Wrestle Kingdom 7
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Wrestle Kingdom 7

Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion, which took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on January 4, 2013. It was the 22nd January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the seventh held under the "Wrestle Kingdom" name. The event featured eleven matches (including two dark matches), five of which were contested for championships.

For the first time, the event was made available for international market on internet pay-per-view (iPPV). The event drew 29,000 fans to the Tokyo Dome, supposedly down from the three previous years, although NJPW president Naoki Sugabayashi revealed that for the first time, the promotion announced a legitimate number of tickets sold instead of a "papered" number of attendees.

The event featured outside participation from All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) representative Keiji Mutoh, Pro Wrestling Zero1 representative Shinjiro Otani, and American freelancer Shelton Benjamin. For the first time in five years, the event did not feature wrestlers from Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).

In addition to airing in Japan as a traditional pay-per-view (PPV), the event was for the first time also aired internationally on internet pay-per-view (iPPV).

Wrestle Kingdom 7 featured eleven 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.

On August 12, 2012, Kazuchika Okada defeated Karl Anderson in the finals to win the 2012 G1 Climax, winning the tournament in his first attempt, while also breaking the record for the tournament's youngest winner. Okada immediately announced his intention of regaining the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 7. Okada then signed a contract for the title match, which was then sealed in a briefcase, which he would be forced to defend until January 4. After successfully defending the contract against Karl Anderson and Hirooki Goto, the Wrestle Kingdom 7 main event was officially set between Okada and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi.

The top two matches underneath the main event featured mixed martial artists Kazushi Sakuraba and Katsuyori Shibata. The two had made a surprise return to NJPW on August 12, 2012, and worked several matches during the rest of the year with both remaining undefeated. At the end of the year, Shinsuke Nakamura nominated Sakuraba as his challenger for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 7. Meanwhile, Shibata had entered a rivalry with Togi Makabe, which was set to culminate at Wrestle Kingdom 7.

Wrestle Kingdom 7 was also supposed the feature the NJPW debut of Daichi Hashimoto. The Pro Wrestling Zero1 representative was to be the focal point of a tag team match that would also feature Keiji Mutoh, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima, three wrestlers his father Shinya had had classic matches with during NJPW's heyday. However, on December 27, 2012, it was announced that Hashimoto had fractured his left forearm in a match on Christmas Eve and would be replaced by Zero1 president Shinjiro Otani.

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