Wrestle Kingdom 14

Last updated
Wrestle Kingdom 14
WrestleKingdom 14.jpg
Promotional poster featuring Jushin Thunder Liger
Promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling
DateJanuary 4–5, 2020
City Tokyo, Japan
Venue Tokyo Dome
AttendanceNight 1: 40,008 [1]
Night 2: 30,063 [2]
Combined: 70,071
Tagline(s)Liger the Final
Pinnacle of Strength, Birthplace of Legend [3]
Event chronology
← Previous
NJPW Showdown
Road to Tokyo Dome		Next →
New Year Dash!!
Wrestle Kingdom chronology
← Previous
13 		Next →
15

Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome was a two-night professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on January 4 and 5, 2020, at the Tokyo Dome, in Tokyo, Japan. It was the 29th January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the 14th promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom name; it was also the first time the event was held over two days.

Contents

The main event of night one saw Kazuchika Okada defeat Kota Ibushi to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. In other prominent matches during night one, Tetsuya Naito defeated Jay White to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, the returning Hiromu Takahashi defeated Will Ospreay to capture the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, Jon Moxley defeated Lance Archer in a Texas Death match to regain the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship and FinJuice (Juice Robinson and David Finlay) defeated the Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.

In night two's main event, Naito defeated Okada in a Double Gold Dash match; which was promoted as a Double Gold Dash, for both the IWGP Heavyweight and the IWGP Intercontinental championships. In other notable matches, Chris Jericho defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jay White defeated Kota Ibushi, Hirooki Goto won the NEVER Openweight Championship from Kenta, Jon Moxley successfully defended the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Juice Robinson, Zack Sabre Jr. retained the British Heavyweight Championship against Sanada and Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) defeated Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo) to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. The event also saw the retirement match of wrestling legend Jushin Thunder Liger.

Production

Background

The January 4 Tokyo Dome Show is NJPW's biggest annual event and has been called "the largest professional wrestling show in the world outside of the United States" and the "Japanese equivalent to the Super Bowl". [4] [5] The show has been promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom name since 2007. [6]

Wrestle Kingdom 14 was officially announced at Wrestle Kingdom 13 on January 4, 2019. It was the first January 4 Tokyo Dome Show to be held over two days. [7]

On December 24, 2019, NJPW's sister promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom announced that they would have a match on the January 4 event. [8] This marked the first women's match in Wrestle Kingdom history.

Storylines

Wrestle Kingdom 14 featured professional wrestling matches that will involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. [9]

On March 7, 2019, it was announced that Wrestle Kingdom 14 would feature the retirement match of NJPW's junior heavyweight legend Jushin Thunder Liger, [10] who wrestled in the opening televised match at the first January 4 Tokyo Dome Show in 1992. [11]

On August 12, 2019, Kota Ibushi won the G1 Climax 29 by defeating Jay White in the tournament final, entitling him to a match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom. [12] On night eighteen of the G1 Climax, White defeated Tetsuya Naito to advanced to the final. [13] On September 22 at Destruction in Kobe, White defeated Naito to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. [14] During the year; Ibushi, Naito and White all stated their intentions to become double champion at Wrestle Kingdom. On November 3 at Power Struggle, after White's Intercontinental Championship match; Okada, Ibushi, White and Naito came to the ring where Okada suggested to have a fan vote to check if the NJPW fans wanted to see a double title match for both the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental championships as the main event of night two at Wrestle Kingdom. [15] NJPW held a public poll the next day, where the fans voted in favor for a double title match. [16] On November 5, an IWGP Intercontinental Championship match between White and Naito for night 1 and the double title match for night 2 was scheduled. With the losers of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship matches on night 1, facing off in a match on the night 2. [17]

On July 7, 2018, Hiromu Takahashi suffered a neck injury during his title defense for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Dragon Lee at the G1 Special in San Francisco. [18] On August 20, NJPW stripped Takahashi of the title as he would not be able to defend the title and would have been out of action for 9–12 months. [19] On June 5, 2019, Will Ospreay won the Best of the Super Juniors by defeating Shingo Takagi in the final, [20] and later captured the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall on June 9. [21] At Power Struggle, after Ospreay defended the title against Bushi, Ospreay issued an invitation to anyone in the Junior Heavyweight division to a match at Wrestle Kingdom for the title which was answered by a returning Takahashi. [15] The match was officially scheduled by NJPW on November 5. [22]

