United Empire’s Callum Newman Issues 10-Man Tag Match Challenge To David Finlay For NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20, Declares That HENARE Will Be Returning

David Finlay issued the challenge, and Newman fired back.

There was a tag team match at the NJPW World Tag League final show that saw David Finlay and Hiromu Takahashi defeat United Empire (Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan). Finlay and Newman have been at odds, and that reached its peak during the aftermath of the match.

It led to Finlay calling out Newman and United Empire for Wrestle Kingdom 20 at the Tokyo Dome. Newman would respond backstage and request a 10-man tag team match. He declared that HENARE will be returning for the match. HENARE has not wrestled for NJPW since December 2024.

Below is NJPW’s write-up about the challenge:

During the final event of this year’s World Tag League in Kumamoto on December 14, events took a shocking turn during the match between David Finlay and Hiromu Takahashi and the United Empire.

What began as a brutal contest quickly descended into chaos. The United Empire once again showed a more vicious edge, with the match ending in disqualification after Callum Newman delivered a chair shot. The assault didn’t stop there, as repeated chair and title shots followed. With Hiromu Takahashi and Gedo laid out in the ring, David Finlay stormed in at the last moment to make the save. Grabbing a microphone, Finlay declared that the Savage King is reborn, issuing a direct challenge to the United Empire for the Tokyo Dome.

Backstage, Newman fired back. The Prince suggested a 10-man tag for Wrestle Kingdom, and ordered Finlay to find four partners to fill out his team. For his own part, Newman declared that HENARE would return to action in the Tokyo Dome, but that he had two more members still to announce. What will happen at Wrestle Kingdom?

Here is the updated Wrestle Kingdom 20 lineup for January 4th, 2026:

• NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship — Tornado Ranbo: YOH, Master Wato & Toru Yano (c) vs. TBA
• Four-Way #1 Contender’s Match For IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Shot: El Desperado vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishimori vs. SHO
• 10-Man Tag Team Match: United Empire (Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, HENARE, TBA & TBA) vs. David Finlay, TBA, TBA, TBA & TBA
• NEVER Openweight Championship: EVIL (c) (w/ Dick Togo & Don Fale) vs. Aaron Wolf
• NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship & IWGP Women’s Championship — Winner Takes All Match: Saya Kamitani (STRONG) vs. Syuri (IWGP)
• IWGP World Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship — Winner Takes All Match: Konosuke Takeshita (World) vs. Yota Tsuji (Global)
• Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Retirement Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada