Tag: NJPW

Andrade El Idolo challenges Yota Tsuji to IWGP Global title rematch

Posted on by Ian Carey

Andrade El Idolo is going to get another shot at the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.

The Road to Wrestling Dontaku began on Sunday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. On the show, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Daiki Nagai, and Gedo defeated Callum Newman, Francesco Akira, Jake Lee, and Zane Jay, with Tsuji pinning Jay after a Gene Blaster.

After the match, a video played on the screen with Andrade challenging Tsuji for an IWGP Global title shot. Andrade unsuccessfully challenged Tsuji for the belt at The New Beginning USA show on February 27.

In the video, Andrade said:

“Last time, I didn’t lose. That match was to study you, to figure out how to beat you. Everything happens for a reason. I don’t know what happened with Gabe Kidd, and I don’t care because I beat him.

So I challenge you for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.

But I want this match not in the United States, not in USA. I want this match in Japan because I want to embarrass you in front of your own people. Just tell me where, when, and at what time. See you there, because this title is mi destino.”

Tsuji responded by saying he would be waiting for him on May 3, which is the date for night one of Wrestling Dontaku in Fukuoka.

NJPW1972.com later revealed the match has been made official.

Tsuji was originally scheduled to defend the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship against Gabe Kidd on the show. However, Kidd suffered a shoulder injury at AEW Dynasty, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced last week that he would not be cleared in time for Dontaku.

The updated lineup for next month’s shows in Fukuoka is below.

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2026 —

Night one (Sunday, May 3):

  • IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Andrade El Idolo
  • NEVER Openweight Champion Ren Narita defends against Oleg Boltin
  • Aaron Wolf vs. Don Fale
  • Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yuya Uemura, Taichi, El Desperado & Mistico vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Tomoaki Honma & Masatora Yasuda vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato vs. Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taisei Nakahara

Night two (Monday, May 4): 

  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman defends against Shingo Takagi
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin defend against Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yota Tsuji, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Yuya Uemura & Taichi vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
  • El Desperado & Mistico vs. Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, YOH & Master Wato vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Ryusuke Taguchi & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Gedo & Daiki Nagai
  • NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Chase Owens
  • Pre-show: Masatora Yasuda vs. Taisei Nakahara

Callum Newman reveals new long term NJPW contract

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman has revealed his new NJPW contract.

Earlier this month at NJPW Sakura Genesis, Newman defeated Yota Tsuji to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Shortly after, in an interview with NJPW1972, Newman opened up about his NJPW contract status when asked about a move to AEW.

“I’m signed here. I live here now and I’ve got a long term contract. I’ve never spoken to Tony Khan. The only people I know there are Will[Ospreay] and Andrade[El Idolo],” Newman said.

A few days ago, before AEW Dynasty, Newman, alongside United Empire (Will Ospreay, Francesco Akira & HENARE), visited AEW to help Ospreay fight Jon Moxley and the Death Riders.

Speaking on Ospreay’s role in the United Empire, Newman said, “He’s still like my big brother. That won’t change. But his role now, I don’t know. Some guys like HENARE and Great-O-Khan might only see me as the leader when he’s not around. So we need to talk about that.”

There have been no other reports on Newman’s potential upcoming AEW visits. He is also scheduled to defend his title against Shingo Takagi at NJPW Wrestling Dontaku.

Gabe Kidd to miss NJPW Wrestling Dontaku due to injury

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Gabe Kidd is no longer fit to compete at NJPW Wrestling Dontaku.

Last week on the April 12 edition of AEW Dynasty, Gabe Kidd of The Dogs suffered a shoulder injury while competing in the Trios World title match. Later confirmed to be out indefinitely by Tony Khan, Kidd now won’t be competing at NJPW Wrestling Dontaku.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) announced that due to the injury, Kidd will be unable to challenge Yota Tsuji for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Title at Wrestling Dontaku on May 3, 2026.

