King of Pro-Wrestling (2012)

King of Pro-Wrestling (2012) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on October 8, 2012, in Tokyo at Ryōgoku Kokugikan. The event featured nine matches, five of which were contested for championships.[1][2][3] This event marked the first time a NJPW PPV could be bought outside Japan, through Ustream.[4] It was the first event under the King of Pro-Wrestling name.

King of Pro-Wrestling (2012)
Promotional poster for the event, featuring Togi Makabe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada
PromotionNew Japan Pro-Wrestling
DateOctober 8, 2012[1]
CityTokyo, Japan[1]
VenueRyōgoku Kokugikan[1]
Attendance9,000[1]
Pay-per-view chronology
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King of Pro-Wrestling chronology
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2013

Storylines

King of Pro-Wrestling featured nine 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.[5]

Event

The opening match saw Manabu Nakanishi return from a back injury and wrestle his first match since June 2011.[6] The second match saw Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero) make their successful defense of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against the Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida).[1] The event featured two title switches; in the first Low Ki defeated Kota Ibushi to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the third time and end Ibushi's two-month-long reign, while in the second, K.E.S. (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) defeated Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the first time.[1] The event also featured a grudge match between former No Limit tag team partners Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi,[1] which was used as a way to write off Naito, who had suffered a knee injury and would have to undergo a reconstructive knee surgery.[7] He would remain sidelined until Dominion 6.22 in June 2013.[8] The event concluded with Shinsuke Nakamura making his second successful defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Hirooki Goto and Hiroshi Tanahashi his fourth successful defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Minoru Suzuki.[1]

Reception

The main event between Tanahashi and Suzuki was later given a five-star rating by sports journalist Dave Meltzer, making it the first NJPW match in nearly twelve years to receive the rating.[9] At the end of the year, readers of Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter voted the match the 2012 Match of the Year, while also naming the event as a whole the Best Major Wrestling Show of the year.[10]

Results
No.Results[1][2][3]StipulationsTimes[1]
1Chaos (Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano) defeated Muscle Orchestra (Manabu Nakanishi and Strong Man) and Yuji NagataSix-man tag team match11:29
2Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero) (c) defeated Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida)Tag team match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship14:55
3Low Ki defeated Kota Ibushi (c)Singles match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship17:05
4K.E.S. (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) (with Taka Michinoku) defeated Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) (c)Tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship12:47
5Yujiro Takahashi defeated Tetsuya NaitoSingles match05:41
6Laughter7 (Katsuyori Shibata and Kazushi Sakuraba) defeated Always Hypers (Togi Makabe and Wataru Inoue)Tag team match07:10
7Kazuchika Okada (with Gedo) defeated Karl AndersonSingles match for the Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge rights certificate16:26
8Shinsuke Nakamura (c) defeated Hirooki GotoSingles match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship15:12
9Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeated Minoru SuzukiSingles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship29:22
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

References
  1. "NJPW 40th anniversary King of Pro-Wrestling". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  2. "新日本プロレス「King of Pro-Wrestring」". Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. October 8, 2012. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  3. Namako, Jason (October 8, 2012). "10/8 NJPW iPPV Results: Tokyo, Japan". Wrestleview. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  4. Caldwell, James (September 28, 2012). "NJPW offering Oct. 8 show on iPPV". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  5. Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
  6. "NJPW 40th anniversary King of Pro-Wrestling". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  7. 全治８か月の新日本・内藤が悲痛告白. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). October 21, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  8. "Dominion 6.22". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  9. Meltzer, Dave (October 15, 2012). "Oct. 15 2012 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Fallout of crazy week, backstage turmoil at Raw, Punk vs. fan, New Japan iPPV historically great, Hogan sex tape, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California. p. 13. ISSN 1083-9593.
  10. Meltzer, Dave (January 23, 2013). "The 2012 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Annual Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California. pp. 30–40. ISSN 1083-9593.
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