Takagi looks back at his AEW debut at Forbidden Door.
Last month, AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling came together to present the ‘Forbidden Door’ joint show. At the event, Shingo Takagi teamed up with Darby Allin and Sting to take on El Phantasmo and The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson).
Takagi is prepping for the G1 Climax 32 tournament that begins on July 16th and he spoke to NJPW’s official website to promote it. He was asked about his AEW debut and discussed what it felt like to hear vocal crowd noise again. Takagi said the experience reminded him of when he made his New Japan debut in 2018.
It’s been about two-and-a-half years? I was so surprised that I felt like I was making my debut, and it reminded me of my first appearance in Ryogoku (October 8, 2018).
The atmosphere was so great, and the match before ours (AEW All-Atlantic Championship four-way) was so exciting that I thought, I’ll be Shingo Takagi as usual, but I was a little skeptical.
As long as I have been wrestling in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been ingrained in my body that cheers are not something I need so what I do is the same as before, but when I heard the cheers that loud, I thought, oh no, I can’t betray them. It was like my professionalism, which I had always had, grew even stronger.
When taking a look at the landscape of AEW, Takagi said he’s interested in talents on their roster who he has already faced or just missed in the past. He listed names such as Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, Claudio Castagnoli and PAC.
In his match at Forbidden Door, Takagi expressed how impressed he was by Sting and said he ‘took it all’ from the entrances to the actual in-ring portion of the match.
I am interested in AEW wrestlers who I have fought or had near misses with in the past. Bryan [Danielson], Samoa Joe, Claudio, PAC, and others. But in my match, Sting took it all (smiles). He took it all in the entrance scene and even in the match, so I thought, legends are so strong. But I thought, I have to become a fighter who can live up to them, and I have to show them that kind of match.
Overall, Takagi feels that Will Ospreay shined the brightest. He said the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Champion was the wrestler who excited the audience the most with their performance.
I watched the AEW matches on the monitor, and I think Ospreay shined the brightest. Okada was in the semis and Tanahashi was in the main event, but Ospreay was the one who excited the audience the most, and even though I was his opponent before, I thought, oh, that’s Ospreay! I thought, wow, that’s Ospreay!
The G1 Climax 32 was previewed here on POST Wrestling on the July 12th Daily News Update. To view that, head over to this link.
