Misplaced Pages

#639360

63-686: Dynamite Kid and Johnny Smith formed The British Bruisers in Stampede Wrestling in May 1989, after the breakup of The British Bulldogs , feuding with Davey Boy Smith , until the promotion's closure in December 1989. In September 1990, Davey Boy Smith pulled out of the yearly World's Strongest Tag Determination League to return to the World Wrestling Federation . For the upcoming tag league, The British Bruisers reunited, for

126-786: A best-selling trading card game, King of Pro Wrestling , and appearances from NJPW stars in its various franchises. NJPW was affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance at various points in its history. NJPW also had agreements with various MMA and professional wrestling promotions around the world; including WWE , World Championship Wrestling , American Wrestling Association , World Class Championship Wrestling , Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , WAR , Jersey All Pro Wrestling , UWFi , Ring of Honor , Pride Fighting Championships , and All Elite Wrestling . Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s The promotion

189-683: A brutal feud with Johnny Smith in February 1989, after Johnny interfered and attacked Billington, before cutting his hair. On February 2, 1989, the Bulldogs wrestled The Rock 'n' Roll Express to a 30 minute time limit draw refereed by Pat O'Connor for Central States Wrestling in Kansas City, Kansas. On May 5, 1989, the Bulldogs split up in Stampede during a chain match between Dynamite Kid and Johnny Smith. Bulldog Bob Brown interfered in

252-768: A long time. Johnny Smith took Davey Boy Smith's spot in the World's Strongest Tag Determination League, and the duo (known as The British Bruisers ) continued to compete in All-Japan Pro Wrestling. The duo managed to capture the All Asia Tag Team Championship , but the partnership was short-lived; the years of steroid abuse, working a high-impact style and cocaine usage caught up with Billington and he announced his retirement on December 6, 1991, although he did make an occasional comeback, wrestling his last match on 10 October 1996. After

315-452: A loss as Heenan covered Koko for the 3-count. The Bulldogs then feuded with The Rougeau Brothers ( Jacques and Raymond ), which included wrestling the first match at the inaugural SummerSlam event at Madison Square Garden which ended in a time limit (20 minute) draw. The Bulldogs' last pay-per-view appearance was at the 1988 Survivor Series . They wrestled in a twenty-man (ten-team) tag team elimination match. The Powers of Pain won

378-536: A much-publicized April 2003 hospitalization. The British Bulldogs The British Bulldogs were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of cousins Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid . They competed throughout the 1980s in Britain, North America and Japan and have consistently ranked among the top tag teams in history. Both men died prematurely . David Smith and Tom Billington were first cousins from Wigan , England, with Billington's father being

441-481: A new partnership with The Crash Lucha Libre ; both partnerships ended later in 2019. On October 21, 2019, NJPW announced the formation of a new American subsidiary of the company, named New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America (NJoA). In 2019, they had run a record 13 shows in the United States, with plans to run double that in 2020. It was reported at the same time that NJPW and ROH had no joint shows planned for

504-537: A serious back injury during a match in Hamilton, Ontario , forcing him out of the ring for a longer period of time (during this period Smith defended the title with various replacement partners). On January 26, 1987, the Bulldogs lost the title to the Hart Foundation in a match that saw Billington so debilitated that he was carried to the ring by Smith and saw little physical action after being "knocked out" by

567-529: A serious car accident and couldn't compete. Since Smith had trademarked the term "The British Bulldog" during the Bulldogs' previous run in the WWF, he decided to return to the WWF as The British Bulldog and sent people to the United Kingdom to warn the promoter every time a flyer was distributed promoting Billington as a "British Bulldog." As a result of these actions, Billington passionately despised Smith for

630-666: A six-man tag team match teaming with Kuniaki Kobayashi and Dos Caras to defeat Tiger Mask , The Great Sasuke , and Mil Mascaras before needing to use a wheelchair . Smith continued to wrestle in All Japan for another decade winning the All Asia Tag Team Championship a second time in 1998 with Wolf Hawkfield and winning the Unified World Tag Team Championship in 2001 with Taiyo Kea before eventually retiring after

