Wrestling World 2000 was a professional wrestling event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It took place on January 4, 2000 in the Tokyo Dome. Wrestling World 2000 was the ninth January 4 Tokyo Dome Show held by NJPW. The show drew 53,500 spectators and $5,900,000 in ticket sales.[1] The event saw the return of World Championship Wrestling's Chris Benoit under the ring name Wild Pegasus, reprising the character he played for NJPW in the early to mid-1990s. The show also featured Rick Steiner and Randy Savage, both working as freelancers brought in specifically for the show. The twelve match card saw a successful defense of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship as well as Kensuke Sasaki defeating Genichiro Tenryu to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The undercard featured a match between Masahiro Chono defeated Keiji Mutoh bearing a stipulation that the losing wrestler's faction would have to disband. Chono represented Team 2000, while Mutoh represented nWo Japan. Through Mutoh's loss nWo Japan ceased to be. It also featured the retirement match of Kazuo Yamazaki, as he wrestled his student, Yuji Nagata.
Production
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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
Wrestling World 2000 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 and Tatsuhito Takaiwa (c) defeated Kendo Kashin and Minoru Tanaka | Tag team match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship | 13:19 |
| 2 | Shiro Koshinaka defeated Satoshi Kojima | Singles match | 10:17 |
| 3 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Wild Pegasus | Singles match | 10:55 |
| 4 | Jushin Thunder Liger (c) defeated Koji Kanemoto | Singles match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship | 03:56 |
| 5 | Manabu Nakanishi defeated Kenzo Suzuki | Singles match | 06:41 |
| 6 | Yuji Nagata defeated Kazuo Yamazaki | Singles match | 06:44 |
| 7 | Kimo defeated Kazuyuki Fujita by disqualification | Singles match | 04:02 |
| 8 | Scott Norton defeated Don Frye | Singles match | 08:50 |
| 9 | Rick Steiner defeated Randy Savage | Singles match | 11:08 |
| 10 | Shinya Hashimoto and Takashi Iizuka defeated Kazunari Murakami and Naoya Ogawa | Tag team match | 11:29 |
| 11 | Masahiro Chono defeated Keiji Mutoh | Singles match; with Mutoh losing, nWo Japan was forced to disband | 25:00 |
| 12 | Kensuke Sasaki defeated Genichiro Tenryu (c) | Singles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship | 14:43 |
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ReferencesEdit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wrestling World 2000 . ProWrestlingHistory.com (2000-01-04). 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)
