BOSJ threepeat winner discusses Ishimori title bout

After his unprecedented third straight and fourth overall Best of the Super Jr. victory, Hiromu Takahashi is counting down to his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship battle with Taiji Ishimori in Korakuen Hall on June 21. We spoke to Hiromu about his title bout, and what may lie beyond.

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We were each trying to control the other

 

–I’d like for us to take the time to reflect on your BOSJ campaign, and some of the wrestlers you faced, especially the first timers. May 18 in Sendai you faced Francesco Akira, and had high praise for him backstage.

Hiromu: He’s a hell of a wrestler. He’s much more settled than I was when I was 22. 

–You had just debuted at that age.

Hiromu: I had, but I was a Young Lion, and I was just awful. I don’t like to think about it, I stank so much. Compared to where I was then, he’s in a whole new dimension.

–You think so?

Hiromu: He has this huge upside. I really think we matched up well. It wasn’t a case of one of us being better and dictating the pace of the match, it was a case of both of us struggling for control all the way through. Akira really could be something awesome… it’s just a shame he’s in United Empire.

–Character wise, he seems like he could fit in Hontai.

Hiromu: He has a good guy look, and he’s polite as well. He’s Italian, right?

–Right. He was coached by TAJIRI, and it does seem like he’s able to put together a match very well. 

Hiromu: It was a real pleasure wrestling him, so I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next. He could well easily beat me this time next year, so as much as that makes him a threat, it’s great to have a new face with that much talent. It can only be a positive.

I’m not too surprised Austin did what he did

 

–You faced, and beat, IMPACT X Division Champion Ace Austin during the tournament. He was one of the most popular new faces in the tournament.

Hiromu: The first big shock I had with him were how big his legs are. I tried to get him up for the Time Bomb, and the set up is a fireman’s carry, but as I lifted him, it struck me how huge those legs were, and how hard he was to lift. I wasn’t too shocked by him joining BULLET CLUB though. Anyone that goes round cutting fingers with a playing card is a bad sort.

–He definitely had his bad side even before he joined.

Hiromu: I tried to get away from that card, and he managed to reverse my reversal. I really wasn’t sure where his motivations were.

–Austin had a second ‘ace up his sleeve’ when he faced you.

Hiromu: That’s really something that everyone can see and know it hurts like hell. Him doing stuff like that, I really wasn’t surprised when he did what he did.

–So he’s almost the opposite to Akira, where you were waiting for the heel turn to happen.

Hiromu: BULLET CLUB really was ‘Inevitable’, right? But let’s not forget he’s X Division champion. SANADA and Taiji Ishimori are the only two NJPW guys to win that title. It’s definitely an interesting prospect…

–He did say the door was open for you to challenge in IMPACT.

Hiromu: Right. If he’s serious about that then I’ll be there in a heartbeat. I just wonder if he’s serious about it. I’m focused on the IWGP Junior title right now, but if there’s a title shot waiting for me over there then I’ll absolutely go.

The only thing about Zayne is he isn’t a junior

 

–You faced Alex Zayne in Makuhari.

Hiromu: He really won a lot of hearts.

–Especially outside of the ring and on social media, you wouldn’t believe it was his first time in Japan.

Hiromu: Right. He won over the fans on Twitter, and then when he wrestled, he won over the fans who didn’t have Twitter. He really di dit all in and out of the ring. The only thing with him is I don’t think he’s a junior.

–He definitely walks that line, and that’s being generous. He’s a big guy.

Hiromu: And he has a really long reach to go with it. When I saw we were in the same block I figured I couldn’t get him up for Time Bomb or Time Bomb II, so my best shot was to tap him out with D.

–So you had to adapt your gameplan to him.

Hiromu: There were some real wild guys in this  year’s tournament, but Zayne? He’s wrestled in deathmatches and everything right? And he can fly at the drop of a hat too. He’s another one I’m really looking forward to seeing over the next few years.

–You had a bad knee going into that match, but Zayne didn’t really target it.

Hiromu: Maybe that isn’t his wheelhouse. But guys like that, they usually have a hard time defending their own legs. Guys that don’t work arms have trouble with having their arms worked over. It’s like they aren’t sure how to deal with it. That was probably the difference maker for me in that match.

If he could pin me after that tackle, he would have won. I was out. 

 

–You faced Clark Connors toward the end of your campaign, in Ota.

