Katsuhiko Nakajima Comments on the Current State of ZERO1, Vows to Erase Masato Tanaka from Existence

By: Ian McCord

On July 26th, Katsuhiko Nakajima punched his ticket to the finals of Pro Wrestling ZERO1’s Fire Festival 2026 after defeating Tsugataka Sato to win Block B and advance to the final stage of the tournament.

Nakajima will be facing off against Block A winner Masato Tanaka on August 7th at Korakuen Hall to see who will win this year’s Fire Festival and capture the legendary Fire Sword.

In an interview with Tokyo Sports, Nakajima shared his thoughts on the current state of ZERO1. Nakajima believes the promotion has become complacent and is not the same passionate wrestling company he remembers from his early days as a wrestler.

From Katsuhiko Nakajima:

“From my perspective as someone who knows ZERO1’s history fairly well, I feel like ZERO1 has gotten a bit too complacent lately.”

Nakajima continued, voicing his frustrations about having to face the veteran Masato Tanaka in the tournament final. Nakajima also questioned why the younger ZERO1 talent isn’t getting a chance, claiming that the only wrestlers in present-day ZERO1 he knew about were Hayabusa and Tanaka.

From Katsuhiko Nakajima:

“When Tanaka was announced as my opponent, I thought, ‘That’s not right. I honestly thought, ‘Shouldn’t the young guys be getting a chance?’ Who do you know by name in ZERO1 these days? I only knew Hayabusa and Masato Tanaka. That’s the reality.”

Nakajima then stated his belief that the new generation coming up in today’s ZERO1 has no ambition.

From Katsuhiko Nakajima:

“They have no ambition. Our job is to sell dreams—how can we do that if we don’t have dreams ourselves?”

Nakajima ended the interview, claiming that he was going to erase the existence of Masato Tanaka and become a catalyst of change in ZERO1 after winning this year’s Fire Festival.

From Katsuhiko Nakajima:

“I’m going to erase Masato Tanaka from existence. We need to create a catalyst to change the status quo, don’t we? After all, I’ve made it to the finals. There’s only one thing left to do (win).”

(Quotes courtesy of Tokyo Sports, English Translation via DeepL)

The last time Nakajima and Tanaka faced off was in a tag team match during Nakajima’s self-produced IT’S SHOWTIME event on May 31st. Tanaka and Yuko Miyamoto defeated Nakajima and Hayabusa after Tanaka pinned Nakajima following his Sliding D finisher. Safe to assume that Nakajima will be looking to avenge that loss to the 33-year veteran.

Nakajima’s comments about present-day ZERO1 do not come as too much of a surprise, seeing as he said something similar upon his arrival to the promotion. Back in April, when it was announced that Nakajima would be participating in this year’s Fire Festival, the former GHC and Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion made similar comments about the state of ZERO1. In a post on social media four months ago, Nakajima said that he believes the once passionate ZERO1 has lost its philosophy, and months later, it appears he still feels this way.

From Katsuhiko Nakajima via X:

“Has Pro Wrestling ZERO1, which used to be so passionate and exciting, lost its philosophy and its wrestling playbook? Wake up! This year, I’m going to take the historic Fire Festival for myself!”

(English Translation via DeepL)

Nakajima will not have to look far for a glimpse of ZERO1’s old guard, seeing as Masato Tanaka competed in the first ever Fire Festival back in 2001 and went on to win the tournament five times.

The time for talk will end come August 7th at Korakuen Hall, when Katsuhiko Nakajima and Masato Tanaka face off to crown the winner of Pro Wrestling ZERO1’s Fire Festival 2026.