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JUL.18.2021

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The Dragon’s Grand Slam: Shingo Takagi interviewed 【WGSC】

Shingo Takagi discusses his monumental Tokyo Dome main event defence

From defending the NEVER Openweight Championship in the Tokyo Dome in January, to headlining with the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in the building in July, it’s hard to argue against the view that Shingo Takagi has had one of the best first halves to a year of any wrestler in history. Yet on July 25 he will head to the biggest of spots with the biggest of tasks; to defend his championship, and win a Dome main event on his first try; an achievement nobody in the last 16 years has attained. 

 

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This is where it all began

 

–We’re here in Asakusa, Tokyo to shoot the hype video for Wrestle Grand Slam. Is Asakusa an important place to you?

Takagi: It all started right here. When I was in middle school, I made up my mind to become a pro-wrestler, and I read up on Animal Hamaguchi’s Dojo here. I wanted to graduate middle school and come to Asakusa, but my parents stopped me. So in the end I came out here just before I graduated high school. 

–Do you remember what it was like back then? How you felt about life? 

Takagi: I remember thinking I wanted to be stronger, wanted to be bigger. Twice a day…Even now I’ll train three or four times a day, but back then I was training twice a day every day, and living right by Hamaguchi’s so I could go at any time. 

–That’s how much you wanted it. 

Takagi: Of course, since middle school. And then when I got here, it was my whole life, 24/7, 365.

Yes this is the top belt. But I’ve not reached the top yet. 

 

–You had to bounce from reaching the New Japan Cup finals and losing to the disappointment in losing your title match in Fukuoka, and then being able to seize the IWGp World Heavyweight Championship at Dominion in June. How were you able to cope with that series of events, mentally?

Takagi: I thought I would be done for a second, as far as the title. But in the end, it only took about a week to refocus. As soon as the news came out that Ospreay had passed up the belt and had gone home, it became ‘OK, the time’s now!’.

–You’ve gotten to the top after only 2 years and 8 months since you came into NJPW. Do you think much has changed about you in that time?

Takagi: Well, I have the top belt, yes. But I don’t think I’ve reached *the* top yet. Getting it is one thing, but keeping it is another, and I think the real effort begins here.

–Do you feel it was a quick ascent for you?

Takagi: I don’t think it was particularly fast or slow. I’ve said this since I’ve come in, but I’m getting closer to 40. I don’t have time to wonder when my chance was coming around. 

–I see. 

Takagi: You know, since 2010, I tried to make it to the Tokyo Dome every January 4. I saw Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada one year, and I was thinking the whole time that match was on about what I would do if I were in that situation. How I would counter the Rainmaker, everything. So when I took the title, yes there was a sense that I’d arrived, but if anything, it just made me more tense for what’s to come. 

I won’t be satisfied just with winning

–The connections you and Kota Ibushi share is something that’s been well documented. 

Takagi: Same age, debut at the same time, coming into NJPW from outside. Our styles might be different, our looks might be different, but we have more in common than we do differences.

–you’ve always had an eye on Ibushi.

Takagi: I have. He’s always been at least in the back of my mind. I remember around when I debuted, Weekly Pro-Wrestling magazine ran a ‘Rookies of ’04’ feature, and that’s when I first found out about him. I kept tabs on him ever since. I don’t think he’s the type to really care what other people are doing, so maybe it wasn’t mutual, but yeah, I’ve always been mindful of him. 

–He was one reason why you chose to come to NJPW, correct?

Takagi: Right. The guys of your own generation, they’re the ones that motivate you hardest, I think. There’s no way you want to lose to someone who came up the same time as you.

–Is there a little bit of jealousy there? When it comes to the presence that he has?

Takagi: Yeah, I think there is, to an extent. Sometimes I ask myself ‘am I losing out to him?’ but then when it comes to it, I’m not. You have to go into every match believing you’re good enough to win. If you have any self doubt, you’re toast. 

–After all, you are heading into the main event at the Tokyo Dome, and as champion. 

Takagi: Heheh. I said this after the Osaka match, but life is wild, huh? I really didn’t see this coming. Especially two or three months ago after losing in Fukuoka. 

–I see.

Takagi: Three years ago I came to see the Dome show, the year I started in NJPW. Back then, nothing was set yet… I remember taking a picture of Ibushi’s entrance, and when looked back at it I remember thinking ‘I’m going to wrestle him in that Dome’. A dream, a goal. Putting it in the universe. I’m kind of a pragmatic type, so I don’t really talk about something like this being moving, but it is extra motivating. But it isn’t enough just to walk out there, or just to win. I have to make a major impact. 

I do have an Ibushi complex

 

–You said that Ibushi might not be the type to keep track of other people, but he has always kept tabs on you. He’s said that he saw you four months after he debuted, and thought that somebody special had come along. 