Hiromu: Man, that tackle. It’s all in that impact. Seriously, as soon as the bell rang he got me with that thing in the opening second; I was honestly knocked out for a moment.

–He did all that damage in the first second of the match.

Hiromu: I was in the ring, and then the next thing I knew I was on the floor. Had he been in a position to cover me, he would have won. It7s wild because tackles are one of the first things we do as Young Lions. I’ve bumped off tackles a million times, but he was able to hit me that hard with it.

–The model of a fundamental move practiced to perfection.

Hiromu: Like, it’s a day one of wrestling school move, and he could use it as a finisher, seriously.

 

–That’s a Shibata trainee for you.

Hiromu: Man, he’s really raising some incredible talents. I’m not kidding, he really could use that tackle as a finish. Give a guy 10, 15 minutes worth of damage and then WHAM with that tackle, he could kill someone with that thing.

–He was especially fired up for his match with you, after getting a slow start to the tournament.

Hiromu: I really felt that. He was fired up even before we started. He was snorting.

— Snorting?

Hiromu: Seriously. Snorting and snarling; you can’t really hear that unless you’re in the ring. I figured he would definitely come at me right at the bell, but he *really* came at me and you saw the result. My trademark poker face was broken (laughs).

The YOH match was important to both of us. It showed me who he really is and why that’s OK.

 

 –Let’s talk about your match with YOH in Korakuen Hall. After you beat him decisively in the PayPay Dome May 1, he was determined to fight back, and did so.

Hiromu: He’s a difficult case, YOH. After that match he said that there should be a range of different wrestlers, different personalities. I’ve been saying the same thing, but I wanted him to express whether or not he really was comfortable in his own skin. That match showed that he was. It showed me who he really is and why that’s OK.

–So you were convinced by him. 

Hiromu: Halfway. The work now is for him to really take himself up to the next level. If he’s cool with doing things his way, he has to do things his way at the top of his game.

–If he could do that, he might be on the verge of something incredible.

Hiromu: Right. We don’t have anyone quite like him, so if he can succeed, it would prove that there’s this breadth to professional wrestling, and you can do things in your own way and still make it. 

–That post match promo was really something.

Hiromu: He proved to everyone that he loves this business. Just him putting that out there was a big deal. 

SHO’s going to get booed out the building when the fans can do it

 

–The night after YOH, you faced SHO.

Hiromu: Well, that was what it was. HOUSE OF TORTURE… Every time they’re out there, especially with a COVID restricted crowd, it’s frustrating. All that stress builds up with the fans. Just as soon as they can raise their voices, SHO will get booed out the building. 

–And until the fans can boo them, all that frustration and pressure is building without a release.

Hiromu: And the only outlet is in typing stuff on Twitter. I want the fans to give H.O.T all they have, heh.

Really, Kanemaru should be challenging

 

–A lot of the early work toward your losses to YOH and SHO was done by Yoshinobu Kanemaru on May 24.

Hiromu: I was completely destroyed by Kanemaru. I knew how painful that Figure Four can be, but all that offense meant I couldn’t get into the match the way I wanted at all, and the result was the result. Then it put a target on my knee for the rest of the tournament. I don’t want to make excuses- that’s a veteran for you.

–“Kanemaru Magic” if you will.

Hiromu: He executed his plan to perfection. I’m wrestling Ishimori in Korakuen this week, but really, Kanemaru beat Ishimori and myself. If he doesn’t challenge, I might nominate him when I win.

–So you’ll call Kanemaru out for a defence?

Hiromu: That’s what I’m thinking. I really want to get my win back. I’d like for him to come and challenge me, but I’ll call him out if need be. Perhaps word will get through to him through this and he’ll make his challenge.

It’s important we’re in Korakuen. I want it sold out

 

–So now let’s loop back to Ishimori and June 21 in Korakuen Hall.

Hiromu: When was the last time we had a junior heavyweight title match in Korakuen? It’s long enough that I can’t remember when it was. But it’s definitely a rightful main event, and I really want it sold out. The company are clearly showing faith in the junior heavyweights after BOSJ by having it in the main event in the Hall rather than buried in the middle of the Osaka-Jo Hall show, and I want to live up to those expectations, have that building completely packed. 

–That would be a first post COVID. 

Hiromu: I definitely want to see that sight, and to have more and more fun with everyone there!