Destiny (2005)

Destiny was a major professional wrestling event produced by Pro Wrestling Noah. The event took place on July 18, 2005 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, and marked Noah's second event to take place in the arena, after 2004's Departure.

Destiny
PromotionPro Wrestling NOAH
DateJuly 18, 2005
CityTokyo, Japan
VenueTokyo Dome
Attendance62,000

The main event was marketed as the last match between longtime rivals Toshiaki Kawada and Mitsuharu Misawa, who, once both signed to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), had since gone separate ways, with Kawada remaining in All Japan and Misawa leaving to form Noah.

In other major matches on the event, Kenta Kobashi faced Kensuke Sasaki, which marked Sasaki's first appearance in his future home promotion, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru defended the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship against Kenta. The show featured participation from other promotions, including New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), with Hiroshi Tanahashi representing the promotion to challenge Takeshi Rikio for the GHC Heavyweight Championship.

Background

Storylines
Destiny marked the first ever appearance of Toshiaki Kawada (left) in Pro Wrestling Noah.

Throughout the 1990s Toshiaki Kawada and Mitsuharu Misawa had been regarded as the two top stars of the popular All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) promotion, with both men regularly headlining shows with and against each other, and feuding over the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship throughout the decade. After owner and promoter Giant Baba died in 1999, Misawa inherited the position of AJPW president, however, after numerous disagreements with Baba's widow Motoko, he was removed from his position by a board of executives the following year and subsequently left All Japan Pro Wrestling in May 2000. Following Misawa's resignation, almost the entirety of the roster followed him in leaving and formed Pro Wrestling Noah the same year. Kawada was one of only four wrestlers to remain with All Japan, leaving him, Masanobu Fuchi, Stan Hansen and Maunakea Mossman as the sole roster of the promotion. By 2005, Kawada signed a contract with Dream Stage Entertainment, the parent company of PRIDE Fighting Championships, which allowed Kawada to work for any promotion he chose to, and opened the door for an appearance in Noah. For the first time ever, Kawada appeared in Noah on April 24, 2005 and called out Misawa for their first public meeting in over five years. Kawada challenged Misawa to "one more match" in the Tokyo Dome, which Misawa accepted, and the match was set for July 18 at Destiny, Noah's biggest event to date.[1][2][3]

After ending Kenta Kobashi's 735 day-long GHC Heavyweight Championship reign on March 5, 2005, Takeshi Rikio successfully defended the title against Akitoshi Saito before New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)'s then-current IWGP U-30 Openweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi was named as his next challenger.[4][5]

Having recently left NJPW for the second time in his career, Kensuke Sasaki was once again a freelancer primarily competing in AJPW and announced his intention to compete in Noah in mid-2005. He was soon confirmed to be facing Kenta Kobashi, in what was promoted as a "dream match". It marked Sasaki's first ever appearance in the promotion.

Results
No. Results Stipulations Times
1 Masashi Aoyagi, Suwa and Takashi Sugiura defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima, Mitsuo Momota and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi Six man tag 9:32
2 Muhammad Yone and Takeshi Morishima defeated Go Shiozaki and Tamon Honda Tag team 8:26
3 Dark Agents (Akitoshi Saito, Kishin Kawabata and Masao Inoue) and Shiro Koshinaka defeated Akira Taue, Haruka Eigen, Jun Izumida and Takuma Sano Eight-man tag 11:56
4 Mushiking Terry defeated Mushiking Joker Singles match 7:59
5 Kenta defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru (c) Singles match for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship 20:31
6 Minoru Suzuki and Naomichi Marufuji (c) defeated Jun Akiyama and Makoto Hashi Tag team match for the GHC Tag Team Championship 24:55
7 Takeshi Rikio (c) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi Singles match for the GHC Heavyweight Championship 17:11
8 Genichiro Tenryu defeated Yoshinari Ogawa Singles match 10:27
9 Kenta Kobashi defeated Kensuke Sasaki Singles match 23:38
10 Mitsuharu Misawa defeated Toshiaki Kawada Singles match 27:04
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

Aftermath

Destiny would be the last time Kawada and Misawa shared a ring with each other, and the last time Kawada would appear in Noah until October 2009. Misawa died after an in-ring accident in June 2009, and Kawada would return for the Misawa memorial show.[6]

3 years after his first appearance in Noah, Kensuke Sasaki announced his intentions to make it his own promotion, and began competing in both Noah and his own promotion Kensuke Office exclusively from 2008 onwards.

See also

References
  1. Funk, Terry; Scott E. Williams (2006). Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 217. ISBN 1-59670-159-5.
  2. Hornbaker, Tim (2006). National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly That Strangled Pro Wrestling. ECW Press. p. 328. ISBN 1-55022-741-6.
  3. Molinaro, John F. (June 15, 2000). "Misawa's departure cripples All Japan". Slam! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved June 13, 2009.
  4. "NOAH Navigation For Evolution 2005 - Tag 10 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  5. "NOAH Encountering Navigation 2005 - Tag 15 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  6. "NOAH Great Voyage 2009 In Osaka ~ Mitsuharu Misawa, Always In Our Hearts « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
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