693-577: A year, usually almost winning the tag title. The stage was set for a "final" tag title match at WrestleMania 2 . With "Captain" Lou Albano and Ozzy Osbourne in their corner, the duo won the WWF World Tag Team Championship. The Bulldogs continued their feud with the Dream Team and also defended regularly against the former championship team of The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff . In December 1986, Billington suffered

SECTION 10

#1732793782640

756-498: Is currently owned by card game company Bushiroad , while TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares of the company. Naoki Sugabayashi has served as the promotion's Chairman since September 2013, while Hiroshi Tanahashi has served as the president of the promotion since December 2023. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, NJPW is the largest and longest-running professional wrestling promotion in Japan. Their biggest event

819-543: Is the January 4 Tokyo Dome Show (currently promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom banner) held each year since 1992. In addition to promoting professional wrestling matches, NJPW has also showcased mixed martial arts fights on some of its live events. The promotion was owned by Yuke's from 2005 until 2012. It was then sold to Bushiroad in 2012, which parlayed its entry to the world of professional wrestling into

882-701: The 2020 New Japan Cup as well. World Wonder Ring Stardom is owned by Bushiroad , also made adjustments to their schedule, cancelling shows from February 18 to March 14. Their March 8 show in Korakuen Hall was held without any spectators in attendance, instead streaming live on their YouTube channel. On March 23, NJPW would later cancel the 2020 Sakura Genesis event that was originally scheduled to take place in on March 31. On April 8, NJPW would cancel more events from April 11 through May 4, which mean both nights of 2020 Wrestling Dontaku were cancelled as well. On May 6, NJPW cancelled their annual Best of

945-1002: The KOPW (King of Pro Wrestling) Championship. For tag teams, there is a traditional championship for two-man teams (the IWGP Tag Team Championship ), and one for three-man teams (the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship ). There are two championships in NJPW for junior heavyweight wrestlers - a singles title (the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship ) and one for tag teams (the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship ). In New Japan's United States based NJPW Strong brand, there are two championships for male wrestlers -

1008-868: The NJPW Invasion Tour 2011: Attack on East Coast , the promotion's first tour of the United States to be held in May 2011. The tour featured shows in Rahway, New Jersey on May 13, New York City on May 14 and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 15, as well as cross-promotion with American independent group Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW). As part of the tour, NJPW introduced a new title, the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. On January 31, 2012, Yuke's announced that it had sold all shares of New Japan Pro-Wrestling to card game company Bushiroad for ¥ 500 million ( $ 6.5 million). New Japan aired its first internet pay-per-view ,

1071-578: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as well as holding more shows in Thailand , Singapore , and Taiwan . Also announced was the Lion's Gate Project , which would feature NJPW rookies as well as up-and-coming outsiders working trial matches in an effort to earn a spot in the promotion. Finally, it was announced that there were plans to take the company public with a listing on the stock market within three to five years. On December 21, 2015, NJPW announced

1134-476: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from 1975 to 1985 and once more from 1992 to 1993. NJPW was briefly reaffiliated with the NWA in the late 2000s to the early 2010s as well. On January 4, 1992, NJPW partnered with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to produce Super Warriors , the first ever January 4 Tokyo Dome Show , an event that would become an annual tradition for NJPW and is considered their biggest event of

1197-731: The New Zealand -based Fale Dojo , a pro wrestling training facility run by NJPW performer Bad Luck Fale . NJPW will utilize the partnership as an opportunity to scout talent from Oceania . The following month on April 24, 2017, it was announced that NJPW would co-present the Japanese qualifiers for the Pro Wrestling World Cup tournament hosted by the British What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) promotion. On May 12, 2017, NJPW announced

1260-750: The Strong Openweight Championship for singles wrestlers, and the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship for tag teams. There are two championships for female wrestlers in NJPW, the IWGP Women's Championship and the Strong Women's Championship . As of November 28, 2024. The Greatest 18 Club was New Japan's first hall of fame, being established in 1990 during Antonio Inoki's career 30th anniversary. Additionally, Lou Thesz also debuted

