When Sanada meets Tetsuya Naito in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 18 in just a few weeks, it will the culmination of a journey for both men. Yet even though Sanada enters the match as the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, it’s hard to shake the feeling that he has much more at stake.
Part of it is because Sanada hasn’t felt like the top star in New Japan even though he holds its top championship. It’s telling, for example, that it was Naito who won the Tokyo Sports MVP Award for this year, even though he holds no titles — though he did win the G1 Climax, which is how he earned his shot at Wrestle Kingdom.
Even Sanada feels it. In his pre-Wrestle Kingdom interview, which you can see below, one of the things he feels he needs to prove by defeating Naito is not just that he was right to part ways with LIJ, but that he is in fact “a proper champion.”
“I left my old team, became the champion, it was a shock to the system,” Sanada said. “I think the results have been there, but part of me doesn’t quite feel like a real champion.”
He noted that without leaving LIJ, he probably never would have won the title, saying that the group is more like “Tetsuya Naito and friends.”
“If I stayed put I wouldn’t become a champion. I want to be a proper champion.”
A victory over the always popular Naito might help with that. Even if the fans don’t like it, there’s a chance that if the two men tear it up at Wrestle Kingdom, they’ll at least respect Sanada more than they do now.
He also spoke about wanting to sell out every building and perhaps have festivals in places like his hometown of Niigata, “to show wrestling to people who have never seen it.”
Will he get the chance? We’ll find out on Jan. 4.
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