Live from Hiroshima Sun Plaza, Power Struggle 2026 featured many matches and post-match segments to hype up the upcoming Wrestle Kingdom 21.Some showcases were amazing; other booking decisions became head-scratching. Let’s deep-dive into this year’s Power Struggle, starting with a few preview tag matches.
Walker Stewart and Chris Charlton called the action.
Aaron Wolf, Master Wato, & KUUKAI v. United Empire (Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young, & Zane Jay) – Six-Man Tag
The NEVER Openweight Champion Aaron Wolf mixed it up with Akira and Zane Jay here. He’s explored the options of Juniors challenging for the NEVER Title, which is great. Wato and KUUKAI exist in this match, and that’s all you can really ask for. Once again, the United Empire crumbled slightly as Wolf submitted Young with an armbar. Hopefully this all leads to Wolf v. Akira; that’d be sick.
Místico, Kushida, & Masatora Yasuda v. Unbound Co. (Titán, Gedo, & Daiki Nagai) – Six-Man Tag
Young Lions on both sides of the coin, and poor Nagai cannot get a victory. After some mini-matches with Titán & Místico and Yasuda & Nagai, KUSHIDA got a trios submission win over Gedo, which was cool for them. This match mostly existed to get the Lucha Kingdom show over, happening on November 16. After a rocky road in the Super Junior Tag League, Místico and Yasuda can finally walk away from this tour with a decisive win.
「このベルトは今日返上します」
『SUPER Jr. TAG LEAGUE 2026』優勝決定戦後リングに現れたミスティコがベルトを返上
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TMDK (Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson) v. The Swirl (Lee Johnson & Blake Christian) – Tag
Two juniors getting fed to Big Jag and Big Oiwa- how the hell could they possibly win? This isn’t even close to fair! Still, the journey to the inevitable loss for The Swirl was good, at least. Blake Christian nearly pinned the G1 Winner; what a world we live in. Hartley only hit about three moves in the match, too, letting Oiwa do the heavy lifting. The combo moves from The Swirl looked cool and effective, but it all ended with Johnson submitting to Oiwa’s Big Rock submission.
After the match, MJF appeared on the titantron and challenged Oiwa for Wrestle Kingdom 21. Oiwa responded in kind, accepting the challenge and promising to beat MJF with his Big Rock. Our first AEW v. NJPW match is confirmed for WK21, and spoiler alert: it’s certainly not the last.
MJF has issued a challenge for the Tokyo Dome!
It will be Ryohei Oiwa vs. MJF at Wrestle Kingdom 21!
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— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) November 3, 2026
Yuya Uemura, Toru Yano, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Kazuma Sumi v. House of Torture (Ren Narita, Shun Skywalker, DOUKI, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) – Eight-Man Tag
This match built to Shun Skywalker v. Toru Yano for Shun’s World TV Title, with top-five wrestler Yuya Uemura in the background. What a waste of time. At least Kazuma Sumi was a highlight in his interactions with DOUKI and Kanemaru. In the end, Uemura pinned Kanemaru with his Lion’s Shiner finisher, giving the Heat Storm a clear victory ahead of WK21. What’s he doing at the Tokyo Dome as of right now? Nobody knows; how sad.
Shota Umino, YOH, & Hyo v. House of Torture (Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo) – Six-Man Tag
Umino became leashed by YOH and Hyo, whom I have christened the “Silver Lovers” during the Super Junior Tag League. The Kuro-Myon storyline finally came to a close here, for now. For the uninitiated, an evil version of Hyo’s pet Myon-Myon allied itself with The House, and then Dick Togo kidnapped the original Myon-Myon. Hyo’s shtick is too funny, with everyone in on the joke, including the referee during this match.
