Written by: Super Mastodon (@SuperMastodon) An extensive version of my original article about The History of Puroresu divided by the decades. Rise of the Disciples The senpai-kohai relationship is a system deeply rooted into the Japanese culture. A student has to learn from a master their ways to a certain craft and eventually surpass the teacher or their seniors using the skills and hard work they have put through. It is no different in professional wrestling and with his fame, Rikidozan was able to use this platform in mentoring multiple wrestlers as well whom in the future turned out to be legends of their own and carved the paths that he paved the way for. With the sudden death of its biggest draw, the wrestling scene in Japan went down along a little bit as well. The JWA still continued on even without its founder and the IWE are making some strides despite not having a big superstar name on their roster. Now that the master is gone, it is up to his students to blaze on the torch and try to make their own legacies. Rikidozan had plenty of trainees under his wing during his time as a wrestler but like in most classes, there were certain individuals that stood out among the rest. Two of them would turn out to be just as influential as their teacher and become important figures for the growth of Japanese wrestling: Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba. Two of Rikidozan's greatest prodigies. Originally named Kanji Inoki, at 14 years old his family fell on hard times due to the ongoing war and they moved to Brazil because of this. This is where Inoki was able to discover and hone his craft in various sports and learning martial arts which became essential in his career as a pro wrestler later on. At the age of 17 he went back home to Japan and met Rikidozan, wherein he got recruited to become a trainee for the JWA. A lot of potential was seen with Inoki and he was groomed early on as one of the close disciples of the icon and one day be the next big draw of the promotion. Although for the most part he served as the number two as he was primarily overshadowed both literally and figuratively by his much taller and fellow trainee in Giant Baba. When Inoki finished his excursion in the US he initially left the JWA to join in Toyonobori's Tokyo Pro Wrestling company in 1966 where he quickly became one of the more prominent members of the roster. This is where he truly got to showcase his talents by being the gritty fighter, mainly thanks to the series of matches he had against veteran Johnny Valentine. However when TPW folded due to a lack of funds, he returned to JWA and reunited with Baba. Speaking of, Shohei Baba used to be a former baseball player standing at 6'10'' he attracted the attention of Rikidozan and recommended to him in joining pro wrestling as an alternative career and that he'd do well in it. As it turns out, Rikidozan was somewhat of a prophet as it resulted into the truth. When his baseball career wasn't going anywhere due to injuries, Baba accepted the offer and began his training in the JWA. Out of all the young trainees in the dojo at the time, he was the one seen by their master as the next ace someday and carry on the mantle, become the face of the JWA. When Rikidozan died and Toyonobori left to run his own promotion, Giant Baba became the de facto face of the company. Upon the death of Rikidozan, many of the titles he held were vacated including the coveted NWA International Heavyweight Championship he won from Lou Thesz. On November 24, 1965 Giant Baba defeated Dick The Bruiser for the title and had an impressive reign of 944 days as the champion, succeeding his mentor as the most dominant wrestler in the country. His first run was ended by Bobo Brazil but just two days later got the belt right back. His second run lasted for 889 days, much shorter than the first one but still a record reign nonetheless. His third and final run with the title was on December 19, 1970 when he regained the belt from Gene Kiniski. The total combined day reign for Giant Baba's time as NWA International Heavyweight Champion was at 2,456 the second overall in the record. Throughout their single careers up until this point, Inoki and Baba were also simultaneously a part of the greatest and most dominant tag-team of their era. When Inoki returned to the JWA by the late 60's, him and Baba tagged together as "B-I Cannon" and found an immense amount of success together. Representing the legacy of Rikidozan, his two brightest students continued his path with each other and they dominated the scene not only in Japan but across multiple territories as well. B-I Cannon were head and shoulders above the rest of their peers. They were already booked strong as solo competitors, but put them together and they were close to being completely unstoppable. From 1967 to 1971, B-I Cannon won the NWA International Tag-Team Championships four times with a total combined reign of 1,444 days. They were what the "Mega Powers" you thought was, dare I say they were even bigger as both Inoki and Baba eventually became national icons of their own and build up their single careers even further, riding off with the success they received as a tag-team. Their fourth reign was the longest at 846 days and they battled plenty of great tag-teams most notably The Funks who ended up being the ones to end their amazing streak. By 1972 Inoki and Baba decided to part ways and build up their own careers separately. It wouldn't take long before the JWA would soon fold as a result with the loss once again of their two biggest stars but this decision eventually became the reason for the creations of New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling respectively. Signaling the start for a new era for all of Puroresu. While Inoki and Baba were two of the most successful disciples of Rikidozan, there were also other wrestlers that deserved to be mentioned that learned under the wing of the Father of Puroresu. Names such as Katsuhisa Shibata who is best known as a referee late into his career was one of the early grapplers in the infant stages of New Japan and the father of future superstar Katsuyori Shibata. Mitsu Hirai was a main stay of the JWA throughout its existence and competed in AJPW after the company's closure. Shinja Kojika or now better known as The Great Kojika as of the writing of this article is the longest active wrestler in the world today at 78 years old he made his debut in 1963 and has been ongoing for nearly six decades, over half a century and he is also the co-founder of Big Japan Pro Wrestling. Kantaro Hashino and Kotetsu Yamamoto were also students of the same class, best known for their tag-team early on in their careers as the "Yamaha Brothers." But among them were also two stand outs who also on the same par as Inoki and Baba but somewhat have been forgotten through time because they were not able to maintain the level of star power they had. The first one is Michiaki Yoshimura. After serving in the navy, returning to school and found success as a wrestler, he turned pro and worked for a small regional promotion in Osaka. After its closure, he was recruited by Rikidozan in the JWA and saw a lot of potential in him. Unlike his peers, Yoshimura already has a vast background in wrestling due to his prior experiences so he became one of the most reliable workers in the roster. He was initially a junior heavyweight for the most part, eating a lot of pins but eventually made his way to the heavyweights by the 1960's and was being billed in the same level as Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba. Yoshimura is without a doubt the most accomplished tag wrestler in JWA's history having held the All Asia Tag-Team Championships ten times from 1964 to 1973. He is said to be the first great worker Japan ever produced due to his fluid straightforward in-ring style and was able to grapple with the best of them, particularly being the gatekeeper of the JWA against some of its gaijin contenders. After the death of Rikidozan, Yoshimura became the head booker of the company and was behind Giant Baba in terms of the hierarchy in the roster. They were the NWA International Tag-Team Champions together. While Yoshimura may never have been officially the top guy, in terms of pure talent he was seen on the same level as those in the main event. He was never able