Written by: Super Mastodon (@SuperMastodon) An extensive version of my original article about The History of Puroresu divided by the decades. The Dragon and The Warrior (NJPW) 1970's was the decade when the two new top promotions were established but it is within the 1980's where we see the rise of these two companies, making their way into the stratosphere of the professional wrestling industry. For New Japan Pro Wrestling, Antonio Inoki is without a doubt still their biggest draw. By this point, Inoki has become a cultural icon within the nation, his matches are always a must see for his explosiveness in the ring matched with the endearing charisma he possessed in order to capture the attention of the thousands of fans. The old guard of Sakaguchi, Yamamoto, and Hashino are also still going strong entering the 80's. But there are also several new stars that have began to make a name for themselves and stand out among the rest of the roster. There are two in particular that have defined the rest of the decade for New Japan Pro Wrestling and to this day their names are synonymous with the company, namely "The Dragon" Tatsumi Fujinami and "The Revolutionary Warrior" Riki Choshu. Right from the beginning of his career in 1971 Tatsumi Fujinami was heavily connected to Antonio Inoki, being mentored during his rookie years in the concluding times for the JWA. When Inoki left the following year to form NJPW, Fujinami was one of the many that followed his sensei and become a part of the founding roster. The first match of Fujinami in a New Japan ring was on March 6, 1972 being defeated by luchador El Furioso in under five minutes. At the start of his career, Fujinami was still paying his dues and didn't score a lot of wins especially against much more established names at the time. He initially started out as a junior heavyweight and was the one who paved the way for the entire division for the promotion. By the late 70's he was starting to gain momentum and on January 23, 1978 he captured the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship for the first time defeating Jose Estrada in Madison Square Garden. Due to WWF and NJPW's relationship, Fujinami would have a lot of matches in the US especially in the world's most famous arena. Before NJPW had their own, the WWF Jr. Championship was the premier belt for New Japan in that particular weight division. What made Fujinami great even at the early years of his career, he was ahead of his time. Usually by that point, Puroresu was still largely a slow paced match especially higher profile bouts wherein they take their time to build up the heat and every move/counter is technically executed. But Fujinami was different, due to his naturally athletic abilities, especially his agility, he was doing maneuvers unseen at the time. After all he was the inventor of both the dragon sleeper and dragon suplex, but beyond that Fujinami helped in changing the way wrestling is being presented, at the very least in NJPW but other promotions would take notice at some point as well. Other than the style that they were used to, Fujinami brought something different to the table which makes matches more exciting to watch, while still maintaining the foundations of Strong Style. His first reign with the WWF Jr. Heavyweight Championship lasted for 617 days with 27 successful title defenses. Fujinami defended the belt in various territories not only in New Japan and WWF but in NWA, UWA, and Stampede Wrestling too. On November 2, 1979 he lost the title to rising star Ryuma Go. A few days later Fujinami got the belt back and this time had an even longer 758 day reign with 29 successful defenses. He was facing a who's who of talents at the timefrom familiar names like Stan Lane, Tom Prichard, Chavo Guerrero Sr., Dynamite Kid, and his future long time tag-team partner Kengo Kimura. He also faced Lucha Libre stars like Angel Blanco and local Canadian star Keith Hart among others. In the middle of this, Fujinami also held the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship twice but with short reigns only. By December 1, 1981 Fujinami vacated the title because he was officially moving up to the heavyweight division. On August 30, 1982 he defeated Canadian legend Gino Brito for the WWF International Heavyweight Championship in New York City. This is somewhat of a forgotten title in the WWE's long history and it would also serve as an entry point for the eventual legendary rivalry between Fujinami and Choshu. Before they were a part of the most heated feud in New Japan of the decade, Fujinami and Choshu were first primarily tag partners together. The first match where they shared the ring together was on March 15, 1978 wherein they teamed up to defeat the duo of the Masked Canadian (aka the future Roddy Piper) and Roberto Soto. A month later they teamed up with veteran Seiji Sakaguchi to beat the rag tag trio of Marty Jones, Nikolai Volkoff, and Umanosuke Ueda. At first they were the two rising stars, trying to make waves in the division, but soon enough they find themselves in the opposite corners against each other, with one of them being the eventual succesor to Antonio Inoki as the ace. Mitsuo Yoshida first started out as an amateur wrestler then transitioned into pro wrestling in 1974 when he was personally recruited by Antonio Inoki. However in the dojo, he was heavily mentored and learned a lot under the wing of another former successful amateur wrestler in Masa Saito. The two of them would form a strong bond with each other which was the roots of their time as frequent tag-team partners in the future. In the mid 70's Yoshida had his excursion in North America particularly in Canada. On April 23, 1977 Yoshida sheds his old personality out in favor of a new ring name: "Riki Choshu." Starting this point Choshu was no longer the young boy that was attempting to reach the ranks of the men at the leaderboard in New Japan, he was ready to fully take his position once and for all. However, he was still overshadowed by Inoki, Sakaguchi, and especially Fujinami. Despite his talents, Choshu couldn't seem to get over the hump and be stuck under the shadow of his seniors so he had to take the matter into his own hands. After many series of matches throughout the late 70's mainly facing the rest of the New Japan roster and outsider gaijins making their tours, he had enough. On January 15, 1982 in a six man tag-team match where he teamed up with Inoki and Fujinami against the trio of Abdullah the Butcher, Bad News Allen, and SD Jones, the young babyface superstar Riki Choshu surprised everyone by betraying his team and turning his back on them, allowing the opposition to win. The same year Choshu established the first native traitor heel stable in Japan known as the "Ishin Gundan" or the Revolution Army in English. Alongside with his sensei Masa Saito, Choshu was also joined by other heels of the NJPW roster at the time such as fellow amateur wrestler Yoshiaki Yatsu, junior heavyweight Kuniaki Kobayashi, the nefarious Killer Khan, Korean legend Tiger Toguchi (aka Kim Duk), and former IWE tag-team duo of Animal Hamaguchi & Isamu Teranishi. They were a solid stable filled with all-time greats that terrorized New Japan at its core. Choshu and his army were a strong presence against the heroes of the roster and it made for the most hyped up storyline within that timespan. However in 1984 after tensions within the feud became too real even outside of the ring, members of the Ishin Gundan stable including Choshu left NJPW and he formed his own promotion Japan Pro-Wrestling which was the first renegade wrestling company in the country. Choshu managed to form a partnership with the rival company All Japan Pro-Wrestling which led to him and his army also being able to compete in an AJPW ring. This is where Choshu had his famous matches against All Japan stars like Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu. Ishin Gundan is one of the most successful stables in Japanese wrestling history, arguably the best in the decade just for its sheer impact especially for what it did to solidify Riki Choshu as a main event level player. He was able to dominate and wreck havoc not only in one, but two promotions then at the same time being able to run his own which is all the more impressive. After a while JPW stopped running their own shows and the rest of their roster became main stays in AJPW. After only four years Japan Pro-Wrestling officially went defunct. The rest of the Ishin Gundan members and other wrestlers from JPW split up, some returned to New Japan most notably Choshu and Saito, while Yatsu, Teranishi, among others stayed with All Japan. Upon his return to the company, Choshu re-ignited his rivalry with Tatsumi Fujinami and the two of them would become the forefront of the newly structured heavyweight division of New Japan with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship now being established as the premier prize. Choshu was just as much of an important figure in Puroresu as Fujinami. First off he invented one of the most iconic submission holds in pro wrestling the Sasori Gatame or famously better known in the West as Sting's Scorpion Death Lock or Bret Hart's Sharpshooter. But it wasn't those two legends who made the move, they only popularized it in the States, it was Choshu who was the mastermind of it. Add in the fact that he paved the way for so many wrestlers in different facets of wrestling such as his heel persona of being a dominant leader of his own faction, away from the typical path a superstar would go on to have. To trace the history of the IWGP Title it goes all the way back in 1974 when the first ever World League tournament was started by Antonio Inoki. This was the successor to the JWA's Big League Tournament. It followed the Round Robin system but during the early years of the tournament, it was a "Japanese vs. Gaijin" concept wherein a group of native and foreign wrestlers were pitted against each other. Inoki won the first two World Leagues and the final two Seiji Sakaguchi was the winner. In 1978 the name of the tournament was changed to the "MSG League" after the famous Madison Square Garden arena. Once again Inoki showed dominance by winning the four tournaments consecutively from 1978 to 1981. In '82 Andre won and finally in 1983 they changed it again to the "IWGP League" and those initials stood for the International World Grand Prix which was the fictional governing body of New Japan. The winner of the tournament receives the IWGP Championship as a reward and the first one was won by Hulk Hogan. In 1984 Inoki won again, 1985 to Andre, from 1986 to 1988 Inoki was again the winner but in 1987 the IWGP Heavyweight Championship officially became the premier prize for the promotion in the main event scene and was a recognized active World Championship belt rather than a trophy award used for tournaments. Since then it has stayed its place as the top belt of the promotion. On June 12, 1987 at the finals of the IWGP Champion Series Inoki defeated Masa Saito in the tournament final to become the champion which became the inaugural lineage for the belt as an actively defended World Title. Masanori Saito was an amateur wrestler, well known for competing in the freestyle wrestling representing Japan in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The following year he officially made his debut in the professional wrestling industry. In 1967 he debuted for IWE defeating Matty Suzuki. Throughout the rest of the late 60's and early 70's Saito established his name in multiple American territories mainly in Florida, Detroit, and other NWA affiliated promotions. In 1972 he had a few matches in the JWA then two years later was a frequent competitor for New Japan. April 5, 1974 he had his first match in the company resulting in a five minute time limit draw against Walter Johnson, then the following day he teamed up with his future rival Antonio Inoki to defeat The Mongols. Moving forward Saito wrestled all over the world not just in Japan but he also had plenty of bookings in the NWA, WWF, UWA in Mexico, and Stampede Wrestling in Canada. The company he made a huge impact for though outside of Japan was the American Wrestling Association (AWA) where he was a former World Champion. In 1987 him and Inoki had a strong feud that often resulted in bloody wars. To settle their bout in the finals of the 1987 IWGP League, the two of them faced off a few months later in an Island Death Match where they were placed in Ganryujima island and wrestled a match that lasted two hours which is still the longest in company history. Inoki was victorious via TKO. Saito then joined Riki Choshu's Ishin Gundan stable and even won the tag-team championships with his student. Although he's not seen on the same level as the rest of his popular peers like Inoki or even much younger wrestlers like Fujinami and Choshu, Masa Saito is still one of the most accomplished Japanese wrestlers of all time. His innovative moves such as that of the Saito Suplex and his influence overall because of his amateur background helped in developing many talents that he mentored. He has won a plethora amount of gold in his three decade career as a pro wrestler. His rivalry with Inoki set the standard for future feuds between two native superstars. As their era starts to take down a bit, Fujinami and Choshu would be the ones to usher in an entirely new set of generational talents, the IWGP Championship in the late 80's would be circled around those two and later on with Big Van Vader plowing his way through the competition Other than Fujinami, Choshu, and Saito there were some other wrestlers that have left their mark in New Japan around the 80's as well. One of which is Seiei Kimura or better known for his ring name "Kengo Kimura." He debuted in 1972 for the JWA then the following year moved to NJPW. Kengo's first few years in the company were insignificant, he was working his way up the rankings as a junior heavyweight throughout the mid to late 70's until he was sent for his excursion to North American territories namely EMLL and UWA in Mexico as well in WWC in Puerto Rico where he won a few championships. By 1980 he returned full time in NJPW and capturing the vacant NWA International Jr. Heavyweight Championship in a match against Bret Hart. He had four successful title defenses within 103 days of reign, even one match against future tag-team partner Tatsumi Fujinami which resulted in a Double KO. Kimura lost the belt to Chavo Guerrero Sr. In 1985 he officially moved up to the heavyweights and formed a tag-team with Fujinami. Together, the two rising stars won their first belts as a duo the WWF International Tag-Team Championships on May 24, 1985 defeating the team of Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch. In the same year, seven months later they defeated their seniors Inoki and Sakaguchi to become the inaugural IWGP Tag-Team Champions on December 12. For 