Japanese wrestling legend Atsushi Onita recently spoke with Yahoo! Japan about AEW adopting the exploding barbed wire deathmatch for their upcoming Revolution pay per view, a matchup that Onita made famous in FMW with the icon Terry Funk.
The report mentioned how AEW was initially attempting to bring Onita in to attend the event live, but was unable to due to COVID-19 protocols and appearances that Onita still had in Japan. He did however give the following comment praising AEW for putting the deathmatch on a national stage.
Although AEW has just been established, it is an organization that is trying to compete with the world’s largest WWE, and it can be said that it is a major. The current blast that organization created is hung on the world title of the highest peak of the organization. I’m honored to do it. Originally, I wanted to go to the United States and see it with my own eyes, but I gave up because of my in-law to Mr. Pogo. What kind of current explosion will AEW show? I’m looking forward to it. I would like to pay tribute to the major group AEW and the United States for accepting the form of [death matches]. It’s like being recognized by the United States, [it’s] like being recognized by the world. Once calmed down, I could board the AEW and do a current blast, or maybe I could try to fight the AEW players with my real current blast, which is my home in Japan.
You can check out the full interview here.