to get over the hump and reach World Champion status which is why after the closure of the JWA, he quietly retired as an active competitor and became a coach for college sumo for the rest of his career. The best analogy would be he was the Hirooki Goto of his time, a great top quality worker, but not great enough to be the ace. Yoshimura's final match that is recorded was on September 20, 1972. Another wrestler that learned under the wing of Rikidozan and is also one of the most decorated athletes ever in the sport is Kintaro Ohki (aka Kim Il.) Much like his master, he is actually Korean and desired to be trained by Rikidozan so illegally entered the country in 1958 but was jailed for an entire year because of this. After getting out, he began his journey as a professional wrestler. Ohki was a part of the "rookie trio" alongside Baba and Inoki but through the years he seemed to have been the forgotten one of the three but in his prime, he was just as great of a worker as them and has accomplished a lot in his career. He officially won his first title on December 10, 1963 capturing the WWA United States Tag-Team Championship with another one of his mentors Mr. Moto. After Rikidozan's death, Ohki initially returned to his home country of South Korea and raised the profile of professional wrestling in the country. For a long time he would become the face of Korean wrestling. On June 9, 1967 he defeated Mark Lewin to win his first World Title the WWA World Heavyweight Championship, the same title Rikidozan won in his rivalry with Freddie Blassie several years earlier. When his peers Inoki and Baba left the JWA in 1972 to run their own promotions, Ohki returned to the JWA and became its unanimous top star. Once again, emulating the path of his master, he won the NWA International Heavyweight Championship from Bobo Brazil on December 4, 1972 and reigned for an astounding 3,052 days. His single title run is the longest in belt history and tops even the combined records of past champions. Needless to say, he was one of the most dominant wrestlers in the world back then. He primarily defended the belt in Korea, particularly for the World Wrestling Association (WWA) not to be confused of the American promotion with the same name, this was the Korean wrestling company Ohki founded in 1968 wherein other future Korean wrestling legends such as Lee Wang-Pyo, Kim Duk, and Pak Song also competed in. He also had title matches in the JWA and IWE. Ohki returned the International Title back to the NWA after a nearly decade long undefeated streak. In the middle of his International Heavyweight run, he also held a plethora of other championships, mainly tag-team titles. He is also the longest reigning All Asia Heavyweight Champion with his fourth reign that started in 1981 and was only vacated after his retirement for a total of 5,023 days. After the JWA's closure, he wrestled as a freelancer in Japan for NJPW, AJPW, and IWE, mainly re-igniting his rivalries with his peers such as Inoki and Sakaguchi. Him and Kim Duk also tagged many times for All Japan. Ohki had his final match in 1982 at his home country of Seoul, South Korea under the AJPW banner. He officially had his retirement ceremony years later in the Tokyo Dome wherein he was guided in a wheelchair by the legendary Lou Thesz. Ohki's WWA still exists today, although the Korean wrestling scene may be a far cry from what it once was in the late 60's and 70's, it would not even have existed if it wasn't for the efforts and contributions of Kintaro Ohki. His success led to the birth of pro wrestling for an entire nation much like his old master had done in the past. That in itself is larger than any record breaking title reign in wrestling. Speaking of Korean wrestlers, his name was aforementioned already but Kim Duk deserves some recognition for the longevity of his career alone. Real name Masanori Toguchi, a judoka he joined the JWA dojo after graduating from high school but was initially not accepted due to conflicts with another judoka already present at the time in Seiji Sakaguchi. To prevent further conflicts from happening, he was sent back to Korea for a year before returning full time in JWA. While trained by Karl Gotch, Toguchi was heavily mentored and learned under the wing of Kintaro Ohki. When the company closed, he went to the US and developed his well known foreign heel persona "Kim Duk" and spent several years wrestling for multiple NWA territories. By the late 70's he returned to Japan and even won the NWA International Tag-Team Championships with Ohki. He was a frequent competitor in AJPW and was a reliable worker in their midcard while also competing at the same time for the NWA and AWA in the States. The mid to late 80's he was also wrestling in NJPW and the WWF, the latter of which he went by the ring name "Tiger Chung Lee" and frequently tagged with Mr. Fuji. Around the 1990's Kim Duk wrestled sporadically as a freelancer for independent promotions in Japan and Mexico. He also had one match under the WCW banner at the Tokyo Dome for their collaboration event with NJPW wherein him and Masa Saito loss in a tag-team match against the father and son duo of Dusty and Dustin Rhodes. Since then he had long hiatuses in wrestling and would wrestle for a couple of times. His last match as of the writing of this article was on September 19, 2019 at the age of 71. He may not have been as decorated as his mentor Kintaro Ohki, but Kim Duk was always a staple in Japanese wrestling and it's a testament to his longevity as well having wrestled for six different decades not only for his in-ring style but character work as well. King of Sport (NJPW) January 13, 1972 New Japan Pro Wrestling was officially established by Antonio Inoki and two months later on March 6 their first event was headlined between Inoki and his mentor Karl Gotch. The beginning of NJPW did not only mark the start of what would turn out to be arguably the most significant and well known wrestling promotion in the country but also a movement of a specific immortal wrestling ideology that inspired numerous wrestlers for generations: the Strong Style. More than just exchanging stiff forearms and strikes, the roots of Strong Style can be traced to Inoki's fascination with martial arts since his youth. The thing is, since becoming a full pledged wrestler and now that he leads his own company, Inoki wants to prove that wrestling is the most superior form of combat there is. Hence the catchphrase they still use to this day: "King of Sport." New Japan in its early years was all about establishing the brand of wrestling Inoki envisioned through beating opponents by the use of Strong Style. Combining the elements of traditional martial art disciplines as well as the training he received from his mentors. Which is why some of the highly billed matches in those years and served as the foundation for NJPW were the exhibition fights he had with non-wrestlers. During the early years of New Japan the cards were mainly like your typical wrestling events with Inoki almost certainly placed in the main event. The rest of the matches are either bouts against native wrestlers or some gaijins doing tours. But by the late 70's is when Inoki started to have fights against other high profile martial artists. These are usually called "Different Style Fights" or basically it follows the concept of a "wrestler vs. martial artist" in this case Inoki is the wrestler and made these type of matches popular in the country. Willem Ruska a judoka from Netherlands is one of the most accomplished fighters in the sport having won two gold medals in the Olympics in 1972. He made his debut in New Japan Pro Wrestling a few years later in 1976 wherein he fought Inoki. Throughout the rest of the late 70's he became a frequent competitor for NJPW and fought many of their other wrestlers such as Osamu Kido, Haruka Eigen, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara often winning these bouts. In 1978 he toured with the WWF where he had a series of matches with fellow judoka Seiji Sakaguchi and their rivalry is one of the more notable feuds of New Japan in the decade. Ruska wrestled his final match in NJPW on December 11, 1980 wherein he loss in a tag-team match with Bad News Allen against the young up and coming duo of Tatsumi Fujinami and Riki Choshu. After several years of hiatus he