Defending the belt in AEW is something Takahashi would be ‘stoked’ to do.
Coming up on August 19th is the second installment of NJPW All Star Junior Festival. This go-round is taking place in the U.S.A. at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Putting this show together is Rocky Romero and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi. While speaking to Sports Illustrated’s FanNation section, Hiromu expressed his desire to have a match on prime time television.
He added that he’d be ‘stoked’ to defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title in AEW and named Darby Allin as a potential opponent.
A dream of mine is to have a match on live prime time TV. I’d be stoked to wrestle in AEW any time and defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title there. Last year, I was supposed to team up with Darby Allin and Sting. So I want to team up with Sting rather than wrestle him. Wrestling someone? That would be Darby.
The lineup is set for All Star Junior Festival USA and below is a look at the updated match card:
- East West Express (Jordan Oliver & Nick Wayne) vs. El Desperado & MAO
- Triple Threat Tag Team Ladder Match — Pat’s King of Steaks Philly Cheesesteak Cup: Hiromu Takahashi & Rocky Romero vs. Blake Christian & Master Wato vs. DOUKI & Low Rider
- All Star Jr. USA Tournament First Round Match: Kevin Knight vs. Clark Connors
- All Star Jr. USA Tournament First Round Match: ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey vs. Francesco Akira
- All Star Jr. USA Tournament Final: TBD vs. TBD
- Matt Sydal & YOH vs. Shun Skywalker & BUSHI
- Ryusuke Taguchi, Rich Swann & The D.K.C. vs. Real1, Starboy Charlie & Jack Cartwheel
- Lucky Dip Tag Team Match: Kosei Fujita, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Alex Shelley, Chris Bey, TJP, Ace Austin and Cheeseburger (Teams to be decided on show day)
- Five-Way Match: Fugaz vs. Lio Rush vs. Dragon Kid vs. Soberano Jr. vs. K.C. Navarro
- Kickoff Match: Goldy vs. Vinny Pacifico
