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23-532: In April 1997, following the success of the first Judgement event held on March 25, Sanshiro Takagi , Mikami and Nosawa Rongai left the Pro Wrestling Crusaders promotion to start their own promotion called Dramatic Dream Team with Takagi and Shoichi Ichimiya as owners. In June 2000, the promotion was incorporated as Dramatic Dream Team, Co., Ltd. ( 有限会社ドラマチック・ドリーム・チーム , Yūgen gaisha Doramachikku Dorīmu Chīmu ) and Koichiro Kimura

46-461: A kabushiki gaisha . On January 31, 1999, All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) founder Giant Baba died and left the company to his widow Motoko Baba as owner and Mitsuharu Misawa as president. Disagreements over the proposed direction for the company led Misawa to leave AJPW on May 28, 2000, to form a new promotion called Pro Wrestling Noah . He was followed in this venture by almost the entire AJPW roster. The promotion quickly rose in popularity and

69-503: A Mission , Nana Mizuki , Momoiro Clover Z , Morning Musume , Mr. Children , Nightmare , Kana Nishino , Nogizaka46 , One Ok Rock , Pierrot , PORNOGRAFFITTI , Radwimps , Maaya Sakamoto , Scandal , Ringo Sheena , Siam Shade , Sid , Sound Horizon , Spyair , Hikaru Utada , Vamps , Ling Tosite Sigure , Aimer , and YOASOBI . Some anime projects like Uta no Prince-sama , Love Live! , K-On! , The Idolmaster , and Touken Ranbu have featured in live performances at

92-480: A bantamweight unification bout. On November 4 and 5, 2023, two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu returned to the arena where he had won his first World Figure Skating Championships for his Repray Tour , the first solo ice show tour to be produced in figure skating . It is one of two home arenas of the Saitama Broncos basketball team. In 2000, the arena hosted two NHL hockey games between

115-447: A major martial arts event on New Year's Eve since 2001. The Saitama Super Arena hosted special tapings of WWE Raw , SmackDown , Heat , and Velocity that took place on February 4 and February 5, 2005, and was later broadcast on February 7 and February 10, 2005. The event is famously remembered for the "Kimono Match" that took place between Torrie Wilson and Hiroko Suzuki (a Japanese native who would later be elected to

138-534: A more intimate setting. It is a favorite venue for puroresu (Japanese professional wrestling ) and mixed martial arts (MMA). It has also hosted other sports events such as boxing , basketball , volleyball , tennis , ice hockey , and gymnastics . It is the only Japanese arena equipped especially for American football . It formerly housed the John Lennon Museum , which displayed John Lennon memorabilia and closed in 2010. The arena has hosted

161-630: A press conference was held to announce Ganbare Pro-Wrestling would become independent from CyberFight at the end of March, with the final GanPro event under the CyberFight umbrella to be held on March 28. On May 16, 2024, it was announced that Takagi would be stepping down as president of CyberFight to assume the position of executive vice president on June 1, and the new president become Yasuo Okamoto . Judgement (1997) Judgement , also known as DDT Pro Launching Battle Judgement ( DDTプレ旗揚げ戦 Judgement , DDT puro hataage-sen jajjimento ) ,

184-664: A scandal revealed that some of the Noah management had had ties to a Yakuza syndicate between 2003 and 2010. As part of the fallout, Noah lost its TV show. In the years that followed, many major stars such as Kenta Kobashi , Kenta and Jun Akiyama left the company. On October 1, 2016, it was announced that Noah had been purchased by IT company Estbee, Co., Ltd. As a result, former AJPW president Masayuki Uchida replaced Taue as president. On November 7, Estbee changed its legal name to Noah Global Entertainment, Inc. ( ノア・グローバルエンタテインメント株式会社 , Noa Gurōbaru Entateinmento Kabushiki gaisha ) . At

207-554: The COVID-19 pandemic . Sanshiro Takagi was named as president of the promotion and he established a plan of running events at the Tokyo Dome and overtaking NJPW in popularity. It was also revealed that the Noah and DDT brands would not be retired and would maintain their unique and current brand names, logos, etc. and would act as two separate brands within CyberFight. On June 6, 2021, CyberFight held its first event promoted under

230-594: The CyberAgent company. Sanshiro Takagi remained as the DDT president. On January 28, 2020, it was announced that CyberAgent had purchased Pro Wrestling Noah from Lidet Entertainment. On July 27, 2020, it was announced that Noah, DDT Pro-Wrestling and the DDT Foods company would merge in a new company that would eventually be called CyberFight . The decision came after financial troubles faced by Noah and DDT due in part to

253-737: The Funabashi city council as part of a political career). Hiroko was defeated after losing her kimono, being stripped down to her bra and panties at the hands of Torrie. On November 29, 2009, the arena hosted one of the biggest fights in Japan's history, with WBC Flyweight Champion Daisuke Naito defending his title against Koki Kameda . The arena hosted the Japanese return of the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 26, 2012, for UFC 144 . Other UFC events held in

