Written by: Super Mastodon (@SuperMastodon) An extensive version of my original article about The History of Puroresu divided by the decades. Origins The roots of Puroresu can be traced all the way to the national sport of Japan: Sumo wrestling. The origins of sumo go all the way back to year 712 and as the centuries went by, it has evolved into the full-contact sport the world is familiar with today. In the year 734 Emperor Shomu organized a sumo event wherein rikishi (sumo wrestlers) are drafted all over the nation to compete in an annual Imperial sumo ceremony which has been the tradition ever since. Other than sumo, another martial art in Kodokan (judo institute) was created by Jigoro Kanoh who established this form of fighting by deriving it from juujitsu. The First Japanese Pro Wrestler Matsuda Sorakichi is widely regarded as the first Japanese professional wrestler and is a pioneer of the sport in the country. He is a former sumo wrestler who travelled to the US and Europe to practice the catch-as-can style of wrestling. Combining the elements he learned as a sumo and adding in the Western grappling techniques, Sorakichi became a journeyman across the carnival circuit. Sorakichi wrestled a multitude of names during those years against the likes of World Champion William Muldoon, English legend Edwin Bibby, and a young Evan "Strangler" Lewis who would later on become one of the most significant World Champions and figures in American pro wrestling by establishing what would become the foundation of the "promotion" system away from the carnival roots. In the year 1887 Sorakichi along with his friend Hamada Shokichi, another former sumo, along with a recruited 20 American wrestlers held the first ever professional wrestling event in Japan at Tokyo's Ginza district. However the show itself was a failure in terms of drawing in attention as the Japanese were still not too familiar with the Western style at the time and they were too conservative in adjusting to a new form of competition. In 1891 Sorakichi wrestled his final match against another American wrestling pioneer in Martin "Farmer" Burns who was the mentor of Frank Gotch. Even though he may have not succeeded in his efforts, Sorakichi's attempts were still crucial for Puroresu as it marked the beginning of professional wrestling in the country. The Father of Puroresu Born as Kim Sin-rak and later on legally changed his name to Mitsuhiro Momota, originally of Korean descent he was adopted by the Momota family of farmers in the Nagasaki Prefecture and trained to be a sumo wrestler. In the year 1950 Momota quits sumo and became a professional wrestler, soon enough "Rikidozan" has emerged. On October 15, 1951 along with multiple judokas Masahiko Kimura, Toshio Yamaguchi, and Koukichi Endo they announced their desires to become professional wrestlers and started their training. A few weeks later Rikidozan wrestled his debut match in a ten minute time limit draw against Bobby Bruns. The following year he toured the US to gain more experience and for an entire year he made his way back to Japan after fighting over 260 matches, only losing three times in singles competition. Upon his return in the country, Rikidozan founded Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA) on July 30, 1953 the first ever professional wrestling promotion in the country. At this point in time, the Japanese people are still experiencing their losses at the hands of their enemies in the World War II and are in dire need of a morale boost of any kind. Rikidozan was in the right place at the right time as he would become this heroic symbol to the Japanese people by fighting and defeating predominantly American wrestlers who were pitted against him much to the joy of the fans. Ironically a man of Korean descent represented best the patriotic spirits of the Japanese people and Rikidozan eventually went on to become a national superstar in all of Japan, being supported by fans everywhere. Not only did the live events draw well, but the TV ratings were astronomical too making huge record numbers for their time. On December 6, 1953 Rikidozan won a tournament in Hawaii and faced Lou Thesz for the first time in an NWA World Heavyweight Championship match but loss. This wouldn't be the last time these two will face however as their matches down the line will serve as big time game changers to the Puroresu scene. In 1954 JWA officially went to business and hosted their first cards which were seen by millions across the country. NTV (Nippon Television Network) even set up "street televisions" for people who couldn't afford them as they were eager to see the main event tag-team match between Rikidozan and Masahiko Kimura against the World