Shingo Takagi has to be one of the favourites in Best of the Super Juniors this year. The Dragon is undefeated as of the start of the tournament, but is in a challenging block that includes rival SHO, and current and former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champions Dragon Lee and Taiji Ishimori. We caught up with Takagi to get his insights on his debut BoSJ.

— Well, the Best of the Super Juniors blocks have been revealed, and the tournament is just about to start as we’re talking here. What are your thoughts at this point in time?

Takagi: Well, my eyes first went to the fact that SHO is in the same block as me. I’m seven months in here in NJPW, and I think for that whole time he’s been looking at me convinced he can beat me in a singles match. So I’m feeling eager to smack him back down. 

— You face SHO in your first match in Sendai, so you really want to show the power advantage you have there. 

Takagi: Well, I put it out there, it was my request to have him in the same block. So to have my request granted on the first night, that’s fine by me. 

—  You’ll both be fresh for the match as well, no damage from other league matches. 

Takagi: There’ll be no excuses. And for me, he’s the perfect opponent to get off to a flying start with. 

— You haven’t been pinned or submitted since your NJPW debut. SHO has said he wants you to stay undefeated until you face him.

Takagi: I’m sure it makes for a nice story for him. For me it’s not more than a checkpoint. All I see in his words is that he recognises how tough I am.

–There are a lot of New Japan fans who aren’t so familiar with your body of work. Those fans are likely investing a lot in SHO as a rival to you. How do you feel about that? 

Takagi: A lot of New Japan fans want SHO to beat me. He hits hard. He’s absolutely worth facing. But I’m a league or two above him. 

–I see.

Takagi: There’s two things I want to say about this match. First of all, we are going to go head-to-head, fair and square. There’ll be no excuses for SHO after I pin or submit him in the middle of the ring. Second, there has to be a reason why we’re not facing off in the main event of the opening night. I take it as proof that SHO isn’t good enough.

— Harsh words. Your second tournament match is on May 15 against Titan. You’ve said before that you find wrestling luchadores difficult. 

Takagi: I saw the little BoSJ hype vid for Titan. He’s young, but he’s got a lot of things down, a big arsenal. I haven’t been to Mexico myself, so I haven’t experienced lucha libre first hand. That’s what I meant when I said I find that style difficult. 

— Titan has very much adjusted his style to match New Japan’s. You may find him less of a luchadore than you had imagined. 

Takagi: I see. Well, lucha or not, I don’t plan on changing my style. I’ll just make him wrestle my kind of match. 

–No allowances made, then. Third, you’re in the main event in Yamagata Big Wing, against Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

Takagi: Kanemaru has a lot of hidden talent. A hidden blade or two up his sleeve. Beyond the whisky he always hides away..

–He’s pretty adept with that.

Takagi: He’s adept at much more than just spitting whisky. He’s definitely somebody I need to be really careful of. And then there’s the added point of us both being from the same prefecture. 

–You’re both from Yamanashi.

Takagi: I’ve been aware of him being another Yamanashi boy ever since I debuted.

–Is that important to you, to be in the main event with an opponent from the same prefecture?

Takagi: When you think Yamanashi and wrestling, you think Jumbo Tsuruta and Keiji Muto. Kanemaru isn’t far off that level, and you can’t deny the titles he’s won over the years. I’m definitely well aware of him.

–This will be your first singles main event in NJPW as well.

Takagi: That’s right… Just a shame that it’s in Yamagata and not Yamanashi! I’ll take the ‘Yama’ part as inspiration!

–Well, we all get our motivations in different ways. Next, the first of three nights in Korakuen Hall, you have Marty Scurll.

Takagi: Actually a few years ago I wrestled on the same event as Scurll in the UK. This was before his big break, but I thought even then ‘this guy’s going places’. Then on the night I debuted in New Japan, he had a title match with KUSHIDA. I thought my instincts were right, he’s definitely capable. I just don’t want to get my fingers broken..

— He’ll be going for it now.

Takagi: I like going to the gym. If he takes out my fingers I won’t be able to lift dumbbells. If he breaks my fingers, he’ll be breaking my heart. I’ll lose to depression.

— That’s how much you love working out. The following night will be your second main event, against Dragon Lee. 

Takagi: When I see him wrestle, he has a lot of confidence, and I know he holds a bunch of belts in Mexico. He’s not lacking in ability or accomplishments. I just wonder whether there might be a little gap between his confidence and his ability, some wriggle room there. And in his interviews, just mentioning Hiromu every single time, it’s all he talks about, right? Is he really only interested in Hiromu? 

–He has brought up Desperado’s name, but he seems to be especially drawn to Hiromu. 

Takagi: Well, he’s certainly wrapped up in his own little world. He probably doesn’t know a thing about me. But I have a special strategy for every one of my opponents. Just like my home town legend, (samurai) Shingen Takeda.

