Hiroshi Tanahashi on Breaking the Stereotype of Muscular Guys Being Immobile, Teaming with Kenzo Suzuki

Hiroshi Tanahashi spoke with NJPW as part of his Ace’s High series, recalling his tag team with Kenzo Suzuki and more.

On breaking the stereotype of muscular guys being slow to move: “Well, I had to work at it. It was tough. Like, I would bridge for five minute intervals, just on the tips of my toes and my forehead. I had a lot of respect for the bodybuilding world, so I definitely wanted to shake that stereotype of the inflexible muscle guy. There is that thinking, that this is a physique driven business, but strength and muscularity go hand in hand. I worked hard on my body and I worked hard when it came to the in ring stuff, and that’s why I was able to do what I did. It was a conscious effort of working on mobility and strength and making sure nobody passed me by just on initial impressions alone.”

On the old-school view that having a bit of fat helped guys take bumps: “Right. But I think that was all a bunch of excuses. Like you had guys bringing up Ultimate Warrior in the WWF, and saying ‘Oh, he looks the part, but he can’t have a decent match’ with a little bit of relief because they knew they themselves didn’t look the part at all.”

On he and Kenzo Suzuki asking Riki Choshu to let them team: “I remember it well! I sat down with Kenzo and us agreeing to go straight to him. So one day when he was in the Dojo, we waited until he was finished training and was in the sitting area, and went right to him, saying ‘please let us tag together!’ Not exactly the usual pattern for a pitch … Choshu looks at us and goes ‘You two posers?’ He basically was saying we couldn’t do anything, and to be honest, that was the truth at the time.”

On the King of the Hills name: “It was Kenzo’s idea. The idea was to be this top of the mountain kind of image, and it turned out he was watching some American cartoon with a similar name. Probably in the end of it all it was a little bit ironic and self deprecating, but it didn’t really stick anyway.”

On teaming with Kenzo: “I liked it. It worked out well to where I was the better bumper of the two of us, so I’d be taking the bulk of the heat, and he’d be the hot tag guy. It was a good learning experience, and while we were both still green, we were working at it. Every single match, even after house shows, we’d visit each other’s hotel rooms afterward and break down everything that happened in the match, think of things to work on, all that.”