Aaron Wolf (judoka)
Japanese judoka (born 1996)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aaron Phillip Wolf (ウルフ・アロン, Urufu Aron; Japanese surname: Kimura (木村); born 25 February 1996) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former judoka.[2] He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current NEVER Openweight Champion in his second reign.
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As a judoka, he won a gold medal at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest and a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He is the son of a Japanese mother and an American father.[3] He retired from judo in June 2025 to pursue a professional wrestling career and signed with NJPW.
Judo career
Wolf became the first athlete of U.S. descent to win the All-Japan Judo Championships with his victory on 29 April 2019. On 15 May 2019 he was promoted to 5th dan.
Wolf qualified to represent Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics,[4] and won the gold medal in the 100 kg competition at the 2020 Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan.[5]
Wolf retired from Judo competition in June 2025.[6]
Professional wrestling career
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2025–present)
On June 22, 2025, Wolf started his professional wrestling career by signing and training with the promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW); it was also announced that he would make his in-ring debut at Wrestle Kingdom 20.[7] He appeared at King of Pro-Wrestling on October 13, attacking members of House of Torture after their leader, Evil, won the NEVER Openweight Championship.[8]
At Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4, 2026, Wolf defeated Evil to win the title in his debut match,[9] but lost it to new House of Torture leader Ren Narita on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka.[10] The following month, Wolf was eliminated by Don Fale in the first round of the New Japan Cup,[11] but defeated him in a rematch on Night 1 of Wrestling Dontaku on May 3.[12] At Dominion 6.14 in Osaka-jo Hall on June 14, Wolf regained the NEVER Openweight Championship from Narita.[13] On June 23, Wolf defeated Yoshi-Hashi to qualify for the B-Block in his first G1 Climax tournament.[14]
