To be fair, Tajiri ‘almost’ returned to the WWE of sorts, in the recently concluded Cruiserweight Championship Classic, CWC. Although he did not win the tournament, he did manage to show us that he still has what it takes to perform breathtaking moves in the ring.
Former WWE superstar and current NXT general manager, William Regal claimed that Tajiri would be returning to the company again in the cruiserweight division. Regal was interviewed by Wrestling News World reporter, Dan Rattigan. Tajiri worked a couple of dates for the competition, where he beat Damien Slater in the first round, only to lose to Gran Metalik in the second round of the tournament.
The 46 year old veteran had been the main stay on the cruiserweight division on SmackDown along with the likes of Rey Mysterio, Paul London, Billy Kidman, Shannon Moore, Funaki, Spike Dudley, Matt Hardy and Jamie Noble. This was before he was drafted to RAW, where he started off in a mini feud against Triple H, after which his career graph slowly derailed. He worked for three years for the reborn ECW, but could not capture the audience’s imagination with his moves like he did on SmackDown. He worked with the WWE in the 2000s, returned to Japan later. He also had a brief stint with TNA in 2014. He was last seen working with Wrestle-1 where he worked for almost two years, before a brief stint with the CWC tournament.
At 46 years old, it is safe to say that Tajiri does not have many more years in the ring left in him, but his addition to the roster would bolster the cruiserweight division. While there have been no confirmed reports of his return, it is not unusual that the WWE brings back former superstars in the Royal Rumble – WrestleMania season, majorly to help the youngsters hone their craft. This might be the case, or it might just be more like a last run for Tajiri before he hangs up his boots.
- Updated card for the WWE Royal Rumble pay per view - January 28, 2017
- WWE SmackDown Results – 01/24/2017 - January 26, 2017
- WWE RAW Results – 01/23/2017 - January 24, 2017