236 days Fujinami and Kimura reigned over the tag division of New Japan until they were defeated by Akira Maeda and Osamu Kido on August 5, 1986. They would win the belts three more times for a total of four reigns with a combined 613 days as champions together which is the third overall in the history of the tag titles. Kengo Kimura would not achieve the same singles success as his partner Fujinami had but he was still one of the solid and reliable workers in NJPW throughout his long three decade tenure with the company. They teamed together from 1980 to 1997, Kengo Kimura officially had his retirement tour with NJPW in 2003 capping off with a match on May 1. In 1978 Junji Hirata made his debut in NJPW against fellow dojo alumni Yoshiaki Fujiwara. In the first five years of his run he was the typical midcard wrestler at best rising up among the ranks and paying his dues until he was sent abroad in 1982 to North America and hone his craft. He had his first match in lucha promotion UWA on December 5, 1982. The following year he actively competed for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling in Canada and this is where he developed the "Super Strong Machine" gimmick which he is best known for to this day. On November 4, 1985 Strong Machine made his first appearance by defeating The Cuban Assassin. After another year with Stampede, Hirata brought the Machine character with him upon his return to NJPW. In 1985 the Strong Machines stable was formed with #1 (Hirata) leading the charge with Korean wrestler Yang Seung-hi as #2 and veteran Yasu Fuji as #3. The following year the WWF also had their own version of "The Machines" stable with The Giant Machine aka Andre, Big Machine aka Blackjack Mulligan, and Super Machine aka Bill Eadie/Demolition Ax managed by Captain Lou Albano. The American version were based off the original character of Junji Hirata. He briefly left NJPW by the late 80's capturing the All Asia Tag-Team Championships with Ashura Hara in AJPW. Moving forward Super Strong Machine became one of the fan favorites in the midcard scene of New Japan. He did not particularly become a main event level player like some of his peers, but he was still over in his prime, especially to the children. In 1989 he captured the IWGP Tag-Team Championships for the first time with George Takano and did so again the following year in 1990 with Hiro Saito. By the mid 90's he transitioned back-and-forth between his actual self and the Machine character, winning the final title of his career in 1994 as 1/2 of the IWGP Tag-Team Champions with Shinya Hashimoto. Super Strong Machine is one of the longest tenured workers in New Japan history, for 35 years he has actively wrestled in the company. He had his final match in 2014 and two years ago in 2018 was his official retirement ceremony. Well respected by his peers and a trusted veteran of the company that saw the highs and lows of the promotion he was loyal to until the end of his career. There were also some heel personas that left their mark in NJPW as well as other promotions around these years. Masashi Ozawa who debuted in 1971 during the final years of the JWA. When the company closed he moved to NJPW and wrestled for five years before touring North America in 1978. His mentor Karl Gotch was the one who created his famous Mongolian giant gimmick which he first used in 1978 for UWA as "Temjin El Mongol." In 1979 wrestling for multiple territories in the NWA Killer Khan was born and became his most well known ring name ever since. Killer Khan was a constant presence in many territories in the US for the rest of his career both as a singles and tag-team wrestler. His duo with Korean wrestler Pak Song won the NWA Florida US Tag-Team Championships in 1979 which was Khan's first title. He was primarily best known for his feud in the WWF against Andre The Giant in the early 80's when Andre was still a babyface. In 1981 Khan injured his rival's ankle off of a top turnbuckle kneedrop and landed on it. The incident made headlines and it added fuel to the ever growing heat of the rivalry. The matches involving Andre and Khan were highly acclaimed due to their brutal nature and the two were proven draws due to their chemistry with each other. It all culminated in November 1981 at the Philadelphia Arena where Andre finally got his revenge on Killer Khan and defeating him in a Mongolian Stretcher match. In the mid 80's Killer Khan was also a frequent competitor in Stampede going as far as to winning their top prize the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship. He was known for his rivalry against another brawler in "The Stomper" Archie Gouldie. Back in New Japan, Killer Khan became a member of Riki Choshu's heel group "Ishin Gundan" and joined in the invasion of AJPW by the mid 80's. He wrestled his final match on NJPW in 1984 losing in an International Heavyweight Championship bout to Tatsumi Fujinami. Killer Khan wrestled in his final years for the WWF again by the late 80's being managed by Mr. Fuji with his last recorded match being on November 29, 1987 before retiring in wrestling for good. A memorable iconic heel character, a Mongolian brawler being played by a Japanese man. Couldn't get any more pro wrestling than that. The growth of professional wrestling continues all over the world including in Japan which is why there were many more gaijin wrestlers that toured in the different companies and made their presence felt among the field of competition. In New Japan Pro Wrestling, before becoming the immortal icon of the WWF and arguably the most recognizable wrestler of all time, in the late 80's, Hulk Hogan was already making big waves in NJPW debuting for the company in 1980 back when he was still with the AWA. Due to his enormous physique and the Japanese audience's fascination with big strong gaijins, Hogan instantly became a huge hit among the New Japan fans and he dominated the roster, defeating many members of the native roster at the time. On May 23, 1980 he had his first ever encounter with Antonio Inoki which the latter won via DQ in under six minutes. The rest of the tour Hogan was always on the opposite side facing Inoki in tag matches where he was often teaming up with Stan Hansen and Andre The Giant. On November 11 they had their first title match where Inoki successfully defended his NWF Championship against Hogan. Whenever Hogan always toured NJPW he was involved in matches against Inoki and by 1982 from rivals they turned into frequent tag-team partners and found mutual respect, forming this somewhat of a "super team" between the two of them. We have to remember this was pre-Hulkamania where he fully turned into a cartoon character-esque persona and was still heavily wrestling as a worker, especially in Japan where Hogan always brings out his best for the most part. The bulk of '82 they were mainly involved in six man tags often teaming up with Fujinami and Sakaguchi against AWA and WWF wrestlers. In 1983 Hogan won the first ever International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) League tournament which made him the first wrestler to actually win the IWGP Championship. But this was before the belt was still an actively defended championship so it was still considered an award trophy for the winner of said tournament. Hogan had his final match against Inoki on June 13, 1985 wrestling for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Around the mid 80's Hulk Hogan would become a full-time wrestler for the WWF. On January 23, 1984 he defeated The Iron Sheik to win his first WWF World Championship, the next year he headlined the first ever WrestleMania and two years later in 1987 arguably the most iconic wrestling event of all time WrestleMania III where him and Andre The Giant faced each other in the main event which catapulted not only Hogan and the WWF, but all of professional wrestling into the mainstream stratosphere. There were many other gaijins often touring for New Japan by the 80's. After a successful career in judo which saw him compete for multiple events including the Olympics, Allen Coage underwent training as a professional wrestler for the New Japan dojo and specifically mentored by Antonio Inoki. He made his debut on October 25, 1977 in a judo jacket match against Seiji Sakaguchi which he lost in the fifth round. Two months later he started wrestling under the ring name "Buffalo Allen" and got to compete against another former judoka in Willem Ruska. In 1980 he re-debuted in NJPW with a new ring name "Bad News Allen" which he would become best known for the rest of his career. Allen wrestled not only in NJPW but for the NWA, WWF, and Stampede. He was everywhere but during his tours with New Japan, he was primarily feuding with his sensei Inoki and Sakaguchi. On February 2, 1980 Sakaguchi defeated Bad News Allen for the WWF North American Heavyweight Championship. The late mid to late 80's he was a 4x Stampede North American Heavyweight Champion. In 1988 he competed mainly for the WWF as Bad News Brown and for the rest of his career, had on and off dates with his true home promotion of NJPW. Bad News Allen was known to have been one of the legitimate toughest wrestlers in his era. Even well known tough guys like Harley Race and Andre The Giant recognizes his credibility. Add in his reputation and his background in martial arts, Bad News Allen was an early representative of what Strong Style truly was all about and bringing it to a whole new set of audience in the American territories. His last match ever was on February 13, 1998 for the revived Tokyo Pro Wrestling promotion. When talking about "Southern wrestling" one of the men that personified that particular presentation of wrestling was Dick Murdoch. Debuting in 1965 Murdoch was trained in the old school ways of making wrestling look as legitimate as possible and that is what he brought all the time in the ring. Think of him as like the pre-cursor to Stan Hansen. After several years working for a plethora of promotions in the States, Murdoch made his Japanese debut in 1973 for All Japan Pro Wrestling losing in a tag with Larry O'Day against the team of Giant Baba and The Destroyer and was always a recurring member of the roster until in 1981 where he often competed for NJPW. His first match for New Japan he lost to Tiger Toguchi. By 1982 Murdoch formed a partnership with Adrian Adonis, together the two of them became one of the most successful brawl tag-teams in the US and Japan. On July 31 Adonis and Murdoch defeated the duo of Sakaguchi and Yatsu, since then the two of them wrestled in NJPW while also competing for the partner promotion WWF which they won the World Tag-Team Championships on April 17, 1984. In their 279 day reign they successfully defended those belts 59 times, they defended it once in NJPW on December 8, 1984 beating the duo of Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura. When the IWGP Tag-Team Championships were formed in the late 80's Murdoch and Adonis attempted to win those belts but they failed, they had the final match as a tag-team in NJPW on June 26, 1988 defeating Kengo Kimura and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Murdoch continued wrestling for both Japan and the States as an independent wrestler throughout the late 90's with his final match in 1996. Unfortunately for Adrian Adonis he was involved in a fatal car accident which prematurely ended his career and life. No question, the most significant gaijin in the history of New Japan was Leon White or better known by many as Big Van Vader. Trained by Brad Rheingans after his football career to become a professional wrestler, Leon first wrestled in the AWA as "Baby Bull" while also competing for the European partner promotion Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) where he feuded with top star Otto Wanz for their World Championship this time as "Bull Power." He dethroned Wanz of the CWA Title on March 22, 1987 winning it in his hometown of Denver, Colorado. He had one successful defense against "Crusher" Jerry Blackwell before dropping it right back to Wanz in Germany. However the true big break for him was coming into New Japan Pro Wrestling in the same year. What took place on December 1987 would become one of the most infamous yet at the same time memorable moments in NJPW. After finishing a rough, hard fought match against Riki Choshu, Antonio Inoki was suddenly interrupted by the new debuting gaijin known as "Big Van Vader" accompanied by well known Japanese actor and comedian Takeshi Kitano whom at the time was heavily involved in New Japan storylines by being the manager of the heel stable Takeshi Puroresu Gundan. Vader challenged Inoki to a match, with the national superstar being the fighting champion that he was, accepted the request despite just concluding a bout with Choshu. What happened next completely shook the audience as under three minutes, 2:49 to be exact Vader squashed Antonio Inoki in what was at the time the biggest upset in Puroresu as Inoki up to the point was built as someone who rarely, if at all loses. He is not only the ace of the company, but arguably the most popular wrestler in the whole country. For him to be beaten in such an embarrassing fashion was totally unexpected to the fans. This resulted in a massive riot, audience members began thrashing the ring and even police was later involved in the madness. It has been five years since that match when Inoki lost clean in a match, for it to happen in such a way, then here comes this unfamiliar giant gaijin who beats him with ease. NJPW was banned for an entire year hosting events in the Sumo Hall, it may have cause such a big ruckus but in the end, it ultimately paid off as from that point on Vader was established just like that as a threatening beast and he was the most hated wrestler in all of Japan. Genuine heel heat at its finest. After his first two reigns as IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Tatsumi Fujinami vacated the title on April 5, 1989. A few weeks later Vader won the title in a tournament final beating Shinya Hashimoto in the Tokyo Dome. He would lose the belt a month later to Russian amateur wrestler Salman Hashimikov, who would then drop it to Riki Choshu two months later. Choshu himself didn't have that long of a reign as Vader got his second run with the title beating him on August 10, 1989 and had a solid 374 day run which by that point was the longest in title history, surpassing Inoki's inaugural 325. Vader had four successful defenses during this reign, first one against his future tag-team partner Bam Bam Bigelow, a re-match with Hashimoto which he won again, then in 1990 he was once again in the Tokyo Dome where he had the infamous match against Stan Hansen that ended in a double count out. This match is still one of the most memorable in the careers of both men as it was two hard hitting stiff wrestlers going at it, they fought so hard in fact that Vader's left eyeball