WWE Star Front Runner To Be Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Final Opponent

Politics could go out the window as it seems a WWE star could be Hiroshi Tanahashi’s final opponent at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom.

Hiroshi Tanahashi will compete for the final time in his career at Wrestle Kingdom in January 2026. Tanahashi’s final opponent remains a mystery, but could that honour fall to one current WWE star?

WWE recently held major supershows in Japan, where the crowd got to pay tribute to former IWGP Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles. Shinsuke Nakamura was also in action in his home country, with many quick to notice that Nakamura broke out some mannerisms normally seen used by Tanahashi. This has led many to wonder if Nakamura could end up being Tanahashi’s final opponent.

And it seems that’s not out of the realm of possibility.

Hiroshi Tanahashi Facing WWE Star In Final Match?

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained why, despite the deep-rooted politics at play involving WWE, AEW, and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Nakamura could still be Tanahashi’s final opponent:

There’s been a lot of talk about Tanahashi and Nakamura at the Tokyo Dome show. I would just say it’s not a done deal right now. Could it happen? Nakamura has in his contract that he can do stuff in Japan. That was part of the deal he signed.

It’s a weird political thing because obviously AEW and NJPW work very closely together, and Nakamura is a WWE guy. My gut is, and I could be dead wrong, even though WWE and AEW is feuding and all the stuff that WWE does to AEW constantly, I do think that Tony Khan – people are saying that he’ll get really mad and maybe he will, but I don’t think so. It’s Hiroshi Tanahashi’s retirement, and if Tanahashi wants to retire against Nakamura and they can pull that off, I think that should be okay.

At least one AEW star will likely be in action at Wrestle Kingdom, as Konosuke Takeshita recently captured the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship from Zack Sabre Jr.

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