is 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 ...

event promoted by

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). The event was established in 2015 and took place in late April between the larger

Invasion Attack Sakura Genesis is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) since 2013. Held annually at Tokyo's Ryōgoku Kokugikan, the event has been nicknamed . Originally known as Invasion Attack, the event was renamed ...

and

Wrestling Dontaku is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It was originally held from 1993 to 1995 and again from 2000 to 2001 in Fukuoka at the Fukuoka Dome. The event was revived in 2009 and has since been held a ...

events. The event was held in

Mashiki, Kumamoto is a town located in Kamimashiki District, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. As of March 2017, the town has an estimated population of 33,001 and a density of 500 persons per km². The total area is 65.67 km². Kumamoto Airport is located in Mas ...

and its name referred to the nickname of

Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, M ...

, . The

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

event was canceled due to the

2016 Kumamoto earthquakes The were a series of earthquakes, including a magnitude 7.0 mainshock which struck at 01:25 JST on April 16, 2016 (16:25 UTC on April 15) beneath Kumamoto City of Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu Region, Japan, at a depth of ...

. In 2017, the event was replaced by Wrestling Toyonokuni, taking place in

Beppu, Ōita is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of March 31, 2017, the city had a population of 122,643

. Wrestling Hinokuni returned in 2018 two years later after the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes.

Production

The Wrestling Hinokuni events 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 portray

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 a ...

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.

Events

2015

The first Wrestling Hinokuni took place on April 29, 2015, at the Grand Messe Kumamoto in

, and aired worldwide 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 ...

. The event featured nine matches, three of which were contested for championships. Wrestlers representing the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) took part in the event with both the NWA World Heavyweight and

NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Created in 1945, the title is competed for by junior heavyweight wrestlers. History The first NWA World Junior ...

s being defended. In the first title match, NWA representative Steve Anthony successfully defended the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship against NJPW's

Jyushin 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 ...

. This was a rematch from a match in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

earlier in the month, where Anthony also defeated Liger to capture the title. The second title match saw NJPW's

Hiroyoshi Tenzan is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and is better known by his ring name . With Satoshi Kojima, in 2008, they won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in All Japan Pro Wrestling and the ...

make his second successful defense of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against NWA's Big Daddy Yum-Yum. Several matches at the event also built to matches taking place at Wrestling Dontaku 2015 the following week. One of these matches saw

Bullet Club (stylised as BULLET CLUB), sometimes shortened to BC, is a professional wrestling stable primarily appearing in the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In the United States, the group currently appears on NJPW events run by the co ...

Doc Gallows Andrew William Hankinson (born December 22, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Luke Gallows. Hankinson began his career in 2005 and participated i ...

, Karl Anderson and

Kenny Omega Tyson Smith (born October 16, 1983), better known by the ring name Kenny Omega, is a Canadian-born professional wrestler. Omega is an executive vice president of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), in which he also performs. Omega is a former one-ti ...

defeat Alex Shelley,

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 ...

and

Tomoaki Honma is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In NJPW, he is a former one-time IWGP Tag Team Champion and a two-time World Tag League winner with Togi Makabe. Professional wrestling career Big Jap ...

in a six-man tag team match in the buildup to an

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship The is a professional wrestling world junior heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . Only wrestlers under the junior heavyweight weight-limit may ho ...

match between champion Omega and challenger Shelley. Another match built to the main event of Wrestling Dontaku 2015, which would see

Hirooki Goto is a Japanese professional wrestler. Since his debut, he has wrestled primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He is also known for being the longest reigning NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion with his Chaos stablemates, Tomohiro Ishii ...

challenge Shinsuke Nakamura for the

IWGP Intercontinental Championship The was a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was officially announced on January 5, 2011 and the Inaugural Champion MVP was c ...

. At Wrestling Hinokuni 2015, Nakamura,

Kazushi Sakuraba is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and submission wrestling, submission wrestler, currently signed to Rizin Fighting Federation and Pro Wrestling NOAH, Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was formerly one-half of the former GHC T ...

and

Toru Yano , is a Japanese professional wrestler, trained by and currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the KOPW 2020 and the provisional KOPW 2021. He is a four time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion. He is also a three- ...

defeated Goto,

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

Katsuyori Shibata is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and professional wrestling trainer. In professional wrestling, he is known for his hard hitting offense. He is currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In NJPW, he is a f ...

. In the main event of the show,

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 ( ...

defended the

NEVER Openweight Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. NEVER is an acronym of the terms "New Blood", "Evolution", "Valiantly", "Eternal", and "Radical" and was an NJPW-promoted series of events, which ...

against

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 ...

. This was a rematch from January's

Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion, which took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on January 4, 2015. It was the 24th January 4 Tok ...