had a short comeback in 1994 reunited in the ring with an old nemesis Antonio Inoki on September 23 and two months later fought Tatsutoshi Goto in a Different Style Fight with Kotetsu Yamamoto as the special guest referee. Two years later he participated in the independent Inoki Festival Event in Yoyogi, Tokyo, Japan capping off his career in the Japanese scene. Ruska helped in developing the foundations of Strong Style, his feuds with Inoki and Sakaguchi also helped in elevating those two stars to prominence even further due to his credibility as a fighter. All of these fights would eventually lead to one of the most infamous bouts in combat sports history. In April 1975 Muhammad Ali on his tour in Japan, the trash talker that he was asked in an interview if there was any "Oriental fighter" willing to challenge him. It was basically a prizefight and this made the headlines across Japanese media and the following year it was settled, the challenge was accepted by none other than New Japan president himself, Antonio Inoki. By this point he was already arguably the most popular wrestler in the entire country and a well known public figure in general. Not to the point of reaching the same peaks as Rikidozan, but Inoki certainly was no pushover and his name is recognized by many throughout the nation. The $6 million dollar fight was scheduled for June 26, 1976 at the Budokan Hall. The build up to the fight was extraordinary and covered heavily especially in Japan. Obviously Ali with his colorful personality made it all the more entertaining with his antics while Inoki seemed the more down to earth of the two. As for the fight itself, why it remained to be an infamous moment is because it did not live up to the hype. The event billed as "War of the Worlds" was also ultimately a failure in capturing their goals of PPV buys, while Ali may have been the most popular fighter in America and a worldwide icon, Inoki was indeed popular in his home country but quite the unknown commodity elsewhere especially in the West. Due to some conflicting rules, the fight was boring and the supposed concept of a "wrestler vs. boxer" was not used to its full potential. The result was a draw after 15 rounds, for the most part Inoki laid down in the ring, landing 107 kicks on Ali's legs which ended up resulting in injuries. There are still debates about the results and overall execution of the fight, but nevertheless it ended up being a significant fight still for the sole purpose of being the first ever legitimate MMA fight. A contrast of combat sports colliding with each other at such a high profile environment, it would later paved the way for what would become hybrid fights not only in wrestling but to an entirely new sport altogether. Exactly 10 years later Inoki once again had another bout with a boxer but this time in a pro wrestling match on November 9, 1986 wherein he defeated Leon Spinks, another former world heavyweight champion who defeated Ali in 1978. As for championships New Japan Pro Wrestling had plenty during the course of its early runs. In 1970 the National Wrestling Federation (NWF) Heavyweight Championship was created by promoter Pedro Martinez for his NWF promotion in New York. Johnny Powers was the inaugural champion in the same year the belt was established, defeating Freddie Blassie for the belt. In 1973 during his third reign Powers toured Japan and defended the title in promotions such as Tokyo Pro Wrestling against Toyonobori then later on was defeated by Antonio Inoki on December 10 who took the belt with him in NJPW and solidified it as the promotion's top prize. From 1973 to 1981 the NWF Heavyweight Championship was the premier belt for NJPW. During Inoki's first run he held it for an impressive 429 days. His frequent challengers were his rivals Strong Kobayashi, Tiger Jeet Singh, and Ernie Ladd. He even faced Andre The Giant on December 15, 1974 which ended in a double count out. This turned out to be Inoki's final defense as he'd later vacate it due to NWF's requests. Tiger Jeet Singh captured the title on March 13, 1975, held it for 105 days before dropping the belt to Inoki who this time had an even longer run at 1,688 days. He had a total of 31 defenses with a great collection of talents for four years. In his first defense on his second reign, he defeated former World Champion Lou Thesz on October 9, 1975 with Antonino Rocca as special guest referee. Inoki did not only defend the belt in New Japan around these years but across many other borders as well, truly making him a World Champion by definition. On October 10, 1976 he defeated Korean wrestler Pak Song in Seoul, South Korea, November 24, 1978 a time limit draw with Otto Wanz for both the NWF and CWA World Championships in Germany, April 17, 1979 at a WWF TV event defeating Nikolai Volkoff, five days later he defeated El Canek in a two out of three falls match in Mexico for the UWA promotion. In 1979 he defended the belt twice in North America, first on August 10 in a double count out finish against Tiger Jeet Singh for NWA Hollywood in California, a week later he successfully defeated Stan Hansen at Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. His last international defense was once again in a WWF show on December 17, 1979 defeating Hussein Arab who would later on become The Iron Sheik. Among the many other legendary names that challenged Inoki around this time were the likes of Ivan Koloff, Andre The Giant, Pat Patterson, The Masked Superstar (Bill Eadie), Pedro Morales, and Bob Backlund. The latter whom he also had iconic matches with, particularly on November 30, 1979 when Antonio Inoki defeated Bob Backlund for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Around this point in time the two companies had a working relationship with one another and Inoki made history by being the first and only Japanese wrestler to capture the prestigious World Title. However, since he did not want to defend the belt elsewhere and focused his career in New Japan, he quickly dropped the belt back to Backlund and this short title reign is not officially recognized by the WWE today and remains a mere footnote in the lineage of their title. On February 8, 1980 Stan Hansen ended Inoki's thousand plus day reign of the NWF Title, 55 days later he dropped it right back to him. Inoki's third and final run with the belt lasted for 434 days and on April 17 the following year vacated it in exchange for the new IWGP Heavyweight Championship. While Inoki was without a doubt the face of New Japan, he wouldn't be able to elevate to that status without reliable wrestlers to work with. One of those men is already mentioned numerous times already in this article is Seiji Sakaguchi. He is an accomplished black belter judoka, winning the 1965 All Japan Judo Championship, then bagging a bronze medal in the same year at the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the +80 kg category. Two years later Sakaguchi made his debut into professional wrestling under the tutelage of Rikidozan but he was also heavily mentored by his senior student Antonio Inoki. Since then there was a strong bond between the two, their biggest common link was a fascination in the world of martial arts particularly their backgrounds in judo. Sakaguchi did not only wrestle solely for JWA as he expanded his horizons by competing for multiple NWA territories throughout the early 70's. On February 11, 1972 he defeated Canadian wrestler King Krow (aka Daniel Kroffat) to hold his first singles title the NWA United National Championship. Since then the belt has been defended in Japan and became a part of the JWA. For 208 days Sakaguchi held it strong until being beaten by The Original Sheik but a day later got the belt right back. For his second reign it lasted for 149 days then dropped it to Johnny Valentine who loss it to a young Akihisa Takachiho (aka the future Great Kabuki.) On April 14, 1973 the NWA UN Championship was deactivated due to JWA closing but revived three years later for All Japan Pro Wrestling. Sakaguchi also found a lot of success as a tag-team wrestler. The first belt he held in his career was being 1/2 of the All Asia Tag-Team Championships with Michiaki Yoshimura, he won the NWA International Tag-Team Championships in 1972 with Giant Baba, the same year he once again got the International tag belts this time with