Wrestling Dontaku 2021
Wrestling Dontaku 2021 was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on May 3 and 4, 2021, in Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center.[3] The event featured eleven matches, throughout both nights.[4] In the main event of the first night Jay White defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the NEVER Openweight Championship.[5] In the second night's main event, Will Ospreay defeated Shingo Takagi to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.[5] This was the seventeenth event under the Wrestling Dontaku name.
| Wrestling Dontaku 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Promotion | New Japan Pro-Wrestling | ||
| Date | May 3–4, 2021 | ||
| City | Fukuoka, Japan | ||
| Venue | Fukuoka Kokusai Center | ||
| Attendance | Night 1: 2,211[1] Night 2: 2,367[2] | ||
| Event chronology | |||
| |||
| Wrestling Dontaku chronology | |||
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Production
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| English Commentators | Kevin Kelly |
| Chris Charlton | |
| Rocky Romero | |
| Japanese Commentators | Shinpei Nogami |
| Milano Collection A.T. | |
| Katsuhiko Kanazawa | |
| Kazuyoshi Sakai | |
| Togi Makabe | |
| Miki Motoi | |
| Jushin Thunder Liger | |
| Masahiro Chono | |
| Ring announcers | Makoto Abe |
| Kimihiko Ozaki | |
| Referees | Kenta Sato |
| Marty Asami | |
| Red Shoes Unno | |
Background
Since 2020, NJPW has unable to run events with a full arena capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions.[6]
Storylines
Each night of Wrestling Dontaku 2021 will feature six 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.[7]
Results
Night 1
| No. | Results[1] | Stipulations | Times | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bullet Club (Evil, Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori and Dick Togo) defeated Toru Yano, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Tiger Mask IV and Master Wato | Eight-man tag team match | 9:57 | ||
| 2 | Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Sho and Yoh) defeated Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) | Six-man tag team match | 10:31 | ||
| 3 | Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi, Sanada, Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito) defeated United Empire (Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb and Aaron Henare) | Eight-man tag team match | 11:31 | ||
| 4 | Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Tanga Loa | Singles match Since Zack Sabre Jr. won, Dangerous Tekkers received a future IWGP Tag Team Championship match. | 15:12 | ||
| 5 | Taichi defeated Tama Tonga | Ladder match for the Iron Finger from Hell | 27:11 | ||
| 6 | Jay White defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) | Singles match for the NEVER Openweight Championship | 39:01 | ||
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Night 2
| No. | Results[2][8] | Stipulations | Times | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Suzuki-gun (Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. and Douki) defeated Bullet Club (Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Jado) by submission | Six-man tag team match | 10:00 | ||
| 2 | Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi and Taiji Ishimori) defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Master Wato | Tag team match | 10:42 | ||
| 3 | United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb and Aaron Henare) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi, Sanada and Tetsuya Naito) | Six-man tag team match | 14:54 | ||
| 4 | Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated Bullet Club (Jay White, Evil and Dick Togo) | Six-man tag team match | 12:14 | ||
| 5 | Will Ospreay (c) defeated Shingo Takagi | Singles match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship | 44:53 | ||
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References
- "2021.05.03 Wrestling Dontaku 2021". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
- "2021.05.04 Wrestling Dontaku 2021". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
- "NJPW Announces Wrestling Dontaku As Two-Night Event In May 2021". Fightful. December 6, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- Murray, Dylan (May 2, 2021). "Preview: NJPW – Wrestling Dontaku 2021 Night One and Two". lastwordonsports.com. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- Rose, Bryan (April 5, 2021). "NJPW Reveals Cards For Wrestling Dontaku And Satsuma no Kuni". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- Satin, Ryan (June 8, 2020). "NJPW To Resume Operations This Month, First Show With Fans Again Announced". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
- Renner, Ethan (May 3, 2021). "NJPW WRESTLING DONTAKU NIGHT TWO LIVE RESULTS: OSPREAY VS. SHINGO". f4wonline.com. Retrieved May 4, 2021.