1323-621: The United Center in Chicago, Illinois . During September 2022, NJPW announced NJPW Tamashii , an Oceania-based brand that would stage events throughout the region. On October 1, 2022, NJPW's founder Antonio Inoki died from systemic transthyretin amyloidosis at age 79. On January 4, 2023, NJPW held their Wrestle Kingdom 17 event in Inoki's honor. In October 2023, NJPW and sister promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom established

SECTION 20

#1732793782640

1386-598: The United Japan Pro-Wrestling (UJPW) alliance. The inaugural UJPW event took place on May 6, 2024, in the Nippon Budokan arena. On December 23, NJPW announced that Takami Ohbari had stepped down as the promotion's president, with Hiroshi Tanahashi replacing him as NJPW president and representative director. On April 23, 2024, NJPW announced that it would fully acquire sister promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom on June 28. The acquisition

1449-601: The 1990 WSTL, and they would ultimately finish in 9th place with 6 points. For the rest of 1990 and all of 1991, The Bruisers continued to team in All Japan. For the most part, the Bruisers were used in the midcard and never made challenges for the World Tag Team Championship . On April 6, 1991, the team won their only title when they defeated Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi to win the vacated All Asia Tag Team Championship . The Bruisers would hold

1512-633: The 1991 World's Strongest Tag Determination League. The team would finish in 10th place with 6 points. On December 6, 1991, Dynamite Kid wrestled his retirement match teaming with Smith to defeat Johnny Ace and Sonny Beach . Dynamite's retirement wouldn't last. A year and a half later on July 29, 1993, the Bruisers teamed one last time as they lost to Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Jun Akiyama . Dynamite would continue to wrestle in his native England between January and April 1994. He would wrestle one more time in Japan on October 10, 1996, for Michinoku Pro Wrestling in

1575-479: The American AXS TV network announced it had acquired rights to rebroadcast a series of thirteen episodes of NJPW matches from TV Asahi . The series premiered on January 16, 2015, airing weekly on Fridays. Averaging 200,000 viewers per episode, the show was considered a success, leading to AXS TV and TV Asahi signing a multi-year deal to continue airing the show. In June 2016, the show was also acquired by

1638-681: The Asia Pacific Pro-Wrestling Alliance, an interpromotional governing body that seeks to connect wrestling promotions across Asia. On January 5, 2024, the alliance was renamed the Asia-Pacific Federation of Wrestling (APFW). The inaugural event sanctioned by APFW, NJPW's Wrestling World in Taiwan, took place on April 14 in Taipei . In early December 2023, NJPW was announced as a founding member of

1701-696: The British Bulldogs both in NJPW and Stampede Wrestling. In March 1984, the Bulldogs won the Stampede International Tag Team Championship for the first time. In 1984, the two left NJPW to go to its bitter rival All Japan Pro Wrestling , effectively severing all ties to New Japan. In 1984, Vince McMahon purchased Stampede Wrestling. The buyout meant that the British Bulldogs joined the World Wrestling Federation along with Smith's brother-in-law Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ( The Hart Foundation ). Initially

1764-401: The Bulldogs returned to the ring to continue their feud with the Hart Foundation and Davis (who, in the storyline, cheated to help the Hart Foundation win the title). The teams met at WrestleMania III , where the Bulldogs teamed with Tito Santana to take on the trio. The Harts and Davis won the match when Davis hit Smith with Jimmy Hart's megaphone behind the referee's back and covered him for

1827-563: The Bulldogs still toured with AJPW, but soon after they became WWF-exclusive. The British Bulldogs' first feud was with the Hart Foundation, whom they knew from their Stampede days, and thus they were able to produce a series of outstanding matches that helped to elevate both teams. The Bulldogs' next major feud was with the WWF World Tag Team Champions , " The Dream Team " of Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake . The Bulldogs wrestled Valentine and Beefcake for close to

1890-646: The Bulldogs' split while Billington wrestled primarily overseas, most notably in Japan and whose career was cut short due to injuries. Many collectors who have obtained the figures consider them among their most prized pieces. New Japan Pro-Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling ( 新日本プロレスリング株式会社 , Shin Nihon Puroresuringu Kabushiki-gaisha ) ( NJPW ) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki , and based in Nakano, Tokyo . It

