A major stipulation has been added to the highly anticipated professional wrestling debut of Olympic gold medalist Aaron Wolf. During a New Japan Pro-Wrestling press conference on Monday, November 3, 2025, for the upcoming Wrestle Kingdom 20 event, the reigning NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL officially challenged Wolf to a title match, putting his championship on the line at the January 4, 2026, Tokyo Dome show.
The challenge was made in a theatrical and disrespectful fashion. After Wolf made his opening comments, vowing to spend the next two months training for his debut, EVIL took the microphone. He first pulled out a can of gold spray paint and defaced the NEVER Openweight Championship belt, staining it gold. EVIL declared that this was his gold medal and that he was the “only gold medalist in professional wrestling.”
As the two began to argue, EVIL accused Wolf of being scared heading into his first match and declared that he was going to put even more pressure on the debutante by making their match a defense of the NEVER Openweight Championship.
This feud began at the King of Pro-Wrestling event on October 13. On that night, EVIL defeated Oleg Boltin to capture the NEVER title. Following the match, EVIL’s House of Torture faction began a beatdown on Boltin, which prompted Wolf to hit the ring and make the save, laying out the stable members. This led to EVIL issuing the initial challenge for Wrestle Kingdom.
Wolf, who won a gold medal in judo at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling in June 2025. This match will be his first in pro wrestling.
The updated card for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4, 2026, is as follows:
- Winner Take All Match: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji
- Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Retirement Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. TBA
- NEVER Openweight Championship Match: EVIL (c) vs. Aaron Wolf
- Winner Take All Match: NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Saya Kamitani vs. IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri