was a Japanese puroresu or professional wrestling promotion, founded in April 2012 by Yoshihiro Tajiri. WNC was the follow-up promotion to Smash, which folded in March 2012.
History On April 5, 2012, Tajiri held a press conference to announce the forming of Wrestling New Classic, which would hold its first two events on April 26 at Shinjuku Face and on May 24 at Korakuen Hall. The promotion's new financial backer at the time was Tsutomu Takashima, the executive director of real estate company Avance Avant Corporation. WNC continued Smash's working relationship with Finnish professional wrestling promotion Fight Club Finland. Unlike Smash, which held, on average, one event per month, WNC had a more regular schedule, producing three events in its official opening month, May 2012. The promotion is named after a comment made by final Smash Champion Dave Finlay, who, at the promotion's penultimate event, told Tajiri to "keep wrestling classic" with his new promotion. Several WNC wrestlers also booked and promoted their own events in collaboration with the promotion, including Kana's Kana Pro, Makoto's Mako Pro, Syuri's Stimulus, and Takuya Kito's Kuzu Pro.
In late 2013, WNC also established a working relationship with joshi puroresu promotion Reina Joshi Puroresu, as part of which all of WNC's female wrestlers became officially affiliated with both promotions in January 2014. On June 18, 2014, Tajiri held a press conference with Keiji Mutoh, where he announced that WNC would be going inactive following June 26. Afterwards, all female WNC wrestlers remained affiliated with WNC-Reina, while six male wrestlers, Tajiri and Akira included, transferred over to Mutoh's Wrestle-1 promotion. WNC held its final event on June 26, 2014, in Tokyo's Shinjuku Face.
Final roster
Wrestlers Ring nameReal nameNotesWNC-Reina WNC-Reina WNC-Reina
Staff NameNotesRing announcerRefereeRefereeRing announcerRefereeRing announcer
Alumni Ring nameReal nameNotesResigned January 31, 2013Retired February 28, 2014Resigned January 11, 2014Signed with Kaientai Dojo on September 14, 2014Resigned January 31, 2013Resigned on September 16, 2014, to sign with Asuka Project and Pro Wrestling WaveResigned November 28, 2012Resigned June 18, 2014Resigned June 26, 2014Resigned January 30, 2014Went inactive on January 25, 2013
Notable guests
Adam Angel / Backpacker Joe Arisa Nakajima Atsushi Kotoge The Bodyguard Brahman Kei Brahman Shu Carlito Command Bolshoi Daisuke Sekimoto Dave Finlay Dump Matsumoto El Samurai Emil Sitoci Gedo Gran Hamada Jado Kaoru Kyoko Kimura Masato Tanaka Osamu Nishimura Maybach Taniguchi
Mikey Whipwreck Mio Shirai Misaki Ohata Miyako Matsumoto Naomichi Marufuji Ray Mendoza Jr. Ricky Marvin Riho Serena StarBuck Super Crazy Tadasuke Taiji Ishimori Takeshi Morishima Tatsumi Fujinami Tommy Dreamer Tomoka Nakagawa Toru Yano Último Dragón Zeus
Championships Championship Final champion(s) Date won Defeated WNC Championship Yuji Kito March 24, 2018 Retired WNC Women's Championship Syuri September 18, 2013 Serena
Annual tournaments Tournament Last winner Last held Dave Finlay Cup Hiro Tonai January 4, 2014
See also
Professional wrestling in Japan
References
External links
Wrestling New Classic on YouTube