Ahead of Shingo Takagi’s match against Bryan Danielson for the first round of the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament coming up on this Sunday’s AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door 2024 pay-per-view event, Takagi spoke to Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso (through a translator) about how honored he is to be in the tournament and what it means for his goals in All Elite Wrestling.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On being honored to be in the tournament: “Back in the day, I actually used to wrestle in a singlet like Owen’s. That tells you how highly I think of him. He wrestled quite a lot in NJPW, and anyone who has the respect of a legend like Jushin Liger has respect from me.”
On being inspired by Will Ospreay vs. Chris Jericho at AEW All In: “I was in London while All In was happening. When Will Ospreay wrestled Chris Jericho in front of 80,000 people, that got to me–the idea that it could have been me in that spot. That’s what drove me to enter this Owen Hart Cup.”
On Jon Moxley winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: “Jon Moxley took our IWGP title and defended it in AEW, so it would only be right for me to take the AEW belt and defend it in NJPW.”
On his upcoming match with Bryan Danielson: “If the fans are happy, then I’m happy. I think this is the result and a recognition of all that Bryan has accomplished in his career, and all I’ve done in my career. I like that this will be on display worldwide. The whole world will see true ‘Made in Japan’ spirit. It’s a real dream match, a real dream situation for the fans worldwide. This is something that will send shockwaves through the wrestling world.”
As always, be sure to tune in Sunday evening for live coverage of Forbidden Door to find out who wins that Takagi vs. Danielson match and everything else! Be sure to drop your predictions in the comments below!
