David Finlay: Wrestle Kingdom 18 Is Make-Or-Break For Me, I Have To Create My Own Legacy From The Ground Up

David Finlay knows Wrestle Kingdom 18 is important for his legacy.

At Wrestle Kingdom 18, NJPW will be officially introducing their newest championship, the IWGP Global Heavyweight title. It will be contested in a triple threat consisting of AEW’s Jon Moxley going against New Japan’s Will Ospreay and David Finlay.

Speaking on Cultaholic Wrestling’s Desert Island Graps, Finlay would get asked about what his motivation is looking like heading into the biggest match of his New Japan career.

“I mean there’s no denying this is make or break for me. There’s not too many more opportunities that I will come across if I don’t absolutely nail this one and come out on top. Moxley and Will’s names are both synonymous with the IWGP US Championship, as well as other people that I really despise. Then Will fashioned the UK Championship because he was like, ‘I have no ties to the States, why would I defending a title for a country I don’t even care about?’ Which is kind of why I broke both of them. I have no ties to anywhere, so I don’t care about the flag on the belt. I know it meant a lot to Mox, I know it meant a lot to Will. So I wanted to break his shiny toys,” Finlay said.

Finlay comes from a longline of his family’s legacy. Being a fourth-generation talent, he sees himself being the fifth leader of Bullet Club as something that he can use in his attempt at being the first-ever inaugural NJPW Global Heavyweight champion.

“I’ve thought about this a lot, and the thing that comes to mind is, so in the third David in my family. My dad and my grandfather weren’t very original with naming. Im I’m third one of those. I’m a fourth-generation wrestler in my family, so again, someone else’s footsteps. I’m the fifth Bullet Club leader. More boots to fill. So this is my chance, I get to finally be the first at something. I get to cement my own legacy, no strings attached, no shadows. That’s another reason I smashed the old belts. I’ve vied for the US Title four or five times unsuccessfully, so that’s not my legacy. I gotta create my own legacy from the ground up,” he said.

Wrestle Kingdom 18 airs on January 4, in the main event of night two, don’t miss Sanada defend the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against the winner of the 2023 G1 Climax, Tetsuya Naito.

h/t from Fightful.

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