Collision in Korea (found professional wrestling event in North Korea; 1995): Difference between revisions
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==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||
*[[AJ Styles vs Kenny Omega (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2006)]] | |||
*[[Alberto Del Rio vs CM Punk vs Dolph Ziggler vs Jack Swagger vs John Cena (partially found master tape footage of untelevised Hell in a Cell match; 2011)]] | |||
*[[Awesome Kong vs Melissa Anderson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2009)]] | *[[Awesome Kong vs Melissa Anderson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2009)]] | ||
*[[Bill Longson vs Whipper Billy Watson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1947)]] | *[[Bill Longson vs Whipper Billy Watson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1947)]] | ||
*[[Blood Circus (partially found Santo Gold film; 1985)]] | |||
*[[Braden Walker's "Knock Knock" promo (lost original pre-tapes of WWE backstage segment; 2008)]] | *[[Braden Walker's "Knock Knock" promo (lost original pre-tapes of WWE backstage segment; 2008)]] | ||
*[[Bradshaw vs Christian (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2001)]] | *[[Bradshaw vs Christian (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2001)]] | ||
| Line 58: | Line 61: | ||
*[[The Game (partially found Disturbed cover of professional wrestling theme song; mid 2000s)]] | *[[The Game (partially found Disturbed cover of professional wrestling theme song; mid 2000s)]] | ||
*[[GFW Amped (partially found unaired professional wrestling show; 2015)]] | *[[GFW Amped (partially found unaired professional wrestling show; 2015)]] | ||
*[[The Giant's moonsault (lost footage of professional wrestling move; existence unconfirmed; 1990s)]] | |||
*[[Girls Gone Wild: Live from Spring Break (found WWE/Girls Gone Wild crossover special; 2003)]] | *[[Girls Gone Wild: Live from Spring Break (found WWE/Girls Gone Wild crossover special; 2003)]] | ||
*[[GLOW (lost unfinished final season of Netflix comedy-drama series; 2019-2020)]] | *[[GLOW (lost unfinished final season of Netflix comedy-drama series; 2019-2020)]] | ||
*[[Goldberg's pre-television debut matches (lost footage of professional wrestling dark matches; 1997)]] | |||
*[[Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1908)]] | *[[Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1908)]] | ||
*[[Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1911)]] | *[[Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1911)]] | ||
*[[Jake "The Snake" Roberts DDTs Hulk Hogan (lost Snake Pit segment; 1986)]] | *[[Jake "The Snake" Roberts DDTs Hulk Hogan (lost Snake Pit segment; 1986)]] | ||
*[[Johnny Gargano vs Velveteen Dream (lost footage of alternate finish to professional wrestling match; 2019)]] | |||
*[[Kurt Angle vs Owen Hart (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1999)]] | |||
*[[The Last Battle of Atlanta (found untelevised professional wrestling steel cage match; 1983)]] | *[[The Last Battle of Atlanta (found untelevised professional wrestling steel cage match; 1983)]] | ||
*[[Lita (partially found training videos of professional wrestler; late 1990s-2000)]] | *[[Lita's training matches (partially found training videos of professional wrestler; late 1990s-2000)]] | ||
*[[Low Ki & Mercury vs Ric Blade & TCK (partially lost footage of hardcore wrestling tag team match; 2000)]] | |||
*[[Mark Jindrak in Evolution (partially found unaired vignettes of professional wrestling stable; 2003)]] | |||
*[[Pat Tanaka vs Rocco Rock (lost footage of "Body Count" professional wrestling match; 1993)]] | |||
*[["Plane Ride From Hell" (lost photographs of drunk wrestler incidents; 2002)]] | *[["Plane Ride From Hell" (lost photographs of drunk wrestler incidents; 2002)]] | ||
*[[Radio WWF (lost professional wrestling radio show; 1993-1994; late 1990s-2000)]] | *[[Radio WWF (lost professional wrestling radio show; 1993-1994; late 1990s-2000)]] | ||
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*[[WWE Crush Hour (lost build of cancelled Xbox port of vehicular combat game; 2002)]] | *[[WWE Crush Hour (lost build of cancelled Xbox port of vehicular combat game; 2002)]] | ||
*[[WWE SmackDown vs Raw Online (lost build of cancelled online professional wrestling PC game; 2010-2011)]] | *[[WWE SmackDown vs Raw Online (lost build of cancelled online professional wrestling PC game; 2010-2011)]] | ||
*[[WWE Wrestlemania 36 (lost footage of alternate finishes to professional wrestling matches; 2020)]] | |||
*[[WWF Attitude (lost professional wrestling recap show; 2001-2002)]] | *[[WWF Attitude (lost professional wrestling recap show; 2001-2002)]] | ||
*[[WWF Backlash (non-existent unfinished Nintendo 64 professional wrestling game; 2001)]] | *[[WWF Backlash (non-existent unfinished Nintendo 64 professional wrestling game; 2001)]] | ||
Revision as of 15:19, 26 February 2022
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
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
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
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
Videos
See Also
- AJ Styles vs Kenny Omega (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2006)
- Alberto Del Rio vs CM Punk vs Dolph Ziggler vs Jack Swagger vs John Cena (partially found master tape footage of untelevised Hell in a Cell match; 2011)
- Awesome Kong vs Melissa Anderson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2009)
- Bill Longson vs Whipper Billy Watson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1947)
- Blood Circus (partially found Santo Gold film; 1985)
- Braden Walker's "Knock Knock" promo (lost original pre-tapes of WWE backstage segment; 2008)
