Ahead of his IWGP Intercontinental Championship clash against Bullet Club leader Jay White, Tetsuya Naito sat down with njpw1972.com to discuss his Double Dash Gold opportunity. Naito was clear about why he wanted to be the one to walk away on Sunday with both titles: to make history.
Naito was the first in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) to begin openly talking about being a double champion last year. For him, it’s all about making history and breaking old records.
“But when you’re the first to do something, that stays forever,” he explained. “I was trying to think of something that’s never been done before, that I could be first at. And then it hit me; double IWGP champion.”
He explained how “[…] there’s always been a distinction between the two titles; people wrestling for the Intercontinental Championship haven’t mixed with the Heavyweight contenders. So rather than have people think that I’ve gone back to just wrestling for the IC title, I wanted to say, no, I’m going to have this and wrestle for the heavyweight title as well.”
Tetsuya Naito’s Day One Ambition
The Los Ingobernables de Japon leader shared how he wanted to get rid of the idea that those competing for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship never move away from that scene. He reiterated how he’s never had any genuine interest in that championship, with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship always being his “number one belt.”
For Naito, defeating Jay White and once again becoming Intercontinental Champion is a means to an end. That end being the Heavyweight gold. Despite his goal, however, Naito stressed how “[…] the thing that I want the absolute most right now is the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. Remember, that’s what I’ve said since day one: I want to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship while holding the Intercontinental.”
Tetsuya Naito faces off against Jay White this Saturday on Night One of Wrestle Kingdom 14. The winner of their championship bout will go on to face the winner of Kazuchika Okada and Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on Night Two.
Wrestle Kingdom 14 takes place this weekend on 1/4 and 1/5 from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.
