Collision in Korea
Collision in Korea, officially known as the Pyongyang International Sports and Culture Festival for Peace (平和のための平壌国際体育・文化祝典, Heiwa no tame no Pyon'yan kokusai taiiku bunka shukuten), was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event jointly produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The event featured 15 matches over two evenings on April 28 and 29, 1995, at May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. It aired in North America on August 4, 1995, when WCW broadcast a selection of eight matches from the show on pay-per-view. It was the first event hosted by an American professional wrestling promotion in the country.
Collision in Korea | |||
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Poster featuring Antonio Inoki and Ric Flair | |||
Promotion | New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Championship Wrestling | ||
Date | April 28–29, 1995 (aired August 4, 1995) | ||
City | Pyongyang, North Korea | ||
Venue | Rungrado 1st of May Stadium | ||
Attendance | Total: 315,000 Day One: 150,000 Day Two: 165,000 | ||
Tagline(s) | Two Legends, One Country | ||
Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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New Japan Pro-Wrestling events chronology | |||
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Interpromotional Inoki shows chronology | |||
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The second day of the event holds the record for the largest ever attendance for a wrestling event, with a claimed audience of 190,000. The first day holds the record for the second-largest ever attendance, with a claimed audience of 165,000. American wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer reported different attendance numbers of 150,000 and 165,000 respectively. Day two of the event generated a live gate of $7,500,000 (equivalent to $14,404,000 in 2022) and day two of the event generated $8,500,000 (equivalent to $16,324,000 in 2022), which were two of the biggest live gates ever in wrestling.
Retired boxer Muhammad Ali was the event's guest of honor. NJPW's Hidekazu Tanaka was the ring announcer for the show, while Masao Tayama and Tiger Hattori refereed the matches. Commentary for the WCW pay-per-view presentation of the event was provided by Eric Bischoff, Mike Tenay, and Kazuo Ishikawa.
As of 2023, the event is one of the few WCW PPVs not available for streaming on the WWE Network. Collision in Korea was one of the topics covered in the third season of Vice TV's Dark Side of the Ring in May 2021.