Of all the people that showed up to give the “ACE” his flowers (Shibata, Jay White, Omega, Ibushi, Naito, Ospreay) it was really cool to see him side by side with the two men that influenced his career the most, the “Genius” Keiji Mutoh and the “Dragon” Tatsumi Fujinami, by the end of the night.
It was these two men who were largely responsible for mentoring Tana in his days as a YL. It was these two men who gave him the tools to build on, to become that “ACE” that pulled NJPW out of the gutter.
Fujinami was the man who passed on his incredible technical acumen to Tanahashi, who taught him to really “stick to the basics” and perfect them (Fujinami easily being one one best in-ring performers of NJPW in his prime, during the 1970’s and 80’s). You can see it in the way Tanahashi would try to dissect an opponent in the ring, breaking them down for the final blow. Fujinami also passed on his “Dragon Screw”, “Dragon Suplex”, “Dragon Sleeper” and “Dragon-style Harite” (slap to the face) to Tanahashi. When Tanahashi slapped Kota Ibushi in defiance in their G1 Climax 28 match, I couldn’t help but think of Fujinami doing the same to Antonio Inoki.
It was Keiji Mutoh that Tanahashi was assigned the bulk of his “YL duties”, including washing his laundry and working out with him (you could often see a young Tana coming to the ring with Mutoh from ‘99 to ‘01) Mutoh taught Tana the importance of presentation, how you look and how you carry yourself as a top star and wrestler. You can see Mutoh’s influence on the way Tanahashi would style his hair and entrance gear, maximizing a “flashy” appearance and style, to really catch the crowds attention. You can also see Mutoh’s influence in the way Tanahashi would move in the ring, once again bringing that “flashiness” to a component of his game. Mutoh was so influential to Tanahashi that he almost got Tanahashi to jump with him to AJPW, not once but twice, in 2002 and 2008. Not to mention that beating Mutoh in the main event of WK III is what truly cemented Tanahashi as a top star in the business.
Tanahashi had joked that when Keiji Mutoh had his Retirement Show in 2023, “LAST LOVE”, that he wanted to beat Mutoh by wrestling till 61 years old (with Mutoh officially retiring at 60). Amazingly, Tatsumi Fujinami still wrestles at the age of 72, active in his promotion of Dradition. My guess is Fujinami will carry the “Fighting Spirit” of both his mentor Antonio Inoki and his now-retired mentee, Tanahashi, into his matches going forward.
by MrPuroresu42