Collision in Korea (found professional wrestling event in North Korea; 1995)

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Collisioninkorea1.jpg

Collision in Korea logo.

Status: Found

Date found: 22 Aug 2020

Found by: UserDragon12 V3

Collision in Korea (officially known as Pyongyang International Sports and Culture Festival for Peace) is a professional wrestling event jointly-produced by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 28th-29th April 1995. Headlined by NJPW's Antonio Inoki vs WCW's Ric Flair, the event is famous for being held at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, in front of a record attendance for a wrestling event.

Background[edit | edit source]

In 1995, professional wrestler and NJPW founder Antonio Inoki was looking to revitalise his political career following scandals surrounding influence by the Yakuza and embezzlement.[1] That year, he decided that the solution would be to hold an event in North Korea as part of ensuring peace through sports diplomacy, and to repair the strained relationships between North Korea and Japan at the time.[2] Thus, after negotiations with North Korea, he received permission from Kim Jong-II to produce a two-day event entitled Pyongyang International Sports and Culture Festival for Peace.[1]

To ensure this major event was a credible success, Inoki contacted WCW President Eric Bischoff, requesting that his company jointly-participate in the event. After mending the NJPW-WCW relationship that allowed wrestlers from both organisations to freely compete on each other's shows,[3][4] Bischoff agreed and began to make preparations for the event, even behind WCW's owner Ted Turner's back.[2] Originally, the plan was for Inoki to face Hulk Hogan in the main event, but Hogan refused to travel to North Korea. Thus, fellow WCW wrestler Ric Flair agreed to headline the event.[4] Additionally, Muhammad Ali agreed to be the guest of honour, with the boxer proving highly popular in the country.[4]

The Event[edit | edit source]

The event took place over two days, from 28th-29th April 1995.[5] The audience was the largest ever seen in a wrestling event, which was claimed to have been 165,000 on Day One, and 190,000 for Day Two. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter however disputed these figures, claiming there were actually 150,000 and 165,000 respectively. Even so, the 165,000 figure is still the highest attendance for any wrestling event as of the present day.[6] All the people present at the event were forced to attend.[4]

A total of 15 matches, seven on the first day and eight in the second, were conducted. Day One was headlined by having Shinya Hashimoto defend his IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Scott Norton, wrestling to a 20-minute time limit.[7] Another notable match included a women's tag team match that saw Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano defeating Manami Toyota and Mariko Yoshida. For the traditionally conservative North Korean audience, this was an astounding spectacle, with most not knowing how to react.[2] The match itself was praised by Meltzer, who gave it four stars.[8] Additionally, Hokuto and Nakano would face each other on Day Two for Hokuto's CMLL World Women's Championship, with Hokuto successfully retaining.[1]

In general, the audience seldom reacted to the action in the ring.[1] Flair believes that the audience were expecting Greco-Roman wrestling, but were confused regarding the less realistic wrestling action being presented in what appeared to still be legitimate competitive matches.[2] Things changed in the main event, with the crowd firmly behind Inoki, because he was a student of North Korean professional and sumo wrestler Rikidōzan.[7][1] Inoki successfully pinned Flair, to the delight of the crowd.[1]

Availability[edit | edit source]

WCW would establish a pay-per-view containing highlights of the event on 4th August 1995, entitled Collision in Korea. This contained a compilation of eight matches shown on both days.[5] However, due to little promotion of the pay-per-view, it remained relatively obscure, with WWE also not including the event on its WWE Network,[9] having purchased WCW and its tape library in 2001.[10] Therefore, the only two matches publicly accessible for some time included Hokuto vs Nakano and Flair vs Inoki, which were available on NJPW World.[11] However, the WCW version would eventually be uploaded in full to YouTube.

The full event proved more difficult to find. However, in August 2020, UserDragon12 V3 revealed to the Lost Media en Español Wikia that they had obtained a pirate copy from a Japanese fan, which contained the entire uncut event.[12] It was uploaded to Google Drive on 22nd August 2020, but was quickly taken down again. However, various copies of the event would resurface again on 15th January 2021, thus making the event fully publicly available.

Gallery[edit | edit source]

Videos[edit | edit source]

WCW version of Collision in Korea.
Kento Bento video on Collision in Korea.
83 Weeks video on Collision in Korea.


See Also[edit | edit source]

External Links[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Pro Wrestling Stores detailing the story behind Collision in Korea. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Sports Illustrated detailing Inoki's motivations for producing the event, and providing multiple wrestlers' comments surrounding Collision in Korea. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
  3. ↑ The Death of WCW detailing the NJPW-WCW relationship. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Last Word on Sports detailing various revelations of Collision of Korea thanks to Dark Side of the Ring. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Wrestling Recaps reviewing the WCW version of Collision in Korea. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
  6. ↑ Reddit post containing the 8th May 1995 issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, which detailed attendance figures. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Sportster detailing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
  8. ↑ WhatCulture detailing the women's tag team match. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
  9. ↑ WhatCulture detailing how Collision in Korea is not on the WWE Network. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
  10. ↑ CNN Money reporting on the WWF buying WCW. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
  11. ↑ Reddit posts containing matches available on NJPW World. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
  12. ↑ Lost Media Wiki Forum discussing UserDragon12 V3 finding the full uncut event. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
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