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Wrestling Dontaku (レスリングどんたく, Resuringu Dontaku) is an annual event promoted by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). It was originally held from 1993 to 1995 and again from 2000 to 2001 in Fukuoka at the Fukuoka Dome. The event was revived in 2009 and has since been held at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center and aired as a pay-per-view (PPV). From 2013 to 2014, the event also aired outside Japan as an internet pay-per-view (iPPV). Since 2015, the event has aired worldwide on NJPW's internet streaming site, New Japan Pro Wrestling World. Since 2018, Wrestling Dontaku will go over two back-to-back shows.[1] "Dontaku" is an obsolete Japanese word for holiday, derived from the Dutch word for Sunday, "Zondag".[2] In 2020, NJPW decided to cancel the 2020 edition, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, following recommendations by the Japanese Ministry of Health.

Events[]

# Event Date City Venue Attendance Main event
1 Wrestling Dontaku 1993 May 3, 1993 Fukuoka Fukuoka Dome 55,000 Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami versus Genichiro Tenryu and Riki Choshu
2 Wrestling Dontaku 1994 May 1, 1994 53,500 Antonio Inoki versus The Great Muta
3 Wrestling Dontaku 1995 May 3, 1995 52,000 Shinya Hashimoto (c) versus Keiji Mutoh for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
4 Wrestling Dontaku 2000 May 5, 2000 25,000 Power Warrior (c) versus The Great Muta for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
5 Wrestling Dontaku 2001 May 5, 2001 25,000 Kazunari Murakami and Naoya Ogawa versus Manabu Nakanishi and Riki Choshu
6 Wrestling Dontaku 2009 May 3, 2009 Fukuoka Kokusai Center 5,500 Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) versus Hirooki Goto for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
7 Wrestling Dontaku 2010 May 3, 2010 6,000 Shinsuke Nakamura (c) versus Togi Makabe for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
8 Wrestling Dontaku 2011 May 3, 2011 6,500 Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) versus Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
9 Wrestling Dontaku 2012 May 3, 2012 6,500 Kazuchika Okada (c) versus Hirooki Goto for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
10 Wrestling Dontaku 2013 May 3, 2013 6,800 Kazuchika Okada (c) versus Minoru Suzuki for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
11 Wrestling Dontaku 2014 May 3, 2014 7,190 Kazuchika Okada (c) versus A.J. Styles for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
12 Wrestling Dontaku 2015 May 3, 2015 5,180 Shinsuke Nakamura (c) versus Hirooki Goto for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship
13 Wrestling Dontaku 2016 May 3, 2016 5,299 Tetsuya Naito (c) versus Tomohiro Ishii for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
14 Wrestling Dontaku 2017 May 3, 2017 6,126 Kazuchika Okada (c) versus Bad Luck Fale for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
15 Wrestling Dontaku 2018 May 3, 2018 4,066 Kenny Omega versus Hangman Page
May 4, 2018 6,307 Kazuchika Okada (c) versus Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
16 Wrestling Dontaku 2019 May 3, 2019 4,011 Dragon Lee (c) versus Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
May 4, 2019 6,105 Kazuchika Okada (c) versus SANADA for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
17 Wrestling Dontaku 2020 May 3, 2020 N/A
May 4, 2020 N/A
18 Wrestling Dontaku 2021 May 3, 2021 2,211 Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) versus Jay White for the NEVER Openweight Championship
May 4, 2021 2,367 Will Ospreay (c) versus Shingo Takagi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
19 Wrestling Dontaku 2022 May 1, 2022 Fukuoka PayPay Dome 8,162 Kazuchika Okada (c) versus Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
20 Wrestling Dontaku 2023 May 3, 2023 Fukuoka Kokusai Center 4,489 SANADA (c) versus Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

1993[]

The first Wrestling Dontaku was held on May 3, 1993, in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Dome. The event featured ten matches.[3] As part of working relationships between NJPW and American promotions World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF), WCW's Sting and WWF's Brutus Beefcake, Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart took part in the event.[3] The event featured a "dream match" between Hogan, the reigning WWF Champion, and The Great Muta, the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion.[4]

