New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Hiroshi Tanahashi announced his in-ring wrestling retirement in 2024, explaining that he will hang his boots up at Wrestle Kingdom in 2026. Since then, he’s been on a retirement tour of sorts facing off against his greatest rivals and the young lions that will carry the torch of NJPW when he’s no longer wrestling.
As the date of his final match draws closer, many have wondered who his last opponent could be. Well, we no longer have to wonder because it’s none other than AEW’s Kazuchika Okada.
Long before he became a champion of AEW he carried NJPW for almost two decades. This final showdown between two of the greatest wrestlers to ever step foot in a ring will be the 18th match between them. Three of those have taken place at NJPW’s largest spectacle. Tanahashi has a slight edge over Okada with a 2-1 lead as he beat him in 2013 and 2015. Okada made an appearance early Saturday following Tanahashi’s match at NJPW Road to Anjo to lay out the challenge for his retirement match.
As far as his post-retirement plans go, Tanahashi is the current President of NJPW. Once he has his final match, he will commit to a full-time behind-the-scenes role with the company.
Tanahashi has wrestled all over the world, including at several AEW pay-per-views. Just this year, he competed at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, teaming with Will Ospreay, Darby Allin, and the Golden Lovers against Gabe Kidd, the Death Riders and the Young Bucks.
AJ Styles Thinks Hiroshi Tanahashi Would’ve succeeded in WWE
Despite his seemingly endless accolades, he will end his career having never stepped foot in a WWE ring. This is a pretty big deal for any wrestler as WWE is a household name. However, careers like Tanahashi’s prove that you don’t need the machine to be successful.
AJ Styles — another of Tanahashi’s rivals — recently spoke about The Ace’s career and whether or not he would’ve thrived in WWE. Styles is confident that he would have.
“I think he would have done great. Like my own kids, there are a lot of anime fans here, Styles told Tokyo Sports. “Tanahashi, including his hairstyle, is like an anime character himself, so I think he would have been a hit. Plus, he understands this industry deeply, so he would have definitely succeeded.”
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