With the opening weekend of the New Japan Pro-Wrestling G1 Climax 33 underway, NJPW superstar Tetsuya Naito, who is in the D Block, is set for his first match of the tournament on July 16th against Jeff Cobb. NJPW caught up with Tetsuya Naito for an interview as they discussed a number of topics including the G1.
To open the interview, NJPW asked Naito his thoughts on the structure of this years G1:
Four blocks, quarter finals, semifinals and finals, right? Well, I guess it creates chances, and the elimination phase sounds pretty interesting. But I do think there are too many people.
Tetsuya Naito was asked to give his thoughts on the A Block which includes, SANADA, Shota Umino, Yota Tsuji and NOAH’s Kaito Kiyomiya:
All the A Block guys have been pretty talkative all over the place. Any wrestler turned off by that would do well to learn from them and be more vocal themselves.
When the topic of the D Block with Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Zack Sabre Jr and Toru Yano was brought up, Naito, who is in the D Block, had these comments:
Isn’t it the same every year? Or am I imagining things?
When I was saw the block I was like ‘again?’. And I’m with Yano an awful lot as well.
Right. So there aren’t many fresh matches there. I’m not complaining, mind
Naito gave his thoughts on his first opponent on July 16th, Jeff Cobb:
We’re the same age, actually, both born in ’82. He’s always been a good wrestler, and he’s only improved since joining United Empire. He’s strong as hell, but I actually do well against guys like him.
NJPW asked Tetsuya Naito if he knew much about his July 26th opponent Shane Haste and Naito didn’t mince his words:
Not much at all. We met in tag league, right? But that’s it, and I don’t think we really touched much, so I don’t know what kind of match this will be at all. Maybe I’ll get a better idea once the tournament starts, but right now? I have no idea.
Thing is, I don’t know why he’s in the G1. He doesn’t wrestle in NJPW all that often, so I want him to show just why he deserves to be here in this tournament.
Naito was asked to comment on NJPW naming Shota Umino, Ren Narita & Yota Tsuji the Reiwa Three Musketeers:
I thought someone had screwed up at first. Like they weren’t supposed to post it on main, or they didn’t mean to send the tweet from their drafts or something. I just couldn’t believe what I was reading.
Right? I was in Mexico at the time, and I just couldn’t help but wonder just why NJPW were pushing that out. It was hardly a very impactful way of putting it out there anyway, and then if it was me, I would hate to be lumped together with the other two like that. I was definitely wondering how they would react though, especially Tsuji. I was glad to see he didn’t disappoint.
Naito closed the interview with these comments:
Well, the finals are back in Ryogoku. As a fan I went to Ryogoku to seen the finals, and as a wrestler I won the G1 twice there. So to me, the G1 finals are really at home in Sumo Hall. This year I need to be in that spot, to win, and to have that call of ‘De! Ja! Pon!’
You can follow Lewis Carlan on Twitter @ShootingUpNorth
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