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93-624: Inoki's home promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as smaller independent groups, represented Japan, while World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) took part on behalf of the United States. The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) were the only major promotions in North America not to participate in the show although this

186-526: A luchador and luchadora respectively. In 2000, the all-female promotion company Lucha Libre Femenil (LLF) was founded. Lucha Libre has a division called the "Mini-Estrella" or "Minis" division, which unlike North American midget wrestling , is not just for dwarfs but also for luchadores that are short. The maximum allowable height to participate in the Mini division was originally 5 feet, but in recent years wrestlers such as Pequeño Olímpico have worked

279-453: A luchador code of honor. For instance, a luchador who has lost a wager match would prefer to endure the humiliation of being unmasked or having his head shaved rather than live with the shame that would come from not honoring his bet. Rudos have also been known to make the transition into técnicos after a career-defining moment, as was the case with Blue Demon , who decided to become a técnico after his wrestling partner, Black Shadow ,

372-561: A Mexican luchador named El Superbeasto. The Main Antagonist of the animated film Despicable Me 2 , El Macho, sports a costume resembling that of a luchador, consistent with his theme of Mexican culture. Television shows have also been inspired by lucha libre, especially animated series such as ¡Mucha Lucha! Cartoon Network also produced an animated miniseries based on the luchador El Santo. The WB television series Angel episode entitled " The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco " told

465-584: A box, labeled with the date, to be treasured. Female wrestlers or luchadoras also compete in Mexican lucha libre . The CMLL World Women's Championship is the top title for CMLL 's women's division, while the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship is a championship defended in an annual tournament by female wrestlers in AAA. AAA also recognizes a World Mixed Tag Team Championship , contested by tag teams composed of

558-495: A folk hero and a symbol of justice for the common man through his appearances in comic books and movies , while the sport received an unparalleled degree of mainstream attention. Other legendary luchadores who helped popularize the sport include Gory Guerrero , who is credited with developing moves and holds which are now commonplace in professional wrestling; Blue Demon , a contemporary of Santo and possibly his greatest rival; and Mil Máscaras (Man of A Thousand Masks), who

651-421: A large number of them will be unmasked. Sometimes, a wrestler slated for retirement will be unmasked in his final bout or at the beginning of a final tour, signifying a loss of identity as that character. Sometimes, losing the mask signifies the end of a gimmick with the wrestler moving on to a new gimmick and mask. The mask is considered sacred to a degree, so much so that fully removing an opponent's mask during

744-494: A match is grounds for disqualification. During their careers, masked luchadores will often be seen in public wearing their masks and keeping up the culture of lucha libre, while other masked wrestlers will interact with the public and press normally. However, they will still go to great lengths to conceal their true identities; in effect, the mask is synonymous with the luchador . El Santo continued wearing his mask after retirement, revealing his face only briefly in old age, and

837-582: A national pop-culture phenomenon. In 1942, lucha libre would be forever changed when a silver-masked wrestler, known simply as El Santo ( The Saint ), first stepped into the ring. He made his debut in Mexico City by winning an 8-man battle royal . The public became in love with the mystique and secrecy of Santo's personality, and he quickly became the most popular luchador in Mexico. His wrestling career spanned nearly five decades, during which he became

930-657: A new Greatest 18 Club Championship , awarding it to Riki Choshu . The Greatest Wrestlers is New Japan's hall of fame , established in 2007 to honor wrestlers who have wrestled for the promotion. From 2007 to 2011, the inductions begin on March 6, the anniversary of the promotion's founding. Domestic: International (former): International (current): Worldwide : Lucha libre Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Lucha libre ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlutʃa ˈliβɾe] , meaning " freestyle wrestling " or literally translated as "free fight")

1023-418: 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

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1116-502: A priest-turned-luchador was inspired by the story of Father Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez, a real-life Catholic priest who wrestled as Fray Tormenta to make money for his church. The documentary feature Lucha Mexico (2016) captured the lives of some of Mexico's well known wrestlers. The stars were Shocker , Blue Demon Jr. , El Hijo del Perro Aguayo and Último Guerrero . Directed by Alex Hammond and Ian Markiewicz. Rob Zombie 's animated film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto stars

1209-522: A real-life vampire invasion of New York. The Fox Kids live-action series Los Luchadores (2001) starred a trio of masked wrestlers consisting of Lobo Fuerte, Maria Valentine, and Turbine who not only participate in wrestling tournaments but also fight to protect their home of Union City from numerous threats (both natural and supernatural). Lucha libre is a recurring motif in nearly every game directed by Suda51 , starting from his directorial debut Super Fire Pro Wrestling 3 Final Bout . Most prominently,

