Tetsuya Naito will defend both his IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships on July 12th, 2020. He will face the winner of the currently ongoing New Japan Cup in the main event of Dominion from Osaka Jo-Hall. A limited number of fans will be permitted to attend the event. Fans will be socially distanced and wearing masks.
Naito recently spoke to NJPW1972.com about the promotion having to go on hiatus from February to June due to the global pandemic. He also spoke about wanting to get back in front of live audiences again.
“I really would have liked to come back to a full building, but circumstances are what they are, there’s nothing I can do about that. It does hurt. Last year, when I thought I might be done with my eye injury, I started talking about the importance of ‘now’. You can only see the Tetsuya Naito of right now, right now. So I really want as many people as possible to see me, and it hurts that we can’t do that,” Naito said.
Naito also commented on NJPW’s response to the pandemic.
“I hope we can get to those jam-packed arenas to close the show with my roll calls as soon as possible. And it is kind of cool that we are the biggest. All the way around, in terms of doing this, and in terms of how well we’re handling it all, pro-wrestling is taking the lead, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling is taking the lead. We can be proud of that.”
No other matches have been announced for the event thus far. Other matches will likely be confirmed as the New Japan Cup grows closer to its finish.
The full interview with Naito can be read here.
