Gabe Kidd has given new insight into his decision to leave NJPW for AEW.
During 2024, Gabe Kidd became one of the most popular stars in New Japan
Pro Wrestling, not least because of the passion he had for representing the promotion. His run peaked when he wrestled a classic bout against Kenny Omega at Wrestle Dynasty in Japan in January 2025.
Speaking on Talk is Jericho, Kidd recalled that when he was ready to return after a period of dealing with a mental health crisis earlier in his NJPW career, he asked for an IWGP Heavyweight Title match against Okada, but was told it would only happen when he became popular enough. However, after he won over fans and had the match with Omega, he still wasn’t given the opportunities he was hoping for.
“I said to New Japan on the phone, I said, ‘Give me a title match against Okada, give me an IWGP title match. I can’t rest until I have an IWGP title match.’ And they told me on the phone, they said, ‘If you become popular,’ because these times I’m just a young lion, they’re like, ‘If you become popular, we’re going to put you in those situations.‘”
“I have the Kenny match, and in my head I’m like, ‘I’ve done it.’ We weren’t even the main event, it was Zack [Sabre Jr] and Ricochet after us. The front cover next day on Tokyo Sports Weekly, me putting the Manji on Kenny, because it’s this symbol and everyone else recognised it.
“But then it got halfway through the year, and there were reasons at that time I wanted to be in America more, and I was just like, ‘I have given you everything through all the times you’ve disrespected me all the times you’ve not seen me as the position I put myself in that position. I did that. I had grown men crying, and I still to this day haven’t had an IWGP title match.’”
Gabe Kidd Wanted More Opportunities In NJPW
Continuing, Kidd said he spoke to Takaaki Kidani, the CEO of Bushiroad, which was the parent company of NJPW at the time, and offered to represent the promotion anywhere in the world. Instead, he was put into a months-long feud with House of Torture, and the promised IWGP Title matches never materialised.
“I could just see that people didn’t have the same passion as I felt. I walk back from that Kenny match, I go up to Kidani, who owned the parent company and I’m like, ‘Yo, let’s do this, let’s promote this more into the world. Send me anywhere, I’ll represent this company. Then they didn’t, I’m wrestling House of Torture for three months straight.”
The broken promises ultimately led to Kidd leaving New Japan and signing with AEW. In a previous interview, the star said that his love for NJPW died at that time, and now he says that when he returns, he doesn’t have the same emotional connection as a few years ago.
“You told me that at my lowest, at my most vulnerable, you told me that and you didn’t follow through on your word. That’s just what created what I’m doing there now. The only reason I’m going there now is for me. It’s not for the feeling, because I don’t have that same feeling anymore because of the emotional connection I had to it.”
Gabe Kidd is currently the IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion and successfully defended the title against Taichi at NJPW Power Struggle.