1953-492: The Canadian Fight Network . On December 1, 2014, NJPW and TV Asahi announced NJPW World , a new worldwide streaming site for the promotion's events. On July 18, 2015, NJPW announced the "New IWGP Conception", a global expansion strategy centered on their international partnerships with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), GFW, ROH, Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW), Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), and

British Bruisers - Misplaced Pages Continue

2016-500: The Inoki family, the company began to reintegrate its prior puroresu style of wrestling. Also in 2007, NJPW hosted its first ever pay-per-view (PPV) event Wrestle Kingdom I . The promotion debuted a new series called NEVER in August 2010, designed to be a series of events spotlighting younger up-and-coming New Japan talent and feature more outsider participation in the promotion. On January 4, 2011, New Japan officially announced

2079-567: The LJN WWF Wrestling Superstars line and in the mid 2000s Classic Superstars line by Jakks Pacific. They were available separately as well as packaged together. The Classic Superstars double pack also included their bulldog mascot, Matilda. Both versions are highly sought after by collectors and prices can be well over hundreds of dollars in mint condition especially for Billington, as figures of him were not produced as much as Smith, who gained fame in both WWF and WCW after

2142-942: The Super Juniors tournament. The next day, NJPW postponed their Wrestle Dynasty event to 2021, which was to take place in Madison Square Garden in New York. On June 9, NJPW announced their return with special show with mystery match card called Together Special on June 15 and the return of the New Japan Cup would now be held from June 16 until July 11, with the final being held at Osaka-jō Hall in Osaka alongside Dominion in Osaka-jo Hall being rescheduled to July 12. On September 29, NJPW announced that Meij would no longer be appointed president of

2205-592: The WWF, the Bulldogs returned to Stampede Wrestling and also resumed touring with All Japan Pro Wrestling, where they had moderate success as a tag team. They had feuds with the Cuban Commandos and Karachi Vice in Stampede and won the Stampede International Tag Team Championship for the second time on December 12, 1988. After losing the championship to Karachi Vice on December 30, 1988, Billington became involved in

2268-713: The Worlds '15 on May 12 and 13 in Philadelphia and Global Wars '15 on May 15 and 16 in Toronto. In June 2014, New Japan announced a partnership with the new American Global Force Wrestling (GFW) organization helmed by Jeff Jarrett . In November 2014, GFW announced that it would be broadcasting NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome on pay-per-view in the United States as a four-hour event. Also in November 2014,

2331-450: The breakup of The British Bulldogs tag team, Smith wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) 1990–1992, 1994–1997 and 1999–2000, and for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1993 and 1998. Smith died of a heart attack on 18 May 2002 at the age of 39. Billington, who had been in a wheelchair since August 1997, died on 5 December 2018 on his 60th birthday. The British Bulldogs were made into action figures, first in 1986 during

2394-535: The brother of Smith's mother. In the 1970s, Smith and Billington both began their careers in Britain. The two were soon invited to join Stampede Wrestling in Canada by talent scout Bruce Hart . Billington went to Canada first and made a revolutionary impact in Stampede with his effortlessly fluid technical wrestling style, and had a feud with his future brother-in-law, Bret Hart . Smith came to Stampede in

2457-622: The creation of a new title: the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, with the inaugural champion to be crowned during the promotion's G1 Special in USA shows in Long Beach, California on July 1 and 2. Four days later, NJPW held a press conference to announce plans to establish a subsidiary company, including a dojo, in the United States. A Los Angeles office was scheduled to be opened before

2520-526: The creation of its seventh active title and the first six-man tag team championship in the promotion's history, the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. On January 5, 2016, NJPW announced a partnership with the Amuse talent agency with the goal of making the promotion's wrestlers internationally recognized stars in the vein of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson . In March 2017, NJPW partnered with

2583-599: The early 1980s. During their time together in Stampede, Smith and Billington began a heated feud as Billington provoked Smith by claiming he was "a test-tube baby ". The Billington-Smith feud continued in New Japan Pro-Wrestling , where they became involved in a three-way feud that also involved The Cobra over the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship . After they settled the feud, the two started to team as

