Current IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji has been very open about his thoughts on the partnership between his home promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and AEW. Although he respects AEW President Tony Khan, even inviting him golf game at one pointTsuji has publicly stated that he wants NJPW cut ties with AEW as the partnership was too one-sided and wanted to level the playing field with a lead boycott AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view which took place at the beginning of this year.
However, it seems that Tsuji’s stance on AEW has softened in recent weeks, with Gene Blast ready to smooth things over. in press conference to promote NJPW Destruction in Kobe 2026that will take place on September 27th, Tsuji not only addressed his opponent for the Hiroki Goto event, but also admitted that he wants things to be even with AEW. “Mr. Goto, the game is getting more and more interesting in Kobe. Of course, winning the IWGP in Kobe is the most important thing. I went to Vietnam the other day. Did you watch Blast of ASIA (on the NJPW YouTube channel)? I’m going to hold the IWGP Title, and I’m going to spread out in Japan. throughout Asia and one more thing. I need to work on an equal relationship with AEW.”
AEW will be at Destruction in Kobe this weekend as both matches will feature members of the All Elite Wrestling roster. In a special singles match, Claudio Castagnoli will square off with Shingo Takagi after Takagi sought revenge for being pinned by Castagnoli on an episode of AEW Collision in July. Then in the semi-main event, Drilla Moloney will challenge AEW star and current IWGP Heavyweight Champion Gabe Kidd for his title, with the two men having a long history with each other thanks to their time in the Bullet Club War Dogs.
Please credit NJPW when using quotes from this article and give Fightful a H/T for the translation.