Tag-Team Champions, Ben and "Iron" Mike Sharpe (The Sharpe Brothers.) Within the same timeframe some small regional promotions were started by Rikidozan's colleagues, Toshio Yamaguchi founded All Japan Pro-Wrestling Alliance in Osaka and Masahiko Kimura created International Pro-Wrestling Force in Kuwamoto. During his time at the top Rikidozan was without question the most dominant wrestler in Japan and one of the most in the world. He held plenty of gold in his career such as the Japanese Heavyweight Championship defeating Masahiko Kimura in a controversial match that turned into a shoot fight on January 26, 1955. He was the sole holder of the belt which lasted for 1,344 days. Rikidozan was also the inaugural All Asia Heavyweight Champion winning the belt in a tournament and held it for 2,945 days. Both of these championship reigns were only vacated because of his death. Being that it was the first promotion in the country, the JWA was also responsible for many of the traditional tropes we see in Japanese wrestling today. In 1959 the first ever World Big League Tournament was hosted. Obviously Rikidozan was the inaugural winner and he'd go on to win the next three tournaments afterwards. The WBL served as the foundation to the tournament style format of many Japanese companies today and a predecessor to the likes of the Champion Carnival and G1 Climax being its indirect descendants today. Although he was a highly respected athlete already, Rikidozan would not reach the same heights as he did without some of his most noteworthy adversaries throughout his career. After all, a hero would not be complete without a villain to overcome and he had plenty. His first major rival was against "Classy" Freddie Blassie and they primarily feuded over the WWA World Heavyweight Championship, which was an offshoot title of the NWA World Championship when Edouard Carpentier's reign was not officially recognized by many within the board of directors. Nevertheless, the title itself was just as prestigious in its short lineage and the battles between Rikidozan and Blassie resulted in huge numbers and headlines in Japan. Before he became the well known colorful manager in the WWF, Blassie was terrorizing his opponents with his devious ways and was the perfect counterpart for the national icon in Rikidozan. A notorious heel who claimed that making Rikidozan bleed led to the deaths of some Japanese citizens due to heart attacks seeing their hero get busted open. It may seem like a hyperbolic anecdote now but it just showcases the level of kayfabe intensity pro wrestling was kept at that point in time. There is a degree of believability and realism brought by the competitors. Another man that helped in putting over Rikidozan's image was Dick Beyer or better known for his ring name The Destroyer. Him and Rikidozan also feuded over the WWA Championship. In fact their match on May 1963 was watched by over 70 million TV viewers in the country. What made The Destroyer different from the average gaijin (foreigner) opponent for Rikidozan was that he felt totally on par with the Japanese star and they had many brutal matches together as well. In a lot of ways The Destroyer paved the way for so many American wrestlers to find success not only in their home soil but become big superstars in Japan too which obviously many would do so for years to come. Bobo Brazil was also a frequent opponent of Rikidozan during his prime years. In the US, he is one of the most important figures in fighting racial segregation for African-American wrestlers and in Japan is treated with the same level of respect due to his status. The match that legitimized Rikidozan as a wrestler from a worldwide stand point was on August 27, 1958 when he defeated Lou Thesz for the NWA International Heavyweight Championship. The match drew an 87.0 rating in Japanese television which is still a record that will likely go unbroken for eternity especially in terms of professional wrestling. To put into perspective, almost the entire country were watching in their television sets for the historic bout between two of the all time greats. The thing about Lou Thesz is that in his prime he was widely regarded as the pound for pound, not only as the greatest World Champion ever, but the best wrestler period. Scoring a clean victory over someone of his stature truly meant you were a made man and it was just as big as winning any other belt. It was clear that Rikidozan has reached the same level as many of his peers and brought prestige to the NWA International belt, making it one of the most important titles in the country. At the height of his popularity, there was no one else bigger as a wrestling superstar in Japan than Rikidozan. He