The 22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai took place about four years after the beginning of Dragonball. This time, the tournament attracted a very large crowd as the previous years tournament was extremely exciting.

The 8 finalists were decided by an eight block preliminary battle round. Each block consisted of 23 approximately fighters. A total of about 174 preliminary matches took place. The preliminary rounds were held in a room concealed from the Tenkaichi Budoukai spectators. The 8 finalists fought in an open square in the center of a small stadium.

During the battle with Tenshinhan, Jackie Chun threw the match by stepping out of the ring in order to allow Goku to face Tenshinhan.

After knocking out Tenshinhan in midair, Goku attempted to slow his fall using his last ounce of energy in a Kamehameha. Unfortunately, a truck hits Goku as he falls, and speeded his decent just enough to make him hit the ground just an instant ahead of Tenshinhan. Thus, Tenshinhan to won the tournament.