1302-432: A result, the tag team formula and pacing which has developed in U.S. tag matches is different from lucha libre because the race to tag is not a priority. There are also two-man tag matches ( parejas ) and "four on four" matches ( atomicos ). Masks ( máscaras ) have been used dating back to the beginnings of lucha libre in the early part of the 20th century, and have a historical significance to Mexico in general, dating to

1395-475: A retired luchador character called Angel de la Plata (The Silver Angel), played by Joaquin Cosio . In the storyline, Angel de la Plata (probably based on El Santo ) was a major masked wrestling star in Mexico, appearing both in the ring and in a series of movies in which his character battled all manner of foes including vampires. A knee injury ended his career but he is called upon to use his fighting skills against

1488-454: A tag team match pitting Perro Aguayo and La Parka against Pierroth Jr. and Cibernetico . The event had an attendance of 5,964, far less than the 17,000 promoters were expecting, which was attributed to a poor choice of venue and lack of advertising. Though not as financially successful as Inoki's Collision in Korea show the previous year, he was widely praised for his efforts. This was

1581-442: Is Dos Caras Jr. Lucha Libre has crossed over into popular culture, especially in Mexico, where it is the second most popular sport after soccer . Outside of Mexico, lucha libre has also crossed over into popular culture, especially in movies and television. Depictions of luchadors are often used as symbols of Mexico and Mexican culture in non-Spanish-speaking cultures. The motion picture Nacho Libre , starring Jack Black as

1674-399: Is also known for its tag team wrestling matches. The teams are often made up of three members, instead of two as is common in the United States. These three-man teams participate in what are called trios matches, for tag team championship belts. Of these three members, one member is designated the captain. A successful fall in a trios match can be achieved by either pinning the captain of

1767-411: Is an illegal move in wrestling and grounds for immediate disqualification, although some variants are legal in certain promotions; or when he hits his opponent in the groin (foul); when he uses outside interference; when he attacks the referee; or when he completely rips off his opponent's mask. Most matches are two out of three falls, which had been abandoned for title matches in North America and Japan in

1860-480: Is credited with introducing the high flying moves of lucha libre to audiences around the world. He achieved international fame as one of the first high-flyers, something he was not considered in Mexico, where he fell under the mat-power category. Luchadores are traditionally more agile and perform more aerial maneuvers than professional wrestlers in the United States , who more often rely on power and hard strikes to subdue their opponents. The difference in styles

1953-505: Is due to the independent evolution of the sport in Mexico beginning in the 1930s and the fact that luchadores in the cruiserweight division ( peso semicompleto ) are often the most popular wrestlers in Mexican lucha libre. Luchadores execute characteristic high-flying attacks by using the wrestling ring 's ropes to catapult themselves towards their opponents, using intricate combinations in rapid-fire succession, and applying complex submission holds. Rings used in lucha libre generally lack

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2046-467: Is known as "Catch". Lucha libre wrestlers are known as luchadores (singular luchador ) and often come from extended wrestling families who form their own stables. One such line integrated to the United States professional wrestling scene is Los Guerreros . In 2018, Mexican lucha libre was declared an intangible cultural heritage of Mexico City . The rules of lucha libre are similar to American singles matches. Matches can be won by pinning

2139-470: Is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form of the genre, characterized by colorful masks , rapid sequences of holds and maneuvers, and "high-flying" maneuvers , some of which have been adopted in the United States, Japan, and elsewhere. The wearing of masks has developed special significance, and matches are sometimes contested in which

2232-701: 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

2325-645: The CMLL World Mini-Estrella Championship in 1992, making it the oldest Minis championship still in existence today. Minis are often patterned after "regular-sized" wrestlers and are sometimes called "mascotas" ("mascots") if they team with the regular-sized version. In 1994, AAA promoted the When Worlds Collide pay-per-view in conjunction with the U.S. promotion company World Championship Wrestling (WCW). When Worlds Collide introduced U.S. audiences to many of

2418-551: The French Intervention in Mexico , when Enrique Ugartechea, the first Mexican wrestler, developed and invented Mexican lucha libre from Greco-Roman wrestling . In the early 20th century, professional wrestling was mostly a regional phenomenon in Mexico until Salvador Lutteroth founded the Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre ( Mexican Wrestling Enterprise ) in 1933, giving the sport a national foothold for

