– NJPW1972.com recently interviewed wrestler and NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion Gabe Kidd, who shared his candid thoughts regarding New Japan Ace and company president Hiroshi Tanahashi. Tanahashi recently stated that NJPW STRONG titles will be defended exclusively in the United States. Below are some highlights:
On his match in NOAH against Kaito Kiyomiya: “On paper it looks like I lost that match, but did I really? Because of me, NOAH attendance was up, NOAH viewership was up, and while they made money off of me, I was making their champion look like a little rat. But yeah, the results said that Kiyomiya beat me. So now I’m coming into the G1 off a loss from a NOAH wrestler. How do you think that’s making me feel? I’m going to kill everyone in that tournament. So enough about that NOAH s**t, let’s get down to the G1.”
Gabe Kidd on Hiroshi Tanahashi: “I think that Tanahashi is scared. He’s scared of me. He doesn’t want me terrorizing people on his turf. He doesn’t want me making that title the most interesting one in New Japan. So let me tell you something. F*** Tanahashi. From the bottom of my heart, f*** Hiroshi Tanahashi. I’ll skewer your head on a samurai sword, b*tch. You can keep pushing the narrative of Tsuji, Uemura, Umino, but I’m the future of this company and I’ll cut through every one of them. Now let’s get down to the G1 talk.”
On competing in the G1 Climax this year: “Listen. I’m not like all these other guys, who think and plan stuff ahead. I turn up on the day and how I feel, that’s what I do. I don’t give a f*** about anything other than being the most talked about wrestler, the most hype wrestler, and I’m going to make this s**t hype again. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s been the same for way too long. All these old f***s doing the same thing over and over again. It’s my responsibility to come int here and make this company talked about and on top once again. I’m going to do that by winning the f***ing tournament.”
