New title match booked for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20
The card for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 officially has a new addition.
NJPW has confirmed that NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions YOH, Master Wato & Toru Yano will defend their titles in a multi-team ranbo at the January 4 Tokyo Dome show. The match was set up this week with an angle where YOH staged a protest at an NJPW show, demanding that his team get a spot on Wrestle Kingdom. YOH said they would take on any number of challengers.
The ranbo match has a tornado stipulation where there are no tags and eliminations can occur via pinfall, submission, or being thrown over the top rope. Once one member from a team is out, the whole team is eliminated.
“The NEVER Openweight 6 man Champions were created at Wrestle Kingdom 10, and their tenth anniversary is being marked in this first time ever team ranbo,” NJPW wrote. “In the match, an as yet unknown number of teams will make their entrances at one minute intervals. Tornado rules mean there are no tags, and when one member of a team is pinned, submitted or thrown over the top rope, that entire team is eliminated, with the last trio standing the NEVER 6 Man Champions. Who will be victorious in this new twist on a Ranbo Tokyo Dome tradition?”
In another Tokyo Dome announcement, NJPW has confirmed that Kaisei Takechi of DDT Pro Wrestling and pop group The Rampage will be competing at Wrestle Kingdom. It’s not been announced which match he’ll be wrestling in.
Here is where the Wrestle Kingdom card stands with more than a month to go:
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 (Sunday, January 4, 2026 on NJPW World) —
- Winner-takes-all match: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji
- Hiroshi Tanahashi’s retirement match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
- NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL defends against Aaron Wolf
- Winner-takes-all match: IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri vs. NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Saya Kamitani
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight title number one contender’s match: El Desperado vs. SHO vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishiimori
- NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions YOH, Master Wato & Toru Yano defend in a multi-team ranbo
- Kaisei Takechi in action
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.