Kintaro Ohki. When JWA went defunct, Sakaguchi joined Inoki in NJPW and it has been his home promotion ever since. The two of them became successful early on as tag-team partners winning the NWA North American Tag-Team Championships twice, then later became rivals. He also held those tag belts with former IWA World Champion Strong Kobayashi by the late 70's. Sakaguchi incorporated a lot of his judo background into his pro wrestling techniques which gave more foundations to the growth of Strong Style. After three decades of actively competing in NJPW with his biggest match was main eventing the Tokyo Dome by taggign with Inoki in 1990, he retired from in-ring competition. It wasn't until in 2003 at the age of 61 where he dusted off the white gi one last time defending the honor of the company that he helped building since the start. Other than Sakaguchi there were other former Rikidozan disciples who followed Inoki after the demise of the JWA, notably Kotetsu Yamamoto and Kantaro Hoshino. Initially started out attempting a career in professional boxing, Kantaro Hoshino was recruited and trained by Rikidozan and made his pro wrestling debut in 1961. Standing at 5'9'' and weighing in at 209 lbs. Hoshino was smaller in stature in comparison to his fellow heavyweight students at the time. As the years went by he continued working his way up the ranks and proving his worth in the company. In 1967 he was paired up with another young trainee in Kotetsu Yamamoto when they toured the United States for the first time under the NWA banner. Yamamoto is the last student of Rikidozan before his death, he made his debut two years after Hoshino in 1963. The former bodybuilder, much like his tag-team partner, Yamamoto is even shorter at 5'6'' and weighed in at 220 lbs. When they toured the US, they became the "Yamaha Brothers" with Hoshino being Great Yamaha and Yamamoto being Oki Yamaha. They won the NWA Mid-America Southern Tag-Team Championships together but only held them for a week. It was the first title for Yamamoto's career but Hoshino has previously held gold before the NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship beating and losing it to Len Rossi in the span of 12 days and the NWA World Tag-Team Championships with Tomayo Sato. In 1969 Yamamoto scored one of the biggest wins of his career as a singles wrestler when he defeated Gorilla Monsoon in less than five minutes which was a massive upset for its time. The two of them became endearing underdogs into the hearts of the Japanese audience and the support they received throughout their careers was immense which garnered them success both as a tag-team and single acts. Upon the creation of New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1972 the Yamaha Brothers became main stays and always present in the cards during the early years. Yamamoto in particular helped in establishing the "Strong Style" that was made famous by Inoki and Karl Gotch. In 1979 they held their final championships by winning the IWA World Tag-Team titles for the IWE beating Animal Hamaguchi and The Great Kusatsu. They held them for 33 days before dropping it back to Hamaguchi but this time with Mighty Inoue as his partner in a New Japan ring. On April 4, 1980 Kotetsu Yamamoto wrestled his retirement match in NJPW winning a tag-team bout with Hoshino beating Goro Tsurumi and Katsuzo Oiyama. He did have a few comeback matches sporadically since but has primarily stayed retired and focused his work as the head trainer of the New Japan Dojo producing many of the future legends and top stars to come in the promotion. As for Hoshino he had an active career well into the mid 90's wrestling his final match on February 19, 1995 in a time limit draw against Osamu Kido. Even though they haven't won a lot of championship gold, the Yamaha Brothers were still influential during the founding years of New Japan Pro Wrestling and they have always been treated with respect by the fans because of the personas they had in the ring, despite not being your typical heavyweight, they competed like one and had hearts that could match up against much bigger opponents On March 16, 1972 one of the first graduates of the New Japan dojo made his debut to pro wrestling. Hiroaki Hamada faced a lot of adversary during his early years in pro wrestling due to the very fact that he was undersized. He mainly wrestled in the undercard during the first four years of his career until he was sent to Mexico for further training in 1975 for their partner promotion: Universal Wrestling Association (UWA.) As it turns out, Hamada instantly became a success in the Lucha Libre scene. It is here where he was able to carve a niche for himself and unlike the Japanese style wherein they focused on technical abilities, Lucha was more about the creativity and theatrics, something Hamada was easily able to adjust to because his size was built for the highflying style. Hamada invented what would later on be coined as "LuchaResu" combining the elements of both Lucha Libre and Puroresu which became an inspiration to many wrestlers that followed him in both Mexico and Japan. He is one of the most accomplished wrestlers in UWA history. In total he is a 15x UWA Champion across a plethora of championships both in singles and tag-team division. He also held Light Heavyweight titles for the NWA and the WWF. Little Hamada transformed into Gran Hamada due to his greatness and innovation of the sport. While he did eventually return to NJPW, he went freelance by the early 80's while also still primarily competing in Mexico where he also helped in developing many talents including his own daughter Ayako Hamada. He may be a forgotten name in modern times but Gran Hamada paved the way for many wrestlers in the past and up until the present day because of his unique abilities that granted him success all over the world. The other notable students of the New Japan dojo around the same time as Gran Hamada were the likes of Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Mr. Pogo, Ryuma Go, and Don Arakawa some of whom will also be influential in their own ways in the world of Puroresu later on. Enter the King's Road (AJPW) On June 10, 1972 Giant Baba wrestled his final match in a JWA ring after being the number one top babyface of the company after the death of his mentor Rikidozan. It was a tag-team match where him and Kintaro Ohki defeated the duo of Bobby Duncum Sr. and Bobo Brazil. Four months later on October 21, 1972 he established All Japan Pro Wrestling along with the Momota Brothers: Mitsuo and Yoshihiro (Rikidozan's sons.) Unlike the NJPW wherein they struggled for awhile during the beginning, the AJPW quickly became the largest Japanese wrestling company at the time of its creation. Baba's influence was strong within the scenes having brought along several fellow JWA wrestlers with him which eventually led to the collapse of said promotion and the rest of the wrestlers that remained joined AJPW as well. Former IWA World Champion Thunder Sugiyama of the IWE also left the company and with a few freelance wrestlers with him went to the company so right from the get-go Giant Baba had a strong roster to build the company around. Add in the partnership he was able to forged with the National Wrestling Alliance, AJPW quickly became the Japanese subsidiary of the NWA and because of this he was also able to book many gaijin talents which will become essential during the early years of All Japan. While NJPW had a more realistic approach when it comes to pro wrestling, Inoki inventing Strong Style and many of their matches were all about athleticism and the shoot worked style, Baba kept it traditional with his company. The roots of AJPW was basically a continuation of what was started in the JWA while also being heavily influenced by the style of presentation the American wrestling territories had at the time. Although it wouldn't become more prominent years later, what is famously known as the "King's Road" style of wrestling was developed in All Japan. What it basically is the road pertains to the path a wrestler has to go through in order to become a "king" in this sense being at the top of the wrestling chain among the roster, proving yourself along the way by defeating tough opponents, and being rewarded by being the top guy and in the process earning the support of the audience. The