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Hiroshi Tanahashi Sets His Return Date… And Jay White Can’t Stand It

Tanahashi hasn’t been seen since his loss to Zack Sabre Jr at G1 Supercard last month. Suffering an aggravation of an elbow injury, The Ace of the Universe was set on the sidelines and pegged for surgery.

In keeping with the tradition of big names returning at these events, Tanahashi surprised the crowd by gracing them (and us) all with his presence. I’ll be honest, my heart sank a little bit as he took his first steps back into the ring. The Ace looked sad and I started playing all of the negative scenarios out in my head of what he was about to drop on everybody.

Thankfully, through a goofy little pantomime, Tanahashi revealed that he’d be back on June 5 on the final night of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament! I may or may not have played air guitar in my living room at 3 AM to celebrate. The world will never know.

Not to be outshined, Jay White made his way to the ring and served the tea straight to Tanahashi. Switchblade let Tanahashi know that the line for an IWGP Heavyweight Title shot started with White and Tanahashi was way at the back, “even behind Goto.” Ouch.

Not content to hurl terrible insults at Tanahashi, White jumped the Ace and left him laying at ringside before exiting with Gedo by his side. While it’s unsure what exactly Tanahashi will be doing on June 5, it’s obvious that Jay White isn’t finished proving that his Cutthroat Era will spell the demise of Hiroshi Tanahashi.