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Dominion

Dominion saw the resolution to a months-old grudge between two wrestlers with years of history between them. Yota Tsuji and Gabe Kidd fought earlier this year for the IWGP Global Heavyweight title to a draw, but the two have been fighting since 2020 when the two were contemporaries in the Dojo system, so they know each other very well. However, they need to resolve the draw from their earlier title match, and thus we have this bout here. Much like their previous fight, the two took each other to the limit, but this time, we were able to find a definitive winner, as Gabe Kidd was able to beat Yota Tsuji in his biggest win of the year, claiming the IWGP Global Heavyweight title.

New Japan Soul

After the match, Kidd decided to immediately name his next challenger. Wanting to get a piece of the Ace before he retires, Kidd called out Hiroshi Tanahashi, setting up a title match between the two at the upcoming New Japan Soul tour. The latest stop on the Tanahashi retirement tour saw the veteran test the Madman, and by the end, the Madman passed the test, defeating the Ace and logging the first defense of his new title.

G1 Climax

With his first successful defense and a win over Tanahashi under his belt, Kidd was prepped to take part in the G1 Climax. Momentum was on his side. However, an errant injury in his match against Konosuke Takeshita derailed any hopes and plans he had, as he was forced to drop out of the tournament after his first match. It was a shame, but that’s how it pans out sometimes.

Destruction in Kobe

While Kidd was off recovering (and doing some extra-curriculars over in AEW), the G1 Climax continued, and on finals night, in one of the undercard matches, we saw a clash between Mushozoku and the War Dogs that got quite heated. After it finished, Shingo Takagi got a mic and called out Gaber Kidd, accusing him of being an absentee champion and wanting to face him for the Global title, thinking himself a more deserving champion. The match would be set for Destruction in Kobe, and once again the two went hell for leather, but Gabe Kidd was able to prove himself worthy of his title, successfully defending his title for the second time.

King of Pro-Wrestling

After the match, however, another member of Mushozoku stepped up, and it was none other than the former Global champion Yota Tsuji. He alludes to their similar styles and their storied background, and challenges Kidd for his title, hoping to reclaim what he lost months earlier.

However, compared to their previous match, the build to this match was less bloodthirsty. The two still beat the hell out of each other, but it felt as if there was more respect. A lot of the talk surrounding the match was more about wanting to bring out the best in each other, and prove who was better and who would be the one to lead New Japan in the future. After the battles these two have had this year, a mutual admiration seems to have developed. When the match finally came about, the two left it all in the ring. It was a battle of wills, and in the end, it seems the one with the stronger will was Yota Tsuji, who definitively beat Kidd with a Boston Crab after a Gene Blaster, calling back to their Young Lion history. 

The air of mutual respect came to fruition here at the end. The two competitors bowed to and hugged each other, while members of both men’s factions came down. While at first it almost seemed like a brawl would erupt, instead everyone started shaking hands, signaling an alliance between the two groups. Indeed, the two teams would work together in the coming months, forming teams in both the Super Junior Tag League and World Tag League, with Kidd and Tsuji even teaming up for the latter.

Tanahashi's Final Homecoming

Regardless, Tsuji is the new IWGP Global Heavyweight champion, and he quickly made known who he wants his first challenger to be. Amidst the handshakes among the Mushozoku x War Dogs alliance formation, Tsuji took some time to visit a certain man who was on quest commentary: none other than the man of the hour, Hiroshi Tanahashi. Like Kidd before him, Tsuji wanted a piece of the Ace before he retires. However, the connection between the two goes much deeper than that. 

Tanahashi was Tsuji’s dedicated mentor as a Young Lion, and was the person who initially recruited Tsuji to the New Japan Dojo in the first place. As such, Tsuji feels a great deal of respect and admiration for the Ace, essentially owing his career to him, so wanting to prove himself better than his mentor one last time before he retires would mean a lot to Tsuji.

Appropriately enough, the match would be held at a Tanahashi-dedicated show. It would take place in his hometown of Gifu, the first time the city has hosted a New Japan show since 2019, at the aptly named “Hiroshi Tanahashi ~ Final Homecoming” event. Hiroshi Tanahashi would have one of his last singles matches of his career, his last title challenge no less, in front of his hometown, but he would have to beat the man he brought into this business and trained, who is now the IWGP Global Champion, Yota Tsuji. It was an epic, as good as the Ace could deliver, but even with the ultimate homefield advantage, the Ace ultimately came up short, with Tsuji beating Tanahashi for the first, and final, time in his career, making his first successful defense of his second reign as Global champion. He thanked Tanahashi after the match, and raised his arm in respect.

However, that was not the end of the night for Tsuji. Later on in the night, Takeshita defended his IWGP World title against Hirooki Goto and called out challengers after the match, and Tsuji would be the one to answer the call. There had been rumors floating around that Tsuji wanted to leverage his Global title into a Wrestle Kingdom main event, and here it seems those rumors had been confirmed. He challenged World champion Takeshita, putting his own Global title on the line, setting up a double title match for Wrestle Kingdom.

World Tag League

Before that, however, we have one final thing to note as far as the IWGP Global Heavyweight title is concerned, and that's World Tag League. Tsuji would take part in the tag team tournament, but who was his partner going to be? Why, none other than former IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion and Yota Tsuji rival Gabe Kidd. The alliance between Mushozoku and the War Dogs produced this team and a few others that would take part in World Tag League, but this was still a curious team. it was only a few months earlier that they were fighting tooth and nail, but now they'll be teaming up? How can they co-exist?

Well, as it turns out, they could co-exist. Not only did they co-exist, they thrived. The two ran rough-shod over their block, racking up an impressive 10 points and a 5-2 record, losing only to fellow Mushozoku x War Dogs team War Dragons (Shingo Takagi & Drilla Moloney), as well as the highly decorated tag team of Bishamon. Bishamon would also go on to make 10 points, and so with their win over Tsuji & Kidd, they took the #1 spot in the block, leaving Tsuji & Kidd at #2, meaning they would have to take on the opposite block's #1 team: the IWGP Tag Team Champions, the Knockout Brothers.

With 3/4 wrestlers in this contest belonging to the same faction, and the other being in an alliance with them, it made for a very interesting match-up. Not only that, but it had both the Global Heavyweight and Tag Team Champions, so the level of competition was that much higher. A lot of pride was on the line, and despite the alliances, nothing was held back, and when Tsuji and Kidd ended up beating the tag champs, it was a surprising result. This seemingly unlikely duo made it to the finals.

However, there was one more obstacle before they could claim the trophies, and that was the other finalist team Zack Sabre Jr. and Ryohei Oiwa. The two have been through a lot to get here, and earned their spot just as much as Tsuji & Kidd had. It was an epic clash to cap of this World Tag League, but it was TMDK who stood tall. Unfortunately for Tsuji & Kidd, they fell just short of the trophy.

It was an outcome that seemed to hit Kidd more than Tsuji. Throughout the tournament, it was apparent that Tsuji was more active in trying to work as a team, whereas Kidd seemed to just be concerned with winning, regardless if that required cooperation with his partner. After the loss, Tsuji expressed some disappointment, but Kidd was despondent. What did this mean for the future? We'll have to see.

Wrestle Kingdom 20

However, now that World Tag League was done, Tsuji now has to refocus on Takeshita, who was coming back from his own tournament playoffs loss in AEW's Continental Classic. With the double title match coming up, we'll see if this gambit by Tsuji pays off big time, or if it’ll cause him to crash and burn on the biggest stage he can.

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