wrestling / News

Hiroshi Tanahashi on How His Rivalry With Shinsuke Nakamura Began, Getting to Work With Mitsuharu Misawa in 2004

November 25, 2020 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris

NJPW1972.com recently spoke to Hiroshi Tanahashi for the latest edition of Aces High, where Tanahashi speaks about his career in 2004, his burgeoning rivalry with Shinsuke Nakamura, and getting to work against late Japanese wrestling legend Mitsuharu Misawa. Below are some highlights.

Hiroshi Tanahashi on starting his rivalry with Shinsuke Nakamura on Jan. 4, 2004, declaring that night he wanted to face Nakamura for his title: “In terms of age, career experience, in every respect, Nakamura was my junior at that point, but he was so many steps ahead of me. There was this massive gulf between us; I just thought I needed to at least make my feelings heard.”

On how he didn’t feel rushed and had a different approach to the business than Nakamura: ” I wouldn’t say I was rushed, no. I really strongly believed in my way of getting to the top of this mountain. … Right. Slow and steady. Not quite the hare and the tortoise, but I thought if I didn’t give up, if I didn’t stop, I would eventually get there. That was probably the calculating side of me as well; I figured that was the best way to get the fans on side with me as well.”

On wrestling against Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa for the GHC tag titles just days later: “That was huge. For a wrestling fan of so many years, to finally find out what a Misawa elbow really felt like… It was something else (laughs).”

On taking Misawa’s elbow: “Man, it just rattled your brain, that sound echoing through the building. I got in that ring feeling like ‘no way you’re going to look past NJPW!’ and as soon as I took one of those I thought ‘ok, I think I’m good’ (laughs). I mean you look at all those wars Misawa, (Toshiaki) Kawada and (Kenta) Kobashi had through the ’90s, all those high impact moves, and then the last thing that led to the finish would be one elbow shot, right? I felt first hand just how powerful that elbow can be as a finish.”

His thoughts on Misawa: “The career that guy had… I think the fans had so many memories that they shared with him, you know? That meant they had so much faith in him, so much conviction, unlike anyone ever. When I wrestled him, physically he was…”

“It’s all in the moments the fans share with you. Misawa fans saw him stand up to Jumbo Tsuruta ack in the day and they thought ‘OK, Misawa pulled through, so I’ll do the same!’ Those memories will stay with his fans forever. You mentioned ‘people’s champions’ before, and he was the very embodiment of that.”