10 Wrestlers You Didn't Know Competed At Wrestle Kingdom
Which stars have made some unexpected appearances at New Japan's WrestleMania?
Since 1992, New Japan Pro Wrestling has held held an annual show in the Tokyo dome.
This event ran under several different, very typically-Japanese names, such as "Final Power Hall", "Super Warriors", and "Fantastic Story" - genuinely, we haven't made any of those up - before settling on "Wrestle Kingdom" in 2007.
Since then, Wrestle Kingdom has become a Heaven for hardcore wrestling fans - a place where incredible wrestling is assured, history-making moments are aplenty, and, in recent years, Spanish Flys are almost guaranteed.
In the early years of the show, it was headlined by such Japanese legends as Keiji Mutoh, Minoru Suzuki, and Hiroshi Tanahashi, whilst recent editions have been closed out by the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, Tetsuya Naito, and Kazuchika Okada.
However, it's not just homegrown talent that has taken centre stage in the Tokyo Dome.
Throughout the history of Wrestle Kingdom, several non-Japanese names have appearances on the card.
Whilst you may have seen Wrestle Kingdom matches involving AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, and Chris Jericho, plenty of other Gaijins have taken part - some of which you may never have known even wrestled for New Japan.
Let's look at some now, shall we?
10. Rob Conway
Many of you may only know this man as the origin of the term "Conway Pop", which is when a wrestler comes out to little or no crowd reaction.
Aside from this ironic and slightly humiliating term, Rob Conway is also famous for wrestling in the WWE between 2003 and 2007.
He was part of La Resistance (despite not being French at all) and won the World Tag Team Championships three times. However, it was outside of WWE where Conway would be more successful in terms of gold.
In 2013, Conway defeated Kahagas for the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship and would hold the title for ten months. His time with the championship allowed him to work in New Japan, with whom the NWA had a working relationship at the time. His highest-profile feud in NJPW was with Japanese legend, Satoshi Kojima.
At Wrestle Kingdom 8, Kojima challenged Conway for the NWA title, marking the first time in twenty years that the belt had been defended in New Japan.
Kojima actually defeated Conway on this night to win the championship, but the former faux Frenchman got it back six months later, before losing it to another Japanese icon, Hiroyoshi Tenzan.