At Dominion, Chris Jericho faced Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, which Jericho lost. After the match, Jericho attacked Okada, which led Hiroshi Tanahashi to come to Okada's aide; when Jericho left the ring he insulted Tanahashi. [21] At Power Struggle, after Tanahashi and Ibushi defeated Chaos' Okada and Yoshi-Hashi in a tag team match, a video of Jericho was played to Tanahashi, where Jericho challenged Tanahashi to a match at Wrestle Kingdom on January 5, which Tanahashi accepted. [15] At the final night World Tag League tournament, another video of Jericho was played to Tanahashi. [23] In a later interview with Tokyo Sports , Tanahashi expressed interest in challenging for Jericho's AEW World Championship if he happened to beat him. [24] [25] On December 28, 2019, via Jericho's Instagram, it was announced that Jericho conferred with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) founder, president, and CEO Tony Khan, and Khan granted a future title shot, should Tanahashi win. [26]

On December 8, 2019, after the final match in the World Tag League tournament fought by Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki, Jon Moxley appeared, to challenge Archer, demanding a Texas Death match for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. [23] The match rules were later clarified by NJPW: no disqualification rules, and the victory would come only by knockout or submission. [27] The winner of the Texas Death match would then go on to face Juice Robinson for the title on night two. [28]

Event

Night 1

Other on-screen personnel
Role:Name:
English Commentators Gino Gambino
Kevin Kelly
Chris Charlton
Rocky Romero
Japanese CommentatorsShinpei Nogami
Milano Collection A.T.
Katsuhiko Kanazawa
Kazuyoshi Sakai
Togi Makabe (Guest)
Ring announcers Hidekazu Tanaka (Jushin Thunder Liger's match)
Kimihiko Ozaki
Makoto Abe
Referees Norio Honaga (Jushin Thunder Liger's match)
Kenta Sato
Marty Asami
Red Shoes Unno
Tiger Hattori

Dark match

Prior to the televised portion of the event, World Wonder Ring Stardom wrestlers Mayu Iwatani and Arisa Hoshiki defeated Hana Kimura and Giulia in a Stardom Special tag team match. [8]

Pre-show

Before the official start of the event, two matches occurred on the pre-show, the first of which pitted Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks, and Toa Henare against Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma), Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura in an eight-man tag team match. In the end, Henare slammed Tsuji with the "TOA Bottom" to win the match for his team. [29]

In the second and last match on the pre-show, Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) faced Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi. In the match's climax, Kojima pinned Nakanishi after a lariat. [29]

Preliminary matches

The event saw Jushin Thunder Liger's final match Jushin Thunder Liger.JPG
The event saw Jushin Thunder Liger's final match

The actual pay-per-view opened with an eight-man tag team match with Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, and Ryusuke Taguchi (accompanied by Kuniaki Kobayashi) facing Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke, and Tiger Mask IV (accompanied by El Samurai). Norio Honaga served as the special guest referee. In the end, Taguchi hit Liger with a "Dodon" to win the match. [29]

Next, Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) took on Los Ingobernables de Japón (Sanada, Evil, Shingo Takagi, and Bushi) in another eight-man tag team match. Sabre Jr. forced Bushi to submit to the "Jim Breaks Armbar" to gain the victory for Suzuki-gun. [29]

Afterwards, Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano) faced Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, Kenta and Yujiro Takahashi). In the end, Goto performed the "GTR" on Takahashi to win. [29]

In the following match, the Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa, accompanied by Jado) defended the IWGP Tag Team Championship against FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson). Despite interference from Jado, Finlay and Robinson managed to recover. Finlay performed a "Acid Drop" on Tonga to win the titles for the first time. [29]

Following this, Lance Archer defended the IWGP United States Championship against Jon Moxley in a Texas Deathmatch. After the use of multiple weapons, including steel chairs, kendo sticks and trash cans, Moxley performed a "Death Rider" from the ring apron through multiple tables, allowing Moxley to win by knockout, capturing the title for the second time in the process. [29]

The next match was for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, with champion Will Ospreay defending the title against challenger Hiromu Takahashi. In the match's climax, Takahashi performed a "Canadian Destroyer" for a near fall. Takahashi then performed a "Time Bomb" for another near fall. Takahashi then hit a "Time Bomb II", the debut of his new finishing move, on Ospreay for the victory.

