Written by: Super Mastodon (@SuperMastodon) Puroresu has a long rich background in the cultural history of Japan. After all the country's national sport is sumo so wrestling has always been a part of their lives. One way or another, professional wrestling would find its way to the land of the rising sun and would become a phenomenon in the country making it one of their biggest forms of entertainment. Admittedly just like probably many of you, I grew up watching the WWE and was used to that kind of formula but discovering Puroresu was somewhat a breath of fresh air to me as it allowed me to open my eyes to many more ways of presenting pro wrestling that I would slowly like and become my favorite. What sets Puroresu apart from other brands of wrestling is that they treat it like a legitimate sport, whether it's the top promotions in the country or even the small independent ones. Every wrestler right from the beginning of their careers are trained like fighters and compete as such whenever they get in the ring, proving that they are worthy of even stepping foot in the squared circle. Another great aspect of Puroresu is the wide array of styles. There is certainly something for everybody, whether it's the classic traditional wrestling of Strong Style in New Japan or King's Road influence in both All Japan and NOAH. But you also got other stuff like Lucharesu, Comedy, Joshi (Women's Wrestling), Hardcore/Death Matches, Mixed Martial Arts, and everything in between. No matter how niche you like your wrestling, one way or another, there is something in the world of Puro that will cater to your desires. However, Puroresu wouldn't become such a cultural transcendence if it wasn't for the men and women that have become a part of it throughout its existence. While every wrestler has contributed in their own little ways in making Puroresu what it is, there are those that have completely set a whole different level. As they say, in a land full of superstars, there will be those who will become legends and icons. Two words that are likely overused at this point, but this time around they will be appropriately coined towards these individuals who's legacies have defined the sport. It's been a while since I posted anything new on this site and we're on a rebranding phase going from MWC to the Mastodon Wrestling Blog and what better way to return than presenting to you, one of the biggest articles I've ever written yet than with the 50 Greatest Wrestlers in Puroresu History! Going back to my roots in making countdown lists, the criteria is pretty similar to the Top 100 Greatest Wrestlers countdown such as: resume of high quality matches, in-ring abilities, drawing power, accolades/accomplishments, longevity, influence, and overall impact to the art itself. I will always have to point this out and I couldn't stress it enough, this list as all countdowns are, is subjective and only based on my opinion. As a long time professional wrestling fan, my knowledge on Puroresu has definitely widened over the course of my viewing for the past couple of years. I am far from being an expert on the topic at hand but with how much I've researched and dug through the history of Puro and how it has evolved through time, I feel doing something like this in honoring the legacies to those who have shared their talents inside the ring, in a way as my own personal tribute to them as well. There will be some that I will missed out on obviously, doesn't mean they are great, it's just not everyone can make it in the Top 50. I know your list will be different from mine so please feel free to chime in and share your own, in a respectful manner of course. So with all that being said, without further ado, let's get straight in to the action, and meet the greatest wrestlers in Puroresu history. 50.) Gran Hamada Debut: March 16, 1972 In-Ring Career: 47 Years (ongoing) The term "Lucharesu" is often thrown around nowadays but the man that really started it all is Hiroaki Hamada or better known by his ring name as "Gran Hamada." He was one of the first trainees in the New Japan Dojo but back in those days cruiserweights like Hamada were never seen as top billing so his size held him back from further success, that is until he was sent in Mexico particularly for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA). For the unfamiliar, UWA at the time was the second biggest wrestling promotion in all of Mexico only behind EMLL, which is now known as CMLL. Because of his size and athleticism, Hamada was able to transition well into the Lucha Libre style of highflying based offense, so much so that his name as Little Hamada would become Gran Hamada (gran meats great) because of how much the fans appreciated his work. Hamada would find plenty of success in his time with the UWA, earning multiple of their championships such as being a 5x UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Champion 3x UWA World Middleweight Champion, and plenty more. He also held the NWA World Middleweight Championship at EMLL and the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship twice throughout his prime in the 80's. As he returned to Japan, Hamada was able to contribute the style he learned in Mexico and mix it in with the traditional way of Puroresu thus giving birth to what we now know today as "Lucharesu" blending the two styles of wrestling together. In that sense, Hamada paved the way to so many of the great junior heavyweights, a bunch of which will appear on this list later on. He is still an active competitor, although his latest match as of the writing of this article was in 2018. He has wrestled for a plethora of promotions in both Japan and Mexico. A trailblazer in his own way, I feel he definitely deserves a lot more recognition for his contributions to Puroresu especially towards the junior heavyweight scene. 