“Thank you for supporting New Japan Pro-Wrestling. On April 12 in Vancouver Canada at AEW’s Dynasty event, Gabe Kidd, who was scheduled to challenge Yota Tsuji for the IWGP Global heavyweight Championship May 3 at Dontaku, sustained an injury to his right arm and will not be able to compete.We apologise to fans who were looking forward to seeing Kidd wrestle and appreciate your understanding. Yota Tsuji will still defend the IWGP Global title May 3 in the main event of Dontaku night one. An announcement will follow when a new challenger has been determined,” NJPW’s official statement read.

At Dynasty, Kidd teamed up with Clark Connors and David Finlay to unsuccessfully defend their AEW Trios World titles against Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly, & Roderick Strong.

Will Ospreay files for ‘United Empire’ trademark

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Will Ospreay recently made a trademark filing for the name of his NJPW faction.

On April 10, Ospreay applied to trademark the term “United Empire” for merchandising and wrestling purposes. The faction was founded by Ospreay in NJPW and still exists today with Callum Newman serving as the leader following Ospreay’s departure to AEW.

The trademark is intended to cover the following goods and services:

  • Shirts; Sweatshirts; Hooded sweatshirts; Hats; Bandanas; Socks
  • Providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network; Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer; Entertainment in the nature of wrestling contests; Entertainment services, namely, televised appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, personal appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a professional wrestler and sports entertainer; Providing online interviews featuring professional wrestler and sports entertainer in the field of professional wrestling and sports entertainment for entertainment purposes

Ospreay is no longer with NJPW full-time, but he intends to return to Japan more often now that he’s back in the ring following neck surgery. United Empire also crossed over into AEW last week with Newman, HENARE, and Francesco Akira helping Ospreay deal with the Death Riders.

The 23-year-old Newman defeated Yota Tsuji this month to become the youngest IWGP Heavyweight Champion in history, potentially paving the way for an eventual split with Ospreay and subsequent title feud.

Kenny Omega reveals his favorite NJPW rivals

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

As Kenny Omega enters his newest rivalry in AEW, he’s also reflecting on some of his favorite rivalries in Japan. 

Omega was asked about his favorite New Japan rivalries in an appearance on the Battleground Podcast. “I think a lot of people sort of default to the [Kazuchika] Okada one and I understand why,” he said. “But I would say that for fans that were primarily New Japan fans, they also would argue that they really enjoyed my series of matches that I had with [Tetsuya] Naito. They really enjoyed the series of matches I had with [Tomohiro] Ishii.”

Then Omega went into detail about his long-term story with his old partner Kota Ibushi.

“Some of the people know me more because of the Golden Lovers stuff, which is also fantastic,” he said. “And I think that was some of the most proud storytelling that I’ve ever done in my career because the onus was all on us to continue that story forward and to always sort of implant that in the things we had done when maybe the promoters or the bookers didn’t see the value in it.” 

In particular, Omega’s happy how the two of them told the story while wrestling for several different companies.

“We had always sort of wanted to not insult the fans intelligence,” Omega said. “Regardless of what promotion we were in, we wanted to show that there was this interconnectivity and these human emotions, and that life doesn’t end just because of promotion changes. Relationships don’t end because of promotion changes. And it was cool that we could see this multiple-promotion-spanning storyline that took about a decade to see the grand finale and to be able to be at the forefront of an actual real long-term story where the onus was completely on us to tell.”

Three United Empire members make AEW debuts on Dynamite

Posted on by Josh Nason

Three members of United Empire made their AEW in-ring debuts as part of Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.

After last weekend’s Sakura Genesis, Will Ospreay asked newly-crowned IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman for some help in AEW against the Death Riders from the group he founded.

Newman came through as he, Francesco Akira and Henare joined Ospreay in an anything goes eight-man tag team match against Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, PAC and Daniel Garcia on Dynamite as a teaser for Sunday’s Ospreay vs. Moxley match at Dynasty. The eight men also had a show-opening brawl, leading to the match that wasn’t announced before the show.

The end came when Moxley went for a fourth Paradigm Shift on Ospreay, but Newman ran in and hit Moxley with a clothesline, setting him up for a Ospreay Hidden Blade through a table as both Ospreay and Newman pinned Moxley. The double pin and Newman bailing out Ospreay could be important seeds for an eventual turn on Ospreay down the road.

It’s unknown if the three men will also be in attendance at Sunday’s pay-per-view.

