King of Pro-Wrestling (2019)

King of Pro-Wrestling (2019)
Promotional poster featuring Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi, Jay White and Kenta
PromotionNew Japan Pro-Wrestling
DateOctober 14, 2019
CityTokyo, Japan
VenueRyōgoku Kokugikan
Attendance9,573[1]
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King of Pro-Wrestling (2019) was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. It took place on October 14, 2019 at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. It was the eighth event under the King of Pro-Wrestling name.

Production

Background

King of Pro-Wrestling took place on October 14, 2019, on Health and Sports Day (体育の日, Taiiku no hi), a Japanese public holiday. Due to the events of the Typhoon Hagibis, Jon Moxley and Zack Sabre Jr. were unable to fly in to Japan, prompting last minute changes to the card.[2]

Storylines

King of Pro-Wrestling featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[3]

At the Best of the Super Juniors 26 finals on June 5, Jon Moxley defeated Juice Robinson to win the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.[4] Later, Moxley and Robinson would wrestle again in the G1 Climax on August 11, with Robinson winning and thereby preventing Moxley from winning the tournament.[5] Moxley subsequently challenged Robinson to a No Disqualification match for the United States Championship at King of Pro-Wrestling.[6] However, Moxley was unable to attend the event due to travel issues stemming from Typhoon Hagibis. Per NJPW rules, he was stripped of the title and a match between Robinson and Lance Archer for the vacant title was scheduled instead.[2][7]

On night three of the G1 Climax on July 14, Evil defeated Kota Ibushi in a block match.[8] Despite the loss, Ibushi went on to win the tournament, becoming the holder of the Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge rights certificate.[9] In a post-tournament interview, Ibushi declared that he wanted to defend the certificate against those who had beaten him, setting up a match between the two for this event.[10]

Results

No.Results[1][11][7]StipulationsTimes
1Suzuki-gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh)Tag team match10:44
2Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomoaki Honma defeated The Most Violent Players (Togi Makabe and Toru Yano)Tag team match9:43
3Los Ingobernables de Japón (Tetsuya Naito and Shingo Takagi) defeated Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Douki) by disqualificationTag team match9:00
4Minoru Suzuki defeated Jyushin Thunder LigerSingles match17:38
5Will Ospreay (c) defeated El PhantasmoSingles match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship27:58
6Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi) defeated Bullet Club (Jay White, Kenta and Yujiro Takahashi)Six-man tag team match12:27
7Lance Archer defeated Juice RobinsonNo Disqualification match for the vacant IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship14:58
8Kota Ibushi defeated EvilSingles match for the Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge rights certificate24:05
9Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated SanadaSingles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship36:21
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "King of Pro-Wrestling". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Rose, Bryan (October 14, 2019). "Moxley, Sabre off NJPW KOPW due to travel issues, US title now vacant". F4WOnline.com. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  3. ^ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  4. ^ "2019.06.03 BEST OF THE SUPER Jr.26 FINAL Night15 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  5. ^ "2019.08.11 G1 CLIMAX 29 Night 18 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  6. ^ "Jon Moxley Interview: Post G1 thoughts, Juice and more!". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. September 18, 2019. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Card changes made to King of Pro Wrestling". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  8. ^ "2019.07.14 G1 CLIMAX 29 Night 3 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  9. ^ "2019.08.12 G1 CLIMAX 29 Night 19 | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  10. ^ "The Ibushi Interview (2/2): Kota Ibushi's 'legendary' plans!". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. September 10, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  11. ^ Rose, Bryan (September 23, 2019). "Full card announced for NJPW King of Pro Wrestling". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved October 2, 2019.