Wrestling New Classic (WNC) (レスリング・ニュー・クラシック, Resuringu Nyū Kurashikku) was a Japanese puroresu or professional wrestling promotion, founded in April 2012 by Yoshihiro Tajiri. WNC was the follow-up promotion to Smash, which folded in March 2012.
On April 5, 2012, Tajiri held a press conference to announce the forming of Wrestling New Classic, which would hold its first two events on April 26 at Shinjuku Face and on May 24 at Korakuen Hall. The promotion's new financial backer at the time was Tsutomu Takashima, the executive director of real estate company Avance Avant Corporation. WNC continued Smash's working relationship with Finnish professional wrestling promotion Fight Club Finland. Unlike Smash, which held, on average, one event per month, WNC had a more regular schedule, producing three events in its official opening month, May 2012. The promotion is named after a comment made by final Smash Champion Dave Finlay, who, at the promotion's penultimate event, told Tajiri to "keep wrestling classic" with his new promotion. Several WNC wrestlers also booked and promoted their own events in collaboration with the promotion, including Kana's Kana Pro, Makoto's Mako Pro, Syuri's Stimulus, and Takuya Kito's Kuzu Pro.
In late 2013, WNC also established a working relationship with joshi puroresu promotion Reina Joshi Puroresu, as part of which all of WNC's female wrestlers became officially affiliated with both promotions in January 2014. On June 18, 2014, Tajiri held a press conference with Keiji Mutoh, where he announced that WNC would be going inactive following June 26. Afterwards, all female WNC wrestlers remained affiliated with WNC-Reina, while six male wrestlers, Tajiri and Akira included, transferred over to Mutoh's Wrestle-1 promotion. WNC held its final event on June 26, 2014, in Tokyo's Shinjuku Face.
Championships[]
WNC Championship[]
- Akira - December 27, 2012
- Osamu Nishimura - April 25, 2013
- Tajiri - August 8, 2013
- StarBuck - February 27, 2014
- Bernard VanDamme - March 8, 2014
- StarBuck - February 27, 2014
- Yuji Kito - March 24, 2014
Deactivated - June 26, 2014 - The championship retired due to WNC having shut down on June 26, 2014.
WNC Women's Championship[]
- Syuri - December 27, 2012
- Makoto - March 31, 2013
- Lin Byron - April 25, 2013
Vacated - August 11, 2012 - The championship was vacated after Lin Byron fractured her left ankle.
- Serena - August 10, 2013
- Syuri - September 18, 2013
Deactivated - September 30, 2014 - The championship retired due to WNC having shut down on June 26, 2014.