NJPW sets date for Tiger Mask Junior Heavyweight title challenge

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Before he retires from the ring, Tiger Mask IV will attempt to become IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion one last time.

NJPW has announced that the main event of Wrestling Hizen no Kuni will see Tiger Mask challenge DOUKI for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. The show is happening on April 29 as part of the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour.

Tiger Mask is a six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, with his most recent reign having been in 2009-2010. He confronted DOUKI earlier this month and issued the challenge for a title match. They were then on the opposite sides of an eight-man tag bout at Sakura Genesis where Tiger Mask’s team got the victory.

The longest-serving Tiger Mask in history, Tiger Mask IV (Yoshihiro Yamazaki) is retiring from the ring soon with his final NJPW date set for July 7. He may need to work some already scheduled international dates after that, but that will be his final event in Japan.

July 2026 marks the 31st anniversary of Tiger Mask IV’s debut. He initially competed for Michinoku Pro before later joining NJPW.

The two biggest stops on the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour are Wrestling Redzone and Wrestling Hizen no Kuni. On the Redzone card, the IWGP Heavyweight and Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles will each be defended.

NJPW Wrestling Redzone (Saturday, April 25) —

  • IWGP Tag Team Champions OSKAR & Yuto-Ice defend against either Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI or HENARE & Great-O-Khan (those two teams are facing off in a number one contender’s match on April 20)
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champions Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X defend against Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles
  • Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Gedo & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Yuya Uemura & Tomoaki Honma vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
  • Tiger Mask, Oleg Boltin, Aaron Wolf & Togi Makabe vs. DOUKI, Ren Narita, Don Fale & Dick Togo

NJPW Wrestling Hizen no Kuni (Wednesday, April 29) —

  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI defends against Tiger Mask
  • Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira & Zane Jay
  • Oleg Boltin, Aaron Wolf & Mistico vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale & Dick Togo
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young
  • Yuya Uemura, Taichi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Masatora Yasuda vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles
  • Toru Yano & Tomoaki Honma vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Shota Umino, YOH, Master Wato & Taisei Nakahara vs. Chase Owens, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Both shows are living live on NJPW World.

NJPW reveals Wrestling Dontaku 2026 lineups

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With Sakura Genesis now in the rearview mirror, NJPW’s attention turns to Wrestling Dontaku 2026.

The two-night Dontaku event is being held in Fukuoka on Sunday, May 3 and Monday, May 4. Headlining the second night is an IWGP Heavyweight Championship defense by Callum Newman, who is putting his title on the line against Shingo Takagi. Newman — the 2026 New Japan Cup winner — dethroned Yota Tsuji for the belt at Sakura Genesis this past weekend.

At 23 years old, this is Newman’s first IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign. He’s one of the top foreign wrestlers in NJPW and the leader of United Empire.

United Empire has a big night at Wrestling Dontaku night two. In the semi-main event, the group is challenging for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles. The match has AEW’s Will Ospreay — who is returning to Japan once again for both nights of Dontaku — teaming with HENARE & Great-O-Khan against champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin.

Tsuji still holds the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship and will be defending that title in the night one main event. His challenger is Gabe Kidd, who is now waging war on NJPW after joining AEW.

Plus, there is more international representation on the cards with top CMLL star Mistico competing in tag matches.

The shows will stream live on NJPW World. Here are the announced lineups:

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2026 —

Night one (Sunday, May 3):

  • IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Gabe Kidd
  • NEVER Openweight Champion Ren Narita defends against Oleg Boltin
  • Aaron Wolf vs. Don Fale
  • Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yuya Uemura, Taichi, El Desperado & Mistico vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Tomoaki Honma & Masatora Yasuda vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato vs. Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taisei Nakahara

Night two (Monday, May 4):

  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman defends against Shingo Takagi
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin defend against Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yota Tsuji, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Yuya Uemura & Taichi vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
  • El Desperado & Mistico vs. Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, YOH & Master Wato vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Ryusuke Taguchi & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Gedo & Daiki Nagai
  • NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Chase Owens
  • Pre-show: Masatora Yasuda vs. Taisei Nakahara

NJPW reveals schedule for G1 Climax 36

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The schedule for this year’s G1 Climax tournament is now out.

