AEW Star To Main Event NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 Confirmed

AEW/NJPW

An AEW star has been confirmed for the main event at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20, which takes place early next year.

January marks a major milestone in New Japan Pro-Wrestling history, with Wrestle Kingdom 20 taking place at the Tokyo Dome on January 4.

The upcoming show has already been confirmed as the first Wrestle Kingdom to sell out in NJPW history, and now the card has been revealed.

Announcing the match card on their official website, it was confirmed that the match between the retiring Hiroshi Tanahashi and AEW’s Kazuchika Okada will be the main event match, with Tanahashi’s retirement ceremony headlining the show.

NJPW shared the following preview:

Before an event closing special retirement ceremony for Hiroshi Tanahashi, one last singles match sees him take on his greatest rival for the final time. The history of Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada, spanning matches in Japan and America, from the infamous ‘Rainmaker Shock’ when a young Okada defeated then champion Tanahashi in a massive 2012 upset, through multiple title clashes, G1 Climaxes and even surprising tag team combinations is one well told, but what is key to this final bout is the venue it’s staged in.

While Okada has defeated Tanahashi nine times to the Ace’s five wins, and while all of the pair’s most recent fights, up to Osaka in 2024 in Okada’s last singles bout as a full-time NJPW wrestler, the Tokyo Dome tells a different story. The two have main-evented three times, with Tanahashi holding the 2-1 advantage. While Okada’s return in 2012 and immediate capturing of Tanahashi’s IWGP title set the stage for their first Wrestle Kingdom meeting at Wrestle Kingdom 7, Okada had not arrived on the global stage with the greatest of them all until Wrestle Kingdom 10 in 2016, their last Dome battle to date, and one where Okada finally arrived as the top star in professional wrestling at the time.

Much has changed over the last ten years, but Tanahashi feels the Tokyo Dome magic is still within him to defeat an Okada who is at the top of his game. Promotional pride plays an added role tonight, as voices across the NJPW landscape have asked the Ace to successfully defend NJPW from a Rainmaker who is now on the AEW side, and all that comprises, including his disdain for the fanbase. Will Okada level up the scoreline with Tanahashi, or can the Ace get his hand raised one last time, as we see one of the greatest of all time, for the last time?

Okada isn’t the only AEW name to be competing at Wrestle Kingdom 20, with Konosuke Takeshita putting his IWGP World Heavyweight up against Yota Tsuji’s IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship in a winner-take-all match.

With that double championship match being the penultimate on the show, NJPW would provide the rest of the card, opening with the NEVER Openweight 6 Man Championship Tornado Ranbo, featuring Toru Yano and Spiritech (Master Wato and Yoh) defending their title against as-yet-unannounced opponents.

The second match will see the IWGP Women’s & NJPW STRONG Women’s Double Title Match, with Syuri vs. Saya Kamitani defending their respective championships.

Then, there’s more tag team action as United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, HENARE and two unnamed teammates) will take on the team of David Finlay, Shingo Takagi, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney & Hiromu Takahashi.

Also taking place is the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Number One Contender’s Four Way Match, which sees SHO vs. El Desperado vs. Taiji Ishimori vs. Kosei Fujita.

The fifth match at Wrestle Kingdom 20 will see debuting Olympic judo gold medalist Aaron Wolfe will take on NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL.