Kazuchika Okada will be Hiroshi Tanahashi’s final opponent at Wrestle Kingdom 20 this coming January.

Okada returned to an NJPW ring today for the first time since the New Beginning 2023 show and confronted the NJPW President after he defeated Yuto-Ice.

The current AEW Unified champion then challenged Tanahashi, first congratulating him on his retirement and hard work and then telling him not to get too tired before January 4.

There had been rumors that Shinsuke Nakamura was in the running to be Tanahashi’s final opponent but NJPW’s working relationship with AEW would have made things complicated if they went that route.

Tanahashi vs Okada will headline Wrestle Kingdom 20 at the Tokyo Dome where over 30,000 tickets have already been sold.