literally popped out of his socket! The two of them met again four months later this time Vader beating Hansen via DQ. Finally Vader's reign ended at the hands of Riki Choshu circling everything back on August 19, 1990. His run as UWA World Heavyweight Champion also coincided with this reign which that one lasted for an even longer 392 days. Vader briefly held the IWGP Championship one last time on January 17, 1991 but lost it right back to Fujinami in his first defense. With Vader's presence in the late 80's, the IWGP Championship's lineage became more prestigious. He was after all the first gaijin wrestler to hold it, his matches with Fujinami and Choshu also helped in establishing the careers of those men as the top main eventers of the company as by beating someone in the stature of Vader they would get the fans rally behind their backs and cheer them on to see them beat this monstrous figure. Since the 90's Vader wrestled for WCW and WWF while also competing for Japanese promotions. By 1999 he would become a freelancer, he had his final match in a New Japan ring on 2006, with his last match ever in 2017 before sadly passing away the following year. While there have been numerous gaijins through the years in Puroresu, only few could truly reach the level of Vader from a legacy stand point and the peak he had was some of the most dominant performances and streaks ever in Japanese professional wrestling. A man who personified the phrase "larger than life." On March 17, 1988 the Tokyo Dome was officially opened for the public. An arena that has hosted multiple sporting events, including professional wrestling. Decades worth of spectacles and memorable moments have been witnessed in the arena, but it all started on April 24, 1989 when the first wrestling event took place with NJPW entitled Battle Satellite in Tokyo Dome. Headlined by Antonio Inoki and judoka Shota Chochishvili from the Soviet Union for the WWF World Martial Arts Championship. It was a massive success for the company that drew an attendance of 43,800. Because of Inoki's association with the owners of the arena, there would be more big NJPW events that were held in the Dome up until today. New Japan has the record for producing 53 shows in total in this arena. Roar of the Tiger (NJPW) In 1968 the Tiger Mask manga was published for the first time in Kodansha's Bokura Magazine and in 1971 for the Weekly Shonen Magazine. A couple of years prior to that on October 2, 1969 the inaugural episode of the original Tiger Mask anime aired in Japanese television. Since then Tiger Mask would go on to become one of the most popular media franchises in the country, so much so that the story of the professional wrestler in the fictional world turned to reality. In New Japan they were trying to find ways to grow their product even further so they integrated the persona of Tiger Mask into their roster, appealing to a wider range of demographic, particularly that of the children who were into the manga/anime. To know the history of Tiger Mask in New Japan we have to meet the man who donned the costume. Satoru Sayama was a graduate of the New Japan dojo. He was mentored by many legends such as Karl Gotch, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Kotetsu Yamamoto, and of course Antonio Inoki. Because of these influences, Sayama became a master of what would be known as the worked shoot style. Add in elements of martial arts and Strong Style, Sayama who was a junior heavyweight began wrestling in this philosophy initially. It wasn't until in 1978 when he was sent for excursion in Mexico where he learned the highflying style of Lucha Libre. In 1979 Sayama won the NWA World Middleweight Championship in EMLL defeating Ringo Mendoza then losing it to El Satanico. He wrestled in Mexico for two years before returning to New Japan in 1981 now being reborn as Tiger Mask, bringing Ikki Kajiwara's character come to life. Initially some fans thought that it was ridiculous as they were still not too familiar with "colorful" gimmicks and were still used to the traditional wrestlers they see. But Tiger Mask quickly turned those doubters into believers with his talents in the ring, which were truly way ahead of their time. Fujinami may have been the first junior heavyweight in NJPW, but it was Sayama as Tiger Mask who took the division to another level, with all the elements he has learned in the dojo and Lucha Libre, Tiger Mask quickly became one of the most highly acclaimed workers not only in Japan but in the entire world. The moves he was doing were unheard of in his era. Pulling off high risk maneuvers while maintaining the credibility of his in-ring work thanks to the technical roots he did not forget. It has come to a point where Tiger Mask was even eclipsing the main event heavyweight wrestlers when it comes to match quality and has made the junior heavyweight division as a must see wrestling rather than just a preliminary match before the top stars arrive. Tiger Mask would not have been able to reach the same heights of success if it wasn't for his best in-ring opponent. Tom Billington or better known as Dynamite Kid was from Lancashire, England. Dynamite trained under Stu Hart in Stampede Wrestling and was also known for his innovative offense moveset of highflying and British technical styles. After three years of wrestling in various North American territories, Dynamite had his first match in Japan on January 4, 1980 beating Kantaro Hoshino. A year later on April 23, 1981 marked what would become the beginning of the greatest junior heavyweight rivalry of the decade when Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid competed in a New Japan ring for the first time. On April 1, 1982 Tiger defeated Dynamite for the vacant WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship and the following year on April 21 they had their famous bout in the Sumo Hall once again for the WWF Jr. Title, this was the first match rated 5 Stars by Dave Meltzer on his Wrestling Observer Newsletter which helped garner more notoriety for this match outside of Japan. Looking back on their matches, Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid were basically doing matches that are common place in so many independent and high profile promotions today. They basically wrestled at the time what were considered as "spotfest" matches with so many acrobatic moves but what made it different is that there is always meaningful psychology behind their grappling and weren't just doing impressive stunts for the sake of it which is why to this day their matches stood the test of time and have become influential to an entire generation of wrestlers that followed them. In terms of long term rivalries, Tiger Mask and Dynamite was not really that, in fact their peak was only lasted for three years. But the changes they made into professional wrestling as a whole within that timeframe was good enough to keep their names etched within the history books of pro wrestling, especially in evolving the junior heavyweight scene of Puroresu. Other than the Dynamite Kid, Tiger Mask had another nemesis in the form of the Black Tiger, creating the villainous version of the anime character. The man who wore the Black Tiger mask originally was another British wrestler in Mark "Rollerball" Rocco. A fourth generation wrestler, Rocco first competed in many regional promotions in the UK before finding his way in at the time the most popular wrestling show in the country, World of Sport. Headlined by the likes of charismatic personalities Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks, it was within the undercard which caught the attention of purists as their roster was filled with some of the greatest technical mat workers in wrestling such as the likes of Johnny Saint and Mick McManus. In 1981 Rocco actually had his first series of matches against Satoru Sayama when he also wrestled in WOS as "Sammy Lee." New Japan being impressed with what Mark was able to showcase, he was invited to become the Black Tiger and continue his feud with Sayama in New Japan only this time they are now both wearing tiger masks. The Black Tiger debuted on April 21, 1982 against Tiger Mask for the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship which ended in a double count out. Since then the two of them would have numerous matches together much like with Dynamite over the years. When the WWF Jr. Title was vacated in the same year, Black Tiger defeated Gran Hamada for the belt but only briefly held it for 20 days as he would get defeated by Tiger Mask. Throughout the rest of the 1980's the Black Tiger was present in the junior heavyweight division of NJPW facing numerous opponents, some of which would also become popular icons later on such as Keiichi Yamada (the future Jushin "Thunder" Liger.) Rocco wrestled his final match as the Black Tiger on January 31, 1990 losing to Takayuki Iizuka. Since then the Black Tiger gimmick has been revived numerous times and notable wrestlers have held it through the years. In 1993 Eddie Guerrero became the second ever Black Tiger during his tour for the promotion. In total there have been seven iterations of the Black Tiger mask. Rocco wrestled the last match of his career on April 6, 1990 for Reslo TV in Wales, a double count out match against Danny Collins. By the mid to late 80's the WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship was retired by New Japan Pro Wrestling to make room for its succesor as the new premier prize for the division. On February 6, 1986 Shiro Koshinaka became the inaugural IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion defeating The Cobra (aka George Takano) in a tournament final. Koshinaka was initially an All Japan wrestler debuting in 1979 and wrestling in the company throughout 1985 but not seeing a direction with AJPW, he moved promotions and joined NJPW. Koshinaka was well known for his martial arts guru persona and being the one who popularized the hip attack maneuver. The IWGP Jr. Title was established in his rivalry with Nobuhiko Takada as the title circled around the two of them in its first year. On September 19, 1986 Koshinaka had his second reign with the belt, defeating Takada and had a solid reign of 317 days which is the third longest run in title history, it ended with him vacating it due to injury. His third and final reign took place on June 24, 1988 beating a young Owen Hart. This time he had a respectable 265 days before losing the title to Hiroshi Hase. Koshinaka would then move up to the heavyweight division and while he may not have achieved the same singles success he had in the junior division by not capturing the Heavyweight Championship, he was still a multi-time tag-team champion and actively competed with the company until 2003. In 1992 he created the Heisei Ishingun faction which consisted of many wrestlers with martial arts background and they feuded with tons of other superstars through the years. Koshinaka does not receive the same amount of praises or notoriety due to a lack of coverage in the West, but in his prime he was on the same level as many Japanese wrestlers we're more familiar of in terms of his in-ring work and talents. Shoot Style (UWF) Throughout the 80's New Japan and All Japan were the only two national wrestling promotions in the country. The size of the companies were big and many of the superstars wrestled for their respective promotions so it was rare or even non-existent to see other promoters or wrestlers take a risk by setting up their own and find profit due to how much of a foothold these two companies have within the wrestling market. In 1981 with the closure of IWE, many of their wrestlers split up going to either NJPW or AJPW, but that all changed in 1984 with Akira Maeda when he established the original Universal Wrestling Federation, defecting away from NJPW along with a few other wrestlers that joined him. Maeda is a product of the New Japan dojo, being mentored by both Karl Gotch and Yoshiaki Fujiwara, he debuted on August 1978. Like most wrestlers he was sent to excursion in the UK where he adapted the ring name "Kwik-kik-Lee" and by 1983 returned back to NJPW. Although talented and was on the same level as the likes of Fujinami and Choshu, Maeda was never able to outshine the rest of the roster and he was unsatisfied with his position in the card, thinking his true potential was not being showcased properly. So in an act of defiance, he led the first roster exodus in New Japan by forming the UWF. He was initially joined by Rusher Kimura, Ryuma Go, Mach Hayato, and Gran Hamada. Then later on many other wrestlers such as Satoru Sayama (who know wrestles as Super Tiger since he doesn't own the rights to Tiger Mask), Nobuhiko Takada, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, and Kazuo Yamazaki joined in as well. Osamu Kido, one of the founding members of NJPW jumped ship to the UWF sometime later. The UWF was also able to forge a relationship with the WWF for a short period of time due to the connections they had with Hisashi Shinma but that was dissolved as soon as he left for AJPW. In terms of their overall roster, the UWF had the right talents to build their promotion around. Despite the lack of a TV deal, their live events drew well. Their inaugural event took place on April 11, 1984 at the Omiya Skating Center in Saitama, Japan. Headlined by Akira Maeda where he defeated Dutch Mantel. A month prior to this, Maeda defeated Pierre Lefebvre for the WWF International Heavyweight Title which he turned into the UWF Heavyweight Championship. Maeda did not only create UWF because he wasn't satisfied to where his career is being headed but also tired of the traditional presentation of professional wrestling and wanted to take it a step further but also bringing it back to its roots of feeling like a legitimate fight. Even though NJPW did have martial arts inspired matches and Strong Style was basically formed out of Inoki's fascination with combat sports, many of the elements regarding their matches still relied on the high drama and storytelling. Same goes with All Japan which basically follows the formula of the American territories. Maeda wanted professional wrestling to feel like an actual fight, make the audience believe what they're seeing is real, hence the "worked shoot style" became prominent. He did not necessarily invent it, in fact it wasn't really a "style" either before. The term shoot is a wrestling insider term which pertains to something becomes real. A professional wrestling match at its core is a choreographed fight, or at the very least the results are planned ahead of time so when things do get heated between the competitors, they call it a "shoot" as it turns from what is essentially a make believe to an actual fight in or out of the ring. With heavy emphasis on strikes and submissions, UWF aimed towards this realistic approach to professional wrestling which made them stood out from what the audience