''Fantastica Mania'' 2014 was a series of five

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- ...

events co-produced by

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 ...

ese

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

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 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) taking place between January 15 and 19, 2014. 2014 was the fourth year in which NJPW and CMLL come together to produce '' Fantastica Mania'' events, but the first time they held five events in one year, compared to two events in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and three in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. 2014 also marked the first time ''Fantasticamania'' events were held outside of

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 ...

Korakuen Hall is a sports arena in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan, which has hosted boxing, professional wrestling, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and Lethwei matches. History On April 16, 1962, the Korakuen Hall was officially opened with a capacity of approximat ...

, with the January 14 taking place in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

at the Bodymaker Colosseum, the January 15 event in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

at the KBS Hall and the January 17 event in Tokyo's Shin-Kiba 1st Ring, while the January 18 and 19 events were still held in Korakuen Hall. 2014 marked the first time some of the ''Fantastica Mania'' events were broadcast on

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).

Background

The events featured five to seven

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 ...

on each event with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted

feuds A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because ...

or storylines. Wrestlers portray either

villains A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

(referred to as heels in general or ''rudos'' in Mexico) or fan favorites (faces or ''técnicos'' in Mexico) as they compete in wrestling matches with pre-determined outcomes. Following the success of '' Fantastica Mania 2013'', then

(NJPW) president Naoki Sugabayashi announced that in 2014 he would like to take the event outside of

, naming

and

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

as possible candidates. ''Fantastica Mania 2014'' was officially announced on October 25, 2013, during the first day of NJPW's "Road to

Power Struggle A power struggle is situation where two or more people or groups fight to gain dominance over each other. The term is most commonly used in a political context, when parties contend for power or leadership positions, but can also be applied to a ...

" tour, with events scheduled to take place in Osaka,

and Tokyo. On October 31, NJPW announced that the January 17 Shin-Kiba 1st Ring event would feature only CMLL '' luchadores'', which would have made it the first ''Fantastica Mania'' event to not feature any NJPW wrestlers. NJPW wrestlers

Taichi Taichi is a Japanese given name and surname. Given name Taichi (written: , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. People with the given name Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese volleyball player *, Japanese footballe ...

and

Taka Michinoku (born October 26, 1973), better known by his ring name (stylized as TAKA Michinoku), is a Japanese professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He primarily appears for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is a me ...

were, however, later announced for the event. On November 7, NJPW announced the sixteen CMLL wrestlers taking part in the tour. A promotional poster released for the tour advertised NJPW wrestlers Bushi,

Hiroshi Tanahashi is a Japanese professional wrestler, sports executive and Podcast, podcaster. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he serves as the president and representative director of the promotion, and is also an active wrestler. Widel ...

Jyushin Thunder Liger , better known as and later , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as a trainer. He is the longest-tenured member of the NJPW roster, having worked for the company since ...

and

Shinsuke Nakamura is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. Nakamura is known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former 3-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, with his first rei ...

as taking part in the tour. The cards for all five events were released on January 6, 2014. On January 10, NJPW announced that the January 14 and 18 events would be broadcast live on

(PPV) in Japan and internationally on internet pay-per-view (iPPV) through

Niconico , known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese sound symbolism, Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, accordi ...

and

Ustream IBM Watson Media (formerly Ustream and IBM Cloud Video) is an American virtual events platform company which is a division of IBM. Prior to the IBM acquisition, it had more than 180 employees across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest office ...

, making them the first ''Fantastica Mania'' events available on PPV. On January 16, the tour ending January 19 event was also announced as a PPV.

Results

January 14

January 15

January 17

January 18

January 19

References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Fantastica Mania'' 2014 2014 in Japan 2014 in Tokyo 2014 in professional wrestling

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

January 2014 in Japan