March 21 DDT 26th Anniversary Special Pre-Show feature! Tetsuya Endo Interview for the DDT UNIVERSAL title

Having won the KO-D Openweight Championship three times, and receiving the blessings from “Iron Man” Kenta Kobashi to form BURNING, Tetsuya Endo looks forward to his next challenge.

On the 26^th Anniversary show “Judgement2023~Korakuen 5 Hour Special~ (March 21^st Tokyo Korakuen Hall), Endo will go against the former DRAGONGATE now Freelancer Naruki Doi for the DDT UNIVERSAL Championship. Doi has won DRAGONGATE’s biggest prize, the Open the Dream Gate title twice, showing his prowess in the promotion. We speak to Endo about going for the UNIVERSAL title.

――Last year at the “D-OH GRAND PRIX” you mentioned that you’ll be aiming for many titles beyond the Openweight title. Has that changed lately?
Endo: Of course I’m aiming for the Openweight title but I’ve come to realise that the other titles have Prestige that only they can show off in a sense. For example, the DDT EXTEME title lets the Champion choose his own rules, which is a belt that fits DDT to a T. The UNIVERSAL title on the other hand is a belt that crosses borders in a sense. You have guys like Ueno and Sasaki who defended it against people outside of DDT, and there were overseas wrestlers challenging for it at well, and people not well known in Japan too. It’s a belt with many great challengers. In that sense it truly feels like a global belt. Instead of saying my eyes shifted away from the Openweight belt scene, I think it’s more correct to say my desire for the UNIVERSAL title lit up.

――You now have a burning desire to win belts other than the Openweight title?
Endo: That’s right. If I only aim for the Openweight title, my wrestling brain might clot up.

――Aside from the Openweight title, lately you’ve won the KO-D 6-Man titles (with Kotaro Suzuki and Yusuke Okada) and fought against the likes of the Pheromones. Was that title defense just a part and parcel of what to expect in DDT?
Endo: It was my first time going against the Pheromones. Ever since that match was set, I thought of many ways to beat them. A perfect solution for someone like them. To put in very frankly: Wrestling against Pheromones is the way to survive in DDT. It doesn’t matter what the higher ups in DDT care but to me I can proudly say it out there that the Pheromones is one of the things that makes DDT unique.

――You were chosen to be Doi’s opponent for the UNIVERSAL title at the February 18^th Nagoya and you already gave your consent?
Endo: Yeah. There’s no reason to turn it down. I’ll gladly face him.

――Was it to have a singles match with him at least once?
Endo: That’s one reason. Doi had the 6-man titles and we were the ones to beat him for it. At TDC (Dec 29^th 2022), that was my first time going against him but you don’t have much time in the ring together in a 6-man match. And I really wanted to dig deeper. Personally, I really wanted this singles match.

――What were you expecting going against a former DRAGONGATE wrestler like Doi?
Endo: Many people say that DRAGONGATE wrestlers are really speedy and you can feel it just by watching. And that was exactly how I felt in TDC going against him for the first time. However, in the singles match against Sasaki on January 3^rd, (30-minute draw) you could really see his pace. When he moves, he moves quick, and when he stops you can tell easily. There’s a unique tempo to it.

――With someone of Sasaki’s level, you would need the skills, and carry many different aspects to really last all 30 minutes. And you want to face Doi taking all this into consideration?
Endo: Doi rose to the top DRAGONGATE. I have do so here in DDT. If the two of us go in the ring, I’m sure something amazing will take place. That’s what keeps me up at night.

――If you take the title off Doi who also happens to be the AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion, that’ll be exciting.
Endo: Absolutely.

――Since you’re challenging for the belt, obviously you’d want to bring it home we assume?
Endo: Yes. He dropped the 6-Man titles to us. As the leader of BURNING, not holding any titles? I absolutely will get the UNIVERSAL title by any means.

――Your plans with the belt once you win? Planning to face any overseas opponents?
Endo: You get more opportunities to face overseas wrestlers with the UNIVERSAL title than the Openweight title so I’d like to that this opportunity to challenge as many great opponents as I can.

