Tag: oleg boltin

NJPW’s Oleg Boltin sidelined with an elbow injury

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

NJPW wrestler Oleg Boltin has been sidelined with an elbow injury.

On Thursday, May 7, 2026, New Japan Pro Wrestling [NJPW] announced that Boltin was out of action with an elbow injury. As per NJPW’s announcement, there is no confirmed return date for Boltin.

“Oleg Boltin will miss the rest of the series due to a left elbow injury. Please note that the timing of his return is currently undecided. We sincerely apologize to everyone who was looking forward to watching Boltin’s match. We kindly ask for your understanding,” NJPW’s statement read (translated from Japanese).

The current NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion, Boltin last competed at NJPW New Japan Road in Karatsu 2026 ~ Ignition To Dominion on May 6, teaming with Aaron Wolf & Tiger Mask to defeat House Of Torture (Dick Togo, Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi). He also wrestled at NJPW Wrestling Dontaku, where The United Empire defeated his team.

Who is NJPW wrestler Oleg Boltin?

The 33-year-old Oleg Boltin is a former freestyle wrestler from Ridder, Kazakhstan. After winning a gold medal at the 2021 Asian Championships and multiple other medals throughout his career, Boltin retired from amateur wrestling in 2022.

Shortly after, he signed with NJPW and has been with the promotion since. Having wrestled around 349 matches (as per Cagematch), Boltin has also won multiple titles in NJPW.

Two titles change hands at NJPW The New Beginning USA

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

A pair of new champions have been crowned tonight at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s The New Beginning USA show in Trenton, New Jersey.

The first was Oleg Boltin, who pinned Tomohiro Ishii with a Verdict (F5) and Kamikaze (rolling fireman’s carry slam) to win the STRONG Openweight championship. 

It’s the first STRONG Openweight championship for Boltin, and the second singles title in New Japan—he held the NEVER Openweight championship for 120 days last year. He is also a three-time winner of the Never Openweight Six-Man Championships, including his current reign along with Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi.

The match ended Ishii’s first reign as STRONG Openweight champion. He had won the belt from Gabe Kidd at Windy City Riot in Chicago, Illinois, last April.

The second new champion on the show was Konosuke Takeshita, who defeated El Phantasmo to win the NJPW World Television championship. The match originally ended in a time limit draw, but ELP challenged Takeshita to an overtime period. Takeshita accepted and went on to win with a powerdrive kneestrike and raging fire. 

This is Takeshita’s first reign as NJPW World Television champion. He is also a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion, IWGP Intercontinental Champion, and NEVER Openweight Champion.

ELP is now a two-time former NJPW World Television champion. He originally won the belt from Ren Narita at Wrestle Kingdom 19 in January of 2025, in a four-way that also included Jeff Cobb (now known as JC Mateo on SmackDown) and Ryohei Oiwa. He lost the belt to Great-O-Khan the following April, but regained it later that same month. 

Title change takes place at NJPW Road to New Beginning

Posted on by Joseph Currier

TMDK’s reign with the NEVER Openweight Tag Team titles has already come to an end.

At Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Monday, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin defeated Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson to claim the NEVER Six-Man belts. It was Goto who got the victory for his team 18 minutes into the match, pinning Oiwa after hitting a GTR. Sabre attempted to break up the pin but was held back by YOSHI-HASHI, while Boltin neutralized Jackson and kept him from getting involved.

Sabre, Oiwa & Jackson were making their first title defense here after having won the belts in a rando at Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4. The last team they eliminated to win that match was Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Boltin.

It looks like a rematch could be happening at some point. After the title change today, the two teams went face-to-face and the commentary team speculated that the issues between them are not over. There are also a couple of potential singles bouts that have been set up. In his backstage comments, Oiwa mentioned wanting to face Goto. YOSHI-HASHI also said that he would like to face Sabre, aiming to get payback after Sabre defeated him in last year’s edition of the G1 Climax.

Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Boltin all have history with the NEVER Six-Man belts, but this is their first time holding them as a trio. Goto & YOSHI-HASHI had previous reigns with Tomohiro Ishii and YOH as partners. Boltin has twice held the titles with Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano.

NJPW adds four names to New Beginning USA

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NJPW has announced a few more names who will be making the trip over for New Beginning USA 2026.

On February 27, NJPW comes to CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, New Jersey for the New Beginning event. It was announced today that Syuri, Tomohiro Ishii, Oleg Boltin, and El Desperado will be among the talent competing. Their matches have not been announced yet.

Syuri enters the show as a double champion following her victory over Saya Kamitani at Wrestle Kingdom 20. She retained the IWGP Women’s Championship in the match and now also holds the NJPW Strong Women’s Championship.

Ishii is the men’s NJPW Strong Openweight Champion, having won the title from Gabe Kidd in April 2025. His only defense so far has been a victory over Drilla Moloney.

This appearance will be Boltin’s first time wrestling in the United States. An amateur wrestler from Kazakhstan, he made his in-ring debut for NJPW in 2023.

So far, the New Beginning card has one confirmed match: El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita for the NJPW World Television Championship. It’s also been announced that Yota Tsuji — the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and Global Heavyweight Champion — will be in action.

NJPW adds Takeshita NEVER title defense to New Beginning in Osaka

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Oleg Boltin is officially next in line for a shot at Konosuke Takeshita’s NEVER Openweight Championship.

NJPW has confirmed that Takeshita will put his NEVER title on the line against Boltin at the New Beginning in Osaka on Tuesday, February 11. It’s the third title defense for Takeshita since he dethroned Shingo Takagi at Wrestle Kingdom 19 to become the new NEVER Openweight Champion.

Takeshita is also the current AEW International Champion. He defeated Takagi in a double title match at Wrestle Kingdom and then retained both belts against Tomohiro Ishii the next night at Wrestle Dynasty. Backstage after that match, Boltin confronted Takeshita to set up a NEVER title bout.

Takeshita then retained the NEVER title against KUSHIDA at NJPW Battle in the Valley last weekend.

If Boltin defeats Takeshita, it would be his first time winning a singles title in NJPW. He is an accomplished amateur wrestler from Kazakhstan who holds NJPW’s NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team title belts with Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano.

Osaka is Takeshita’s hometown. It was announced earlier this month that he has signed a contract with NJPW, meaning that he now has deals with all three of AEW, NJPW, and DDT.

The updated New Beginning in Osaka card is listed below:

  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defends against Hirooki Goto
  • IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Gabe Kidd
  • IWGP Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks defend against Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi
  • NEVER Openweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Oleg Boltin
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita defend against Rocky Romero & YOH
  • Taichi vs. SANADA
  • Shota Umino vs. Great-O-Khan
  • Shingo Takagi vs. Drilla Moloney
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe