WrestleKingdom is an Japanese sports action drama animated series created by Hano Azusa and Yoshihara Ryu and produced by P.A.Works for the first arc, and SynergySP from the second arc until the fifth arc, where Madhouse and Kinema Citrus took over animation duties. It follows the wrestler Z as he climbs the ranks in the world of wrestling. It started airing on August 15, 2009 on MBS TV until 2012, when AniNick took over the show's production. It has aired on Anime Action in the United States from 2010 until late 2011.
Plot[]
Apache arc[]
episodes 1 through 24
In 2008, Z, a young rookie in the wrestling world, impressed scouts for Apache Pro Wrestling and they decided to sign him on a contract. Z started off as a jobber (someone who usually loses) as his gimmick until he finds a tag team partner, Akeno, and they decide to fight for the tag titles. After a heavy loss, they tried again at one of the major events of Apache Pro Wrestling and they succeeded. After a few weeks of a successful title reign, at the next big event, Akeno turns on Z and Z goes off to do singles work and work on the mid card title. He gets it after his third attempt, and challenges Kira Hano for the Championship belt, for which he wins it. He gets a offer from Dragon Gate for a year, and the higher ups at Apache are glad at him getting an offer from such a company so early in his wrestling career.
Dragon Gate arc[]
episodes 25 through 50
In early 2010, Z starts off his DG career as a strong competitor for the Light Heavyweight championship, after receiving a standing ovation from showing up during one of the events. After winning the title, he only defended it once before losing it to his new rival, 'KIRA. Z vows that he'll defeat 'KIRA one day, even if it would take him his career. Five weeks later, Z forms a tag team with Jin, a lightweight. They attempt to get the tag team titles, but failed. They tried again at the next event, and succeeded. But after they won the tag team titles, 'KIRA came out from the crowd and started attacking Z and Jin, leaving them bruised up, but as 'KIRA was about to leave the ring, Z gets up and starts attacking 'KIRA. He shouts that this is just the beginning of the journey to the top, and when he reaches it, he will defeat 'KIRA.
After a few defenses, Jin and Z lose the title and shortly after, they break up to go their separate ways. At this time 'KIRA was holding the Heavyweight belt, and was too tough to get to. So Z goes on to battle more single matches, and started training hard in the dojo. During this time, Jin was training as well to get the Light Heavyweight belt, which he succeeds in getting. But moments after he won the belt, Z arrives in the ring and challenges him to the belt, as friends. Jin accepts, wanting to know who would be the better man in the ring. Z and Jin trained hard in preparation for the challenge. At the event, Z and Jin fights hard but in the end, Z wins the belt, but they booth shook hands at the end, as Jin is released from his DG contract to work in New Japan. Z, on the other hand, challenges 'KIRA to both the Light Heavyweight and the Heavyweight belt, and if 'KIRA wins, he will forfeit his Light Heavyweight belt and he will leave the wrestling world of Japan for good. 'KIRA accepts and at the biggest Dragon Gate event, the two fight and fight, with Z pulling a quick pin on 'KIRA to win the Heavywight belt, which was met to a lot of boos and cheers from the crowd.
A few days later, Z gets a call from New Japan's scouting agent, and he wants Z to be in New Japan and to fight in some of the tournaments and to be in the main event at one of the Wrestle Kingdom events. Z talks with the Dragon Gate higher ups and 'KIRA, and they decide that Z should go on to New Japan, and that Z and 'KIRA will have a rematch. At the rematch, 'KIRA and Z pulled off an amazing show to the crowd, and even when Z losing, the crowd still cheered for Z, wishing him luck in New Japan.
New Japan arc[]
episodes 51 through 136
In the summer of 2010..WIP
Ring of Honor arc[]
episodes 137 through 160
TBA
TNA arc[]
episodes 161 through 199
WWE arc[]
episodes 200 through 252
TNA return arc[]
episodes 253 through 300
NJPW return arc[]
episodes 301 through 342
ROH Winter return[]
episodes 343 through 368
TBA arc[]
episodes 369 through ???
Production[]
Production of WrestleKingdom started in the summer of 2009, where MBS TV hired Hano Azusa and Yoshihara Ryu to create a sports action drama animated series. Ryu wrote most of the series where Azusa directed the series while writing some episodes. When AniNick took over broadcast duties, the censorship was less strict and placed in a primetime block, and later on, placed on AniNick's Saturday night block.
In early 2016, the series was placed on a minor hiatus in order for writing and animating for future arcs. It briefly returned in the winter of 2016 for 26 new episodes. On September 24, 2017, it was announced that the show will return to AniWeekend on October 7th with 52+ episodes airing.
English language version[]
Funimation dubbed and licensed the series in North America from 2009 to 2014, where the license was sold to Viz Media, who still have the rights to this day.
The Funimation dub aired on Vision during Anime Action from 2010 until late 2011, where it was moved to graveyard slots on Saturday early mornings. It stayed there until around the summer of 2012 when the contract expired to air. The show then moved to Vortexx for the remainder of the Funimation dub. After Vortex ended, BronzePlanet picked up the rights to air WrestleKingdom in the United States, until 2017 where it was left channel-less when some anime was removed to make room for the new OrbitAnime channel.
Home video releases[]
Unlike regular home media releases, Funimation (and Viz Media) will release episodes in 4-8 episode volumes. After a couple of volumes, Arc sets are released.
| Title (price) | Release Date | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WrestleKingdom - The Apache Arc Vol 1. ($14.99) | July 12, 2010 | ||||
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| Title | Release Date | ||||
| WrestleKingdom - The Apache Arc Vol 2. ($16.99) | October 25, 2010 | ||||
Episodes:
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| Title | Release Date | ||||
| WrestleKingdom - The Apache Arc Vol 3. ($9.99) | December 27, 2010 | ||||
Episodes:
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| Title | Release Date | ||||
| WrestleKingdom - The Apache Arc Vol 4. ($11.99) | March 7, 2011 | ||||
Episodes:
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| Title | Release Date | ||||
| WrestleKingdom - The Apache Arc Complete ($39.99) | May 30, 2011 | ||||
Episodes:
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Syndication and broadcast[]
TBA