---
title: "AEW’s Kazuchika Okada Addresses Hiroshi Tanahashi NJPW Retirement Match"
canonical: "https://wrestletalk.com/news/hiroshi-tanahashi-njpw-retirement-aew-kazuchika-okada/"
type: "post"
language: "en-US"
author: "Sanchez Taylor"
section: "News"
published: "2026-01-04T18:45:52Z"
modified: "2026-01-04T18:50:47Z"
---

# AEW’s Kazuchika Okada Addresses Hiroshi Tanahashi NJPW Retirement Match

AEW star Kazuchika Okada has sent a message to Hiroshi Tanahashi, following their match at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20.

Hiroshi Tanahashi wrestled the final match of his career on January 4, ultimately losing to Kazuchika Okada in 33 minutes.

Okada has now taken to [Twitter](https://x.com/rainmakerXokada/status/2007852466302603288) to share a thank-you message for Tanahashi.

The AEW star wrote:

*Tanahashi-san, thank you for your hard work. Let’s meet again, everyone in Japan.*

*(Translated from Japanese)*

You can read more about Hiroshi Tanahashi’s final match [right here](https://wrestletalk.com/news/john-cena-reacts-hiroshi-tanahashi-retirement-njpw/).

NJPW held a retirement ceremony following Tanahashi’s final match, which saw a number of familiar faces return to celebrate the Ace’s career.

Several [AEW stars appeared](https://wrestletalk.com/news/aew-absent-njpw-wrestle-kingdom-20/) at the ceremony, including Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi and Jay White, who have all been absent from AEW TV recently.

AEW’s Konosuke Takeshita was in action earlier in the night, [dropping the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship](https://wrestletalk.com/news/aew-loses-championship-njpw-konosuke-takeshita/) to Yota Tsuji in a match where Tsuji’s IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship was also on the line.

John Cena – who had his own retirement match in December 2025 – has shared a nod to Hiroshi Tanahashi following Wrestle Kingdom 20, which you can read more about [right here.](https://wrestletalk.com/news/john-cena-reacts-hiroshi-tanahashi-retirement-njpw/)

> 棚橋さんお疲れ様でした。\
> 日本の皆さんまた会いましょう。
>
> — Kazuchika Okada (@rainmakerXokada) [January 4, 2026](https://twitter.com/rainmakerXokada/status/2007852466302603288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

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