–So you don’t sense that same difficulty that you may have with other luchadores?

Takagi: Well, he’s wrestled a lot in America and Japan as well. But I’m excited to see how he matches up against my style of wrestling. And I have to show what I can do against the champion. I especially want to win that one. 

— It would mean a lot to beat the champ. And there’s the added element of you both having the Dragon name..

Takagi: Well, there’s a difference between a Japanese dragon and a Mexican dragon. But since we both carry the name, I don’t want to lose. I plan for the Dragon of the Rising Sun to come out on top. 

–The third of the Korakuen nights sees you against a wrestler much like Kanemaru, another troubling technician in TAKA Michinoku. 

Takagi: Actually not long after I debuted I had a match with TAKA, and he beat me. He might know how to deal with me better than anyone else. And with the damage piling up after two straight nights in Korakuen, to have him at the end really puts me ill at ease. 

–A distinct change of gears, as well, after the prior night’s main event with Dragon Lee. 

Takagi: That match really could be an unlucky one for me. 

— As we get to the end of the campaign, May 26 in Chiba, you have Tiger Mask.

Takagi: It’s Tiger versus Dragon. Tiger Mask has a long history in New Japan, but me beating him would let the legend of the dragon take root, I think. The timing works quite nicely. 

— He has some stiff kicks and tough submissions. He’s a tough matchup.

Takagi: Right. I wrestled him in Hiroshima during the junior tag league. His kicks were just so fast, I never saw them coming. And if one of those catches you wrong, you’re in for a tough night. 

— May 29 in Aichi, you wrestle Jonathan Gresham for the first time. Do you know much about him?

Takagi: He’s wrestled in a few different promotions in Japan. When he came over for the ROH events I thought that was the first time I’d met him but it turns out we’ve met each other a few times. He’s a real student of the game, isn’t he? I get the feeling he’s got the smarts to stick around in NJPW for a while. 

— And he lives up to the Octopus nickname with all his submission moves. 

Takagi: To fell the truth, I’m not great with people who wrestle a submission style. I know it’s becoming a talking point that I’ve not been pinned or submitted, but not many guys try to go for submissions. It’s a weak point for me that I need to work on, research before I face him. 

— Your last league match is May 30 in Ehime. A match I know you’ve been waiting for as you face a man the same age as you, Taiji Ishimori. You feel strongly about this match, right? 

Takagi: When we were both 20 years old, I was in Hamaguchi’s Gym sparring with Naito, and he was wrestling in the Tokyo Dome. From there, that made him a target. 

— Ishimori’s Japanese Debut was January 19 2003 in the Tokyo Dome for Wrestle-1. 

Takagi: When I saw that, I was just so bitter. I was training and didn’t see myself at anywhere near a pro level, but here’s a guy the same age as me who’s having this flashy match in the Tokyo Dome.. I guess you could say I’ve been chasing after him for 16 years. 

— And at that stage in the tournament t, it isn’t just a pride thing; it could well be ‘must win’. 

Takagi: I really don’t want to lose. We’ve drifted away from each other but I think Ibushi, Naito, Ishimori and I all used to have this feeling that if we were together we’d make sure our generation blew away anything before it. 

— Some might not know about this, ‘The 1982 Club’. Once upon a time you guys the same age would go and eat together, correct?

Takagi: And from that club, Ibushi and Naito went on to year the house down in New York.. part of me thought that I wanted the same for me and Ishimori. But at the end of the day, wanting the win is most important. If it’s a choice between having a great match and winning, of course I want to win more. 

–Ishimori likely feels the same way.

Takagi: You think? He doesn’t really wear his heart on his sleeve, he’s a little hard to read. He’s very serious about everything, training, his matches. An absolute pro, for sure. 

— That’s very clear when you look at his physique. 

Takagi: Physically, or in terms of speed, he’s unbeatable. He’s awesome. But I think in the end, it’s not about being more awesome, it’s about being tougher. Who’s tougher, me or him? That’s the question. 

— The finals this year are in Ryogoku. You’ve never been in a main event there, correct?

Takagi: Not once, in 15 years. But for it to happen in this situation, maybe it’s destiny. Or should I be like Naito and say ‘destino’?

–It would be great for the legend of Shingo Takagi. A good scene in your biopic, if you had one. 

Takagi: So I’m not thinking about who I want in the finals. To be in New Japan less than a year and make it to that final in Ryogoku is already motivation enough, and to do it in the building I made my NJPW debut, that’s special. 

–So even if you haven’t given it much thought, if we had to push you to name someone?

Takagi: Obviously as an LIJ member I want to say BUSHI, I’ve teamed with him for a long time now. I’m also interested in Bandido; he’s a great wrestler and popular all over the world. And Will Ospreay, I’ve had my eye on him since he beat Ibushi at the Tokyo Dome.