Capital Collision (2023) was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

event produced by

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

(NJPW). It took place on April 15, 2023, at the

Entertainment and Sports Arena The Entertainment and Sports Arena is a multi-purpose events facility, located on the St. Elizabeths Hospital, St. Elizabeths East Campus, in Congress Heights, a residential neighborhood in southeast Washington, D.C. The arena is home to the Was ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Wrestlers from NJPW's partner promotions, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and

Impact Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...

, also appeared on the card. This was the second event to be held under the Capital Collision name.

Production

Background

In October 2019, NJPW announced their expansion into the United States with their new American division, New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America (NJoA). On July 31, 2020, NJPW announced a new weekly series titled '' NJPW Strong''; the series would be produced by NJoA. On January 30, 2023, NJPW announced that all of the promotion's future American events would be branded under the "Strong" name. Beginning with

Battle in the Valley Battle in the Valley was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It took place on November 13, 2021, at San Jose Civic in San Jose, California. Production Background In October 2019, NJPW an ...

on February 18, the NJoA PPVs began airing as ''NJPW Strong Live''; these PPV events will later air on

NJPW World , also referred to as NJPW World and New Japan World, is a subscription-based video streaming service owned by the Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). On December 1, 2014, NJPW and its minority owner TV Asahi a ...

as part of the ''NJPW Strong on Demand'' series.

Storylines

Capital Collision featured

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character as ...

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.

Event

Pre-show

The pre-show saw

Shane Haste Shane Veryzer (born 24 September 1985) is an Australian professional wrestler best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Shane Thorne. He is also known for his work in Pro Wrestling Noah under the Shane Haste ring ...

and Bad Dude Tito of

TMDK The Mighty Don't Kneel (TMDK) are a professional wrestling stable which currently wrestles for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The stable consists of Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste Bad Dude Tito, Zack Sabre Jr. and Kosei Fujita. Sabre Jr. is the cu ...

defeat

Royce Isaacs Isaac Hull (born February 8, 1989) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Royce Isaacs. He is currently appearing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is a member of Team Filthy. From 2019 until 2020, Hull worked with ...

and

Jorel Nelson Jorel Nelson (born May 17, 1992) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a member of Team Filthy. He also makes appearances on the independent circuit. He was named after the characte ...

Team Filthy ''Team Filthy'' is a professional wrestling stable, performing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and previously Major League Wrestling (MLW) . The group was formed on October 5, 2017 during One Shot by "Filthy" Tom Lawlor. History Major League ...

Preliminary matches

The opening match saw the team of

Volador Jr. Ramón Ibarra Rivera (born January 26, 1981), better known by his ring name Volador Jr., is a Mexican ''Lucha libre, luchador'' (or professional wrestler), who works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He portrays a ''Face (professional ...

, Mike Bailey,

Kushida is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, better known by his mononymous ring name Kushida. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as Impact Wrestl ...

Kevin Knight Kevin Knight (born October 22, 1976) is an American former professional association football, soccer player who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Youth Knight attended James Madison University where he played on the men's ...

and

Gabriel Kidd Gabriel Kidd (born 24 April 1997) is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Professional wrestling career Early career (2011–2019) Kidd made his debut in 2011 and at that time, he wrestl ...

defeat the team of Rocky Romero, Chuck Taylor, Lio Rush, Clark Connors and The DKC. After the match Connors attacked teammate The DKC. In the next match,

AR Fox AR, Ar, or A&R may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Artists and repertoire Periodicals * ''Absolute Return + Alpha'', a hedge fund publication *''The Adelaide Review'', an Australian arts magazine * ''American Renaissance'' ( ...

faced David Finlay. During the match Finlay would perform Black Thunder Bomb on Fox to get a near fall, Finlay would attempt to hit Trash Panda only for Fox to counter it with a Fire Thunder. Finlay would eventually win the match after successfully hitting Trash Panda on Fox. After the match Finlay called out Connors and offered him to join Bullet Club which Connor accepted. Next saw

Zack Sabre Jr. Lucas Eatwell (born 24 July 1987), better known by his ring name Zack Sabre Jr. (Katakana: ザック・セイバーJr, ''Zakku Seibā Jr.''), is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Outside ...

defended the

NJPW World Television Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The current and inaugural champion is Zack Sabre Jr.. History New Japan Pro-Wrestling president and CEO Takami Ohbari and TV Asahi representative ...

against Tom Lawlor, which was Sabre retain by forcing Lawlor to submit. The next match saw

Tomohiro Ishii is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He also makes additional appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his work with the independent Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling ( ...

defeat El Desperado after a brain buster. Juice Robinson and Fred Rosser was original scheduled to have match although was called as a

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal Trial (law), trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the def ...

by the referee as Robinson attacked Rosser before the match started. Next, saw IWGP World Heavyweight Champion

Sanada Sanada is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Asami Sanada (born 1977), Japanese voice actress *, Japanese shogi player * Juzo Sanada (1923–1994), Japanese baseball player * Hiroki Sanada (born 1984), Japanese basebal ...

and fellow Just 5 Guys stablemate

Yoshinobu Kanemaru is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he also works as a backstage producer. Kanemaru is best known for his work in Pro Wrestling Noah, where he holds the records for the most reigns with the GHC ...

defeat ''

Los Ingobernables de Japón (Spanish for "The Ungovernables of Japan" and often spelled without the accent as ''Los Ingobernables de Japon'' in English-speaking countries), also shortened to ''L.I.J.'', is a Japanese professional wrestling stable, based in the New Japan ...

''s Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi in a tag team match. In the next match which saw Kenta defeat Eddie Edwards to retain the

NJPW Strong Openweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The title was officially announced on April 2, 2021. The title is exclusively featured on NJPW's American television program '' NJPW ...

after hitting the Go2Sleep. In the post-match, Hikuleo would challenge Kenta for the title via a pre-recorded video.

Main event

The main event saw the Motor City Machine Guns defend the

Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The title is exclusively featured on NJPW's United States based television program ''NJPW Strong'', essentially making it a ...

against

Aussie Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...

and the Dream Team of Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi with Aussie Open winning the match and becoming double tag team champions, holding both the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship and IWGP Tag Team Championship.

Results

Aftermath

On the following day, NJPW suspended Juice Robinson for attacking Fred Rosser before the match. As the result of the suspension, Rosser was made as Robinson's replacement in the number one contender tournament for the

IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The current champion is Will Ospreay, who is in his first reign. History Backgr ...

which Robinson was scheduled to face Lance Archer at Collision in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, later that day. Archer would defeat Rosser to advance to the finals and face the winner of Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Will Ospreay at Dominion 6.4 at Osaka-jo Hall. During the main event, Tanahashi suffered a rib injury which resulted in Tanahashi being removed from Collision In Philadelphia's card as he was scheduled to team up with Chaos's

and Lio Rush to take on United Empire's

and TJP.

References

{{New Japan Pro Wrestling events, Capital Collision 2023 in professional wrestling 2023 in Washington, D.C. New Japan Pro-Wrestling shows Professional wrestling shows in Washington, D.C.

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