NJPW appears to be building anticipation for Hiroshi Tanahashi’s final opponent, with longtime booker Gedo hinting he may be the one to make it happen.
Tanahashi: ‘I haven’t decided on my opponent for my retirement match yet.’

Gedo: ‘It hasn’t been decided yet… If that’s the case, well… I’ll prepare it. Just let me know.’”
“Nakamura, on the first night in Tokyo, he was doing some Tanahashi mannerisms. So there’s been a lot, 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.”

He added that while it is possible, the situation is complicated due to company affiliations. “Could it happen? I mean, Nakamura has in his contract he can do stuff in Japan, that was part of the deal that he signed. It’s a weird political thing, because obviously New Japan and AEW work very closely together, and Nakamura is a WWE guy.”

棚橋選手のバックステージに外道選手が現れて「引退試合の相手用意しますよ」と発言しました　#衣錦還郷 pic.twitter.com/ozTw40ju2A

, 岡本佑介@東京スポーツ新聞社 (@okamotospo) November 2, 2025

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