(NOAH) "I want to stand next to Tanahashi... I'm banking on the chemistry that will be created"...Kaito Kiyomiya reveals his true intentions for his first tag team with New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Hiroshi Tanahashi

Hochi News 

October 7th 2025

Pro Wrestling Noah will hold "WRESTLE ODYSSEY" at Ryogoku Kokugikan on the 11th. 

In the seventh match, a special tag match, New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Hiroshi Tanahashi, who will retire at the Tokyo Dome on January 4th next year, will take part, teaming up for the first time with Kaito Kiyomiya of "ALL REBELLION." They are set to face off against Naomichi Marufuji and Kenoh.

This match came about when Kiyomiya went to New Japan Pro Wrestling's Kobe event on September 28th, and got in the ring to directly negotiate with Tanahashi to form a tag. At a press conference held in Tokyo on October 2nd, Kiyomiya explained why he had requested Tanahashi's participation, saying, "Tanahashi may be in another promotion, but to me, he's an indispensable part of the team." 

During the press conference, his opponent, Kenoh, burst in and severely criticized him, saying, "You're lucky you can team up with Tanahashi in this situation! He's the one who caused the GHC Junior to be treated so badly!"

In an interview with Sports Hochi, Kiyomiya explained his true intentions in asking Tanahashi to form a tag team with him, saying, "I've faced Tanahashi in the past but haven't been able to surpass him, but if he were to step into Noah's ring one last time, I want to stand next to him and see the same view as him. I want the professional wrestler, Hiroshi Tanahashi, to be engraved in Noah's ring before he retires. That's what I want the fans to see". 

However, Kiyomiya has stated that he aims to be number one in the industry.

His rivalry with New Japan began on January 8, 2022, at the Yokohama Arena, where he teamed up with Keiji Mutoh, to face Tanahashi and Kazuchuka Okada, but he lost to Okada, and was then completely defeated in a singles match with Okada at the Tokyo Dome on February 21 2023, at Mutoh's retirement at the Tokyo Dome. 

That year, he participated in the "G1 Climax" but was eliminated in the qualifying rounds... and suffered a series of losses in important matches. Promotions that lose inter-promotion matches are naturally in a slump, and the scenes at venues that remained deserted until last year are likely partly due to his continued losses to New Japan. In that sense, Tanahashi, who is retiring next year at the Dome on January 4th, should request a singles match rather than a tag match and aim to win in order to erase his negative history. If he misses this opportunity, they may never face each other again. If he wants to be number one in the industry, he can't achieve it if he continues to lose to New Japan. When exactly will he defeat New Japan in the ring? I confronted Kiyomiya with this thought.      

"Of course, there is some hostility. I have feelings towards New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and to be more precise, jealousy. I strongly feel that way. My goal is to be the best in the pro wrestling world! However, right now, I have a strong desire to stand beside Tanahashi-san, so I deiced to team up. If there wasn't an opportunity, I wanted to stand next to him and give it my all, betting on creating a chemistry between us! We need to head towards Ryogoku more than we have in the past!"

I understand how he feels, however, Kiyomiya teamed up with Ryohei Oiwa to face Tanahashi and Naomichi Marufuji at New Japan's June 29th event at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. Given that Oiwa had lost to Tanahashi at the time, I thought he should face Tanahashi even more to avenge his loss. I questioned him about this thought again.

"I understand that way of thinking. That's why I'm going to overturn it in a good way. I'll show you a chemistry that will make all the fans glad I teamed up with Tanahashi"

As he is so confident, then all we can do now is believe Kiyomiya and wait for Ryogoku.

Translated from Hochi News

Picture credits: Hochi News