| Wrestling World 1996 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | New Japan Pro Wrestling | |||
| Date | 01996-01-04January 4, 1996 | |||
| Attendance | 54,000 | |||
| Venue | Tokyo Dome | |||
| City | Tokyo, Japan | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
|
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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.
- Match results
| # | Result | Stipulation | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 !1 | Tokimitsu Ishizawa, Yuji Nagata and Shinjiro Otani defeated Hiromitsu Kanehara, Kazushi Sakuraba and Kenichi Yamamoto – Nagata submitted Yamamoto | Six–man tag team match: NJPW (1) vs. UWFi (0) | 10:15 |
| 02 !2 | Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Satoshi Kojima | Singles match | 09:24 |
| 03 !3 | Jushin Liger defeated Koji Kanemoto (c) | Singles match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship | 18:59 |
| 04 !4 | Shiro Koshinaka defeated Masahiro Chono | Singles match | 09:49 |
| 05 !5 | Hiromichi Fuyuki defeated Yoji Anjo | Singles match | 06:42 |
| 06 !6 | Kensuke Sasaki defeated Hiroshi Hase | Singles match | 16:36 |
| 07 !7 | Antonio Inoki defeated Big Van Vader | Singles match | 14:16 |
| 08 !8 | Riki Chōshū defeated Masahito Kakihara | Singles match: NJPW (2) vs. UWFi (0) | 05:46 |
| 09 !9 | Shinya Hashimoto defeated Kazuo Yamazaki | Singles match | 09:18 |
| 10 !10 | Nobuhiko Takada defeated Keiji Mutoh (c) | Singles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship: NJPW (2) vs. UWFi (1) | 17:51 |
| (c) Refers to the champion going into the match | |||
Read more about this topic: January 4 Dome Show
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