Results
- Shingo Takagi & Daiki Nagai def. Hirooki Goto & Tatsuya Matsumoto (6:20)
- Taichi, El Desperado & Yuya Uemura def. SANADA, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Yujiro Takahashi (8:21)
- Boltin Oleg & Hechicero def. Zack Sabre Jr. & Hartley Jackson (7:03)
- Konosuke Takeshita & Toru Yano def. Ren Narita & Shun Skywalker (4:07)
- OSKAR, Yuto-Ice & Jeff Cobb def. Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan (NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships) (17:26)
- Aaron Wolf def. Kosei Fujita (NEVER Openweight Championship) (14:48) (Recommended)
- Gabe Kidd def. Shota Umino (IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship) (22:25)
- YOH def. Robbie Eagles (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship) (13:02)
- Yota Tsuji def. Ryohei Oiwa (IWGP Heavyweight Championship) (35:07) (Recommended)
It’s not Ryohei Oiwa’s time to stand atop NJPW just yet.
The 2026 G1 Climax winner came up short in Monday’s main event, losing in a 35-minute instant classic against IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji. The result headlined this year’s King of Pro Wrestling card from NJPW, which the company says drew an attendance of 6,422 from the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.
Oiwa ran into a pair of Tsuji’s Fire Blaster finishers late in the match, but was able to survive the sequence by just barely kicking out in time. Eventually, the champ was able to connect with a third go of the move to earn the pinfall victory.
Oiwa’s Big Lock (headlock) submission threatened to end the match earlier on in one of the more compelling sequences of the match. While Tsuji was able to briefly escape the submission, slamming his way out of the move many times, Oiwa was repeatedly able to quickly re-apply the hold, causing a huge reaction from the Ryogoku crowd each time.
The Tokyo crowd was overwhelmingly behind Oiwa, but cheered Tsuji during a post-match segment.
In a shocking moment, ex-NJPW talent turned AEW star Kenny Omega appeared via video package right after Tsuji’s victory, making it clear that he would like to challenge for the title next.
“I’m more than willing to show you that I believe in AEW, that I believe in the New Japan of old,” Omega said in the video. “Show me, now, why you believe in the New Japan of today.”
Shortly after the video finished airing, another challenger emerged: Boltin Oleg. The Kazakh wrestler marched down to the ring but then was suddenly attacked by Omega, who, despite sending in a video message for Tsuji, was at the event after all. Omega attacked both Oleg and Tsuji before standing tall as the show came to a close.
Oiwa found himself thrust into NJPW’s main event picture following an impressive run in this year’s G1 Climax tournament. After beating Yuya Uemura in the tournament finals two months back, putting together a performance many have considered a Match of the Year contender, Oiwa went against the tradition of cashing in his title shot for Wrestle Kingdom, instead utilizing it at this week’s KOPW card.
A win for Oiwa would’ve kicked off his first-ever singles title run, a fact which speaks to his quick ascent since returning from excursion in 2025.
Tsuji has now defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship twice since regaining it from Callum Newman at Dominion. He previously defended the title as part of last month’s Destruction in Kobe card, beating Hirooki Goto.
Earlier on the card: Two challenges made for Power Struggle, six-man titles change hands
YOH defended his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in a quick co-main event, catching Robbie Eagles with a roll-up pinfall in 13 minutes. The performance was far quicker than past showdowns in YOH’s title reign, turning back Robbie X, Taiji Ishimori, and Francesco Akira earlier this year.
Following a lengthy battle full of headbutts, lariats and some blood, Gabe Kidd took a page out of Shota Umino’s book and landed a Second Chapter Fisherman Buster suplex to successfully defend his IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship for the second time. Kidd was challenged in his post-match segment by Taichi, who said he was stepping up to defend NJPW from the Death Riders member and angled for a match at Power Struggle.
In one of the standout performances on this card, Aaron Wolf retained in a 14-minute NEVER Openweight Championship showdown against TMDK’s Kosei Fujita. Had Fujita won, the 24-year-old would’ve become the youngest champ in the NEVER title’s 15-year lineage.
Six-man titles changed hands early in the night, as the Unbound Co. trio of the Knockout Brothers & Jeff Cobb dethroned Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan and HENARE of United Empire. After accidentally wiping out tag partner Great-O-Khan with a headbutt, it was HENARE who took a double-team KOB finisher from OSKAR & Yuto-Ice late in the match for the finish.
Ospreay called for an IWGP Tag Team Championship opportunity against the Knockout Brothers for NJPW’s November 3 Power Struggle show in Hiroshima. Yuto-Ice countered by saying they would only grant him the match if he teams with Callum Newman, the current United Empire leader who the AEW World Champion has failed to get along with.
Following the first match of the night, a video package teased Jon Moxley’s long-awaited return to an NJPW ring. Shingo Takagi, who has been calling for a Moxley match since beating Claudio Castagnoli two weeks back, got on the mic immediately after and once again demanded the showdown. Moxley last appeared on an NJPW show in Japan over two years ago.