Next, Jay White (accompanied by Gedo) defended the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Tetsuya Naito. In the end, Naito performed a modified "Brainbuster" and a "Destino" for the pinfall victory. With this win, Naito became a record-tying five time IWGP Intercontinental Champion. [29]

Main event

In the main event of night 1, Kazuchika Okada defeated Kota Ibushi to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship Kazuchika Okada 2015.JPG
In the main event of night 1, Kazuchika Okada defeated Kota Ibushi to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship

The main event saw Kazuchika Okada defend the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against G1 Climax winner Kota Ibushi. In the match's closing moments, Okada avoided a "Phoenix Splash" before hitting Ibushi with a "Rainmaker" for a near-fall. Ibushi came back with a running knee strike to Okada's face, but Okada quickly recovered and performed a sit-out "Tombstone Piledriver" and another "Rainmaker" to win and retain the championship. [29]

Night 2

Other on-screen personnel
Role:Name:
English CommentatorsGino Gambino
Kevin Kelly
Chris Charlton
Rocky Romero
Japanese CommentatorsShinpei Nogami
Milano Collection A.T.
Yasutaro Matsuki
Miki Motoi
Togi Makabe (Guest)
Ring announcers Kimihiko Ozaki
Makoto Abe
Referees Jeremy Marcus (Pre-show)
Kenta Sato
Tiger Hattori
Marty Asami
Red Shoes Unno

Pre-show

On the pre-show, The Most Violent Players (Togi Makabe and Toru Yano) and Ryusuke Taguchi defended the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship against Los Ingobernables de Japón (Evil, Shingo Takagi, and Bushi), Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi, and Robbie Eagles), Suzuki-gun (Taichi, El Desperado, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) and Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, and Chase Owens) in a five-team gauntlet match. Bullet Club was eliminated when Ishii pinned Owens after slamming him with a "Brainbuster". Suzuki-gun was eliminated when Eagles pinned Kanemaru with a roll-up. Chaos was eliminated after Evil performed the "Darkness Falls" on Ishii. Makabe, Yano and Taguchi were eliminated when Takagi performed "Made in Japan" on Taguchi, therefore winning the match and the titles for Los Ingobernables de Japón. [30]

Preliminary matches

Tetsuya Naito defeated Kazuchika Okada in the main event of night 2, to become the first man to hold the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship simultaneously Tetsuya Naito 2016.JPG
Tetsuya Naito defeated Kazuchika Okada in the main event of night 2, to become the first man to hold the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship simultaneously

The show started with Jushin Thunder Liger and Naoki Sano (accompanied by Yoshiaki Fujiwara) taking on Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee. This was Liger's retirement match. The match ended when Takahashi performed the "Time Bomb" on Liger for the victory. After the match, Liger thanked the crowd for their years of support and bowed to them while leaving. [30]

Next, Bullet Club (El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori) defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh). Roppongi 3K won when Sho pinned El Phantasmo after a "Strong X", in the process capturing the tag team titles for the fourth time. [30]

Following this, the British Heavyweight Championship was on the line as champion Zack Sabre Jr. defended the championship against Sanada. The match ended when Sabre Jr. countered a "O'Connor Roll" into a European Clutch, scoring the win and retaining the title. [30]

After that match, Jon Moxley defended the IWGP United States Championship against Juice Robinson (accompanied by David Finlay). In the match's climax, Moxley countered a "Pulp Friction facebuster" from Robinson into a "Death Rider DDT", before picking Robinson up again and performing another of the same DDT for the victory. After the match, Moxley was attacked by Minoru Suzuki. [30]

