Yes, Hiroshi Tanahashi has clearly got completely knackered knees these days, and yes, his Collision match against Swerve Strickland was clearly not the same Tanahashi who wowed in legendary Wrestle Kingdom main events, but this Collision outing was an ideal showcase of this Tanahashi.
With a 24-year career of his intense, high-impact ring style under his belt, the 46-year-old Ace is obviously now feeling the wear and tear on his body. That's not to say that Tana doesn't still have a great match or two left in his locker before he eventually hangs up his boots, and maybe MJF is technically sound enough, smooth enough, giving enough, and charismatic enough to help deliver one such great match. Maybe.
While it wasn't always pretty, what we got on AEW Collision was a perfect example of what Hiroshi Tanahashi is in 2023. For those who've not seen Tanahashi for a few years, or even for those who may have never seen Tana in action, this was a performance that let you know that, both as a performer and as a character, Tanahashi is a veteran babyface with great fire and presence, but who is battling his own body as he chases the highs of the past.
Being the younger, brasher, cocksure prick heel who has no time for legends and icons, the MJF character is the perfect foil for present-day Tanahashi, as time catches up with the man who for so long carried New Japan Pro-Wrestling on his back.
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.
