Pro Wrestling NOAH announces retirement of Yoshinari Ogawa

After a nearly four-decade career, Yoshinari Ogawa is stepping away from the ring.

Pro Wrestling NOAH announced overnight that, due to a neck injury, the 57-year-old Ogawa has decided to retire with immediate effect. Per Ogawa’s wishes, NOAH will not be holding a retirement press conference or retirement ceremony for him.

“We would like to express our sincere gratitude for the support & encouragement our fans [have] shown Ogawa over the years,” NOAH wrote. “Although he will be retiring from wrestling, we’re pleased to inform you that he’ll be able to live his daily life without any issues from the injury.”

Ogawa made his in-ring debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1985. He left AJPW for Pro Wrestling NOAH when the latter promotion was founded in 2000. He spent most of his career as a junior heavyweight with title reigns in both AJPW and NOAH.

In 2002, Ogawa had a run as NOAH’s GHC Heavyweight Champion. He was the third-ever wrestler to hold the title (after Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama). Ogawa & Misawa had two reigns holding the GHC Tag Team titles together.

The final match of Ogawa’s career was an eight-man tag bout that took place for NOAH on August 4.

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