As we know thanks to the one and only Mr. Ares, New Japan Pro-Wrestling put on a big show today (Oct. 12) in Tokyo’s legendary Ryōgoku Kokugikan. The 2026 King of Pro Wrestling event didn’t disappoint, and included a lot of interaction with New Japan’s partner promotion in the United States, AEW.
We knew that AEW World champion Will Ospreay would be on hand, as he was booked to defend the NEVER Openweight Six-Man belts with his “O.G.” United Empire mates HENARE and Great-O-Khan. They were unsuccessful,
dropping the titles to the popular Knockout Bros tag team of Yuto-Ice and OSKAR who teamed with their new Unbound Co. brother Jeff Cobb. The finish saw HENARE to the Bros KOB finisher after accidentally headbutting O-Khan, and Ospreay was held back from breaking up the pin.
Issues between Ospreay and United Empire’s leader in New Japan, Callum Newman, were also a factor in the match. After a ref bump, Newman showed up to slide his team a steel chair. Bruv didn’t use it, which led to a heated exchange between the two Englishmen. Will said post-match that he wants to challenge for the Knockout Bros for the IWGP Tag titles at next month’s big Power Struggle show, and Yuto-Ice agreed provided Ospreay’s partner is Newman…
Seems like a big match between Newman and Ospreay should be coming our way soon, and with the Tokyo Dome less than three months away…
We also appear to be on the verge of a Jon Moxley/Shingo Takagi clash. Takagi recently defeated Claudio Castagnoli, and has been lobbying for a match against his fellow former IWGP World champ. He used Moxley’s finisher while picking up another win for Unbound Co. besides teammate Daiki Nagai in King of Pro Wrestling’s opener, and then received this message via the big screen at Sumo Hall.
“The Death Riders ride East; Jon Moxley returns to New Japan Pro Wrestling.“
Takagi responded by insisting he be Mox’s opponent. If that match happens in an NJPW ring, as we assume it would, it will be the first time Moxley’s wrestled there in more than two years.
In the show’s highly anticipated main event between current IWGP Heavyweight king Yota Tsuji and G1 Climax winner Ryohei Oiwa, it took three of Tsuji’s Fire Blaster finishers, but Oiwa became the first person to cash-in his G1 title shot early and lose (Zack Sabre Jr. and Konosuke Takeshita won the title at King of Pro Wrestling with their G1 contracts). The Tokyo crowd was with him throughout the match, and was really behind him when he had the champ trapped in his Grip headlock finisher, but did support Tsuji afterwards.
Which is good, because it would appear he has a date with Kenneth Bai-Gawd Omega. The so-called Go of Professional Wrestling had a message for Tsuji, who’s been very critical of the one-sided nature of the AEW/New Japan partnership, which closed with:
“I’m more than willing to show you that I believe in AEW, that I believe in the New Japan of old. Show me now, why you believe in the New Japan of today, and why you believe in yourself.”
The champ brushed that off and was getting ready to deal with a current roster-mate’s challenge. But as Oleg Boltin made his way to the ring, Omega attacked. The AEW EVP stood tall to close the show, accusing Tsuji of having no “manners” or “class”, and calling on NJPW president Hiroshi Tanahashi to book the match even if Tsuji doesn’t want it.
In material shot backstage, Omega challenged Tsuji and Bolten to a non-title three-way at Power Struggle on Nov. 3.
If Kenny wins that, I’m guessing we have our Wrestle Kingdom 2027 main event. But we shall see.
Here are the full-results from today’s King of Pro Wrestling:
- Shingo Takagi & Daiki Nagai def. Hirooki Goto & Tatsuya Matsumoto
- Taichi, El Desperado & Yuya Uemura def. SANADA, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi
- Boltin Oleg & Hechicero def. Zack Sabre Jr. & Hartley Jackson
- Konosuke Takeshita & Toru Yano def. Ren Narita & Shun Skywalker
- OSKAR, Yuto-Ice & Jeff Cobb def. Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan to become the NEW NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team champs
- Aaron Wolf def. Kosei Fujita to retain the NEVER Openweight title
- Gabe Kidd def. Shota Umino to retain the IWGP Global Heavyweight championship
- YOH def. Robbie Eagles to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship
- Yota Tsuji def. Ryohei Oiwa to retain the IWGP Heavyweight championship
