While AEW’s Kazuchika Okada has been set as Hiroshi Tanahashi’s final opponent, there was interest from a top WWE star to be in that spot. According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Shinsuke Nakamura was interested in being the one to retire the NJPW legend.
“Nakamura was interested in doing it,” Meltzer said. “I don’t know what happened. There’s a lot of stories going around. The only thing I know is that he obviously was interested because he did that thing a couple of weeks (at WWE’s Tokyo live event).”
The incident Meltzer referred to occurred at a WWE Super Show in Tokyo in October 2025. Following his match, Nakamura addressed the Japanese fans and used Tanahashi’s signature “Aishitemasu!” (“I love you”) catchphrase, a move that fueled speculation.
Meltzer also noted that Nakamura’s WWE contract has a specific clause that would have made the match a possibility, though it would have required WWE’s permission. “I remember asking about it at the time from WWE and they just said that there’s no deal,” Meltzer stated. “But he does have something in his contract that he can do stuff, but they still have to approve it. So I don’t know where that stood or how it fell apart.”
Nakamura has been permitted to wrestle outside of WWE on two recent occasions, both for Pro Wrestling NOAH. He wrestled The Great Muta in January 2023 and Ulka Sasaki in January 2025.
While reports indicated NJPW internally discussed Nakamura as a “pipe dream” opponent, the speculation officially ended on November 8, 2025. At NJPW’s Road to Anjo event, AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada returned to the promotion to challenge Tanahashi to one final match. Tanahashi accepted, setting his retirement match for Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4, 2026.
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