NJPW Favourite Announces Shock Retirement

This popular New Japan star announced their surprise retirement over the weekend.

by Andrew Pollard
Alex Coughlin
NJPW

In some hugely surprising news, Alex Coughlin has announced his retirement from pro wrestling.

Taking to X over the weekend, the Bullet Club War Dogs man noted:

This comes on the heels of David Finlay stating on X how the brutal ten-man steel cage at NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka last month had "already claimed one of [his] War Dogs", with some now taking that as a reference to the 30-year-old Coughlin. That cage bout saw Coughlin, Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors, and Drilla Moloney defeat United Empire's Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, Francesco Akira, TJP, and HENARE in what was Ospreay's final New Japan match before joining AEW.

Having made his pro wrestling debut in 2018, Alex Coughlin joined NJPW later that year, initially training in the promotion's LA Dojo under the tutelage of Katsuyori Shibata. The powerhouse would formally graduate as a Young Lion in 2021, and his career would be taken to an entirely new level last year when he and Gabe Kidd turned heel to join what would become known as Bullet Club War Dogs.

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From all of us here at WhatCulture Wrestling, all the best to Alex Coughlin in whatever is next for him.

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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 day job, 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/Saints, Jamie Hayter, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.