Tiger Jeet Singh Returns to Japan, Wreaks Havoc at Megumi Kudo’s 40th Anniversary Event

By: Ian McCord 

On October 17th, Megumi Kudo’s 40th Anniversary event took place at the Yoyogi National Stadium Gymnasium #2 in Shibuya, Japan. The special event included multiple big names of pro-wrestling’s past and present, with one of them being the legendary Tiger Jeet Singh.

The event marked Singh’s first trip to Japan in 14 years, and he made sure his appearance would be remembered for the next 40 years.

During the semi main event, Tatsumi Fujinami partnered with Masakatsu Funaki to take on the team of Shiro Koshinaka and Mitsuya Nagai in a special tag match, with 82 year-old Tiger Jeet Singh serving as a special observer for the bout.

Chaos ensued during Singh’s entrance, with the sounds of his theme Sabre Tiger seemingly transforming the legend into his past self. During his walk to the ring with son and grandson, Singh broke away from his family and charged towards the audience, swinging his patented sword at the crowd. Singh’s son was eventually able to get his father under control, but not before his father had hit a fan in the forehead with his sword.

The fan was attended to by the ringside doctors and was eventually brought to the hospital via ambulance. It was reported that thankfully the fan had only suffered minor injuries.

A seemingly unbothered Singh finished his walk the ring after the attack. He engaged in a brief handshake with Fujinami, then spent the remainder of the contest doing whatever he could to get under the skin of the Dragon. Fujinami would eventually use his Dragon Sleeper submission on Nagai to pick up the win in just under seven minutes.

After the event during the post-show press conference, Megumi Kudo deeply apologized for the injury caused to the fan. Kudo stated that she and the event organizers will do whatever they can to address the situation.

From Megumi Kudo:

“I believe there were shortcomings in our corner team setup. I deeply apologize for injuring the fans who came to enjoy the show. I’m truly sorry. I think you were able to see the Shin you all wanted to see. However, I’m truly sorry that he (the fan) got injured. As an organization, we will do everything we can to address the situation.”

(English Translation via DeepL. Quotes courtesy of Tokyo Sports)

Tiger Jeet Singh and his son also spoke with Tokyo Sports after the event, with the duo not as apologetic in their comments as Kudo was.

Tiger Jeet Singh:

“It was a mistake for him to be in front of me. It’s his fault. You know that, right? All he had to do was get out of my way.”

Tiger Jeet Singh Jr:

“The announcer was saying, ‘Please be careful!’ They were warning him it was dangerous, but he didn’t move out of the way. I’m sure he won’t make the same mistake again. Just like my father said, this was an accident.”

(English Translation via DeepL. Quotes courtesy of Tokyo Sports)

Elsewhere on the card, Masato Tanaka, in his first match back from injury, teamed with Jun Akiyama in victorious fashion over the team of Hayabusa and Mammoth Sasaki, as well as Sareee and Chi Chi defeating MIRAI and Cohaku in the show’s main event.

Here are the full results from Megumi Kudo’s 40th Anniversary Event on October 17th courtesy of purolove.com:

• Hardcore Match: The Great Sasuke defeats Kuroshio TOKYO Japan (14:24) with a piledriver.
• Rina & Sayaka Toyota defeat Ayame Sasamura & Yuka Satsuki (8:53) after a rolling high kick by Rina against Satsuki.
• Suwama & Akira Raijin defeat Junya Matsunaga & Tsugataka Sato (9:49) after a backdrop suplex by Suwama against Sato.
• Yumiko Hotta, Shinobu Kandori, Takako Inoue, and Catherine defeat Kaoru Ito, Tomoko Watanabe, Honoka, and Shima Uta (9:15) following a backdrop suplex by Hotta on Uta.
• THE BEGINNING OF NEW ERA ~ Mariko Nanase Debut Match: Miku Aono & Victoria Yuzuki defeat Chika Goto & Mariko Nanase (16:30) following a crab hold by Yuzuki on Nanase.
• Jaguar Yokota, Mayumi Ozaki & Yumi defeat Momoka Hanazono, Saito & Saira (16:34) following a fisherman buster by Yokota on Saito.
• LEGEND QUEEN’S LIVE: Manami Toyota & Cutie Suzuki & Megumi Kudo
• Dump Matsumoto & ZAP defeat Megumi Yabushita & Shin Megumi Kudo (9:22) following a Body Press by Matsumoto on Kudo.
• Jun Akiyama & Masato Tanaka defeat Hayabusa & Mammoth Sasaki (13:35) following a Wrist-Clutch Exploder by Akiyama on Hayabusa.
• Aja Kong defeats Konomi Hori (3:38) by pinfall.
• Tatsumi Fujinami & Masakatsu Funaki defeat Shiro Koshinaka & Mitsuya Nagai (6:59) following a Dragon Sleeper by Fujinami on Nagai.
• Sareee & Chi Chi defeat MIRAI & Cohaku (15:40) following a Wrist-Clutch Uranage by