Gedo Teases Plans For Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Final Opponent At Wrestle Kingdom 20

Posted By: Ben Kerin on Nov 02, 2025

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.

Following the Final Homecoming event in Gifu, cameras caught a backstage exchange between the two. Gedo approached Tanahashi and asked if a decision had been made about who he would face in his retirement match at Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4 at the Tokyo Dome. Tanahashi replied that no opponent had been chosen yet, prompting Gedo to offer his help, saying he could “make it happen.”

NJPW later released a translated portion of their brief conversation:

“Gedo: ‘Tanahashi-san, have you decided on your opponent for your retirement match yet?’
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.’”

Fans have speculated heavily about who Tanahashi’s final opponent could be, and one name continues to surface, Shinsuke Nakamura. The idea of a Wrestle Kingdom showdown between the two icons was recently discussed by Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Radio.

Meltzer shared:
“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.”