NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) announced that pro wrestling legend Hiroshi Tanahashi will take on top AEW star “The Alpha” Konosuke Takeshita in a singles match at the upcoming Windy City Riot event on Friday, April 11, at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois.
It was also announced that NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Gabe Kidd will defend his championship against “The Stone Pitbull” Tomohiro Ishii.
This will be Tanahashi’s last match ever in the U.S.
You can check out the full announcement below:
Two massive matches set for Windy City Riot!
Topmost in fans’ minds heading into this Chicago event will be the final ever match on US soil for the Ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi. From defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to winning IWGP United States gold in New Japan’s return from the pandemic, to memorable outings in TNA, ROH and AEW, Tanahashi’s legacy is indelible in America as it is Japan. With his last match coming up on January 4 2026 however, the final road for the Ace runs through Chicago for its last American stop, opposite the Alpha Konosuke Takeshita.
Way back in 2014, Tanahashi wrestled a then teenage prodigy Takeshita in DDT, and was far from charitable in his comments toward either Takeshita or his then home promotion following the match. The Ace’s comments back then that the two ‘didn’t belong in the same conversation’ would lit a fire that burned brightly in Takeshita, and saw his transformation from the ‘The Future’ to ‘the Alpha’ and now NEVER and AEW International Champion.
Takeshita will not let Tanahashi retire without taking out this pent up aggression on Tanahashi, and while this is a Final Road “Kinship” match for the Ace, feelings will be anything but friendly. In Chicago, Takeshita will seek to show he is erverything to the modern era that Tanahashi was to his own, and perhaps more.
Also official for Chicago is a rematch for Gabe Kidd and Tomohiro Ishii, under Ironman Match rules. At Battle in the Valley, an intense, wild fight for Ishii and Kidd saw both men at their hard hitting best, battling for the NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship. As both men went the 30 minute distance with no decision rendered however, Kidd took a draw as good as a loss. Now, it might not be one fall that decides this issue for the Mad Man and the Stone Pitbull; under the Ironman Match rules, the most decisions rendered in the 30 minute time period will settle the bout and the fate of the STRONG gold. Should the two tie again however, sudden death will mean they will go as long as it takes. Who will leave the better man?
