NJPW Wrestle Kingdom Matches Announced For AEW's Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, MJF & More

By Sam Palmer
Kenny Omega at AEW All In London 2026 AEW/Ricky Havlik
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Following the events of NJPW Power Struggle 2026 on November 3, the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling will now turn their attention to the company's biggest event of the calendar year, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 21. The annual Tokyo Dome event will take place on January 4, and a number of high-profile bouts were made official for Wrestle Kingdom 21, with AEW stars Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, and MJF all getting involved in the festivities.

Wrestle Kingdom 21 will see Kenny Omega return to the main event of NJPW's biggest show of the year for the first time since 2019. He will challenge Yota Tsuji for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the show closer after Omega earned his shot at Power Struggle by not only defeating Tsuji and Oleg Boltin in a three-way match, but even going as far as to pin Tsuji to earn his shot after hitting both Tsuji and Boltin with One-Winged Angels to fully cement his place in the Tokyo Dome main event.

The Death Riders also made their presence felt at Power Struggle, which has resulted in two matches being booked for the Tokyo Dome. After Shingo Takagi and Jeff Cobb defeated Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta in a special tag team match, Moxley officially declared his shot at Takagi for Wrestle Kingdom 21, which marks their first singles match in nearly three years.

Later in the night, Gabe Kidd successfully defended the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship against Taichi, but attacked NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi after the bell, leading to Yuya Uemura to come to Tanahashi's aid. Moxley and Takagi both arrived to continue the brawl, with Moxley and Kidd declaring war on NJPW on behalf of the Death Riders, with Moxley and Takagi going one-on-one, while Kidd and Uemura will fight over the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship on January 4.

MJF and Will Ospreay Will Compete In Grudge Matches

MJF on AEW Dynamite AEW/Ricky Havlik

The current AEW World Champion Will Ospreay attempted to become a double champion by teaming with Callum Newman at Power Struggle, but were unsuccessful in dethroning The Knockout Brothers as the IWGP Tag Team Champions. The match ended in a disqualification win for the champions as Newman lost his cool, leading to a fight breaking out after the bout between the United Empire stablemates. Newman challenged Ospreay to a one-on-one match at the Tokyo Dome as the two Englishmen look to settle their score once and for all.

Making his NJPW debut at the Tokyo Dome will by former AEW World Champion MJF. He will take on the winner of this year's G1 Climax tournament, Ryohei Oiwa, after initially issuing a challenge in October following months of online arguments. Maxwell Jacob Friedman has never been a fan of NJPW, and was outraged when Oiwa received critical acclaim for his G1 final win in August. Now the "Salt of the Earth" will look to prove that he is the best headlock wrestler in the world, and he wants to do it on Oiwa's home turf.

Elsewhere on the Wrestle Kingdom card, YOH will defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against his former tag team partner SHO. If YOH loses the match, he will be forced to leave NJPW forever, but if he wins, SHO will be forced to leave the House of Torture and reunite with YOH as Roppongi 3K. 

Finally, a three-way match for the now vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships was proposed for Wrestle Kingdom. Robbie X and Taiji Ishimori defeated Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita to win the 2026 Super Junior Tag League, earning them a future shot at the gold, but it was after the match where Mistico arrived to announce that he and El Desperado were vacating the straps due to Desperado suffering an injury. To make up for it Mistico, proposed that he bring a mystery partner to a match against both Robbie and Ishimori, and Eagles and Fujita, with that bout likely to take place at the Tokyo Dome.

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