49.) Toyonobori Debut: December 12, 1954 Retired: February 20, 1973 In-Ring Career: 19 Years Sumo wrestling will always be the cultural sport of Japan, it is ingrained in their national identity forever. Likewise, when professional wrestling started to become popular in the country, many former sumo wrestlers ended up becoming pro wrestlers as a second career, some are more successful than others such as Rikidozan who was and still is the biggest name in Puroresu. At the peak of JWA though there was another former sumo who was right behind Rikidozan's popularity and that was Michiharu Sadano or better known as Toyonobori. Despite Rikidozan basically being the most popualr wrestler in the entire country, Toyonobori was being groomed as the next top star. Him and Rikidozan were a formidable tag-team, being 4x All Asia Tag-Team Champions with their longest reign coming in at 606 days. After the death of Rikidozan, Toyonobori helped in keeping JWA afloat and became the ace of the company while Giant Baba was one next in line for the top spot, he would win the All Asia Tag Titles three more times with Michiaki Yoshimura and Baba. He held the WWA World Heavyweight Championship on December 12, 1964 however this reign was only recognized in Japan as in the US they also have a different World Champion. This made Toyonobori the first ever Japanese World Champion as Rikidozan was originally of Korean descent which was only made public after his death. Toyonobori and "Crazy" Luke Graham would end up facing each other to crown the Undisputed WWA World Heavyweight Champion. Toyonobori continued wrestling until the early 70's. He left JWA and ran his own short lived promotion Tokyo Pro Wrestling then initially retired before coming out for a few matches at the newly formed New Japan Pro Wrestling to help established the new company of Antonio Inoki have some star power. While always overshadowed by Rikidozan and his students, Toyonobori was still a popular enough wrestler and one of the few who did great in transitioning from sumo to pro wrestling. His name is likely forgotten from a worldwide mainstream standpoint but his name remains to be a respected legend in Japan. 48.) Rusher Kimura Debut: April 2, 1965 Retired: July 10, 2004 In-Ring Career: 39 Years For most fans they may only be aware about Rusher Kimura being an opening tag act during his twilight years in AJPW but in his prime, he was one of the top heel acts to go against babyface superstars like Giant Baba, Jumbo Tsuruta, and even Antonio Inoki. Before becoming a professional wrestler, Masao Kimura was first a sumo wrestler but in 1964 he quit the sport and turned into a pro wrestler a year later being trained by Toyonobori. He started his career for Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance and stayed there for two years before leaving and joining his mentor Toyonobori in creating the original "Tokyo Pro Wrestling" promotion along with other stars like Antonio Inoki, Masa Saito, and Hiro Matsuda. It is in TPW where Kimura met his future rival Haruka Eigen, which is the longest running rivalry in Puroresu that spanned from 1981 to 2003. After TPW closed shop, they would create a much larger and successful promotion: International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE) in which Rusher Kimura truly made a name for himself and became the company's top draw. On April 19, 1975 he became the IWA World Heavyweight Champion for the first time which was the top prize of the promotion, he would go on to hold the belt a record four more times, a total combined reign of 2,320 days with his longest individual run being his third at 1,115 days. The belt in itself was prestigious with other legends like Billy Robinson, Thunder Sugiyama, Strong Kobayashi, and "Superstar" Billy Graham just to name a few have held it through the years as well. We backtrack a bit to 1980 where Kimura faced Dr. Death (Moose Morowski, not Steve Wlliams) in the first ever cage match in Japanese wrestling history. If you study the history of Puroresu, after the passing of Rikidozan there were two leading promotions managed by his students: NJPW (Inoki) and AJPW (Baba) but there was a point in time where IWE was on the same level as those two as the "third brand" so to speak. Due to their partnership with the AWA, Rusher Kimura, then reigning IWA World Champion had a match against then AWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel with Lou Thesz as the special guest referee, what a stacked legendary match that was! When IWE went defunct in 1981, Rusher Kimura began competing for many other promotions such as in NJPW in the early 80's and had a brief stint in the UWF before finding his way to AJPW as a veteran member of the roster. Initially Kimura feuded with Giant Baba but as time went by they would become formidable tag-team partners. From 1984 to 2000 Kimura stayed with AJPW and by the tail end of his career, he was just wrestling in multi-men tags but was still a solid worker despite the old age. He wrestled in his final years with Pro Wrestling NOAH, his last match was winning in a tag match with Mitsuo Momota against the team of Haruka Eigen and Kishin Kawabata before retiring in 2004. Unfortunately Rusher Kimura passed away on May 24, 2010. He was never a flashy wrestler unlike most of his contemporaries and was mainly a serious act but it helped in conveying his legitimacy as a top star especially in his prime. I recommend watching his matches with Baba and Tsuruta, among some of the best in his catalogue of matches. An underrated legend, Rusher Kimura's legacy will remain intact in all the promotions he contributed in. 47.) Masato Tanaka Debut: July 23, 1993 In-Ring Career: 26 Years (ongoing) While hardcore or death match wrestling can be a polarizing style among fans, it cannot be denied that it has drawn a lot of money over the years especially at its peak in the 90's. One of the men who became notable throughout the death match movement is Masato Tanaka. Personally trained by the innovator of death match wrestling himself, Atsushi Onita, Tanaka quickly rose to fame in the ranks of the roster in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) which was at the time the leading promotion in presenting death match wrestling, infamous for their crazy barbed wire and explosion matches. Tanaka was part of all the craze at the time feuding with other hardcore stars like Mr. Pogo, Mr. Gannosuke, Terry Funk, and Mike Awesome, the latter would become his most well known rival across both the US and Japan. Tanaka held a plethora of championships in FMW including two of their top titles the FMW Brass Knuckles Championship and the WEW Heavyweight Championship. Around 1998 he would make his way into the United States particularly for the growing Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion. He had a short tag-team run with Balls Mahoney but it was successful as they dethroned the Dudley Boyz for the ECW World Tag-Team Championships the same year. A year later Tanaka would continue his feud with Mike Awesome and they'd battle it out for the ECW World Title which he would eventually win in a TV episode. It was just a short reign however as just a week later he'd drop it right back to Awesome. Both men would have some of the most memorable and brutal matches in ECW history that really defined their careers as a whole, to this day you cannot mention Tanaka or Awesome without the other, they're pretty much synonymous with each other, eternal rivals if you