Hiroshi Tanahashi has been playing air guitar for over two decades. Apparently, Tony Khan decided it was time to give him the real thing.
Backstage at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on June 28 in San Jose, California, AEW CEO and General Manager Tony Khan presented NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi with a custom Ibanez Paul Gilbert signature guitar, engraved with a personal tribute to The Ace’s career. AEW‘s official social media account shared an exclusive backstage clip of the moment, which quickly circulated across wrestling and music communities alike.
The Gift
The guitar, a custom version of the Ibanez PGM series, is the signature model of virtuoso guitarist Paul Gilbert, best known as the co-founder of Mr. Big and one of the most technically gifted rock guitarists alive. The PGM line has been an Ibanez staple since 1989, known for its distinctive painted f-holes, high-performance neck, and near-unplayable-for-mortals fretboard speed. Choosing a Paul Gilbert model for a man famous for air guitar is either a very funny joke or a very sincere one. Either way, it lands perfectly.
Inscribed on the front of the guitar, per F4W/Wrestling Observer, were the words:
“Go Ace! Congratulations on your incredible career. From your friends at All Elite Wrestling.”
NJPW shared a photo of the moment on their own Instagram as well, captioning it: “AEW’s CEO gifted Hiroshi Tanahashi a gorgeous custom guitar on the occasion of the fifth annual Forbidden Door.”
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Why the Air Guitar Matters
When Tanahashi started incorporating air guitar into his post-match celebrations in the late 2000s, it was a genuine departure from NJPW’s traditionally stoic presentation. He was already one of the company’s top stars, but the air guitar was something different: a direct line to the crowd, a pop-culture wink that said wrestling could be fun and cool and a little rock and roll all at once. He’d shred an invisible guitar after big wins, flash the horns, shout “I love you!” to the audience, and the arenas ate it up.
Over time, Tanahashi became the living definition of “Ace” in wrestling, a term borrowed from Japanese sports culture for the franchise player, the one a promotion is built around even when he doesn’t hold the title. He carried NJPW through a difficult stretch in its history and helped turn the company into a global brand. The air guitar came with all of it. It was never a bit. It was him.
The Context at Forbidden Door
Tanahashi appeared at Forbidden Door following Shota Umino‘s successful IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship defense against Pac. Now serving as NJPW President, he was there in an official capacity for the fifth edition of the joint AEW–NJPW supershow, a card that included Will Ospreay winning the Owen Hart Cup in a DC-themed main event.
The guitar presentation happened ahead of the show, according to Fightful, making it a pre-show gesture rather than an in-ring ceremony. Just two guys in a backstage hallway, one of them holding an Ibanez that would make Paul Gilbert proud, both of them smiling.
For a man who spent thirty-plus years pretending to play guitar in front of screaming crowds, getting handed an actual one, from a custom run of one of rock’s most storied signature models, might be the most on-brand send-off in wrestling history.