was used to with the pre-existing companies. Less reliant on gimmicks and other traditional aspects on wrestling, purely all about the action. Not all wrestlers could keep up with the demands of this style however, the veterans such as Rusher Kimura, Ryuma Go, and Gran Hamada eventually left as they weren't keen on this worked shoot environment. The likes of Maeda, Takada, and Sayama had their advantages due to having backgrounds in martial arts. Other wrestlers were able to thrive in this setting though and made a name for themselves by being synonymous with being "shoot wrestlers." Yoshiaki Fujiwara is probably best known to many for inventing the Fujiwara Armbar, in fact most fans probably know the move better than the actual person, nevertheless Fujiwara was one of the first graduates of the New Japan Dojo. Making his debut in 1972, Fujiwara being a former judoka complimented well with the Strong Style ideology of New Japan. He was the inaugural winner of the Karl Gotch Cup (which is now known as the Young Lions Cup) a tournament for the rookie trainees of the promotion. One of Fujiwara's earliest rivals was with Bad News Allen, the two of them would frequently trade headbutts to determine on who has the strongest and most hard hitting head. Some rivalries do not need to have complicated storylines as it turns out. Despite his talents, Fujiwara however was not able to elevate his position in the card and eventually joined in on Maeda with the UWF. Two young wrestlers were also a part of the UWF roster upon its creation. These two were Nobuhiko Takada and Kazuo Yamazaki. Both wrestlers were graduates of the New Japan dojo with Takada being a year ahead of Yamazaki. The former was trained by Yoshiaki Fujiwara while the latter was personally mentored by Satoru Sayama. Much like their influences, Takada and Yamazaki's styles leaned heavily on the worked shoot presentation which is why they would go on to become part of the UWF later. They started out as rookie rivals and this would continue on as they defected to a new company. Their careers would not take off much later as for now they were still on the rise. What was great about the UWF as well is that it served as a platform for these other wrestlers to have a spotlight for their talents, which they wouldn't otherwise get in NJPW as the established names were already too solidified for a change to occur. Which is why it did not only do favors for the growth of Akira Maeda as a main event level talent, but wrestlers like Fujiwara, Yamazaki, and Takada got to show off their skills too and prove they can compete on the same level as the rest of the competition. As promising as it was, the original UWF did not last long. Eventually the egos of the two top stars got in the way, namely Akira Maeda and Satoru Sayama. Their difference in philosophies on how to present the matches got in the way of each other as Maeda wanted to focus more on submissions while Sayama being a kickboxer wanted to highlight striking based offense. Backstage tensions were rising between them and it all boiled down in a match in 1985 where Maeda executed a legitimate kick in the groin of Sayama, causing him to get knocked down. This eventually led to Sayama leaving the promotion and for an entire decade laid off from active competition, focusing his time as a trainer in his own dojo. Despite their disagreements, it could not be denied that Sayama being the former Tiger Mask was one of the top draws of the promotion, with his absence and the lack of a television deal, eventually UWF floundered and the company only stagnated rather than grow. The original UWF only lasted for one year. When the company closed, Akira Maeda led his troops in an invasion angle to NJPW. This became the first successful invasion in the company as years prior the one led by Rusher Kimura and a few IWE wrestlers flopped badly due to a lack of interest and star power. This time Maeda had a more legitimate gripe and convincing story which is why many fans gravitated towards the feud between the shoot workers of UWF against Inoki and his Strong Style disciples. Now Maeda was no longer just another mere member of the roster, he was a main event caliber player and on the same level as Antonio Inoki when it comes to their rivalry. A few months after Maeda and his crew's arrival to New Japan, one of the most historic matches in New Japan took place and arguably the most pivotal match of the decade. It was on March 26, 1986 at the New Wave Dash tour at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym. A ten man elimination gauntlet match between Team NJPW vs. Team UWF. Led by their respective presidents, Inoki is joined with Kantaro Hoshino, Kengo Kimura, Tatsumi Fujinami, and veteran Umanosuke Ueda representing NJPW against the UWF squad led by Akira Maeda with Kazuo Yamazaki, Nobuhiko Takada, Osamu Kido, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. All of the names involved in this match are legends of their own and this was the peak of the rivalry between these two factions. A war between difference in wrestling philosophies and ideologies. What made this match even more special than it already was simply based on significance and implications alone were the crowd. The live audience were so hyped up for this match, every time a new wrestler tags in they always go wild, especially for the two top stars Inoki and Maeda. To this day four decades later it remains as the most memorable multi-man tag match in NJPW. Also in 1986 Akira Maeda won his first title in New Japan by being the second ever IWGP Tag-Team Champions with Osamu Kido when they defeated the young duo of Fujinami and Kimura. They dropped the belts 49 days in and the following year Maeda captured the tag titles again this time with Nobuhiko Takada beating Keiji Mutoh and Shiro Koshinaka. They lost the belts to Fujiwara and Yamazaki who left the UWF stable. However despite being in the same traction as the top stars, Maeda still had lingering issues with NJPW management including Inoki. In 1986 he had his infamous match against Andre The Giant. The two wrestlers did not want to lose to each other so what resulted was a 30 minute slog fest with Andre refusing to sell Maeda's offense and the latter took matters into his own hands by legitimately kicking him multiple times in the legs. Andre then laid down and requested Maeda to pin him but he refused as it could have been a trap by the big man, after all Andre is twice or more the size of Maeda and could have easily manhandled him down the mat if he wanted to. New Japan president Antonio Inoki came waltzing in the ring and demanded the match to end, much to the confusion of the crowd who were unaware of the inside issues between parties. Maeda's problems with New Japan culminated in a match on November 19, 1987. A six man tag once again between NJPW vs. UWF as Riki Choshu, Masa Saito, and Hiro Saito took on Maeda, Takada, and Kido. Even before the incident, there was already some noticeable tension between Choshu and Maeda, they were more stiff to each other than usual and the strikes they deliver to the other were definitely hard hitting. Around three minutes into the bout, as Choshu was preparing to lock Kido into his signature Sasori Gatame, Maeda kicked him straight to the face in attempts to break up the hold. However this resulted into Choshu's nose being broken, his orbital bone was damaged, the match still finished though but Maeda was suspended by the company afterwards. Management tried to send him in an excursion to Mexico but he refused, Maeda once again left NJPW and brought along many of his former UWF compatriots in restarting the company in 1988. Newborn UWF held their first show known as "Starting Over" in Korauken Hall. A three match card which saw Akira Maeda and Kazuo Yamazaki put on a nearly 25 minute clinic in the main event. Other than the usual wrestlers like Maeda, Fujiwara, Takada, and Yamazaki, there many promising young stars from the New Japan dojo who they were able to recruit in joining their endeavors. Namely Minoru Suzuki, Masakatsu Funaki, and Masahito Kakihara. Former UWF young talents such as Yoji Anjo and Tatsuo Nakano also were a part of the main Newborn roster. One of the most accomplished Japanese MMA fighters of all time Kiyoshi Tamura got his start in Newborn UWF. This version of the company would basically become the predecessor to modern day Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as Maeda decided to change the format from the traditional pin fall finish to introducing a point system. Now wrestlers are awarded with points for submissions and strikes, the first one to get five points is declared the winner. Using his notoriety in NJPW, Akira Maeda's second version of the UWF became an instant hit unlike his initial try. They were such a big draw that they were able to sell out the Tokyo Dome on November 29, 1989. Six months after New Japan held there event, UWF was the second ever wrestling promotion to host a show in the venue. U-Cosmos was a success that paid off for Akira Maeda as the full capacity of 60,000 in attendance was met. In the main event he defeated judoka Willy Wilhelm on the second round. New Japan and All Japan could not help but take notice of the waves UWF were making. They have the potential in the world to possibly topple the existing top companies if they wanted to, out of desperation this would result to AJPW and NJPW work together for the first time alongside with the WWF, hosting a Tokyo Dome event of their own the following year on April 13, 1990 which consisted of a super card featuring wrestlers from all three promotions, Wrestling Summit 1990 which was headlined by former adversaries Hulk Hogan and Stan Hansen. As great as the UWF were, they still had issues within the company itself. The wrestlers all had different visions in what they want the promotion to be, which resulted in many clashes and arguments. After only 31 shows, UWF held their final event on December 1, 1990. Add in the fact that the economy was not going towards a profitable direction, Newborn UWF closed much like its previous incarnation. The rest of the wrestlers would primarily split into three factions and start out promotions of their own. Akira Maeda with Fighting Network RINGS, Yoshiaki Fujiwara with Pro-Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi, and Nobuhiko Takada with UWF-I. All of these promotions would become influential into the development of the MMA scene in Japan but it all started with the original UWF, presenting an alternate style to what the traditional crowd were used to and essentially ushering an entire movement for generations to come. Kings of the Triple Crown (AJPW) By the late 70's to early 80's Giant Baba's time as the top superstar of AJPW was starting to slow down its momentum. He was still the most popular wrestler in the roster no doubt, but his physical capabilities are starting to wane and the attraction of "Baba vs. Gaijin" formula has ran its course. After all to this point he has wrestled over 3,000 matches straight for AJPW and never missed a single booking. Luckily for him, he was not afraid to pass the torch towards the next generation and has started to mentor young wrestlers that have the potential to one day become the next main eventers of his company and help in building the promotion around them. These two were Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu. A natural athlete since his youth, Tsuruta was always involved in various sports. Upon entering university, he became an amateur wrestler. He won the All Japan Amatuer Wrestling Championship in both freestyle and Greco-Roman competitions as a super heavyweight. In 1972 he also competed in the Summer Olympics representing Japan, then the following year he was recruited by Baba to start his training as a professional wrestler in the AJPW Dojo. During his early years Tsuruta was sent to the US for further training, specifically in The Funks' territory in Amarillo, Texas. On October 26, 1973 he began wrestling as Jumbo Tsuruta as fans gave him the name because his actual one sounded too femine for the audience. Thus, Jumbo's journey into superstardom has began. He frequently tagged along with Giant Baba around the early parts of his career, learning under the wing of his mentor. On February 5, 1975 Baba and Jumbo defeated The Funk Brothers in the US to capture the NWA International Tag-Team Championships which they would go on to defend successfully numerous times in Japan with a reign that lasted for an impressive 631 days. The first singles title Jumbo won was the NWA United National Championship on August 28, 1976. It was previously a belt for NJPW brought by Seiji Sakaguchi but three years prior went defunct until was revived by All Japan and it became the secondary tier prize for the roster, similar to a concept of an "Intercontinental Championship" in modern day wrestling. Jumbo defeated Jack Brisco in a tournament finals for the vacant UN Championship. Jumbo continued his success as a multi-time champion in both singles and tag division by winning the UN Championship four more times up until the early 80's and the International Tag-Team Titles with Baba five more times. However the match that truly established him in Japan from a rising star to a main event caliber wrestler was on February 23, 1984 when he ended the 501 day reign of Nick Bockwinkel as the AWA World Heavyweight Champion. Jumbo was the first Japanese wrestler to capture the belt and his victory signified a brand new start for his career moving forward, officially winning his first major World Title. In 1984 he began teaming up with a fellow superstar who is also making a name for himself around these years: Genichiro Tenryu. Before they would go on to become bitter rivals, Tsuruta and Tenryu were a dominant and successful tag-team. Tenryu became the replacement partner for Tsuruta when Giant Baba got injured on May 1984. Tsuruta and Tenryu by the mid 80's were constantly feuding with the outsiders Riki Choshu and his Ishin Gundan stable invading All Japan. Also in 1983 Jumbo Tsuruta solidified his position as Giant Baba's succesor by defeating Bruiser Brody on April 30 for the NWA International Heavyweight Championship and held onto the belt for an astounding 1,188 days. By the late 80's Jumbo has already become one of the most decorated professional wrestlers of all time and it all peaked for him on April 18, 1989 with the creation of one of the most prestigious championships in wrestling when Jumbo the reigning International Heavyweight Champion defeated Stan Hansen the reigning PWF and UN Champion, he would combine these three belts together to form what is now known as the "Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship" and ever since then has been the premier World Title for All Japan Pro Wrestling. Many wrestlers have held it through the decades, but the fact will remain in the history books that Jumbo Tsuruta is the