will. After his ECW run, Tanaka would primarily compete in Japan mainly for ZERO1 where he is a 4x World Champion. He would also compete for other notable promotions such as NJPW, AJPW, and NOAH. In fact during the early years of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, Tanaka was one of the champions in 2012. He is also the inaugural NEVER Openweight Champion, among a slew of many other championships he has won throughout his ongoing career. Tanaka may not be as big of a name as the other wrestlers in this list and his body of work is somewhat limited because he was never really a "top star" per se but he is still a great performer not just in hardcore matches, pro wrestling in general. A well respected veteran who has sacrificed his body for the entertainment of the fans, much respect to that. 46.) Yoshiaki Fujiwara Debut: November 12, 1972 In-Ring Career: 47 Years (ongoing) You're familiar of the move "Fujiwara Armbar" which is pretty much a go-to submission move not only in pro wrestling but also in MMA through the years. It may be used by many nowadays but there is only one true master of it and that is the great Yoshiaki Fujiwara. A career dating all the way back in 1972, Fujiwara is one of the oldest active wrestlers in the world today. At 70 years old he is still active within the independent scene of Japan. It all started though at the New Japan Dojo where he was trained by fellow legends Antonio Inoki, Karl Gotch, and Kotetsu Yamamoto. Due to his background in judo, Fujiwara was able to transition well into the Strong Style methodology of pro wrestling by New Japan. In 1975 he won the Karl Gotch Cup, basically a tournament hosted for rookies or young wrestlers which is the predecessor to what we now know today as the Young Lions Cup. In 1984 Fujiwara would have his biggest rivalry yet against Riki Choshu, the two of them would have a long personal and literally bloody feud throughout the year. Also in 1984 though Fujiwara would defect from NJPW and join the likes of Akira Maeda, Rusher Kimura, Ryuma Go, and Gran Hamada to form the original Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) and they would also be joined by Satoru Sayama, Nobuhiko Takada, and Kazuo Yamazaki. The UWF would become direct rivals to NJPW and presented a much more martial-arts focused presentation of professional wrestling. Two years later the famous promotional rivalry storyline between NJPW and UWF would take place with Fujiwara returning to his original home promotion but this time representing the other side. Later on him and Yamazaki would split from the UWF stable and feud with Akira Maeda and the rest of the members, this would all boil down to fighting for the IWGP Tag-Team Championships in which Fujiwara and Yamazaki won over Maeda and Takada in 1987. Later on Fujiwara would also dabble in training at the dojo, three of his most notable students were Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Minoru Suzuki, and Masakatsu Funaki. In 1989 Fujiwara left New Japan once again to rejoin in the Newborn UWF promotion then later on creating his own with the short lived Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi which would become influential and led to the birth of the wrestling-MMA hybrid promotion: Pancrase and later on PRIDE FC. Since the closure of Fujiwara Gumi, he has pretty much wrestled everywhere else as a freelancer. While he may be gone from his glory days as a performer which obviously comes with age, it is remarkable how Fujiwara is still able to compete at such an age and unlike some of his contemporaries, he still wrestles in a serious manner rather than preferring to commit to a more comedic/safe style. In terms of influence and having a legacy that helped in the making of many companies and stars, there are only few that could match up the resume of Yoshiaki Fujiwara. 45.) CIMA Debut: May 11, 1997 In-Ring Career: 22 Years (ongoing) To me and probably a lot of other fans, there is one man that will always be synonymous with Dragon Gate and that is CIMA. Even though he has already left the promotion and on somewhat indifferent terms, without a doubt he is still the greatest wrestler in the promotion's history. Nobuhiko Oshima is a graduate of Ultimo Dragon's dojo in Toryumon. It is where he started his wrestling career as well and instantly became the top star of the promotion due to his crazy level of athleticism, which in his peak is literally unlike any other wrestler in the world and his charisma, being able to easily connect with the crowd. As time went by he would simply shorten his name to CIMA and on 2004 Dragon Gate was formed, when the promotion separated itself from Ultimo's Toryumon. Pretty much you cannot mention Dragon Gate without CIMA and vice versa, the two entities made each other successful and will always remain attached to one another no matter the circumstances. CIMA continued his wave of success towards Dragon Gate, being the last Ultimo Dragon Gym Champion that belt would become Open the Dream Gate Championship which is the highest prize in Dragon Gate and he is the inaugural champion of said belt. He would go on to hold the belt two more times later on in his career and is the only wrestler in history to hold every single championship available in Dragon Gate throughout his time there. That includes being a record 12x Open the Triangle Gate Champion which is essentially their tag-team titles, 5x Open the Owarai Gate Champion, 5x Open the Twin Gate Champion, and 2x Open the United Gate Champion. It wasn't just in Dragon Gate where he solely competed though as he also pretty much wrestled for every independent promotion you could possibly think of in Japan as well as in the US and Mexico. He even had a dark match for an episode of WWE SmackDown in 2009 where he fought Jamie Noble. Even though he is one of the most successful wrestlers in Japan in the 2000's, I feel like CIMA is still massively underrated especially in the West. Although recently he is finally getting the attention he deserves through his presence with OWE and AEW, in his prime CIMA was an athlete on a level of his own. He was the ace of Dragon Gate for 15 years and even when he wasn't in the main event picture, CIMA was able to maintain being a top draw for the company. While admittedly I'm not an expert when it comes to Dragon Gate although I am familiar enough with the company to say that he truly embodied what the promotion stood for which is to be an exciting highflying yet also technical excellence brand of Puroresu. 