Wrestle Kingdom 9 was a professional wrestling event at the Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2015, produced by the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. The first event on the 2015 NJPW schedule, it featured ten professional wrestling matches and one pre-show match, six of which were for championships. In the double main event, Shinsuke Nakamura successfully defended the IWGP Intercontinental Championship (belt pictured) against Kota Ibushi, and Hiroshi Tanahashi successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kazuchika Okada. The appearance of Pro Wrestling Noah wrestlers led to a storyline in which NJPW's Suzuki-gun group began wrestling at Noah events. Wrestle Kingdom 9 was attended by 36,000 people and was broadcast as a pay-per-view event with English commentary in the United States and Canada. Critics issued universally positive reviews; Paste magazine said it presented "some of the most passionate and poignant performance art today". Readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter voted Wrestle Kingdom 9 the Best Major Wrestling Show of 2015, and named its Ibushi–Nakamura match as the 2015 Pro Wrestling Match of the Year.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestle_Kingdom_9

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1642:

King Charles I of England sent soldiers to arrest members of Parliament, beginning England's slide into civil war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_England

1798:

After having been invested as Prince of Wallachia, Constantine Hangerli arrived in Bucharest to assume the throne. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_Hangerli

1847:

American gun inventor Samuel Colt made his first large sale of his revolvers to the Texas Rangers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Colt

1912:

The Boy Scout Association was incorporated throughout the then British Empire by royal charter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scout_Association

1936:

Billboard magazine published its first music hit parade. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)

1973:

Last of the Summer Wine, the longest-running sitcom in the world, premiered as an episode of the BBC's Comedy Playhouse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_of_the_Summer_Wine

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

easement: 1. (law) The legal right to use another person's real property (real estate), generally in order to cross a part of the property, or to gain access to something on the property. 2. (architecture) An element such as a baseboard, handrail, etc., that is curved instead of abruptly changing direction. 3. (archaic) Easing, relief. 4. (archaic, euphemistic) The act of relieving oneself: defecating or urinating. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/easement

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Unions and management agree that we ought to sell the time of our lives in exchange for survival, although they haggle over the price. Marxists think we should be bossed by bureaucrats. Libertarians think we should be bossed by businessmen. Feminists don't care which form bossing takes so long as the bosses are women. Clearly these ideology-mongers have serious differences over how to divvy up the spoils of power. Just as clearly, none of them have any objection to power as such and all of them want to keep us working. You may be wondering if I'm joking or serious. I'm joking and serious.   --Bob Black https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bob_Black