Shuhei Taniguchi has set the course for the final chapter of his in-ring career. The longtime Pro Wrestling NOAH wrestler, who has been part of the company since beginning his career in 2005, has announced that he will retire from competition following a two-match farewell schedule spanning December 2026 and January 2027.

Taniguchi addressed his plans during NOAH’s N-1 Victory Final event, revealing that he intends to step away from the ring. A press conference held the next day confirmed the dates and sites for his retirement matches. The first is scheduled for December 10, 2026, at Kurayoshi Sports and Cultural Hall in Tottori, Japan. His final match is scheduled for January 10, 2027, at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.

The announcement establishes a clear finish line for a wrestler whose entire active career has been tied to NOAH. Taniguchi has competed under his own name and, at one point, under the Maybach Taniguchi persona, but has remained a NOAH roster member throughout his run. His retirement road will therefore close in the promotion that has defined his professional life from the beginning.

Two Dates Mark the End of a Long NOAH Career

The retirement schedule gives Taniguchi two very different settings for his final appearances. The December 10 event in Tottori will take place at Kurayoshi Sports and Cultural Hall, allowing him to begin his farewell stretch away from Tokyo’s major wrestling circuit. One month later, the final date at Korakuen Hall will bring the journey to one of Japanese professional wrestling’s most recognizable venues.

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Korakuen Hall has long carried a particular weight for wrestlers, promotions, and fans in Japan. For Taniguchi, the January 10, 2027 event will be the last opportunity to compete in front of the NOAH audience as an active wrestler. NOAH has not yet announced his opponents or match stipulations for either retirement bout, so the specific form those farewells will take remains to be seen.

The two-match structure also places a defined window around his departure rather than leaving the timing open-ended. Taniguchi’s next matches will not simply represent a return after an extended absence; they are scheduled to be the concluding matches of a career that began more than two decades earlier.

Taniguchi Explains the Physical Reasons Behind His Decision

Taniguchi has not wrestled since April 2026. During the press conference, he explained that the physical toll of wrestling had become increasingly apparent toward the end of 2025. The central issue is osteoarthritis in both ankles, a condition he said had reached a point he could no longer endure.

Taniguchi said the wear and tear on his body became noticeable at the end of 2025, and that he could no longer tolerate the osteoarthritis in both ankles.

He said he reached the decision to retire around July or August. While the announcement came later, the timeline illustrates that Taniguchi had spent months assessing whether he could continue under the strain his body was experiencing. His April 2026 match now stands as his most recent in-ring appearance, with the December and January dates set to provide a final, planned return.

Retirement announcements in wrestling can sometimes arrive suddenly following an injury, while others unfold over a longer period as a performer works through declining physical condition. Taniguchi’s case has been presented as the latter. He recognized the accumulated impact on his ankles, took time to make his decision, and has now committed to two final matches rather than attempting to extend his career indefinitely.

That decision is especially significant in a profession built around physical repetition. A wrestler’s ankles absorb constant pressure through movement, strikes, falls, balance, and the mechanics of virtually every match. Taniguchi did not frame his retirement around a single incident. Instead, he pointed to a chronic issue and the broader wear that had become impossible to ignore.

A Career Defined by One Promotion

Taniguchi entered the ring in 2005 and has been a NOAH wrestler from the start. That uninterrupted connection gives his impending retirement a distinctive meaning. Over the years, he has been known both as Shuhei Taniguchi and as Maybach Taniguchi, yet the company affiliation has remained constant through those different stages of his presentation.

In an industry where wrestlers often move among multiple promotions, work extensive freelance schedules, or reinvent themselves in new companies, Taniguchi’s path has been notably rooted in one organization. His farewell events will serve not only as the final matches for an individual wrestler, but as an opportunity for NOAH to recognize someone whose career has unfolded entirely within its roster.

The Maybach Taniguchi name represents one of the recognizable chapters in that history, but the retirement announcement places the focus on the full scope of his time in the ring rather than one particular identity. Whether remembered by fans primarily as Taniguchi or through the Maybach character, he leaves behind a lengthy tenure in which he remained part of the same promotion from his 2005 debut through the final scheduled dates in early 2027.

There is also a considerable gap between his last match in April 2026 and the first scheduled retirement bout in December. The upcoming appearances will therefore carry additional anticipation. They will be the first chances for fans to see Taniguchi compete after months away, and they will come with the understanding that there will be only two such opportunities left.

What Remains to Be Announced

The major details are now in place: Taniguchi will wrestle on December 10 in Tottori and January 10 in Tokyo, with the Korakuen Hall date designated as his final match. Important competitive details remain unconfirmed, including who will stand across the ring from him, whether either match will include special rules, and how NOAH will structure the farewell presentation.

Those decisions will shape the final stretch, but the broader significance is already clear. The retirement road will be centered on a wrestler closing a career after the physical demands of the profession made continuing untenable. It will also give NOAH the chance to honor a performer who has spent his entire in-ring career under its banner.

For Taniguchi, the schedule provides a measured ending after a decision made months earlier. Rather than quietly disappearing following his April absence, he will return for two announced matches and receive a definitive final night at Korakuen Hall. The December appearance at Kurayoshi Sports and Cultural Hall begins that process; the January event in Tokyo completes it.

Shuhei Taniguchi Retirement Schedule

  • December 10, 2026: Kurayoshi Sports and Cultural Hall in Tottori, Japan
  • January 10, 2027: Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan — scheduled final match

Taniguchi’s retirement marks the approaching end of a run that began in 2005 and has remained connected to NOAH at every stage. With osteoarthritis in both ankles and the cumulative wear on his body driving the decision, he has chosen a final two-date path that brings his career to a close on his own announced timetable. The road now leads to Tottori in December and, finally, to Korakuen Hall in January 2027.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.