The ROH guys looking at the New Japan guys coming over, we're just psyched. We think, "oh great this is just going to make our show even better." The respect level with New Japan and ROH is at an all-time high. And anytime we get a company like New Japan Pro Wrestling on a ROH show, it just benefits our show. It has everybody all jacked up, ready to do the best we can like we always do.
The cool thing is, when we first did our joint Ring Of Honour-New Japanies Wrestlers, I think that definitely existed. I think the ROH guys were like, "we can't let these New Japan guys outshine us" the new japan guys were ready to make a statement as it was this really big event in America. But the cool thing about this relationship is we've literally become a family now. A lot of us are friends with each. We obviously respect each other.
I think it's fun to fantasize about the idea of NXT and ROH butting heads and seeing which one will do better, especially with WWE looking at ROH guys to hire.
I'm going to show you how we do it in New Japan Pro Wrestling. That's what you get whenever I wrestle, whoever's in the ring with me.
I think most importantly the reason we've been on the upswing is Ring of Honor has been very smart about the speed of its growth. ROH is not a company that says ok we're going to throw all this money in and let's just go for it. ROH has the business approach of slow but steady.
For me, my number one guy would be Tanahashi from New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Like, watching him, like, this guy is a bonafide rockstar over in Japan. He can't even walk down the street without getting stopped, the way that he carries himself.
I kind of knew already what kind of company ROH is, and I know the platforms that they give their guys, and for me it was very important to have that kind of freedom. Obviously, I let ROH know that was the case.
I really appreciate ROH for letting me wrestle in the United States. American fans get to see me and get to see New Japan. Ring of Honor lets us do that.
Aside from ROH, just getting a taste of Wrestle Kingdom at the Tokyo Dome with NJPW has me really excited at the prospect of furthering and developing my career in Japan.
I've been wrestling for a long time and it was time to do something new and set a new challenge for myself. ROH have always been amazing to me, and I'm very grateful for the opportunity to be more involved.
Strong style is a philosophy for Japanese wrestling fans that was created by New Japan Pro Wrestling founder Antonio Inoki. He wanted you to show every motion and show real technique in the ring. It's important to use real techniques from real life and real martial arts. The detail is important.
For a long time, almost 14 years, I wrestled in Japan, so I didn't think I would leave New Japan Pro Wrestling, but I started changing my mind. I wanted to see the other world. I wanted to change something. I wanted to be bigger.
I just had the absolute best luck in the world in terms of meeting The Young Bucks, and they might look like wild little rock stars who are irresponsible, but they are business geniuses. They set up the deal with Hot Topic, and they're going to be the first 7-figure downside characters that New Japan Pro Wrestling has.
I can stop and retire when I get to Japan. I don't care if it's one show, that's all that's left for me. I just need to wrestle in Japan once and that would be the cherry on top.
I work full-time, whether it's on 'All In,' my own show, whether it's Ring of Honor, whether it's New Japan - I make every show.
I trained at All Pro Wrestling in the U.S. Later, I signed up with the New Japan Pro Wrestling. Then WWE noticed me.
Matt Hardy came into ROH with open arms. Matt came into ROH ready to learn.