wrestling in the ring itself is the story and the psychology is fueled by the desires of the wrestlers to attain their goals. This becomes more evident later on by the 80's and 90's but some of the foundations of this ideology can be seen during Giant Baba's matches. By this point he was already a well established name in Japan. He is one of, if not the most popular wrestler in the entire country. He was already a former 3x NWA International Heavyweight Champion with a total combined record of 2,456 days. He has basically taken the mantle of his late master and boosted his own career. The same day it was founded, AJPW hosted their first card ever with the main event being a two out of three falls tag-team match between the teams of Bruno Sammartino and Terry Funk winning over Giant Baba and Thunder Sugiyama. This booking formula would become the bread and butter for Giant Baba in the early years of his company where he often fought against big name gaijins that toured the territory. Usually World Champions from the West. These cards would always result into instant draws as the local fans were eager to see who their favorite Japanese wrestler is going to face every time a new challenger pops up. Baba had many notable adversaries around this point of his career, some of which were even the opponents of Rikidozan back then such as The Destroyer and Freddie Blassie in the twilight years of their time as active wrestlers. Bruno Sammartino who dominated the North American territories throughout the 1970's made his Japanese wrestling debut for AJPW and had many legendary bouts against Giant Baba during their primes. The two of them were perfect opponents for each other due to their physical strengths, trying to outpower the other in their historic bouts. In fact the second ever main event of AJPW was between the two legends. Former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Gene Kiniski was another one of Giant Baba's nemesis by the mid 70's. Much like Bruno, Kiniski found a lot of success in multiple territories in the US and his heel persona worked like a charm in absorbing heat from the audience every time he took on the hometown heroes of each territory. Once again because of the NWA affiliation The Funk Brothers also toured Japan for the first time in their careers with AJPW. As mentioned earlier Terry appeared in the inaugural main event while his older brother Dory Funk Jr. debuted a year later on July 11, 1973 where he teamed with Omar Atlas beating Baba and Matty Suzuki. The Funks would go on to have a long and influential career in the country of Japan that spanned for several decades. They found success both as a tag-team and single wrestlers, achieving championships and being involved in many of the high profile feuds and rivalries especially in AJPW. Finally continuing their rivalry from the JWA, the patriarch of the Von Erich wrestling dynasty, Fritz Von Erich was arguably the most notable rival of Giant Baba in his prime. They first met on December 19, 1969 when Baba successfully retained the NWA International Heavyweight Championship against Von Erich in NWA Hollywood. For the next two years the two of them had re-matches for the aforementioned belt but it was always Baba who got the upperhand against his arch rival. Von Erich was one of the more controversial figures in wrestling at the time, igniting top levels of heel heat with his German Nazi inspired persona he had during the early stages of his career. On December 10, 1973 he made his debut in AJPW in a tag-team match, Giant Baba and Thunder Sugiyama defeated the team of Von Erich and Killer Kowalski via DQ. Since then the two of them continued to face one another for a few more years but the thing is Von Erich never once was able to score a victory over the Japanese superstar. On January 7, 1979 they had their final match up with each other once again a tag-team between Baba and The Destroyer beating Von Erich and Baron Von Raschke. These are just some of the notable gaijins that Giant Baba had matches with around this time, which helped in shaping his legacy and image to the Japanese audience by earning hard fought victories against some worthy foes. On February 27, 1973 the Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) World Heavyweight Championship was established and became the premier title for AJPW. Obviously it was Giant Baba who became the inaugural champion of the belt after winning a series of 10 matches with the final one being Bobo Brazil. For an astounding 1,920 days Giant Baba was undefeated as the reigning PWF World Champion, successfully keeping the belt across 39 recorded defenses. His first ever title defense was against The Sheik on August 24, 1973. Since then he has been challenged by numerous wrestlers which were all mainly gaijins. Around this time period, Baba was the most dominant wrestler not only in his company but in the entire country. Besides some of the names that were mentioned earlier, some of his well known challengers from 1973 to 1974 were the likes of Abdullah The Butcher, Pat O'Connor, Professor Toru Tanaka, Dick Murdoch, Blackjack Mulligan, Dick The Bruiser, Ox Baker, Wahoo McDaniels, Baron Von Raschke, and even being reunited in the ring against his former fellow student in the JWA Kintaro Ohki who was the reigning All Asia Heavyweight Champion by that point. The one to end the historic reign was Killer Tor Kamata on June 1, 1978. After a few short reigns with other wrestlers, Baba got hold of the PWF Title once again on February 10, 1979 this time once again having a long reign which lasted for 1,354 days. He had two more runs with the belt by the early 80's. The PWF Championship was not the only World Title he held. On December 2, 1974 Giant Baba defeated Jack Brisco capturing the NWA World Heavyweight Championship making him the first ever Japanese wrestler to win the prestigious ten pounds of gold. However due to Baba not wanting to have a full on tour and still remaining his focus on AJPW, it only lasted for a week and he dropped it back to Brisco. He won the belt again on October 31, 1979 this time beating Harley Race but the same story goes for the length of his run. His third and final win of the NWA Championship was on September 4, 1980 once again in a series of matches with Race. The thing about Baba's NWA Title runs while they may seem lackluster on paper, they are still highly significant for a couple of reasons. First off he was the most established name in Japan at the time, his peak was very strong, well on his way to becoming a national icon and becoming NWA Champion legitimized his career even further than it already was. The most vital point is that despite the short reigns, they were still feel-good moments. Sometimes a short but meaningful title run is better than that of a long one just in terms of capturing that special moment. Whenever Giant Baba won the NWA Championship, the Japanese audiences erupted in celebration to see their hero and favorite wrestler beat the defending champion and take victory in convincing fashion. The patriotic pride that is within them is validated which resulted into the success of not only Giant Baba's career but the long term financial growth for All Japan Pro Wrestling. Hence why his booking methodology of facing foreign talents worked well until past his prime. Six months after the founding of AJPW, Giant Baba also created the concept of the Champion Carnival tournament which was started in 1973. For the first two years of the tournament, it was your standard single elimination that featured wrestlers both native and foreign. The 1975 format changed, the four wrestlers who advanced to the semifinals in the single elimination were put into a round-robin system where the wrestler with the best record is declared the winner. Finally the following year, the single elimination format was removed entirely in favor of a purely round-robin tournament which has been the concept ever since. Giant Baba won seven out of the first ten Champion Carnivals from 1973 to 1979, the first gaijin to win it was Abdullah the Butcher in 1976 and won it again three years later. In 1983 the Carnival went on a hiatus until in 1991 due to the growing presence of the rival company New Japan Pro Wrestling. Through the years, the Champion Carnival has helped in producing superstars for the roster as it establishes their