Hiroyoshi Tenzan, the NJPW legend, has spent several months training to recover from injuries that forced him to withdraw from his previously scheduled matches. Recently, Tenzan issued a statement announcing his retirement from professional wrestling.
Tenzan said (as translated by NJPW), “Thank you for coming today. It’s been 35 years for me in wrestling, but on August 15, I will officially retire. I don’t know whether it’s been a long 35 years or if it’s gone by in a flash, but I know that I’ve had so much support from so many people, and I’m so very thankful. I came into this business not knowing right from left, but to come as far as I did, and to have lived as a pro-wrestler is something that I’m truly grateful for. If there’s anything that I can do after I retire to help NJPW in any way then I would appreciate the chance.”
Tenzan has announced that his final match will take place on August 15 at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Sumo Hall, as part of NJPW’s G1 Climax 36 tour. He is a three-time winner of the G1 Climax, having achieved this accolade during the 2000s. This year, the Japanese promotion is bidding farewell to several of its legends, with Tiger Mask IV’s retirement match scheduled for July.
Tenzan spent the majority of his career with NJPW, the promotion that trained him as a wrestler. Throughout his career, he held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship four times and the IWGP Tag Team Championship twelve times, often alongside his longtime partners Masahiro Chono and Satoshi Kojima. Tenzan has also made brief appearances in the U.S., including a notable match against “Macho Man” Randy Savage at Starrcade 1995 as part of the World Cup of Wrestling.
