AJPW Reveals Block Participants and All Match-Ups Set For The Champion Carnival 2026 Tournament

By: Lewis Carlan

The All Japan Pro-Wrestling prestigious Champion Carnival 2026 tournament is set to kick off on April 12th at Korakuen Hall and will run through May 17th with the finals taking place at Ota Ward General Gymnasium in Tokyo.

AJPW has revealed the participants in Block A & Block B as well as all the scheduled block matches. The participants that make up Block A & Block B are as follows:

BLOCK A:

• Rei Saito
• Kento Miyahara
• Go Shiozaki
• Yuma Anzai
• Kuma Arashi
• Kengo Mashimo
• Talos
• Oddyssey

Photo Credit: AJPW

BLOCK B:

• Hideki Suzuki
• Ren Ayabe
• Jun Saito
• Ryuki Honda
• Daisuke Sekimoto
• Madoka Kikuta
• Xyon
• Cyrus

Photo Credit: AJPW

Here are all the scheduled Block matches for the Champion Carnival 2026 tournament:

April 12 – Korakuen Hall:

• A Block: Yuma Anzai vs. Go Shiozaki
• A Block: Kuma Arashi vs. Rei Saito
• A Block: Talos vs. Kengo Mashimo
• B Block: Xyon vs. Hideki Suzuki
• B Block: Jun Saito vs. Ren Ayabe
• B Block: Cyrus vs. Daisuke Sekimoto

April 18 – Nagoya Kinjo-Futo Arena Main Arena

• A Block: Kento Miyahara vs. Go Shiozaki
• A Block: Rei Saito vs. Oddyssey
• B Block: Hideki Suzuki vs. Daisuke Sekimoto
• B Block: Madoka Kikuta vs. Ryuki Honda
• B Block: Cyrus vs. Jun Saito
• B Block: Xyon vs. Ren Ayabe

April 19 – Umeda Sky Building Stella Hall

• A Block: Kento Miyahara vs. Yuma Anzai
• A Block: Go Shiozaki vs. Talos
• A Block: Oddyssey vs. Kuma Arashi
• B Block: Madoka Kikuta vs. Jun Saito
• B Block: Cyrus vs. Ryuki Honda
• B Block: Hideki Suzuki vs. Ren Ayabe

April 23 – Shinjuku FACE

• A Block: Go Shiozaki vs. Rei Saito
• A Block: Kengo Mashimo vs. Yuma Anzai
• A Block: Kento Miyahara vs. Oddyssey
• B Block: Hideki Suzuki vs. Ryuki Honda
• B Block: Jun Saito vs. Daisuke Sekimoto
• B Block: Madoka Kikuta vs. Xyon

April 25 – Kasukabe Touch Cube

• A Block: Kento Miyahara vs. Kuma Arashi
• A Block: Rei Saito vs. Talos
• A Block: Kengo Mashimo vs. Oddyssey
• B Block: Xyon vs. Ryuki Honda
• B Block: Madoka Kikuta vs. Daisuke Sekimoto
• B Block: Hideki Suzuki vs. Cyrus

April 26 – Sanjo City Public Welfare Hall

• A Block: Kento Miyahara vs. Talos
• A Block: Rei Saito vs. Kengo Mashimo
• A Block: Go Shiozaki vs. Kuma Arashi
• A Block: Yuma Anzai vs. Oddyssey
• B Block: Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Xyon
• B Block: Ren Ayabe vs. Cyrus

May 2 – Nanto KitaGeneral Wholesale Center 

• A Block: Kento Miyahara vs. Rei Saito
• A Block: Yuma Anzai vs. Talos
• A Block: Kuma Arashi vs. Kengo Mashimo
• B Block: Jun Saito vs. Ryuki Honda
• B Block: Madoka Kikuta vs. Cyrus
• B Block: Ren Ayabe vs. Daisuke Sekimoto

May 3 – Light Cube Utsunomiya

• A Block: Go Shiozaki vs. Kengo Mashimo
• A Block: Yuma Anzai vs. Kuma Arashi
• A Block: Oddyssey vs. Talos
• B Block: Madoka Kikuta vs. Hideki Suzuki
• B Block: Ren Ayabe vs. Ryuki Honda
• B Block: Jun Saito vs. Xyon

May 5 – Korakuen Hall

• A Block: Kento Miyahara vs. Kengo Mashimo
• A Block: Go Shiozaki vs. Oddyssey
• A Block: Yuma Anzai vs. Rei Saito
• A Block: Talos vs Kuma Arashi
• B Block: Jun Saito vs. Hideki Suzuki
• B Block: Madoka Kikuta vs. Ren Ayabe
• B Block: Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Ryuki Honda
• B Block: Cyrus vs. Xyon

May 17 – Ota City General Gymnasium

• Championship Match: Block A Winner vs. Block B Winner

The winner of the tournament will go on to challenge for the AJPW Triple Crown Championship currently held by Kento Miyahara. If Miyahara emerges victorious at the Champion Carnival 2026, he will nominate the next challenger.

The AJPW Champion Carnival began back in 1973 and began as a single elimination tournament. Giant Baba defeated Mark Lewin in the finals to win the inaugural Champion Carnival tournament.

Rei Saito, who won last year’s Champion Carnival, will be looking to become the first wrestler to win two Champion Carnival Tournaments in row since Minoru Suzuki accomplished that feat back in 2009 & 2010.

All AJPW Champion Carnival 2026 events can be seen on AJPW TV subscription streaming service.