Alex Shelley shares his thoughts on his upcoming match with Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Shelley won the IMPACT World Championship by defeating Steve Maclin at IMPAT Against All Odds. He will face perhaps his toughest test yet when he defends the gold against NJPW star Hiroshi Tanahashi at IMPACT x NJPW Multiverse United 2 on August 20.
Speaking with Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Kevin Kellam, Shelley discussed the match and described how much Tanahashi means to him personally.
“I think it’s a big match because he just means so much to me. Not to sound weird or corny, but you mentioned it. You said it, he resurrected New Japan Pro-Wrestling. I was there, I saw it happen. I was there in 2009 when he beat Mutoh. That was our New Japan debut. I came back a few years later when he was rebuilding the company, when he made a star out of Okada, when his feud with Shinsuke was kind of on top, and they were just leading the league. When Shibata came back, all these things. I said this before, but I just saw how he acted in the ring, but also outside it. He was a champion in every sense of the word. I don’t have enough time to sit here and list all the things I’ve seen him do, but he cared for everybody in that company to some extent. I was on the apron, I teamed with Tana-san so many times that I was able to watch greatness in front of me, and he led by example. Not just his wrestling, although his wrestling, yes, I learned so much just watching him and teaming with him. I never touched him. Not in New Japan, at least. I did wrestle him in TNA in 2008. But I saw what he did outside the ring that made him a champion, like what he had to do to maintain that spot, too," Shelley said.
Shelley continued by describing how he has thought of Tanahashi in recent months, both before he won the world title and since he captured the gold. He noted that he has considered what Tanahashi would do in various situations. Shelley praised Tanahashi and stated that he has changed pro wrestling, both generally and for him personally.
"He’s actually somebody who I’ve thought of a lot more, like the past three months, four months. When I knew I had my championship match coming up, I thought, ‘Well, if I win this, then what does a champion do? How is this gonna be different? He was the first person that jumped into my mind. Then after I won it, I found myself thinking so many times, ‘What would Tana do in this situation?’ Because he’s a sure fire Hall of Famer, and I think he’s somebody who absolutely changed pro wrestling. He definitely changed it for me on a personal level, too. So yeah, it’s a dream match in a sense, like, ‘Okay, you have two guys who kind of make up the identities of their companies.’ But for me personally, it’s like how often do you get to wrestle somebody who was a mentor to you? How often do you get to wrestle somebody who again re-invented Japanese pro wrestling? I’m in there with somebody who’s, I’ll say this, he’s actively better than me. He’s been in this situation more than I have. What can I learn from this? I’m looking forward to it on a sense like, I’m going in there, and I’m the underdog. I was against Aldis, I was against Maclin, I am here too. He could easily beat me, he could easily take this belt back to New Japan. IMPACT and New Japan have a working agreement. This is not impossible. So it’s such just a sublime match. There’s no other way I can put it," he said.
When asked to describe what potentially winning the match would mean to him, Shelley emphasized the importance of earning Tanahashi's respect. He made it clear that, in his eyes, earning the NJPW's respect is was important as the title.
“It at least means I’ve probably earned Tanahashi’s respect. Which I think is probably the most important victory here. Holding onto the belt is very, very important. But to make sure that Tana gets in the ring with me and just thinks, ‘Okay, he’s really great. He’s a champion.’ That to me is as important as a championship," Shelley said.
Frankie Kazarian recently discussed Alex Shelley's world title run. Click here to see what he had to say.
Shelley is set to compete at the All Star Junior Festival. Check out the card here.
Click here to check out the card for IMPACT x NJPW Multiverse United 2. Fightful will have coverage of the show as it airs on August 20.
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