Annual celebration of Mexican wrestling culture to begin January 10 with a celebration of OKUMURA’s career.
Fantasticamania cards and ticket details!
Watch Fantasticamania night one on NJPW World LIVE!
The full cards have been revealed for the NJPW/CMLL Fantasticamania 2020 tour. An annual tradition now entering its 11th year, Fantasticamania sees the top stars of CMLL wrestle in New Japan rings for a unique experience.
Night one, which takes place in Osaka Friday January 10, will be headlined by OKUMURA’s 25th anniversary match, as he teams with Barbaro Cavernario and Ultimo Guerrero to take on Stuka Jr., Caristico and Satoshi Kojima.
OKUMURA actually debuted on New Years Eve 1994 for independent promotion IWA in Yokohama. He would wrestle in several different independents through the 1990s, before getting a break in NJPW rings in 1998. It would be in All Japan however that the next stage of his career would begin, and he would primarily wrestle for AJPW until leaving the promotion in 2004.
After leaving AJPW, he would head to Mexico and join CMLL, just as CMLL’s relationship with NJPW deepened. His ability to communicate with Japanese wrestlers heading over on excursion took him to quick success, as he, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura formed a force to be reckoned with in CMLL in 2005. Since then, every wrestler from NJPW who has headed to CMLL has crossed paths (for better or worse) with the Japanese Rudo OKUMURA; from IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Roppongi 3K to the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi.
OKUMURA teams with Barbaro Cavernario, who is making his return to the NJPW ring. One of the most popular, and most insane wrestlers on the CMLL roster, the Mexican Caveman always receives approval from Japanese fans, even when teaming with rudos like OKUMURA and Ultimo Guerrero.
In the opposite corner, Satoshi Kojima represents New Japan, joined in a trio by Caristico and Stuka Jr. Caristico is one of the most vital figures to lucha libre in the 2000s, becoming a mega star as the original Mistico, before wrestling in WWE, and then returning to currently wrestle under the Carisrtico moniker. Stuka Jr. has consistently been one of the most popular forces in CMLL, and his mix of athleticism and high impact should be a perfect fit for this team.
Also on the card for Fantasticamania night one, Yota Tsuji joins Hiroshi Tanahashi and the debuting Dulce Gardenia to take on Los Ingobernables De Japon in the form of BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito. Mexico obviously plays a huge role in LIJ, the Ingobernables being born in Mexico, and taking Naito under their wing during a fateful 2015 excursion. That set the wheels in motion for Los ingobernables De Japon, which would recruit BUSHI as its third member in November 2015, and then see Hiromu Takahashi join after his own long and successful excursion to CMLL, where he wrestled as Kamaitachi.
Gardenia will be bringing some of the colourful world of CMLL’s exoticos to NJPW, as he teams with a senpai kohai pairing of Tanahashi and Tsuji. Gardenia’s approach may not appear conventional to many regular NJPW fans, but his impressive resume should remove any doubt of his abilities as a competitor. Gardenia has racked up some impressive scalps, both figuratively and literally; on a big New Years Day event in Arena Mexico, Gardenia defeated Kawato-san (NJPW’s Hirai Kawato) in the main event to take his hair.
These are just the top two highlights of a six match card coming to Osaka and LIVE on NJPW World this Friday night, as NJPW and CMLL’s annual fiesta gets underway; we’re looking forward to having you join us!