inaugural champion. No one else was deserving into leading All Japan to a new era as he was able to captivate an entire audience with his charisma and undeniable fighting spirit which paved the way for the King's Road style the company is well known for. Genichiro Tenryu is one of the most recognizable pro wrestling names in the country of Japan. He is so synonymous with the sport that he even earned the nickname "Mr. Pro Wrestling" for so many people. But before he achieved the status of an actual living legend, his journey began similar in a lot of ways to Jumbo. In 1977 after retiring from sumo, Tenryu joined the All Japan dojo and then went on an excursion to the US with The Funks. During the few years of his run in the American territories, he won the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag-Team Championship on February 7, 1981 briefly held those belts with Mr. Fuji. When he returned back to AJPW, Tenryu formed a partnership with Jumbo Tsuruta and together their team was known as "Kakuryu" combining both of their names together. Tenryu was the replacement partner for Jumbo when Baba went down with an injury and their run as NWA International Tag-Team Champions lasted for 733 days. They mainly feuded with gaijin tag-teams like The Fabulous Freebirds and The Road Warriors, the villainous duo of Tiger Jeet Singh and Umanosuke Ueda were also frequent challengers. But their main rivals were members of the invading Ishin Gundan, former NJPW wrestlers now representing Riki Choshu's Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. On January 28, 1986 Kakuryu were successful in defending the International Tag Belts against Choshu and Yatsu, but the following month they loss the belts to them in what is considered one of the greatest tag-team matches in company history. Tenryu also held singles gold around these years, particularly the NWA UN Championship when he won the vacant belt in a match against Ricky Steamboat. Unfortunately former champion David Von Erich passed away unexpectedly while the reigning champion. Tenryu held it for an impressive 800+ days before losing to Stan Hansen. In 1987 the culmination of the Kakuryu vs. Ishin Gundan stable took place when they were successful in taking back their tag-team belts. However 35 days in to their second reign, Tsuruta and Tenryu would lose them in their first defense against The Road Warriors. Tenryu being unsatisfied with this defeat, left Jumbo and formed his own stable "Revolution." Joined by Ashura Hara and Samson Fuyuki, the group grew in numbers as the years go by with young trainees like Toshiaki Kawada and Yoshinari Ogawa also being added in the ranks as they were both mentored by Tenryu. Tenryu and Hara were successful as a tag-team winning the PWF World Tag-Team Championships on September 3, 1987, the following year he held the PWF Heavyweight Championship, then also won the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships for the first time with Hara again. Around 1989 Tenryu also began teaming up with Stan Hansen, together their duo were 3x AJPW World Tag-Team Champions. The feat that took Tenryu to the next level was his rivalry with Jumbo Tsuruta for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. After only 48 days into his inaugural reign, Jumbo was defeated by Tenryu on June 5, 1989, becoming the second ever Triple Crown Champion. While Jumbo has now become the ace of All Japan at this point, Tenryu was the clear number two and his equal in terms of a rival. Their matches against each other would become significant as they laid the foundation as to how Triple Crown Championship matches would be competed in for the next decade in the company. Tenryu had two successful defenses in his first run as Triple Crown Champion beating Yoshiaki Yatsu, Terry Gordy, but losing it right back to Jumbo. What he did the following year surprised many though as he would leave All Japan out of nowhere and bringing along a few wrestlers with him in creating his new company: Super World of Sport (SWS.) This was a huge blow to Giant Baba, the first roster exodus in AJPW felt like a betrayal to his former mentor and Baba has swore as long as he lives, Genichiro Tenryu would not be allowed to compete in an All Japan ring ever again which proved to be true as it would take an entire decade later with the passing of Giant Baba when he got to return in the company where he established his career. Nevertheless, Tenryu was an undeniable force by the time he won the Triple Crown. He was on the same level as many of the household names in the country which is why he was confident into running things his own, attempting not only to become a successful wrestler but as a promoter as well. Jumbo and Tenryu were dominating the main event scene of All Japan around the 80's in terms of the native talents. In the midcard, there were a lot of "unsung" legends as well who were just as great in the ring but never got on the next level as much as their peers. The lower undercard at this point were full of veterans dating back in the JWA and IWE years such as Mighty Inoue, Rusher Kimura, Mitsuo Momota, and Haruka Eigen. Korean wrestlers Kintaro Ohki and Kim Duk were frequent competitors around these years. In the heavyweights there were two particular wrestlers who made a name for themselves in the tag division, being paired up with the future main eventers. First was Yoshiaki Yatsu, a former amateur wrestler. He competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics at the age of 20 then two years later bagged the gold medal at the 1978 Bangkok Asian Games for +100 kg category in men's freestyle wrestling. In 1980 he decided to become a professional wrestler and initially competed for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Afterwards he joined Riki Choshu's Ishin Gundan stable, then moved to AJPW and the short lived JPW promotion of Choshu. On February 5, 1986 Choshu and Yatsu defeated Kakuryu for the NWA International Tag-Team Championships which they held for an entire year. They primarily defended it against Tsuruta and Tenryu but they also had one title defense against The Road Warriors. When Choshu left All Japan to return in NJPW, Yatsu decided to stay and later on when Tenryu betrayed Jumbo and formed "Revolution" the former foes Tsuruta and Yatsu became tag-team partners due to their amateur wrestlign background connection and together they were known as "The Olympics." The most decorated tag-team of the decade for All Japan, The Olympics together were 5x AJPW World Tag-Team Champions and they also held the PWF World and NWA International Tag-Team Championships. They were a massive fan favorite, while Tsuruta was the more popular of the two, Yatsu turned from an invading heel to an endearing member of the roster as he also gained the support of many fans in the process. He never held singles gold throughout his All Japan run, the only non tag-team title he won was way back in his excursion in 1983 the World Class Television Championship in WCCW. Other than that, he was mainly a midcarder and tag wrestler, it is the scene where he flourished. In 1990 he joined Tenryu among others in the exodus towards SWS. Yatsu had a brief retirement in 1992 then made a few comeback matches in NJPW during the mid 90's even participating in the G1 Climax. He has wrestled sporadically since then, unfortunately due to complications with diabetes, in recent years one of his legs was amputated but he's still going strong with a metal kick. Another underrated worker around these years for AJPW was Ashura Hara. The former rugby player originally debuted for IWE in 1978. When the company closed, Hara and Mighty Inoue were the final pair to hold the IWA World Tag-Team Championships and their duo continued to AJPW. His first big time challenge in All Japan was actually in South Korea where he challenged Kintaro Ohki for the All Asia Heavyweight Championship but was unsuccessful in dethroning him. On February 23, 1983 the team of Hara and Inoue won the vacant All Asia Tag-Team Championships by beating The Great Kojika and Motoshi Okuma. Then later on he paired up with former sumo Takashi Ishikawa and Super Strong Machine having his second and third reigns with the All Asia Tag Titles respectively with those men. By the late 80's when Tenryu broke away from Jumbo, Ashura Hara was one of the founding members of the original incarnation of the Revolution stable. Him and Tenryu were close in real life, which made their chemistry as a tag-team better. On September 3, 1987 Hara and Tenryu won the PWF World Tag-Team Championships defeating Stan Hansen and Joel Deaton. They held those belts for 275 days, then the following year they won the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships from The Olympics but the next day dropped them right back. While Jumbo and Yatsu were the babyface duo tag-team of the late 80's, Tenryu and Hara were the opposite. They were the hard hitting heels who demonstrated a lot of physicality and brutality in their matches. In 1988 Hara was fired by All Japan Pro Wrestling due to his issues with gambling debts. For a while he took a two year hiatus from pro wrestling before returning to Tenryu's SWS. He retired for good having his last match on November 3, 1994 where he was defeated by his long time tag-team partner and friend Genichiro Tenryu in WAR. Much like Yatsu, Hara was a great wrestler but didn't have the same amount of charisma as the top stars which hindered him from reaching a level beyond being a midcard tag-team act. Nevertheless, he still had an accomplished resume when it comes to tag-team championships and he elevated the division alongside many other wrestlers around these years. On April 28, 2015 Ashura Hara sadly passed away at the age of 68. One of the most iconic figures in all of professional wrestling. When talking about Japanese gimmicks, this man is always someone that comes to the mind of many wrestling fans not only in Japan but even in other countries where he made a huge impact by spraying mists all over the faces of his competition. Akihisa Mera started out as a professional wrestler at the young age of 16 for the JWA debuting in 1964. By the 1970's he wrestled overseas to the US under the ring name "Akihisa Takachiho." He won several championships in various territories of the NWA. On March 8, 1973 he defeated Johnny Valentine to become NWA United National Champion and was the last one to hold the belt before it was retired by the JWA. In 1981 his career changed forever when he re-appeared in World Class Championship Wrestling as "The Great Kabuki." Which is originally inspired by the gimmick of the similar name portrayed by Filipino wrestler George Ray Urbano in the 1950's. Managed by the villainous manager Gary Hart, Kabuki striked fear into the American audience. His mysterious persona was different from the usual foreign Asian heels like Tojo Yamamoto who was more about drawing heat due to his patriotic sentiments and anti-US promos. The thing that made Kabuki almost to a point of a mythical figure in his early years was that he barely spoke. Gary Hart did all the talking for him. During his entrances he wears a full on garb resembling oni/demons and also shows off his nunchaku skills for additional intimidating factor. In the ring, Kabuki's moveset is heavily influenced by martial arts, the strikes and throat chops he often does garnered heat but the most devastating was his innovation of the dreaded Asian mist. By the late 80's more characters similar to Kabuki began to appear in the US, most notably the biggest influence he had was to Keiji Mutoh who became The Great Muta, initially billed as Kabuki's son. The Great Kabuki had several rivals in the States such as Dusty Rhodes, Abdullah the Butcher, and Jimmy Valiant just to name a few. On February 11, 1983 The Great Kabuki had his first match in an All Japan ring defeating Jim Dillon. In AJPW, he was a tweener, teaming up usually with babyfaces such as Jumbo, Baba, and Tenryu fighting against the touring gaijins. On December 12 in the same year, he challenged for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career and actually won by defeating "Nature Boy" Ric Flair via DQ but due to the nature of the finish, Flair got to keep the belt. The rest of the mid 80's Kabuki frequently wrestled in both the US and Japan, juggling through his bookings. Around the late 80's, Kabuki decided to wrestle in AJPW full time. He was mainly an undercard wrestler around these years and was putting over the next generation of talents. On July 19, 1990 he briefly held the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships with Jumbo Tsuruta defeating the Miracle Violence Connection (Terry Gordy and Dr. Death.) The belts would be vacated just 8 days however due to Kabuki leaving All Japan for the SWS. While his run at the top was short, The Great Kabuki's longevity made him stay relevant in Puroresu for several years, actively competing for half a century. His character paved the way for so many wrestlers in the future that emulate their style and personalities to him. The Great Kabuki had his retirement ceremony in Pro Wrestling NOAH on December 22, 2017 but had his actual final match on September 30, 2018 in a battle royal for an independent event. In NJPW due to Tiger Mask's popularity the junior heavyweight was flourishing with highly acclaimed matches. AJPW did not want to be left behind with their own so Giant Baba established the juniors for his company around the same time and attempted to build it around one of his top young prospects in the dojo at the time, Atsushi Onita. He was in the same dojo class as Jumbo Tsuruta, before he became the hardcore/death match icon he is best known for today, Onita initially started out as a plucky underdog wrestler, groomed to be one day be the ace of the junior heavyweight division. Baba was able to recruit Chavo Guerrero Sr. over to his company which brought along the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship with him. The feud and matches between Onita and Chavo was basically the beginning of what would become the junior heavyweight scene of the promotion. Things were looking promising for the early years of Onita, having also learned from excursion from The Funks in Texas and the Memphis territories as well. This would become crucial later on for his career as he aspired more on to the brutal side of wrestling but before that, he was the one that's going to lead the All Japan juniors in competition to Tiger Mask of New Japan. Unfortunately as things were rising for him, he accumulated numerous injuries along the way and he was forced to retire for the first time in 1985. They even had an entire ceremony dedicated to his early retirement in wrestling but as it turns out, much like his idol Terry Funk, this wouldn't be the last time Onita decided to hang up the boots. After his retirement, another one of Onita's classmates in the dojo, Masanobu Fuchi