''Fantastica Mania'' 2020 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 ...

show 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 10 and ran until January 21, 2020, with shows taking place in Osaka, Ehime, Kyoto, Aichi, and four shows in Tokyo at Korakuen Hall. The 2020 tour was the tenth year in a row that NJPW and CMLL has co-promoted shows in Japan under the ''

Fantastica Mania ''Fantastica Mania'', sometimes spelled as ''Fantasticamania'', is a series of annual professional wrestling major show co-promoted by Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Japanese New Japan Pro-Wre ...

'' name. With a total of eight shows, the tour tied the 2018 tour and the 2019 tour as the longest in ''Fantastica Mania'' history. 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 2020 ''

'' tour was the tenth year in a row where Japanese wrestling promotion

(NJPW) promoted a series of shows with their Mexican partner promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Due to the co-promotional nature of the shows, they rarely feature any development in ongoing NJPW or CMLL storylines, instead the shows generally focus on inter-promotional matches between CMLL and NJPW. The 2020 tour included 8 shows, the same as the 2019 tour. Starting on Friday January 11 in Osaka at the

Edion Arena Osaka is an indoor sporting arena located in Namba, Osaka, Japan. It first opened in 1952 and the current building was constructed in 1987. It is the venue of a professional sumo tournament (honbasho) held in March every year. The capacity of the a ...

, the show then runs through Ehime (January 12), Kyoto (January 13), Aichi (January 16) and four shows in Tokyo at the Korakuen Hall (January 17, 19, 20 and 21). The shows from Korakuen Hall were streamed live on

Storylines

Each of the 2020 Fantastica Mania shows features a number of

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 ...

scripted by CMLL and NJPW with some wrestlers involved in scripted feuds. 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. The CMLL participants for the 2020 tour were announced on October 16, 2019, and included: Bárbaro Cavernario

The 2020 tour marked the Fantasticamania debut for CMLL wrestlers Negro Casas, Dulce Gardenia, Lucifierno and Tiger. Casas was originally scheduled for the 2018 tour but had to miss it due to injury. For the first time in six years neither Volador Jr. nor

Místico Luis Ignacio Urive Alvirde (born December 22, 1982), better known by his ring name Místico (Spanish for "Mystic"), is a Mexican ''luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler), who currently works for Consejo Mundial de Lucha ...

participated in the tour. Okumura is the only wrestler to participate in every Fantastica Mania tour, in part because of his role of liaison and translator for those that only speak Spanish on the CMLL contingent. Okumura and Carístico are the only two 2020 participants who were also on the first tour, at the time Carístico was known as "Místico".

Results

January 10

Retired wrestler

Jushin Thunder Liger , better known as and later , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is the longest-tenured member of the NJPW roster, having wrestled for the company since h ...

and NJPW chairman Naoki Sugabayashi joined the regular commentary team for the

broadcast of the event. Before the main event, Sugabayashi presenented OKUMURA with a plaque, commemorating his 25 professional wrestling anniversary.

January 11

January 12

January 13

January 16

January 17

January 19

January 20

References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Fantastica Mania'' 2020 2020 in Tokyo 2020 in professional wrestling

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

January 2020 events in Japan