10 Surprising Wrestlers Retiring Sooner Than You Think

7. Tajiri

The Young Bucks DONE
WWE

Tajiri was a mind-blowing act for his day, and vastly influential on today's generation of performers.

If you caught his ECW breakthrough, you were likely stunned by the ferocity and sickeningly audible impact of his kicks. It was scarcely believable that he could unleash them and not hurt his opponent. Such kicks are commonplace in 2023, and have been for years - a wincing blow between the shoulder blades of a seated opponent occurs in one of every two matches - but Tajiri popularised such spots in the US.

"Are you kidding me with those kicks?" is a Joey Styles call that lingers in the memory of longtime ECW fans.

After a WWE run that went far better than expected, Tajiri bounced around the puro scene and realised his aspirations of becoming "office". This apparently did not go down well; per Voices Of Wrestling, "everyone" bar the ex-Wrestle-1 contingent of All Japan Pro Wrestling, which he led, had grown to "hate" him by late 2021.

They might be happy that Tajiri has now left to join up with the upstart Kyushu Pro Wrestling group, and if you thought he'd continue to work as an elder journeyman, you'd be wrong - if you take his word for it.

Announcing his arrival at a press conference, Tajiri declared that he doesn't think he has much time left in his career, noting that he wants to "nurture the young generation".

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!