New Japan Pro-Wrestling has announced the definitive lineup for King of Pro Wrestling 2026, one of its most important events in the final stretch of the year. The show will take place next Monday, October 12th at the Ryogoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo and will feature nine matches, five of them with championships on the line.
The main event will be headlined by Yota Tsuji and Ryohei Oiwa, who will face off for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Oiwa, the winner of the 2026 G1 Climax, will seek to capture the world title in one of the biggest opportunities of his career, while Tsuji will try to maintain his reign heading into the next edition of Wrestle Kingdom.
The battle for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship will be the main attraction of the evening. Ryohei Oiwa, 27 years old, decided to use the title opportunity earned by winning the G1 Climax at King of Pro Wrestling, instead of waiting until Wrestle Kingdom.
A victory over Yota Tsuji would definitively establish Oiwa as one of the main figures of the new generation of NJPW. Additionally, the match gains additional interest after MJF recently appeared on Road to King of Pro Wrestling to issue a challenge to Oiwa, offering to put his own AEW World Championship on the line.
At the moment, MJF's participation in Monday's event has not been confirmed, so his challenge remains a separate story from the announced title match.
In addition to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, King of Pro Wrestling will feature four other title defenses. YOH will defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Robbie Eagles, while Gabe Kidd will defend the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship against Shota Umino.
On the other hand, Aaron Wolf will face Kosei Fujita for the NEVER Openweight Championship. Fujita will seek to expand TMDK's successes on a night where other members of the group will also have prominence.
The fifth title match will be for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship. Great-O-Khan, HENARE, and Will Ospreay will defend the belts against Yuto-Ice, OSKAR, and Jeff Cobb, in one of the most prominent tag team matchups on the card.
Among the recently added matches, the presence of Hechicero, a CMLL and AEW wrestler, teaming up with Oleg Boltin to face Zack Sabre Jr. and Hartley Jackson stands out.
The match will mark a new appearance by the Mexican wrestler in NJPW and will showcase two TMDK members in action before their respective title opportunities for Ryohei Oiwa and Kosei Fujita.
Another novelty is the opening match of the show, featuring Hirooki Goto and Tatsuya Matsumoto against Shingo Takagi and Daiki Nagai.
Goto's participation will be accompanied by a promotional collaboration between NJPW and the Street Fighter movie, set to premiere on October 16th. The veteran wrestler portrays E. Honda in the production, and the event will feature the movie's logo on the canvas and ring posts.
NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 2026 will take place on Monday, October 12th at the Ryogoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The event can be watched live on NJPW World starting at 9:00 AM Central European Time.
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