positions into the top. Tournaments in Japan are as equally important as to winning championships as they symbolize the toughness and efforts of the wrestlers into their quest to becoming number one, seeing the struggle and evolution of fighting spirit also gets them massive support from the fans who would see them worthy of representing the brand and philosophies the company stands for. The focus of AJPW primarily circled around one man and that was Giant Baba. Being the most recognizable wrestler in the entire country, it was a no-brainer that the company was built around him. But he wouldn't be able to accomplish it all if it wasn't for the rest of his roster. Many past JWA wrestlers moved over to AJPW such as the likes of Masao Ito, Akio Sato, Samson Kutsuwada, Motoshi Okuma, Mitsu Hirai, Masio Koma, and Matty Suzuki. Also around these years there were already some young wrestlers being groomed for potentially being top stars one day such as Jumbo Tsuruta and Atsushi Onita. However among the field of these local talents, there are two that are worthy of being mentioned due to their impact and interesting cases within the company and later on for Puroresu as a whole. First of which is Shinja Kojika aka The Great Kojika who was a fellow former JWA wrestler like Baba. Kojika made his pro wrestling debut in 1963. A few years later he went to North America in various NWA territories where he teamed up with Motoshi Okuma frequently and winning his first belt the same year capturing the NWA World Tag-Team Championships together. After awhile they broke up and he found more gold as a singles wrestler winning a plethora of championships from 1969 to 1970. Around 1973 he returned to Japan for the JWA but as soon as the company folded he joined in Giant Baba's AJPW. His first match with the company was on June 30, 1973 winning with Munenori Higo, the next month him and Higo defeated the team of Mitsuo Hata and Kazuo Sakurada, the latter will later on become the Japanese Kendo Nagasaki and together with Kojika became the founding fathers of Big Japan Pro Wrestling several years later in 1995. But before that, Kojika was reunited with Okuma in AJPW. They dominated the tag-team division of the company winning the All Asia Tag-Team Championships five times from 1973 to 1981. Their 5th reign was also their longest at 723 days. After 14 years of wrestling with the company, Kojika retired for the first time wrestling his final match on September 9, 1986. He would return to the ring upon the creation of his new promotion BJW by the mid 90's. Kojika may not have been on the same level as Giant Baba in terms of star power but he helped in the ground work of the company and was a solid wrestler in his prime especially within the tag-team scene. Giant Baba may be the founding father of All Japan Pro Wrestling but he was not alone in this endeavor. Two of Rikidozan's sons also helped him in establishing the company: Mitsuo and Yoshihiro Momota. The Momota brothers followed in their father's footsteps by also becoming professional wrestlers. Yoshihiro did not last long in the business though and focused primarily for his backstage duties. Meanwhile for Mitsuo he debuted in the JWA on 1971 during the final years of the company and left with Baba on 1972. Being a second generation wrestler can be both a blessing and a curse, it's a double edged sword. On one hand you get to have that instant recognition, especially for someone like Mitsuo whose father was literally the most popular wrestler in the entire country, but also it can be difficult to live up to the legacy of someone like a Rikidozan and unfortunately for him he was never able to fully cast out of that shadow for the majority of his career. That doesn't mean he was a bad wrestler but the weight of being literally "Rikidozan Jr." can be too much for anyone. Momota is just one example of many second and third generation athletes in pro wrestling, some of them ended up being successful and even go beyond the careers of their fathers, but there are some like him that isn't just able to get over the hump. Despite all that said, Momota was always a reliable worker for AJPW throughout his career. While never fully getting a main event spot, his consistent position in the undercards meant that he was trusted in the ring by his peers. He won his first and only title in 1989 by becoming the AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship defeating Shinichi Nakano and had two successful defenses before losing it to Joe Malenko after only 72 days. Momota is one of the longest tenured workers in All Japan history as he competed for the company since its inception up until in the year 2000, close to almost four decades. As of the writing of this article he is still one of the oldest active professional wrestlers in the world at the age of 72 still going with his latest match on February 28, 2020. By the early 70's IWE was starting to lose traction. Due to the rising companies NJPW and AJPW showing a ton of promise and many of their other stars leaving for said promotions, the business was dwindling down more than ever. The promoter Isao Yoshiwara also never had a proper big name Japanese star, Rusher Kimura was a great worker but he wasn't on the same vein as Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba in terms of star power. IWE would continue to lose money as the decade went by, the partnership with the AWA eventually ended and the ultimate nail to the coffin was losing their television spot in 1981 forcing the company to officially close its doors. Many of their wrestlers joined in on their peers such as Rusher Kimura leading a small group to "invade" New Japan as a part of a storyline but ultimately did not really lead to anywhere and he joined AJPW full time in 1984. Mighty Inoue, Animal Hamaguchi, Isamu Teranishi, Ashura Hara, and Goro Tsurumi also joined in on the AJPW roster. As for former owner Yoshiwara he briefly joined the NJPW booking team but sadly passed away a few years later. Korean legends Kintaro Ohki and Kim Duk were also full time AJPW wrestlers by this point, joining their former IWE compatriots. Trailblazing Gaijins Historically, the role of gaijin (foreigner) wrestlers are to be the natural heels. Much like in the US wherein the early years outsiders like Japanese wrestlers were portrayed as evil invading foreigners due to the fresh memories of war, the same can be said elsewhere, taking advantage of the patriotic hearts of their respective audiences. It's a classic old gimmick that's been done to death by promoters but there are those unique individuals that transcend those stereotypes can go on to become respected legends of their own and impact the Puroresu scene in the long run and pave the way for many of the things we see as common place today in Japanese wrestling. Here are some of the few of those legends around this time that left a huge legacy for Puro. Billy Robinson can be argued as the greatest British wrestler of all time and he was certainly one of the most influential when it comes to the scene not only in the UK but especially in Japan. A graduate of the Snake Pit gym, he had to go through many challenges during his training years early on which resulted into his tough in-ring style later on. He had a rivalry during the mid 60's against fellow Snake Pit wrestler Billy Joyce over the European Championship. Robinson was also undefeated as the double-crown British and European Heavyweight Champion for multiple promotions in the UK. By the late 60's he started touring around the world and first got into Japan via the IWE making his debut in 1968 against a young Masao Kimura (aka Rusher Kimura.) Robinson was the inaugural IWA World Heavyweight Champion, the main title for the promotion on December 12, 1968 defeating Toyonobori in the tournament final. He would then lose the belt after a few months to Thunder Sugiyama. As the 1970's approached, Robinson continued to find more success in Japan this time mainly competing for New Japan Pro Wrestling. In 1975 he faced Antonio Inoki for the first time in what was billed as "The Match Between the World's Top Technicians." He also wrestled for Verne Gagne's AWA in the States winning multiple championships in the territories, including the World Tag-Team Titles with Gagne. By the late 70's he became an active part of All Japan Pro