- Bradshaw vs Christian (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2001)
- Bret Hart-Hulk Hogan photoshoot (lost professional wrestling promotional photos; 1993)
- Bret Hart vs Tom Magee (found untelevised professional wrestling match; 1986)
- Catch-As-Catch-Can Wrestling (lost early BBC televised professional wrestling matches; 1938-1939; 1946-1947)
- Celebrity Wrestling (partially found ITV professional wrestling reality show; 2005)
- Chowdaheads (partially found unaired professional wrestling cartoon show; 1999)
- Collision in Korea wrestler sketches (lost North Korean pencil sketch portraits of professional wrestlers; 1995)
- Cultaholic (lost debut video of professional wrestling YouTube channel; 2017)
- ECW Anarchy Rulz (lost build of cancelled Nintendo 64 port of professional wrestling game; existence unconfirmed; 2000)
- ECW at E3 2000 (partially found footage of professional wrestling at gaming trade event; 2000)
- ECW Hardcore TV final episodes (lost episodes of Professional Wrestling Show; 2001)
- FMW at E3 2000 (partially found footage of professional wrestling at gaming trade event; 2000)
- The Game (partially found Disturbed cover of professional wrestling theme song; mid 2000s)
- GFW Amped (partially found unaired professional wrestling show; 2015)
- The Giant's moonsault (lost footage of professional wrestling move; existence unconfirmed; 1990s)
- Girls Gone Wild: Live from Spring Break (found WWE/Girls Gone Wild crossover special; 2003)
- GLOW (lost unfinished final season of Netflix comedy-drama series; 2019-2020)
- Goldberg's pre-television debut matches (lost footage of professional wrestling dark matches; 1997)
- Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1908)
- Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1911)
- Jake "The Snake" Roberts DDTs Hulk Hogan (lost Snake Pit segment; 1986)
- Johnny Gargano vs Velveteen Dream (lost footage of alternate finish to professional wrestling match; 2019)
- Kurt Angle vs Owen Hart (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1999)
- The Last Battle of Atlanta (found untelevised professional wrestling steel cage match; 1983)
- Lita's training matches (partially found training videos of professional wrestler; late 1990s-2000)
- Low Ki & Mercury vs Ric Blade & TCK (partially lost footage of hardcore wrestling tag team match; 2000)
- Mark Jindrak in Evolution (partially found unaired vignettes of professional wrestling stable; 2003)
- Pat Tanaka vs Rocco Rock (lost footage of "Body Count" professional wrestling match; 1993)
- "Plane Ride From Hell" (lost photographs of drunk wrestler incidents; 2002)
- Radio WWF (lost professional wrestling radio show; 1993-1994; late 1990s-2000)
- Screwed: The Bret Hart Story (lost unfinished wrestling documentary film; 2005)
- Sex University (lost WWE webshow; 2006)
- Shin Nihon Pro Wrestling Gekitou Densetsu (lost build of unreleased Virtual Boy wrestling game; 1995)
- Strange Kentucky People (lost recording of Chris Jericho "tribute"; 1994)
- TNA Impact! 2 (lost build of unfinished professional wrestling game; 2009)
- WCW 2000 (lost work on unfinished PlayStation 2 game; 2000)
- WCW All Nighter (partially lost professional wrestling compilation show; 1994-1995)
- WCW Classics (partially found professional wrestling compilation show; 2000-2001)
- WCW Internet-only Special Events and PPVs (lost audio streams; 1997-1998)
- WCW/nWo Live (lost build of cancelled PlayStation professional wrestling game; 1998)
- WWE 24x7 (lost professional wrestling compilation show; 2007)
- WWE Brawl (lost build of cancelled fighting game based on professional wrestling; 2012)
- WWE Crush Hour (lost build of cancelled Xbox port of vehicular combat game; 2002)
- WWE SmackDown vs Raw Online (lost build of cancelled online professional wrestling PC game; 2010-2011)
- WWE Wrestlemania 36 (lost footage of alternate finishes to professional wrestling matches; 2020)
- WWF Attitude (lost professional wrestling recap show; 2001-2002)
- WWF Backlash (non-existent unfinished Nintendo 64 professional wrestling game; 2001)
- WWF Excess (partially found professional wrestling talk show; 2001-2002)
- WWF In Your House 8: Beware Of Dog (partially found untelevised professional wrestling matches; 1996)
- WWF Livewire (partially found professional wrestling recap and talk show; 1996-2001)
- WWF No Mercy (lost Game Boy Color games based on Nintendo 64 wrestling game; 2000)
- WWF Shotgun (partially found July to December season of syndicated wrestling show; 1997)
- WWF Xperience (found pay-per-view event footage; 1996)
External Links
References
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 2.0 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
- ↑ The Death of WCW detailing the NJPW-WCW relationship. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Wrestling Recaps reviewing the WCW version of Collision in Korea. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
- ↑ Reddit post containing the 8th May 1995 issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, which detailed attendance figures. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Sportster detailing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship match. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
- ↑ WhatCulture detailing the women's tag team match. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
- ↑ WhatCulture detailing how Collision in Korea is not on the WWE Network. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
- ↑ CNN Money reporting on the WWF buying WCW. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
- ↑ Reddit posts containing matches available on NJPW World. Retrieved 22 Dec '21
- ↑ Lost Media Wiki Forum discussing UserDragon12 V3 finding the full uncut event. Retrieved 22 Dec '21