was on the same level as the likes of El Santo in Mexico and Dara Singh in India, completely transcending the heights of fame and becoming national symbols for their respective lands. But there were also some other notable names that must not be omitted completely and also played huge roles in the development of Puroresu. One of which was Michiharu Sadano or better known for his ring name Toyonobori. Much like Rikidozan, he was also a former sumo turned pro wrestler and became the second top draw in the JWA behind him. They were a formidable duo being 4x All Asia Tag-Team Champions together and ruled over the division for a long time. Meanwhile in the US, Japanese-Hawaiian native Kazuo Okamura has established himself as the early pioneer for the stereotypical evil Asian foreigner in the American territories with his persona "The Great Togo." He officially competed in Japan for the first time in 1959 and later on former Olympian turned pro wrestler Harold Sakata wrestled under the ring name Tosh Togo was the kayfabe brother of Okamura and the Togo Brothers became a well known heel duo in multiple promotions in the US. Tojo Yamamoto was another wrestler during the late 50's and 60's who used the events of World War II in the US to his favor by invoking massive level of heat from the crowds, sometimes reaching the point of causing riots with his controversial antics and promos. He was best known for his time in the Memphis territory and was one of the wrestling pioneers in the city alongside the likes of "Fabulous" Jackie Fargo and Jerry Jarrett. Yasuhiro Kojima who debuted in 1957 used to be a part of the JWA roster but left Japan to wrestle in other territories, primarily in the US where he got the ring name "Hiro Matsuda." Once in a while he would return to his home country but found most of his success in various NWA affiliated promotions. He was the first Japanese wrestler to become NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion on July 11, 1964 defeating Danny Hodge. Also in the same year on December he unsuccessfully challenged Lou Thesz for the World Heavyweight Championship. While he was accomplished as a professional wrestler, Matsuda was best known for being one of the most legendary trainers in wrestling having mentored many of the icons who emerged in the American scene later on most notably Hulk Hogan. His other trainees included the likes of The Great Muta, Paul Orndorff, Ron Simmons, and Cowboy Bob Orton. After a nearly five decade career in wrestling, Matsuda wrestled his final match in 1990 at the age of 53. As mentioned earlier, despite the rise of other wrestlers, Rikidozan was still the biggest draw in the country and no one could even reach the same name value as he had. However with fame comes its detractors. He lived an unhealthy lifestyle outside of the ring, a contrast to his brave fighter persona when going against his opponents, which ultimately led to his demise. His final title defnese was on December 2, 1963 successfully beating The Destroyer in a two out of three falls match for the NWA International Heavyweight Championship, five days later Rikidozan wrestled in his final match ever in a six man tag. On December 8, 1963 while partying at a club, Rikidozan was stabbed numerous times with a knife and a week later unfortunately passed away at the age of 39. Many rumors and theories have circulated around his death but it is now commonly believed to be a yakuza hit job. Upon his death, the state of Purroesu went from a national phenomenon to almost bleak. The absence of Rikidozan has left a huge hole in the sport that he laid a strong foundation for and it wasn't until years later when it started to rise up again thanks to his former co-workers and students. Not many wrestlers or any athlete for that matter have the same level of legacy Rikidozan has. He took professional wrestling on the same heights as sumo and baseball in Japan and became a proven draw both in live and TV audiences. He was an innovative wrestler as well, incorporating martial art moves into his arsenal which became an influential factor to many of those that he mentored under the JWA. He may be gone physically, but as long as Puroresu is around, Rikidozan's sprit is alive. IWE - The Forgotten Promotion The death of Rikidozan did not do any favors for the landscape of Puroresu. The JWA still continued to produce events but without their biggest draw, the company began to lose support. Even when Toyonobori was finally able to take in the spotlight, he did not have the same shine as his former tag-team partner did. But from an individual stand point, his career did prosper. He succeeded Rikidozan into becoming the next number one main eventer of the JWA. With