Champion Carnival
From 1959 to 1972, the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA), run by Rikidōzan, held a tournament called World League (also known as the "World Big League"), which featured both Japanese and foreign professional wrestlers. Rikidōzan himself dominated the annual tournament early on, however, after his death in 1963, the tournament was won six times by Giant Baba and once by Antonio Inoki. JWA folded shortly after both Baba and Inoki left the promotion to create All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), respectively. Both men took the concept of World League with them to their new promotions, with Baba creating the "Champion Carnival" in 1973 and Inoki creating the World League in 1974, later renaming it G1 Climax.
Wrestling World 2004
Wrestling World 2004 was a professional wrestling event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). It took place on January 4 in the Tokyo Dome. Wrestling World 2004 was the thirteenth January 4 Tokyo Dome Show held by NJPW. The show drew 40,000 spectators. Main event of the 15 match show was a unification match between IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and NWF Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Takayama. Nakamura won the match, retiring the NWF Championship after only being active for one year. The undercard saw NJPW mainstay Jushin Thunder Liger defeat Pro Wrestling Noah's Takashi Sugiura to win the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, marking the first time a Noah championship changed hands at a January 4 Tokyo Dome Show. Additionally Gedo and Jado successfully defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against Heat and Tiger Mask and Hiroshi Tanahashi retained the IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship against Yutaka Yoshie.