Wrestle Dynasty was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

(PPV) event co-produced by the Japanese promotions

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

(NJPW) and

World Wonder Ring Stardom , is a Japanese ''joshi puroresu'' or women's professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo, Japan. Stardom was founded in September 2010 by former All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) co-producer Ross ...

, the American promotions

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

(AEW) and

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...

(ROH), and the Mexican promotion

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Co., Ltd. (CMLL; , "World Wrestling Council") is a ''lucha libre'' professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City. The promotion was previously known as (EMLL) (''Mexican Wrestling Enterprise''). Founded in 1933, it is the oldest profe ...

(CMLL). It took place on January 5, 2025, at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium (whose former site is now occupied by the Tokyo Dome Hotel and a plaza for this stadium). In Japan, it is often us ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, the night after NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 19. Twelve matches were contested at the event, including two on the pre-show. In the event's final match, which was promoted as part of a double main event, Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Ricochet to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. In the other main event,

Kenny Omega Tyson Smith (born October 16, 1983), better known by the ring name , is a Canadian-born professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the current AEW International Champion in his first reign. He also works as an ...

defeated Gabe Kidd in what was Omega's first match for over a year due to

diverticulitis Diverticulitis, also called colonic diverticulitis, is a gastrointestinal disease characterized by inflammation of abnormal pouches—Diverticulum, diverticula—that can develop in the wall of the large intestine. Symptoms typically include lo ...

. In other prominent matches, The Young Bucks ( Nicholas Jackson and Matthew Jackson) defeated United Empire ( Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb) and Los Ingobernables de Japón (

Tetsuya Naito is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his 20-year run in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he served as the leader of the ''Los Ingobernables de Japon'' stable, and was a multi-time world champion. ...

and Hiromu Takahashi) to win the vacant IWGP World Tag Team Championship, and Mercedes Moné defeated Mina Shirakawa in a

Winner Takes All match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called " 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 storyline. ...

for both the NJPW Strong Women's Championship and the RevPro Undisputed British Women's Championship.

Production

Background

Since 1992, the Japanese

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...

(NJPW) has held an annual show on January 4 at the

, a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

; since 2007, the event has been known as Wrestle Kingdom, and has since become the largest professional wrestling event in Japan. 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. In February 2021, the American professional wrestling promotion

(AEW) started a partnership with NJPW. Since then, both AEW and NJPW have had their wrestlers appear at each other's events. The working relationship resulted in the creation of AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, an annual co-promoted

(PPV) event held in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. AEW and NJPW also have working partnerships with the Mexican promotion

(CMLL): CMLL and NJPW have had a working relationship since 2009 and have co-produced the Fantastica Mania series of events since 2011; and CMLL and AEW entered into a working relationship in October 2023. In 2019, NJPW's parent company

Bushiroad is a Japanese entertainment company, producer of collectible card games and trading cards, and publisher of mobile apps and games, which was founded in 2007 by Takaaki Kidani and is headquartered in Tokyo. Bushiroad created and owns various med ...

acquired the ''joshi'' promotion

(Stardom); Stardom would later become a fully-fledged subsidiary of NJPW in 2024. In 2022, AEW owner Tony Khan acquired

(ROH) from their previous owner,

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb o ...

; 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 Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

; due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the event was postponed to 2021, and later cancelled. 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". 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. 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. 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 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

All In events, which were both held at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

), and AEW's first event to be held in a professional baseball stadium.

Storylines

Wrestle Dynasty featured

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

that were the results of pre-existing feuds and storylines, with results being predetermined by the bookers of the co-producing promotions. Storylines were produced on the weekly programs, ''

Dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

'', ''

Collision In physics, a collision is any event in which two or more bodies exert forces on each other in a relatively short time. Although the most common use of the word ''collision'' refers to incidents in which two or more objects collide with great for ...

'', '' Rampage'', '' Honor Club TV'', and '' Super Viernes''; as well as at other AEW, CMLL, NJPW, ROH, and Stardom events.

Results

International Women’s Cup bracket

References