After this, Kenta defended the NEVER Openweight Championship against Hirooki Goto. Goto performed the "GTR" on Kenta for the victory and the championship. [30]

The next match pitted Jay White (accompanied by Gedo) against Kota Ibushi. After heavy interference from Gedo, White eventually performed the "Blade Runner" on Ibushi to win the match via pinfall. Following the match, White and Gedo continued to attack Ibushi before leaving. [30]

In the penultimate match, Chris Jericho took on Hiroshi Tanahashi. If Tanahashi was to defeat Jericho, he would receive a match for Jericho's AEW World Championship at a later date. The match ended when Tanahashi attempted a diving crossbody, but Jericho countered it into a "Codebreaker". Jericho then applied the "Liontamer" and forced Tanahashi to submit to win the match. [30]

Main event

In the main event, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada faced IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito in a Double Gold Dash match for both of the championships. During the match's climax, Naito countered a "Rainmaker" into a "Destino" for a near-fall. Naito later attempted another "Destino", but Okada prevented it. After finally hitting his old "Stardust Press" finisher, Naito eventually performed another "Destino" for the victory and both championships. After the match, Naito indicated that he wanted another match with Okada as Okada was being helped to the back. Shortly after, Naito was jumped by Kenta. Los Ingobernables de Japón teammate Bushi then arrived and helped Naito walk backstage as the show ended. [30]

Results

Night 1
No.Results [31] StipulationsTimes [1]
1D Stars (Mayu Iwatani and Arisa Hoshiki) defeated Hana Kimura and Giulia (with Jungle Kyona and Konami) Tag team match [8]
This was a Stardom exhibition match. [32] 		9:04
2P Toa Henare, Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors and Alex Coughlin defeated Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma), Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura Eight-man tag team match [33] 7:36
3P Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) defeated Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi Tag team match [33] 5:47
4 Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Ryusuke Taguchi (with Kuniaki Kobayashi) defeated Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke and Tiger Mask (with El Samurai) Eight-man tag team match with Norio Honaga as special guest referee [34] 8:52
5 Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, Taichi and El Desperado) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japón (Sanada, Evil, Shingo Takagi and Bushi) by submission Eight-man tag team match 8:39
6 Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and Yoshi-Hashi) defeated Bullet Club (Kenta, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens) (with Pieter) Eight-man tag team match 8:17
7 FinJuice (Juice Robinson and David Finlay) defeated Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) (c) (with Jado) Tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship 13:25
8 Jon Moxley defeated Lance Archer (c) by knockout Texas Death match for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship
Victory could only be attained by ten-count knockout or submission. [27] 		14:26
9 Hiromu Takahashi defeated Will Ospreay (c) Singles match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship 24:33
10 Tetsuya Naito defeated Jay White (c) (with Gedo) Singles match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship 33:54
11 Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Kota Ibushi Singles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship [35] 39:16
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
D – this was a dark match
P – the match was broadcast on the pre-show
    Night 2
    No.Results [28] StipulationsTimes [2]
    1P Los Ingobernables de Japón (Evil, Shingo Takagi and Bushi) defeated Taguchi Japan (Togi Makabe, Toru Yano and Ryusuke Taguchi) (c), Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi and Robbie Eagles), Suzuki-gun (Taichi, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) and Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens) Gauntlet match for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship [33] 19:34
    2 Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee defeated Jushin Thunder Liger and Naoki Sano (with Yoshiaki Fujiwara) Tag team match
    This was Jushin Thunder Liger's retirement match. [36]     		12:16
    3 Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) (with Rocky Romero) defeated Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo) (c) Tag team match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 14:08
    4 Zack Sabre Jr. (c) defeated Sanada Singles match for the British Heavyweight Championship 12:32
    5 Jon Moxley (c) defeated Juice Robinson (with David Finlay) Singles match for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship 12:48
    6 Hirooki Goto defeated Kenta (c) Singles match for the NEVER Openweight Championship 16:12
    7 Jay White (with Gedo) defeated Kota Ibushi Singles match 24:58
    8 Chris Jericho defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi by submission Singles match
    Had Tanahashi won, he would've received a match for Jericho's AEW World Championship. [26]     		22:24
    9 Tetsuya Naito (IWGP Intercontinental) defeated Kazuchika Okada (IWGP Heavyweight) Double Gold Dash match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship [37] [38] 35:37
    (c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
    P – the match was broadcast on the pre-show

