Hiroshi Tanahashi To Make NJPW Return At Wrestling Dontaku

Hiroshi Tanahashi is set to make his return to New Japan Pro-Wrestling in only a couple of days.

Kazuchika Okada revealed during NJPW's Road to Wrestling Dontaku event from Kumamoto over the weekend that Hiroshi Tanahashi will team with him and Tomohiro Ishii to challenge for the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Titles at Wrestling Dontaku on Wednesday, May 3. Ishii's status for the match is unclear, though, as he stormed out of the ring following the announcement from Okada, telling The Rainmaker he was off the team if Tanahashi was on their side.

Okada and Tanahashi struck up a tag team following their IWGP World Heavyweight Title match at Battle in the Valley on February 18. They haven't experienced much success so far, having failed to win the IWGP Tag Team Titles and the NJPW STRONG Tag Team Titles so far.

Okada invited Tanahashi to team with him at Wrestling Dontaku back in April to challenge Minoru Suzuki, Ren Narita, and El Desperado. Tanahashi's status for the match was unclear, though, after he suffered a broken rib when he and Okada challenged for the NJPW STRONG Tag Team Titles at Capital Collision on April 15.

Following Wrestling Dontaku, Tanahashi is scheduled to face Will Ospreay in the semi-finals of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Title number one contender's tournament. The winner will face Lance Archer in the final at Dominion on June 4 before an eventual showdown with Kenny Omega.

Already announced for Wrestling Dontaku is SANADA vs. Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title, Tama Tonga vs. David Finlay for the NEVER Openweight Title, and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jeff Cobb for the NJPW World TV Championship, among other matches.