Wrestling Dontaku
Wrestling Dontaku is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. It was originally held from 1993 to [|1995] and again from [|2000] to [|2001] in Fukuoka at the Fukuoka Dome. The event was revived in 2009 and has since been held at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center on Constitution Memorial Day, a national holiday in Japan on May 3, and aired as a pay-per-view. From 2013 to 2014, the event also aired outside Japan as an internet pay-per-view. Since 2015, the event has aired worldwide on NJPW's internet streaming site, NJPW World. In 2018 and 2019, Wrestling Dontaku took place over two back-to-back shows. The event was originally scheduled to take place in 2020 on May 3 and May 4, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Dontaku" is an obsolete Japanese word for holiday, derived from the Dutch word for Sunday, "Zondag".Events
1993
1994
1995
2000
The fourth Wrestling Dontaku, first in five years, was held on May 5, 2000, in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Dome. The event featured eight matches, two of which were contested for championships. The event opened with the finals of the 2000 Young Lion Cup, where Kenzo Suzuki defeated Shinya Makabe, who later became better known as Togi Makabe, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. In the semi-main event, Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata successfully defended the IWGP Tag Team Championship against Kazunari Murakami and Naoya Ogawa, while in the main event, Kensuke Sasaki, using his Power Warrior persona, defeated The Great Muta to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.2001
The fifth Wrestling Dontaku was held on May 5, 2001, in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Dome. The event featured nine matches, one of which was contested for a championship. In the title match, El Samurai and Jyushin Thunder Liger defeated the Mexican brother tag team of Dr. Wagner, Jr. and Silver King to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. The event also featured appearances by mixed martial artists Don Frye and Rainy Martinez.2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