# Results[3] Stipulations Times
1 Akira Nogami, El Samurai and Takayuki Iizuka defeated Hiroyoshi Yamamoto, Osamu Nishimura and Satoshi Kojima Six-man tag team match 15:01
2 Michiyoshi Ohara defeated Akitoshi Saito Singles match 09:26
3 Brutus Beefcake (with Jimmy Hart) defeated Masa Saito Singles match 08:35
4 Heisei Ishingun (Great Kabuki, Kengo Kimura, Kuniaki Kobayashi, Masashi Aoyagi and Shiro Koshinaka) defeated Ashura Hara, Hiro Saito, Super Strong Machine, Takashi Ishikawa and Tatsutoshi Goto Ten-man tag team match 11:26
5 Tiger Mask defeated Jushin Thunder Liger Singles match 14:25
6 Scott Norton and Sting wrestled to a no contest Singles match 09:16
7 Yoshiaki Fujiwara defeated Hiroshi Hase Singles match 12:11
8 The Hell Raisers (Hawk Warrior and Power Warrior) defeated Masahiro Chono and Shinya Hashimoto Tag team match 12:22
9 Hulk Hogan (with Jimmy Hart) defeated The Great Muta Singles match 15:55
10 Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Genichiro Tenryu and Riki Choshu Tag team match 26:35

1994[]

The second Wrestling Dontaku was held on May 1, 1994, in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Dome. The event featured thirteen matches; three of which were contested for championships.[5] Much like the previous year, the event featured wrestlers from World Championship Wrestling (WCW), with Rick Rude defeating Sting for the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship.[5] The decision was, however, later reversed due to Rude cheating to win the match.[6] The semi-main event saw Shinya Hashimoto defeat Tatsumi Fujinami to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the second time.[5]

# Results[5] Stipulations Times
1 Satoshi Kojima defeated Yuji Nagata Singles match 11:12
2 El Samurai and Tokimitsu Ishizawa defeated Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa Tag team match 13:48
3 Akira Nogami, Osamu Kido and Takayuki Iizuka defeated Heisei Ishingun (Akitoshi Saito, Michiyoshi Ohara and Tatsutoshi Goto) Six-man tag team match 14:06
4 Heisei Ishingun (Great Kabuki, Kengo Kimura and Kuniaki Kobayashi) defeated Hiro Saito, Norio Honaga and Shinichi Nakano Six-man tag team match 08:39
5 El Gigant defeated Tadao Yasuda Singles match 03:51
6 Jushin Thunder Liger and Satoru Sayama wrestled to a time limit draw Singles match 10:00
7 Shiro Koshinaka defeated Yoshiaki Yatsu Singles match 12:16
8 The Hell Raisers (Hawk Warrior and Power Warrior) (c) defeated The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) Tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship 15:27
9 Rick Rude defeated Sting (c) Singles match for the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship 22:48
10 Masahiro Chono defeated Yoshiaki Fujiwara Singles match 08:08
11 Riki Choshu defeated Hiroshi Hase Singles match 10:56
12 Shinya Hashimoto defeated Tatsumi Fujinami (c) Singles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship 06:04
13 Antonio Inoki defeated The Great Muta Singles match 20:12
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • Videoicon – refers to the video of that match

1995[]

The third Wrestling Dontaku was held on May 3, 1995, in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Dome. The event featured eleven matches, two of which were contested for championships.[7][8] For the third year in a row, wrestlers from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) took part in the event.[7] The event saw Sabu capture the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship from Koji Kanemoto and Keiji Mutoh capture the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Shinya Hashimoto, ending his reign which had started at the previous year's Wrestling Dontaku.[7][8]

# Results[7][8] Stipulations Times
1 Yuji Nagata defeated Manabu Nakanishi Singles match 13:29
2 El Samurai and Takayuki Iizuka defeated Akira Nogami and Norio Honaga Tag team match 13:45
3 Wild Pegasus defeated Too Cold Scorpio Singles match 12:00
4 Sabu defeated Koji Kanemoto (c) Singles match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship 16:39
5 Junji Hirata defeated Hiro Saito Singles match 06:04
6 The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) defeated Hawk Warrior and Scott Norton Tag team match 18:52
7 Shiro Koshinaka and Terry Funk defeated Hiromichi Fuyuki and Masahiro Chono Tag team match 13:40
8 Ric Flair defeated Hiroshi Hase Singles match 22:52
9 Antonio Inoki and Kōji Kitao defeated Genichiro Tenryu and Riki Choshu Tag team match 10:57
10 Kensuke Sasaki defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan Singles match 11:20
11 Keiji Mutoh defeated Shinya Hashimoto (c) Singles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship 21:13
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • Videoicon – refers to the video of that match

2000[]

