NJPW announces departures of Tetsuya Naito and Bushi, Tanahashi issues statement on their departures

The carousel of departures is continuing for NJPW.

NJPW announced on their website today that L.I.J. members Tetsuya Naito and Bushi are leaving the promotion. This comes on the heels of the announcement earlier this week that Jeff Cobb was leaving NJPW.

Naito was the biggest name left on NJPW’s roster after AEW signed away most of the big name talent that made up the core of the company including Jay White, Kazuchika Okada, and Will Ospreay. He has been hampered in recent years by knee and vision issues.

Tokyo Sports published an article late in March with an interview with Naito stating that he was no longer under contract with NJPW and that the two sides had had talks, but had not come to terms on a new deal. The two sides were scheduled to try to meet again to come to terms, but ultimately they could not come to an agreement.

One of the things Naito mentioned as a sticking point in negotiations was that he felt like he had limited time left in the ring and wanted to be used more in NJPW than he had been since signing his last deal in 2024. “I haven’t decided what to do if I quit, but when I was young, I had the feeling of ‘I’m going to retire at about 40 years old,’ and it’s true that there is a part where I feel a physical decline that I can’t do now, what I could do a few years ago,” Naito told Tokyo Sports last month. “I strongly feel that there is a limit to the remaining time, and I feel that it would be better to act as I want rather than continuing with strange dissatisfaction.”

NJPW also announced that Bushi had asked for and been granted his request to leave the promotion. Both men will finish up their commitments through May 4 and end their stints at the Wrestling Dontaku PPV.

NJPW president Hiroshi Tanahashi issued a statement to fans regarding the departures of Naito and Bushi. “I spoke with Naito yesterday,” said Naito. “I told Naito, who loves New Japan, that I wanted him to stay in New Japan until the end, but his will was strong and I couldn’t change it.” Naito asked the fans to continue to support Naito and Bushi until they left the promotion.