replaced him as the new ace of the AJPW junior heavyweights. Around the mid to late 80's All Japan became somewhat of an isolated company. Giant Baba decided to cut ties in his partnership with the NWA, they still had their regular gaijins come for tours, but he wanted to strictly build the company around his own set of wrestlers while also grooming the next generation of talents in the dojo. This would lead to the NWA International Jr. Heavyweight Championship belt itself staying with the company but in 1986 was transformed into All Japan's own version of their division World Title. On July 31 the same year former New Japan wrestler Hiro Saito defeated Brad Armstrong to become the inaugural AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion. He would lose it to Kuniaki Kobayashi after 115 days who would then drop it to the new face of the weight class: Masanobu Fuchi. In the same class as Jumbo and Onita, Fuchi was a former amateur wrestler. He made his AJPW debut on August 22, 1974 then had an excursion to Memphis with Onita. When his former co-worker and rival had his early retirement, Fuchi became the new face of the junior heavyweight division of AJPW. As it would turn out, he'd become synonymous with the weight class. Due to the lack of outside competition, he would set record numbers during his runs as AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion. As mentioned earlier he had his first reign on January 3, 1987 defeating Kuniaki Kobayashi. He would solidify his position as the top ranking junior for 748 days with seven successful defenses until losing it to Joe Malenko two years into his run. When former IWE star Mighty Inoue defeated Malenko, Fuchi once again reigned supreme by beating the former Worlds Champion this time only having a much shorter 39 days. Shinichi Nakano defeated Fuchi, then dropped it to Mitsuo Momota who had a decent 72 days, Malenko won it from Momota, then finally it all circled back to Fuchi on October 20, 1989 and he would go on to set a record that will likely go unbroken for the rest of time. 1,309 days as AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion, beating all types of opponents within that timeframe and deservingly earning the nickname "Mr. Junior." While the heavyweight scene was still the main focus of AJPW at the time with Jumbo and Tenryu's rivalry being a pivotal draw for them, Fuchi was the one carrying the entire juniors behind his back, especially when Tiger Mask II unmasked and became Mitsuharu Misawa. It was Phil Lafon aka Dan Kroffat who had the honor of ending the long undefeated title streak on May 21, 1993. Fuchi would go on to hold the belt two more times by the early 90's before officially transitioning into an opening act with the veterans like Baba, Eigen, Rusher, and Momota, paving the way for the rising talents while still maintaining his credibility being a part of Tsuruta-Gun with Jumbo in their wars against Misawa and the Super Generation Army. While it was the aces like Baba, Jumbo, Misawa, and Kawada are some of the most popular names in All Japan history, Masanobu Fuchi will always be the heart and soul of the promotion. He is the longest tenured worker ever and has been loyal to All Japan from the day of his debut up until in present time where he is one of the head bookers and still a part of the active roster, being the reliable veteran he always is. Fuchi may have been the one who ruled the junior heavyweight division all throughout the 80's for AJPW, there were some other hidden gems in that division as well. Old veterans such as Mighty Inoue and Mitsuo Momota basically had their "final hoorahs" at this point of their careers when they won the title. As for someone like Kuniaki Kobayashi, some of the biggest highlights of his career was also around these years. Before his run in All Japan, he was originally a graduate of the New Japan dojo debuting in 1973, one of the first alumni members along with the likes of Fujiwara and Arakawa. At the young age of 17, Kobayashi had his in-ring debut then went on an North American trip for his excursion. Upon his return in 1982 with the prime of Tiger Mask being at its peak, besides Dynamite and Black Tiger, Kobayashi was another one of the nemesis of the anime inspired character. Unlike the highflying rivals at the time, Kobayashi was the representative of the traditional style. He was very anti-hero and earned the moniker "Tiger Hunter" as he wanted to take down his opponent. Kobayashi's persona grew disdained of the cartoonish style of the junior heavyweights, he was the polar opposite, being the serious and gritty wrestler which made their dynamic more interesting from a booking standpoint. When Riki Choshu created his Ishin Gundan stable, Kobayashi was one of the recruited members and he joined along when Japan Pro-Wrestling became partners with AJPW. In the new company, Kobayashi continued his feud with Tiger Mask only this time it was the second incarnation with a young Misawa feuding over the NWA International Jr. Heavyweight Championship. On June 13, 1985 Kobayashi defeated Dynamite Kid for the aforementioned title had a solid 79 day reign beating wrestlers like Norio Honaga and Fumihiro Niikura, also a young Lord Steven Regal. Eventually he would drop the belt to Tiger Mask II. Kobayashi then became the second ever AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Champion by beating Hiro Saito on November 23, 1986. He then lost to the new junior ace Masanobu Fuchi. Before leaving All Japan, Kobayashi had several feuds with the loyalists of AJPW such as Jumbo Tsuruta, Takash Ishikawa, and Mighty Inoue before returning to NJPW by the late 80's and wrestled the rest of his career there until retiring on April 24, 2000 having his last match with another rival in Jushin "Thunder" Liger whom he battled with for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship. Since then he had a few sporadic matches but has primarily stayed in retirement. While he may not have been as colorful or full of personality like most of the well known juniors, Kobayashi was equally as talented like the rest of his peers. His rivalries with both Tiger Masks helped in shaping the junior heavyweight division for NJPW and AJPW, becoming the perfect antithesis to this heroic figure. Gaijins are a vital part in the growth of All Japan Pro Wrestling. Giant Baba's several rivalries and matches against some of the most notable foreign wrestlers throughout the 70's is what got the foot started for his company. It was a no-brainer that gaijins continued to be a heavy part of the stories moving forward especially in the heavyweight division, even when they cut ties with the NWA, there were still foreign wrestlers that made a name for themselves in AJPW, some even eclipsing the careers they had in the States. Stan Hansen is arguably the most synonymous gaijin wrestler in AJPW history. While he was successful in the US being a former AWA World Champion and getting a few high profile wins in the 70's for the WWWF such as against Bruno Sammartino, it was in AJPW where Hansen got to achieve the legacy he has today. Debuted in 1973 after being trained by The Funk family, Hansen had his first match ever in Japanese soil for AJPW in 1975 a tag-team match where he was in the opposite corner against future all-time rival Giant Baba. A few weeks later he had a one-on-one match against veteran The Destroyer which he lost. It would take a few years before he returned to AJPW as he toured several shows for NJPW by the late 70's usually in matches involving Inoki, Hogan, and Andre. Even having a brief run with the NWF Heavyweight Championship. In 1982 he made his full-time return to AJPW beating Ashura Hara in under three minutes. Since then he has become one of the most dominant wrestlers in the entire roster, on par with Giant Baba who was the main eventer. On September 8, 1983 Hansen defeated Baba for the PWF World Heavyweight Championship while simultaneously being the AWA Champion. He held it for almost an entire year before losing it right back to his nemesis. He exchanged belts with him again in a series of matches for his second reign before dropping the title to an invading Riki Choshu on April 5, 1986. During the late 80's Baba relegated himself to the undercard, paving the way for the new superstar in Jumbo Tsuruta who had a long standing rivalry with Stan Hansen that lasted for a good three years, establishing Jumbo as this tough ace who could go toe-to-toe with the most brutal man in the roster, exchanging multiple times with the PWF World Title. He was also having matches with Tenryu around this point and by the 1990's, Hansen did the same in helping establish the next generation of talent with the Pillars. What made Hansen such a great gaijin performer unlike most of his fellow peers at the time was his loyalty to All Japan. Even though he was still mixing up his booking schedules, for the most part AJPW was his home promotion which is why the fans were able to invest in him heavily, he was booked as not just some touring commodity but a full-time active competitor. His demeanor and offense was notorious for its stiffness but it also added to his character as by beating someone in the stature of Stan Hansen, whoever was pinning him was a made man as they were able to get pass such a tough obstacle for them. It also served well for him as he had a longevity that lasted for decades, helping build up numerous stars in AJPW while maintaining his position as someone worthy of being a top star even by the twilight years of his career. Hansen had numerous tag-team partners throughout his run in Japan, the most noteworthy who had a successful career of his own was Bruiser Brody. In his prime, Brody was one of the most highly sought after personalities in professional wrestling. Through the years he was able to develop this crazy/deranged character who was always full of physicality in his matches, something which was unheard of at the time. Yes there were some wild men in wrestling before but none had the same level of charisma Brody had, plus he truly lived the gimmick once he went out of the curtain hence why Japan was always one of his main tours because the people were drawn to this unique individual everytime he entered the ring and go all-out to his opponents. In 1979 Bruiser Brody had his first match in Japan debuting for AJPW, imemdiately he was set up to be this monstrous figure by winning a two on one handicap match against Masao Ito and Motoshi Okuma in just five minutes. Right there and then, people took him seriously. He would proceed to beat more established midcarders like Great Kojika and Kim Duk, one of the biggest surprise wins he had was on January 5, 1979 which really got him rolling at the top of the food chain was beating the super team of Giant Baba and The Destroyer in a tag-team match with King Curtis Uakea in below 10 minutes. This would eventually lead to a rivalry between Baba and Brody which were all bloody and physical in nature. Since then Brody continued to have multiple tours in AJPW while also drawing crowds in the US and Puerto Rico. He had a lot of matches in Fritz Von Erich's WCCW and Carlos Colon's WWC, some of the rivalries he had there such as with Abdullah the Butcher were also brought along in Japan. On October 9, 1981 Brody won his first major title in the country by capturing the NWA International Heavyweight Championship from Dory Funk Jr via DQ. It was only a few weeks of reign before he dropped it right back. The following year he had a much longer run with the belt at 461 days having numerous contenders against the likes of Baba, Jumbo, Tenryu, and The Funks. By the mid to late 80's, Brody formed his tag-team with Stan Hansen. As individuals, they were already two of the most notorious tough as nails fighters in all of Japan. There characters were not just popular in wrestling, but they were making cameo appearances in other forms of media. They won the PWF World Tag-Team Championships on April 25, 1984 defeating Dory Funk Jr. and Giant Baba. They had one successful defense against the aforementioend team, then had a double DQ finish against Abdullah and Colon in Puerto Rico. They would drop the titles when Brody left in 1985 for NJPW and Ted DiBiase was selected as the new partner for Hansen. Even though their time together known as "Choju Konbi" was short, Brody and Hansen still remains one of the most recognizable pairings in Japanese wrestling. The nature of these two larger than life personalities, forging an alliance together caught the attention of many fans which made their matches against the local heroes all the more compelling. Around the late 80's Brody began touring with Jimmy Snuka as his new tag-team partner. Some of the final matches he had in his career before his unfortunate murder in 1988 was with AJPW. His final match in the company was on April 22, 1988 when the Revolution pair of Tenryu and Hara defeated him and Tommy Rich, successfully defending the PWF World Tag-Team Championships. Three months later the incident in Puerto Rico took place. AJPW held a tribute event for Brody after his passing, he still remains one of the most iconic figures in Puroresu, the legacy he left in the country will never be forgotten. As time moved on matches in professional wrestling became more brutal. Not just in the sense of stiffer strikes, but bloodier matches were starting to become prevalent by the 1970's. Blood is an interesting element of pro wrestling, it adds a sense of danger and another level of predicament for a wrestler. Decades earlier Freddie Blassie bragged about making Japanese fans cry and some even having heart attacks at the sight of him making Rikidozan bleed for the first time. By the 1970's hardcore wrestling became a staple part of any promotion mainly thanks to two individuals: Abdullah the Butcher and The Original Sheik. "Wild" Bull Curry may have been the one to invent the style at his prime in the 50's and 60's, but it was Abdullah and Sheik who innovated it even further, took hardcore to another point of danger and drama. For the best or worse, at its peak it drew a lot of money hence why wrestling promotions all over the world booked these two personalities which guaranteed sell outs especially when pitted against their main event wrestlers, the same situation can be said in Japan. In 1949 Ed Farhat made his debut to professional wrestling. He would go on to become the founding father of the Detroit wrestling territory during the 50's and 60's largely thanks to his promotion: Big Time Wrestling. Although legitimately an American, Farhat developed this heel persona of "The Sheik." Pertaining to an Arab leader particularly the chief or head of a group. He was the first wrestler to use this name in wrestling hence why he is often called "The Original Sheik" through the years. Detroit became a huge hit as a territory for the NWA thanks to The Sheik's historic rivalry with Bobo Brazil. Their matches