Sky Diving J

Sky Diving J was a professional wrestling event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on June 17, 1996 at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. The event was notable for revolutionizing junior heavyweight wrestling in NJPW and Japanese wrestling history. The event aired on television on TV Asahi on July 6, 1996.[2] All of the matches contested at the event were junior heavyweight championship matches from different promotions from Japan. This was a very significant event in the revolution of junior heavyweight wrestling as title defences from various promotions at the event would result in the unification of various junior heavyweight championships to create the J-Crown.[3]

Sky Diving J
PromotionNew Japan Pro-Wrestling
DateJune 17, 1996
CityTokyo, Japan
VenueNippon Budokan
Attendance13,500[1]

Eight professional wrestling matches were contested at the event and all of the matches were contested for various junior heavyweight championships from all over Japan. In the main event, The Great Sasuke successfully defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Black Tiger. Six of the titles were retained at the event while two championships changed hands at the event as Jushin Thunder Liger defeated Dick Togo to capture the British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship while Shinjiro Otani defeated Kazushi Sakuraba for the vacant UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship.[4]

Background

NJPW had previously held an annual round-robin tournament called Best of the Super Juniors but the tournament was not of much significance for the junior heavyweight division. In 1994, Jushin Thunder Liger conceptualized a junior heavyweight tournament to determine the best junior heavyweights from all over the world called Super J-Cup. The tournament was an enormous success and it led to a second tournament being held the following year in 1995.

Event
Other on-screen personnel
Role: Name:
Commentators Masa Saito
Yoshinari Tsuji
Soichi Shibata
Yuichi Tabata
Yu Manabe
Jushin Thunder Liger

Preliminary matches

In the opening match, the team of Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka defended the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against the team of El Samurai and Norio Honaga. Storm pinned Honaga following a hurricanrana to retain the titles.

Next, Masayoshi Motegi defended the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship against Shiryu. In the end, Motegi delivered a top rope gutwrench suplex to Shiryu to retain the title.

Next, Gran Hamada defended the WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship against Tatsuhito Takaiwa. In the end, Hamada executed a tornado DDT to Takaiwa to win the match and retain the title.

The Great Sasuke defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Black Tiger in the main event.

The next match was contested for the vacant UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship between Kazushi Sakuraba and Shinjiro Otani. In the end, Otani applied a chickenwing facelock on Sakuraba and made him submit to the hold to win the title.

Next, Super Delfin defended the CMLL World Welterweight Championship against Taka Michinoku. In the end, Delfin performed a double chickenwing suplex to Michinoku to retain the title.

Later, Último Dragón defended the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship against Gran Naniwa. Dragón pinned Naniwa with a crucifix to retain the title.

In the penultimate match, Dick Togo defended the British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship against Jushin Thunder Liger. In the end, Liger delivered a Shotei to Togo to win the title.

Main event match

In the main event, The Great Sasuke defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Black Tiger. Sasuke executed a top rope frankensteiner to Tiger to retain the title.

Aftermath

The all-junior heavyweight card featuring junior heavyweight championship matches of all major Japanese promotions led to Jushin Thunder Liger conceptualizing the idea of a tournament to unify all the junior heavyweight singles championships. He challenged all the champions and a tournament took place to create the J-Crown, the unifier of various singles junior heavyweight championships. The tournament took place on August 5, 1996, with The Great Sasuke winning the tournament to become the first champion.[3]

Results
No. Results Stipulations Times
1 Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka (c) defeated El Samurai and Norio Honaga Tag team match for the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 13:28
2 Masayoshi Motegi (c) defeated Shiryu Singles match for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship 11:51
3 Gran Hamada (c) defeated Tatsuhito Takaiwa Singles match for the WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship 12:05
4 Shinjiro Otani defeated Kazushi Sakuraba Singles match for the vacant UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship 8:15
5 Super Delfin (c) defeated Taka Michinoku Singles match for the CMLL World Welterweight Championship 16:09
6 Último Dragón (c) defeated Gran Naniwa Singles match for the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship 13:58
7 Jushin Liger defeated Dick Togo (c) Singles match for the British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship 15:56
8 The Great Sasuke (c) defeated Black Tiger Singles match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship 16:54
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

References
  1. "Skydiving J". Pro Wrestling History. June 17, 1996. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  2. "NJPW Skydiving J". Cagematch. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  3. Moe Lakser. "Skydiving J". Puroresu Central. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  4. "New Japan Pro-Wrestling Results: 1996". PuroLove. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
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