| Battle Formation (1996) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Promotion | New Japan Pro-Wrestling | ||
| Date | April 29, 1996 | ||
| City | Tokyo, Japan | ||
| Venue | Tokyo Dome | ||
| Attendance | 55,000–65,000[1][2] | ||
| Battle Formation chronology | |||
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| New Japan Pro-Wrestling events chronology | |||
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The 1996 Battle Formation was the first Battle Formation event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The event was held on April 29, 1996 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It was a major success with a crowd of estimated 60,000 people and an approximate revenue of $5,700,000 from ticket sales.[1] The event featured competitors from various promotions including Michinoku Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Union of Wrestling Forces International, World Championship Wrestling and Wrestle Association R.
Nine professional wrestling matches were contested at the event. The main event saw the culmination of the lengthy invasion angle between NJPW and UWFi as UWFi's Nobuhiko Takada lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to NJPW's Shinya Hashimoto.[2]
Another title change occurred at the event when The Great Sasuke defeated Jushin Liger to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. The event featured many other major matches including an eight-man tag team match, in which NJPW representatives Osamu Nishimura, Riki Choshu, Satoshi Kojima and Takashi Iizuka defeated Heisei Ishingun (Akira Nogami, Akitoshi Saito, Michiyoshi Ohara and Shiro Koshinaka), a series of interpromotional matches between WCW wrestlers and NJPW faction Ookami Gundan members, and main event calibre matches pitting Tatsumi Fujinami against Genichiro Tenryu from WAR and The Great Muta against Jinsei Shinzaki from Michinoku Pro.[3]