Hiroshi Tanahashi has his sights set on the gold.
NJPW recently appointed Tanahashi as the company president and representative director. He remains active in the ring, as he currently holds the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship with Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii. He is an eight-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, and he continues to chase the world championship.
In an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Tanahashi made it clear that he will keep fighting for the world title, even as the NJPW president.
“When I lose that motivation, I will retire from wrestling. As long as I am an active wrestler, I continue to aim to be the top wrestler," Tanahashi said, speaking through a translator.
At NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18, Tanahashi will challenge Zack Sabre Jr. for the NJPW World Television Championship. Tanahashi previewed the match and noted that he has faced Sabre Jr. plenty of times. He stated that he was prepared to bring something new to the table this time around.
“I have wrestled Zack many times, so I have experience and countermeasures against him–but the same can be said for Zack. This time, I’m prepared to show moves and techniques he doesn’t know," Tanahashi said.
During the interview, Tanahashi also discussed his role as NJPW President. Click here to see what he had to say.
Fightful will have live coverage of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 as it airs on January 4.