From a wrestling perspective, it’s nonsense. Regardless, I’m crushing on Hyo’s attractive face and abs, so he cannot do wrong in my eyes. The beautiful Hyo hit his Samson Driver on Dick Togo for the win, then Dick got arrested for his animal kidnapping crimes; hooray for the good guys. By the way, the tradition continues: every single YOH v. SHO match is terrible after Roppongi 3K died. And Shota Umino is still doing nothing ahead of Wrestle Kingdom 21. Yikes.
Then, there’s a ton of post-match ridiculousness. After Dick got kayfabe arrested for the Myon-Myon abuse, a shadow figure appeared on the titantron and challenged YOH for WK21. It’s revealed to be….SHO. SHO wanted to challenge for the belt again, with the stipulation that YOH must leave New Japan if YOH lost. YOH raised the stakes, saying if SHO lost, Roppongi 3K must reform against SHO’s will. What the living hell happened here? We sacrificed new faces in the Junior Title scene for another SHO v. YOH match? Gedo, your days are numbered.
Unbound Co. (Shingo Takagi & Jeff Cobb) v. Death Riders (Jon Moxley & Wheeler YUTA) – Tag
Moxley visited Japan, and the first match he’s in immediately turned into some hardcore stuff. New Japan doesn’t often see stuff like this, though. Both Wheeler and Mox looked great. Their teamwork looked stiff, and they made Jeff Cobb look especially strong. Sadly, the match ended abruptly. Cobb’s Tour of the Islands finisher pinned Wheeler for the Unbound victory in this solid tag match. It had a beating heart to its pacing, which forced Shingo to overpower Moxley with sheer striking power. And when all else failed, beating up Wheeler YUTA was Plan B.
The “Death Riders in Japan” catalogue started with Claudio at Destruction in Kobe and rolled on well tonight. After the match, Shingo hit Wheeler with a Death Rider, causing Moxley to freak out at ringside. At Wrestle Kingdom 21, it is confirmed: Shingo Takagi v. Jon Moxley. It’s not announced as a deathmatch yet, but here’s to hoping!
Knock Out Brothers (OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) (c) v. United Empire (Callum Newman & Will Ospreay) – IWGP Tag Team Championship Match
KOB remain simply amazing. Every KOB tag match is just a must-see showdown at this stage in their careers; they cannot put on a bad match even if you begged them to. Newman and Ospreay flip-flopped a lot between getting along and mis-communicating, until about halfway through. It definitely became more of a storyline in the second half, but the wrestling portion was unreal. Some tag moves looked super, including Ospreay hitting the Styles Clash on the 6’7 OSKAR.
Admittedly, the ending left a sour taste in the crowd as Newman hit OSKAR with a chair in the ring to cause a disqualification. Ospreay laid out Newman with an elbow in anger during the match, and afterwards, the Empire leaders tussled with more anger in mind. The other Empire members there, such as Zane Jay and Francesco Akira, tried to defuse the tension, but to no avail. It’s now confirmed for WK21: Will Ospreay v. Callum Newman. Lots of AEW people on New Japan’s biggest show, almost like an invasion…
Boltin Oleg v. Kenny Omega v. Yota Tsuji – IWGP Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership Three-Way Match
There was a scary Croyt’s Wrath/German combo off the top rope. Poor Kenny landed on his neck. This special three-way dance featured plenty of unique counters and pin breakups. All three had great ways to overpower each other, especially Kenny with his V-Triggers outta nowhere. The only downside was that the match was shorter than expected. It ended when Kenny hit the One Winged Angel on Oleg and shook off the pin. Then the OWA on Tsuji led to a Kenny victory, electing to pin Tsuji instead of Oleg.
The quick, swift defeat of the IWGP Heavyweight Champion this way annoyed me. But at least Oleg was added to the insanity to keep the World Title scene lively. After the match, Kenny said he’ll appear more for New Japan in the lead-up to WK21, which was a welcome surprise. Another welcome surprise: Yota Tsuji is defending the Big V4 against Omega for the Tokyo Dome; it’s official. That’s going to be an instant classic.
