Akai is planning to sticking to being retired.
This past November, Saki Akai officially retired from pro wrestling after DDT Pro-Wrestling put together a retirement tour for her that started in May.
After the match, CyberFight President Sanshiro Takagi offered Akai a position as a staff member for DDT which she accepted. Months removed from retiring, Akai talked to Yomiuri Shimbun and admitted that she still wants to wrestle but explained why the timing was perfect to retire.
Honestly, I still want to do it. But to wrap myself up in the package of ‘Saki Akai, pro wrestler,’ this was the best time for me to retire… The timing was perfect for me to be able to retire while still on the upswing, wrestling hard matches. I don’t think it’s beautiful to retire after a decline. A veteran male wrestler asked me, ‘Are you retiring because you are getting married?’ I wondered why he would think that way.
She added that she will not be coming back to the ring although wrestlers make their returns after saying they’re done.
I don’t compete after retiring to give credibility to the words of pro wrestlers.
Akai’s role in DDT is consulting with younger talents and she works in the merchandise department. For her retirement bout, video messages were sent in by Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe and Shinsuke Nakamura.