      Six-man tag team gauntlet match eliminations

      EliminatedTeamWrestlerEnteredEliminated byMethodTime
      1 Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens)Owens1 Ishii Pinfall3:40
      2 Suzuki-gun (Taichi, El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru)Kanemaru3 Eagles Pinfall3:54
      3 Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi and Robbie Eagles)Ishii2 Evil Pinfall5:52
      4 Taguchi Japan (Togi Makabe, Toru Yano and Ryusuke Taguchi)Taguchi5 Takagi Pinfall6:08
      Winners Los Ingobernables de Japón (Evil, Shingo Takagi and Bushi)4—

      See also

      Related Research Articles

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiroshi Tanahashi</span> Japanese professional wrestler

      Hiroshi Tanahashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, sports executive and podcaster. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he serves as the president and representative director of the promotion, and is also an active wrestler, being one third of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions alongside Toru Yano and Oleg Boltin.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Kota Ibushi</span> Japanese professional wrestler

      Kota Ibushi is a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist who is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his tenure with New Japan-Pro Wrestling (NJPW).

      The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The championship was created on March 1, 2021, by the unification of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The current champion is Jon Moxley, who is in his first reign.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetsuya Naito</span> Japanese professional wrestler

      Tetsuya Naito is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the leader of the Los Ingobernables de Japón stable.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaos (professional wrestling)</span> Professional wrestling stable

      Chaos is a professional wrestling stable, primarily performing in the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion and All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The group was formed in 2009, when nearly all the members of the Great Bash Heel (G.B.H) stable turned on leader Togi Makabe and reformed under new leader Shinsuke Nakamura. Soon after, the new group was named Chaos, with Nakamura as the leader. As the leader of Chaos, Nakamura was one of NJPW's top wrestlers, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship as well as the 2011 G1 Climax and the 2014 New Japan Cup.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Evil (wrestler)</span> Japanese professional wrestler

      Takaaki Watanabe, better known by his ring name Evil, is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of Bullet Club and the leader of its sub-group House of Torture.

      <i>Los Ingobernables de Japon</i> Professional wrestling stable

      Los Ingobernables de Japón, also shortened to L.I.J. or Los Ingos, is a Japanese professional wrestling stable, based in the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion and led by Tetsuya Naito. An offshoot of the Mexican stable Los Ingobernables from the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion, the group was formed in November 2015 by Naito, Bushi and Evil, but came to also include Sanada, Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, Titán and Yota Tsuji. Through NJPW's working relationship with other companies, they have also appeared in CMLL and in the American Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay White</span> New Zealand professional wrestler

      Jamie White, better known by the ring name Jay White, is a New Zealand-Dutch professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of Bullet Club Gold with stablemates The Gunns and Juice Robinson. With the Gunns, White is currently one-third of the Unified World Trios Champions in their first reign. Prior to signing with AEW, White had a decorated career in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as the first ever NJPW Grand Slam Champion.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship</span> Professional wrestling championship

      The IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" are the initials of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The final champion was Will Ospreay, who was in his second reign at the time of the title's deactivation. On December 11, 2023, the title was replaced by the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Power Struggle (2017)</span> 2017 New Japan Pro-Wrestling event

      Power Struggle (2017) was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on November 5, 2017, in Osaka, Osaka, at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium. It was the seventh event under the Power Struggle name. The event featured ten matches, headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Kota Ibushi.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Wrestle Kingdom 12</span> 2018 New Japan Pro-Wrestling event

      Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on January 4, 2018, at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It was the 27th January 4 Tokyo Dome Show.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall (2018)</span> 2018 New Japan Pro-Wrestling event

      Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on June 9, 2018, at the Osaka-jō Hall, in Osaka. It is the tenth event under the Dominion name and the fourth in a row to take place at the Osaka-jō Hall.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Wrestle Kingdom 13</span> 2019 New Japan Pro-Wrestling event

      Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome was a professional wrestling event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on January 4, 2019 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It was the twenty-eighth January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the thirteenth promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom name. The event was streamed live on NJPW World and FITE TV and was aired on tape delay on AXS TV.