former sumo Yoshinosato as well as the young group of rising stars they have, JWA went through even with the loss of their founding father. Toyonobori became the new president and then had two successful tag-team runs with Rikidozan's two students: Michiaki Yoshimura and Giant Baba on top of his thriving singles career. On December 12, 1964 Toyonobori defeated The Destroyer to become WWA World Heavyweight Champion, making him the first actual Japanese wrestler to win a World Champion in pro wrestling as Rikidozan was technically of Korean descent. However this title reign was only recognized in Japan and not in the States so there was a case of having two champions at the same time as back in the US it was Pedro Morales who defeated The Destroyer for the belt. He then loss the title to "Crazy" Luke Graham and on September 20, 1965 Toyonobori and Graham faced each other in Los Angeles to determine the Undisputed World Champion which the latter won. As Giant Baba was starting to rise in popularity, Toyonobori's stock begins to fall down. In 1966 he resigned from the company to start his own short lived promotion the original Tokyo Pro Wrestling (TPW.) He brought along a few JWA wrestlers with him including Antonio Inoki, another former protege of Rikidozan. This is where Inoki truly stood out as a singles star on his own especially with his series of matches against Johnny Valentine proving he could hang with a tough veteran in the ring. TPW only ran for two years as one of its business partners Isao Yoshihara left and started out his own: International Pro Wrestling which later on became International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE.) For a long time the JWA had a strong monopoly presence in the Japanese wrestling scene due to Rikidozan's influence, small regional promotions had no chance of competing, but now that he is gone, many other wrestling promotions started to pop up one by one but the IWE was the closest to a rival promotion they've had. Way before NJPW and AJPW, the IWE already existed as it was founded in 1966. This is where a majority of former JWA wrestlers found themselves in and became stars of their own, something they were not able to do when Rikidozan was still having his dominant spot at the top. The IWE was by no means a big promotion from a financial stand point but they were innovative in a lot of ways especially with the list of legends that stood out in their promotion through the years. Previously mentioned wrestlers such as Toyonobori and Hiro Matsuda all partook in the action at IWE's early years but the one that became the face of the company and is a huge part of IWE's legacy just as much to himself was Masao Kimura. Debuting in 1965 and competed initially for both the JWA and TPW, Rusher Kimura found his footing in the IWE and became the face of the company. In his prime, Rusher was just as good as some of his top contemporaries in the ring. He was a serious no nonsense competitor, although most fans are probably more familiar with his later work in AJPW, he was well past his prime by that point. In his younger years, he was more than just a tag-team act but a legit main event level worker who could go toe-to-toe with the best whether natives or gaijins. He held the IWA World Heavyweight Championship, the first Japanese-based World Title in pro wrestling, the top prize for IWE five times for an impressive total combined reign of 2,290 days defeating numerous challengers over the years. He was also involved in the first ever cage match in Japanese wrestling where he fought Moose Morowski. Decades before Atsushi Onita went overboard with the idea of death matches, Rusher Kimura was already pioneering the concept because of his usually bloody and brutal fights back in the day which is why he earned the nickname "Demon of the Steel Cage." He was also a 2x IWA Tag-Team Champion one of which was with The Great Kusatsu who also paved the way for the brawling style in Japan. Rusher won the IWA World Series tournament twice in 1973 and 1977, establishing his career in the company and becoming a big time superstar in the process something he was not able to reach before. Due to IWE's partnership with Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association (AWA) he was also able to face off against Nick Bockwinkel in a historic match between the IWA and AWA World Champions respectively with Lou Thesz as the special guest referee, it ended in a disqualification with no decisive winner to protect the image of both champions. Rusher stayed with the IWE up until its closure. Notably being the top main eventer of IWE, Rusher had many rivalries throughout his run. One of which was another somewhat forgotten legend