Hiroshi Tanahashi Hiroshi Tanahashi ( November 13 , 1976 ) is a Japan ese professional wrestler who works primarily for New Japan Pro Wrestling , as well as appearing with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico , where he is one half of the CMLL World Tag Team Champions with Jushin Liger . He has also previously appeared with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Career . Before entering the world of wrestling , Hiroshi Tanahashi was a baseball player in high school . He started wrestling while attending [ itsumeikan University in Kyoto and was fairly successful . During this time he was noticed by New Japan Pro Wrestling talent scouts and was invited to try out for the New Japan Dojo . His try out was successful and he was accepted as a trainee . After graduating from the New Japan Dojo , Tanahashi made his debut in October , 1999 in a match against Shinya Makabe . He became viewed as a big prospect and was given big wins over lucha libre legend Negro Casas in July , 2000 and American Scott Hall in September , 2001 . His star continued to rise and in the 2002 G - 1 Climax ( one of New Japan Pro Wrestling ' s most important annual tournaments ) Tanahashi pinned Kensuke Sasaki in under two minutes . After this Tanahashi was paired with Kenzo Suzuki in a tag team named the Kings of the Hills . This pairing was popular but came to an end after a real life incident . In November , 2002 Tanahashi was stabbed in the back by Hitomi Hara ( a TV Asahi news reporter he had dated for a brief amount of time ) . Tanahashi was hospitalized , but would recover . Ironically this incident may have been the best thing to happen to his career . The stabbing was widely reported across Japan and a strong interest to see Tanahashi return was created . On February 16 , 2003 Tanahshi returned as a singles wrestler to a sold out crowd in Tokyo in a match against Manabu Nakanishi . His career began to rapidly climb from this point . In the later half of 2003 Tanahashi captured the U - 30 Openweight Championship , in August , 2004 he made it to the finals of the G1 Climax and in January , 2005 he headlined a show at the Tokyo Dome in a match against Shinsuke Nakamura . In 2005 , Tanahashi also made an appearance in the 15th SASUKE competition on July 20 . He was eliminated in the first round . Tanahashi made his North American debut in September 2005 when he and Nakamura went to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico . There , they feuded with Los Guerreros del Infierno and successfully defended their tag team championship against Rey Bucanero and Olímpico . He debuted in the United States on January 15 , 2006 . He faced AJ Styles in a match that was broadcast on the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling pay per view Final Resolution . He was also featured in a match against Roderick Strong that was taped for TNA Xplosion a few days later . He would go on to defeat Masahiro Chono by Sling Blade in the first round of the New Japan Cup ( determining a No . 1 contender against IWGP Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar ) on April 16 , 2006 in Korakuen Hall , and Hiroyoshi Tenzan by Dragon suplex hold in the second round on April 25 in Omuta Citizen Gymnasium before falling to Yuji Nagata ' s wrist - clutch Exploder in the semifinal on April 29 in the Tottori Industrial Gymnasium . Tanahashi also defeated Tiger Mask IV on May 13 , 2006 in the first ever main event of the new WRESTLE LAND brand ( a promotional experiment by New Japan with " sports entertainment " ) , debuting a modified side buster finish . Hiroshi Tanahashi vs . Brock Lesnar for the IWGP Heavyweight Title had been announced for New Japan ' s 7 / 17 Sapporo , Tsukisamu Green Dome event . Following this announcement Tanahashi vacated the IWGP U - 30 Championship On June 28 , 2006 , Tanahashi was announced as a participant in the 2006 G - 1 Climax , his fifth appearance in the tournament . On July 17 , 2006 , Tanahashi won his first IWGP Heavyweight Championship when he defeated Giant Bernard in the finals of the tournament for the vacant belt . He showed the belt on his second appearance on SASUKE , during the 17th competition , where he was again eliminated in the first round . After holding the belt for almost 9 months ( 270 days ) , and defending the title against the likes of Taiyo Kea , Shinsuke Nakamura and others , Tanahashi lost the title to Yuji Nagata , who had won the 2007 New Japan Cup and become the # 1 contender . Tanahashi managed to come back from this by winning the 2007 G1 , where he defeated Nagata in the finals , and successfully challenged his rival to a rematch on October 8 , 2007 where he pinned Nagata to regain the title . On January 4 , 2008 Tanahashi was defeated at New Japan ' s annual Tokyo Dome show by Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Heavyweight title in the night ' s main event . In February ' s New Japan " ISM " Tour , Tanahashi successfully defeated AJ Styles in a highly anticipated rematch . Following this , Hiroshi Tanahashi was entered into the coveted New Japan Cup tournament in which the winner would face off against the then - IWGP Heavyweight Champion , Shinsuke Nakamura , as the number one contender .