Hiroshi Tanahashi is ready to shine at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.
NJPW’s “ace” will face Jon Moxley in a match for the AEW Interim World Championship at the pay-per-view in the buzzworthy first-time clash between the two men. In Tanahashi’s AEW in-ring debut, they teamed up together on the June 22 episode of AEW Dynamite.
Speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Tanahashi discussed Forbidden Door and noted that he came up with the term in the first place. He described how he knew, even when AEW was first starting out, that a crossover between the two companies could be “something great.”
“I will be the star of Forbidden Door,” Tanahashi said. “I mean, I did think of the name after all. When I first used the term, it was three years ago, and AEW had really only just gotten started. I don’t think anyone really knew how they would develop, but they had some great talent behind them, and I knew we would be onto something great if we crossed over. So coining that phrase, it was my way of putting things into the universe.”
“If it’s up to him, this will get wild. But I’m expecting that,” said Tanahashi.”I can fight fire with fire. He’s a good bit bigger than me, and he has a reputation for being a street fighter. But he’s really precise with every little thing he does. Moxley rarely makes mistakes, and I respect that about him.”
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