British Bruisers - Misplaced Pages Continue

2646-442: The early 2000s, the burgeoning popularity of mixed martial arts (MMA) in Japan was noticed by Inoki, who wanted to integrate elements of shoot wrestling to make the company appear more realistic. The company would partner with martial arts organization K-1 and begin to insert wrestlers into MMA fights, with the goal of pushing NJPW in a more realistic direction and to make it appear as an actual sport. The company's new management

2709-490: The end of 2017, with a dojo scheduled to be opened at the start of 2018. NJPW's second American event, Strong Style Evolved , took place on March 25, 2018, also in Long Beach. In November 2017, NJPW signed a television deal with Discovery Communications , which would see the company's programming brought to 70 million Indian homes through DSport . In January 2018, NJPW announced the four-show Fallout Down Under tour,

2772-468: The first ever IWGP Heavyweight Champion by defeating Inoki. However, this championship was later abandoned and the current version of the championship was established in 1987. Inoki would serve as the president of the promotion until 1989, when he was succeeded by Seiji Sakaguchi . On April 24, 1989, NJPW hosted Battle Satellite , its first show in the Tokyo Dome . The promotion was a member of

2835-544: The fourth day of the 2012 G1 Climax , on August 5, 2012. The October 8, 2012, King of Pro-Wrestling pay-per-view marked the first time viewers outside Japan were able to order a pay-per-view by the promotion through Ustream . On October 5, 2012, New Japan announced the creation of the NEVER Openweight Championship, which would be contested for on the NEVER series. A two-day tournament to determine

2898-597: The future. On October 31, 2019, Super7 announced the first line of NJPW action figures . Amidst from the Japanese onset of the COVID-19 pandemic , in accordance with recommendations from the Japanese Ministry of Health, NJPW decided to cancel all scheduled shows from March 1 through March 15. On March 10, NJPW announced that they were cancelling all shows through March 22, which meant that they cancelled

2961-554: The inaugural New Japan Cup USA tournament. As part of NJPW's expansion into the United States, the series would be produced by NJoA. In February 2021, it was reported that NJPW had entered into partnerships with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Impact Wrestling . On November 19, 2021, NJPW would re-establish a relationship with Pro Wrestling Noah with Noah wrestlers being involved at the third night of NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 16 event. During Wrestle Kingdom 16 in January 2022, it

3024-703: The inaugural champion was held between November 15 and 19, 2012. The final NEVER event was held in November 2012. In February 2014, New Japan announced a partnership with Ring of Honor (ROH), which saw the promotion return to North America the following May to present two supershows; Global Wars in Toronto and War of the Worlds in New York City. During the tour, New Japan wrestlers also took part in an event held by Canadian promotion Border City Wrestling (BCW). A year later, NJPW and ROH announced another tour together to produce four more supershows; War of

3087-405: The match and hit Dynamite with a kendo stick from behind, prompting Davey Boy to attack Brown, but just as he took the stick from Brown, Dynamite turned around and saw Davey Boy with the stick, thinking he hit him from behind. This led to Dynamite turning on Davey Boy and joining forces with Johnny forming The British Bruisers . Despite the Bulldogs' split in Stampede, they remained a team in AJPW at

3150-509: The match by eliminating the heel team Los Conquistadores , thus giving their team (which included The Bulldogs who had earlier been eliminated when Smash pinned Billington) the victory. The Bulldogs left the WWF after backstage altercations with The Rougeau Brothers. Jacques Rougeau knocked several of Billington's teeth out with a cheap shot sucker punch. Billington claimed it was a dispute with WWF management over issuing of complimentary plane tickets that led to their leaving. After leaving

3213-411: The megaphone of the Hart Foundation's manager Jimmy Hart before he even got into the ring. “Evil Referee” Danny Davis then allowed the Foundation to continually double-team Smith in order to get the win (all the while continuing to "check" on Billington, leaving the double teaming to take place). The match aired on February 7 on WWF Superstars of Wrestling . After being given time off to recuperate,

SECTION 50

#1732793782640

3276-417: The promotion and was replaced by Takami Ohbari on October 23, who is the current CEO of New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America. In 2020, NJPW partnered with Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) and Major League Wrestling (MLW), with both promotions sending wrestlers to the Super J-Cup tournament. On July 31, NJPW announced a new weekly series titled NJPW Strong , with its initial episodes to feature matches from