This year’s tournament has already been announced as starting on July 11 at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. However, the full schedule is now out with shows spanning across Japan including Korauken Hall and events in Osaka, Fukuoka, and Kanagawa. The tournament will conclude with a two-night event at Sumo Hall.

Here is the complete list:

  • Opening Day: July 11 NOW Arena, Hoffman Estates IL USA (Buy tickets now!)
  • Day 2 & 3: July 18 & 19 Hokkai Kita Yell, Sapporo, Hokkaido
  • Day 4: July 21 Sendai Sun Plaza Hall, Miyagi
  • Day 5: July 22 Aore Nagaoka, Niigata
  • Day 6 & 7 July 25 & 26: Ebara Wave Arena Ota (Ota-ku Gymnasium), Tokyo
  • Day 8: July 29 Yamato Arena, Osaka
  • Day 9: July 31 Takamatsu City Gymnasium, Kagawa
  • Day 10: August 1 Sun Plaza Hall, Hiroshima
  • Day 11: August 2 International Center, Fukuoka
  • Day 12: August 6 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
  • Day 13: August 8 Yokohama Budokan, Kanagawa
  • Day 14: August 9 G Messe, Gunma
  • Day 15: August 11 Nisho Highway Arena, Tsu City,  Mie
  • Day 16: August 12 Act City Hamamatsu, Shizuoka
  • Day 17: August 13 Korakuen Hall Tokyo
  • Finals Weekend: August 15 & 16 Ryogoku Sumo Hall, Tokyo

Last year’s tournament saw Konosuke Takeshita defeat EVIL in the finals to win G1 Climax 35. He would go on to win the IWGP World title from Zack Sabre Jr., only to lose it at Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4 against Yota Tsuji.

Will Ospreay hopes for a G1 Climax return, comments on future NJPW goals

Posted on by Ian Carey

Will Ospreay spoke to Tokyo Sports recently and mentioned goals he still has for wrestling in Japan.

Ospreay returned to NJPW for the first time in over two years at Sakura Genesis, teaming with his United Empire stablemates in a six-man tag earlier in the show. He was also present for Callum Newman winning the IWGP Heavyweight title in the main event.

During his interview with Tokyo Sports, Ospreay revealed that he would like to compete in another G1 tournament. He also mentioned that he won’t be back in Japan for Dominion in June at Osaka-jo Hall, as he and Alex Windsor are set to be married the night before.

Ospreay said (translated from Japanese):

“My wedding is the day after the show (my wife is wrestler Alex Windsor), so I can’t make it to Osaka Castle Hall (June 14), but this year I’m hoping to make it to New Japan’s big matches as much as possible. AEW is the best environment, but I have special feelings for Japan and I would like to spend more time with the members of the United Empire (UE).”

Regarding wanting to compete in another G1 Climax, Ospreay said:

“Honestly, it’s hard to ask Tony (Khan, AEW president) for about six weeks off, but I’ve talked about it with my wife, and I’d like to compete in the G1 Climax again someday. I’ve never won it, so I want to challenge myself. Also, the revived fourth-generation IWGP Heavyweight Championship has been held by Tanahashi (Hiroshi), Okada, AJ (Styles), and Kenny (Omega), all of whom I admired. So I have a desire to win that title as well.”

The full article with Tokyo Sports is available here.

Will Ospreay congratulates Callum Newman on IWGP Heavyweight title win

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

New IWGP Heavyweight champion Callum Newman has received words of encouragement and praise from Will Ospreay.

The final moments of NJPW Sakura Genesis 2026 saw Callum Newman standing tall as the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Newman, 23, defeated Yota Tsuji to capture the title and become the youngest wrestler ever to hold the championship.

AEW wrestler Will Ospreay was present ringside during Newman’s victory. He soon opened up about Newman’s title victory on social media and reflected on their history together. Ospreay shared his relationship with Newman and how he had once expressed his belief in Newman to his parents.

“This was one of the best moments of my life to watch a kid that I started mentoring when he turned 15 and his parents brought him to me seminar. Congratulations to the youngest ever IWGP Heavyweight champion,” Ospreay wrote on social media.

