The Great Sasuke Announces That He’s Taking A Year Long Hiatus From Wrestling After His 50th Birthday

The Great Sasuke makes a big announcement about his career.

The 49-year old Japanese wrestling legend The Great Sasuke has announced that he will be taking a year long hiatus away from wrestling after his 50th birthday this upcoming July to rest his body after what he has endured over the past fifteen years. The Great Sasuke got his start in professional wrestling in 1990 and is known for his high pain tolerance.

The former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion broke the news to Yahoo! Japan and had the following to say about his forthcoming hiatus:

“I will be a 50 years old in July [of] this year. In the last 15 years, I [have developed] knees, shoulder [and] back injuries and whole body scratches. I want to take a rest on this machine and take care of injuries. It is a day off earlier than Arashi [Isao Takagi]. There will be places where you will have to undergo surgery, and I think that it will take about a year.” He said. “I think that if you can maintain the body, I think that you can reproduce the same movement as the heyday. I do not feel like wanting to get involved in the title fighting line right now, but I think that if I can fully recover, I will feel relieved.”

Sasuke turns 50-years old on July 18th and he added that he plans on publishing his own documentary about his career entitled “The Great Sasuke” which will be available in Japan, Canada and the United States.

Sasuke last wrestled on January 14th at Michinoku Pro Wrestling’s ‘New Year Fighting Beginning’ show in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan and he has five months of in-ring performing left before he takes some time to heal after 31 years in the business.