Mad Man Walking – Gabe Kidd is NJPW’s Next Top Gaijin
Some wrestlers talk about being the future. Gabe Kidd doesn’t talk. He fights. He bleeds.
He swings first, and if you’re not ready, you’ll wake up wondering what the hell just happened.
In six weeks, this man went from literally chasing children in the audience to being positioned as the saviour of New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the next avatar of strong style.
That's not an exaggeration.
At first glance, he doesn’t quite fit the mold of NJPW’s past top gaijin. He isn’t the cold, calculated assassin that was Jay White. He doesn’t have the high-flying spectacle of Kenny Omega or Will Ospreay.
However, if you’ve watched his puroresu journey from the start - from his days as a Young Lion, getting stretched and tested under Katsuyori Shibata’s brutal training - you know the truth.
Gabe Kidd embodies both tokon (闘魂; fighting spirit) and what Strong Style should be. Not in the traditional, honourable way, but in a way that feels feral, unhinged, and yet completely his own.
His strikes don’t just land, they crash into his opponents like he’s trying to cave in their ribs.
His matches aren’t exhibitions, they’re fights that leave bodies broken and minds rattled. And his presence? It’s madness personified and now he’s using all that madness to run NJPW amuck.
Scrappy as Hell, Always Has Been
Kidd’s journey to NJPW’s main stage wasn’t clean or pretty—it was messy, violent, and fueled by frustration, anger, and a crisp/chip on his shoulder.
Kidd idolized TNA legends like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Christopher Daniels before discovering puroresu. He watched the Four Pillars—Misawa, Kawada, Taue, Kobashi - learning the art of wrestling not just through flash, but through fire. The kind of wrestling that leaves scars, broken bones, and a hunger to prove you're the toughest bellend in the squared circle.
At just 18, Gabe Kidd was grinding it out in the UK scene, wrestling for promotions like WCPW and RevPro and learning firsthand that nobody owes you a damn thing in this industry. He was neither a generational prodigy nor a handpicked star - he fought for every inch of progress.
One of his biggest breakthroughs came on June 29, 2019, at a RevPro event, where he teamed with Kenneth Halfpenny and Shaun Jackson to defeat Brendan White and NJPW Young Lions Clark Connors and Karl Fredericks. Watching closely that night was ‘The Wrestler’ Katsuyori Shibata.
The Wrestler (and then-head LA Dojo coach) was so impressed with Kidd that he personally recommended him to NJPW officials. That moment changed everything. Soon after, Kidd was signed by NJPW and brought into the LA Dojo under Shibata’s tutelage.
But Kidd wasn’t satisfied. He didn’t just want to be in LA. He wanted to be in Noge Dojo. He wanted the hard road.
The pandemic tested Gabe Kidd in every possible way. Stuck in Japan, isolated from family and friends, he faced a mental battle that could have broken him. But instead of crumbling, he dug deeper, pushed through, and came out stronger.
Hiroshi Tanahashi saw him at his lowest, but he also saw his potential. Kidd graduated from the Young Lion system, and since then, he’s been putting on absolute bangers with some of the best in the world. Then he joined the Bullet Club War Dogs, helmed by ‘The Rebel’ David Finlay. Since then:
• He went to war with Kaito Kiyomiya in NOAH, proving he could go toe-to-toe with
Japan’s rising stars.
• He fought Eddie Kingston in a brutal showdown to win the NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship.
• He stood across from SANADA, Zack Sabre Jr., and Naito in the G1 Climax, showing he belonged among NJPW’s elite.
• And when Will Ospreay teamed up with United Empire for the very last time in NJPW New Beginning 2024, Gabe Kidd stole the show with a standout performance, making sure everyone knew him as a force to be reckoned with.
Kidd wasn’t just joining Bullet Club—he was helping refresh the faction. Alongside Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors, and Drilla Dan Moloney, Kidd brought Bullet Club back to its roots: pure, unfiltered madness.
Flawed, Cocky, Dangerous––and NJPW’s Future
Kidd is highly polarizing. He’s brash, loud, and the furthest thing from the respectful foreigner trope NJPW usually likes to push. He’s talks like a roadman, he’s cocky, he’s an absolute shithead in the ring.
And yet, he’s the shining light of Shin Nihon’s cerulean blue ring because in spite of all that, he embodies the fighting spirit of NJPW. He’s been chewed up and spat out by the system, but he keeps walking forward, head held high, ready to murk someone up. He did say he was WAR-READY, U KNOW!
His G1 Climax 34 run was proof of that.
• He wanted to tear through EVIL and bring back real Bullet Club violence.
• He called out SANADA for losing his soul.
• He baited Zack Sabre Jr. into a fight that got ugly.
