Katsuhiko Nakajima Defeats Masato Tanaka to Win ZERO1 Fire Festival 2026 Final

By: Ian McCord

Pro Wrestling ZERO1 made its return to Korakuen Hall on August 7th for the finals of the 2026 Fire Festival. At the event, Katsuhiko Nakajima made good on his word and defeated Masato Tanaka to claim his first Fire Sword and win the annual round-robin tournament.

The Block B winner, Katsuhiko Nakajima, came into the finals with a career one-win and two-loss record against Block A winner Masato Tanaka in singles competition. After a nearly perfect tournament, only losing to Hayabusa on the opening night, Nakajima entered the event hoping to change the complacent status he believes ZERO1 currently holds by “erasing” Tanaka from existence by beating him in the finals.

Nakajima and Tanaka battled in the Korakuen Hall main event, with both respective block winners aiming to rise to the top of ZERO1 by winning the promotion’s hottest event of the summer. It would be Nakajima’s Northern Lights Bomb that ended Tanaka’s hopes of winning his sixth Fire Festival, defeating the veteran in (26:50) to win the tournament.

After the match, the winner of the ~AFTER THE FIRE~ Encore Rumble, Kuroshio TOKYO Japan, challenged the Fire Festival winner to a singles match for August 22nd at Shin-Kiba 1stRING. Nakajima accepted the match before sending the crowd home happy with Antonio Inoki’s patented “1, 2, 3, Da!”.

During his post-match comments, Nakajima stated that him winning the Fire Festival is a step in the direction of restoring ZERO1 to its historic traditions and positive elements.

From Katsuhiko Nakajima:

“I wondered in the ring why I was holding this historic Fire Festival Sword. ZERO1 has the good old traditions, history, and positive elements. But we have to get rid of the bad stuff, too. I believe that’s why I took this Fire Festival Sword.”

Nakajima continued, referencing ZERO1 founder Shinya Hashimoto’s famous quote, “There is no creation without destruction”, stating his tournament victory is the first act of destruction in creating a new ZERO1.

From Katsuhiko Nakajima:

“My first appearance, my first victory, my first Fire Festival Sword—this is Katsuhiko Nakajima’s first act of destruction. I don’t know what will happen from here on out. But I will fully fulfill the responsibility that comes with holding this Fire Festival Sword.”

(Quotes courtesy of Tokyo Sports. English Translation via DeepL)

Elsewhere on the card, RIKO retained the Rose World Title by defeating Miku Kanae with a Moonsault in just over 15 minutes to secure their first defense of the championship.

Here are the full results from Pro Wrestling ZERO1’s Fire Festival 2026 Finals courtesy of purolove.com:

• Takuya Sugawara defeats Kouki Iwasaki (4:59) with a leg-clutch backslide.
• 4-Way Tag Match: CIMA & So Daimonji defeat Violento Jack & Mammoth Sasaki, Brian Ishizaka & Kota Sekifuda, and Yasu Kubota & Hide Kubota after CIMA hits a Jackknife Hold on Yasu.
• Naruki Doi & Seiki Yoshioka defeat Yuki Toki & Vent Vert Jack (12:45) following Doi’s Bakatare Sliding Kick on Toki.
• Fire Festival Encore Rumble: Kuroshio TOKYO Japan defeats Hayabusa with an Oklahoma Roll (16:45). Order of elimination: Yuko Miyamoto, Tsugutaka Sato, Koji Doi, Daichi Hashimoto, Kuma Arashi, Junya Matsunaga & Shuji Ishikawa, Ryunosuke Nagai, Hayabusa.
• Rose World Title: RIKO (c) defeats Miku Kanae (15:07) with a Moonsault Press (1st defense).
• Fire Festival 2026 – Final: Katsuhiko Nakajima defeats Masato Tanaka (26:50) with a Northern Lights Bomb.