Wrestling World 1996

Wrestling World 1996
Information
Promotion	New Japan Pro Wrestling
Date	January 1, 1996
Venue	Tokyo Dome
City	Tokyo, Japan
Attendance	54,000
Last Event	Battle 7
Next Event	Wrestling World 1997

Wrestling World 1996 was the title of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)'s annual start of the year show that traditionally takes place on January 4 in the Tokyo Dome. Wrestling World 1996 was the fifth January 4 Dome Show held by NJPW. The show drew 54,000 spectators and $5,400,000 in ticket sales. The driving storyline behind the show was an "inter–promotional" rivalry between NJPW and UWF International (UWFi) which faced off in a series of three matches. Hiroshi Hase's retirement match against his former tag team partner Kensuke Sasaki was also part of the elaborate card. The main event of the show was IWGP Heavyweight Champion Keiji Mutoh losing the championship to UWFi representative Nobuhiko Takada. The undercard featured an additional title change as Jushin Liger defeated Koji Kanemoto to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. In total the show consisted of 10 matches.

Results

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

(c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.

• Tokimitsu Ishizawa, Yuji Nagata and Shinjiro Otani defeated Hiromitsu Kanehara, Kazushi Sakuraba and Kenichi Yamamoto (10:15)
• Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Satoshi Kojima (9:24)
• Jushin Liger defeated Koji Kanemoto (c) to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (18:59)
• Shiro Koshinaka defeated Masahiro Chono (9:49)
• Hiromichi Fuyuki defeated Yoji Anjo (6:42)
• Kensuke Sasaki defeated Hiroshi Hase (16:36)
• Antonio Inoki defeated Big Van Vader (14:16)
• Riki Chōshū defeated Masahito Kakihara (5:46)
• Shinya Hashimoto defeated Kazuo Yamazaki (9:18)
• Nobuhiko Takada defeated Keiji Mutoh (c) to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (17:51)

External links

• Results