Hiroshi Tanahashi’s life story can now be told in this series of autobiographical interviews, available for the first time in English!
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–So last time we touched on your first Tokyo Dome main event, on October 13 2003 against the Inoki Army in an elimination match. You said you didn’t remember all that much of the match itself…?
Tanahashi: Right. My first Tokyo Dome main event and I don’t remember much! I remember Suzuki’s palm strikes, though. And Kenji Sakaguchi being ringside.
–Actor Kenji Sakaguchi, Seiji’s son was in his dad’s corner for the NJPW side. He was a good friend of Kenzo Suzuki’s; did you get along with him?
Tanahashi: He was a good guy. Him, me and Kenzo Suzuki were each born one year apart from one another, so it was like three brothers all together. We went out to eat near the Dojo and stuff.
–His dad made sure you hit it off?
Tanahashi: Yeah. Kenji was so nice, really warm hearted, kind to everyone. I think he was a little nervous to be with us at first, but he was great. Taller than me, too. I thought he was a really cool guy.
–You both became big stars in your respective fields.
Tanahashi: Yeah, it’s been quite the ride for both of us. We haven’t spoken for a long time though. I know he’s a really busy guy, himself.
–You stayed in the match until the very end, which surprised a lot of people. The biggest upset was you pinning Kazuyuki Fujita.
Tanahashi: Oh, yeah: the cradle, right?
–After Fujita was manhandling you, yes. That got a big reaction in the Dome.
Tanahashi: Oh, it was like Kantaro Hoshino getting the upset over UWF.
–You certainly lived up to the expectations that were put on you. After the match you said that you wanted this to be a breakout match for you.
Tanahashi: Looking back, it was a big chance for me, but there were so many people in that match it was hard for any one of us to stand out.
–There were nine other people in that mix, but they were all top tier talent. Did that mean a lot to you, to be in that mix for the first time?
Tanahashi: Yeah. I was still reckless at the time, just forging ahead, and I didn’t really have the power to make the fans recognise me as someone in that mix just yet. Actually, as we talk about it, I can remember bits and pieces of that night now. Bob Sapp wearing Sakaguchi’s judo gi (laughs).
–After that you had another high profile match in Sapporo on November 30. You and Yuji Nagata won the GHC Tag Team Championships in NOAH over Kenta Kobashi and Tamon Honda.
Tanahashi: I remember that was during a NJPW tour as well. We had a match down in Sendai and then flew up to Hokkaido. I was really sick.
–You wrestled for 30 minutes plus with a 38 degree fever. That was the one and only time you shared a ring with Kenta Kobashi; how was that experience?
Tanahashi: I grew up a fan of his. I wasn’t nervous per se, but I was more like ‘hey wow, Kobashi!’ Even during the match I was thinking ‘his arms are huge’, ‘I’m in a Kobashi Full Nelson!’
–You were having a fanboy moment (laughs).
Tanahashi: I remember a few days after that match we were in Kagoshima and (Red Shoes) Unno called me over. He said ‘Tana, you’ve changed a lot. Your matches are actually pretty good now.’
–All as a result of having wrestled Kobashi?
Tanahashi: Like I absorbed something through osmosis (laughs). I was embued with his essence, or something.
–How was it teaming with your senpai Nagata?
Tanahashi: He was super reliable. It was much easier to team with him, and come up with double team moves, than I thought it would be. I knew I could trust him, rely on him not to get blown up, have the stamina to get through the match at a high level. The key to being a good tag team is to have that ability to do your part right up to the end of the match. Nagata was more than able to do that and make it fun.
–You were IWGP Tag Champion with Yutaka Yoshie and GHC Tag Champion with Yuji Nagata, so you were kind of a double champion.
Tanahashi: Technically! It’s a bit misleading, but I was more than willing to take the label!
