Yota Tsuji on His Match Against Andrade El Idolo at NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2026 & Gabe Kidd’s Shoulder Injury Causing Match Change

New Japan Pro Wrestling held a recent interview with IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji. One of the topics discussed included Tsuji’s thoughts about his upcoming match against Andrade El Idolo for his title at Wrestling Dontaku 2026 Night 1 show.

“He really is a global wrestler, in terms of being a total all rounder. There’s no wasted motion in anything that he does. Everything that he’s doing in the ring, or everything that he doesn’t do even, when he moves and when he stops, there’s reasoning to all of it. Whether that’s something conscious or just instinctive, it’s really the sign of a fully formed wrestler.

He chips away at you. He knows just what to do and when to do it. You’re fighting with him before the bell even rings. Before he even steps in the building, he controls the conversation just with how he looks with the coat and tie and the whole fit. He understands that wrestling isn’t just about what goes on between the ropes.”

Tsuji also gave his thoughts about Gabe Kidd’s recent shoulder injury causing their originally scheduled match for the event to be cancelled and how he still wants to defend his title against Kidd in the future.

“Gabe’s had a difficult time of it. When we were Young Lions together, he had his mental struggles, but got through that and managed to thrive in NJPW for a time. Then he gets hurt right at the start of the G1, and now just as he’s coming back to Japan he gets hurt again. His life is a real rollercoaster. I really want to face him again, but injuries are just a fact of life in wrestling, so I can’t really speak to that. I could just as easily get hurt some day and not be able to wrestle a title match myself, so what I have to do as a champion is keep the title and be there to wrestle him with the title on the line when he gets back.”

Tsuji also gave his thoughts about potentially facing off against Kidd in other countries around the world for his vision for his title defenses.

“When it comes to my vision of the Global title, wrestling Gabe became even more interesting ever since he moved overseas. We could easily do it in America, or Germany, Italy maybe… in a NJPW ring is the best way though.”