• He tried to piss off MJF and Kenny Omega, just to see if they’d bite.
At Wrestle Dynasty 2025, inside the Tokyo Dome, Gabe Kidd didn’t just wrestle Omega - he fought for NJPW itself.
He wasn’t just repping the BC War Dogs—he was carrying the Lion Mark on his short trunks and on his back.
• He mocked Kenneth with a Shibata pose goading the Best Bout Machine to strike him down.
• He locked in an Inoki-style abdominal stretch, complete with the elbow digging directly into Omega’s diverticulitis-ravaged abdomen.
• He didn’t just wrestle Omega—he fought like an NJPW disciple, a man trained in the Noge and LA Dojo system, who bleeds Strong Style.
And when it was all said and done? He made Hiroshi Tanahashi cry.
The Ace of New Japan sat at ringside, holding back tears because he realized his company was safe. The man who carried NJPW out of the dark ages, who rebuilt strong style puroresu from the ground up, saw the future standing in front of him.
This wasn’t just a match. This was a generational shift. Tanahashi saw that his company, his legacy, was safe in Gabe Kidd’s hands.
Omega may have won that match for AEW, but Kidd’s performance opened a lot of eyes.
His star-making performance didn’t just prove he belonged—it solidified him as NJPW’s next top gaijin. He walked out of the Dome knowing he could and will do it again (albeit crying), next time on his terms.
Hiroshi Tanahashi crying wasn’t just a reaction—it was a coronation.
No Time to Slow Down— the IWGP Global Heavyweight Title Awaits
Just six days after going to war with Omega, Kidd flew across the world and wrestled Tomohiro Ishii in San Jose.
Now? His sights are set on Osaka. On February 11, he’ll challenge Yota Tsuji for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.
To Kidd, this isn’t just about a title—it’s a war over who truly represents the future of NJPW.
• Tsuji sees NJPW’s global future as expansion—Kidd sees it as domination.
• Tsuji carries LIJ’s cool, anti-authority vibe—Kidd wants to burn everything
down.
• Tsuji represents the next generation—Kidd thinks he is the generation.
But it’s more than just a match.
Kidd has spent the last year promoting NJPW harder than almost anyone—not just in the
ring, but everywhere.
• He’s promoted NJPW events in American media, waving the company flag proudly
in enemy territory.
• He’s sung the NJPW x Karatsu City jingle with the kind of bizarre, over-the-top
commitment that only a true sicko could. [embed me]
• He’s gone out of his way to piss off icons like Jushin Thunder Liger, because if you’re not making legends uncomfortable, are you even doing heelwork?
This isn’t about proving he belongs anymore. Kidd knows he belongs.
Kidd and Tsuji’s Osaka match at New Beginning 2025 cemented both their legacies. It is the kind of match that makes the entire wrestling world stand up and recognize that Gabe Kidd and Yota Tsuji are now undisputed main event players. This wasn’t just about two rising stars—it was about two men proving they belong at the top of NJPW. Every chop, every counter, every near fall had Osaka shaking, a (smark) crowd so electric they chanted for New Japan itself.
And then, the aftershock.
The match may have ended in a double knockout draw, but the night wasn’t over. EVIL and House of Torture made their move, assuming leadership of Bullet Club and kicking the War Dogs out. The seeds had been sown. Gabe Kidd, the loudmouth, the madman, the pure embodiment of violence, was slowly becoming something else—an antihero.
Several fans online have already hailed Kidd vs. Tsuji as a Match of the Year contender and the first NJPW 5-star match of 2025. This wasn’t just a fight; this was survival. A battle of endurance and strength, a war where Kidd’s sheer force and refusal to die kept him standing. The moment he locked eyes with Tsuji in the aftermath, you knew this was far from over.
If Osaka was just the preview, then Wrestle Kingdom, the G1, or any future main event is the only logical destination. Make no mistake—this is Gabe Kidd’s New Japan.
Gabe Kidd will inevitably take over.
"Nobody Represents NJPW Better Than Me"
THE MADMAN gets what it means to grind. He knows what it means to struggle in a foreign country, to be beaten down, counted out, and written off. And yet, here he is, calling his shot.
"Because he understands... what I've been through. He knows the Dojo life, being in a
foreign country. He knows I'M THE ONE. Nobody represents NJPW better than me.”
And the terrifying part? He’s just getting started.
The King of Korakuen, The Mad Scientist of Violence
Gabe Kidd is everything NJPW’s main event scene needs right now. A wild, unpredictable
fighter who doesn’t care about tradition, only about chaos.
The gaijin throne in NJPW is up for grabs. Gabe Kidd isn’t going to sit on it. He’s going to
set it on fire and call it a ‘p***io’.
After all, he’s a mad man, u know?
Art by Neon Ghost