Hiroshi Tanahashi Names Major AEW Stars He Wants To Wrestle

New Japan Pro Wrestling ace Hiroshi Tanahashi has reiterated his desire to return to the United States as the IWGP United States Champion.

Tanahashi was previously the IWGP United States Champion, and seemed to be setting up a title defence against AEW star Jon Moxley. Tanahashi spoke to Sports Illustrated, where he stated that he believes the IWGP United States Title is the gateway to returning to the states to compete in some dream matches.

He said:

“Recapturing the U.S. heavyweight title before I return to the United States, that is what I need to do. I want to do that for my fans. The presence of fans is my number-one treasure. With them, the significance of being a professional wrestler is not the same. The desire to have them enjoy professional wrestling brings out the absolute best abilities of the wrestlers and pushes us beyond our limits.”

Tanahashi went on to name potential opponents that await on the other side of the Forbidden Door, namely two of AEW’s absolute top stars. He said:

“I wrestled against Bryan (Danielson) once in my youth, and now I want to fight him again as a superstar. CM Punk is famous all over the world, so I would like to wrestle him in a situation that will be big news across the world.”

It was announced yesterday that a deal had been reached to air AEW programming on the NJPW World streaming service.

The IWGP United States Championship is currently vacant, with the former champion SANADA vacating the title yesterday.

To make sure you stay updated with all the latest wrestling news, add WrestleTalk.com to your Google Discover feed and follow us on Twitter!