Show notes
Bruce Lord and Karen Peterson review NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 20 in Tokyo Dome, featuring Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada and the retirement of Tanahashi after a twenty-six-year career.
The semi-main event of Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji in a double championship match for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship and IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Highlighted topics including the impact of live domestic broadcasting on the company’s biggest show on their annual calendar, utilizing various fandom paths to draw in new viewers, the imbalance of ring-time versus length of entrances, inclusion of STARDOM and DDT talents, the EVIL/Wolf group project debrief, the emotional closure of Tanahashi’s career with the parade of old rivals in Jay White, Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Katsuyori Shibata, and a returning Tetsuya Naito and cherished mentors in Keiji Muto and Tatsumi Fujinami.
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NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20
January 4, 2026
Tokyo Dome
Tokyo
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Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Retirement Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada - Recommended
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IWGP World & IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship: Konosuke Takeshita (c) World vs. Yota Tsuji (c) Global - Recommended
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Aaron Wolf Debut/NEVER Openweight Championship: EVIL (c) vs. Aaron Wolf (Debut) - Recommended
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IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship No. 1 Contender 4-Way: El Desperado, Kosei Fujita, Taiji Ishimori & SHO
- Shingo Takagi, David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Great O’Khan, Callum Newman, HENARE, Andrare El Idolo & Jake Lee
- IWGP & NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship: Syuri (c) IWGP vs. Saya Kamitani (c) STRONG - Recommended
- NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championships Tornado Rambo: TMDK (Hartley Jackson, Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Master Wato, Toru Yano & YOH (c) vs. Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) & Oleg Boltin vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors, OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) vs. House Of Torture (Ren Narita, SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs. Kaisei Takechi, Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe vs. Team 150 (Satoshi Kojima, Taichi & Tomohiro Ishii)
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NJPW World TV Championship: El Phantasmo (c) vs. Chris Brookes
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Young Lions Kick-Off: Shoma Kato & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Katsuya Murashima & Masatora Yasuda
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