of the past in Thunder Sugiyama. He was the first Japanese wrestler to win the IWA World Heavyweight Championship by defeating inaugural champion Billy Robinson on May 19, 1969 and reigned for 654 days. He was also a 3x IWA World Tag-Team Champion winning the belts two times with the Great Kusatsu and later on Rusher Kimura. Sugiyama wrestled with the company up until 1972 when he defected away to the newly started company All Japan Pro Wrestling of Giant Baba, bringing in some fellow IWE free agents with him. Strong Kobayashi is another wrestler that made his name in IWE. Debuting in 1967, unlike most wrestlers at the time, Kobayashi was actually a home grown talent and a product of the IWE Dojo. He was a 2x IWA World Champion and 2x IWA Tag-Team Champion, he is behind Rusher Kimura for total combined days with the belt at 949. Kobayashi was best known for his rivalry with Monster Rousimoff (aka Andre The Giant) as IWE was the first Japanese promotion to bring over the iconic figure. Strong Kobayashi is one of the men who was able to bodyslam Andre decades before Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 3. The two legends had many bloodbaths against one another as well and it helped in boosting the image of Strong Kobayashi as despite being the smaller competitor of the two, he was still able to go at it with the giant. Sueo Inoue like Strong Kobayashi was also another IWE Dojo graduate. He started out his career debuting in 1967 losing most of his matches before transitioning into a much better role as the years go by. The following year he started going by the name "Mighty Inoue." Standing at 5'9'' he was presented as a plucky yet also a feisty underdog full of fighting spirit mainly beeing booked against opponents that towered over him, some of whom are gaijins which made him the perfect underdog of the roster and earning the support of the local fans in the process. He had the gatekeeper role among invading foreign wrestlers who tried to leave a mark in the IWE ranks. Mighty Inoue's most notable accomplishment at this point of his career was defeating "Superstar" Billy Graham in a massive upset on October 7, 1974 for the IWA World Heavyweight Championship. It was the first title he ever won in his career and afterwards became one of the most decorated tag-team wrestlers in the company by being a former 6x IWA World Tag-Team Champion. He continued wrestling for the IWE till its final days but also started to freelance around the early 70's competing in other promotions both locally and internationally. Nowadays he is best known for his career as a referee. Originally debuted for the JWA in 1961, Umanosuke Ueda found better success in the IWE where he was also a former World Champion for a brief time winning the belt off Rusher Kimura on June 11, 1976. He was however best known for his creative and innovative character work, way ahead of its time. Ueda was the first major heel native wrestler in Japan, a "traitor villain" as instead of being the traditional clean cut fan favorite, Ueda dyed his hair bleach blonde and wrestled a more brawler style rather than the technical competitive setup. Being different from the rest made him stood out amongst the field of great wrestlers and to top it off, he usually sided with the evil gaijins that were invading the roster such as Tiger Jeet Singh. His partner Goro Tsurumi was also a notable early prototype for native heels in Puroresu. Ueda's image would be replicated by many wrestlers through the years so every time you see a blonde wrestler with a brash attitude, Ueda's influence still flows within the origins of their personas. He brought some elements that were mostly missing from Japanese wrestling at the time which are now common place in a lot of promotions today. He had an active career that spanned for four decades. Not all wrestlers in a roster can be "superstars" per se but there are those whose legacies get defined for their consistent quality of work and reliability in the ring. One of those men who never became a household name or even a main eventer yet is still widely respected among his peers is Animal Hamaguchi. Although the name might be better recognized as one of the best trainers in his dojo that has produced tons of top notch talents over the years, Hamaguchi mastered his craft first in the ring in 1969 competing initially for the IWE. At best Animal Hamaguchi was a mid-carder who found most of his success as a tag-team wrestler being a 5x IWA World Tag-Team Champion. He also held the All Asia Tag-Team Championships and the first title he won in his career was actually for Stampede Wrestling in Canada winning the International Tag Titles with Mr. Hito in 1976. Hamaguchi wrestled in IWE