Wrestle Kingdom Recap

Wrestle Kingdom 20 was a night defined by shifting tides and heavy emotions, as the Tokyo Dome witnessed the end of one era and the definitive beginning of another. The headlines were dominated by the bittersweet retirement of "The Ace" yb, who fell to his greatest rival, Kazuchika Okada, in a 33-minute epic that brought the crowd to its feet for a final farewell.

But while the night honored the past, it also crowned the future; Yota Tsuji made history by forcing Konosuke Takeshita to tap out, unifying the IWGP World Heavyweight and Global Championships to become the promotion’s undisputed top star.

From Olympic gold medalist Aaron Wolf’s shocking title win in his pro-wrestling debut to the high-stakes title unifications in the Stardom/NJPW women's division, the 2026 edition of New Japan’s biggest show set a massive tone for the year ahead.

Here's a list of last night's matches and winners

• Katsuya Murashima and Masatora Yasuda defeated Shoma Kato and Tatsuya Matsumoto.

• El Phantasmo retained the NJPW World Television Championship by defeating Chris Brookes.

• TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa, and Hartley Jackson) won the Ranbo match for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship.

• Syuri became a double champion (IWGP Women's and Strong Women's titles) by defeating Saya Kamitani.

• United Empire (Andrade El Ídolo, Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, Henare, and Jake Lee) defeated the Bullet Club War Dogs and Unaffiliated team.

• El Desperado won a four-way match to become the #1 Contender for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.

• Aaron Wolf won the NEVER Openweight Championship by defeating Evil via technical submission.

• Yota Tsuji became a double champion (IWGP World Heavyweight and IWGP Global Heavyweight titles) by defeating Konosuke Takeshita via submission.

• Kazuchika Okada defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi in a singles match, which was Tanahashi's retirement match. 

Kimster AFW