| Wrestle Kingdom III | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster for the event, featuringKeiji Mutoh andHiroshi Tanahashi | |||
| Promotion | New Japan Pro-Wrestling | ||
| Date | January 4, 2009[1] | ||
| City | Tokyo, Japan[2] | ||
| Venue | Tokyo Dome[1] | ||
| Attendance | 40,000[2] (official) 27,500[3] (claimed) | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| Wrestle Kingdom chronology | |||
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| New Japan Pro-Wrestling events chronology | |||
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Wrestle Kingdom III in Tokyo Dome (レッスルキングダムIII in 東京ドーム,Ressuru Kingudamu III in Tōkyō Dōmu) was aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV) event produced by theNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)promotion, which took place at theTokyo Dome inTokyo, Japan on January 4, 2009.[1][4][5] It was the 18thJanuary 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the third held under the "Wrestle Kingdom" name. The event featured eleven matches (including onedark match), five of which were contested forchampionships.
For the second year in a row, the show featured wrestlers from the AmericanTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and again their matches aired in the United States as part of theGlobal Impact! broadcast. In addition, the show also featured wrestlers from the MexicanConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) as part of a new relationship between NJPW and CMLL. Wrestlers from other Japanese promotions also took part in the show, includingAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW),Pro Wrestling Noah andPro Wrestling Zero1, whose top title, theWorld Heavyweight Championship, was defended during the show.
Wrestle Kingdom III featured elevenprofessional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds andstorylines. Wrestlers portrayedvillains,heroes, orless distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[6]
Wrestle Kingdom III was main evented byKeiji Mutoh defending theIWGP Heavyweight Championship againstHiroshi Tanahashi. On April 27, 2008, Mutoh defeatedShinsuke Nakamura to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time in eight years and four months. Mutoh, who was part of NJPW's "golden age" in the 1990s, was now representingAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW).[7]
Over the following months, NJPW wrestlers attempted to defeat Mutoh to bring the title back to NJPW. After Mutoh had defeated Nakamura in a rematch on October 13 to make his fourth successful title defense, there were no more NJPW challengers left in sight to challenge the outsider.[8][9] Meanwhile, Hiroshi Tanahashi, after a poor outing in the2008 G1 Climax, had chosen to travel to the United States to train and work for theOrlando, Florida-basedTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion. In November, NJPW president Naoki Sugabayashi, desperate to bring the IWGP Heavyweight Championship back to his company, traveled to Orlando to talk Tanahashi into coming back and challenging Mutoh. Tanahashi ended up canceling his scheduled TNA bookings and returned to Japan to accept the match with Mutoh at Wrestle Kingdom III.[10][11]
TheIWGP Tag Team Championship was scheduled to be defended in a three-way match involving defending championsThe Most Violent Players (Togi Makabe andToru Yano),Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan andSatoshi Kojima) and the TNA tag teamTeam 3D (Brother Devon andBrother Ray). This would have marked the first three-way match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship in history.[12] However, when Tenzan suffered aretinal detachment, he and Kojima were pulled out of the match and it was turned into ahardcore match.[13][14]
In the main event of the show, Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Keiji Mutoh to capture the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, bringing the title back to NJPW.[2] While NJPW regained possession of the heavyweight championship as well as theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship withTiger Mask defeatingLow Ki, it lost possession of both of its tag team championships, which were both captured by wrestlers from TNA. In the first match,The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley andChris Sabin) defeatedNo Limit (Tetsuya Naito andYujiro) to win theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, while in the second match, Team 3D defeated The Most Violent Players in a hardcore match to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[2]
Pro Wrestling Zero1'sWorld Heavyweight Championship was also defended during the show with NJPW wrestlerYuji Nagata making his third successful title defense against Zero'sMasato Tanaka.[2] The event is also notable for featuring the final NJPW match ofPro Wrestling Noah wrestlerMitsuharu Misawa, prior to his death in the ring the following June.[15][16]
