NJPW English Commentator Chris Charlton Suspended by NJPW After Anti-AEW Comments Incident at Wrestle Dynasty

Sunday’s NJPW x AEW Wrestle Dynasty event at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan featured Kenny Omega making his official in-ring return in a singles match against Gabe Kidd. This match was notable for NJPW English commentator Chris Charlton making several anti-AEW related comments that were controversial in nature. Among the comments made by Charlton during his rant during the match included him calling AEW CEO Tony Khan a “money mark” as an insult and claiming AEW just takes away all of NJPW’s big stars. This led to NJPW and AEW officials Rocky Romero, who was also on commentary, trying to steer the match commentary back on track and defuse any potential heat.

Charlton was noticeably absent from Monday’s New Year Dash 2025 show and was filled in by TJP to help out NJPW lead English commentator Walker Stewart.

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that the reason why Charlton was absent from Monday’s show was due to him being punished by NJPW officials over his comments. Meltzer reported that Charlton is currently on an “indefinite hiatus” from the company as a result.

Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported that his sources confirmed Charlton was punished and provided additional details.

Sapp reported that those spoken to stated that Charlton’s punishment is not an “indefinite hiatus” but instead a two-month suspension.

Sapp also reported that the general reaction backstage was mixed with some being in support of Charlton while others had felt that his comments were inappropriate.

Sapp also reported that Khan was not even aware of the comments being made by Charlton when he watched the show live due to he was watching the Japanese language feed. Those spoken to reportedly within NJPW stated that neither AEW nor Khan were involved in the decision but those within AEW were displeased with Charlton’s remarks.