This year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament winner Hiromu Takahashi recently spoke with the NJPW press to hype next week’s WrestleKingdom 15 pay per view, where Takahashi looks to recapture the IWGP Junior championship. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
How he felt about this year’s BOSJ tournament:
Is there a better word than delighted? If there is, let me know, if there isn’t, I’ll make it up and get it in the dictionary. The whole situation was amazing. I’m glad it was Desperado with me in the final, I’m glad it was the ten of us in the tournament. It was a tournament that really only this set of ten could have shown off, and we did it.
How El Phantasmo is unpredictable:
Obviously, you have to be tough to win, that’s a given. But what’s scary about him is that I never know what he’s thinking. I never know what he’s going to do next. You’ll see him going to use the Styles Clash, or One Winged Angel, like he’s drawing from AJ Styles or Kenny Omega. That says his idea of what his type of pro-wrestling is isn’t set in stone. That’s what makes him dangerous.
On Lio Rush:
That was something I was looking forward to. It really shocked me that was a first round match. Knowing one of them was going home after one match, there isn’t a tournament on Earth as harsh as that. He’s amazing. he isn’t unlike Taiji Ishimori, actually. Small, but with so much power and so much speed. He might be the fastest guy I’ve ever wrestled.
How he misses fans cheering at events:
They’d be right, heh. I’m excited to see just how far I’ll be able to go with a little of that gasoline. But like I said at the end of BoSJ, we fight with all we have to bring joy and energy to all of you. So even if you can just clap right now, that gives us the strength to keep going in return. Whatever happens, I love NJPW and junior heavyweight wrestling with all my heart. So let’s get through all of this so you can yell your support at me again!