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276-580: The Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards . The 2014 , 2019 and 2023 World Figure Skating Championships were held at the venue. On New Year's Eve 2018, the arena hosted the exhibition boxing match between former five-division boxing world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa . The arena hosted basketball competitions at 2020 Summer Olympics hosted by Tokyo. Many music events have been held at

299-794: The Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins . In 2003, NBA basketball teams Seattle SuperSonics and the Los Angeles Clippers , played two regular season games. In 2006, the arena hosted the knockout stage of the Basketball World Championship 2006 . In 2019, the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors played two preseason games at the arena. In 2022, the arena again hosted two NBA preseason games, this time between

322-554: The CyberFight name, CyberFight Festival 2021 , at the Saitama Super Arena . On December 15, 2023, the four brands of CyberFight were announced as founding members of the United Japan Pro-wrestling alliance, a joint effort to further develop professional wrestling in Japan through promotion and organization, with Seiji Sakaguchi being named as the chairman of the project. On January 31, 2024,

345-468: The arena include UFC on Fuel TV: Silva vs. Stann on March 3, 2013, UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Nelson on September 20, 2014, as well as UFC Fight Night: Barnett vs. Nelson on September 26, 2015. On November 7, 2019, Japanese bantamweight boxer Naoya Inoue defeated Nonito Donaire at the arena to claim the 2018–19 World Boxing Super Series . On December 29, 2019, the arena hosted Bellator 237 . On June 7, 2022, Naoya Inoue defeated Nonito Donaire in

368-804: The arena. Many international artists have performed at the venue, including Helloween , The Black Eyed Peas , Mariah Carey , Madonna , Janet Jackson , Whitney Houston , Guns N' Roses , Beyoncé , Linkin Park , Ariana Grande , Coldplay , Lady Gaga , Avril Lavigne , Backstreet Boys , Muse , DragonForce , Metallica , Radiohead , AC/DC , Jeff Mills , Taylor Swift , U2 , Iron Maiden , One Direction , Katy Perry , and K-pop acts BoA , TVXQ , Super Junior , BTS , SS501 , Girls' Generation , Kara , Apink , Big Bang , 2PM , F.T. Island , 2NE1 , Shinee , ATEEZ , CNBLUE , Seventeen , Kim Jae-joong , Exo , Twice , NCT 127 , Stray Kids , Iz*One and Treasure . Queen + Paul Rodgers performed there, with

391-412: The end of 2016, relations between Noah and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) reportedly turned "extremely sour" and NJPW pulled all of its wrestlers from Noah. In the months following the end of the relationship, Noah's attendance numbers went down by 29%. On January 29, 2019, Uchida announced that Lidet Entertainment had acquired 75% of Noah's shares. On September 1, 2017, 100% of DDT's shares were sold to

414-497: The scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. [REDACTED] DDT Into The Fight [REDACTED] DDT Judgement [REDACTED] DDT Ultimate Party Saitama Super Arena Saitama Super Arena ( さいたまスーパーアリーナ , Saitama Sūpā Arīna ) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku , Saitama , Saitama Prefecture , Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then

437-558: The venue, including Music Station , Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ , Animelo Summer Live , WIRE, and 'Dream Power' concerts organized by Yoko Ono . Various notable Japanese music acts have performed at the arena, including =Love , Ado , AKB48 , Namie Amuro , B'z , Babymetal , Berryz Kobo , Bump of Chicken , Minori Chihara , fripSide , Masaharu Fukuyama , Gackt , The Gazette , Gen Hoshino , Glay , Ayumi Hamasaki , Tomoyasu Hotei , Janne Da Arc , Kamen Joshi , Mai Kuraki , MAN WITH A MISSION , L'Arc-en-Ciel , Luna Sea , Man with

460-658: Was a professional wrestling event promoted by DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT). It took place on March 25, 1997, in Tokyo, Japan , at the Hibiya Radio City. It was the first event under the Judgement name and also the first ever pay-per-view hosted by DDT. Judgement featured four professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines . Wrestlers portrayed villains , heroes , or less distinguishable characters in

483-467: Was appointed director. In 2003, Ichimiya was appointed representative director . In April 2004, the company changed its name to DDT Pro-Wrestling, Co., Ltd. ( 有限会社DDTプロレスリング , Yūgen gaisha Dī Dī Tī Puroresuringu ) . On December 28, 2005, Ichimiya announced his retirement from professional wrestling and stepped down from his position in the company, leaving Takagi as the sole owner and new president. In 2009, DDT changed its legal form of incorporation to

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506-541: Was even named best promotion in 2004 and 2005, as well as having the best weekly television show in 2003 by the Wrestling Observer . On June 13, 2009, after taking a belly to back suplex from Akitoshi Saito , Misawa lost consciousness in the ring and was taken to a hospital. He was pronounced dead in the hospital later that day due to spinal damage. Two weeks later, Akira Taue was named as Misawa's successor, taking over as president of Noah. In March 2012,

529-474: Was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum capacity is 36,500. The main arena capacity is between 19,000 and 22,500. The arena was designed by Dan Meis , who at the time was working for architecture firm Ellerbe Becket , together with Nikken Sekkei . Meis's design was selected as a result of an international design competition. The arena features a gigantic movable section of seating which can reduce capacity for smaller events and create

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