for the bulk of his career up until the company's closure. Isamu Teranishi was also another one of IWE's top workers during his prime. Much like Animal Hamaguchi, he was by no means a main event level talent but always had the potential, it's just that there were other more wrestlers that had better charisma and gained more heat than him. Nevertheless, his name has been somewhat forgotten amongst the field of legends in Puroresu. He made his debut for IWE in 1967 and wrestled actively well until the mid 90's. During his years in All Japan he was a part of the Ishin Gundan stable led by Riki Choshu, he won his only title as 1/2 of the All Asia Tag-Team Champions in 1985 with Animal Hamaguchi then was later replaced by Norio Honaga. Another wrestler who was never at the top but was still a solid worker nevertheless was Haruka Eigen who is best known for his long standing rivalry with Rusher Kimura that spanned for four decades across four promotions. It was the longest continuous singles wrestling feud on par with the Rock N' Roll Express vs Midnight Express rivalry in the States. Eigen and Rusher were synonymous with each other throughout their whole careers and shared the ring in multiple occasions whether in singles or tag-team action. Their chemistry even when they were past their primes was always co-existing which is why they were a formidable pairing together across the opposite sides of the ring. Eigen was mentored by Toyonobori in TPW where he started his career, after a year he went to the JWA during the companies last legs. Much like Mighty Inoue, Eigen was a fairly small wrestler as well but he was packed with a lot of fighting spirit which made him captivating to watch for the audience. The recorded total of times Rusher and Eigen crossed paths in the ring was 1,000 times. Karl Gotch - The God of Wrestling Arguably the most influential gaijin wrestler in Puroresu and deserves a section of his own was the late great Karl Gotch. Born as Charles Istaz, the Belgian-born German first excelled as an amateur wrestler during his youth and even participated in the 1948 Olympics both in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. He also actively practiced the Pehlwani Indian martial art and known for his other workout remedies, being influenced by the Indian exercises. From the start he was born to be a gifted athlete which made his transition into pro wrestling better. He trained under English wrestler Billy Riley, the coach of the Snake Pit gym debuting in the 1950's. He first wrestled as Karl Krauser in Europe then got the name Karl Gotch when he began wrestling in the US and has been his ring name ever since. Before his stints in Japan, Gotch was already successful in the West, having tours all over the world until finding his way to Japan. His matches were so good that he earned the nickname "Kamisama" which literally translates to "God" in Japanese. What set Gotch apart from most foreign wrestlers that competed in the country was his impact for the growth of the scene. Rikidozan was not the only mentor to many wrestlers in the past such as Inoki and Baba, but they learned plenty from Gotch too. Under his wing, both men emulated the style of wrestling Karl Gotch exhibited. The rugged and technical prowess he had was only matched by a few equally talented workers. He invented many maneuvers in wrestling that are commonly used today, most noteworthy is the German Suplex. Karl Gotch was directly influential to the creations of the two most important promotions in Puroresu after the JWA which were NJPW and AJPW. In terms of his own career, Gotch does not have the same stacked resume when it comes to his personal accolades, he was a former AWA World Heavyweight Champion (the Indiana promotion, not the more familiar one in Minnesota) and held it for 727 days during the early 60's. In his younger years he won the NWA Eastern Heavyweight Championship twice, then much later on by the late 60's to early 70's captured tag-team gold with Mike DiBiase and Rene Goulet in American territories WWA and WWWF. His matches were always highly acclaimed and his time as a trainer post wrestling career was even far greater. He helped in mentoring many of the greats in the past and present. Gotch set the standard for the structure of Puroresu down to the flow of the matches to execution of moves. Making his debut in the 1950's and having his final match in 1982, he may be long gone but his legacy in pro wrestling especially in Japan remains intact for eternity. |
AuthorSuper Mastodon. Spent countless of hours throughout my life watching professional wrestling. Now I write about it, because I like that too. Archives
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