Hiromu Takahashi became the latest graduate of New Japan’s esteemed dojo yesterday when he debuted against classmate Kyosuke Mikami at the NEVER.1 show in Tokyo. 20-year-old Takahashi is the smallest of the three, standing only 5′7″ and weighing 181lbs. Unlike many New Japan juniors who are tall and subsequently become heavyweights after a while (Makabe, NO LIMIT, Inoue, Goto, and others), Takahashi is much shorter so it seems less likely he will follow their path. Takahashi spoke to New Japan’s official website, allowing us to learn some things about him.

- Has aspired to be a pro wrestler since early in his junior high school days.
- Watching the Chono vs. Takayama G1 Climax final in 2002, when he was only 12 years old, is when he first said to himself “I want to try this”.
- Not surprisingly, Masahiro Chono is who he admires most, after Chono pummeled Takayama with an endless array of Yakuza kicks en route to winning the 2002 G1.
- Worked hard during high school to become strong as part of the track & field team, and as soon as he graduated, he took (and passed) New Japan’s tryout.
- Admitted he had thought about running away from the difficult life in New Japan’s dojo hundreds of times but stuck it out and has now been rewarded.
- Although he admires Chono the most, due to his height he aims to be like Jushin Thunder Liger and Koji Kanemoto.
- For now he will focus on gaining experience and he hopes sooner rather than later he can beat Mikami and Fale, who also debuted thi syear.