NJPW plans for AEW’s Adam Copeland: Three potential directions for the Rated-R Superstar’s Tokyo Dome debut

AEW

At the beginning of August, AEW’s Adam Copeland named four dream arenas he wants to wrestle in ahead of retirement.

Copeland has now ticked three of these four arenas off his list, first wrestling at Arena Mexico at Grand Slam Mexico on August 5.

The wrestling legend then checked off Wembley Stadium with his and Christian Cage’s AEW World Tag Team Championship defense against the Young Bucks at All In London.

More recently, Copeland was able to wrestle at Maple Leaf Gardens, with the AEW star facing Steve Maclin in the main event of MLP Northern Rising.

The only “white whale” arena left on Adam Copeland’s list is the Tokyo Dome in Japan. With NJPW hosting Wrestle Kingdom 21 from this venue, there has been a lot of speculation about Copeland potentially appearing at the January 4, 2027 event.

Ahead of Wrestle Kingdom 21, here are three potential directions for Adam Copeland in NJPW.

IWGP Tag Team Championship run

With Adam Copeland and Christian Cage previously holding tag-team gold together in WWE and AEW, we could see the duo vie for NJPW’s two-vs-two title.

With the IWGP Tag Team Championship challengers for Wrestle Kingdom set to be determined in the World Tag League tournament, the two stars would have to step into the ring in NJPW ahead of January 4, 2027 in order to punch their tickets to the Tokyo Dome, or win the titles in the lead up to the event.

Even if the duo didn’t actually challenge for the gold on January 4, we could see Copeland & Cage compete in two-on-two action, then issue a challenge to whoever are the champions at the end of the night.

Currently holding the IWGP Tag Team Championship are Great-O-Khan and HENARE of the United Empire, who won the gold at Dominion in June.

Never Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship

Of course, if Cope and Cage found one more tag-team partner, they could compete for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship.

This title is currently split across NJPW and AEW already, with Great-O-Khan and HENARE winning the gold alongside AEW World Champion Will Ospreay in May.

Whether Cage reunites with Nick Wayne or they team with another star, it would be interesting to see Copeland and Cage compete in the six-man tag-team division in NJPW, allowing the AEW stars to share the ring with several NJPW names at once.

There’s nothing keeping Adam Copeland in the tag-team division however…

Singles match against Shingo Takagi

While this match-up sounds wild on paper, it makes more sense when you consider Shingo Takagi’s current role in NJPW and AEW’s crossover partnership.

Shingo Takagi previously called out AEW’s Claudio Castagnoli, who he defeated at Destruction in Kobe on September 27.

Takagi has since called out Jon Moxley, recently taking to social media to tell the Death Rider to come back to Japan.

While Takagi has mainly been focused on the Death Riders, we could see his role expand as he continues to take out AEW stars who visit the company.

Adam Copeland has proven himself as a wrestling chameleon over the years, wrestling in a variety of matches, from technical clinics to hardcore brawls.

A bout against Shingo Takagi would be hard-hitting, and would make his long-awaited Tokyo Dome debut a match to remember.

To make sure you stay up to date with all the biggest wrestling and WrestleTalk news, follow us on Threads by clicking this link!

• AEW
• NJPW
• Adam Copeland

Share this article with friends