Tiger Hattori Reveals Why He Retired, Says He Had Spinal Stenosis Five Or Six Years Ago

Tiger Hattori talks about his retirement.

In an interview with NJPW that took place just days before working his final show as a referee, Hattori spoke on why he made the decision to end his career, mentioning his age and revealing that he had spinal stenosis years ago.

“Hey, I’m 74, man! I have two grandkids. Last few years I’ve been thinking the time was coming, and now all of a sudden I’m 74. About five or six years ago I had spinal stenosis, too. I couldn’t move my feet for a while,” Hattori said.

Hattori then spoke about how he got spinal stenosis and said it came from his refereeing on NJPW shows, but concluded that he has no regrets. Hattori said he had a lot of fun throughout his career and even admitted that he wished he could have done it for a while longer.

“Wrestling, obviously! Every now and then the referee gets caught in between the wrestlers right? [It’s an] occupational hazard. Anyway, if I kept going, it would be a problem for everyone else. There needs to be referees who can enforce everything better in there. I’ve been incredibly lucky, to do this for so long,” Hattori said. “None at all. I’ve had so much fun. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still want to do it at least a little bit, but more than anything I don’t want to be a hindrance.”

You can check out results from Hattori’s retirement show at this link.