The WNC Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned by the Wrestling New Classic (WNC) promotion. The title was a spiritual successor to the Smash Championship, the top title of WNC's predecessor, Smash. The championship was first announced at a press conference on September 28, 2012, when it was announced that a single-elimination tournament to determine the inaugural champion would take place from October 26 to December 27.[1] In storyline, the championship belt was donated to WNC by the final Smash Champion Dave Finlay, who was also named the head of the WNC Championship Committee, which decides matches for the title.[5][6][7]

WNC Championship
The WNC Championship belt
(October 2012 — June 2014)
Details
PromotionWrestling New Classic
Asuka Pro Wrestling
Date establishedSeptember 28, 2012[1]
Date retiredJune 26, 2014
Statistics
First champion(s)Akira[2]
Final champion(s)Bernard VanDamme
Longest reignTajiri (203 days)
Shortest reignStarBuck (9 days)
Oldest championAkira (46 years, 289 days)
Youngest championOsamu Nishimura (41 years, 214 days)
Heaviest championBernard VanDamme (120 kg (260 lb))[3]
Lightest championTajiri (85 kg (187 lb))[4]

Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won as a result of a scripted match. There were five reigns shared among five wrestlers.

History edit

Championship tournament edit

 
Akira, the inaugural WNC Champion.

On September 28, 2012, Tajiri, the founder of Wrestling New Classic (WNC), announced the creation of the WNC Championship, with an eight-man single-elimination tournament starting on October 26 in Korakuen Hall.[1] The eight participants were announced as Tajiri, Akira, Hajime Ohara, StarBuck, Carlito, Tommy Dreamer and two unnamed participants labeled only as "1st Future" and "2nd Future".[1][7] On October 3, Tajiri and WNC president Tsutomu Takashima decided the first round matchups via random draw.[8] Three days later, another random draw picked Yusuke Kodama and Adam Angel out of a group of six younger WNC wrestlers to take the "Future" spots in the tournament.[9] The first three first round matches took place on October 26 and saw Akira defeat Adam Angel, Hajime Ohara defeat the inaugural Smash Champion StarBuck and Tajiri defeat Carlito.[10] The final first round match took place on November 26 and saw Tommy Dreamer defeat Yusuke Kodama to advance.[11] In the semifinals two days later, Akira defeated Tommy Dreamer, while Tajiri defeated Hajime Ohara, setting up a final match between the two veterans.[12] On December 27, Akira defeated Tajiri to become the inaugural WNC Champion.[2][13][14]

First round
(October 26
November 26)
Semifinals
(November 28)
Finals
(December 27)
         
Tajiri Pin
Carlito 18:20[10]
Tajiri Pin
Hajime Ohara 13:17[12]
Hajime Ohara Pin
StarBuck 11:29[10]
Tajiri Pin
Akira 23:45[2]
Tommy Dreamer Pin
Yusuke Kodama N/A[11]
Tommy Dreamer Pin
Akira 21:02[12]
Akira Pin
Adam Angel 14:52[10]

Title history edit

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Defenses Number of successful defenses
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days Defenses
1 Akira December 27, 2012 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Tournament Tokyo, Japan 1 119 1[15] Akira defeated Tajiri in the finals of an eight-man tournament to become the inaugural champion. [2]
2 Osamu Nishimura April 25, 2013 Korakuen Hall Dai Kessen Tokyo, Japan 1 105 0 [16]
3 Tajiri August 8, 2013 Kumamoto Tournament Kumamoto, Japan 1 203 5[17][18] [19]
4 StarBuck February 27, 2014 Shinjuku Face Tournament Tokyo, Japan 1 9 0 [20]
5 Bernard VanDamme March 8, 2014 Talvisota VIII Helsinki, Finland 1 110 2 This was an event held by Fight Club Finland. [21][22]
6 StarBuck February 27, 2014 N/A Helsinki, Finland 2 9 N/A [23]
7 Yuji Kito March 24, 2014 Asuka Project Tokyo, Japan 1 94 1 Kito defeated Shunsuke Sayama in the finals of an eight-man tournament. This was an event held by Asuka Project. [24]
Deactivated  June 26, 2014 Shin-Kiba 1st Ring Tournament Tokyo, Japan The championship retired due to WNC having shut down on June 26, 2014.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "WNC 王者決定戦!! 10.26後楽園ホールよりスタート!!". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). September 29, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d "2012-12-27 後楽園大会 試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). January 2, 2013. Archived from the original on April 9, 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
  3. ^ "Bernard VanDamme". Fight Club Finland (in Finnish). Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  4. ^ "Tajiri". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 30, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  5. ^ "ついに到着!WNC王座、WNC女子王座のベルト初公開!". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). October 20, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  6. ^ これがWNC王座のベルトだ!. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). October 23, 2012. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  7. ^ a b "News items: King Mo on TNA Impact post-show, former WWE stars competing for new title in Japan, fundraiser for injured wrestler Charade". Pro Wrestling Torch. October 5, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  8. ^ "10・26はTajirivsカリート!! 大原vsスターバック!!". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). October 3, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  9. ^ "WNC初代王座決定トーナメントの1st Future 、2nd Futureが決定!!". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). October 6, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  10. ^ a b c d "10・26 後楽園ホール大会 全試合結果&Tajiri総括". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). October 27, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  11. ^ a b "WNC福岡 西鉄ホール大会 試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). November 27, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  12. ^ a b c "11・28WNC後楽園ホール大会 試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). November 29, 2012. Archived from the original on December 16, 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  13. ^ "AkiraがTajiriを、朱里が野崎を下し、シナプスがフィンレーからのベルトを独占!自爆し髪を刈られた黒潮が覚醒!". Battle News (in Japanese). December 27, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
  14. ^ "WNC初代男女王者にAkira&朱里". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). December 28, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  15. ^ "2013-03-31 WNC新宿Face大会 夜の部". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). March 31, 2013. Archived from the original on April 10, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
  16. ^ "2013-04-25 WNC旗揚げ一周年記念『後楽園ホール大決戦』 試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). April 25, 2013. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  17. ^ "WNC王座V4のTajiri"絶対王者になる!"". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). January 31, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
  18. ^ "Tajiriまさかの陥落…WNCベルト欧州流出". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). February 28, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  19. ^ "2013-08-08 WNC熊本大会 試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). August 8, 2013. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  20. ^ "2014-02-27 WNC新宿Face大会 試合結果". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). February 27, 2014. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  21. ^ "Talvisota VIII - 08.03.2014 klo 18 - 20". Fight Club Finland (in Finnish). Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  22. ^ "スターバックWNC王座陥落!!海外で誕生した謎の新王者が日本初上陸を予告!?". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). March 11, 2014. Archived from the original on March 10, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  23. ^ "WNC Championship". Cagematch.
  24. ^ "ASUKA PROJECT results for March 24, 2018 – Puroresu Spirit". Archived from the original on 2018-07-28. Retrieved 2018-07-27.

External links edit