2511-1002: 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 -

2604-917: 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 ,

2697-578: 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

2790-476: 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

2883-731: 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

World Wrestling Peace Festival - Misplaced Pages Continue

2976-750: 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

3069-621: 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

3162-598: 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

3255-402: The luchador is uncommon: months can pass without it happening, because fans are the toughest of critics, booing the luchador if they are not pleased with their performance. Booing may happen regardless of the perceived virtuousness of the luchador's persona. The luchador , after receiving such an act of honor, will pick up the money and save it as a symbolic trophy, putting it in a vase or

3348-750: The "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." (the Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission), the main regulatory body in Mexico: Luchadores are traditionally divided into two categories, rudos (lit. "tough guys", who are "bad guys", or " heels "), who bend or break the rules, and técnicos (the "good guys", or " faces ", literally "technicians"), who play by the rules and their moves are much more complex and spectacular. Técnicos tend to have very formal combat styles, close to Greco-Roman wrestling and martial arts techniques, whereas rudos tend to be brawlers. Técnicos playing

3441-415: The "good guy" role, and rudos playing the "bad guy" role is very characteristic of Mexican lucha libre, which differs from U.S. professional wrestling, where many technical wrestlers play the role of heels (e.g., Kurt Angle ), and many brawlers play as "faces" (e.g., Stone Cold Steve Austin & The Rock ). Although rudos often resort to using underhanded tactics, they are still expected to live up to

3534-517: The 1970s. A unique rule in lucha libre applies during team matches (i.e., when a team's legal wrestler touches the ground outside the ring, a teammate may enter the ring to take his place as a legal competitor). Since the legal wrestler can step on the floor willingly, it is not necessary to tag a teammate to enter the match. This often allows for much more frantic action to take place in the ring than would be possible under standard tag rules. The antecedents of Mexican wrestling date back to 1863, during

3627-479: 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

3720-787: The Arizona Diamondbacks Major League Baseball team started doing promotions involving lucha libre. A luchador mask in Diamondback colors was a popular giveaway at one game. In 2013 a Diamondbacks Luchador was made an official mascot, joining D. Baxter Bobcat. The first 20,000 fans at the July 27 game against the San Diego Padres were to receive a luchador mask. In Spain , professional wrestling has commonly been called catch (from catch-as-catch-can wrestling ) and pressing catch . In Peru ,

3813-681: 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

World Wrestling Peace Festival - Misplaced Pages Continue

3906-492: 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

3999-500: 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

4092-586: The Latin American version such as more weight classes than professional wrestling in North America post World War II. Like "old school" European (especially British) wrestling, some Japanese wrestling and early 20th-century American wrestling, Lucha libre has a detailed weight class system patterned after boxing . Each weight class has an official upper limit, but examples of wrestlers who are technically too heavy to hold their title can be found. The following weight classes exist in lucha libre, as defined by

4185-473: The Minis division despite being 1.69 m (5 ft 6 + 1 ⁄ 2  in) tall. The Minis division was first popularized in the 1970s with wrestlers like Pequeño Luke and Arturito (a wrestler with an R2-D2 gimmick) becoming noticed for their high flying abilities. In the late 1980s/early 1990s CMLL created the first actual "Minis" division, the brainchild of then-CMLL booker Antonio Peña . CMLL created

4278-942: 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

4371-897: The U.S. on the Spanish-language cable networks Galavisión and LA TV. Lucha Underground is a television series produced by the United Artists Media Group which airs in English on the El Rey Network and in Spanish on UniMás . It features wrestlers from the American independent circuit and AAA. AAA also owns a percentage of Lucha Underground. The series, which is taped live in Boyle Heights, California, finished season 4 finale. In 2012,

4464-713: 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,

4557-776: 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 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

4650-412: The contract: Octavio Gaona would have to put his hair on the line. Octavio Gaona won the match and Murciélago unmasked, giving birth to the tradition. The following match types are variants of Luchas de Apuestas matches with different types of wagers. Since lucha libre has its roots more in Latin American professional wrestling than North American professional wrestling, it retains some of the basics of

4743-622: 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

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4836-526: 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

4929-461: The days of the Aztecs . Early masks were very simple with basic colors to distinguish the wrestler. In modern lucha libre, masks are colorfully designed to evoke the images of animals , gods , ancient heroes and other archetypes , whose identity the luchador takes on during a performance. Virtually all wrestlers in Mexico will start their careers wearing masks, but over the span of their careers,

