With the help of three returning talents, United Empire overcame the Bullet Club War Dogs and ex-Los Ingobernables de Japon wrestlers in 10-man tag action on Sunday night.
The team of Jake Lee, Andrade El Idolo, HENARE, Callum Newman and Great-O-Khan defeated the squad of David Finlay, Drilla Moloney, Gabe Kidd, Hiromu Takahashi and Shingo Takagi on Sunday night as part of NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 20 card in the Tokyo Dome.
It was the returning Lee who scored a statement pinfall victory in 14 minutes, beating ex-IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Takahashi with a Face Break Shot kick.
The match was built around the many returning names, most of whom were coming back after lengthy injury breaks.
A big reveal before the match was the return of Jake Lee, who hadn’t been seen since 2024 due to a knee injury. The former GHC Heavyweight Champion had previously aligned himself with the Bullet Club War Dogs, but confirmed his split from the faction by facing off against them on Sunday.
It was confirmed last month that recent WWE departure Andrade El Idolo would team alongside United Empire, revealing himself as an investor in the faction. His appearance on the card marked his first NJPW booking since 2015, when he worked a Fantastica Mania tour in Japan as a representative of Lucha promotion CMLL.
A somewhat overlooked part of the match was the fact that it was HENARE’s first bout after over a year outside of the ring. The NJPW vet spent the entirety of 2025 on the sidelines due to a knee injury, one of the biggest setbacks of his career.
The match featured a high spot near the end, with Finlay tossing teammate Takahashi over the top and to the outside, landing on a crowd of wrestlers at ringside. To get some revenge, Takahashi then superplexed Finlay off the top rope and to the outside onto everyone moments later.
One last reveal occurred after the match, as Francesco Akira returned to United Empire during the post-match ceremony. The former junior heavyweight tag champ had been out of action since August due to a wrist injury which required surgery.
Results
- Katsuya Murashima & Masatora Yasuda def. Shoma Kato & Tatsuya Matsumoto (6:19) (Pre-show)
- El Phantasmo def. Chris Brookes (NJPW World Television Championship) (11:49) (Pre-show)
- Zack Sabre Jr., Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa def. Master Wato, Toru Yano & YOH, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe, Kaisei Takechi, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Boltin Oleg, Satoshi Kojima, Taichi & Tomohiro Ishii, Ren narita, SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Clark Connors, OSKAR & Yuto-Ice (NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships) (Rambo Match) (20:46)
- Syuri def. Saya Kamitani (IWGP Women’s Championship & NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship) (12:08)
- Jake Lee, Andrade El Idolo, Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan & HENARE def. David Finlay, Drilla Moloney, Gabe Kidd, Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi (14:24)
Still to come
- Taiji Ishimori vs. El Desperado vs. SHO vs. Kosei Fujita (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship #1 Contenders Match)
- EVIL vs. Aaron Wolf (NEVER Openweight Championship)
- Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji (IWGP World Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
