Following John Cena’s retirement over the weekend, wrestling fans will now be readying themselves for the final match of Hiroshi Tanahashi’s career at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20. The Japanese legend and NJPW President will close the event in his singles match against longtime rival Kazuchika Okada on January 4th.
AEW’s Okada will return to the promotion that made his name to retire Tanahashi, an all-time great who has been the spearhead of NJPW’s recent successes. The Ace has been crucial to Okada’s development into an international star, providing a mentor, ally, and rival at various junctures of The Rainmaker’s career.
The other major draw at Wrestle Kingdom will be the Winner Takes All match between Konosuke Takeshita and Yota Tsuji. Both Takeshita’s IWGP World Heavyweight Championship and Tsuji’s IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship are up for grabs. The stakes are incredibly high in this encounter.
Another Winner Takes All match will pit two of Japanese wrestling’s all-time great women wrestlers. Syuri and Saya Kamitani’s respective world titles are also on the line in the event’s sole women’s match. Olympic judo gold medalist Aaron Wolf will also make his highly anticipated debut, challenging EVIL for his NEVER Openweight Championship.
Such is Tanahashi’s popularity and the magnitude of the card overall, Wrestle Kingdom 20 has already sold out. It’s set to be the best-attended Wrestle Kingdom in history and will be live-streamed on NJPW World on January 4th.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 – Confirmed Lineup (01/04/26)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Retirement Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. AEW’s Kazuchika Okada
- Winner Takes All Match: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji
- NEVER Openweight Championship Match: EVIL (c) vs. Aaron Wolf
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title #1 Contender’s Match: El Desperado vs. SHO vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishimori
- Ten-Man Tag Team Match: Bullet Club War Dogs (David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, and Drilla Moloney), Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi vs. United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman, Henare, and two mystery partners)
- Winner Takes All Match: IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri vs. NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Saya Kamitani
- NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship Match: YOH, Master Wato & Toru Yano defend in a multi-team Tornado Ranbo. Kaisei Takechi and two mystery partners have already been announced.
Big additions and match order set for Wrestle Kingdom 20!
Okada vs Tanahashi is our main event!
United Empire see the return of HENARE and mystery partners in a battle to spill War Dogs & Unaffiliated blood!
Kaisei Takechi joins NEVER 6 Ranbo!https://t.co/sthGv9I2an#njwk20 pic.twitter.com/F5tIRtvKMk
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) December 15, 2025
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – NJPW – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on Wrestle Kingdom 20and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can rewatch all NJPW events and plenty more tremendous wrestling content from New Japan Pro-Wrestling on NJPWWorld.com, The King of Sports Streaming.
