Shota Umino Names AEW Dream Opponents While Preparing for Gabe Kidd Defense

Shota Umino, fresh off retaining the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship over PAC at Forbidden Door, has voiced a wish list of AEW challengers he’d like to face while carrying the belt. Slated to defend against Gabe Kidd at NJPW’s July 6 Korakuen Hall show, Umino said victories over the likes of the Death Riders, Will Ospreay, David Finlay, Jay White, Chris Jericho and Kazuchika Okada would elevate both his own profile and the Global title — a strap introduced in 2024 that Umino became the eighth holder of after winning a three-way at Dominion.

Umino also reiterated interest in a match with former mentor Jon Moxley after a brief, unresolved interaction at Forbidden Door, and named NJPW’s Drilla Moloney as another desirable challenger. The Kidd match was moved from Forbidden Door to Korakuen due to Kidd’s U.S. visa issues, which also leave him off the opening night of the G1 in Chicago on July 11; both men are entered in the tournament’s B Block.

Originally reported by Wrestling Observer: https://www.f4wonline.com/news/new-japan/shota-umino-names-aew-dream-opponents/.