NJPW Star Vows To Change Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Retirement Plans
One NJPW star aims to end Hiroshi Tanahashi’s career much earlier than planned.
Shortly after the 25th anniversary of his debut, Hiroshi Tanahashi announced that his legendary career was coming to an end. The longtime Ace of New Japan revealed that he will retire from the ring on January 4th, 2026 at Wrestle Kingdom 20.
With a year to go, attention has turned to who Tanahashi will face during his retirement tour. During a press conference on October 23rd, the star had only one man on his mind for the moment, EVIL.
Since abandoning Los Ingobernables De Japon back in 2020, EVIL has led the Bullet Club offshoot, House of Torture in a reign of misrule and chaos. The faction has angered fans worldwide with its over-the-top heel antics which almost always result in matches ending with interference, use of weapons, or both.
In December 2023, Hiroshi Tanahashi was named the new President of NJPW, and has found himself at odds with House of Torture ever since. With his retirement from the ring looming, he now wants to take matters firmly into his own hands.
Hiroshi Tanahashi Issues Wrestle Kingdom Challenge To EVIL
At the press conference, Tanahashi revealed that th first act of his retirement year will be to teach a very public EVIL lesson at Wrestle Kingdom 19 in the Tokyo Dome.
“There are people I want to wrestle, and the fans probably have their own ideas as well. For right now, I absolutely have to beat EVIL. All year there’s been nothing but interference and cheating with him, so I want to teach him a lesson in a big spot. The Tokyo Dome would be a good way to start 2025.”
Later, EVIL made a surprise appearance to respond to the challenge, claiming New Japan is his company and he will force Tanahashi into retirement on January 4th.
“EVIL: You come up here with your fancy press conference, but like I said in Ryogoku, you jump when I say jump. This is my company. You’ll retire when I say you retire. January 4, 2025 will be your last match when I end you!
Tanahashi: Beating EVIL in the Tokyo Dome will be the best start to 2025, and the best start to my retirement road.”
EVIL: You come up here with your fancy press conference, but like I said in Ryogoku, you jump when I say jump. This is my company. You'll retire when I say you retire. January 4, 2025 will be your last match when I end you!
Tanahashi: Beating EVIL in the Tokyo Dome will be the…
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) October 23, 2024
Tanahashi is currently one-third of the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Champions alongside Toru Yano and rising star Oleg Boltin. Tanahashi says he will continue to defend those titles as his road to retirement continues.