Since graduating from Young Lion status in the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo, Gabe Kidd has made a massive name for himself. After competing alongside his LA Dojo stablemates for a time, he joined the ranks of Bullet Club and became one of the faction’s feared War Dogs. From there, The World’s Maddest Pro Wrestler became the youngest NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion to date and has defended his title against some tough opponents. And though many are eying his major match-up against All Elite Wrestling’s Kenny Omega at the inaugural Wrestle Dynasty event in January, Kidd is set to face fellow Dojo graduate Ryohei Oiwa at Strong Style Evolved 2024 in Long Beach, California this weekend. 

But the Mad Man isn’t exactly sweating his title defense against the TMDK member at the famed Walter Pyramid on the campus of Long Beach State University either. The confident Nottingham, England native is also locked in on his upcoming bout with the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion/AEW Executive Vice President. But that doesn’t mean that he isn’t prepared to leave a path of unmitigated violence from Los Angeles to Tokyo in the meantime. 

While talking to the champion ahead of the final US NJPW show of 2024, Kidd shared with That Hashtag Show the many people that have raised his ire as of late, the various factors that made him into “War Ready” competitor that he is today, and people in professional wrestling that he does (or more precisely, doesn’t) respect. 

 The Mad Man On The Mad King

The last time you were in Southern California, you won your NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship by defeating Eddie Kingston in a No Rope Last Man Standing Match. And then the last time you were in California in general, you defeated the legendary Ultimo Guerrero. Now you face Oiwa at Strong Style Evolved with the title on the line. What kind of history-making brutality can we expect during your return to the Golden State?

Gabe Kidd: Exactly that. History-making brutality. You know, I like that line. That’s a good one. And that describes exactly what’s going to happen. This little rookie Oiwa wants to start coming to me? I remember his first day in the dojo. He stood there shaking like a shitting dog he was. So I’m looking forward to making him an example. Fujita tried to step up last month. Look what happened to him then. I’m excited to do the same to his heavyweight friend. 

Respect is clearly a big thing for you. Speaking of your last appearance in SoCal, I was wondering if you respect Eddie Kingston after that match you had with him. 

Kidd: Do I respect Eddie Kingston? Well, I’d respect him if he does anything about what I did to him. If he comes to me and wants to fight me, I’ll respect him because he’s still sitting at home, mate. You can’t walk properly because you tried to get in the ring with me, so I’ll respect him if he does something, but he won’t because that’s going to mentally scar him for a long time. He’s going to be thinking about that leg for the rest of his career, which is hopefully not very long. Little nerd. [But] I don’t care if he respects me or not. That’s the truth. 

War Dogs Don’t Kneel

While you and Oiwa are nearly the same age, you have about a decade more wrestling experience than him. Being the veteran in this situation, do you recognize any mistakes that you see in your opponent’s game because they’ve already been ironed out of you by your own trials, tribulations, and hard work?

Kidd: I used to watch him. I watched him [through] every process in the dojo when I was working out. I was lifting weights at the same time he was doing his training. That’s why I was laughing at Fujita. What do you think you’re going to do to me when I watched how you were trained? I know everything about these two. One thing they’re not going to do is catch me off guard. Where they’re trying to go somewhere, I’m going to take them where I want to go. You know, I’m going to control this match. I’m going to take my time giving this kid a beating as well. Pin me in Tag League? He thinks he’s got a win over me, but watch when I hurt you. Then we’ll see, Oiwa. 

In addition to going through the same dojo system as Oiwa, you also had the guidance of legendary people like Marty Jones while you were out there grinding for a decade. What kind of upper hand does that give you?

Kidd: You said it before, right? We were in the dojo at the same time. But I’d been wrestling for nine years before I got to the dojo, so I wasn’t a rookie. I knew how to wrestle, but I wanted to learn how to do it in the best way, so I went to the dojo. But I’ve been about wrestling, man. I pinned Cody Rhodes before I was a Young Lion. I don’t know what confidence [Oiwa has] been taught. You’ve been having too many beers with Zack Sabre Jr. You’ve been having too many beers getting your confidence up, but you’re not on my level. Nobody is. Nobody is doing what I can do. It’s the Gabe Kidd show. Gabe Kidd is the one that you’re watching in that match. So do your best, Oiwa. You ain’t got nothing on me. 

Going To War With Bullet Club

You mentioned Zack Sabre Jr, Oiwa’s TMDK stablemate. You’ve had banger matches with that man as well before coming to New Japan. You also racked up a number of accolades throughout your career, but your meteoric rise really started to pick up momentum when you joined Bullet Club with Alex Coughlin back in 2023. How did your time with Alex shape you into the Mad Man that you are today? 

Kidd: You know, Alex was always that stoic killer and I was the guy that was rattling off. I think that was the best thing about it. It was two different kinds of wrestlers.  If there’s two mad people, then it’s just going to get confusing. But he was this stoic, strong killer and I was this crazy, violent madman. I was doing it with my friend, you know? I was hanging with my friends on the road, drinking together, partying together, lifting weights together, eating together, wrestling together. It was a very special time. 

Regarding the World Tag League, you’re now partnered up with Sanada. What elements of your relationship with Alex do you think you are bringing to your team with Sanada? 

