Kenny Omega Shares Emotional Farewell to Hiroshi Tanahashi

Kenny Omega spent countless hours in a NJPW ring, and without those years of his life he knows he wouldn’t be where he is today. There is no NJPW without Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Omega got to be a small part of The Ace’s retirement at WrestleKingdom 20.

Even though Tanahashi came up short against longtime rival Kazuchika Okada, the result was quickly forgotten about as the likes of Jay White, Will Ospreay, The Golden Lovers, among others came down to the ring. Shortly after the event, Omega took time to reflect on social media as to how big of a moment this truly was.

“Tonight I had the incredible honor of participating in Tanahashi’s retirement ceremony. To stand with him in that ring, to see what he saw in those final moments…I felt the reality of it all, the weight of his decision,” Omega said.

He continued, “Once I returned backstage I sat in stand-by lost in thought watching the monitor. Before I knew it, everyone around me had left. Tana, Ibushi, and I made the final walk. I joked that all 3 of us had to take the stairs slowly one by one – something I’m usually self conscious about (it doesn’t look cool), but today was different. We owned it proudly.”

“In the car ride back to the dressing rooms we shared one last conversation,” Omega added. “I could easily type what was said, but to explain the real meaning of it was probably different for all 3 of us. Broken down rivals now turned comrades. It’s really a beautiful thing, isn’t it? Thanks to all that tuned in to celebrate the retirement of one of the greatest to ever do it.”

While only a select few were able to share that moment in the ring with Hiroshi Tanahashi, tons of wrestlers and personalities shared their thoughts on social media as well.