Tetsuya Naito On Dangers Of NJPW Dominion 2019 Match With Kota Ibushi, Their Upcoming Match At Wrestle Kingdom 15

In a recent interview with NJPW1972.com, Tetsuya Naito discussed the dangers of his match with Kota Ibushi at NJPW Dominion 2019, their upcoming match at Wrestle Kingdom 15, and much more. Here are some of the highlights:

Tetsuya Naito on his match with Kota Ibushi at NJPW Dominion 2019 being considered dangerous: “There was a lot of feedback on Twitter for that afterward. And I think Ibushi felt the same way about it; that isn’t for the people to say. They can say it was too dangerous all they want, but I want to come back and ask them if they want to see completely safe pro-wrestling, and just how that gets done. So trust in us and watch. There is no such thing as safe pro-wrestling. A bodyslam can end your career. I really don’t like fans who have never done any of it, judge on what’s safe and what isn’t.”

On their upcoming match at Wrestle Kingdom 15: “It’s a big deal. Just being the last to walk down the aisle in the Tokyo Dome, as the champion, that’s a first for me. That’s emotional in itself. And after the journey that we’ve had, there’s something poetic about it being Ibushi in there with me as well. I really do like wrestling him. Him as a person, not so much. But I like wrestling him a ton.

“Look, when we get right down to it, what we’re here to do as pro-wrestlers is simple. We want everyone buying a ticket, watching on TV, watching online, in Japan and around the world, to enjoy themselves. So if the wrestlers aren’t enjoying themselves, it doesn’t seem reasonable that the fans would. Ibushi is the ideal opponent for me in that case, and we’re doing it in the biggest match of the year. With more people watching than any other time, we’re going to blow all of them away.”

On fans wondering about the potential dangers of the match after their Dominion encounter: For all I’ve said before though, fun and dangerous are not one and the same. there’s a lot of different angles to look at wrestling, a lot of different ways of enjoying it, and Ibushi is the best for bringing that fun out.”

On Jay White challenging the winner on Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom 15: “Jay’s sharp. He certainly game planned this situation. He was thinking that he was the biggest star of the three of us, that he wanted to be the last in wait. I might have fallen into his trap, maybe. But I’m doing this exactly how I wanted to; it just so happens to be just what he expected. For me, back to back main events on the biggest stage, that’s the biggest prize here, but when results and the titles are more important than anything else, well, he made the right call for him.”