5022-442: 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

5115-490: 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,

5208-468: 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

5301-418: The first time. The promotion flourished and quickly became the premier spot for wrestlers. As television surfaced as a viable entertainment medium during the 1950s, Lutteroth was then able to broadcast his wrestling across the nation, subsequently yielding a popularity explosion for the sport. Moreover, it was the emergence of television that allowed Lutteroth to promote lucha libre's first breakout superstar into

5394-478: The first-ever wrestling show that Inoki promoted in the United States. The event, which also helped raise money for high school wrestling and judo programs in Los Angeles-area high schools , was supported by then Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich . A few days before the show, Inoki was made honorary chief of police of Little Tokyo . At

5487-544: 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

5580-597: 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

5673-508: The gimmick has recently attained a more flamboyant outlook. Luchadores , like their foreign counterparts, seek to obtain a campeonato (championship) through winning key wrestling matches. Since many feuds and shows are built around luchas de apuestas (matches with wagers), title matches play a less prominent role in Mexico than in the U.S. Titles can be defended as few as one time per year. The two biggest lucha libre promotions in Mexico are Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), which

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5766-403: The importance placed on masks in lucha libre, losing the mask to an opponent is seen as the ultimate insult, and can at times seriously hurt the career of the unmasked wrestler. Putting one's mask on the line against a hated opponent is a tradition in lucha libre as a means to settle a heated feud between two or more wrestlers. In these battles, called luchas de apuestas ("matches with wagers"),

5859-554: 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

5952-703: 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

6045-766: The loser must permanently remove his mask, which is a wager with a high degree of weight attached. Tag team wrestling is especially prevalent in lucha libre , particularly matches with three-member teams, called trios . Although in English the term specifically refers to the Mexican style of theatrical professional wrestling, in Spanish it can refer to other kinds of wrestling, including competitive freestyle wrestling ( es:lucha libre olímpica ) and professional wrestling in general ( es:lucha libre profesional ) in addition to Mexican professional wrestling in particular ( es:lucha libre mexicana ). However, in Spain (as with other non-Anglophone European countries) professional wrestling

6138-491: The match when Severn pinned Fujiwara with a keylock . One of the featured bouts on the undercard was a match between WCW World Heavyweight Champion The Giant and Sting , which The Giant won. Other matches included a "NJPW vs. Michinoku Pro " match between Jushin Thunder Liger and The Great Sasuke , a triangle match between AAA Americas Heavyweight Champion Konnan , Chris Jericho and Bam Bam Bigelow , and

6231-422: The opponent to the mat for the count of three, making him submit, knocking him out of the ring for a predetermined count (generally twenty), or by disqualification. Using the ropes for leverage is illegal, and once a luchador is on the ropes, his opponent must release any holds and he will not be able to pin him. Disqualifications occur when an opponent uses an illegal grab or move, such as the piledriver , which

6324-439: The opposing team or by pinning both of the other members. A referee can also stop the match because of "excessive punishment". He can then award the match to the aggressors. Falls often occur simultaneously, which adds to the extremely stylized nature of the action. In addition, a wrestler can opt to roll out of the ring in lieu of tagging a partner or simply be knocked out of the ring, at which point one of his partners may enter. As

6417-683: The professional wrestling section of 411mania.com rated the event a 7.0 out of 10. In his review, Kevin Wilson of PuroresuCentral.com called Inoki's Peace Festival "probably the biggest show to ever take place in America" featuring international talent and that "the majority of the matches were good and a few were near excellent". The show is credited, along with AAA's When Worlds Collide show two years earlier, with helping introduce lucha libre to mainstream American wrestling fans. Eric Bischoff , who appeared with representatives from AAA and CMLL to open

6510-417: 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

6603-452: 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

6696-481: 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

6789-544: The same date. 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 is currently owned by card game company Bushiroad , while TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares of

6882-539: The show's conclusion, Inoki was also awarded a special "PWI Lifetime Achievement Award" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated senior editor Bill Apter . In addition, it received positive reviews from publications such as Pro Wrestling Illustrated and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter . This was supported by the internet wrestling community when it was released on DVD, albeit without matches featuring WCW wrestlers, years later. Arnold Furious of

6975-447: The show, later brought Rey Misterio Jr. and Chris Jericho into WCW, based on their performance in their respective matches, to compete for its cruiserweight division . Terry Funk was scheduled to face Sabu and Brian Pillman in a three-way match, but pulled out of the show on May 8 after Pillman was sidelined following an automobile accident and Sabu was removed from the show after being booked for Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) on

