On May 15, 2013, WSOF announced a 4 man tournament to crown an Inaugural Middleweight Champion that will take place at WSOF 5. The participants announced are as followed: Jesse Taylor, Elvis Mutapcic, David Branch & Danillo Villefort

Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), which took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on January 4, 2014, headlined by Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.

UFC 109: Relentless was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on February 6, 2010 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka 2014 was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling, held on February 11, 2014, at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan, and headlined by Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Hirooki Goto for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

NJPW Invasion Attack 2014 was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling, held on April 6, 2014, at Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan, and headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.

NJPW Back to the Yokohama Arena 2014 was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling, held on May 25, 2014, at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan, and headlined by AJ Styles (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

Wrestling Dontaku 2014 was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) that took place on June 3, 2014 at Fukuoka International Center in Fukuoka, Japan. The show was headlined by an IWGP Heavyweight Championship match with Kazuchika Okada putting his title on the line against AJ Styles.