NJPW Sets Wrestle Kingdom 21 Card With Heavy AEW Crossover

NJPW’s final major event of the year, Power Struggle 2026, served as the launching pad for New Japan’s biggest show of the year, with seven matches now locked in for Wrestle Kingdom 21 on January 4 at the Tokyo Dome — and AEW talent is all over the card.

The headline pairing sees Kenny Omega challenging Yota Tsuji for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship after Omega beat Tsuji and Boltin Oleg in a three-way at Power Struggle. It’s a deeply symbolic matchup: Omega is chasing the title he held before leaving New Japan for AEW seven years ago, and a win at the Tokyo Dome would be one of the most significant career-circle moments in recent memory for a wrestler synonymous with both promotions.

Elsewhere, MJF has set his sights on G1 Climax 36 winner Ryohei Oiwa after calling him out on the Road to King of Pro Wrestling and then making the challenge official at Power Struggle, which Oiwa accepted on the spot. It’s a marquee spotlight for one of New Japan’s fastest-rising young stars opposite one of AEW’s most polarizing personalities.

Jon Moxley will also represent the AEW side of the ledger, finally giving in to Shingo Takagi’s weeks of callouts with a singles match booked for the show. Given the history and bad blood between the two, expect this one to be billed as a brutal, hard-hitting affair.

On the New Japan front, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship picture got personal, as longtime tag partners YOH and SHO will clash with serious stakes attached — YOH has to retire if he loses, while SHO must leave House of Torture and reform Roppongi 3K with YOH if he comes up short. It’s the kind of stipulation-heavy blowoff that tends to deliver on the Tokyo Dome stage.

The junior tag division will also be addressed in a three-way for the vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships, pitting Unbound Co.’s Robbie X and Taiji Ishimori against Ichiban Sweet Boys’ Kosei Fujita and Robbie Eagles, with Mistico and a still-unrevealed partner rounding out the field after the previous champions, Mistico and El Desperado, opted to relinquish the belts.

United Empire’s internal power struggle finally boiled over physically at the Power Struggle event, setting up Will Ospreay against his protégé-turned-rival Callum Newman in a match born from months of tension over control of the stable.

And in the title picture atop the card, IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Gabe Kidd will defend against Yuya Uemura after Kidd’s post-match assault on NJPW president Hiroshi Tanahashi prompted Uemura to step up and make the save, only to be attacked by The Death Riders before Kidd accepted the challenge.

With Omega, Moxley and MJF all booked prominently, this year’s Wrestle Kingdom lineup leans harder into the AEW–NJPW working relationship than fans have seen in some time, suggesting the two companies continue to find value in cross-promotional spotlight matches for their biggest annual event. More matches are expected to be added to the card before the Tokyo Dome show kicks off the new year.