On May 4, Tetsuya Naito wrestled his final match for New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
The former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion teamed with his Los Ingobernables de Japon stablemates (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, and Shino Takagi) and beat Just 4 Guys (Taichi & TAKA Michinoku), Shota Umino & Tomohiro Ishii. It marked the end of an era as Naito has been with New Japan for two decades.
It was a genuine shock when the company confirmed that the 42-year-old would not be renewing his contract. Reportedly, it’s all down to a financial disagreement between the two parties as New Japan officials didn’t see eye-to-eye with Naito’s asking amount. So many wondered whether Naito was planning to call it quits. Though Naito hasn’t mentioned anything about retirement previously, the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion is 42, so he may have had thoughts about calling it a career after wrestling for over 20 years.
But according to the man himself, retirement isn’t on the cards for him at the moment.
"Some people may be under the wrong impression, but I'm not retiring or anything like that. First of all, I want to take the time to maintain my body, and then I want to move on to the next stage. I want to continue preparing for the next stage while undergoing various treatments." Naito told Tokyo Sports.
And that news isn’t much of a surprise as Naito reaffirmed that he’ll be back in a wrestling ring following his final New Japan Pro Wrestling match.
Naito is expected to undergo eye surgery on May 7, so he won’t be jumping into a different ring anytime soon. However, it’s unclear where Naito’s future lies, though it doesn’t appear to be with AEW. Naito stated in an interview with Monthly Puroresu that he hasn’t been in contact with anyone in the promotion. And according to several reports such Fightful, AEW officials don’t particularly have any interest in bringing him in full time.
We’ll surely see what happens to Naito now that he’s a free agent for the first time of his career. It’s likely that he’ll end up in a place like Pro Wrestling NOAH, though that’s simply speculation on my end. It is also possible that New Japan and Naito come to an agreement. It’s professional wrestling, so anything can happen.