G1 Climax 33 Winner Tetsuya Naito: My Motivation Is To Be In The Main Event At Tokyo Dome
A post G1 Climax 33 press conference took place today and Tetsuya Naito spoke to the media for the first time since winning this year’s G1 Climax tournament.
Naito fielded questions and gave his thoughts on winning the G1 Climax 33:
Here we are, one day removed from the G1 final. I’m beaten up, but the worst part is a lack of sleep. Saturday, Ryogoku. Sunday, Ryogoku. Today, press conference. That’s three days in a row I’ve had to wake up in the morning. Thank you to the NJPW office for the wake up calls. Thanks to your incessant telephone calls, I was able to get myself out of bed. This is my third win, first in six years. Everybody in this tournament is in it to win it, so I’m obviously happy to win. For me, I’ve always associated the G1 final with the middle of summer and with Ryogoku, so to have that final in Ryogoku, in mid summer, and of course to have the fans cheering as well, to have that big chant of ‘De Ja Pon!’ felt damn great. I think I had a pretty good summer.
Naito was asked if in his mind has he punched his ticket to the Wrestle Kingdom 18 main event which led Naito to wonder if there will be a briefcase with the contract that could lose to another wrestler. Naito was also asked about being challenged by Jeff Cobb.
I’m not sure… Do we still have contracts? Still do the briefcase deal? So… I’m going to the Tokyo Dome, right? That’s the mindset I’ve had for the whole time, that I’d be in the Tokyo Dome, in the main event. Well, if there’s no contract, I could wrestle Jeff Cobb, lose in five seconds, and still be in the main event, right? I want everyone to think carefully about that. If I don’t have anything at stake against Cobb, I’d have no issues just losing in five seconds.
Facing Kazuchika Okada for the first time in a G1 Climax final was another question that came up:
To any NJPW wrestler, the G1 Climax final is such an important stage. I have wrestled a whole bunch of singles matches with Okada. When we were Young Lions, we lived in the same room, so to now meet one another in the final, and for me to beat him? My first two G1 wins are definitely ones that left a strong impression on me, but I think this was even more of an important win and a significant win. A big part of that is the fact that I beat that Okada I used to room with years ago.
The topic of what is more important to Naito, the IWGP World Heavyweight Title or being in the main event at Tokyo Dome. Naito gave this answer:
Yes. I was always chasing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, not the World Heavyweight Championship. Matter of fact, right up until they made the belt, I was against it. So if it’s a question of the Tokyo Dome main event or the world title, the Dome is way up here and the belt is down here. But that’s right now. I could win the title at the Tokyo Dome and then start to see it become more important to me. I won’t know until I win it. But my motivation right now is to be in the main event at the Tokyo Dome.
NJPW fans can read about Kosei Fujita announcing he is heading on his excursion by clicking this link.
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