Wrestle Dynasty

Background

Since 1992, the Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) has held an annual show on January 4 at the Tokyo Dome, a professional baseball stadium in Tokyo, Japan; since 2007, the event has been known as Wrestle Kingdom, and has since become the largest professional wrestling event in Japan.^[2] Between 2019 and 2022, NJPW also held a second Wrestle Kingdom show at the Tokyo Dome on January 5. In 2025, the January 5 Tokyo Dome show will be branded as "Wrestle Dynasty". NJPW also holds the New Year Dash!! event in Tokyo on the day after Wrestle Kingdom; in 2025, New Year Dash!! will be held on January 6, the day after Wrestle Dynasty.^[3]

In February 2021, the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) started a partnership with NJPW.^[4] Since then, both AEW and NJPW have had their wrestlers appear at each other's events.^[5] The working relationship resulted in the creation of AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, an annual co-promoted pay-per-view (PPV) event held in North America.^[6] AEW and NJPW also have working partnerships with the Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL): CMLL and NJPW have had a working relationship since 2009 and have co-produced the Fantastica Mania series of events since 2011;^[7] and CMLL and AEW entered into a working relationship in October 2023.^[8]

In 2019, NJPW's parent company Bushiroad acquired the joshi promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom (Stardom);^[9] Stardom would later become a fully-fledged subsidiary of NJPW in 2024.^[10] In 2022, AEW owner Tony Khan acquired Ring of Honor (ROH) from their previous owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group;^[11] prior to the acquisition, ROH also had a long working relationship with NJPW, including co-producing the War of the Worlds and Global Wars events in North America and Honor Rising events in Japan.

On August 22, 2020, NJPW planned to hold an event under the name of Wrestle Dynasty at Madison Square Garden in New York City; due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was postponed to 2021, and later cancelled.^[12] After the 2022 Forbidden Door event, then NJPW President Takami Ohbari expressed interest in the next event being held in Japan; Tony Khan said that he was open to the idea of AEW wrestlers performing in Japan, but said that such an event would not be titled "Forbidden Door".^[13] Prior to the 2024 Forbidden Door event, Khan expressed interest in a co-promoted show in Japan, but was non-committal over whether the event would be an iteration of Forbidden Door or a new event entirely.^[14]

On June 30, 2024, during Forbidden Door, Wrestle Dynasty was announced for January 5, 2025, in the Tokyo Dome, to be co-produced by AEW, NJPW, CMLL, ROH, and Stardom.^[15][16] Wrestle Dynasty will mark the first AEW PPV event to be held in Japan, the third AEW PPV event held outside North America (following the 2023 and 2024 All In events, which were both held at Wembley Stadium in London, England), and AEW's first event to be held in a professional baseball stadium.

Storylines

Wrestle Dynasty featured professional wrestling matches that were the results of pre-existing feuds and storylines, with results being predetermined by the bookers of the co-producing promotions.^[17] Storylines were produced on the weekly programs, Dynamite, Collision, Rampage, Honor Club TV, and Super Viernes; as well as at other AEW, CMLL, NJPW, ROH, and Stardom events.

International Women’s Cup bracket