The fourth Wrestling Dontaku, first in five years, was held on May 5, 2000, in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Dome. The event featured eight matches, two of which were contested for championships.[9] The event opened with the finals of the 2000 Young Lion Cup, where Kenzo Suzuki defeated Shinya Makabe,[9] who later became better known as Togi Makabe, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.[10] In the semi-main event, Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata successfully defended the IWGP Tag Team Championship against Kazunari Murakami and Naoya Ogawa, while in the main event, Kensuke Sasaki, using his Power Warrior persona, defeated The Great Muta to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.[9]

# Results[9] Stipulations Times
1 Kenzo Suzuki defeated Shinya Makabe Singles match; finals of the 2000 Young Lion Cup 15:08
2 Junji Hirata, Shiro Koshinaka and Tadao Yasuda defeated Team 2000 (Hiro Saito, Michiyoshi Ohara and Tatsutoshi Goto Six-man tag team match 10:19
3 Kendo Kashin, Koji Kanemoto, Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa defeated CIMA, Jushin Thunder Liger, Minoru Tanaka and Sumo Dandy Fuji Eight-man tag team match 14:26
4 Genichiro Tenryu defeated Takashi Iizuka Singles match 13:26
5 Yutaka Yoshie defeated Satoshi Kojima Singles match 16:08
6 Masahiro Chono defeated Tatsumi Fujinami Singles match 06:03
7 Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata (c) defeated Kazunari Murakami and Naoya Ogawa Tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship 09:26
8 Power Warrior (c) defeated The Great Muta Singles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship 12:44
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • Videoicon – refers to the video of that match

2001[]

The fifth Wrestling Dontaku was held on May 5, 2001, in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Dome. The event featured nine matches, one of which was contested for a championship.[11] In the title match, El Samurai and Jushin Thunder Liger defeated the Mexican brother tag team of Dr. Wagner, Jr. and Silver King to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.[11] The event also featured appearances by mixed martial artists Don Frye and Rainy Martinez.[11]

# Results[11] Stipulations Times
1 Katsuyori Shibata and Shinya Makabe defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and Wataru Inoue Tag team match 11:01
2 Osamu Nishimura, Shiro Koshinaka and Yutaka Yoshie defeated Team 2000 (Hiro Saito, Michiyoshi Ohara and Tatsutoshi Goto) Six-man tag team match 11:00
3 Minoru Tanaka defeated Kendo Kashin Singles match 10:18
4 El Samurai and Jushin Thunder Liger (c) defeated Dr. Wagner Jr. and Silver King Tag team match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 19:09
5 Don Frye defeated Scott Norton Singles match 07:15
6 Tadao Yasuda defeated Takashi Iizuka Singles match 07:23
7 Yuji Nagata defeated Rainy Martinez Singles match 02:29
8 BATT (Hiroshi Hase, Keiji Mutoh and Taiyō Kea) defeated Team 2000 (Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Masahiro Chono and Satoshi Kojima) Eight-man tag team match 27:00
9 Manabu Nakanishi and Riki Choshu defeated Kazunari Murakami and Naoya Ogawa Tag team match 09:07
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • Videoicon – refers to the video of that match

2009[]

2010[]

2011[]

2012[]

2013[]

2014[]

2015[]

2016[]

2017[]

2018[]

2019[]

2021[]

2022[]

2023[]

References[]

  1. ja:濵かつ Presents レスリングどんたく 2017 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved on 2017-05-03.
  2. Hakata Dontaku Minato Matsuri . Asianbeat. Archived from the original on 2015-08-25. Retrieved on 2015-08-25.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Wrestling Dontaku 1993 . Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2013-10-18.
  4. Johnson, Mike 2010-09-03. YouTube wrestling classic: when Hogan met Muta, champion vs. champion . Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved on 2014-12-03.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Wrestling Dontaku 1994 . Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2013-10-18.
  6. "WCW International" World Heavyweight Title . Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved on 2013-10-18.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Wrestling Dontaku 1995 . Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2013-10-18.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Keller, Wade 2015-05-03. NJPW Flashback - Ric Flair headlines New Japan's "Wrestling Dontaku" 20 yrs. ago today, plus Great Muta in main event, Sabu, Benoit, more . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2015-05-03.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Wrestling Dontaku 2000 . Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2013-10-18.
  10. ja:真壁 刀義 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2013-10-18.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 Wrestling Dontaku 2001 . Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2013-10-18.
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