7068-954: The spring supports added to U.S. and Japanese rings; as a result, lucha libre does not emphasize the "flat back" bumping style of other professional wrestling styles. For this same reason, aerial maneuvers are almost always performed on opponents outside the ring, allowing the luchador to break his fall with an acrobatic tumble. Lucha libre has several different weight classes, many catered to smaller agile fighters, who often make their debuts in their mid-teens. This system enables dynamic high-flying luchadores such as Rey Mysterio, Jr. , Juventud Guerrera , Super Crazy and Místico , to develop years of experience by their mid-twenties. A number of prominent Japanese wrestlers also started their careers training in Mexican lucha libre before becoming stars in Japan . These include Gran Hamada , Satoru Sayama , Jushin Thunder Liger , and Último Dragón . Lucha libre

7161-766: The story of a family of luchadores called "Los Hermanos Números" who also fought evil. Angel must help the remaining brother, Numero Cinco, defeat the Aztec warrior-demon that killed his four brothers. In the British TV show Justin Lee Collins : The Wrestler , Colins competes as the rudo El Glorioso , or The Glorious One, against the exótico Cassandro in The Roundhouse , London, ultimately losing and being unmasked. The book and television series The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan , features

7254-403: The term cachascán (from "catch as can") is used and the wrestlers are called cachascanistas . In Bolivia , wrestling Cholitas – female wrestlers dressed up as indigenous Aymara – are popular and have inspired comic books . Some lucha libre wrestlers had careers in various mixed martial arts promotions, promoting lucha libre and wearing signature masks and attire. One of the most famous

7347-590: The top luchadores in Mexico at the time. In recent years, several luchadores have found success in the United States. Notable luchadores who achieved success in the U.S. are Eddie Guerrero , Chavo Guerrero , Rey Mysterio, Jr. , Juventud Guerrera , L. A. Park , Super Crazy , Alberto Del Rio , Psicosis , Místico , Kalisto , Aero Star , Drago , Andrade El Idolo , Pentagon Jr. , Fenix , El Hijo del Fantasma , Bandido , Flamita , Puma King , Rush , Soberano Jr. , Dragon Lee , Guerrero Maya Jr. and Stuka Jr. CMLL lucha libre shows are broadcast weekly in

7440-420: The true identity of a person losing his mask is previously unknown, it is customary for that person to reveal his real name, hometown and years as a professional upon unmasking. The first lucha de apuestas was presented on July 14, 1940, at Arena México. The defending champion Murciélago (Velázquez) was so much lighter than his challenger ( Octavio Gaona ), he requested a further condition before he would sign

7533-880: 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

7626-402: 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

7719-399: The wrestlers "wager" either their mask or their hair. In a lucha de apuesta (betting match), wrestlers make a public bet on the outcome of the match. The most common forms are the mask-against-mask, hair-against-hair, or mask-against-hair matches. A wrestler who loses his or her mask has to remove the mask after the match. A wrestler who loses their hair is shaved immediately afterward. If

7812-575: 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

7905-534: 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

7998-467: 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

8091-579: 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

8184-673: Was eventually buried wearing his silver mask. More recently, the masks luchadores wear have become iconic symbols of Mexican culture. Contemporary artists like Francisco Delgado and Xavier Garza incorporate wrestler masks in their paintings. Although masks are a feature of lucha libre, it is a misconception that every Mexican wrestler uses one. There have been several maskless wrestlers who have been successful, particularly Tarzán López , Gory Guerrero , Perro Aguayo and Negro Casas . Formerly masked wrestlers who lost their masks, such as Satánico , Cien Caras , Cibernético and others, have had continued success despite losing their masks. With

8277-767: 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

8370-498: Was founded in 1933, and Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA). One characteristic practiced in Mexico is with fans honoring wrestlers by throwing money into the wrestling ring after witnessing a high-quality match. With this act fans honor the luchador in a symbolic way, thanking the luchador for a spectacular match demonstrating they are pleased with their performance, showing the match is worth their money and worth more than what they paid to witness such an event. This act of honoring

8463-598: Was not unexpected given their tense relationships with WCW during the Monday Night War . Both of Mexico's top promotions Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) participated in the event, which was considered unlikely by many in the industry given their own heated rivalry. The main attraction on the event card was a tag team match with Antonio Inoki and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dan Severn wrestling Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Oleg Taktarov . Inoki and Severn won

8556-458: 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 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

8649-400: Was unmasked by the legendary Santo . Tag teams are sometimes composed of both rudos and técnicos in what are called parejas increibles (incredible pairings). Parejas increibles highlight the conflict between a luchador ' s desire to win and his contempt for his partner. A staple gimmick present in lucha libre since the 1950s is exótico , a character in drag. It is argued that

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