Hiroshi Tanahashi Talks About Potential Retirement

Hiroshi Tanahashi has been the “ace” of New Japan Pro Wrestling for many years now, making his debut all the way back in 1999. Now in his mid-forties with a lot of wear and tear on his body, Tanahashi’s years are visually catching up on him, and talk of retirement has spread.

Tanahashi himself recently touched on the topic during an interview, and Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter explains, “Tanahashi talked about his own retirement saying that he may have retired by now if the company was in the shape it was prior to the pandemic. But he felt that it was important to help get the company back to at least close to where it was due to the damage of the pandemic.”

Of course, NJPW was on a roll prior to the pandemic, and out of the world’s major professional wrestling promotions, they were one of the ones who took the biggest hit in terms of business and hype. Losing names like Kenny Omega certainly didn’t help their situation around that time either.