| NJPW 49th Anniversary Show | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Promotion | New Japan Pro-Wrestling | ||
| Date | March 4, 2021 | ||
| City | Tokyo,Japan | ||
| Venue | Nippon Budokan | ||
| Attendance | 3,026[1] | ||
| Event chronology | |||
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| NJPW Anniversary Show chronology | |||
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TheNJPW 49th Anniversary Show was aprofessional wrestling event promoted byNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on March 4, 2021 inTokyo, Japan at theNippon Budokan arena.[2]
The event featured six matches, including the start of the annualNew Japan Cup. In the main event match,Kota Ibushi defeated theIWGP Junior Heavyweight ChampionEl Desperado to retain hisIWGP Heavyweight andIWGP Intercontinental Championships and become the firstIWGP World Heavyweight Champion.[3]
| 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 |
NJPW was founded byAntonio Inoki on January 13, 1972[4] after his departure from theJapan Pro Wrestling Alliance promotion.[5] The first NJPW event, titledOpening Series, took place on March 6, 1972, in the Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo, to a crowd of 5,000.[6][7] TheNJPW Anniversary Show has since been held annually in the first week of March to celebrate the anniversary of the company, starting with the 40th Anniversary Show in 2012.[8][9]
Since 2020, NJPW has been unable to run events with a full arena capacity due toCOVID-19 restrictions.[10] The 49th Anniversary Show continued this policy.
The NJPW 49th Anniversary Show featuredprofessional wrestling matches that involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds andstorylines. Wrestlers portrayvillains,heroes, orless distinguishable characters in the scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.[11]
AfterKota Ibushi defeatedTetsuya Naito atCastle Attack, he was confronted by theIWGP Junior Heavyweight ChampionEl Desperado. A match between the two wrestlers was later signed for the Anniversary Show. While the Anniversary Show traditionally features a non-title match between theIWGP Heavyweight Champion and the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, it was announced that Kota Ibushi vs. El Desperado will be a title match for Ibushi's IWGP Heavyweight andIWGP Intercontinental Championships while also crowning the firstIWGP World Heavyweight Champion.
| No. | Results[1] | Stipulations | Times | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Master Wato,Gabriel Kidd,Tomoaki Honma andHirooki Goto defeatedSuzuki-gun (Douki,Zack Sabre Jr.,Minoru Suzuki andTaichi) | Eight-man tag team match | 10:39 | ||
| 2 | Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori,Jay White,Chase Owens,Kenta andEvil) defeatedTaguchi Japan (Ryusuke Taguchi,Toa Henare,David Finlay,Juice Robinson andHiroshi Tanahashi) | Ten-man tag team match | 7:39 | ||
| 3 | Chaos (Sho,Tomohiro Ishii andKazuchika Okada) defeatedLos Ingobernables de Japón (Bushi,Sanada andShingo Takagi) | Six-man tag team match | 9:13 | ||
| 4 | Jeff Cobb defeatedSatoshi Kojima | Singles match New Japan Cup first round match | 11:50 | ||
| 5 | Great-O-Khan defeatedTetsuya Naito by referee stoppage | Singles match New Japan Cup first round match | 20:20 | ||
| 6 | Kota Ibushi (c) defeatedEl Desperado | Singles match for theIWGP Heavyweight Championship andIWGP Intercontinental Championship Both titles wereunified; Ibushi was crowned the inauguralIWGP World Heavyweight Champion immediately after the match. | 20:36 | ||
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