      King of Pro-Wrestling was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The event took place on October 8, 2018 at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. This was the seventh event under the King of Pro-Wrestling branding.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall (2019)</span> 2019 New Japan Pro-Wrestling event

      Domination 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on June 9, 2019, in Osaka, Osaka, at the Osaka-jō Hall and was the eleventh event under the Dominion name and fifth in a row to take place at the Osaka-jō Hall.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">New Year Dash!! (2020)</span> 2020 professional wrestling event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling

      New Year Dash!! (2020) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It took place on January 6, 2020, one day after Wrestle Kingdom 14.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">The New Beginning in Osaka (2020)</span> Japanese professional wrestling show

      The New Beginning in Osaka (2020) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It took place on February 9, 2020 at the Osaka-jō Hall in Osaka, Japan.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Wrestle Kingdom 15</span> 2021 professional wrestling event

      Wrestle Kingdom 15 in Tokyo Dome was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place over two nights, on January 4 and 5, 2021 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It was the 30th January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the 15th promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom name.

      The New Beginning in Nagoya was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on January 30, 2021 in Nagoya, Aichi at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. This was the thirtieth event promoted under the NJPW The New Beginning name and the first to be held in Nagoya.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Wrestle Kingdom 18</span> 2024 New Japan Pro-Wrestling event

      Wrestle Kingdom 18 was a professional wrestling event promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on January 4, 2024, at the Tokyo Dome, in Tokyo, Japan. It was the 33rd January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the 18th promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom name. Wrestlers from NJPW partner promotions All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) were featured at the event. This was the first Wrestle Kingdom event to feature Hiroshi Tanahashi as the new president of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. This was the first Wrestle Kingdom since Wrestle Kingdom 13 to have a one-night format, as the previous Wrestle Kingdoms had been held across multiple nights in a row.

