Smash was a Japanese puroresu and combat sports promotion, founded in December 2009 following the folding of Hustle. In the fall of 2009 Hustle ran into financial problems that led to several show cancellations. After a planned restructuring and restarting of the promotion failed, a number of officials and wrestlers decided to start a new project. Smash held its first show on March 26, 2010.
| Founded | February 2, 2010 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | March 14, 2012 |
| Style | Puroresu Strong style |
| Founder(s) | Yoshihiro Tajiri |
| Owner(s) | Quantum Jump Japan Co. Ltd. |
| Merged with | Pancrase |
| Predecessor | Hustle |
| Successor | Wrestling New Classic |
Smash promoted three divisions: professional wrestling, mixed martial arts and kickboxing. The professional wrestling branch is led by Yoshihiro Tajiri, while Akira Shoji is responsible for the MMA branch. Yuji Shimada leads the overall supervision of the whole project. Since 2010 Smash has had an active exchange of wrestlers with the Finnish Fight Club Finland promotion.
In April 2011, it was announced that Deep and the MMA division of Smash had formed an amateur promotion named the Japan MMA League (JML).[1]
On February 10, 2012, Smash announced that the promotion would be folding after its March 14 event, following a disagreement between Tajiri and financial backer (Quantum Jump Japan CEO) Masakazu Sakai.[2][3] On April 5, 2012, Tajiri announced the follow-up promotion to Smash, Wrestling New Classic, which would hold its first event on April 26.[4][5] On June 1, 2012, Sakai and his Smash backers bought Pancrase, officially incorporating Smash's MMA division into the promotion and re-affirming the partnership with Deep in JML.[6][7][8]
Roster
edit
Smash Seikigunedit
Fight Club Finlandedit
|
Triple Tails.SeditUnaffiliatededit
|
Notable guests
edit
|
|
Championships
edit| Championship | Final Champion(s) | Date won | Previous Champion(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smash Championship | Dave Finlay | November 24, 2011 | StarBuck |
| Smash Diva Championship | Syuri | February 19, 2012 | Kana |
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "Deep&Smash Produce JML2011 "Japan MMA Leage [sic]". Deep. April 2, 2011. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
- ^ "【※重要】 「Smash」第１章活動休止のお知らせ". Smash (in Japanese). February 10, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
- ^ Caldwell, James (February 10, 2012). "Japanese promotion shutting down". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
- ^ プレ旗揚げ戦決定！. Wrestling New Classic (in Japanese). April 5, 2012. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
- ^ "Ｔajiri新団体発表「若手を海外に」". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). April 6, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
- ^ "パンクラスがSmashに経営権譲渡 「世界標準」へケージ導入も". Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. June 1, 2012. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2012.
- ^ Sakai, Masakazu (June 1, 2012). "Smashからのお知らせ". Smash (in Japanese). Retrieved June 1, 2012.
- ^ パンクラスの"世界標準"化計画. Pancrase (in Japanese). June 1, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2012.