The following is a list of professional wrestling attendance records in Japan. The list is dominated by the country's largest promotion, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The company was founded by Antonio Inoki in 1972 and had a long rivalry with Giant Baba's All Japan Pro Wrestling. AJPW set a number of attendance records during its heyday, especially during the 1990s wrestling boom, however, only three of its shows remain on the list as of 2023.
According to this list, 5 events are from NJPW's flagship Wrestling World supercard event, which since 1992's Super Warriors in Tokyo Dome has been held exclusively at the Tokyo Dome which typically has a seating capacity of at least 42,000 people or more. Only six of the attendances listed are non-NJPW events, with the Weekly Pro Wrestling Tokyo Dome Show being an interpromotional event involving over a dozen Japanese promotions. In addition, NJPW has hosted three co-promotional events each with the U.S.-based World Championship Wrestling, two with the Japan-based UWF International, and one with deathmatch promotion Big Japan Pro Wrestling. All but two of the events have been held at the Tokyo Dome in the Japanese capital city of Tokyo, while one has been held at Sun Beach in Atami, Japan and one at Kawasaki Stadium in Kawasaki, Japan.
Events and attendances Promotion Event Location Venue AttendanceMain Event(s)Ref. NJPW Antonio Inoki Retirement Show Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 70,000 Antonio Inoki vs. Don Frye NJPW / UWFi NJPW vs. UWFi Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 67,000 Keiji Muto (NJPW) vs. Nobuhiko Takada (UWFI) in a Champion vs. Champion match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and UWFI Heavyweight Championship AJPW Giant Baba Memorial Show Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 65,000 Vader vs. Mitsuharu Misawa for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship NJPW Battle Formation Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 65,000 Nobuhiko Takada (c) vs. Shinya Hashimoto for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship TPW Battle Entertainment Atami, Japan Sun Beach 65,000 Abdullah the Butcher and Daikokubo Benkei vs. Kishin Kawabata and Takashi Ishikawa NJPW Final Power Hall in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 65,000 Kensuke Sasaki (c) vs. Keiji Mutoh for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship NJPW / WCW Starrcade in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 64,500 Tatsumi Fujinami (c - NJPW) vs. Ric Flair (c - NWA) in a Champion vs. Champion match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and NWA World Heavyweight Championships NJPW / UWFi Wrestling World 1996 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 64,000 Keiji Mutoh (c - NJPW) vs. Nobuhiko Takada (UWFi) for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship NJPW Do Judge!! Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 64,000 Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kensuke Sasaki NJPW Super Fight in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 63,900 Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi vs. Masahiro Chono and Shinya Hashimoto with special referee Lou Thesz NJPW / WCW Fantastic Story in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 63,500 Genichiro Tenryu vs. Riki Choshu NJPW Strong Style Symphony: New Japan Spirit Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 63,500 Keiji Muto (c) vs. Don Frye for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship NJPW Wrestling World 2000 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 63,500 Genichiro Tenryu (c) vs. Kensuke Sasaki for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship NJPW Battle 7 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 62,500 Shinya Hashimoto (c) vs. Kensuke Sasaki for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship NJPW / BJW Wrestling World 1997 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 62,500 Shinya Hashimoto (c) vs. Riki Choshu for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship NJPW Wrestling World 1999 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 62,500 Scott Norton (c) vs. Keiji Mutoh for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship NJPW Battlefield Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 62,000 Antonio Inoki vs. Genichiro Tenryu NJPW Wrestling World 2001 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 62,000 Kensuke Sasaki vs. Toshiaki Kawada in a tournament final for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship NOAH Destiny Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 62,000 Toshiaki Kawada vs. Mitsuharu Misawa NJPW Indicate of Next Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 61,500 Jun Akiyama and Yuji Nagata vs. BATT (Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Muto) NJPW Battle Formation Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 60,500 Shinya Hashimoto vs. Naoya Ogawa UWF U-Cosmos Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 60,000 Akira Maeda vs. Willie Wilhelm in a "Wrestler vs. Judoka" match NJPW / WCW Super Warriors in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 60,000 Tatsumi Fujinami (c – IWGP) vs. Riki Choshu (c – Greatest 18) in a Champion vs. Champion match for the IWGP Heavyweight and Greatest 18 Club Championships Multi-promotional Weekly Pro Wrestling Tokyo Dome Show Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 60,000 Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masahiro Chono NJPW Dome Impact Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 60,000 Shinya Hashimoto vs. Naoya Ogawa NJPW Final Dome Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 58,500 Naoya Ogawa (c) vs. Shinya Hashimoto for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship AJPW King's Road New Century 2001 Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 58,700 "Dr. Death" Steve Williams vs. Mike Barton in a revenge match (televised main event on the pay-per-view's initial live broadcast, promoted on TV) Toshiaki Kawada and Kensuke Sasaki vs. Genichiro Tenryu and Hiroshi Hase (dark match main event) AJPW AJPW 25th Anniversary Show Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Dome 58,300 Mitsuharu Misawa (c) vs. Toshiaki Kawada for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship FMW FMW 6th Anniversary Show Kawasaki, Japan Kawasaki Stadium 58,250 Atsushi Onita (c) vs. Hayabusa in a No Rope Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch for the FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship
Historical