Wrestling and was the third ever PWF World Heavyweight Champion on June 12, 1978 defeating Killer Tor Kamata before dropping the belt to Abdullah the Butcher. Robinson had an active career well until the late 80's competing in Japan, Europe, and America. He had his final match at an exhibition match against fellow legend Nick Bockwinkel at UWF-I in 1992 at the age of 53. Karl Gotch had already introduced the European style to Japan prior to Robinson but it was the latter who focused more to the old school British grappling style. Not so much about the theatrics but more on the "hooking" and "shoot style" presentation in the ring. A mat based oriented offense along with tons of submission holds. This kind of wrestling used to be prevalent throughout the UK thanks to the World of Sport show and also a heavy influence to Robinson during his training years in the Snake Pit. While caricature figures like Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks were the draws at the time due to their charismatic personalities, in the undercard you'll often see technical wrestling matches way ahead of their time. Names such as Johnny Saint and Mick McManus were famous for this but it was Billy Robinson who truly mastered the craft first and developed it into a respectable form of art, while also spreading his knowledge by mentoring many wrestlers and future fighters along the way. Billy Robinson was also an early pioneer to what would become Mixed Martial Arts later on. He found a lot of success in Japan and many of his most memorable matches were from the country. "Often imitated, never duplicated" is a common phrase to hear nowadays. It couldn't be any more appropriate for one Andre Rene Roussimoff or better known by all as Andre The Giant. The French man started his wrestling career in 1964. During his youth Andre stood out from the typical big men in pro wrestling at the time as despite his large frame, he was very athletic and could even do top rope maneuvers in his heyday. Unlike with some established super heavyweights like Haystacks Calhoun or Happy Humphrey who were good draws but they mainly served as an attraction for their size. Andre was more than an attraction piece, he could actually work with the best wrestlers and have compelling matches than your ordinary squashes. He had a lot of success in Europe initially then finding his way to other parts of the world such as the US, Canada, and even the Middle East. Andre was a hot commodity for promoters everywhere. The fans were eager to see this literally larger than life figure that by simply billing his name on the card results in an instant sell out! Needless to say, it would not take long before Japan also gets in on the bandwagon. The IWE was the first Japanese promotion to bring Andre to the country who was still wrestling under the ring name "Monster Roussimoff." On January 3, 1970 he made his Japanese debut winning a two out of three falls tag-team match with Victor Castilla who went by the ring name "Quasimodo" a hunchback gimmick wrestler inspired from the Victor Hugo novel. They defeated the team of Thunder Sugiyama and Tadaharu Tanaka. The following day Monster Roussimoff had his first match against Strong Kobayashi who would go on to become one of his most notable rivals during the early years of his career in the country. He is a former IWA World Tag-Team Champion, the first title he ever won in 1970 with Hungarian wrestler Michael Nador. In terms of championship belts, Andre did not win many but he doesn't need to as he was always booked to be strong anyways and his draw power was undeniable since the start. Andre continued touring for IWE up until 1972 when the company closed down. By the 1970's he was becoming more of a full time performer for Vince McMahon's WWF and due to their partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling, the man now known as Andre The Giant also had many tours with the promotion making his debut on February 22, 1974. For two decades Andre was a constant presence for NJPW having many matches with tons of their stars like Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi. This is also where he developed his partnership and feud with Hulk Hogan which would become a pivotal storyline for the WWF and their rise as the biggest wrestling company in the whole world. In 1990 Andre made his debut in AJPW. Around this point he was a shell of his former self, he was already deteriorating by the mid 80's as his weight continued to balloon and his body was starting to breakdown after decades of nonstop bumps. Nevertheless he had the final tours of his career with All Japan mainly joining forces in a dream team with Giant Baba. Andre wrestled his final match on December 4, 1992 at Budokan Hall. The following month he passed away at the age of 46. The thing about Andre is that he made the monster gaijin heels famous in Japan. To this day there is not a high profile promotion in the country that does not at least have one in their roster. Due to his sheer size and presence, he was intimidating but what made him special was again his impressive skills during his prime as a worker which garnered him a lot of success everywhere he went. Lucha Libre and Puroresu while different in styles, share somewhat of the same historical backgrounds within their respective countries. In Mexico the roots of Lucha Libre can be traced all the way back to the year 1863 with Enrique Ugartechea being the first ever Mexican professional wrestler and invented the Lucha style which he derived from the traditional Greco-Roman wrestling. By the early 1900's Lucha Libre became a national phenomenon in the country when Salvador Lutteroth created the promotion Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL) which is now CMLL and is still the oldest active wrestling promotion in the world today. EMLL was a massive success and by the 1940's there were many icons that emerged in the promotion, most notably El Santo and Blue Demon. These two were huge names in Mexico, even saying that feels like an understatement. El Santo is treated like a national hero in the nation and there is still nobody bigger of a name than him after all these years. However while Lucha continued to grow in Mexico, it was still primarily within the borders of the country. It wasn't until by the early 60's when Mil Mascaras emerged in the scene. He worked his way up and became an equally big star in the same vein as Santo and Demon, starring in movies and becoming a cultural icon as well. Mil Mascaras was not only satisfied in being a performer in EMLL as he started to tour all over the world and introduce Lucha Libre to a whole new set of audience. In 1969 he made ventures in the US working for the NWA, WWF, and AWA then in 1971 made his Japanese debut for the JWA challenging with Spiros Arion for the NWA International Tag-Team Championships on March 2 losing to B-I Cannon. A few months later in September he had his first singles match in the country defeating Kantaro Hoshino. Mascaras was an innovator for Lucha, his highflying moves were way ahead of their time such as the plancha and tope suicida which are now commonly used by so many wrestlers in the world today. In 1969 Mascaras faced against The Destroyer for the first time who would go on to become his biggest rival in Japan. The two masked legends had a long standing feud throughout the 70's in All Japan Pro Wrestling which was the frequent destination for Mascaras whenever he wrestled in the country. He also often tagged with his brother Dos Caras and the two of them became a popular tag-team and superstars respected by the audience. The influence of Mil Mascaras and his biggest contribution to pro wrestling was spreading the art of Lucha Libre outside his homeland of Mexico. He has shared his talents for decades in Japan and his legacy in Puroresu should never be forgotten by helping the two worlds of pro wrestling meet in unison, creating a wonderful presentation that helped in the evolution of the products. On January 1975 the first wrestling promotion to go against EMLL and establish their own company was created in Universal Wrestling Assocation (UWA.) Unlike EMLL who were strictly contented on being a national promotion, the UWA were able to secure partnerships with outside promotions such as the WWF and NJPW. No question that the biggest star in UWA history