Tetsuya Naito vs. Kaito Kiyomiya Set for NOAH SUMMER EPIC 2026 on July 18th in Osaka

By: Ian McCord

After locking up for the first-time on the fourth day of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s NEO GLOBAL TAG LEAGUE, a special singles match was made official between the Uncontrollable Tetsuya Naito and the Prince of Madness Kaito Kiyomiya for July 18th at SUMMER EPIC 2026 in Osaka.

This first-time singles bout between the two came to be after the five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Tetsuya Naito, challenged the three-time GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya, after Los Tranquilos de Japon suffered their first loss of NEO GLOBAL TAG LEAGUE to All Rebellion on May 30th in Korakuen Hall.

On May 31st, Kiyomiya shared the match graphic on social media, with no message other than the date and location.

From Kaito Kiyomiya via X:

“The date has been set for July 18 in Osaka.”

(English Translation via DeepL)

A match between Naito and Kiyomiya seemed to be inevitable after Naito made comments about the younger stars of the promotion’s drawing ability two months ago during his feud with OZAWA. Kiyomiya would remain unbothered by Naito’s comments, ultimately referring to one half of the GHC Tag Team Champions as “some random old guy”. 

This will be Naito’s second singles match since joining NOAH at the start of the year. It will be interesting to see the veteran Naito and the former protégé of Keiji Muto, Kaito Kiyomiya, face off in this special singles bout.

At the time of reporting, no other matches have been announced for Pro Wrestling NOAH SUMMER EPIC 2026 in Osaka.