together set the standard at the main event level scene of that particular juncture of the NWA. It would take decades before The Sheik first stepped foot in a Japanese ring as for a long time he only wrestled in North America. In 1972 he debuted for the JWA beating Seiji Sakaguchi for the NWA United National Championship but losing it right back to him the next day. The next year he had two matches in AJPW challenging for Giant Baba's PWF Heavyweight Championship but was unsuccessful. Then in 1984 he had a series of matches with New Japan versus Antonio Inoki and other wrestlers like Sakaguchi and Yamamoto. By the late 70's during the tail end of his career, Sheik primarily wrestled as a tag-team with Abdullah the Butcher. Their duo never won a tag-team title but they were still two of the most notorious pairs ever and the matches they had during those years going all the way to the early 80's were exciting for the fans due to their high intensity and brutal setting. Sheik wrestled his final match in an All Japan ring on December 13, 1981 losing a tag-team bout with Mark Lewin against the team of Harley Race and Larry "The Axe" Hennig. His career lasted well until the mid 90's during his old age, at this point mentoring is nephew Sabu who followed in his footsteps as a hardcore superstar. Sheik wrestled for FMW and ECW during his last years, his last match ever was on May 5, 1995 with a retirement ceremony taking place in 1998 by AJPW where it was the one time he broke character for the first time in his entire career by that point. A man of dedication and hardwork which paved the way for so many generations to come. It may come off as an exaggeration now but Abdullah The Butcher truly is a pop culture icon in Japan. In terms of being a nationwide phenomenon, only few other gaijin wrestlers could reach the same level as the Butcher had especially at the peak of his career in the country. A career dating all the way back in 1958, unlike Ed Farhat who donned on his character as The Sheik, Canadian wrestler Larry Shreeve took on a different path by being the so-called "Madman from Sudan" Abdullah The Butcher. After working several territories all over the world, Abdullah had his first Japanese tour with the JWA in 1971. Him and The Destroyer defeated the duo of Antonio Inoki and Kintaro Ohki in his inaugural match in the country. For the rest of his career that spanned literally half a century, Abdullah would become a main stay in the world of Puroresu. Particularly for AJPW where he became Giant Baba's most notable rival other than Stan Hansen. Their matches together were the stuff of legends and it helped in boosting the careers of both men, for Baba being the legitimate babyface main eventer while Abdullah being the intimidating force as a heel. He also had several matches in NJPW against Inoki and Hogan. The first major Japanese title he held was the PWF World Heavyweight Championship on October 18, 1975 when he defeated Billy Robinson. After a 115 day reign Baba was the one who dethroned him and started out a historic 1,354 day reign of his own. It was the only AJPW title Abdullah ever held but his character, much like The Sheik, they never needed championship belts to begin with in order to get over. Abdullah only needed to brutalize his opponents with his signature fork, usually to fan favorites like Baba, Jumbo, Tenryu, then later on to the next generation, in order for them to gain sympathy from the crowd, rally them behind. His matches often caused riots as he would make these wrestlers bloody, adding fuel to an already anticipated highly dramatic match. It may not be looked upon in good light these years later by some, as in hindsight it was not a safe practice health-wise, but for its time, nobody drew the amount of heat Abdullah had in AJPW. His physique, the mannerisms, his unique hardcore moveset mixed in with some basic martial art moves, it all resulted into him becoming a popular superstar throughout the country. His matches would also be idolized by numerous wrestlers in the future as they watched him when they were young and even got to wrestle him due to the longevity he was able to have. In his twilight years, Abdullah heavily relied on his hardcore gimmicks as he has completely lost his mobility due to the massive weight he carried. But in his prime, he was an agile wrestler, quite athletic for someone billed at over 300+ pounds. From 1971 all the way to 2010, Abdullah The Butcher was consistently booked in the country. A guaranteed must see for multiple generations. Whether fans like him or not, that is up to personal preference and there are clear arguments as to why he is frowned upon by some in recent years. But his contributions to wrestling cannot be denied and the long career he had is an astounding feat of his own, being able to stay relevant for decades and popularizing a certain style of wrestling that's still widely practiced by promotions big or small. The Funks are one of the most well known wrestling dynasties in pro wrestling. Starting with their patriarch Dory Funk Sr. who was the founding father of the Amarillo wrestling territory. He debuted in 1943 and had a career that lasted until 1973. His two sons would follow his footsteps and become even more successful wrestlers of their own: Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk. The two of them were not only highly acclaimed in the US, but even in Japan. Dory Jr. is considered as one of the greatest NWA World Heavyweight Champions of all time. Succeeding the era of Lou Thesz and preceeding Harley Race, Dory was the face of the NWA for well over five years during his time as the champion that began on February 11, 1969 when he defeated Gene Kiniski and it lasted for 1,563 days which is still the second longest reign in history of the prestigious belt. Starting in 1973 Dory frequently toured with AJPW, often fighting matches against Giant Baba. On April 30, 1981 when the NWA International Heavyweight Championship was vacated by long-time champion Kintaro Ohki, Dory became the new holder by winning a tournament in Japan. He was defeated by Butch Reed but got the title afterwards. This part of the reign is not recognized in Japan and Dory continued to be the International Heavyweight Champion then had his rivalry with Bruiser Brody before eventually passing on to Jumbo Tsuruta on April 30, 1983. His brother Terry Funk had many matches in Japan during the early stages of his career as well and is a former NWA World Champion of his own. Terry made history by being a part of the inaugural main event match in AJPW's first card on October 22, 1972 when him and Bruno Sammartino defeated Giant Baba and Thunder Sugiyama. Through the years The Funk Brothers became a staple part of the All Japan roster. They had numerous memorable bouts against some of the top stars in the roster both in singles and tag-team. Their blood fights with Abdullah and The Sheik set the standard for hardcore wrestling as not only brutal matches for the sake of having them, but inserting proper wrestling psychology and storyline as well. These four workers all had great chemistry with one another, the rivalries they had lasted for decades specifically Terry and Abdullah. Even by their later years, The Funks were still frequently touring in Japan, especially Terry by the 90's who would become an important figure in the growth of the Death Match movement. Other notable gaijin tag-teams that left a stamp in AJPW around these years were The Road Warriors who were just as big of a name in the country during their peak years. In 1985 they made their debut in AJPW defeating Animal Hamaguchi and Killer Khan. Through the years they would go on to face several native pairings, most notably Jumbo and Tenryu whom they fought for the NWA International Tag-Team Championships. Another dynasty in wrestling that were absolutely adored by wrestling fans worldwide, especially in their hometown of Dallas, Texas were the Von Erichs. As mentioned previously, Fritz was one of the top heel gaijins during the early years of All Japan being the arch nemesis of Giant Baba. All of his sons would go on to become professional wrestlers, some finding success in Japan such as his second eldest David who was touted to have been the next top superstar of the NWA and he even won the NWA United National Championship on February 3, 1984 against rival Michael "PS" Hayes. Things were seemingly on the bright future for David being built as the rising star with his abilities he showcased in the ring but he sadly prematurely passed away at the age of 25. His brothers Kevin and Kerry Von Erich also had a few tours for both NJPW and AJPW in the mid to late 80's. To younger fans the name Tiger Jeet Singh may not ring a bell that much, but just like Abdullah and Stan Hansen, in his prime Tiger was also one of the most popular gaijins in all of Japan. The Indian-Canadian wrestler started out his career in 1965. Right from the beginning, he was already one of the most noteworthy heel workers in the Canadian territories and as his name grew in popularity, Tiger had many high profile matches against territorial icons like Andre The Giant, Sweet Daddy Siki, and Whipper Billy Watson. In 1967 he challenged for the NWA World Championship against Gene Kiniski and twice for Bruno Sammartino's WWWF Championship. In 1971 he also had a sold out match against The Sheik in the Maple Leaf Gardens that was witnessed by 18,000 fans in attendance. Around the early 70's Tiger became a frequent touring heel gaijin in Japan debuting for NJPW in 1973 against Katsuhisa Shibata. In his early years, Tiger had different tag partners but later on settled with native villain Umanosuke Ueda as one of his primary tag-team duo. On March 13, 1975 he defeated Antonio Inoki for the NWF Heavyweight Championship and they had a series of matches together for three months before dropping the belt right back to Inoki. By 1981 Tiger was a full time wrestler for AJPW. Much like in the previous company, he also feuded a lot with top star Giant Baba and challenged on numerous occasions for the PWF Heavyweight Championship but never got to win it. Tiger and Ueda had a long lasting partnership that spanned for almost three decades. While they never won the tag-team championships together, they were still one of the most notable heel pairings in Japan as they were the first to have a solid team up between a native and a gaijin wrestler. Tiger toured Japan for several years, with his last full-time match in AJPW on June 8, 1990 in a double DQ finish against Abdullah the Butcher and for NJPW in a comeback match on the annual January 4, 1995 event where him and his son Tiger Jeet Singh Jr. (aka Tiger Ali Singh) defeated Shiro Koshinaka and Michiyoshi Ohara of Heisei Ishingun. At the prime of his career, Tiger was also not only just a wrestling superstar in the country, but his image was spread all over the Japanese pop culture for years. Even in some television and animation shows, he is still referenced whether physically or simply by mention. Much like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair is a name that is forever connected to professional wrestling. From a worldwide standpoint, he is a recognizable figure due to his long career that spanned for decades. He is also perhaps the most synonymous champion with the NWA World Title. Being the champion, especially around the years of Flair, he literally travelled all over the world in different borders defending the championship, including of course Japan. The Nature Boy had his first tour for AJPW in 1978 when him and Kim Duk defeated Baba and Jumbo in a two out of three falls tag-team match. Later that year he lost to Jumbo Tsuruta in a match for the NWA UN Championship. For the next six years during his prime years as the reigning NWA World Champion, one of Flair's constant destinations was in an All Japan ring. In his first ever defense he took on rising star Genichiro Tenryu in a two out of three falls classic. He then had a time limit draw with Terry Funk the following day. Then his fourth day in a tour after an exhibition with Ashura Hara, he defeated Jumbo Tsuruta with Lord James Blears as special guest referee. In 1982 Flair defeated his most iconic rival Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat for the NWA Title in AJPW, then him and Jumbo faced off for the second time ending in a double pin finish. 1983 Ric Flair and Jumbo ended up having a 60 minute time limit marathon during the Grand Champion Carnival tour. The next three months he was defeated by The Great Kabuki but via DQ so he got to keep the title. 1984 Ric Flair defeated Kerry Von Erich and Harley Race for two consecutive days respectively in his defenses, then having a similar DQ finish lost to Tenryu four months later. 