AEW’s Andrade El Idolo Wins IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship At NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2026

Published: May 3, 2026 by Sanchez Taylor | Last Updated: May 3, 2026 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 star Andrade El Idolo scored a huge victory at NJPW Wrestling Dontaku night one, ending the show with a new singles title.

Andrade El Idolo headlined the May 3 show, challenging for Yota Tsuji’s IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.

The AEW star was ultimately victorious, defeating Tsuji to win the NJPW gold.

Drilla Moloney and Shota Umino confronted Andrade after the match, with the new champion teasing a three-way title match for the future.

You can view highlights from this match at this link.

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Interestingly, Andrade El Idolo was serving as a replacement in this match, with Gabe Kidd originally set to challenge for Tsuji’s gold ahead of Kidd recently suffering an injury.

With a fellow AEW star winning the title, Kidd’s place in the storyline upon his return to the ring will be revealed in due time.

This is the second major title loss for Yota Tsuji recently, with the former double champion previously dropping the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Callum Newman at Sakura Genesis on April 4.

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Andrade El Idolo becomes the fifth man to hold the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship, which was introduced at Wrestle Kingdom 18, following the destruction of the IWGP US/UK title.

Both David Finlay and Yota Tsuji have held the Global title twice each, with Nic Nemeth and Gabe Kidd also having reigns with the gold ahead of Andrade El Idolo’s victory.

Andrade’s title win at Wrestling Dontaku marked his fifth match for NJPW since returning to the company in January.

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With the AEW star now holding NJPW gold, Andrade El Idolo will continue to be one of the main stars involved in crossover between the two companies.

The latest NJPW updates and news stories can be found right here.

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