World Class Japan

The 2023 **World Class Japan** was a two-week professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and the Indie Wrestling Federation (IWF). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Battle Zone, Intensity, NexGen brand divisions as well as independent wrestlers from Pro Wrestling Japan. The event took place on July 1, 2023, at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.and on July 8 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. The two-week event marks the first co-promoted event for WCCW and the IWF.

The card comprised a total of eighteen matches, with nine matches being broadcast each night. Featured bouts on night one include a #1 contender match for the NexGen Cruiserweight Championship between Ilja Dragunov and Noam Dar, a #1 contenders match for the NexGen Women's Tag Team Championship between The Unholy Union and Toxic Attraction, and four championship matches. The main event for night one saw Karrion Kross and Brandon War go to war in a hardcore match for the WCCW Light Heavyweight Championship. Featured bouts on night two include a triple threat match between Mercedes Mone, Xia Li and Shotzi; the return of Mickie James in a singles match against Giselle Shaw and four championship matches. The main event for night two saw Samoa Joe challenge Kota Ibushi to a hardcore match for his PWJ National Championship.

## Production

### Background

World Class Japan was announced by World Class Championship Wrestling in May 2023 as a replacement for Clash of the Champions. The event is the first co-promoted event for WCCW and the Indie Wrestling Federation and also the first to feature different subtitles for each night of the event. night one on July 1 will be known as World Class Japan: Capitol Punishment while night two on July 8 will be known as World Class Japan: Battle Dome.

### Storylines

The event included matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WCCW's writers on the Battle Zone, Intensity and NexGen brands as well as Pro Wrestling Japan's writers, while storylines are produced on WCCW's weekly television shows, *Tuesday Night Battle Zone,* *WCCW NexGen*, *Friday Night Intensity* and Pro Wrestling Japan's *PWJ Fight Night* and *PWJ Joshi Japan*.

## Event

### Night One: Capitol Punishment

*World Class Japan: Capitol Punishment* kicked off with a 30-minute 5-man Championship Scramble between Katsuyori Shibata, Kobayashi Yamamoto, Tetsuya Naito, Kenny Omega (in his WCCW debut) and Wes Lee for the PWJ Television Championship. The match was largely dominated by defending champion Katsuyori Shibata although Tetsuya Naito and Kenny Omega each earned 3 falls to keep the score close. At the end of thirty minutes, Shibata stood alone as the victor with 5 falls. The second match was a Falls Count Anywhere match between Konosuke Takeshta and Akira Tozawa. Takeshta would win the match by pinfall after hitting Tozawa with a spear. Following this was a #1 contender match for a NexGen Cruiserweight Championship match at **BattleDome** between Ilja Dragunov and Noam Dar. The two rivals were evenly matched but ultimately it was Dragunov with his hand raised, staring down a match against Axiom on July 8 at BattleDome.

In what is widely considered to be the most controversial match of the evening, The Unholy Union managed to defeat Toxic Attraction by countout when Gigi Dolan appeared unwilling to assist her teammate Jacy Jayne, simply standing stoic on the ring apron as the referee counted out her teammate. Dolan and Jayne had a heated exchange after the match with the two heading to the backstage area separately. The crowd reacted extremely negatively to the outcome of the match, directing the majority of their anger at referee Raul Mendoza who had to be ushered backstage by security when some fans began throwing garbage and other items at him. The short match caused WCCW to scramble to fill the dead air by airing a video package on the video screens highlighting the NexGen women's tag team division as a whole.

Once the event came back from its unexpected break, it was time for Carmelo Hayes and Grayson Waller in a NexGen World Championship match.