NJPW’s Alex Coughlin has stated on social media that he has retired from wrestling.
Coughlin is just 30, and the circumstances behind his announcement are not clear.
In the post on X, he declared, “Yeah I’m retired and it sucks now leave me the f–k alone.” He added, “Actually I have some merch and gear to sell still so don’t f–k off just yet.”
Coughlin began his wrestling career in 2018 after training with Bull James, before entering New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Los Angeles Dojo. He was part of the LA Dojo’s inaugural class.
His first visit to Japan to compete came in 2019 when he placed joint third in the Young Lion Cup with Clark Connors.
He spent much of the pandemic era back in the US, primarily competing for New Japan STRONG, also making appearances for Ring of Honor in the US and RevPro in the UK.
He also featured in an eight-man tag during the preshow for the first NJPW x AEW Forbidden Door pay-per-view in 2022.
More recently, he returned to Japan in June 2023 at Dominion, where he and Gabe Kidd attacked Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi). Coughlin and Kidd also aligned with Bullet Club under the leadership of David Finlay.
Later in 2023, Coughlin and Kidd defeated Bishamon at NJPW Independence Day to win the STRONG Openweight Tag Titles. He also competed in the 2023 G1 Climax tournament.
Coughlin’s last match for NJPW took place on February 11th, 2024. It was a victory with his Bullet Club War Dogs teammates over United Empire in a steel cage match at NJPW New Beginning in Osaka.
Per Cagematch, his most recent match was on February 24th for independent promotion New York Wrestling Connection in Farmingville, New York.