1985 he had two double count out finishes against both Jumbo and Choshu, then a few months had a double count out finish against Rick Martel for both the NWA and AWA World Championships. Finally in 1987 Flair's final run as NWA Champion while touring Japan he had three successful defenses beating Yoshiaki Yatsu, Jumbo Tsuruta, and Hiroshi Wajima. He even had an exhibiton match with Tiger Mask II, the future Mitsuharu Misawa. Joshi's First Wave (AJW) Joshi may have existed years before and the fame The Beauty Pair received put them on charts, but in terms of the wrestling itself in the ring wouldn't reach the peak it has years later when a young wrestler by the name of Rimi Yokota started showing off her skills. Little did everyone know, what she was about to start was an entire revolution not only for joshi but women's wrestling in general. Making her in-ring debut at the age of 15 after being trained by the AJW Dojo, Yokota was seen with lots of potential since the beginning of her career. She was the inaugural AJW Junior Champion on January 4, 1980 which was a belt made for young wrestlers beating Chino Sato. Later on in the year she was also the inaugural AJW Champion which would become the equivalent of a belt held by rising stars in the company. A year later Yokota quickly began her rise to the top and became the ace of All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling by defeating her idol and the reason why she aspired to become a wrestler in the first place, Jackie Sato on February 25, 1981 who was on her third and final reign. For 801 days straight Yokota was the reigning WWWA World Single Champion and has officially took women's professional wrestling to another level in terms of her match quality which rivaled even that of the men's promotions. In the middle of her run she would change her name to "Jaguar Yokota" which she is best known for the rest of her career. In just a year since her debut, Jaguar Yokota has already eclipsed the careers of her idols and predecessors by now being the face of joshi puroresu thanks to her dominant run at the top. It would be the longest title reign for the belt up until that point since Mildred Burke in the 30's. She ended up losing to luchador La Galactica on May 7, 1983 but got it immediately back barely a month later then broke her own record with a reign that lasted for approximately between 914 and 925 days. There was no other woman in pro wrestling at the time that was as dominant and impressive from an in-ring stand point than Jaguar Yokota. In her prime she was touted to have been one of the greatest wrestlers of all time irrespective of gender, the body of work she has put in during her albeit short time as the ace of AJW paved the way for so many future wrestlers and solidified that women's wrestling can be just as great as the men's. Her record 900+ day reign only ended due to being forced to retire for the first time on December 1985. Only at the age of 24, Jaguar would focus training the young wrestlers at the AJW Dojo. She remained retired for years until officially making a comeback in 1994. Coinciding with Jaguar's run at the top of AJW was one of her best rivals: Devil Masami. Making her debut on August 21, 1978 Masami quickly rose to the top by also being one of the roster's best workers. May 9, 1981 she became the second ever AJW Champion after it was vacated by Yokota and held it for a solid 333 day reign. The following year she held the WWWA World Tag-Team Championships with Tarantula beating the team of Mimi Hagiwara and Yukari Omori. On April 1, 1984 Devil Masami held the All Pacific Championship by winning the vacant belt in a match against Judy Martin. This was basically the promotion's version of an upper midcard title which is the equivalent of an Intercontinental Championship from a modern day perspective. Her 620 day run is the second longest reign of the All Pacific Championship, when Jaguar initially retired in 1985 Masami finally ascended to the throne and became WWWA World Single Champion by winning the belt defeating Dump Matsumoto making her the first wrestler to hold the WWWA and All Pacific titles simultaneously. For 254 days Devil Masami reigned as the WWWA Champion until losing the belt to Yukari Omori. In 1987 she had her first retirement as well. Exactly in the year 1980 two women debuted as graduates from the AJW Dojo only three months apart. As it turns out, they would go on to become the greatest women's tag-team of all time. Bar none. Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka first paired up in 1983. They earned the "Crush Gals" name from a magazine which was a term coined by Akira Maeda, since then it has stuck. Their first time teaming up together led to an impressive performance which is why they have been a permanent duo ever since. Around the mid 80's, Nagayo and Asuka were starting to gain momentum. In 1984 they had a high profile sold out tag-team match against the two top stars of the promotion at the time: Jaguar Yokota and Devil Masami. In the same year they released their first music single, which would become beneficial in their growth as wrestlers. On August 25 of the same year the Crush Gals ended the 435 day reign of the Dynamite Girls (Jumbo Hori and Yukai Omori) as WWWA World Tag-Team Champions after they've been rival teams for an entire year by this point. Afterwards The Crush Gals then had a long standing rivalry with Dump Matsumoto's Gokuaku Domei stable. At the height of the Crush Gals fame, AJW received astronomical numbers in their TV ratings. Soon enough, Nagayo and Asuka became well known stars all over the country. Their unique chemistry in the ring, add in the fact that they were highly talented and charismatic, made them popular to all ages especially young girls who would always scream loudly whenever they make their entrances. It is quite a common myth that Japanese audiences are generally quiet in shows, while they are respectful in a lot of ways, quiet is far from the appropriate term as the Crush Gals were receiving reactions almost in the same vein as to that of The Beatles with shreaks of young women echoing throughout the arenas. Because of their mainstream success by appearing in numerous magazines, television shows, and creating music that topped the charts, they put the idol culture to another level and changing the entire landscape of professional wrestling in the country. They were so popular that Western press was even covering them which they managed to get booking tours in the US too particularly for the WWF. From a nationwide standpoint, no other wrestlers were more popular than The Crush Gals in this decade. Not even the aces of NJPW and AJPW were receiving the level of attention they had at the top of their careers. It may not appear that way to modern day fans, but it is a fact that The Crush Gals were bigger than wrestling at the height of their popularity in the mid 80's. In terms of in-ring success, they were decorated by being 4x WWWA World Tag-Team Champion with a total combined reign of 644 days throughout the mid to late 80's. When Jaguar Yokota stepped down from her top spot as the World Champion, in 1989 after years of teaming up and tasting fame together, naturally like all great tag-teams, Nagayo and Asuka broke up which would lead to an equally successful rivalry between the former superstars. While Jaguar Yokota may have taken Joshi to a different height in terms of in-ring quality, The Crush Gals did that as well but furthered it upon by adding the sheer admiration they received in their time together as a tag-team. While AJW has produced countless of legends in its five decade existence, no other act can reach what The Crush Gals have achieved. The Crush Gals may have been the most popular women's tag-team at the time but there was also another duo that made a name for themselves around these years, albeit at a smaller scale but still on par with the Gals in terms of high quality in-ring work. These two were Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki aka The Jumping Bomb Angels. They were formed in 1981, in the middle of their run as a team in 1984 Yamazaki won the vacant AJW Championship on February 28 by beating her partner Tateno. Two years later they actively teamed up again this time finding success feuding with the Crush Gals. Other than Gokuaku Domei, the Angels were also the hottest rivals of the Gals but instead, it was an interesting dynamic as both teams were babyfaces. On January 5, 1986 The Jumping Bomb Angels defeated Bull Nakano and Condor Saito for the vacant WWWA World Tag-Team Championships when the Crush Gals were forced to relinquish the belts due to Nagayo's injury. Two months into their reign however, the Crush Gals got their titles back in a classic versus the Angels on March 20. The following year in 1987 The Jumping Bomb Angels did several tours for the WWF in their short lived women's tag-team division. They won the WWF World Women's Tag-Team Championships the following year and mainly feuded with The Glamour Girls (Judy Martin and Leilani Kai.) On June 8, 1988 the Jumping Bomb Angels had their final match as a tag-team losing the WWF Tag Titles to the Glamour Girls at an AJW TV Show in Saitama, Japan. The next year both Tateno and Yamazaki were a part of the retirement series match of their old rival Chigusa Nagayo. In 2008 the Angels reunited briefly in the Japanese independent scene, having a run one last time. Although they did not reach the levels of success as the Crush Gals had, the Angels were still crucial in developing and pioneering women's tag-team wrestling not only in Japan but even in the US. When talking about pioneers of women's wrestling, her name has already been mentioned before but deserving of recognition of her own is Dump Matsumoto. Kaoru Matsumoto is another product of the AJW Dojo debuting in 1980. Three years after her in-ring debut she defeated Lioness Asuka for the AJW Championship, planting seeds for their eventual rivalry in the future. By the mid 80's she entirely changed her look, now going by the ring name Dump Matsumoto, she created the heel stable "Gokuaku Domei' which translates to Villainous Alliance. They were the perfect foil for The Crush Gals. While Chigusa and Asuka were your typical idol-type wrestlers, girl next door vibes that appealed to the young female audience, Matsumoto and her stable mates were the exact opposite. They were far from the glitz and glamour style of joshi, they were intimidating, dying their hair and wearing facepaint. They were the tough competition the Crush Gals had to overcome in order to reach the height of success they had. Because every great hero has a great villain to overcome, Dump Matsumoto acted as that obstacle for the Gals. The physicality she brought in the ring was close to none, brutalizing her lighter opponents, thus gaining massive heat from the crowd seeing their favorites being tossed around the ring by this monstrous opponent. On February 25, 1985 Matsumoto and one of her young stable mates Crane Yu ended the Crush Gals' 434 day reign as WWWA World Tag-Team Champions and they only had to vacate the belts due to Crane's retirement. For eight years, Dump Matsumoto remained a strong presence in AJW. While she may have never captured the WWWA Championship herself, she is still one of the most memorable acts of the decade and if it wasn't for her convincing role as the top heel, the Crush Gals would not have reach the same amount of success as they had. Matsumoto also blazed the trail for women's wrestlers having the unorthodox or non-traditional style of wrestling not just from an in-ring stand point but the way they showcase their characters as well. Ladies like Bull Nakano, Aja Kong, and later on Awesome Kong can all trace the roots of their basic characteristics to Dump Matsumoto. After a long hiatus in wrestling since 1989, in 2003 she has made her comeback in the ring, competing for numerous independent promotions all over the country. Shooters and Entertainers (JWP) Since 1968 All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling has held a monopoly-like status in joshi puroresu throughout the entire country. They have built up the reputation as the one and only premier women's wrestling promotion in Japan which is why since their establishment and success, no other promoters or wrestlers dared to try opening up companies of their own as it would not even reach a tiny amount of attention AJW had due to its strong hold within the industry. However the company itself has its fair share of controversial rules such as that of the infamous "three no's" to which AJW strictly followed for their wrestlers which were: no drinking, no smoking, and no boys. While that may seem like ideal on paper, what it meant is that these wrestlers were basically treated like idol figures similar to the way pop music artists are managed. They also had this rule wherein if a wrestler reaches the age of 25, they are immediately forced to retire even if they were still at the peak of their careers. This is to maintain a fresh rotation of talents and no wrestler would overstay their welcome even if they were top stars. It is good from a business perspective as they are able to mold new wrestlers from their dojo system which would become the next main eventers without having the same faces for a long time, thus diminishing the attention of their audience which at its core were basically young females. But not all wrestlers obliged with this rule. One of those wrestlers was formerly 1/2 of Beauty Pair, Jackie Sato. She was the previous ace of AJW but due to the age retirement rule, she had to go out of the business quite early. But Sato still felt like she had a lot to offer and did not want to hang up the boots for good. So she made quite the bold decision at the time which was establish her own joshi promotion. The first wrestling company to go against AJW was the original Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling in 1986 founded by Jackie Sato. With the likes of Gran Hamada and Atsushi Onita joining as coaches in the dojo, recruiting several young athletes, Sato had a promising start for her promotion. But still going against AJW would be challenging as they were still the number one women's wrestling company in Japan and nobody else held that title since their inception. On August 17, 1986 JWP held its first event with notable rookies such as Mayumi Ozaki, Dynamite Kansai, Cutie Suzuki, and Plum Mariko starting out their careers in JWP. Sato was still the main eventer and top draw of the company, but they were also building up Shinobu Kandori as one of their top young prospects. JWP roster was divided into two sets the "Shooters" and "Entertainers." As the names would suggest, the shooters focused on the realistic aspect of pro-wrestling. Leaning in more to the combat striking, similar to that of the UWF and New Japan's Strong Style. This was primarily headlined by Shinobu Kandori. Debuting for JWP, Kandori was a former judoka who bagged a bronze medal in the 1984 World Judo Championships. She used this fame into transitioning into professional wrestling by adapting an arrogant martial artist persona. Kandori was actually trained in the New Japan dojo where she was mentored by Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Kotetsu Yamamoto, but she did end up debuting and recruited in JWP against future rival Jackie Sato. In the other side the entertainers had the same philosophy with what The Beauty Pair (Sato and Ueda) basically pioneered, which was less emphasis on the wrestling itself and more on the personalities and aesthetic appeal of the women. While it was seemingly good in theory to have these two divisions into one company, it would ultimately lead to JWP's own demise. By 1987 the relationship between its two top stars Sato and Kandori had their differences. It would all boil down to their infamous July 18, 1987 match where Kandori turned it into a shoot fight by physically attacking Sato to the point of actually injuring her which led to her retirement. Due to this incident, few months later Kandori was let go from JWP and started to appear for AJW. With the lack of stars to compete against the much bigger promotion, the original JWP eventually folded in 1992. The rest of the roster would be split into two, JWP Joshi Puroresu the direct predecessor of the company with Ozaki, Kansai, and Cutie and Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling (LLPW) led by Kandori with Rumi Kazama and Harley Saito. The JWP never really had a chance to begin with. The spat between Sato and Kandori was a result of the much bigger problem of the promotion which was an identity crisis. They were not sure on which side to truly focus on whether it was the shooters or entertainers, they were not able to grow their fanbase to compete with the pre-existing company which is why their existence was short lived and created a shift between the joshi scene which would have a much bigger impact later on as the decades proceed. |
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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