wrestling / News

Hiroshi Tanahashi Plans To Elevate NEVER Openweight Title to IWGP World Title Status

April 21, 2021 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Hiroshi Tanahashi NJPW G1 Climax 27

Hiroshi Tanahashi has big plans for his NEVER Openweight Championship reign, wanting to bring the title to the level of prestige of the IWGP World Heavyweight Title. Tanahashi spoke with Sports Illustrated for a new interview discussing his title reign, which began at The New Beginning In Nagoya. You can check out some highlights below:

On elevating the title: “This is about starting something new, creating a new kind of fire. There’s something to changing people’s conceptions, and that includes having the NEVER surpass the IWGP name.”

On NEVER Openweight Title matches having a different feel to them: “I think the most exciting thing about it is being able to wrestle more opponents that I haven’t had the chance to up to now. There are a lot of new possibilities opening up and that’s really cool.”

On his goals for the title: “I want newsworthy opponents, newsworthy matchups. Get people talking about the match, talking about the belt, and then deliver on the match itself. That’s how to elevate this championship … I will elevate the status of the NEVER belt until it’s on a level with the IWGP, or even higher. And I’ll have the whole world watching in the process.”

article topics :

Hiroshi Tanahashi, NJPW, Jeremy Thomas