――Wouldn’t it be interesting to see someone inside DDT face you for the title that hasn’t challenged for the Openweight title?
Endo: Just like when I was the Openweight Champion, I’d like to give the chance to anyone in DDT equally. Last time I had to relinquish the belt (due to the injury). I’d like to face someone who hasn’t fought for the title belt or someone who hasn’t fought for any title belts in a while. When I won the Openweight title for the first time, I challenged Oishi (who’s never faced for the Openweight title) and against Sakaguchi (who hasn’t challenged in a while). It was an enjoyable defense road. I hope I can do something similar with the UNIVERSAL title.
――To put it frankly, what about young guys like the D-GENERATIONS CUP winner Masada?
Endo: That’s an idea. If you don’t assert yourself you’ll get lost in the shuffle. Even though he’s still pretty fresh he went up against President (Takagi) so I think it wouldn’t be out of place if he went to challenge for the title belt.

――What do you think of Masada who joined DDT earlier last May and yet has already achieved what he has so far?
Endo: To think he’s barely into the first year of his career and fought that many singles matches in the Young Generation league. It’s not easy to have that many cheers and win a tournament in Korakuen Hall. I don’t think even I could’ve done it. I think it’s truly amazing and I respect him for it.

――If you win the belt, you’d be bringing the titles to the Hollywood shows. (March 30^th and 31^st) That would be the perfect time to show off the belts.
Endo: It’s definitely a great chance, having to fight for this title before going to Hollywood. I’m so glad to have this opportunity. (A challenger from America?) I’m all ears. I won the Openweight title for the first time in New York so America is special to me. I hope to be able to defend this title belt over there too.

――When you do become Champion, your thoughts on the Openweight title?
Endo: Openweight and UNIVERSAL double champion! If I’m being greedy, quintuple champion with the Tag titles, 6-Man titles and EXTREME title. Right now, the EXTREME Champion is Akiyama correct? And Kotaro will be facing him for the title on March 21^st at Korakuen. So having two guys in the same unit fighting isn’t out of the norm. I hope that BURNING will hold all the title belts in DDT in the long run. Many wrestlers and units say that they’ll win all the belts and not many can achieve it. That’s a goal I think I can and will work towards.
――If you have eyes on the Openweight title, you’d have to go against Yuji Hino. He’ll be a massive opponent to go against should he successfully defend. As someone you teamed with in DAMNATION, do you have strategies against him?
Endo: No. We teamed up before but I believe another wrestler said this but no matter how many times you strike his weak points, you cannot guarantee a 3 count against him. In order to increase my chances of winning, I’ll have to build my body better. Whether it is to grow bigger or leaner I’m not sure but it’ll have to be better than what it is now. I’ll have to build my confidence and do my best.

――At last year’s TDC show, then UNIVERSAL Champion Ueno wanted to be double champion. As UNIVERSAL champion, perhaps you might be able to do what he couldn’t.
Endo: I want to be the first one to achieve that.

――The March 21^st Korakuen show will run 5 hours. What do you think of a title match for such a long show?
Endo: I’ve fought in the main event at big shows like these any time but I find it difficult to concentrate sometimes. I don’t know where my match is on the card but there might be a 3-4 hour wait before my match and the butterflies in my stomach gets me sometimes.

――Doi is currently a Freelancer. How’s your desire to bring the title back home to DDT?
Endo: It’s strong but the way Doi spoke to the fans in Nagoya? It doesn’t seem like an outsider. I don’t plan on facing him that way. However, I’ll show him a side of DDT he has yet to and drop the belt to myself.

――How is Akiyama as a presence in BURNING?
Endo: He brings that aspect of the King’s Road style from AJPW, that ‘real’ aspect of wrestling to us. He sees over the younger guys like Koroku with that experience from his years there. Like telling Koroku to have confidence with his wrestling skills.I don’t go over wrestling training with Koroku but only how to build himself better through gym training. Akiyama works with him on the wrestling aspect. Akiyama doesn’t put the focus on himself but having him in BURNING really puts the crown on our unit to be honest. Whether it’s in the ring or outside, he’s tells us straight on what’s done well and what isn’t.

――What do you think of Kenta Kobashi?
Endo: With Kobashi in the arena, I don’t always win. It’s a 50-50 usually but if he’s around I usually don’t win. His presence is there in the back of my mind so I hope to give thanks to him this time by winning the title on March 21^st at Korakuen. Since he so willingly let us use the BURNING name, I have do my best to step up to the plate.