44.) Shinjiro Otani Debut: June 25, 1992 In-Ring Career: 27 Years (ongoing) During a time where junior heavyweights in Japan were heavily influenced by the colorful style of Lucha Libre you had larger than life characters like Jushin Liger, Great Sasuke, Ultimo Dragon, and Tiger Mask just to name a few. But one man who did not need a creative mask to showcase his talents and still be just as popular to the fans based on his skills alone is Shinjiro Otani. The beginning of his career was rough as he left his family to pursue pro wrestling despite not having his parents' approval of the occupation he desires. He still pushed through it and trained at Animal Hamaguchi's dojo but at the start he was pretty much homeless until taking on a job that was given to him by his mentor all the while also focusing on his training as a wrestler. Finally he made his debut in New Japan against Hiroyoshi Yamamoto who would go on to become Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Around 1995 Otani was already one of the rising stars of the junior heavyweight division for New Japan, when UWF-I began a promotional rivalry with NJPW once again, Otani represented the latter along with the likes of Yuji Nagata, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Tokimitsu Ishizawa (aka Kendo Kashin), Koji Kanemoto, Takashi Iizuka, and Black Cat. In 1996 he became the inaugural WCW World Cruiserweight Champion, beating Wild Pegasus in the tournament finals. That is the same title lineage that would be followed by the WWE later on in the 2000's with their own version of the Cruiserweight title. A year later in 1997 he earned the J-Crown beating El Samurai and was the last champion of the multi-belts accolade wherein he held eight junior heavyweight championships simultaneously. Then in 1999 the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag-Team Championships were created, him and Takaiwa were the inaugural champions of the belt, which they would held twice over the course of their run. The following year, Otani moved up to the heavyweights after bulking up, even challenging Kensuke Sasaki for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship but failed. While his New Japan career really kick started his career as one of the best junior heavyweights in the world, Otani would co-found Pro Wrestling ZERO1 along with Shinya Hashimoto after they both left NJPW in 2001. It was in ZERO1 where Otani really became a superstar and is one of their top draws to this day. He holds the record for longest reigning ZERO1 World Junior Heavyweight Champion at 481 days, also held the Heavyweight and International Junior Heavyweight belts of the company. Still an active part of the ZERO1 roster, continuing on Hashimoto's legacy, Otani has also competed for multiple other promotions through the years and even returning in New Japan for Wrestle Kingdom 7 teaming up with Keiji Mutoh against TenCozy and just recently at Wrestle Kingdom 14 where he was a part of the huge eight man tag which was one of Jushin "Thunder" Liger's retirement matches. Even though he is 47 years old, Otani is still an impressive worker with a no non-sense attitude in his way of competing in the ring. Also an innovator of his craft with the springboard maneuvers we see in wrestling today. He was the perfect heel rival to the masked wrestlers of the juniors at the time, the villain who was not afraid to do anything to capture a victory against the good colorful superheroes. 43.) KENTA Debut: May 24, 2000 In-Ring Career: 19 Years (ongoing) For the longest time since his tenure in the WWE, the perception on KENTA was that he is going to be another "what if?" story in wrestling, after such a successful career in NOAH becoming the best junior heavyweight in Puroresu in his prime, injuries and uninspiring storylines held his supposed grand career on the big stage. But ever since his release from the company, things have looked bright again for the master of the Go To Sleep. Kenta Kobayashi was trained by a man similar to his name, the legendary Kenta Kobashi and also Yoshihiro Takayama so he really learned from two tough fighters. Initially he went through the All Japan Dojo and even had his early matches in the company but would later join Mitsuharu Misawa in their mass roster exodus to create Pro Wrestling NOAH. It is in this company where KENTA would make a name for himself and slowly become the face of the junior heavyweight division of the entire Puroresu scene throughout the 2000's. Started off hot with a tag-team with Naomichi Marufuji, becoming the inaugural GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag-Team Champions in 2003 and held them for an astounding 690 days, a record that no one has even come close to as the years passed on. He would hold the junior tag belts two more times later on with Taiji Ishimori and Yoshinobu Kanemaru respectively. KENTA is also a 3x GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion and was the leading star of the division for NOAH having some of the all time great classic matches against Marufuji, Kanemaru, and later on they would have a partnership with Ring of Honor having the opportunity to be in the ring with the likes of Bryan Danielson and Davey Richards defending the belt. Around the 2010's, KENTA has fully committed to the heavyweight division and he'd finally reach the pinnacle of NOAH in 2013 becoming the GHC Heavyweight Champion and held the belt for almost an entire year, having 11 successful title defenses before dropping it to Yuji Nagata. He would then join the WWE as Hideo Itami, there were times where everything felt promising and seems like it was his time, especially in NXT but once again injuries would derail those opportunities and he never truly reached his potential in the company. Everything seemed like it all went downhill until his return to Japan particularly for NJPW wherein he joined last year's G1 Climax tournament and later on turned his back on the fans and got recruited by Bullet Club, now becoming one of the top heels of the company as he has rejuvenated his career, character, and in-ring skills as a whole. He has slowed down nowadays but is still a good worker, however it is a far cry from KENTA's prime in the 2000's. There was a point in time where he really was the top junior heavyweight arguably in the entire world by then, even surpassing Bryan Danielson in my opinion. It may seem like a ludicrous statement but trust me, if you've seen KENTA's work back then, you will know why. The man was doing absolutely crazy offense whether it's highflying or striking. A lot of the moves that are commonly used in both American wrestling and Puroresu today were all innovated by KENTA. He has a huge influence in the independent scene of both countries, and I'm glad he is finally back to being the disrespectful top heel he is always meant to be, similar to how he disrespected the legends of the past with Kobashi, Misawa, and Taue, now KENTA is shoving off the legacies of the current top acts of New Japan. I feel if he didn't have this career turn around for him, despite how great he was in his prime, he probably wouldn't have made this list but kudos to him for never giving up and knowing his worth as a world class performer. 