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NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 20 in Tokyo Dome Review (Jan 4th, 2026)

Katsuya Murashima & Yutaka Yasuda vs. Takuma Kata & Tatsuya Matsumoto **3/4

NJPW World TV Championship Match - El Phantasmo (c) vs. Chris Brookes ***1/2

NEVER Openweight 6 Man Championship Tornado Rambo **

IWGP Women's & STRONG Women's Double Championship Match - Syuri (c) vs. Saya Kamitani (c) ****1/4+

David Finlay, Shingo Takagi, Gabe Kidd, Hiromu Takahashi & Drilla Moloney vs. Jake Lee, Andrade El Idolo, Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman & HENARE ***1/2

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship No.1 Contender 4-Way Match - El Desperado vs. Taiji Ishimori vs. Kosei Fujita vs. SHO **1/2

NEVER Openweight Championship Match - EVIL (c) vs. Aaron Wolf ****1/4

IWGP World Heavyweight & IWGP Global Heavyweight Double Championship Match - Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Yota Tsuji (c) ****3/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi's Retirement Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada *****

Photos.

Just a quick rundown of all the happenings at an historic Tokyo Dome show. The undercard of this was really weird, and there were things on this that might as well not have been (the relatively useless Jr. 4–way, which only went 7 minutes), and the always fun, but ultimately always superfluous Rambo. There were four great matches on the card, one of which was probably the best retirement match I’ve ever seen.

The Syuri/Kamitani Joshi Double Title Match was the first excellent match of the evening. Even though relatively short (12:09), these two crammed a lot in there and beat the Hell out of each other. Kamitani, who won the Tokyo Sports MVP award, a first for a Joshi wrestler, was the favourite to win here, so Syuri getting the win was a not unpleasant surprise. Jake Lee was then revealed to be “X” for United Empire in the action packed 10 man tag. I’m not going to go on a tangent about Lee (again), but I’ve never understood every companies love affair with him. He’s an ok worker with a good look, but really once the bell rings it’s over. But whatever, he’s back and New Japan clearly have big plans for him. He didn’t do much in this, but everyone else looked great, including an unrecognisably jacked Andrade. UE got the win and appear to be positioning themselves as the top (serious) heel faction.

After El Desperado won the totally fine but totally forgettable Jr. 4-way, National Hero Aaron Wolf debuted with a lot of expectations on his shoulders. This far exceeded expectations, Wolf looked great as the fiery babyface in peril, the sold out Tokyo Dome was 100% behind him, and the usual HoT shenanigans actually made it all the more dramatic. Wolf made a fiery, heroic comeback after taking the Fale splash through a table and valiantly fighting out of a Scorpion Death Lock, which the near 50,000 in Tokyo Dome went crazy for. He then looked great flinging the heels around with his Judo throws, hit an Olympic Slam and made EVIL pass out in a modified triangle choke to win his first match, and first championship, at the 12:53 mark. Obviously, Aaron Wolf looked very green in certain spots here, but he fundamentally looked like a superstar in the making, which is exactly what New Japan wanted.

The Takeshita/Tsuji Double Title match was next, and it was by far, up to this point, the best thing on the card. These guys had incredible chemistry, and produced an early MOTYC. Another super dramatic outing, this went 29:20, and didn't feel anywhere near that. There was great heat and spots throughout, including a top rope Guerrero Special, and an unbelievable top rope Blue Thunder Bomb for near falls. After Takeshita attempted a Power Drive knee, Tsuji caught him "outta nowhere" with a Gene Blaster, then locked in the Young Lion finish, the Boston Crab, and made Takeshita tap out. this was the star-making performance everyone has been waiting for for three years now with Tsuji, and I thought the finish was perfect. Afterwards, whilst Tsuji was cutting his first promo as champion, Jake Lee came out and attacked him, setting himself up at Tsuji's first challenger. Great.

Then the main event. To preface, I'll just say this is one of my favourite feuds of all time, and these two had the best match I've ever seen live in-person at King of Pro-Wrestling 2013. Now, was this match technically as good as those matches of years gone by? Of course not. But from an emotional level it was every bit as good, if not better, and it is probably the greatest retirement match I've ever seen. The drama and storytelling here was on another level, with Tanahashi putting in his best performance in years, even pulling out the High Fly Attack to the floor. Tana got me so invested in what he was doing that even though every Sling Blade and HFF he hit looked super rough, and the fact he hit the worst looking PK and Boma Ye I've ever seen, but it still knocked me out of chair and willing him on to win. Okada was also fantastic here, playing the dastardly heel character he does in AEW, not taking Tana seriously, and having to go back to the Rainmaker of old to finally put the Ace away at 33:03. Phenomenal stuff and it'll take a lot to top this. Truly the end of an era.

The post match was also fantastic, with everyone coming out to bid The Ace farewell, including his wrestling dad's Keiji Muto and Tatsumi Fujinami, as well as past foes Katsuyori Shibata, Jay White, Will Ospreay Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito all coming out to literally give Tana his flowers. Tanahashi then did his old Air Guitar finale, the ten bell salute, then floated around the sold out Dome on his Ace Mobile to send every single person home happy. Obviously, NJPW has been in a very weird place since the pandemic, and it has never felt as hot as it did since January of 2020, but things are looking up at the minute with a lot of young guys on the ascent and the turning of a new page with Tanahashi hanging up the boots.

NDT