Wrestling New Classic

Wrestling New Classic

Acronym	WNC
Founded	April 5, 2012
Defunct	June 26, 2014
Style	Puroresu Strong style
Headquarters	Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo[1]
Founder(s)	Tajiri Akira Kana
Sister	Reina Joshi Puroresu
Merged with	Wrestle-1
Predecessor	Smash

Wrestling New Classic (WNC) (レスリング・ニュー・クラシック, Resuringu Nyū Kurashikku) was a Japanese puroresu or professional wrestling promotion, founded in April 2012 by Yoshihiro Tajiri. WNC was the follow-up promotion to Smash, which folded in March 2012.^[2][3]

History

On April 5, 2012, Tajiri held a press conference to announce the forming of Wrestling New Classic, which would hold its first two events on April 26 at Shinjuku Face and on May 24 at Korakuen Hall.^[4][5] The promotion's new financial backer at the time was Tsutomu Takashima, the executive director of real estate company Avance Avant Corporation.^[6] WNC continued Smash's working relationship with Finnish professional wrestling promotion Fight Club Finland.^[7] Unlike Smash, which held, on average, one event per month, WNC had a more regular schedule, producing three events in its official opening month, May 2012.^[8] The promotion is named after a comment made by final Smash Champion Dave Finlay, who, at the promotion's penultimate event, told Tajiri to "keep wrestling classic" with his new promotion.^[9] Several WNC wrestlers also booked and promoted their own events in collaboration with the promotion, including Kana's Kana Pro,^[10] Makoto's Mako Pro,^[11] Syuri's Stimulus,^[12] and Takuya Kito's Kuzu Pro.^[13]

In late 2013, WNC also established a working relationship with joshi puroresu promotion Reina Joshi Puroresu,^[14] as part of which all of WNC's female wrestlers became officially affiliated with both promotions in January 2014.^[15] On June 18, 2014, Tajiri held a press conference with Keiji Mutoh, where he announced that WNC would be going inactive following June 26. Afterwards, all female WNC wrestlers remained affiliated with WNC-Reina, while six male wrestlers, Tajiri and Akira included, transferred over to Mutoh's Wrestle-1 promotion.^[16] WNC held its final event on June 26, 2014, in Tokyo's Shinjuku Face.^[17]

Final roster

Wrestlers

Ring name	Real name	Notes
Akira	Akira Nogami
Haruka Kato	Haruka Kato	WNC-Reina
Jiro Kuroshio	Soujiro Higuchi
Koji Doi	Koji Doi
Makoto	Unknown	WNC-Reina
Rionne Fujiwara	Rionne McAvoy
Tajiri	Yoshihiro Tajiri
Yusuke Kodama	Yusuke Kodama
Masaya Takahashi	Masaya Takahashi
Syuri	Syuri Kondo	WNC-Reina
Takuya Kito	Yuji Kito

Staff

Name	Notes
Chiho Tomiyama	Ring announcer
High Step Shota	Referee
Katsumi Tamagawa	Referee
Serena Higa	Ring announcer
Soft Imai (Daisuke Imai)	Referee
Yula	Ring announcer

Alumni

Ring name	Real name	Notes
Hajime Ohara	Hajime Ohara	Resigned January 31, 2013
Haruka Yoshimura	Haruka Yoshimura	Retired February 28, 2014
Hiroki Murase	Hiroki Murase	Resigned January 11, 2014
Horizon	Yoshihiro Horaguchi	Signed with Kaientai Dojo on September 14, 2014
Josh O'Brien	Josh O'Brien	Resigned January 31, 2013
Kaho Kobayashi	Kaho Kobayashi	Resigned on September 16, 2014, to sign with Asuka Project and Pro Wrestling Wave
Kana	Kanako Urai	Resigned November 28, 2012
Koharu Hinata	Koharu Hinata	Resigned June 18, 2014
Lin Byron	Unknown	Resigned June 26, 2014
Mitoshichi Shinose	Akira Shinose	Resigned January 30, 2014
Nagisa Nozaki	Nagisa Nozaki	Went inactive on January 25, 2013

Notable guests

Adam Angel / Backpacker Joe Arisa Nakajima Atsushi Kotoge The Bodyguard Brahman Kei Brahman Shu Carlito Command Bolshoi Daisuke Sekimoto Dave Finlay Dump Matsumoto El Samurai Emil Sitoci Gedo Gran Hamada Jado Kaoru Kyoko Kimura Masato Tanaka Osamu Nishimura Maybach Taniguchi

Mikey Whipwreck Mio Shirai Misaki Ohata Miyako Matsumoto Naomichi Marufuji Ray Mendoza Jr. Ricky Marvin Riho Serena StarBuck Super Crazy Tadasuke Taiji Ishimori Takeshi Morishima Tatsumi Fujinami Tommy Dreamer Tomoka Nakagawa Toru Yano Último Dragón Zeus

Championships

Championship	Final champion(s)	Date won	Defeated
WNC Championship	Yuji Kito	March 24, 2018	Retired[18]
WNC Women's Championship	Syuri	September 18, 2013	Serena

Annual tournaments

Tournament	Last winner	Last held
Dave Finlay Cup	Hiro Tonai	January 4, 2014

See also

• Professional wrestling in Japan

References

1. 会社概要. Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). Retrieved December 27, 2012.
2. "【※重要】「Smash」第１章活動休止のお知らせ". Smash (in Japanese). February 10, 2012. Archived from the original on November 7, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
3. Caldwell, James (February 10, 2012). "Japanese promotion shutting down". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
4. プレ旗揚げ戦決定！. Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). April 5, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
5. "Tajiri新団体発表「若手を海外に」". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). April 6, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
6. "WNC高島代表が就任挨拶！". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). May 9, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
7. "7・15Wrestling New Classic後楽園大会（後楽園ホール） 開場11：00 開始12：00". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). June 22, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
8. 5月旗揚げシリーズ全カード決定！. Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). May 4, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
9. "ＴajiriとＡkira、最後の闘いで謎解きへ!!=Ｓmash フィンレーが残した"Ｋｅｅｐ ｗｒｅｓｔｌｉｎｇ ｃｌａｓｓｉｃ"とは？". Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. March 8, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
10. 6・17 ぷちカナプロ 試合結果. Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). June 18, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
11. 7・8 まこプロ 開催延期 および ぷちクズプロ開催のお知らせ. Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). June 27, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
12. "WNC朱里自主興行「Stimulus」新宿Face大会". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
13. 7・8『ぷちクズプロ』全試合結果. Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). July 9, 2012. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
14. "WNCとReina女子プロレスが業務提携". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). November 18, 2013. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
15. "旗揚げ前から波乱のReina!!1・30WNC新宿で4Wayマッチが決定!!". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). January 9, 2014. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
16. "Tajiri、Akiraら6選手W-1へ移籍のお知らせ". Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). June 19, 2014. Archived from the original on June 19, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
17. ＷＮＣ超満員のラスト興行. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). June 27, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
18. "ASUKA PROJECT results for March 24, 2018 – Puroresu Spirit". puroresuspirit.net. Archived from the original on 2018-03-30.

External links

• Official website
• Wrestling New Classic on YouTube