility for the loss. That’s why I wanted the rematch right away. I didn’t want to end the night on a down note, but with us looking ahead.
ZSJ: Especially after taking six months to win those titles, to lose so fast was painful, so I wanted to prove to Taichi we are, and I am, a worthy champion in the Tokyo Dome.
I’m sure there’s a parallel universe where SANADA and I are on the same team and are good mates.
–You went into the Tokyo Dome having each wrestled both Naito and SANADA in singles matches in Osaka.
Taichi: Right after the second night was when I was really worried about Zack and his knee. I didn’t know what shape we would be in by Tokyo Dome, but we couldn’t pull out of the match. It put a big burden on him.
–How was your knee really?
ZSJ: Well, “maa maa”. Not great, but all wrestlers have injuries, and having the belts back with us definitely helps.
–Taichi, you questioned Naito’s true motives when he first challenged for the tag titles; has your opinion changed?
Taichi: First he challenged for the NEVER 6-Man titles and lost. He said that he learned how much fun tag wrestling could be, but I wasn’t sure. We had just taken the tag titles back, and his bestie Takagi had just won the IWGP World Heavyweight title. With all that timing playing out, I wonder whether it was just jealousy on his part.
–He didn’t want to be left out of the conversation.
Taichi: But actually getting in there with him, I definitely felt he truly wanted to win those titles with Sana.
–Naito did say that he wanted to win the titles because of who the champions were.
Taichi: That was definitely an iffy thing to say, but actually getting in there, I thought it wasn’t 100% bollocks, necessarily. They were focused, and they wanted the titles off us.
–Zack, how do you feel about Naito and SANADA?
ZSJ: I’ve always had a connection to SANADA, stylistically if not outside the ring. But even if we have different background, our philosophies (toward wrestling) are quite similar. Although I’m sure there’s a parallel universe where we are on the same team and are good mates. And I’ve always had an interesting relationship with Naito. He’s a proper wind up merchant who’s MO is to drive people crazy, and to ruin their game plan. That always works well for him. But I admire him at the same time.
–So you do like him a little? That was the focal point of his backstage comments…
ZSJ: That’s what he wants! At any rate, this is the level of tag team championship match that we should be having. Traditionally tag team wrestling in New Japan or Japan in general, it’s always been about elite level wrestlers teaming and competing.
We genuinely have pride in being the best tag team in the world
–How did it feel to be wrestling for the tag titles in the semi main event, in the Tokyo Dome?
Taichi: Well, I think the quality of the opposition is a factor there. Maybe years, decades ago the tag titles were in that spot. But there have been times where the tag champs have been jerking the curtain. Having that level of talent wrestling for the tag titles is the reason why they were in that spot.
–They were very often in that pre-intermission spot.
Taichi: But I really feel we’ve elevated the titles. I truly believe that, and we both genuinely have pride in being the best tag team in the world. It’s because we were the champs that Naito and Sana challenged us, right? Fighting them helped elevate the prestige of the titles, but the matches wouldn’t have happened in the first place if it weren’t for us.
–For a good while, G.o.D were the focus of the tag division.
ZSJ: Well, G.o.D obviously have put lots of work into the tag team championships. I won’t deny that, but their focus has always been on the tag division. With Naito and SANADA it’s a different situation because they’ve reached a high level as singles levels and brought that together into a tag team.
–You’ve had your own long battles with them.
ZSJ: It’s challenging, facing them…
Taichi: I think Zack was pretty worn out by those matches with G.o.D. He got dragged into that whole Iron Finger From Hell situation.
–The Iron Fingers became a focus for months when Tama Tonga stole them at New Year Dash…
ZSJ: When we won the belts back, I did feel a lot of respect for G.o.D, but I do also hope this story is very much over. I’d be curious to see them both as singles match guys, I think there’s a lot we haven’t seen from Tanga Loa yet especially.
–After you won the titles at the Tokyo Dome, Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI threw their own hats into the ring.
Taichi: Naito called them third wheels, but they’ve been racking up those NEVER 6-Man defences, and YOSHI-HASHI has been working his socks off.
–YOSHI-HASHI, Goto and Tomohiro Ishii are up to V9 with those titles now.
Taichi: They’re strong, confident champions. I do want to see just how far they can go. And get revenge for that title match we lost to them.
–What are your thoughts on YOSHI-HASHI especially?
Taichi: It’s weird, but something’s changed in him, and he’s carrying that title well. If it was this time last year and he challenged us, I would turn him down in a heartbeat. I don’t want this to go to his head, but now I do feel it’s the point where he can challenge and I feel ‘OK, let’s see just how bad you want it’.
ZSJ: Usually it would hurt me to compliment YOSHI-HASHI, but I do think he is the reason why the NEVER 6 man championships now have value. It’s him that’s carried the work load for that team.
It shows we’re in demand
–How do you feel about defending the titles in a three way?
ZSJ: In a different situation, I would think that a three way match would be a step backward (for the titles). After we had a main event, and then Tokyo Dome semimain, a three way tag match, kind of represents a previous generation of the tag titles. But I think in this case, it is an interesting situation and perhaps the best way for us to deal with the challengers. So just this time, I’m OK with a three way, but normally three way matches can get in the sea.
Taichi: Yeah, I think there’s a bit of me that isn’t a huge fan of three way matches, but if you look at it a different way, we have two sets of challengers fighting over the right to wrestle us. It shows we’re in demand, like having ladies fawn over you. It isn’t a bad thing. But there haven’t been many three ways for the heavyweight tag belts right? I can’t remember many.
–Wrestle Kingdom 13 had G.o.D face EVIL & SANADA and the Young Bucks. There were a few in the 2010s as well, but not many.
ZSJ: Like with KES, War Machine, TenCozy… but I think not having those three ways recently is a sign that the titles have evolved beyond that.
–Taichi, have you been in this kind of environment before?
Taichi: When I was a junior, yeah. That was a four way though.
–Ahh, with Milano Collection A.T. as Unione. You wrestled Apollo 55, No Limit and Jado & Gedo in 2009. Zack, do you have much 3 way experience?
ZSJ: I’ve done three ways on the independents, but I feel it’s out of place in Japanese wrestling.
Taichi: I think there are fans who baulk at the idea of a title match three way a little.
ZSJ: I think that’s why the six man titles have more interest, because you have more wrestlers involved than a regular tag, but you have two teams so it’s easier to understand.
Taichi: But I think we have it in us to show something that has those fans saying ‘three ways are pretty damn good, actually’.
More in part 2!
