Wrestling Hinokuni 2016

Promotional poster for the event, featuring various NJPW wrestlers

**Wrestling Hinokuni 2016** is a canceled professional wrestling event scheduled to take place on April 29, 2016, at the Grand Messe Kumamoto in Mashiki, Kumamoto. The event was set to feature nine matches, three of which were to be contested for championships. The event was to be headlined by Kenny Omega making his first defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Michael Elgin.

## Production

### Background

The event was established in 2015 and took place in late April between the larger Invasion Attack and Wrestling Dontaku events. The event would be held in Mashiki, Kumamoto and its name refers to the nickname of Kumamoto Prefecture, "Land of Fire" (火の国, *Hinokuni*).

On April 14, 2016, Kumamoto was hit with an earthquake, which led to NJPW announcing that they were trying to determine whether they could continue going forward with the show. After another earthquake two days later, NJPW officially canceled the show on April 18. Top matches from the event were later moved to the April 27 Road to Wrestling Dontaku 2016 and May 3 Wrestling Dontaku 2016 events.

### Storylines

Wrestling Hinokuni 2016 was supposed to feature professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.

In the main event, Kenny Omega was supposed to make his first defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Michael Elgin. This was set up earlier in the month at Invasion Attack 2016, where the two had a heated confrontation after Elgin, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yoshitatsu had defeated Omega and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship.

Another title match was set to continue a storyline, where Katsuyori Shibata defended the NEVER Openweight Championship against NJPW veterans, known as the "third generation". Having already defended the title against Satoshi Kojima, at Invasion Attack 2016, Shibata successfully defended the title against Hiroyoshi Tenzan and afterwards kicked Yuji Nagata to set him up as his next challenger. The two had previously faced off in August 2014 during the 2014 G1 Climax tournament, where Nagata defeated Shibata.

The event was also scheduled to feature a rematch from Invasion Attack 2016, where the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero), would defend the title against previous champions, Matt Sydal and Ricochet. One of the big non-title matches at Wrestling Hinokuni was set to continue the rivalry between the Chaos and *Los Ingobernables de Japón* stables as the former's Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Will Ospreay were set to take on the latter's BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA and Tetsuya Naito. This match would also build up three matches taking place at Wrestling Dontaku 2016, where Goto was set to take on Evil, Okada take on Sanada and Ishii challenge Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

## Results

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 9
* (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
* – refers to the video of that match

## External links

* The official New Japan Pro Wrestling website

## References

1. ↑ ja:【WD16】4月29日（金）グランメッセ熊本大会、開催中止のお知らせ (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling* (2016-04-18). Archived from the original on 2016-04-18. Retrieved on 2016-04-18.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 ja:【WD16】4月29日（金・祝）「レスリング火の国」全カード決定！メインはケニーvsエルガン！セミは棚橋vsファレ！柴田vs永田のNEVER戦！Jr.タッグ王座戦！ (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling* (2016-04-13). Archived from the original on 2016-04-13. Retrieved on 2016-04-13.
3. ↑ Overview of Kumamoto City . *Kumamoto International Foundation*. Archived from the original on 2016-04-13. Retrieved on 2016-04-13.
4. ↑ ja:【お知らせ】4月29日（金）グランメッセ熊本大会に関しまして (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling* (2016-04-15). Archived from the original on 2016-04-15. Retrieved on 2016-04-15.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Meltzer, Dave 2016-04-18. NJPW cancels PPV due to Kumamoto earthquakes . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2016-04-18.
6. ↑ Crockett, Paul 2016-04-18. New Japan PPV canceled . *Pro Wrestling Insider*. Retrieved on 2016-04-18.
7. ↑ *ja:新日　４・２９熊本大会の中止を発表* (in Japanese). *Tokyo Sports* (2016-04-18). Retrieved on 2016-04-18.
8. ↑ Macklin, Matthew 2016-04-19. New Japan updates, new lineup for Wrestling Dontaku & more . *Pro Wrestling Insider*. Retrieved on 2016-04-19.
9. ↑ Caldwell, James 2016-04-19. New Japan re-arranges next two big shows following earthquake, stacks “Wrestling Dontaku” card . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Archived from the original on 2016-04-20. Retrieved on 2016-04-20.
10. ↑ *ja:ＮＥＶＥＲ王座争う柴田と永田 それぞれの被災地への思い* (in Japanese). *Tokyo Sports* (2016-04-20). Retrieved on 2016-04-20.
11. ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2016-04-09. NJPW Invasion Attack live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Championship . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2016-04-13.
12. ↑ *ja:【新日・両国】柴田がＮＥＶＥＲ王座Ｖ３！天山をＰＫ葬* (in Japanese). *Tokyo Sports* (2016-04-11). Retrieved on 2016-04-13.
13. ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2016-04-10. New Japan announces line-ups for next two big shows . *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. Retrieved on 2016-04-13.
14. ↑ Caldwell, James 2016-04-11. New Japan announces next big title matches post-Invasion Attack, including Naito’s first title defenses, Omega vs. Elgin, more . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Archived from the original on 2016-04-11. Retrieved on 2016-04-13.