Battle 7 was a professional wrestling event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) The event took place on January 4 in the Tokyo Dome. Battle 7 was the fourth January 4 Tokyo Dome Show held by NJPW. The show drew 52,500 spectators and $4,800,000 in ticket sales.[1] Besides NJPW wrestlers the show also featured Sting from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and former WCW stars The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) as well as freelance wrestlers Tiger Jeet Singh and Tiger Jeet Singh, Jr.. The show featured a four-man "Final Countdown BVD" tournament, named after NJPW sponsor BVD. The 1995 show marked the first time a non-NJPW or WCW title was defended as Shinjiro Otani defended the UWA World Welterweight Championship (originated in the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association) against El Samurai.
Production
Edit
BackgroundEdit
The January 4 Tokyo Dome Show is NJPW's biggest annual even 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]
StorylinesEdit
Battle 7 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]
ResultsEdit
| # | Results | Stipulations | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shinjiro Otani (c) defeated El Samurai | Singles match for the UWA World Welterweight Championship | 15:17 |
| 2 | Norio Honaga (c) defeated The Great Sasuke | Singles match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship | 14:39 |
| 3 | Akitoshi Saito, The Great Kabuki and Kuniaki Kobayashi defeated Akira Nogami, Osamu Kido and Takayuki Iizuka | Six-man tag team match | 13:12 |
| 4 | Koji Kanemoto defeated Yuji Nagata | Singles match | 14:43 |
| 5 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Manabu Nakanishi | Singles match | 07:40 |
| 6 | Tiger Jeet Singh and Tiger Jeet Singh, Jr. defeated Michiyoshi Ohara and Shiro Koshinaka | Tag team match | 11:23 |
| 7 | Sting defeated Tony Palmore | Singles match; semifinals of the "Final Countdown BVD" tournament | 04:29 |
| 8 | Antonio Inoki defeated Gerard Gordeau | Singles match; semifinals of the "Final Countdown BVD" tournament | 06:37 |
| 9 | Riki Choshu and Yoshiaki Yatsu defeated Kengo Kimura and Tatsutoshi Goto | Tag team match | 12:32 |
| 10 | Masahiro Chono and Sabu defeated Junji Hirata and Tatsumi Fujinami | Tag team match | 11:18 |
| 11 | Hawk Warrior defeated Scott Norton | Singles match | 07:41 |
| 12 | Antonio Inoki defeated Sting | Singles match; finals of the "Final Countdown BVD" tournament | 10:26 |
| 13 | Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Mutoh (c) defeated The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) | Tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship | 25:12 |
| 14 | Shinya Hashimoto (c) defeated Kensuke Sasaki | Singles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship | 19:36 |
| |||
Final Countdown BVD tournament bracketEdit
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
| Tony Palmore | Sub | ||||||||
| Sting' | 04:29 | ||||||||
| Sting | Sub | ||||||||
| Antonio Inoki | 10:26 | ||||||||
| Gerard Gordeau | Sub | ||||||||
| Antonio Inoki | 06:37 | ||||||||
ReferencesEdit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Battle Seven . ProWrestlingHistory.com (1995-01-04). Retrieved on 2010-04-13.
- ↑ GFW News: New Japan Pro Wrestling "Wrestle Kingdom 9" press conference details . Pro Wrestling Dot Net (2014-12-23). Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ Keller, Wade 2016-12-13. 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 on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ Grabianowski, Ed. How Pro Wrestling Works . HowStuffWorks, Inc.. Discovery Communications. Retrieved on 2017-10-09.
External linksEdit
- NJPW.co.jp (Japanese)