Takagi: Hahaha! I’m happy to hear that, seriously. Let’s be honest here, Ibushi can do things that I can’t. I can’t do a dropkick like him. I’ve never been able to, and if you told me to, it would be a disaster. But his strikes, and his dives, he has that down. I have to admit, I have an Ibushi complex. But the ring is the place to rebel against that and release that tension. I’m never going to sit here and tell you I’m perfect, but I will say that I won’t lose out to anyone. 

 

–Will you bring even more to Ibushi than normal?

Takagi: We both have similar attitudes to wrestling, I think. Our styles are different, but just like Naito, just like Ishimori, we grew up on ’90s wrestling. We grew up on that being drilled into us- ‘this is a fight’ ‘strong style’ ‘king of sports’. That’s what drove us, and I think drove us differently to guys that are 10 years older, or 10 years younger. 

–There’s a generational factor there. 

Takagi: That said, I want to bring out the crazy in Ibushi. And I think he will bring the crazy out of me. That’s all good, right? 

–Ibushi will certainly be bringing all he has to the table. 

Takagi: I always find it easier to wrestle guys that come at me with snug strikes. People say that my matches are intense and violent, but I want that out of my opponents. Come at me full force, and I’ll do the same in return. No limits. 

I’ve got a secret plan up my sleeve

 

–Ibushi has said that he has more experience in big match settings than you. 

Takagi: I always say my way of doing things is business as usual. Doesn’t matter if it’s Korakuen Hall, or the Tokyo Dome. Same as always. January 5 against Jeff Cobb in the Dome, I showed up same time as usual, chilled out, had my coffee. Hiromu was amazed ‘aren’t you a little too business as usual?’. But no, it’s really business as usual. 

–I see. 

Takagi: But is there a little difference, tactically? Adapting to different venues? For sure. As for the pressure of the spot? Being in the main event at the Tokyo Dome? Let’s say I have a secret plan up my sleeve as far as that’s concerned. 

–Some wrestlers say the Dome presents a unique challenge in terms of the crowd noise taking a second to reach the ring. Is that an issue for you? 

Takagi: The crowd are a fair distance from the ring, so they look like little specks from our vantage point. So we want them to feel our emotions, our passion even from that distance. It means I turn it up to ten times more intensity than usual, if anything. 

–How does it feel for the two of you to not have come from the NJPW system, but main eventing in the Tokyo Dome? Is there a little dig at NJPW in there perhaps? 

Takagi: No, not a dig, but I wonder, a non-native NJPW guy like me taking the world title, is there not a little bit of anger from the veterans? To be honest, I’m a little disappointed there hasn’t been as far as I can tell. Maybe I haven’t drawn enough attention to myself, or to the belt. The ring is the place to let that anger out, so I want all of it. So not a dig at NJPW, but ‘look at me’ kind of thing. 

Wrestling in the Dome, during the Olympics? It’s an incredible turn of events

–Now you have the title, can we really call this the ‘age of the Dragon’? 

Takagi: Heh, I always say it’s never not the age of the Dragon. I’m always at my best, and I’m not one to look back. I’m taking each day as it comes, and living my life to the fullest. 

–All eyes are on Japan from the end of the month.

Takagi: Right? As soon as the Tokyo Olympics was first announced, I was intrigued. I really felt like the Japanese spirit will be strong for the whole time the Olympics are on. I think there’s a lot of things that have lined up here, me in the main event at the Tokyo Dome while the Olympics are on. It’s an incredible turn of events. Destiny perhaps. 

–It’s an incredible chance to show the world what Japanese wrestling is. 

Takagi: America and Mexico might have their own pro-wrestling, but I think the best wrestling is Japanese wrestling. I want to show that ‘made in Japan’ spirit and have fans think ‘man, Japanese wrestling is the best’

There’s one more guy I want in the Tokyo Dome

–Kota Ibushi has said that your fired up nature could lead to a slipup. 

Takagi: Heh, he’s the one that started all that ‘middle aged and fired up’ speak in the first place. He’s the first one that really recognised my energy I guess. Well, I have a lot of pent up energy, so it’s all going to get unleashed when the bell rings. 

–Obviously July 25 is a major hurdle to clear. Should you do so, do you have any goals after that?

Takagi: Hmm. I’d say that holding onto this title is more important than the winning, and it’s pretty damn hard, too. Right now, it7s all about Ibushi. But there is one other guy I want in the Tokyo Dome. Can I say it?

–The world wants to know. 

Takagi: I want to hold this belt until the end of the year, and then I want Naito. I think if I can beat him as well as Ibushi, it would prove that I’m the best guy of my generation, and the best in all modern pro-wrestling.

–Sounds good. 

Takagi: I want to make it clear that it is still our time. And that said, and here’s that dragon ego in me, that I’m the best out of everyone that encompasses. 

 

 

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