Alex Coughlin Retired: 30-Year-Old NJPW Star's Career Comes To An Abrupt End
The Bullet Club's Alex Coughlin will never compete again after announcing that his time in the ring has come to an abrupt end.
On Twitter, Coughlin confirmed his retirement, adding that it sucks that he has had to hang up his boots. He added that he still has some wrestling merchandise available for purchase.
Coughlin wrestled 197 matches over his career, according to stats from Cagematch. His final match took place on February 24 at NYWC Psycho Circus 21. At the event, he teamed with Sean Wachter to defeat QGTM (Jey Mesias & Pat Fitzpatrick.)
Coughlin made his wrestling debut in April 2018 and entered the NJPW LA Dojo that same year. He trained under Katsuyori Shibata in a class that included Karl Fredericks (WWE NXT's Eddy Thorpe) and Clark Connors.
Known as 'The Android' for his strength-based style, Coughlin's time in New Japan would see him become part of the Bullet Club. At NJPW Independence Day 2023: Night 1, he and Gabriel Kidd captured the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships with a win over Bishamon. The pair held the gold until October 2023 when they lost to current champions Guerrillas of Destiny.
As part of his New Japan run, Coughlin competed a handful of times for ROH in 2019 as part of the 'War of the Worlds' shows. In 2023, he teamed with Shibata to defeat the Workhorsemen. He would later challenge Shibata for the ROH Pure Championship in a losing effort.
Coughlin is not the first wrestler to see their in-ring career cut short. Some wrestlers, such as Saraya, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Copeland, were all forced to retire due to injuries, only to receive second chances. All three are now part of AEW.
Others have not been so fortunate. Jason Jordan's last match took place in early 2018 and he retired due to injuries. The former Tag Champion has since made a name for himself as a WWE producer. Tyson Kidd can also be found backstage as a producer after his career was ended in 2015 due to a botched Muscle Buster.
