Tetsuya Naito On His Match With Yota Tsuji At NJPW Sakura Genesis, Okada Leaving For AEW

Tetsuya Naito defends the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Yota Tsuji at NJPW Sakura Genesis, and he spoke about the match and more recently. Naito spoke with Fightful’s Scott Edwards about his matches against Tsuji at Sakura Genesis, Jon Moxley at NJPW Windy City Riot and more, and you can see highlights below:

On Tsuji challenging him for the title: “Tsuji’s been brimming with confidence ever since he’s returned from excursion, and there’s nothing but huge potential there. Having won the New Japan Cup, it’s obvious that he’s the strongest challenger for me right now. Speaking as a fellow LIJ member, I want him to have an even bigger presence than he has right now, but for that to happen he needs a setback to overcome. I’m happy to provide that setback April 6th in Ryogoku.”

On facing Moxley at Windy City Riot: “To be honest, I really don’t follow American pro-wrestling, so I didn’t know much about him at all. After he beat me in July 2019 though, i remembered his name and remembered his face. This is only our second match, so I’m glad I finally get my chance for revenge. Being able to do that on his home turf in the States is really something, so I plan on beating Tsuji in Ryogoku and then going head-to-head with him as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.”

On NJPW’s 2024 thus far: “It’s been a hectic start to 2024. I hope that guys take that as an opportunity for them to shoot for the top, and I look forward to facing them for the IWGP World Heavyweight title.”

On if he still thinks the IWGP Heavyweight Championship needs to be brought back: “I don’t want to be seen as switching positions since winning the title at all. I was against the formation of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship until the very end. But in the end, I couldn’t prevent it from happening. I wanted to become a pro-wrestler because I wanted to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, that much is true, but I also don’t want to erase the fact that I didn’t succeed in what I set out to do. It’s a complicated situation, but I don’t think it’s right to separate these belts now.”

On Kazuchika Okada leaving NJPW for AEW: “Hasta luego. We’ll meet again.”