Yoshinari Ogawa is hanging up his boots due to a neck injury. Pro Wrestling NOAH announced on Tuesday that Ogawa has made the decision to retire due to an injury to his neck. His final match was on August 4th at NOAH N-1 Victory where he teamed with Daga, Super Crazy, and Yu Owada against AMAKUSA, HAYATA, Tadasuke, and YO-HEY.
The full announcement reads:
Announcement of Yoshinari Ogawa’s retirement
Thank you very much for your continued support for Pro Wrestling Noah.We are pleased to announce that NOAH wrestler Yoshinari Ogawa has decided to retire from active competition.
Since his debut in All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1985, Ogawa Yoshinari has been active at the fortieth year of his career, winning numerous titles at the forefront of wrestling, including the GHC Heavyweight, GHC Tag, GHC Junior Heavyweight, and GHC Junior Tag.
In recent years, he has not only been at the heart of NOAH Junior, but has also been a pillar of NOAH in terms of technical aspects.
However, due to the neck injury, it has been determined that it will be difficult for him to continue playing, and so at his own request, Ogawa has decided to retire.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude for the support and encouragement you have shown to Ogawa so far.
Although he will be retiring from active play, he will be able to carry out his daily life without any worries, so we ask all his fans to rest assured.
In addition, at Ogawa’s own strong request, there will be no retirement press conference or ceremony. We ask for your understanding in this matter.
During his career, Ogawa held the GHC Heavyweight Championship, GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, as well as the AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship three times and the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship nine times.
On behalf of 411, our best wishes to Ogawa.
