NJPW reveals Wrestling Dontaku 2026 lineups
With Sakura Genesis now in the rearview mirror, NJPW’s attention turns to Wrestling Dontaku 2026.
The two-night Dontaku event is being held in Fukuoka on Sunday, May 3 and Monday, May 4. Headlining the second night is an IWGP Heavyweight Championship defense by Callum Newman, who is putting his title on the line against Shingo Takagi. Newman — the 2026 New Japan Cup winner — dethroned Yota Tsuji for the belt at Sakura Genesis this past weekend.
At 23 years old, this is Newman’s first IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign. He’s one of the top foreign wrestlers in NJPW and the leader of United Empire.
United Empire has a big night at Wrestling Dontaku night two. In the semi-main event, the group is challenging for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles. The match has AEW’s Will Ospreay — who is returning to Japan once again for both nights of Dontaku — teaming with HENARE & Great-O-Khan against champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin.
Tsuji still holds the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship and will be defending that title in the night one main event. His challenger is Gabe Kidd, who is now waging war on NJPW after joining AEW.
Plus, there is more international representation on the cards with top CMLL star Mistico competing in tag matches.
The shows will stream live on NJPW World. Here are the announced lineups:
NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2026 —
Night one (Sunday, May 3):
- IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Gabe Kidd
- NEVER Openweight Champion Ren Narita defends against Oleg Boltin
- Aaron Wolf vs. Don Fale
- Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
- Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
- Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
- Yuya Uemura, Taichi, El Desperado & Mistico vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
- Tomoaki Honma & Masatora Yasuda vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
- Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato vs. Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taisei Nakahara
Night two (Monday, May 4):
- IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman defends against Shingo Takagi
- NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin defend against Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
- Yota Tsuji, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
- Yuya Uemura & Taichi vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
- El Desperado & Mistico vs. Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
- Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, YOH & Master Wato vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
- Ryusuke Taguchi & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Gedo & Daiki Nagai
- NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Chase Owens
- Pre-show: Masatora Yasuda vs. Taisei Nakahara
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.