''Fantastica Mania'' 2019 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 or ...

tour, scripted and co-produced by the Japanese

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, 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 ...

(NJPW)

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

and the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion. The tour started on January 11 and ran until January 21, 2019, with shows taking place in Osaka, Ehime, Kyoto, Gifu, Chiba and Tokyo. The 2019 tour was the ninth time that NJPW and CMLL co-promoted shows in Japan under the '' Fantastica Mania'' name. With a total of eight shows scheduled, the tour tied the 2018 tour as the longest in ''Fantastica Mania'' history at that point in time. The four initial shows featured six matches each night, while the four latter shows featured seven. Select events were shown on

Fighting TV Samurai Combat (French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

and

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...

, or live 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 ...

with subsequent video-on-demand options.

Background

The 2019 '' Fantastica Mania'' tour was the ninth year in a row where Japanese wrestling promotion

(NJPW) promoted a series of shows with their Mexican partner Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Due to the co-promotional nature of the shows, they rarely featured any development in ongoing NJPW or CMLL storylines, opting instead to focus on inter-promotional matches. The Fantastica Mania shows featured various

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 ...

planned out by CMLL and NJPW, with some wrestlers involved in scripted feuds. The wrestlers portray either

heels The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exert ...

(referred to as ''rudos'' in Mexico, those that play the part of the "bad guys") or

faces The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affe ...

(''técnicos'' in Mexico, the "good guy" characters) as they perform. For the 2019 tour El Desperado,

Sho Sho, Shō or SHO may refer to: Music * ''Shō'' (instrument) (笙), a Japanese wind instrument * ''Kane'' (instrument) (鉦), a Japanese percussion instrument * Sho?, a Dubai rock band People * Shō (given name), including ''Sho'' * Shō (su ...

and Yoh all competed under the ring personas they used during their training excursions with CMLL. El Desperado reprised his role as ''Namajague'', CMLL's version of the Japanese folklore demon

Namahage The are demonlike beings portrayed by men wearing hefty '' oni'' (ogre) masks and traditional straw capes ('' mino'') during a New Year's ritual, in local northern Japanese folklore of the Oga Peninsula area of Akita Prefecture. General descri ...

. Sho and Yoh, collectively known as

Roppongi 3K Roppongi 3K was a professional wrestling tag team made up of Japanese wrestlers Sho Tanaka, Sho and Yohei Komatsu, Yoh, active from 2013 to 2021 in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team division. They were managed by R ...

, worked under the names Raijin and Fujin respectively. Highlighted matches on the tour include Carístico – a ''técnico'' – teaming with ''rudos'' in various relevos increíbles tag matches, as well as the four-team CMLL Family Tag Tournament, with the winners facing the winners of last year's CMLL Brothers Tag Tournament, ''

Los Guerreros Laguneros ''Los Guerreros Laguneros'' (Spanish for "The Warriors from the Lagoon") is a '' lucha libre'' stable based in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). The stable was created in 2001 and has, since its inception, been led by Último Guerrero and ...

'' (

Último Guerrero José Gutiérrez Hernández (born March 1, 1972), better known by his ring name Último Guerrero (Spanish for ''Last Warrior''), is a Mexican (or professional wrestler), who works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He is not related to ...

and

Gran Guerrero Gran Guerrero (born 1993) is a Mexican ''luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler), who works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). He portrays a ''rudo'' ("bad guy") wrestling character. He was originally introduced to the ...

). The January 20 show was the only show to feature a championship match, as '' La Nueva Generación Dinamita'' ( Sansón,

Cuatrero El Cuatrero (born 1996) is a Mexican ''luchador enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler, where he is currently signed to Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. Best known for his work for ''Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre'' (CMLL) based in Mexico City ...

and

Forastero Forastero (born July 30, 1994) is the ring name of a Mexican '' luchador enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler, currently signed to Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. He is known for his work for Mexico City-based ''Consejo Mundial de Lucha Lib ...

) defended the

Mexican National Trios Championship The Mexican National Trios Championship (''Campeonato National Trios'' in Spanish) is a three-man tag team professional wrestling championship, sanctioned by the "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." (''Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling ...

against

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

, Titán and

Ángel de Oro Miguel Ángel Chávez Velasco (born August 18, 1988), better known by his ring name Ángel de Oro (Spanish for "Angel of Gold" or "Golden Angel"), is a Mexican professional wrestler who works for the Mexican wrestling promotion Consejo Mundia ...

. The 2019 tour also featured the in-ring debut of

Atlantis Jr. Atlantis Jr. (born 1998) is the ring name of a Mexican masked professional wrestler (known as a '' luchador enmascarado'' in Spanish) who is currently working for the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) wrestling promotion, where he p ...

, the son of

, working every show on the tour. The January 18 show hosted a memorial match in honor of Mexican wrestler Black Cat, who died of a heart attack on January 28, 2006. In this match, the team of

Satoshi Kojima is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but makes appearances for Pro Wrestling Noah. Considered to be one of the greatest Japanese professional wrestlers of the 21st century and of all-time, he was the first wrest ...

Toa Henare Aaron Henry (born 5 August 1992) is a New Zealand professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under the ring name Aaron Henare (アーロン・ヘナーレ). He previously wrestled under as . Early life Henry was b ...

Raijin , also known as , , , and Kamowakeikazuchi-no-kami is a god of lightning, thunder and storms in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. He is typically depicted with fierce and aggressive facial expressions, standing atop a cloud, beatin ...

and Fujin defeated ''

Los Ingobernables ''Los Ingobernables'' (Spanish for "The Ungovernables") is a ''lucha libre'' (Mexican professional wrestling) stable, based in the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion. It was formed in April 2014 by La Máscara, Rush and La Sombra, ...

'' ( Terrible,

Tetsuya Naito is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the leader of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japón'' faction. Tetsuya Naito began training for a professional wrestling career in 2000, initially under Anim ...

, Bushi and

Shingo Takagi , known by his ring name Shingo Takagi (鷹木信悟, ''Takagi Shingo''), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former bodybuilder, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the provisional KOPW 2022 champion in his first ...

). In the tour's last night, on January 21, the characters from the Japanese movie "My Dad is a Heel Wrestler" squared off in a special tag team match, with the team of Dragon George (

Kazuchika Okada (born November 8, 1987) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Okada is a five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion where his fourth reign with the championship is the longest in history at 720 days. He also h ...

) and SweetGorilla Maruyama (

Togi Makabe , better known by his ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, two-time ...

) defeating the team of Gokiburi Mask (

Hiroshi Tanahashi is a Japanese professional wrestler. He works primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his accolades in NJPW include a record setting eight reigns as IWGP Heavywei ...

) and Ginbae Mask (

Ryusuke Taguchi is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently performing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is a former two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, seven-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and three-time NEVER ...

Results

January 11

January 12

January 13

January 14

January 16

January 18

January 20

January 21

References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Fantastica Mania'' 2019 2019 in Tokyo 2019 in professional wrestling January 2019 events in Japan

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...