42.) Hiroshi Hase Debut: February 28, 1986 Retired: August 27, 2006 In-Ring Career: 20 Years Before becoming a well known politician, Hiroshi Hase was once one of the greatest workers in all of professional wrestling. Although it seems like over the years his career has been defined by his lack of winning "the big one" as he has wrestled notably for NJPW and AJPW but never got a hold of a major championship. The closest he got to a World Title was the short lived WCW International Heavyweight Championship, which actually followed the original Big Gold belt design. Other than that he is also a 2x IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion in the late 80's and 4x IWGP Tag-Team Champion in the 90's. Let us take a step back and see how it all began though, right from the start he was already aiming to be a wrestler being an amateur before turning pro and even represented Japan in the 1984 Olympics for the Greco-Roman wrestling tournament. Then in 1986 he was trained by Riki Choshu but would make his wrestling debut for Carlos Colon's promotion: World Wrestling Council (WWC) in Puerto Rico and also compete for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling in Canada. Hase really honed his craft in the international scene before returning to Japan a year later where he competed in NJPW's junior heavyweight division having feuds with the likes of Jushin "Thunder" Liger and Kuniaki Kobayashi. Then around the 90's he started to be a much bigger name, moving up to the heavyweights and facing main event level talents like Keiji Mutoh, Masahiro Chono, and Kensuke Sasaki. On December 14, 1992 he had his now famous match against The Great Muta that was so bloody, the term "Muta Scale" was invented in describing the level of blood in a wrestling match, see if it could scale up to the level that they reached. Around the late 90's to the 2000's, Hase was already involved in politics but also remained a wrestler on the side as well, but this would keep him from truly reaching main event status as he still prioritized his political career. He was already competing for AJPW at this point and reached around the time of the Mutoh era, post exodus from NOAH. He was a part of the "Bad Ass Translate Trading" or BATT stable founded by Keiji Mutoh and they were joined by Taiyo Kea and Jinsei Shinzaki. On August 27, 2006 he had the final match of his career at AJPW tagging with Satoshi Kojima and Katsuhiko Nakajima in a six man tag against the Voodoo Murders trio of Suwama, TARU, and YASSHI. For a long time Hase wouldn't compete in a wrestling ring again however in 2017 he made a comeback match, a decade after his retirement for Keiji Mutoh's Pro Wrestling Masters produced events. Since then he has returned to wrestling every now and then but never full time. For his age, Hase could still go and while far from his prime, it is remarkable how much he was able to stay in physical form all these years later. What's best known about Hiroshi Hase is that he could have easily been the top star for any major company in Japan but he never really went all in on that and preferred to put over his peers, in turn gaining the trust of many and being a universally respected individual of the business, which is a rarity in wrestling as a whole. I think the best comparison I could give Hase to is Charles Barkley of the NBA, they were both excellent athletes in their primes but the rest of the competition was even stronger so they ended up "ring less" by the end of their careers. As for Hase he may have gone down to never winning any of the "big three belts" of Puroresu, but at least he will forever be respected by the industry and its fans. 41.) Kota Ibushi Debut: July 1, 2004 In-Ring Career: 15 Years (ongoing) If you think about it in such a short span of time, Kota Ibushi went from a promising young talent to now being one of the biggest stars in all of Puroresu, possibly the entire wrestling world. Perhaps the most gifted wrestler in this entire list as well as Ibushi doesn't only have the looks any male wrestler would desire, he has the athletic abilities and charisma to connect with the fans, making his success story only inevitable. Being a self-trained wrestler, Ibushi has also used his martial arts background particularly in kickboxing, implementing those with his style of wrestling. As we all know he started his career in Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) promotion where he really build a name for himself and in turn helping in growing the company as well. Usually with someone of the talent of Ibushi, only few would dare to participate in stunts he did but the man was not afraid in dipping his toes to the whacky and weird world of DDT while still maintaining his integrity as one of the best workers in the world. He wasn't afraid to be silly as at the end of the day, what's matters is bringing entertainment to the fans one way or another, although obviously it would result into polarizing opinions among wrestling critics. For the longest time Ibushi was a freelancer, competing for both DDT and NJPW, as well as other promotions. He truly embodied what it was like to be "free" and did things his way. His talents haven't gone unnoticed though, he is a 3x KO-D Openweight Champion, the top prize for DDT and a 5x KO-D Tag-Team Champion. All while experiencing success in New Japan as well earning the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship three times and also the Jr. Tag-Team Titles with Kenny Omega. You really couldn't talk about Ibushi's career without mentioning Kenny can't you now? At this point both of them are synonymous with one another, they have created this Golden Lovers storyline in to one of the most interesting arcs in professional wrestling that has been slowly woven all the way back in their early years in DDT and later on as both of them become much bigger names to a bigger platform, continuing where they left off and continuously adding details to the story no matter how close or far they are from one another. It is honestly a work of art and as long as they are not retired, it will keep on going one way or another. While this was just recent in 2016, some fans may have forgotten already but Kota Ibushi wrestled in the WWE as well, maybe on the "main roster" so to speak but was still involved in their programming, participating in the inaugural Cruiserweight Classic tournament and having a few matches in NXT. The same year he'd return to New Japan, becoming Tiger Mask W, a promotional character to the anime series of the same name. Since then Ibushi has really focused on NJPW and is now one of the top draws of the entire company, having amazing bouts against some of the best. Just recently he main evented the Tokyo Dome for the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 although he did lose to Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, same result the next night to "Switchblade" Jay White as well. But being the underdog is not a new concept for Ibushi, he has always fallen off rock bottom at some points in his career and the Golden Star will shine once more. It's crazy to think that this man is nearing 40 years old but he looks and moves, if not even better in his early years. He already is a former IWGP Intercontinental Champion and NEVER Openweight Champion, it's just a matter of time before he finally wins the big one. 40.) Yoshihiro Takayama Debut: June 28, 1992 Last Match: May 4, 2017 In-Ring Career: 24 Years Most people probably remember Yoshihiro Takayama for his MMA bout against Don Frye at PRIDE which in my opinion is still the most iconic fight in MMA history. Those two just beat the absolute piss out of one another and were able to encapsulate badassery in such a short amount of time, what's even greater about that is Takayama was a final minute replacement opponent. But he wouldn't be in that place in the first place if it wasn't for his success in pro wrestling. Takayama first started at the UWF-I promotion of Nobuhiko Takada, the successor to the original UWF, in which they focused on shoot-based style of wrestling, more on the martial arts side of things. Takayama being a natural athlete having played rugby, judo, and was a lifeguard, fit right in among the competition. When UWFI folded in 1997 he would join Kingdom Pro Wrestling but that didn't last long as well and would become a part of AJPW. There, Takayama formed successful tag-teams with Masahito Kakihara, a fellow UWFI alumni but his most well known partner is Takao Omori together as "No Fear" they won both the All Asia Tag-Team Championships and AJPW World Tag-Team Championships. Takayama would later join Misawa and several other wrestlers in their mass exodus towards Pro Wrestling NOAH. It was in NOAH where he held his first World Title by becoming GHC Heavyweight Champion on 2002 defeating Yoshinari Ogawa for the belt, however a mere 16 days later he'd drop the belt to Mitsuharu Misawa. Later on Takayama would become a freelancer and was able to perform for other promotions as well particularly for NJPW and later on returning to AJPW. Which resulted in much success for him as he is one of only two wrestlers to also win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and Triple Crown Championship, the top prizes for New Japan and All Japan respectively. Along with the GHC Title, he has won all three of the "big belts" in Puroresu throughout his career which is remarkable in its own right. Takayama would continue to wrestle for various promotions over the years but the end of his career was an unfortunate one as he got paralyzed from the neck down in his last match at DDT. It sucks to see one of the most formidable men in all of combat sports being relegated to the current state that he is in, but his fighting spirit will never shiver which is pretty inspiring. Standing at 6'5'' and weighed in at 276 lbs, Takayama is one of the greatest big men in Puroresu ever. Despite his large stature, he wasn't your typical bumbling big guy in the ring but rather used the size to his advantage in conveying compelling and of course brutal matches at the expense of his opponents. His matches against the likes of Kobashi, Misawa, and KENTA are some of the best in NOAH and his rivalry with Shinsuke Nakamura really catapulted the young star into a main event level talent. We all wish his career would have ended differently but let us all remember him for the tough man he still lives up to. 39.) Bull Nakano Debut: September 23, 1993 Retired: 1997 In-Ring Career: 14 Years One of the most iconic women ever in professional wrestling without a doubt is Bull Nakano. Even if the casual fan may not be familiar of the name, they probably know the spiky hair and the intimidating physique and aura she always brings out. Keiki Aoki began her career training at the AJW dojo similar to many of her peers at the time but she was particularly mentored by Dump Matsumoto. At the young age of 15 she made her pro debut and the following year would change her ring name to "Bull Nakano." On July 1985 she won the AJW Championship and would have a lengthy three year reign with the belt, along with this she also started teaming up often with her mentor Matsumoto and joined her stable. They also won the tag-team titles together and were a dominant force in the roster and the biggest rivals to The Crush Gals. During the peak of joshi in the 80's, Bull Nakano was always one of the top stars, in turn helping her carve a career outside of Japan as well as when she left AJW in the 90's, proceeding to North America. In 1992 she toured Mexico and became the inaugural World Women's Champion for CMLL. But her most notable time around these years was competing for the WWF, particularly feuding with Alundra Blayze for the promotion's Women's Championship which at the time really set the bar for women's wrestling in the company. She won the belt in Japan from Blayze but just few months later would drop it right back. Nakano was supposed to have a feud with Bertha Faye afterwards, who had experience wrestling in Japan as well as Monster Ripper but Nakano would get fired from the company due to some cocaine controversy. Then in 1995 she participated in the largest wrestling event in history, the infamous North Korea event hosted by WCW and NJPW. She teamed up with Akira Hokuto to take on the team of Manami Toyota and Mariko Yoshida, what a group of talent there. Nakano would continue to compete to WCW, reviving her rivalry with Alundra Blayze whom by this point is now called "Madusa" after leaving the company as well. Definitely one of the most iconic rivalry ever in women's wrestling, but I feel her matches with Aja Kong will always be the best of her career. Similar to a lot of joshi wrestlers, Nakano retired early when she announced she will be hanging up the boots in 1997 due to several nagging injuries. She has however returned for two comeback matches in 2012 and 2017, both of which were