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HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (w/Gedo) – Tanahashi Retirement match
Tanahashi appeared emotional as he was introduced to a big pop from the crowd. Tanahashi is 2-1 against Okada at The Tokyo Dome. Okada took the fight to the floor and hit a draping DDT using the guardrail on Tanahashi. Tanahashi fired back and hit a senton out of the corner a short time later.
Okada ended up on the floor and Tanahashi wiped him out with Aces High. Okada tried to get back into the ring, but Tanahashi greeted him with a dragon screw. Tanahashi went for a sling blade, but Okada turned it into a face buster. Okada signaled for the Rainmaker and then flipped off the fans to boos. Okada eventually hit a piledriver to cut Tanahashi off.
Okada grinned in the corner and nailed Tanahashi with a running drop kick. Okada dragged Tanahashi up the entrance ramp and hit a tombstone. The fans chanted for Tanahashi, who appeared to be out on the ramp. He eventually stirred and crawled down the ramp to barely beat the 20 count. Okada hit a tombstone and lifted Tanahashi’s head to break the count. He hit a spinning Rainmaker and lifted up Tanahashi’s head to break the count.
Tanahashi blocked a Rainmaker and hit several slaps to Okada’s face, but he maintained wrist control and hit a lariat. Okada went for a Rainmaker, but Tanahashi ducked and hit the Ace Maker and both men were down as the fans fired up. They went back and forth and Okada hit a Rainmaker for a great near fall. Okada got a Boston Crab, but Tanahashi managed to get to the ropes.
Tanahashi hit a sling blade and the fans fired up. The fans chanted Go Ace. He released a choke and hit a PK. He then hit Nakamura’s pose and hit Boma Ye for a huge pop! Tanahashi went up top and hit the High Fly Flow, but Okada kicked out!
Okada went for a Rainmaker, but Tanahashi turned it into a Slingblade. He then hit a dragon suplex for a near fall. He went up top and hit a HFF to Okada’s back. He went up top again for a traditional HFF, but Okada got his knees up. Okada caught Tanahashi with a Destino style takedown and then hit a cobra flosion. He hit a big Rainmaker and Tanahashi barely kicked out!
Okada invited the fans to chant for Tanahashi. The fans fired up huge as he struggled to get up. Okada hit an elbow drop and then the Rainmaker pose and the fans popped big for that. He then hit another huge Rainmaker and it was good for the win.
WINNER: Kazuchika Okada at 33:03. (****1/2)
(Radicans Analysis: It was the emotion and story that carried this match. The fans were behind Tanahashi the entire way. They told a really good story with Okada being unable to put Tanahashi away while acting like a heel. It was great to see Tanahashi pull out the old Okada, as he arrived by hitting his signature Rainmaker pose late in the match before putting Tanahashi away with a Rainmaker. Tanahashi did as well as could be expected given his limitations. I wasn’t happy with Tanahashi losing, but it didn’t seem to deflate the crowd, which was a good sign the story they told was very effective.)
Okada got on the mic after the match and the fans cheered. He said to Tanahashi “you must be tired.” He said he wanted to say one thing. He said thank you to Tanahashi and bowed. Okada left the ringside area and Tanahashi appeared to be emotional as he recovered on the mat.
Tanahashi had tears in his eyes as the fans chanted his name. He eventually got to his feet and the fans cheered. Tanahashi was presented flowers by NJPW officials and sponsors.
Jay White’s music hit and he came down to the ring. Several wrestlers surrounded the ring and White gave Tanahashi flowers and hugged him. Will Ospreay came out next. He gave Tanahashi flowers and hugged him. Kenny Omega came out with Kota Ibushi. They both gave Tanahashi flowers. Ibushi walked down to the ring with a broken femur and appeared to be having a lot of difficulty walking.
Katsuyori Shibata came out next and Tanahashi cried in the ring. Shibata tore his shirt off and traded chips with Tanahashi. They then shared a big hug. WOW! Keiji Muto came down to the ring next. He gave Tanahashi flowers and they hugged. Fujinami came down to the ring next to give Tanahashi flowers. Everyone that had come down to the ring then posed with Tanahashi.
Everyone left the ring and Tetsuya Naito’s music played to a big pop. A fake Naito came out first with a mask before the real one came out. Naito took forever to get to the ring. The man under the mask turned out to be Bushi.
Naito got on the mic and said Muto inspired him to be a wrestler. He said it was Tanahashi who became an example to him when he came to NJPW. He said he left NJPW, but Tanahashi gave him the chance to walk down the Tokyo Dome ramp one more time. He said he doesn’t think he’ll wrestle in a NJPW ring again, but he said he is looking forward to meeting Tanahashi in NJPW again one day. He said until then Adios. He offered a fist bump to Naito. Tanahashi then bumped fists with him.
Naito did not deliver a cheap shot, but he did spit his gum at Tanahashi before leaving.
Tanahashi got on the mic and the fans fired up. He thanked the fans for coming. He said he finally was able to see what a sold out Tokyo Dome looked like from a NJPW ring. He said from now on the wrestlers from NJPW will fight with all of their hearts. He said he wanted the fans to keep supporting them.
He went to leave the ring, but then he got back in. A big air guitar was tossed to Tanahashi from the outside. He yelled out for the Tokyo Dome before beginning his guitar solo. He then asked for the wave to start in The Tokyo Dome. The 46,913 fans then did the same wave.
The 10 bell salute for Tanahashi’s retirement took place. Tanahashi cried as the bell rang. He was announced one more time and his music played. Tanahashi posed on the turnbuckles and waved to the fans.
Tanahashi got on a giant cart at the top of the entrance ramp. He then rode all the way around the arena on the cart that was pushed along. Boltin Oleg and Aaron Wolf were pushing the cart from behind. Tanahashi cried as he waved to the fans. He paraded all around the arena before ending back on the entrance ramp.
He got on the mic and said there’s one thing he’s resolved to do in his heart. He said he’s so happy he fell in love with professional wrestling. He said every single fan and their support had brought him an incredible life in wrestling. He said he’s done everything and gave it his fullest. Tanahashi then disappeared into the fog on the entrance ramp to end the show.
(Radican’s Analysis: This was an amazing retirement ceremony featuring Tanahashi’s greatest rivals and colleagues in the business. The segment where an emotional Shibata took his shirt off and traded chops with Tanahashi before they engaged in a big hug was tremendous. It was sad seeing all of the big stars in NJPW that have moved to AEW with the company in such a bad spot in terms of star power on the roster.
Jay White was a great surprise, as was Tetsuya Naito and Bushi. As I said earlier, I didn’t like Naito losing, but the match result didn’t even seem to matter, as the post-match retirement ceremony just filled The Tokyo Dome with positive energy. The ceremony as a whole was wonderful from the air guitar performance to Tanahashi leading the fans in the wave to his parade around the arena waving to the fans, it was all perfect.)
Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow him on X: @SR_Torch and Bluesky @SeanRadican.
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