Ospreay recently also asked Newman and United Empire for help to deal with Jon Moxley’s Death Riders on AEW. Ospreay is currently scheduled to face Moxley at AEW Dynasty for the Continental title.

Gabe Kidd says he is ‘waging war’ on NJPW

Posted on by Ian Carey

Gabe Kidd has gone from passionately representing New Japan Pro-Wrestling to declaring war on it.

Kidd attacked Yota Tsuji in the main event of Sakura Genesis on Saturday, dragging the IWGP Global Champion to the back and continuing the assault. Kidd later posted footage of the backstage attack to social media.

In the footage he posted, Kidd says:

“I am waging war on this f—-ng company. On Tanahashi, Sugabayashi, all the big office, big d–k, idiot, f—ing pricks! F–k em, every single one of them.”

“Everybody wants to question why Ospreay left. Nobody wants to question why EVIL, why Hiromu left. But you all wanna put it on me? F—k the lot of yous. F—k every single one of yous.”

“We’re waging war on this company. We are waging war on New Japan Pro-Wrestling. F—k this company.”

Kidd then turned his attention to the IWGP Global Championship belt he’d taken from Tsuji.

“When it comes to this, I’m gonna take this back and I’m gonna keep it well away from Japan. This is a global belt, right? I’m gonna take this to America and make it f—king famous.”

Kidd’s run with NJPW began in early 2020. He later joined the Bullet Club War Dogs faction in the summer of 2023, and the group played a major role in NJPW storylines until Kidd, Clark Connors, and David Finlay left for AEW.

Kidd’s match against Kenny Omega at Wrestle Dynasty in 2025, built around Kidd representing NJPW against Omega, who had left the company to help form AEW, was voted Pro Wrestling Match of the Year in the 2025 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards.

Kidd’s post is below:

Will Ospreay asks United Empire for help: ‘I’ve got some trouble at work’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Will Ospreay has asked his United Empire teammates for help.

Ospreay wrestled his first match in Japan in two years on Saturday at Sakura Genesis. United Empire member Callum Newman won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the main event. After the show, Newman was addressing the media backstage when Ospreay approached him and said:

“There’s something I kind of wanted to talk to you guys about. I didn’t want to do this in front of you on your big moment. I’ve got some trouble at work, and I could really do with some backup. I know you just wrestled. I could really use a hand.”

Newman told Ospreay they would talk about it.

Ospreay’s reunion with the stable he formed in 2020 did not go seamlessly at Sakura Genesis. He was shown visibly disapproving of Great O-Khan and HENARE attacking their opponents after their match. Later in the main event, Zane Jay encouraged Newman to use a chair on Yota Tsuji, but Ospreay persuaded him not to.

NJPW Sakura Genesis notes: Wrestler returns, mystery man, Knockout Brothers

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Notes from NJPW Sakura Genesis.

Following Callum Newman’s shock IWGP Championship win, A hooded figure appeared out of the crowd and jumped Tsuji, who was still recovering on the outside. Gabe Kidd unmasked, unzipping his jacket to reveal an AEW shirt. He fled the ringside area with the IWGP Global title, which he lost to Tsuji back in October.

One of the top matches from Saturday’s show had Konosuke Takeshita go to a time limit draw with Shota Umino, retaining the NJPW World Television title. However, a mystery man in a mask and suit appeared at ringside, momentarily distracting Takeshita. This allowed Chase Owens to run in and jump the TV Champion from behind. Owens continued his assault until Umino came back to the ring for the save.

Earlier in the show, Boltin Oleg & Bishimon retained the NEVER Six-Man titles against Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi, and Owens, with Bishimon taking out Yujiro as Oleg had Narita in a torture rack. After the match, he cut a short promo making it clear he wanted the next shot at Narita’s NEVER Championship.

In the co-main event, The Knockout Brothers defeated Zack Sabre Jr. and Ryohei Oiwa in a classic bout to retain the IWGP Tag Team titles. Yuto-Ice cut a promo after the match saying they wanted another shot at Bishimon. But before Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI could arrive, Aaron Henare and Great-O-Khan entered the ring, saying they wanted the next shot. Eventually it was decided that Bishimon and the two members of the United Empire would face off in the future with the winners challenging the champions.