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NJPW POWER STRUGGLE 2026 REPORT
NOVEMBER 3, 2026
SUN PLAZA HALL
HIROSHIMA, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPW WORLD
Announcers: Walker Stewart, Chris Charlton
(1) AARON WOLF & MASTER WATO & KUUKAI vs. UNITED EMPIRE (Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay)
Wolf submitted Young with an arm bar to win the match.
WINNERS: Wolf & Kuukai & Wato via submission at 5:56.
(2) TITAN & DAIKI NAGAI & GEDO vs. MISTICO & KUSHIDA & MASATORA YASUDA
Kushida ended up submitting Gedo with the Hoverboard Lock to win the match.
WINNERS: Mistico & Kushida & Yasuda via submission at 6:48.
(3) TMDK (Hartley Jackson & Ryohei Oiwa) vs. THE SWIRL (Lee Johnson & Blake Christian)
Oiwa submitted Johson with The Big Rock.
WINNERS: Oiwa & Jackson via submission at 7:25.
After the match MJF appeared on the screen. He ran down NJPW and challenged Oiwa to face him for his “real” World Championship at Wrestle Kingdom. I’ll end the suspense now and let you know that Oiwa did in fact accept his challenge.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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(4) RYUSUKE TAGUCHI & KAZUMA SUMI & TORU YANO & YUYA UEMURA vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Douki & Ren Narita & Shun Skywalker & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
Uemura pinned Kanemaru with the Lion’s Shiner at 8:05.
(5) HOUSE OF TORTURE (Sho & Dick Togo & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. YOH & HYO & SHOTA UMINO
Umino came out collared by Hyo and Yoh. They each had their own silver leash on him. I couldn’t make this match up if I tried. This was for the custody of a stuffed animal named Myon-Myon and Kuro-Myon. Myon-Myon and Kuro-Myon were both freed from House of Torture. Hyo pinned Togo with a Samson Driver. Togo was then “arrested” by the faces after the match.
Yoh was left alone in the ring and a hooded figure appeared on the screen in the arena with a voice that was difficult to hear. He challenged Yoh to a match at Wrestle Kingdom. He said if Yoh lost he could never wrestle in NJPW again. The lights came up and the hooded figure tried to jump Yoh, but he fended him off and unmasked him. It turned out to be Sho. Yoh accepted his challenge, but said if he won, Sho had to team with him again and leave House of Torture.
WINNERSL Yoh & Hyo & Umino at 6:53.
(6) THE DEATH RIDERS (Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta) vs. UNBOUND CO. (Shingo Takagi & Jeff Cobb)
The Death Riders dominated the first 10 minutes of the match. Moxley busted Takagi open with strikes during the early going and neither Takagi nor Cobb could get on track. Takagi and Moxley had a big exchange. Shingo no-sold a cutter and hit a pumping bomber and both men were down as the fans fired up. Cobb was really impressive during the second half of the match and he put away Wheeler with Tour of the Islands.
After the match, Moxley and Takagi were still fighting. Moxley left the ring and Takagi picked Yuta up and gave him a Death Rider. Takagi got on the mic said let’s make this more dangerous. Let’s make it unbound. He challenged Moxley to a match at Wrestle Kingdom on Jan. 4.
WINNERS: Takagi & Cobb at 14:03. (***1/4)
(Radicans Analysis: This match definitely didn’t settle anything between Takagi and Moxley, but the post-match set up one hell of a match at Wrestle Kingdom.)
(7) THE KO BROS. (Yuto-Ice & Oskar) vs. UNITED EMPIRE (Will Ospreay & Callum Newman) – IWGP Tag Team Championship match
Newman jumped Oskar and Ospreay looked upset, but eventually went after Ice. Ospreay and Newman were not on the same page. Newman accidentally hit Ospreay multiple times during the early going and the tension between them was evident as the match continued. Newman kicked Ospreay into the ref and hit a low blow in Oskar and the fans booed.
Zane Jay tossed a chair into the ring and Newman eventually went for it, but Ospreay stopped him. Ospreay knocked Jay off the apron. Newman tried to hit him with the chair, but Ospreay blocked it and decked Newman with a punch. Ospreay helped Newman up and he punched Ospreay. Ospreay took a combination of moves, but Newman made the save. Ice eventually caught Newman with a pop-up knee. Ospreay hit a Hidden Blade on Oskar. He couldn’t hit the Stormbreaker and Oskar escaped. Newman then ran in and appeared to be going for Ospreay with a chairshot, but Ospreay got out of the way and he plastered Oskar with a chair shot right in front of the ref and be called for the DQ.
Oskar recovered and Newman launched the chair right into him. Newman and Ospreay then went rant at it, but they were pulled apart by the United Empire. Newman got on the mic and challenged Ospreay to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 21.
Oskar sold frustration after the match and tossed things around at ringside.
WINNERS: KO Bros. via DQ to retain the IWGP Hvt. tag Team Championship at 18:18. (***3/4)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was a really good match. The audience knew where it was headed, but the action was so good that the fans were engaged in the action and didn’t just wait for Newman and Ospreay to turn on each other. I wasn’t a fan of the finish, as Newman had been trying to win the match, so why would he suddenly decide to swing a chair at Ospreay like that? This sets up the long awaited Ospreay vs. Newman match for Wrestle Kingdom.)
