Wrestling World 2004 was a professional wrestling event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It took place on January 4 in the Tokyo Dome. Wrestling World 2004 was the thirteenth January 4 Tokyo Dome Show held by NJPW. The show drew 40,000 spectators.[1] Main event of the 15 match show was a unification match between IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and NWF Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Takayama. Nakamura won the match, retiring the NWF Championship after only being active for one year. The undercard saw NJPW mainstay Jushin Thunder Liger defeat Pro Wrestling Noah's Takashi Sugiura to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, marking the first time a Noah championship changed hands at a January 4 Tokyo Dome Show. Additionally Gedo and Jado successfully defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against Heat and Tiger Mask and Hiroshi Tanahashi retained the IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship against Yutaka Yoshie.
| Wrestling World 2004 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Hiroshi Tanahashi, who successfully defended the IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship at the event. | |||
| Promotion | New Japan Pro-Wrestling | ||
| Date | January 4, 2004[1] | ||
| City | Tokyo, Japan | ||
| Venue | Tokyo Dome | ||
| Attendance | 40,000[1] | ||
| Wrestling World chronology | |||
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Production edit
Background edit
The January 4 Tokyo Dome Show is NJPW's biggest annual event and has been called "the largest professional wrestling show in the world outside of the United States" and the "Japanese equivalent to the Super Bowl".[2][3]
Storylines edit
Wrestling World 2004 featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[4]
Results edit
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hirooki Goto defeated Naofumi Yamamoto | Singles match | 06:21 | ||
| 2 | Katsushi Takemura defeated El Samurai | Singles match | 06:53 | ||
| 3 | Makai #1, Mitsuya Nagai, Ryota Chikuzen and Ryushi Yanagisawa defeated Enson Inoue, Hiro Saito, Michiyoshi Ohara and Tatsutoshi Goto | Eight-man tag team match | 11:55 | ||
| 4 | Shinya Makabe and Toru Yano defeated Blue Wolf and Wataru Inoue | Tag team match | 10:18 | ||
| 5 | Masayuki Naruse defeated Tadao Yasuda via disqualification (2:09), match restarted: Naruse won via stoppage | Singles match | 02:30 | ||
| 6 | Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Akiya Anzawa | Singles match | 04:53 | ||
| 7 | Gedo and Jado (c) defeated Heat and Tiger Mask | Tag team match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship | 17:15 | ||
| 8 | Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Takashi Sugiura (c) | Singles match for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship | 17:52 | ||
| 9 | Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeated Yutaka Yoshie | Singles match for the IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship | 17:06 | ||
| 10 | Josh Barnett and Takashi Iizuka defeated Katsuyori Shibata and Kazunari Murakami | Tag team match | 16:04 | ||
| 11 | Osamu Nishimura defeated Minoru Suzuki | Singles match | 09:39 | ||
| 12 | Manabu Nakanishi defeated Genichiro Tenryu | Singles match | 10:20 | ||
| 13 | Yuji Nagata defeated Kensuke Sasaki via referee stoppage | Singles match | 12:10 | ||
| 14 | Bob Sapp and Keiji Mutoh defeated Cho-Ten (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Masahiro Chono) | Tag team match | 21:00 | ||
| 15 | Shinsuke Nakamura (c) defeated Yoshihiro Takayama (c) | Singles match for both the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (Nakamura) and the NWF Heavyweight Championship (Takayama). The NWF title was unified with the IWGP title. As a result, the NWF title was retired. | 13:55 | ||
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References edit
- ^ a b c d "Wrestling World 2004". ProWrestlingHistory.com. January 4, 2004. Retrieved April 13, 2010.
- ^ "GFW News: New Japan Pro Wrestling "Wrestle Kingdom 9" press conference details". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. December 23, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ^ Keller, Wade (December 13, 2016). "New Japan's WrestleKingdom 11 to air on AXS TV starting Jan. 13 in four weekly special episodes with Ross & Barnett on commentary". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ^ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
External links edit
- NJPW.co.jp (in Japanese)