Be tranquillo.
Tetsuya Naito has a chance to reach the top of the mountain in New Japan Pro Wrestling this Sunday when he challenges Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestling Dontaku. Naito has held the prestigious belt on three separate occasions before, but none of those reigns have eclipsed the 200-day mark.
There's a strong chance that Naito could walk into the massive AEW-NJPW crossover event, Forbidden Door, with the belt across his waist. The potential matchups for the super show , which will take place at the United Center in Chicago on June 26th, are endless - especially with the top guys of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Despite this, Naito has revealed he has no plans to issue any challenges for the event.
In a new interview with Sports Illustrated, Naito made his intentions for the event clear.
"There is no wrestler I want to call out. The reason is simple. Wrestlers in AEW will all gather and shout 'I want to wrestle Tetsuya Naito!' and 'I want to fight Los Ingobernables de Japon!' It isn't hard to see this happening. It won't take long before it does."
Elsewhere in the interview, Naito was asked about potentially teaming with former Los Ingobernables member Andrade.
"Do people want that? Are they interested in me teaming with Andrade? Are they excited? My answer to that, of course, is, 'Tranquillo.'"
Naito also expressed interest in taking a break from wrestling in Japan, citing that he wants to expose the entire world to Los Ingobernables de Japon.
"I love New Japan Pro-Wrestling, so I don't want to take a break from the game. But if i ever go abroad, I want to go for a long time. I want to wrestle in the USA, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Australia, United Kingdom, Ireland, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Palau. I want to show Los Ingobernables de Japon to the world."
Despite wrestling for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title this weekend, Naito has expressed disinterest in holding the new version of the belt in the past. Click here to learn more.
Fightful will have full coverage of Wrestling Dontaku, as well as providing news on any major happenings that come from the event.
Fans can visit our results section to see results from around the wrestling world.
