Hiromu Takahashi is looking to add the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to his resume.
The reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion could get an opportunity to challenge for the belt if he wins the 32-man New Japan Cup, which features a mix of heavyweights and junior heavyweights competing for a chance to fight Tetsuya Naito for the prestigious belt at Dominion.
Speaking with New Japan World, Takahashi doesn’t just want to make an impact in the junior heavyweight division, he wants to defy expectations and compete in both divisions (transcript courtesy of Fightful.com):
“Some might think it should be good enough to just wrestle other juniors. But what I’m saying is, in NJPW we’re divided into weight classes, but juniors and heavyweights still fight each other. When they do, it’s always, ‘Of course the heavyweight’s gonna win. What’re you gonna do?’ That talk hurts. Just showing up isn’t enough. You have to win. If they really kept us separate, that would be one thing. But in NJPW, we’re in 6, 8, 10 man tags.
You’re guaranteed to see juniors fight heavyweights at least once on every card. None of us junior heavyweight wrestlers think it’s OK to lose in that scenario, but to hear those voices from fans, that hurts like hell. You don’t get this possibility in MMA or other sports. It’s a unique draw for pro wrestling. Regardless of weight class, juniors can face heavyweights and sometimes even win.
When they do, the crowd goes crazy, right? But they’re going crazy because the junior heavyweight’s ‘supposed to lose.’ I think if we can have tag matches, then juniors should be able to challenge heavyweights. That’s why I’ve always talked about winning the heavyweight title as a junior champion. Juniors and heavyweights do wrestle one another. So now, if Ospreay goes and wins the big one, good for him. But a junior heavyweight winning the big one, that’s way cooler”.
Catch Hiromu Takahashi in his return match against Toki Honma on June 16 during the New Japan Cup tournament. The entire tournament can be seen on New Japan World.