3339-452: The promotion was returning to the multi-year contract system. The contracts forbid negotiations with other promotions. After All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was launched by wrestlers working for NJPW, they started signing foreigners to guaranteed deals as well. Any side contracts or agreements offered to wrestlers under NJPW contracts, need the promotion's approval before being signed. NJPW currently has partnerships with several promotions across

3402-420: The promotion's inaugural tour of Australia spanning from February 16–19. In March 2018, New Japan opened the NJPW LA Dojo with Katsuyori Shibata serving as head trainer and ROH wrestler Scorpio Sky serving as assistant trainer. On May 13, 2018, New Japan hired its first foreign president, Dutch businessman Harold Meij . In February 2019, NJPW re-established their partnership with the NWA and entered into

3465-404: The request of Giant Baba . Their last match as a team was held on 28 January 1990, as they teamed up with Tiger Mask II to defeat Jumbo Tsuruta , Yoshiaki Yatsu and Masanobu Fuchi . In September 1990, Smith abruptly withdrew the Bulldogs from AJPW's annual World's Strongest Tag Determination League by returning to the WWF, and fabricating to the All-Japan office that Billington had been in

3528-588: The titles for 2 weeks before they lost the titles to Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat on April 20, 1991. During their title reign both Dynamite and Smith took part in the 1991 Champion Carnival with Dynamite finishing 3rd in his block while Smith finished 6th in his block. After losing the titles, the Bruisers would continue to remain in the midcard as they would never win another title and were left off several Budokan shows. In late 1991, Dynamite's body began to fall apart to years of injuries and steroid use. The Bruisers wrestled their last tour for All Japan by competing in

3591-471: The win. Toward the end of the Bulldogs' title reign, they were given a bulldog named Matilda, who accompanied them to the ring. She was central to their feud with The Islanders ( Haku and Tama ) who along with their manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan "dognapped" her. After rescuing her, the Bulldogs teamed with Koko B. Ware (and his parrot "Frankie") in a six-man tag team match against The Islanders and Bobby Heenan at Wrestlemania IV . The match ended with

3654-433: The world, for which NJPW wrestlers can also perform for. The promotion has its own fictional governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix, shortened as IWGP. At the top of NJPW's championship hierarchy for male wrestlers is the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship . Secondary titles include the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship , the NEVER Openweight Championship , the NJPW World Television Championship , and

3717-404: The year and comparable to WWE 's WrestleMania event. In April 1995, NJPW and WCW held the two-day Collision in Korea event at the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang , North Korea . The event was the first professional wrestling event held in North Korea and holds the record for most attended wrestling event of all time, with 355,000 people packing the stadium over the two days. In

3780-482: Was announced that NJPW programming, including new programs and reruns of past English broadcasts, would return to AXS TV and Fight Network in the United States and Canada. Reruns will begin airing on AXS starting January 20, with all new content to premiere on March 3. On the April 20, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite , it was announced that New Japan and AEW would co-promote a supershow called AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door . The event would take place on June 26, 2022, at

3843-411: Was completed on June 28, with Stardom Co., Ltd. becoming a subsidiary of NJPW. Up until the 1980s, NJPW signed its workers to multi-year contracts, before changing to a system where the promotion signed its wrestlers to one-year deals that expired at the end of every January. Following the departures of A.J. Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura , NJPW chairman Takaaki Kidani announced in February 2016 that

SECTION 60

#1732793782640

3906-400: Was criticized by critics and fans. Inoki later departed NJPW in 2005 after selling his share of the company to Yuke's , and began his own promotion, the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), in 2007. After his departure, Inoki's son-in-law Simon took over the company, before Naoki Sugabayashi was appointed president in 2007 after Simon also left NJPW to join Antonio in IGF. After the departure of

3969-474: Was founded by Antonio Inoki on January 13, 1972 after his departure from the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance promotion. The first NJPW event, titled Opening Series , took place on March 6, 1972, in the Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo, to a crowd of 5,000. The following year, NJPW signed a television deal with NET TV, now known as TV Asahi . The company launched its own governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) ; and in 1983, Hulk Hogan became

#639360