Hiroshi Tanahashi
Hiroshi Tanahashi (棚橋弘至, Tanahashi Hiroshi, born November 13, 1976) is a Japanese professional wrestler, sports executive and podcaster. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he serves as the president and representative director of the promotion.
| Hiroshi Tanahashi | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tanahashi at Noah Ariake Triumph in 2022 | |||||
| Born | November 13, 1976 Ōgaki, Gifu, Japan | ||||
| Alma mater | Ritsumeikan University | ||||
| Children | 2 | ||||
| Professional wrestling career | |||||
| Ring name(s) | Hiroshi Tanahashi Masked Devilock Super Strong Machine Ace Tanahashi Gokiburi Mask Wrestle Lando | ||||
| Billed height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||
| Billed weight | 101 kg (223 lb) | ||||
| Billed from | Ōgaki, Gifu, Japan | ||||
| Trained by | Keiji Muto Kensuke Sasaki NJPW Dojo Tatsumi Fujinami | ||||
| Debut | October 10, 1999 | ||||
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kanji | 棚橋 弘至 | ||||
| Hiragana | たなはし ひろし | ||||
| Katakana | タナハシ・ヒロシ | ||||
| |||||
Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his accolades in NJPW include a record setting eight reigns as IWGP Heavyweight Champion, a record three reigns as IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, two reigns as IWGP Intercontinental Champion, one reign as NJPW World Television Champion, three reigns as IWGP Tag Team Champion, one reign as NEVER Openweight Champion and four reigns as NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion. All totaled, Tanahashi has won 24 championships in NJPW. He has also won NJPW's premier tournament, the G1 Climax, on three occasions (2007, 2015 and 2018) and won the New Japan Cup twice, in 2005 and 2008, and is recognised as the fourth wrestler to accomplish NJPW's Triple Crown and the second to accomplish its Grand Slam, making him one of the most decorated wrestlers in NJPW.
Through NJPW's working agreements with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Pro Wrestling NOAH, Ring of Honor (ROH), All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Revolution Pro Wrestling, Tanahashi has also held the CMLL World Tag Team Championship, the CMLL World Trios Championship, the CMLL Universal Championship, GHC Tag Team Championship, and the RevPro British Heavyweight Championship. Between NJPW, CMLL, Noah, ROH, AEW and RevPro, he has 27 championship reigns.
When Tanahashi was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame in 2013, Dave Meltzer stated that "you could make a strong case for him as the best in-ring performer in the business today", adding that he was "the leading star in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's comeback from being in terrible shape a few years back to being the No. 2 pro wrestling company in the world". Readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter named Tanahashi as the best wrestler of the 2010s in March 2020.