JONAH wants to fight top dogs in NJPW.
JONAH, the former Bronson Reed in NXT, is currently exploring his options in IMPACT, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and beyond. In IMPACT, he has made it clear, the World Title is his goal. In New Japan, he is naming some dream matches for himself within the promotion in a new interview with Jon Alba.
"Yeah, I think everyone at the moment would want to wrestle Okada, you know, he's their top guy. Performance, after performance, after performance, he's always that standard. When you think of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, there's a bit of a standard of wrestling that you want to see. I don't think Okada has ever dropped the ball when I've watched him so he's definitely someone I want to get in the ring with. The other one is Ishii. I know a lot of fans want that match. That's a bit of a dream match for fans out there to see me vs. Ishii because of just the matchup itself and how hard hitting would be, so he's on the list. Probably third would be Will Ospreay. We've been around each other a lot of times and backstage a lot of times, but we never actually wrestled each other. So that's what I'm looking forward to doing."
Elaborating on these answers, JONAH would assess the rise of both and the reason they're both polarizing in the wrestling space while being exciting opponents.
"I think he [Okada] is just like you said is a Mount Rushmore type wrestler of this generation. I think he's one of the top wrestlers of this generation. Whether you talk about WWE, New Japan, IMPACT, AEW, Okada is always going to be on the top of that list. That's whether it's Japanese or not, I think he's just that polarizing as a wrestler, and he has timeless matches. His matches, much like, if you go back and watch Nick Bockwinkel or the classic matches of Harley Race or a Steamboat, or someone like that,t I feel like Okada [is someone who] in 20-30 years time, you'd be able to go back and watch."
Regarding Ospreay, JONAH says he can give Ospreay something not many can in AEW, a beating.
"I feel like, at the moment, Will is in that spot. He's such a fantastic wrestler, obviously, five-star matches and all those things. As you said, he's more of a flashy performer. He's at that is at the spot now where he's really set his groove into being a heavyweight, maybe he's moved a little bit away from being that Junior Heavyweight, and he's doing something a little bit different. I think he needs someone even bigger, to be able to push them to that next level. I think there's no one big enough in New Japan that can beat him up like I can."
JONAH, during an interview with Sean Ross Sapp, explained how his free agency was navigated, ultimately landing in IMPACT and NJPW. Learn more here.
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