ConfirmedAEW

Khan Implies No Wrestle Dynasty; Wrestle Kingdom 21 Fills In

Summary: AEW President Tony Khan said on Thursday's Full Gear media call that Wrestle Kingdom 21 looks like a Wrestle Dynasty card because of how many AEW stars are on it. He did not say Dynasty is cancelled, and reports differ on how firm he was.

WrestlingNews.com Staff · 4 min read

The quick version

  • Asked on the Nov. 12 Full Gear media call whether Wrestle Dynasty will return, Tony Khan said the Jan. 4 Wrestle Kingdom 21 card looks a lot like a Wrestle Dynasty card, per ProWrestling.net and F4W Online.
  • Khan did not say Wrestle Dynasty is cancelled. F4W says he "didn't make it seem like" it would return. POST Wrestling says he "implied" it will not happen. Features of Wrestling wrote that it "won't be happening."
  • Khan said AEW is supporting NJPW and that he is "thrilled" to help with Wrestle Kingdom. Neither company has announced anything on Dynasty.

AEW President Tony Khan hinted on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, that there will be no Wrestle Dynasty event this time around, because NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 21 already looks like one. He was answering reporters on the media call ahead of AEW Full Gear on Saturday. We did not hear the call. This story is built from the written notes of ProWrestling.net, POST Wrestling, F4W Online and Ringside News, which agree on the substance. Wrestle Kingdom 21 is Jan. 4, 2027, at the Tokyo Dome.

What Khan said

ProWrestling.net's notes say Andrew Baydala asked whether Wrestle Dynasty will happen this year. Per those notes, Khan answered that this year's Wrestle Kingdom looks a lot like the Wrestle Dynasty card, that AEW is supporting NJPW, and that Dynasty "complemented" Wrestle Kingdom. He said it seems NJPW officials want to make Wrestle Kingdom the biggest event possible, and that the show looks great. Those words are the outlet's summary of Khan, not a recording we have checked.

F4W Online's Josh Nason gives the one direct quote we found. In his account Khan said he wanted to be transparent that AEW is sending wrestlers to the Tokyo Dome to strengthen the show. F4W quotes him: "I think perhaps they have decided to build the plane out of the black box in this case, and it's a great call because AEW has got the best wrestlers in the whole world." Nason wrote that Khan "didn't make it seem like Wrestle Dynasty would return."

How firm it is

The outlets do not agree on how firmly Khan ruled it out. POST Wrestling says he "implied that there wouldn't be a Wrestle Dynasty event." Features of Wrestling wrote that he said it "won't be happening." We did not find that flat statement in the other notes we read. ProWrestling.net, F4W and Ringside News describe an answer about the Wrestle Kingdom card, not a cancellation. We treat it as an on-the-record hint. It is not an announcement by AEW or NJPW. NJPW's news page listed nothing about Wrestle Dynasty when we read it on Nov. 13.

Why Khan says the card looks like Dynasty

F4W says Khan named Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega and MJF among the AEW stars helping the show. NJPW has made seven matches official so far, including Omega against Yota Tsuji for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Moxley against Shingo Takagi, Will Ospreay against Callum Newman and MJF against Ryohei Oiwa. Dave Meltzer's view of how those matches may break down is a separate, unconfirmed item. See our rumor story on it.

The "cold war" background

Khan was also asked about the two companies' relationship. Slam Wrestling quotes him: "AEW at the very beginning of our journey did not have the best relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling and it's really grown a lot. It got very strong in 2021." He said there was "something of a cold war" in 2019 and 2020, with Moxley and Chris Jericho as links between the two, and that he became close with Rocky Romero and Gedo, which led to a 2021 agreement and the first Forbidden Door in 2022, per Slam and F4W.

What to watch next

An NJPW or AEW statement on whether a Wrestle Dynasty date exists. Neither has given one that we could find.

How we know

Source: Khan's remarks on the Nov. 12 Full Gear media call as written up by ProWrestling.net (Jason Powell), F4W Online (Josh Nason), POST Wrestling, Ringside News (Steve Carrier) and Slam Wrestling (John Powell). We read the Wrestle Dynasty and NJPW passages of each in full. We read Features of Wrestling's notes for the "won't be happening" wording. We did not hear the call and did not contact AEW or NJPW. Nothing in this story is a rumor: Khan spoke on the record. His answer is a hint and not a cancellation, and we say so above.

Tony KhanWrestle DynastyWrestle Kingdom 21NJPWAEW

Sources

How we credit sources: Editorial standards.

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