in multiple women gauntlet matches for World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana and OZ Academy respectively. Bull Nakano only had a short career in comparison to many of her fellow joshi legends in this list but without a doubt within those 14 years she has left a resume of amazing and memorable matches, was one of the reasons for the peak of joshi wrestling, and is easily one of the greatest crossover wrestlers in history. The dedication to her in-ring skills and character work is enough to grant her a deserving spot in this list. 38.) Minoru Suzuki Debut: June 23, 1988 In-Ring Career: 31 Years (ongoing) Triple H may keep calling himself The King but I feel Minoru Suzuki has something to say about that. A lot of fans probably are familiar with his recent work with NJPW but Suzuki has been around for a while and is an influential wrestler in his own right, being an innovator in many ways and wouldn't earn the reputation he has now for nothing. The warrior's journey began though idolizing Antonio Inoki who would eventually become one of his mentors at the New Japan dojo along with Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Suzuki already had prior experience in wrestling on the amateur side and even had matches against one of his future rivals: Yuji Nagata during those years. His initial run with NJPW was short though, he would follow Fujiwara in the UWF then later on at his own promotion: Fujiwara Gumi before leaving entirely and creating Pancrase in 1993 along with Masakatsu Funaki. Before there was PRIDE or even the UFC, there was first Pancrase. A shoot based wrestling promotion that focuses on grappling, strikes, and martial arts in general. It is where Suzuki made a name for himself as a legitimate competitor, submitting opponents with his signature rear naked choke against other top world class fighters. Perhaps his most notable rival was Ken Shamrock as they fought for the King of Pancrase Championship, with Suzuki dethroning Ken of his reign in 1995. He would also have memorable fights against Bas Rutten and many other future MMA stars. Pancrase really was the predecessor to a lot of MMA promotions of today and it is all thanks to Minoru Suzuki for creating at the time a unique concept that many would emulate, although obviously it was inspired from pre-existing promotions like UWF and Fujiwara Gumi, Suzuki was able to make it stand on its own and the level of talent that joined there was top notch, having a strong legacy that is still active today. After his MMA run, Suzuki would continue to dominate pro wrestling as a freelancer particularly competing for AJPW where he held his first World Title with the Triple Crown Championship in 2006 defeating Taiyo Kea. He would hold on to the belt for an entire year before dropping it to Kensuke Sasaki. Suzuki was also an active part of NOAH around the 2000's and formed on paper a seemingly odd pairing with Naomichi Marufuji but it was successful as they held the GHC Tag-Team Championships together. Then in 2010 he returned to NJPW and creating his now famous stable Suzuki-Gun after members of Satoshi Kojima's "Kojima-Gun" abandoned him. Around 2015 Suzuki-Gun invaded NOAH and the same year he won the GHC Heavyweight Championship although their entire run there has ended in controversy due to losing fan interest as they overstayed their welcome. Suzuki went back to New Japan again and is still a full time member of the roster while also working for some independents here and there both in Japan and the US. The only thing that is really missing from Suzuki is capturing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He has challenged for it several times before but never got the belt, which would make him the third man to hold the "big three" of Puroresu World Titles. But anyway whether he wins the belt someday or not, Minoru Suzuki is still one of the most decorated and greatest wrestlers in Japan. It is also a testament as he ages like fine wine, being still one of the best grapplers in the country and ironically I think his brutal style of wrestling is actually what helps his longevity, rather than pulling off death defying stunts and spots every second, Suzuki is very much a calculated fighter despite looking like a chaotic beast which he could be capable of being at times. He is a pioneer for the growth of MMA as a sport especially in Japan. 37.) Naomichi Marufuji Debut: August 28, 1998 In-Ring Career: 21 Years (ongoing) When I said KENTA was arguably the greatest junior heavyweight wrestler in the 2000's, well he wouldn't get to that level if he wasn't facing often another equally great wrestler by the name of Naomichi Marufuji. 21 years is indeed a long career for Marufuji and he is still ongoing but within those two decades, they certainly have been eventful for him more than a lot of other wrestlers. Similar stories to a lot of young wrestlers in All Japan during the late 90's, he started out his first two years with AJPW before leaving entirely as he joined his mentor, Mitsuharu Misawa in the creation of Pro Wrestling NOAH. I know Misawa will forever be the face of NOAH and rightfully so, but to me ever since his passing, the man who has truly embodied the promotion more than any other wrestler is Marufuji. Obviously he didn't get there in an instant and had to build up himself from the start, he won the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship for the first time in 2002, a title he won twice in total. As his stock rises thanks to amazing matches primarily against KENTA both in singles and tag-team action, he was also able to get bookings from other promotions and got to hold the AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship in the mid 2000's making him the only wrestler to hold all three junior heavyweight belts in Puroresu history! At the time KENTA and Takeshi Morishima were the ones getting the most attention in the US due to their constant bookings in ROH but Marufuji wasn't so far behind in becoming an internationally renowned athlete of his own while still maintaining his priorities in NOAH. After the unexpected passing of Misawa, it was Marufuji who was entrusted to lead the company which was the wish of his late mentor. Being put in such a task wasn't easy for Marufuji while also being a world class performer but he would slowly become the top star he was always destined to be. It wasn't his fault that management weren't able to establish new stars from the Pillars (Misawa, Kobashi, Taue) before but around the 2010's as he moved up to the heavyweights, Marufuji has become the Ace of NOAH similar to Hiroshi Tanahashi to NJPW. Even though he already had a GHC Heavyweight Championship run in 2006 that felt more like a transitional run, the one in 2014 solidified his position as the top star of the company. He isn't just successful as a singles wrestler either but in tag-team too as he is a 7x GHC Tag-Team Champion and 2x GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag-Team Champion, the latter he was 1/2 of the inaugural champions along with KENTA. This point of his career, Marufuji is still the number one draw for NOAH. Even though he has competed for multiple other promotions, he will always stay loyal to the green brand. He's been through the company in both of its ups and downs. I think it is fair to say that he has fulfilled the position of his master now and the torch has been long time passed. 