Hiroshi Tanahashi

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Lore & Background

Tanahashi's most defining narrative arc involves his legendary rivalry with Kazuchika Okada and his historic matches against Keiji Muto. These feuds were not merely contests for titles but battles for the soul of the company. At Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2009, Tanahashi defeated Muto to become the 50th IWGP Heavyweight Champion, beginning his second reign. Following his victory, when asked who he would like his next challenger to be, Tanahashi called out generation rival Shinsuke Nakamura, who accepted. At New Japan's ISM tour on February 15, 2009, Tanahashi defeated Nakamura with the High Fly Flow in his first title defense. Tanahashi defeated Kurt Angle on April 5 at New Japan's 'New Japan Resolution 2009' with two High Fly Flows. His next opponent was Hirooki Goto, whom he defeated on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2009 with a High Fly Flow. Just days later, Tanahashi was defeated by Manabu Nakanishi on May 6 at 'Dissidence 2009'. He regained the Title from Nakanishi on June 20 at Dominion 6.20 for his fourth reign. He successfully defended the title against Pro Wrestling Noah's Takashi Sugiura on July 20, the first ever NJPW vs. Noah match for the IWGP Heavyweight title.

In Their Own Story

The arena lights dimmed, leaving only the spotlight on the center of the ring where Hiroshi Tanahashi stood, his red and white trunks gleaming under the harsh glare. The crowd's roar was a physical weight, a sea of voices chanting 'Ace!' that vibrated through the turnbuckles. He adjusted his gloves, eyes locked on the challenger across the squared circle. Tonight wasn't just about a championship; it was about proving that the spirit of New Japan could soar as high as any dream. With a deep breath, he launched himself into the air, defying gravity in a moment frozen in time. When Tanahashi was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame in 2013, Dave Meltzer stated that 'you could make a strong case for him as the best in-ring performer in the business today', adding that he was 'the leading star in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's comeback from being in terrible shape a few years back to being the No. 2 pro wrestling company in the world'. Readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter named Tanahashi as the best wrestler of the 2010s in March 2020.

Reader's Guide

Hiroshi Tanahashi debuted for NJPW on October 10, 1999, in a match losing to Shinya Makabe. Alongside fellow rookies Katsuyori Shibata and Shinsuke Nakamura, Tanahashi became known as one of the 'new Three Musketeers'. He became viewed as a big prospect and was given big wins over lucha libre legend Negro Casas in July 2000 and American Scott Hall in September 2001. His star continued to rise and in the 2002 G1 Climax Tanahashi pinned Kensuke Sasaki in under two minutes. After this, Tanahashi was paired with Kenzo Suzuki in a tag team named the Kings of the Hills. This pairing came to an end after a real life incident in November 2002 in which Tanahashi was stabbed in the back by Hitomi Hara, a TV Asahi news reporter. Tanahashi and Hara had dated one another, but in a meeting at her Tokyo apartment he tried to break off the relationship as he had started dating another woman, which led to Hara stabbing him twice. Hara later confessed she tried to kill Tanahashi and planned to commit suicide afterwards. Hara was charged with attempted murder and sentenced to four years on probation. On February 16, 2003, Tanahashi returned as a singles wrestler to a sold-out crowd in Tokyo in a match against Manabu Nakanishi. His career began to rapidly climb from this point. In the later half of 2003 Tanahashi captured the IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship and the IWGP Tag Team Championship, the latter on two separate occasions. In August 2004 he made it to the finals of the G1 Climax and on January 4, 2005, he headlined the Toukon Festival: Wrestling World 2005 show in Tokyo Dome in a match, where he dropped the U-30 Openweight Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura. On July 17, 2006, Tanahashi won his first IWGP Heavyweight Championship when he defeated Giant Bernard in the finals of the tournament for the vacant title.

Did You Know?

• Tanahashi studied law at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, where he began practicing freestyle wrestling before being scouted by NJPW.
• He considered using the ring name 'Dragon Hiroshi' in honor of Tatsumi Fujinami.
• In November 2002, Tanahashi was stabbed in the back twice by ex-girlfriend and TV Asahi news reporter Hitomi Hara, who was charged with attempted murder and sentenced to four years on probation.
• Tanahashi made two appearances on the Sasuke competition (the Japanese obstacle course show), being eliminated in the first round both times.
• He is recognized as the second wrestler to accomplish NJPW's Triple Crown and the second to accomplish its Grand Slam, after Tetsuya Naito.

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