KUSHIDA: Mercedes Mone Is A Great Model To Follow

Ahead of her NJPW debut at NJPW Battle in the Valley, Mercedes Mone trained with KUSHIDA and other at the LA Dojo. 

KUSHIDA is one of the greatest junior heavyweights of all time and is now helping train the next generation of talent along with honing the skills of the current generation. 

Speaking to NJPW, KUSHIDA discussed training with Mercedes. 

“She is such a great model to follow. She’s at the top of the world when it comes to being a female pro-wrestler and just an entertainer in general, but she has such a love for this that she comes in to share and figure different stuff out,” he said.

Mone is set to challenge KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship at NJPW Battle in the Valley. 

KUSHIDA and Fred Rosser will be the trainers at the new NJPW Academy as part of the LA Dojo. 

Speaking about his training, KUSHIDA said, “Pro-wrestling is hard, man (laughs)! It’s a hard thing to teach. Even just answering that question ‘what is pro-wrestling’, there’s no right or wrong answer and everybody will tell you something different. When I was coming up, a lot of it was ‘figure it out yourself’, but I came through my career learning so much from so many different coaches and teachers. Some might give you a lecture, some might teach you practically. I feel I’ve had a more diverse learning experience than just about any other wrestler ever. At the end of the day it comes from loving the whole thing, all of wrestling. And I’ve always been inquisitive, so I’ve always had that desire to deconstruct why things are a certain way. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole career. I think a diversity like I’ve had, that’s the key for pro-wrestling to prosper in the future. So with this, I think for the students coming into the Academy with the end goal to be a Young Lion, to be in the NJPW system, then they’re more than welcome to take their experience here and then go try out for that. But it isn’t necessary.”

He continued, “Wrestlers don’t learn from one coach and then that’s it, finished product. There’s more to it than that. So what I want are people who have that inquisitive nature and open minded approach. I’m not going to say I’m about teaching people everything, or creating a group of wrestlers in my image. But I’ll be looking for people with potential, you know? But we also have that pipeline, and guys like Rocky (Romero) that can help connect people to promotions all over the world. if your goal is Japan, or America, or Mexico, we can help get you there, if you’re skilled enough and able enough to navigate this world once we send you off. It’s this great chance to have a bunch of young wrestlers bringing NJPW with them out into the world, or simply helping the people that have the resolve to go ‘OK, I’m going to be taught by Shibata-san now’.”

KUSHIDA will also be in action as NJPW Battle in the Valley as he teams with Kevin Knight, The DKC, and Volador Jr to battle Rocky Romero, Josh Alexander, Adrian Quest, and Mascara Dorada. 

Fightful will have coverage of NJPW Battle in the Valley beginning at 10 p.m. ET on February 18.