Published: 2 hours ago by Sanchez Taylor | Last Updated: 8 hours ago by Sanchez Taylor
Sanchez has over six years of pro-wrestling news writing experience, covering the biggest news stories in WWE, NXT, AEW, TNA Wrestling and more. He has personally interviewed a number of top stars, producing exclusive content with the likes of AEW's Swerve Strickland and WWE's Nick Aldis.
AEW
With multiple AEW stars set to defend their gold at an upcoming NJPW event, there has been a lot of talk about potential title changes.
AEW and NJPW have had a working relationship since 2021 which has seen talent cross over in both directions.
A number of AEW stars have held gold in NJPW since the formation of this partnership, and not just stars contracted to both companies like Konosuke Takeshita.
Three AEW names currently hold active championship titles in NJPW. Of these, two champions will defend their gold at the upcoming King of Pro Wrestling event, with NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion Alex Windsor not currently set to compete at this event at the time of writing.
King of Pro Wrestling will take place on October 12, emanating from the Ryogoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo. Four matches have been confirmed for the event, with Yota Tsuji to defend the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against G1 Climax 36 tournament winner Ryohei Oiwa in the main event.
So which AEW stars could be set to lose their titles?
Will Ospreay – NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag-Team Championship
With Ospreay having since won and defended the AEW World Championship, it can be easy to forget that he holds six-man tag-team gold in NJPW.
Ospreay, Great-O-Khan and HENARE of the United Empire won the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship at the May 4 Wrestling Dontaku event, defeating Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and Oleg Boltin for the gold.
Over 160 days later, this trio will make their first defense of the gold, against Jeff Cobb, OSKAR and Yuto-Ice at King of Pro Wrestling.
With OSKAR and Yuto-Ice defeating O-Khan and HENARE for the IWGP Tag Team Championship at the October 6 Road to King of Pro Wrestling event, there has been some speculation about the Knock Out Brothers also taking the six-man titles from the United Empire.
Ospreay’s lack of NJPW appearances since winning the gold have also fuelled talk about a potential title change, with the AEW star not wrestling in Japan for five months, despite being a reigning champion.
Meanwhile, Ospreay has already defended the AEW World Championship he won at All In London in August twice. He first defeated Jon Moxley at All Out, before scoring a victory over his former mentor Kazuchika Okada at Grand Slam France.
With Ospreay currently being the face of AEW, and there being rumors about a potential crossover feud with Callum Newman, it would make sense to see him drop the six-man titles and focus on the singles division in both companies.
If NJPW is happy with sporadic title defenses however, we could see the United Empire’s reign continue as we approach Wrestle Kingdom season.
Gabe Kidd – IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship
In the moments following Shota Umino’s IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship victory at Dominion in June, Gabe Kidd attacked Umino and confirmed himself as the newest member of the Death Riders.
Following this, Kidd defeated Umino at the July 6 Road to G1 Climax 36 show to win the title. The AEW star went on to compete in the G1 Climax tournament, ahead of defending his gold against Drilla Moloney at Destruction in Kobe.
Gabe Kidd is now set to defend the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship against Shota Umino at King of Pro Wrestling.
It would make a lot of storyline sense for Umino to regain the gold. Umino has been defeating various Death Riders over the past couple of years, notably defeating Claudio Castagnoli at Wrestle Dynasty 2025, and beating PAC at at Forbidden Door in June.
Defeating Gabe Kidd would add another Death Rider victory to Umino’s record, en route to potentially facing his own former mentor, Jon Moxley.
Following his appearance at Dominion in June, Gabe Kidd indicated that visa issues were preventing him from appearing for AEW in the US.
With Kidd since becoming a mainstay on AEW programming, we could be about to see his NJPW run end with a flourish.
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