Naito meets the press ahead of Chicago

April 8 saw Tetsuya Naito greet the press for the post Sakura Genesis press conference, giving his thoughts on the prior Saturday’s title retention against Yota Tsuji, and his next challenge in just a few days against Jon Moxley in Chicago.

Said Naito, after a fashionably delayed entrance:

April 6 it was an all Los Ingobernables De Japon main event in Ryogoku for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. I had always wanted to have a title match against a teammate, so I was happy to have that happen, and it was a heck of a confidence boost for me to beat someone like Yota Tsuji, who had the crowd expectations behind him and had won the New Japan Cup. 

After the match, Jon Moxley came to the ring. We last wrestled in the G1 Climax in 2019, and I lost, so everything’s lined up. I can get revenge on him on his home turf with this title on the line and I plan on showing just that to the people in Chicago.

People talk a lot about the new generation, and having wrestled Tsuji, I’ve gotten a lot more interested in those wrestlers. Maybe I could put this title on the line against all the members of this next generation- if they can come up to my level. Whether they can or not is on them, but if they can then I’d be happy to do it. Still, Tsuji proved the other night that he’s is 1, 2, 5 steps ahead of that group though, and I think he will only continue to get bigger from here as part of Los Ingobernables De Japon. I’m sure we’ll meet one another again in another all LIJ title match- for now I’m happy he earned an experience that is greater than any title win. 

The only thing I’m not happy about is that this is a pretty early press conference (the conference was staged at 3PM). I’m not a morning person, so as long as I’m champion, I would like the conferences to be later. Middle of the night is fine.

–You said after your Wrestle Kingdom win that you wanted to have LIJ rollcalls in as many places as possible; how do you feel about having a roll call in America should you win Saturday?

Naito: I don’t remember exactly when, but I do recall having one roll call in the US before. I’ve said I want to have those calls all over Japan, but I want to do it overseas as well. A win over Moxley is a chance to do it in Chicago, so I’m excited. The only thing is- you might have noticed if you heard me on the mic Saturday- my English is not great. That’s put me in a tight spot. But there’s still a few days, so I’ll study as hard as I can to make sure the Chicago fans and I can cheer along. As soon as this press conference is over, that’s what I’ll do.

–You held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship three times, but lost the belt after only one defence in each reign. This is the IWGP World Heavyweight title, but you’ve just moved to V2, do you have any thoughts on setting that personal best?

Naito: Up to now I’ve only had one defence with a top belt, so to get a second, for me it’s exciting to be in new territory, and maybe just a tiny, tiny little bit I might be getting more connected to this belt. So I’d like to get more wins with it, and show myself with it to more people in Japan and worldwide. The other night I did toss it though, so there’s a little bit of damage… I’ll grab some superglue and fix that right up. 

–This is your first match with Jon Moxley for about five years, and he has a reputation for hardcore wrestling. Your thoughts on his style?

Naito: The one time we wrestled, it really wasn’t a hardcore style of fight, although I know he’s the type to go in that direction. I’m not really sure about how I’d wrestle in that setting, but that’s exciting. To be outside my comfort zone, and be a bit unpredictable is a lot of fun, so if that’s the way he wants to do it, then he absolutely should. Still, I’ll wrestle my way all the same, and I plan on winning and coming back to Japan still the champion.  

–Moxley is a former WWE and AEW World Heavyweight Champion, and a win on Friday would make him a Global Grand Slam winner. Any thoughts on that at all?

Naito: I haven’t won titles in WWE or AEW, so that’s certainly impressive, but to be honest, my thoughts are ‘so what?’ They call this a Global Grand Slam, do they?

–Well, nobody has done it before.

Naito: So the question is, what’s most important for him? Doing that? Beating me? Or being IWGP World Heavyweight Champion? I’d like to hear his own thoughts on that, but for now it’s a big so what. I don’t care really- but I’d like for him to face me wanting to beat me more than anything else. 

–It’s a very hard championship schedule for you. Your thoughts?

Naito: April 6 in Ryogoku, and then April 12 Chicago. Just about five days difference. That is two defences very close together, but I’ve always felt better conditioning wise having big matches one after the other instead of having breaks in between. If anything this situation suits me better, so I’m not worried at all.