Olympic Gold Medallist’s NJPW Debut Match Confirmed

The debut match for an Olympic gold medallist in NJPW has been confirmed after a tense confrontation at King of Pro Wrestling.

There is no Olympic gold medallist greater in the history of pro wrestling than Kurt Angle. Angle famously won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling in 1996 with a “broken freakin’ neck”. He debuted for WWE in late 1999 and, in his debut year in the company, captured the Intercontinental and European Titles, won the King of the Ring, and became WWE Champion.

A long and successful career followed, with Angle rightly enshrined in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017. And now there might be one star looking to follow in Angle’s not insignificant footsteps in NJPW.

Aaron Wolf captured Olympic gold at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games in judo. Wolf also claimed a silver in the mixed team event at those Games and again in 2024 at the Paris Olympics. Now, he’s decided that his future is in the pro wrestling ring and he signed with NJPW in the summer of 2025, with his debut match announced for Wrestle Kingdom in January 2026.

And now everyone knows what that match will be.

Aaron Wolf Gets Shot At NJPW Title

At King of Pro Wrestling, House of Torture’s EVIL won the NEVER Openweight Championship from Oleg Boltin. After the bout, the House of Torture picked the bones of the former champion in their usual fashion, but this time they were stopped in their tracks when confronted by Aaron Wolf.

Later in the show, commentator Chris Charlton confirmed that Aaron Wolf would now make his debut at Wrestle Kingdom on January 4th 2026, in a NEVER Openweight Title match with EVIL.

Wrestle Kingdom will also see the final match in the legendary career of Hiroshi Tanahashi. It is not yet known who The Ace will face in his final outing.