, where Makabe defeated Ishii to become the new NEVER Openweight Champion. However, on February 14, Makabe was stripped of the title after he was forced to pull out of a scheduled rematch with Ishii due to influenza, which led to Ishii defeating

to recapture the now

vacant Within the context of building construction and building codes, "occupancy" refers to the use, or intended use, of a building, or portion of a building, for the shelter or support of persons, animals or property. A closely related meaning is t ...

title. The main event saw Makabe again defeat Ishii to win the NEVER Openweight Championship for the second time.

2016

Wrestling Hinokuni 2016 is a canceled professional wrestling event that was scheduled to take place on April 29, 2016, at the Grand Messe Kumamoto in

. The event was set to feature nine matches, three of which were to be contested for championships. The event was to be headlined by

making his first defense of the

against

Michael Elgin Aaron Frobel (born December 13, 1986) is a Canadian professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name Michael Elgin. He most recently worked for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was a one-time GHC Tag Team Champion with Masa Kitamiya ...

. This was set up earlier in the month at

Invasion Attack 2016 Invasion Attack 2016 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on April 10, 2016, in Tokyo at Ryōgoku Kokugikan, and featured nine matches, six of which were contested fo ...

, where the two had a heated confrontation after Elgin,

and Yoshitatsu had defeated Omega and

The Young Bucks The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team and promoters, consisting of brothers Matthew and Nicholas Massie, who are known by their ring names Matt and Nick Jackson, respectively. They are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW ...

(Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) to win the

NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The title was announced on December 21, 2015, with the first champions crowned on January 4, 2016. Through NJPW's relationship with Ring of Honor ...

. Another title match was set to continue a storyline, where

defended the

against NJPW veterans, known as the "third generation". Having already defended the title against

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 ...

, at Invasion Attack 2016, Shibata successfully defended the title against

and afterwards kicked Yuji Nagata to set him up as his next challenger. The two had previously faced off in August 2014 during the

2014 G1 Climax The is a professional wrestling tournament held each August by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. Though it has sometimes been held as a single-elimination tournament, it is usually (and currently) held as a round-robin, with winners ...

tournament, where Nagata defeated Shibata. The event was also scheduled to feature a rematch from Invasion Attack 2016, where the new

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The is a professional wrestling tag team championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on August 8, 1998, at an NJPW live event. The IWGP Junior ...

Roppongi Vice Roppongi Vice (sometimes stylized as RPG Vice) is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Trent Baretta and Rocky Romero who currently compete for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). They are best known for their work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (N ...

(

Beretta Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta (; "Pietro Beretta Weapon Factory") is a privately held Italian firearms manufacturing company operating in several countries. Its firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and milita ...

and

Rocky Romero John R. Rivera (born October 28, 1982) is a Puerto Rican-American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed non-exclusively to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), better known by his ring name Rocky Romero (ロッ ...

), would defend the title against previous champions,

Matt Sydal Matthew Joseph Korklan (born March 19, 1983), better known by the ring name Matt Sydal, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Prior to signing with AEW, Sydal wrestled in WWE as Evan Bourne, and was ...

and

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

. One of the big non-title matches at Wrestling Hinokuni was set to continue the rivalry between the

Chaos Chaos or CHAOS may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional elements * Chaos (''Kinnikuman'') * Chaos (''Sailor Moon'') * Chaos (''Sesame Park'') * Chaos (''Warhammer'') * Chaos, in ''Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy'' * Cha ...

and ''

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 ...

stables A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

as the former's

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

Will Ospreay William Peter Charles Ospreay (born 7 May 1993) is an English professional wrestler who is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion in his first reign and leader of the ...

were set to take on the latter's Bushi,

Evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

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

. This match would also build up three matches taking place at Wrestling Dontaku 2016, where Goto was set to take on Evil, Okada take on Sanada and Ishii challenge Naito for the

IWGP Heavyweight Championship The was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on June 12, 1987, in the final of an IW ...

. On April 14, Kumamoto was hit with an earthquake, which led to NJPW announcing that they were trying to determine whether they could continue going forward with the show. After another earthquake two days later, NJPW officially canceled the show on April 18. Top matches from the event were later moved to the April 27 Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2016 and May 3 Wrestling Dontaku 2016 events.

2018

Wrestling Hinokuni 2018 was a professional wrestling event took place on April 29, 2018, at the Grand Messe Kumamoto in

. This event makes the return of New Japan Pro Wrestling to Mashiki, Kumamoto after two years.

2019

Wrestling Hinokuni 2019 was a professional wrestling event that took place on April 29, 2019, at the Grand Messe Kumamoto in

. This event makes the return of New Japan Pro Wrestling to Mashiki, Kumamoto after two years.

References

External links

The official New Japan Pro-Wrestling website
{{New Japan Pro Wrestling events New Japan Pro-Wrestling shows 2015 in professional wrestling 2016 in professional wrestling Entertainment events in Japan