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The buzz surrounding New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual Wrestle Kingdom event is growing by the day as rumors and speculation of WWE Superstar Shinsuke Nakamura appearing at the show have grown lounder in recent weeks. Nakamura is an old friend of NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi, who will be wrestling his final match at Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4, 2026, but his opponent as yet to be announced, leading to many fans believing that an arrangement could be made for Nakamura to fill that slot. On the latest edition of “Wrestling Observer Radio,” Dave Meltzer gave the latest update on what he’s heard about the match, and when people might actually find out.
“I know the Nakamura name has been mentioned a lot, there’s a lot of political stuff going on there right now, but I think that some of the key matches, some of the top matches for the Tokyo Dome should be out if not Sunday, by maybe Tuesday of next week.” NJPW will be hosting the “Final Homecoming” event on November 2 in Tanahashi’s hometown of Gifu, Japan, which Meltzer stated is the final marquee event for NJPW before Wrestle Kingdom 20, hence why any major news that breaks on that show will be made official in the days following it.
Of course, the biggest stumbling block in the case of Nakamura being Tanahashi’s final opponent is NJPW’s working relationship with AEW, the biggest rival to WWE. Meltzer has claimed that AEW President Tony Khan might not be as upset about the idea as some would originally believe, but there was talk of potentially having Sting induct Lex Luger into the WWE Hall of Fame back in April that never materialized primarily because of the war between WWE and AEW.
Please credit “Wrestling Observer Radio” when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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