(8) YOTA TSUJI vs. BOLTIN OLEG vs. KENNY OMEGA – non-title match
We will likely know the main event of WK 21 based on the outcome of this match. Omega jumped his opposite and posed with the IWG Hvt. Championship to kick things off. Omega and Tsuji were going at it on the ropes, but Oleg recovered and hit a German on Omega out of the corner that also sent Tsuji flying across the ring.
The match had good three-way action. Omega hit a One Winged Angel on Oleg. He wanted to finish off Tsuji and not Oleg, so he went after Tsuji and hit a V-Trigger and a One Winged Angel for the win.
WINNER: Kenny Omega at 12:50 via pinfall on Tsuji. (***3/4)
(Radican’s Analysis: I didn’t like Omega essentially beating both men with his finisher so easily. He didn’t even want to pin Oleg after hitting him with the One Winged Angel, so he went after Tsuji and finished him off rather easily. Tsuji and Oleg are a big part of NJPW’s future and Omega beating them like that is not a good thing for NJPW.)
Omega spoke in Japanese after the match. He said the belt should belong to him. He said if there’s nobody scheduled for the champion on Jan. 4, he will take that shot. He said he needs an answer from Tsuji. He said he’s an AEW member, but if he’s champion he will wrestle more and more in Japan. Omega then hit his catch phrase in English.
(Radican’s Analysis: This is a huge match for NJPW to show for sure, but the build leaves a lot to be desired after how easily Omega won the three-way.)
(9) UNBOUND CO. (Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori) vs. TMDK (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita) – Super Jr. Tag League finals
Both teams showed great double teams during the early stages of the match. Robbie X stood out in particular as having dramatically improved this year. He worked really well with Ishimori especially setup up Fujita to take Ishimori’s sliding German off the ropes in one seamless sequence. That’s not to take anything away from Fujita & Eagles, who are a well-oiled machine as a unit.
Fujita and Ishimori had an incredible exchange to end the match that saw Ishimori counter Fujita and he got the small package for the win. The closing sequence was just phenomenal as both men showed tons of fighting spirit leading into the finish.
Robbie X and Ishimori posed with the Super Jr. Tag League trophy after the match. Mistico came down wearing both IWGP Jr. Hvt. belts with no sign of El Desperado. Mistico got on the mic and spoke in Spanish. He said he had to vacate the titles due to Desperado’s injury. Mistico offered to hand the titles over. Mistico told them he wanted the first challenge. He asked TMDK to own they thought of the situation in Japanese. Ishimori proposed a Three-way match for the vacant IWGP Jr. Hvt. Championship. Mistico handed the titles over to Red Shoes before he left the ring.
WINNERS: Unbound Co. at 11:08. (****)
(Radicans Analysis: The action was great, but the match was disappointingly short. It felt like they could have easily gone another 10 minutes and put on an incredible match. They did a nice job of setting up the vacant IWGP Jr. Hvt. Tag Team Championship after with Mistico finding a new partner to challenge TMDK and Unbound Co. during the post-match segment.)
(10) GABE KIDD vs. TAICHI – IWGP Global Hvt. Championship match
Kidd hit a clothesline before the rang. The ref refused to count the pin. Kidd got on the mic and talked some trash and the fans booed. Kidd sent Taichi to the floor and then spit on Tanahashi, who was sitting at ringside. Taichi survived everything Kidd threw at him and the fans began to buy into him winning as the match went on. Later int he match, Kidd charged at Taichi and ran right into a superkick, but Taichi was too exhausted to make the cover. Kidd hit a code red off the top, an insane clothesline, and a Drill-A-Hole piledriver, but Taichi kicked out! The fans applauded as Taichi willed himself back to his feet only for Kidd to drop him with a Death Dog Driver for the win.
WINNER: Gabe Kidd at 30:01 to retain the IWGP Global Hvt. Championship. (****1/2)
(Radican’s Analysis: This was a tremendous match that was gritty and built from start to finish. The crowd really bought into Taichi defending the honor of NJPW against Kidd here and they ended up buying into him potentially winning the match. As the match went on, the fans grew more and more vocal in their support for Taichi. Gabe Kidd has been really good in his role as a NJPW antagonist and is a much more interesting character here than in AEW.)
After the match, Kidd made Tanahashi put the belt around his waist. Tanahashi offered a handshake, but Kidd decked him with a punch. He then hit a Drill-A-Hole piledriver on Tanahashi. The fans booed and Uemura ran down and tackled Kidd and rained punches down on him. The fans exploded in a chant for Uemura.
Uemura said he will not let him do what he wants to do with NJPW anymore. He promised to put an end to Kidd. He challenged Kids to fight him anytime. Jon Moxley then came down from behind and dropped Uemura with a Death Rider. Shingo Takagi ran down, but Kidd helped cut him off.
Moxley hit a Death Rider on Takagi. Kidd hit another piledriver on Uemura. Moxley said The Death Riders don’t have to show respect to anyone in NJPW. He said we’d see them at The Tokyo Dome. He said The Death Riders are declaring war on NJPW and the world.
(Radican’s Analysis: It was a little jarring seeing Moxley be an overt heel again, as he’s been a huge face lately on AEW TV. I always wondered what his character thought of Kidd’s antics and how Kidd fit into the Death Rider group, but Moxley gave Kidd his seal of approval here and they set up two big matches for Wrestle Kingdom with Kidd defending the IWGP Global Hvt. Championship against Uemura and Takagi facing Moxley in a singles match.)
You can contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. You can follow Sean on X @SR_Torch and on Bluesky @SeanRadican.)