      References

      1. 1 2 "2020.01.04 WRESTLE KINGDOM in TOKYO DOME night 1". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. January 4, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
      2. 1 2 "2020.01.05 WRESTLE KINGDOM in TOKYO DOME night 2". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. January 5, 2020. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
      3. ↑ "WRESTLE KINGDOM 14 official website launches today!【WK14】". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
      4. ↑ "GFW News: New Japan Pro Wrestling "Wrestle Kingdom 9" press conference details". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. December 23, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
      5. ↑ Keller, Wade (December 13, 2016). "New Japan's WrestleKingdom 11 to air on AXS TV starting Jan. 13 in four weekly special episodes with Ross & Barnett on commentary". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
      6. ↑ Hoops, Brian (January 4, 2017). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (01/04): NJPW Tokyo Dome cards". Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Retrieved August 25, 2017.
      7. ↑ "Big matches in 2019 are now announced!!". New Japan Pro-Wrestling . January 4, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
      8. 1 2 3 Jeremy Lambert (December 24, 2019). "Stardom Talent To Compete At NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14". Fightful. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
      9. ↑ Grabianowski, Ed (13 January 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications . Retrieved October 9, 2017.
      10. ↑ Rose, Bryan (March 6, 2019). "Jushin Thunder Liger to retire at Tokyo Dome in January". F4WOnline. Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Retrieved August 6, 2019.
      11. ↑ "Super Warriors in Tokyo Dome". ProWrestlingHistory.com. January 4, 1992. Retrieved April 13, 2010.
      12. ↑ "2019.08.12 G1 CLIMAX 29 Night 19 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". New Japan Pro-Wrestling . Retrieved August 12, 2019.
      13. ↑ "2019.08.11 G1 CLIMAX 29 Night 18 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". New Japan Pro-Wrestling . Retrieved August 12, 2019.
      14. ↑ "2019.09.22 Destruction in Kobe". New Japan Pro-Wrestling . Retrieved September 24, 2019.
      15. 1 2 3 "NJPW Power Struggle 2019". Fightful. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
      16. ↑ "What do fans think about the 'Double Gold Dash'?". New Japan Pro-Wrestling . November 4, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
      17. ↑ New Japan Pro-Wrestling on Twitter
      18. ↑ "WOR: Hiromu, Hodge, UFC Lesnar, G-1 special, King of Indies, more!". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. June 8, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
      19. ↑ "The Junior IWGP throne is vacant. KUSHIDA, BUSHI, Ospreay, and Scurll have all entered the Junior Heavyweight championship tournament!". New Japan Pro-Wrestling . August 20, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
      20. ↑ "2019.06.03 BEST OF THE SUPER Jr.26 FINAL Night15 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". New Japan Pro-Wrestling . Retrieved June 5, 2019.
      21. 1 2 "DOMINION 6.9 in OSAKA-JO HALL". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
      22. ↑ "Takahashi and Will Ospreay go face to face at WK14 Press Conference". New Japan Pro-Wrestling . November 5, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
      23. 1 2 Renner, Ethan (December 7, 2019). "NJPW World Tag League finals live results: Winners are crowned". Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Retrieved December 9, 2019.
      24. ↑ "【新日本】棚橋が米ＡＥＷとの禁断の扉を開く！！ １・５東京ドームでジェリコと激突 – 東京スポーツ新聞社". 東スポＷeb – 東京スポーツ新聞社 (in Japanese). 23 December 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
      25. ↑ "411MANIA". NJPW News: Hiroshi Tanahashi Thinks Chris Jericho Should Put Up AEW World Title In Possible Rematch, Jericho NJPW Recount Video. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
      26. 1 2 "Chris Jericho on Instagram: "Getting ready to fly to #Tokyo on my private jet and I read your comments in #TokyoSports! And I agree...if you can beat me in the…"". Instagram. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
      27. 1 2 "NJPW CONFIRMS RULES FOR ARCHER VS. MOXLEY TEXAS DEATH MATCH". f4wonline.com. Figure Four Weekly. December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
      28. 1 2 "Full card set for Night Two of Wrestle Kingdom 14! 【WK14】". New Japan Pro-Wrestling . Retrieved December 9, 2019.
      29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Powell, Jason (January 4, 2020). "1/4 NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP Jr. Hvt. Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
      30. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Powell, Jason (January 5, 2020). "1/5 NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 night two results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Chris Jericho, Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White, Jushin Liger's final match, Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson for the IWGP U.S. Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
      31. ↑ "Full card set for Night One of Wrestle Kingdom 14! 【WK14】". New Japan Pro-Wrestling . Retrieved December 8, 2019.
      32. ↑ "Wrestle Kingdom 14 January 4, 2020 Tokyo Dome <Dark match> Scheduled to start at 16:00 ◆ Stardom Special Match". We Are Stardom on Twitter. December 24, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
      33. 1 2 3 "Opening Matches added to Wrestle Kingdom 14!【WK14】". New Japan Pro-Wrestling . December 16, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
      34. ↑ "Main event, Liger Retirement match 1 set for Wrestle Kingdom 14 night 1!". NJPW1972.com. New Japan Pro-Wrestling. October 15, 2019. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
      35. ↑ "Could Ibushi get all the gold? The G1 winner makes a proposal for WK14! 【G129】". NJPW1972.com. New Japan Pro-Wrestling. August 13, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019. ... Sugabayashi then signed the contract Kota Ibushi earned as G1 Climax winner, a guarantee of an IWGP Heavyweight Championship match on January 4, 2019 in the main event of night one of Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome. ...'
      36. ↑ "CMLL INFORMA 17 DE JULIO DE 2019". VideosOficialesCMLL on YouTube (in Spanish). July 17, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
      37. ↑ NJPW confirms major title matches at Wrestle Kingdom 14 - 411 Mania.com
      38. ↑ Double Gold Dash and more official for Wrestle Kingdom 14 - Fightful.com
      This page is based on this Wikipedia article
      Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
      Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.