was El Canek who made his wrestling debut in 1972. For over a decade Canek was the top main eventer for the UWA and has held the company's World Heavyweight Championship a record 15 times with a total combined reign of an astounding 6,430 days! Canek made his Japanese debut on April 3, 1978 winning a tag-team match with Ivan Koloff against Osamu Kido and Riki Choshu. He was a constant presence for NJPW up until 1988. He was best known for his matches with Tatsumi Fujinami. El Canek continues to wrestle at the age of 68. He made his first appearance in Japan after 30 years in 2018 for Fujinami's Dradition Pro Wrestling promotion being reunited with some of his fellow veterans in the ring. The Birth of Joshi To understand how joshi puroresu began we first have to know the background of women's wrestling in general. For a long time, it was treated as a mere sideshow act and women were never considered to be on the same level as men in terms of their presentation in wrestling which mainly boiled down to the stereotypical female acts. This is specifically evident in the United States. It wasn't until the arrival of Mildred Burke in 1935 where women were finally not just seen as beautiful figures in wrestling but rather legitimate competitors as well. Her partnership with future husband Billy Wolfe established women's professional wrestling as a solid form of competition and with Burke leading the charge, her stature as a performer was almost mythology-esque as she was known for not only getting in the ring with women but men as well. Legend has it that she has wrestled over 200 male wrestlers throughout the 1930's and only lost one time. On January 1937 she captured the Women's World Championship which was the first women's wrestling belt established in 1910. In 1935 Burke became the inaugural NWA World Women's Champion by defeating Clara Mortensen. By 1952 she and Wolfe divorced due to her husband's misadventures outside of their marriage. At this point in time Billy Wolfe was one of the most influential promoters within the board of directors in the NWA. Burke and Wolfe had many disagreements since their break up which ended up badly for the state of women's wrestling in the US. It was decided in 1954 that women's wrestling would be banned from the National Wrestling Alliance which diminished the importance of women's wrestling. Despite this Burke continued to revolutionize the sport by establishing an entirely separate company the World Women's Wrestling Association (WWWA) in Los Angeles, California. The WWWA World Single Championship was recognized as its premier belt wherein Burke continued her reign that was unrecognized by the NWA due to her controversial shoot match with June Byers. She held the belt for a total of 7,238 days and only vacated it after her retirement. It wasn't until in 1970 when the belt was revived and used for All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling. Mildred Burke was the true pioneer for women's wrestling. If there was ever a so-called "women's revolution" she was the first one to actually do it fighting for the rights of her fellow women's wrestlers and giving them a better opportunity in the ring, away from the outdated acts that preceeded her. In 1954 she toured Japan along with her group, inspiring many future female wrestlers. Yukiko Tomoe was the first major female Japanese wrestler to find success in the sport. She made her debut in 1955. On March 10, 1968 she made history by being the first Japanese wrestler to capture the NWA World Women's Championship ending the 524 day run of The Fabulous Moolah in Osaka, Japan. Although she only held it for 23 days before dropping it right back to Moolah. Tomoe continued to wrestle until in 1970 when she retired for good. Women's wrestling in Japan goes way back as early as 1948 where small regional promotions such as All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Federation and All Japan Women's Wrestling Club were created. Later on All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Association was created as a governing body to oversee all women's wrestling promotions in the country until it was dissolved in the mid 60's. In 1968 businessmen the Matsunaga brothers created the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling Corporation (AJW) which would go on to become the first ever successful Joshi Puroresu promotion. Securing a deal with Fuji TV many of their wrestlers would go on to become popular all over the country and the growth of AJW as a brand was well on its way. August 16, 1970 American wrestler Marie Vagnone won the vacant WWWA World Single Championship winning a tournament. 60 days later she dropped the belt in a tour to Japan losing it to Aiko Kyo. Since then the belt has stayed in the country and became the premier championship for the promotion throughout its existence. Kyo had a remarkable 511 day run with the title. Other champions were the likes of Miyoko Hoshino, Jumbo Miyamoto, Mach Fumiake, and Akagi Mariko. There were also some gaijin champions most notably Canadian Sandy Parker, the first black women's wrestler to win a major belt in Japan by defeating Miyoko Hoshino on May 15, 1973. Debuting in 1966, Jumbo Miyamaoto was the most dominant champion of AJW during the early to mid 70's. She held the belt for the first time on September 11, 1973 with a reign for 172 days. Miyamoto would go on to hold the belt four more times throughout her career which is the most out of the title's history. Her fourth run was the longest she's had at 348 days. In total, Jumbo Miyamoto is fourth overall in the record books for combined reign with the WWWA Championship at 927 days. Her super heavyweight build made her an instant hit for the Japanese fans and she was also a solid worker which made her matches even better. The last recorded match of Jumbo Miyamoto was in 1976 losing the WWWA World Championship to Maki Ueda. AJW's first true big star was Mach Fumiake who made her debut in 1973 but her run as a wrestler was short and became a popular actress, finding success in the mainstream when she left wrestling. The true major icons to pop for AJW was the team of Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda, together they were known as The Beauty Pair. They both made their debut in 1975 as graduates of the well renowned AJW Dojo. The Beauty Pair popularized what would become the most popular style of joshi which was all about the "glitz and glamour" using the aesthetic appearances of their attractive wrestlers which was successful especially towards the youth. Because of this the company and particularly The Beauty Pair earned a massive following with the female generation audience and were immediately seen with tons of potential. They won the WWWA World Tag-Team Championships and their success did not stop there as they crossed over joshi to the mainstream by creating other forms of entertainment content like music and movies. The Beauty Pair were pioneers of the "idol culture" in joshi puroresu and despite the short three year run as a team, they were highly influential within that timeframe. Just like most tag-teams, after breaking up the two became rivals and feuded over the WWWA World Championship. Maki Ueda solidified her status by becoming the first of the two to win the belt defeating Jumbo Miyamoto on her final match. Towards her second reign she dropped the belt to Jackie Sato who became the ace of AJW by this point on November 1, 1977. For 637 days Sato ruled over the division as its champion and her work was also high quality especially for women's wrestling around those years. Her run ended at the hands of Monster Ripper on July 31, 1979. They feuded with the belt again up until the following year. Sato had her third and final run with the championship on December 16, 1980 before passing the torch onto Rimi Yokota aka the future Jaguar Yokota. The Beauty Pair are often overlooked when it comes to the trailblazers for the growth of Joshi. It wouldn't be the same if it wasn't for their success which led to so many superstars that followed them in the next two decades when AJW was at its highest point. |
AuthorSuper Mastodon. Spent countless of hours throughout my life watching professional wrestling. Now I write about it, because I like that too. Archives
March 2021
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