AEW Star Makes Challenge For Hiroshi Tanahashi's Wrestle Kingdom 20 Retirement Match

By Sam Palmer
Hiroshi Tanahashi Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

After weeks and months of speculation and rumors as to who would be the man to face New Japan Pro Wrestling's President, Hiroshi Tanahashi, in his retirement match, a current AEW star who might know "The Ace" better than anyone has answered the call. Following his victory over Yuto-Ice in the main event of the "New Japan Road in Anjo" event on November 8, Tanahashi cut a promo to send the live fans home happy, but as the show was about to go off the air, the familiar sound of a coin drop could be heard over the speakers, and current AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada made his first appearance in NJPW since leaving the company in February 2024 to confirm that he will be Tanahashi's final opponent.

NJPW then held a press conference on November 9 to both confirm the match between Tanahashi and Okada, and promote it with both men present. Okada stated that when he walked out to his old NJPW entrance song to confront Tanahashi, that was simply a one night deal, and that while his former manager Gedo might be in his corner come Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4, the man Tanahashi will be wrestling will be the AEW version of Okada who wants to send everyone home in tears as he plans to make light work of what many consider to be his greatest rival.

While there had been a number of reports of WWE Superstar Shinsuke Nakamura being discussed as a potential option for Tanahashi's final opponent, the feud between Tanahashi and Okada is one of the most celebrated in modern wrestling history. The success of the rivalry became the backbone of the success that NJPW had in the 2010s, with both men becoming household names in the process. Their last match took place at "The New Beginning In Osaka" back in February 2024 in what many fans thought would be their final match together, with their last match at the Tokyo Dome coming in 2016 at Wrestle Kingdom 10. Now they will run it back a decade on from their last Tokyo Dome main event, and this time it will be the final chapter.

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