Kidd: Well, you can’t even compare that situation because Alex was my friend and Sanada is a Japanese wrestler who I’d never met before. We did Tag League and that’s why I got onto him. That’s why I told him he can’t be coming around here doing that same stuff. Listen, you’re a War Dog now, so you got to step up. And to be fair, we got to the finals, so I say we did pretty well. Then he got pinned, so who knows?  That’s not on me. That’s not a loss for me. I didn’t get pinned. I’ll let Finlay deal with that. That’s not my business. 

What is it about Bullet Club, particularly this new group of War Dogs, that elevates its members and fans their flames of passion for professional wrestling even years after its inception?

Kidd: Because we are the ones. People have their time in wrestling. It’s not forever, but it’s our time right now. You’re on War Dog time. I seen Brody King accepted Finlay’s challenge for Wrestle Dynasty. That was hilarious. He’s like, “You War Dogs are all bark and no bite. But I bite.” I was like, “Shut up, bro.” When you come to Japan and people start barking, that’s for the War Dogs, not for you. I’m still waiting to slap you up. So when Finlay is done with you, I’ll be next in line waiting for you, Brody King. Chat to me about War Dogs? We the War Dogs, and that’s it. We’re best mates. We hang out. We just enjoy being around each other. It’s not fake. It’s not phony. It’s real. It’s a real connection there. That’s why we’re the best. 

A New New Japan

No matter how many subgroups there are in Bullet Club, the motto has been Bullet Club 4 Life. However, it doesn’t seem like Kenny Omega subscribes to that belief any longer. As you pointed out, it was pretty disrespectful of him to forget your name in that interview. Obviously, you can’t look past your opponent in Long Beach, but how are you preparing for your match against “The Cleaner” at Wrestle Dynasty, especially after he said that you’re not suitable for his in-ring return?

Kidd: Well, that’s the exact thing. I can’t look past this match in Long Beach? I definitely can. My eyes are on Kenny Omega. So to me, this is preparation. We’re going on to the battlefield on Sunday, me and Oiwa. I’m willing to die on my sword, [but] I’m just I’m a different level of locked in right now. A different level. And it all leads to January 5th. So this is training. On Sunday, this is active, live sparring. This is getting ready for Kenny Omega. 

Kenny Omega might be going down to his local wrestling gym, getting a couple of internet prospects to help him train and get ready. But my training is in the ring. My training is going through Tag League, doing 17 matches in 21 days and traveling all over the country. That’s my training. So I don’t know what you think you can replicate in your local wrestling gym, but you cannot, lad. The force of pain that I’m going to bring to you is mad. It’s madder than me, so good luck, Kenny.

You weak, frail, fragile, pathetic man. You absolute loser. You are everything I hate about wrestling. You messed up when you left this company. And now you’re regretting it because you’ve got all the money in the world, but you haven’t got that feeling of lying in Korakuen Hall in there screaming your name. You haven’t got that and you miss that. So you thought you could barge in and come back? Not on my watch. This is my company now. It’s not Kenny Omega’s New Japan anymore. It’s War Dogs’ New Japan right now. So please, I dare you to bring your best. Please. It’s just ain’t going to happen. You ain’t beating me. That’s that. 

Prior to this feud with Kenny Omega and before he said the things that he said, did you have any respect for Kenny? Since he was someone who came into New Japan as an outsider and rose to the top? 

Kidd: Not at all. I hadn’t even seen any of these Kenny Omega versus Okada matches. I wasn’t interested in that. I’d rather watch Terry Funk or Bruiser Brody. I don’t care about Kenny Omega in the slightest. People are saying to me, “Oh, this is a real big match” Yeah, I’m going to beat the snot out of him and he’s going to make me famous and I’m going to get paid lots of money. That’s what it is to me. I don’t care about Best Bout Machine. I’m going to hurt you before you can do any of that cool stuff, so good luck.

Casualties of War

As you become a bigger leader in your pack of War Dogs, not only are you targeting big dogs like Kenny, you also called out people like Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and MJF on social media recently. The Forbidden Door is wide open and you’ve got a shiny gold target around your waist. Might there be other Bullet Club alumni who are also on the AEW side of the door in your sights after you deal with Kenny?

Kidd: Well, if Jay White has the bollocks to say anything, I’ll step to him in an instant. Jay White. Don’t talk to me about Jay White. Bullet Club Gold? Or what do you call it? The Bang Bang Gang? I don’t care about any of them lot. I don’t care about AEW. The only time I care is when they try to come to our territory and try to put a one up on us, so I step to them. I don’t care about any of them nerds over there. And I’ll happily send them back a broken EVP. Back to the office, if he even goes there. 

Finally, with Strong Style Evolved being the last NJPW show in America for the year, the card is stacked with other incredible matches in addition to your STRONG Openweight Championship match. As a pro wrestling fan, what other matches are you most excited to see at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach this weekend?

Kidd: You stupid, bro? I don’t give a shit about any of them other matches. I’ve got a title fight. I don’t even think about that. I’m not a fan. I do this. I hurt people. I don’t even know what the card is. I know that I’m on second to last, which is a fucking joke. Should be last. I’m the main event. But I don’t need to be last to be the main event. I’m the man. I run NJPW Strong. Me and my boys run Strong. I don’t care about any of them other matches.

NJPW Strong Style Evolved featuring Gabe Kidd, Mercedes Moné, Konosuke Takeshita, Grizzled Young Veterans, KUSHIDA, Los Ingobernables de Japon, Mina Shirakawa, and more emanates from Long Beach, California on December 15, 2024. Aside from watching live and in person at the Walter Pyramid, fans can stream the event on NJPW World or Triller TV.