NJPW star Hiroshi Tanahashi was recently interviewed by Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso as he spoke about wanting to have a match with AEW star CM Punk at some point in the future, along with some career advice given to him by the late Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) in 2001. Hall passed away several weeks ago at the age of 63 from complications due to hip surgery.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On what he learned from wrestling Scott Hall in 2001: “I think Mr. Hall taught me the answer to the question, ‘What is a true professional?’ It is an important memory that Mr. Hall invited me to go out for a meal together. I will hold on to and cherish that memory.”
On wanting to reclaim the IWGP US title before he returns to the US: “Recapturing the U.S. heavyweight title before I return to the United States, that is what I need to do. I want to do that for my fans. The presence of fans is my number-one treasure. With them, the significance of being a professional wrestler is not the same. The desire to have them enjoy professional wrestling brings out the absolute best abilities of the wrestlers and pushes us beyond our limits.”
Hiroshi Tanahashi on his desire for rematches against Bryan Danielson and CM Punk: “I wrestled against Bryan once in my youth, and now I want to fight him again as a superstar. CM Punk is famous all over the world, so I would like to wrestle him in a situation that will be big news across the world.”
