After Tajiri made a brief return to WWE, there were some rumors that the company would want to bring him back as a veteran presence, either to fill out the rosters following the brand split, or as part of the new Cruiserweight Division. While his actual role hasn’t been revealed, Tajiri did announce on Twitter that he will be finishing up his commitments in Japan and returning to WWE in 2017, as a full-time wrestler, which is somewhat surprising for the 46-year old (wait, really?) former WWE Cruiserweight and Tag Team Champion, who left WWE in 2005 and returned to Japan, where he wrestled for several major promotions. Here’s the official announcement from Tajiri’s Twitter account:
昨日のNXT大阪公演でリーガルGMから「明日から公表してもいいですよ」とのOKを頂きましたので公表させていただきます。来春年明け早々よりWWEに戻ります。12/27金村引退興行を日本での最後の試合とし、鍼灸活動も日本では今月で終わります。皆さま、10年間ありがとうございました！！
— TAJIRI (@TajiriBuzzsaw) December 4, 2016
Oh wait, most of you probably can’t read Japanese. Here’s a loose translation:
I will announce this because I got the OK from Regal GM yesterday at NXT’s Osaka performance [when he told me] “I can announce it tomorrow.” I will return to WWE early next year. 12/27 Kanemura Retirement box office will be my last match in Japan, and acupuncture activity will end in Japan this month. Thank you everyone for 10 years!!
Stephen Randle
Stephen Randle is an avid wrestling and film fan. He's been writing about WWE, movies, and video games for Goliath since 2015.