Wrestle Kingdom

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Wrestle Kingdom is a professional wrestling event produced annually by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), a Japan-based professional wrestling promotion.

Wrestle Kingdom
PromotionsNew Japan Pro-Wrestling
First eventWrestle Kingdom I

Since 1992, NJPW has held the January 4 Tokyo Dome Show. The January 4 Tokyo Dome Show became NJPW's premier annual event and the biggest event in Japanese wrestling, similar to what WrestleMania is for WWE and American professional wrestling. It has been described as "the largest professional wrestling show in the world outside of the United States" and the "Japanese equivalent to the Super Bowl".[1][2] From 1992 to 2006, the event was promoted under different names. In 2007, the event was rebranded as Wrestle Kingdom which has been the event name ever since.

From 2007 until 2019, Wrestle Kingdom was held on January 4 on Tokyo Dome, but the show expanded to two nights in 2020. Wrestle Kingdom 14 was the first one to include matches on January 5, and further expanded to include a third night (January 8) in 2022.

Wrestle Kingdom VI drew the highest single-day attendance since the annual event was branded as Wrestle Kingdom, at 43,000.[3] Counting events held over two nights, Wrestle Kingdom 14 had the highest overall attendance, with 40,008 announced for night one[4] and 30,063 for night two,[5] a total of 70,071 attendees.

The lowest attendance was for Wrestle Kingdom 15, held under attendance restrictions due to COVID-19; NJPW announced an attendance of 12,689 for the first night and 7,801 for the second.[6] Prior to COVID-19, the Wrestle Kingdom I and Wrestle Kingdom V events drew the lowest unofficial gates, with only 18,000 in attendance.[7]

Events[edit]

# Event Date City Venue Main Event Ref
1 Wrestle Kingdom I January 4, 2007 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome Keiji Muto and Masahiro Chono vs. Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) [8][9][10]
2 Wrestle Kingdom II January 4, 2008 Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship [11][12][13][14]
3 Wrestle Kingdom III January 4, 2009 Keiji Muto (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship [15][16][17][18][19]
4 Wrestle Kingdom IV January 4, 2010 Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Yoshihiro Takayama for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship [20][21][22][23]
5 Wrestle Kingdom V January 4, 2011 Satoshi Kojima (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship [24][25][26][27]
6 Wrestle Kingdom VI January 4, 2012 Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Minoru Suzuki for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship [28][29][30][31][32]
7 Wrestle Kingdom 7 January 4, 2013 Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship [33][34][26][35]
8 Wrestle Kingdom 8 January 4, 2014 Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship [36][37][38][26][39]
9 Wrestle Kingdom 9 January 4, 2015 Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship [40][41][42][43]
10 Wrestle Kingdom 10 January 4, 2016 Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship [44][45][46][47]
11 Wrestle Kingdom 11 January 4, 2017 Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship [48][49][50]
12 Wrestle Kingdom 12 January 4, 2018 Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship [51][52]
13 Wrestle Kingdom 13 January 4, 2019 Kenny Omega (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship [53]
14 Wrestle Kingdom 14 January 4, 2020 Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship [54]
January 5, 2020 Kazuchika Okada (Heavyweight) vs. Tetsuya Naito (Intercontinental) in a Double Gold Dash match for both the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship
15 Wrestle Kingdom 15 January 4, 2021 Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kota Ibushi for both the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship [55]
January 5, 2021 Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Jay White for both the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship
16 Wrestle Kingdom 16 January 4, 2022 Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship [56]
January 5, 2022 Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Will Ospreay for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
January 8, 2022 Yokohama, Japan Yokohama Arena Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Keiji Muto and Kaito Kiyomiya
17 Wrestle Kingdom 17 January 4, 2023 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome Jay White (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship [57]
January 21, 2023 Yokohama, Japan Yokohama Arena Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenoh
18 Wrestle Kingdom 18 January 4, 2024 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome Sanada (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship [58][59]
(c) - refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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  5. ^ "2020.01.05 WRESTLE KINGDOM in TOKYO DOME night 2". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. January 5, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
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  56. ^ "Wrestle Kingdom 16 set to start 2022 in the Tokyo Dome and Yokohama Arena!". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  57. ^ "【緊急決定！】2023年1月4日（水）『WRESTLE KINGDOM 17』東京ドーム大会が開催！ 1月5日（木）は『NEW YEAR DASH!!』大田区総合体育館大会！". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  58. ^ @njpw1972 (July 5, 2023). "【特報！】2024年1月4日（木）東京ドーム『WRESTLE KINGDOM 18 in TOKYO DOME』の開催が決定！詳細は後日発表となります！#njwk18 #WRESTLEKINGDOM18" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  59. ^ Carey, Ian (July 5, 2023). "NJPW officially announces Wrestle Kingdom 18, reveals logo". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved July 6, 2023.

External links[edit]

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