Umino said 2025 would be ideal.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling wrapped up their Destruction tour on 10/9 in Ryogoku. It is now official that at Wrestle Kingdom 18 in January, SANADA is going to defend the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Tetsuya Naito.
Going into the final day of the Destruction tour, Shota Umino was the focus of a talk show event and NJPW has a recap of it on their official website.
During the Q&A portion, Umino was asked when he’d ideally like to headline the Tokyo Dome and said next year would be difficult to pull off, so he said 2025 and his opponent would be Ren Narita. Umino believes there is some fate involved when it comes to that potentially happening.
Next year will be difficult (to headline the Tokyo Dome), so I would like to stand with (Ren) Narita the year after next. We are the same age, and I think it is half fate. We are currently competing in the best-of-seven series, but we are not fighting because we dislike each other, but because we don’t want to lose. It is one of my dreams to win against someone like that on the highest stage.
Looking back at how he first got hooked into wrestling, Umino said it happened when he attended his father, Red Shoes Unno’s 20th Anniversary Show in August 2008. Months later, Umino got to see Hiroshi Tanahashi versus Keiji Muto at Wrestle Kingdom III. He added that things came full circle when he tagged with Tanahashi and Muto at this year’s Wrestle Kingdom.
After that (my father’s anniversary show in 2008), I saw the IWGP match between Tanahashi and Muto at the Tokyo Dome on January 4th, 2009, and I was hooked even more. I was able to team up with both of them for Mr. Muto’s last match in New Japan at this year’s Tokyo Dome, so I felt emotional.
Umino and Narita were on opposite ends of a six-man tag best-of-seven series that concluded at Destruction in Ryogoku. The series ended in a tie at three points a piece as Umino, Master Wato and Yuji Nagata clashed with Strong Style (Minoru Suzuki, Ren Narita & El Desperado).
