NJPW superstar Katsuyori Shibata recently spoke with Tokyo Sports about his return to action at this past weekend’s G1 Climax finals, which saw the former NEVER Openweight champion take on Zack Sabre Jr. in a UWF rules exhibition match. Check out Shibata’s thoughts on the experience below.
Says he wanted to wait for the right time to do the exhibition, and knew that ZSJ would be the best person to do it with:
I wanted to do it at the right time. It was troublesome to ask about my condition, so I said, ‘Seeing is believing.’ I just expressed that it is [time]. Also, since it is such an era of Corona[virus], I wish I could see something like hope. [Zack Sabre Jr. was] the right person. He’s always said that he can maximize [his time]. I wonder if there will be a battle with Zack [in the future]. On the contrary, other than Zack, I didn’t think about it.
How some days are better than others in terms of his recovery and possible return:
It was the best space. It’s a special place. I have only this. It seems that the desire for a full-scale return has become stronger. Every day I go three steps and go down two steps. Sometimes I go three steps and go down four or five steps. But I don’t want to give up there. I can do this. I’m not going to give up.
(H/T and transcribed by Post Wrestling
)