「この新日本のベルト、私の物にするしか無いじゃん？もし1.4の相手いなかったら俺が挑戦したいんですよ」
ケニー・オメガがIWGPヘビー級王座に挑戦表明‼️
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Unbound Co. (Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori) v. Ichiban Sweet Boys (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita) – Super Junior Tag League 2026 Finals
The SJTL Review will come soon after Power Struggle, and this match was a great microcosm of the quick, flippy action produced from the tourney. It’s not given as much significance as the other stuff on this card, but the crowd lit up with each strike and completely improved the energy of this match. Both Robbies exchanged flippy kicks and fun dives at the core of this one. Fujita and Ishimori’s lightning-quick sequences at the end were such a treat to watch. It’s like we were watching a YouTube video at two times speed.
In the end, Ishimori rolled up Fujita for the win. And I’m sorry, the tournament finale ending with a ROLLUP? That’s a bunch of bullhonkey. What a hell of a match otherwise, as everyone made every second jam-packed with greatness.
After that, Místico came out to the ring and said his partner, El Desperado, was too hurt and vacated the belts. But fear not: at Wrestle Kingdom 21, it will be tourney winners Ishimori & X versus Místico and a partner of his choosing, versus Ichiban Sweet Boys for the vacant Junior Tag Titles. It’s an exciting way to get everyone on the biggest card of the year, but…WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE TOURNAMENT if the final losers are going to challenge for the belts anyway?! What a ridiculous way to blanket sweep this situation. It’s awesome to get this three-way tag match and spin a positive from El Desperado getting hurt, but really??
Gabe Kidd (c) v. Taichi – IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship Match
Taichi threatened Gabe Kidd before this show, daring him never to set foot in a New Japan ring again after Taichi beat him. Right from the get-go, Kidd lariated Taichi’s head off and broke off a piece of the Global belt. Individual spots were amazing, but like Gabe’s other matches, it felt disjointed. When something cool wasn’t happening, Kidd just dominated the match and hit either forearms, slaps, or spit at President Tanahashi at ringside. When Taichi got in control, though, the energy was infectious enough to feel through the screen.
A piledriver through the table, a friggin Triple Crown Powerbomb (Gonso Bomb), wow! Taichi’s All Japan roots led to Kidd getting hit with tribute move after tribute move, but it still wasn’t enough to win the Global Title. Kidd kept countering everything, and the kickouts got a tad excessive. In the end, Kidd’s Death Dog Driver got the victory over Taichi. Deflated couldn’t even begin to describe the crowd’s vibe after Taichi lost—just endless silence and anger. Maybe if the right result happened, we’d look back on this match differently but instead, we got the bad ending.
All that popularity and an easy setup for a feel-good match for WK21, pissed away to continue Kidd’s reign of terror. And it wasn’t over, as Kidd hit a piledriver on President Tanahashi after the match. How dare you! “The Heat Storm” Yuya Uemura ran down to the ring to chase Kidd away and challenge him for the Global Title at Wrestle Kingdom 21. But then Jon Moxley attacked Uemura. The show ended with the Death Riders on top, reiterating how they are against New Japan and against the world. So, Gabe Kidd & Jon Moxley v. Yuya Uemura & Shingo Takagi at a later date before WK, I reckon.
OVERALL:
Wow, that’s a lot of setup before this year’s January 4th show. We already have six big time matches for WK21, all thanks to this year’s Power Struggle. The Death Riders (Mox/Yuta) terrorizing Japan against the Unbound Co. was great, and everything from that match onwards is worth checking out. There were great matches and even more promising things on the horizon, but there were also some facepalming decisions. More SHO v. YOH, Taichi taking an L, and a DQ ending for the Tag Title match. Ew.
It’s a big bridge to build before Wrestle Kingdom 21!
.@GabeKidd0115 “Avalanche Canadian Destroyer → Lariat → Leg Trap Piledriver”
Streaming now on #njpwworld
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— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) November 3, 2026
