Alex Shelley recently spoke with SportsKeeda to promote his IMPACT World Championship showdown with NJPW legend Hiroshi Tanahashi at the upcoming IMPACT & NJPW co-promoted Multiverse United 2 special event.
During the discussion, the IMPACT World Champion spoke about the Tanahashi bout and how beating the Japanese legend would mean just as much to him as becoming world champion.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his upcoming match with Tanahashi: “I think it’s a big match because he just means so much to me. Not to sound weird or corny, but you mentioned it. You said it, he resurrected New Japan Pro-Wrestling. I was there, I saw it happen. I was there in 2009 when he beat Mutoh. That was our New Japan debut. I came back a few years later when he was rebuilding the company, when he made a star out of Okada, when his feud with Shinsuke was kind of on top, and they were just leading the league. When Shibata came back, all these things. I said this before, but I just saw how he acted in the ring, but also outside it. He was a champion in every sense of the word. I don’t have enough time to sit here and list all the things I’ve seen him do, but he cared for everybody in that company to some extent. I was on the apron, I teamed with Tana-san so many times that I was able to watch greatness in front of me, and he led by example. Not just his wrestling, although his wrestling, yes, I learned so much just watching him and teaming with him. I never touched him. Not in New Japan, at least. I did wrestle him in TNA in 2008. But I saw what he did outside the ring that made him a champion, like what he had to do to maintain that spot, too.”
On praising Tanahashi and saying that he has thought about him a lot: “He’s actually somebody who I’ve thought of a lot more, like the past three months, four months. When I knew I had my championship match coming up, I thought, ‘Well, if I win this, then what does a champion do? How is this gonna be different? He was the first person that jumped into my mind. Then after I won it, I found myself thinking so many times, ‘What would Tana do in this situation?’ Because he’s a sure fire Hall of Famer, and I think he’s somebody who absolutely changed pro wrestling. He definitely changed it for me on a personal level, too. So yeah, it’s a dream match in a sense, like, ‘Okay, you have two guys who kind of make up the identities of their companies.’ But for me personally, it’s like how often do you get to wrestle somebody who was a mentor to you? How often do you get to wrestle somebody who again re-invented Japanese pro wrestling? I’m in there with somebody who’s, I’ll say this, he’s actively better than me. He’s been in this situation more than I have. What can I learn from this? I’m looking forward to it on a sense like, I’m going in there, and I’m the underdog. I was against Aldis, I was against Maclin, I am here too. He could easily beat me, he could easily take this belt back to New Japan. IMPACT and New Japan have a working agreement. This is not impossible. So it’s such just a sublime match. There’s no other way I can put it.”
On how defeating Tanahashi and earning his respect is as important to him as winning the title: “It at least means I’ve probably earned Tanahashi’s respect. Which I think is probably the most important victory here. Holding onto the belt is very, very important. But to make sure that Tana gets in the ring with me and just thinks, ‘Okay, he’s really great. He’s a champion.’ That to me is as important as a championship.”
Check out the complete interview at SportsKeeda.com. H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.
