Olympians have been part of pro wrestling for decades and now New Japan Pro Wrestling has an Olympic Gold Medalist to its name. In a press conference, NJPW shared that Aaron Wolf has signed with the promotion. Wolf won the 2021 Olympic gold medal in judo at 100 kg as part of that year’s games in Tokyo, Japan.
During the press conference, Wolf shared how his journey to New Japan Pro Wrestling came about:
“I’ve just come from my last judo tournament… I approached NJPW with the idea to come into professional wrestling. Since I was a college student, I always looked forward to seeing Pro-Wrestling and seeing how cool and aspirational these figures were. I realised this would be a new way to express myself outside of judo.”
New Japan President Hiroshi Tanahashi was also at the press conference and was excited for Wolf to join. Not only is Wolf joining NJPW, but his debut will come at WrestleKingdom 2026.
“I have seen first hand Wolf’s passion for professional wrestling and welcome him to NJPW and have high expectations for him. I would like for Aaron to make his pro-wrestling debut on January 4 2026 at the Tokyo Dome. Please look forward to my retirement match as well as Wolf’s debut.”
Wolf isn’t taking his impending debut lightly and made clear he’s aware that the wrestling world’s eyes will be upon him. As one era ends on January 4, fans will perhaps see the dawning of the Aaron Wolf era.