36.) Tetsuya Naito Debut: May 27, 2006 In-Ring Career: 13 Years (ongoing) Some might say it is too soon or too high for me to put Tetsuya Naito on this list but hear me out. Out of all the wrestlers listed in here he has the youngest career yet at 13 years but within that timeframe has achieved so much and has really turned his whole destiny upside down in just five years. He is the most popular wrestler in all of Japan and has also gained a massive following internationally as well, but that wasn't always the case for Naito in the beginning. Initially trained at Animal Hamaguchi's dojo before transferring to New Japan's. Naito was always seen as a prospect as even in his younger years he is already talented in the ring. He won his first title in 2008 the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag-Team Championships with dojo classmate Yujiro Takahashi. Around the same time he would be sent to an excursion in the US and Mexico then returned to NJPW in 2010. The push was slowly developing from there, found tag-team success with Yujiro again winning this time the heavyweight tag-team belts. Around 2013 is where Naito was being positioned as one of the rising stars, becoming the second ever NEVER Openweight Champion defeating Masato Tanaka. The same year he won the prestigious G1 Climax tournament and was set to headline the Tokyo Dome for Wrestle Kingdom 8 against Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. However the fans weren't so keen on him, they thought his push at the top was not organic, think of it like Roman Reigns' situation mixed in with some of The Rock's early career problems as well. Naito is an excellent wrestler but lacked the "it factor" that the fans could relate to and gain their support in the process. His supposed main event was relegated to the semi main event decided in a fan poll and the Intercontinental Championship match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi was decided as the closing match. For some wrestlers, they would have been uninspired and possibly spell the downfall of their careers, but not for Naito. He made his return to Mexico once again for CMLL and there he discovered something that would change his career forever and that is Los Ingobernables faction led by La Sombra, now known as Andrade in the WWE. Los Ingobernables are basically a group of individuals bonding together with a laid back attitude on things, hence the tranquilo motto and they don't abide by the typical rules set by any of the higher ups. They decide for their own and no one can say otherwise. Naito would adapt this attitude and bring a whole new persona to himself as he returned to New Japan like a totally different individual. He is a heel who turned his back on the very fans that turned on him but what's ironic is that due to this change of attitude, he would slowly gain the support of the fans and bring success towards his career. They finally found something to relate in Naito, in a way a lot of the people saw themselves in him and with his charisma being boosted, plus in-ring skills already developed, you got yourselves a proper superstar. The two belts that defined his career are the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. In a lot of ways both of those titles symbolized his triumph and downfall as a wrestler but now he is tasting the fruits of success as he is the reigning champion of both belts and the first wrestler to hold them simultaneously, also with his aforementioned NEVER Openweight Championship reign, Naito is the only wrestler to hold all three belts in their entire careers. As of now I think being at this spot is fair enough for him, once all is said and done though he could very well make it in the Top 20's possibly even in the Top 10. 35.) Lioness Asuka Debut: May 10, 1980 Retired: April 3, 2005 In-Ring Career: 24 Years During their peak, there was no better tag-team than The Crush Gals not only in terms of top notch in-ring talents but the drawing power they had was unlike any other wrestler, male or female. One half of that legendary duo is Tomoko Kitamura or better known to many by her ring name: Lioness Asuka. She was trained at the AJW Dojo and wouldn't take long before she found success in wrestling, winning the AJW Championship just two years after her debut in 1982, the following year she'd win the belt again and is one of only four wrestlers to hold the AJW Championship more than once. Also in 1983 she would form "The Crush Gals" along with Chigusa Nagayo. Together, The Crush Gals dominated the whole wrestling landscape of Japan, due to their popularity AJW gained massive viewership, bringing in TV ratings over 12.0 on Fuji TV which were record breaking for their time. As heavily covered in their heyday, The Crush Gals were pretty much all over the country throughout the 80's, being featured on different types of magazines not only in wrestling but teen and music magazines too. Yes they were so famous that they made songs that often reached top ten hits in Japan, the "idol culture" on Asia is massive in general and The Crush Gals were some of the pioneers of that during that era. They even managed to get coverage from publications outside Japan as well due to their influence as they also toured over the US from time to time, particularly had a couple of matches with the WWF on 1986. The Crush Gals are 4x WWWA World Tag-Team Champions, their rivalries with Dump Matsumoto & Bull Nakano and the Jumping Bomb Angels are still highly regarded in women's tag-team wrestling as a whole. Around the late 80's The Crush Gals would break up and the two of them would begin feuding with one another. It's amazing how the greatest women's tag-team of all time is also one of the greatest rivalries in all of joshi, which does speak volumes to the level of talent both Nagayo and Asuka have. Their feud kept AJW as the leading women's wrestling promotion in the entire world, giving the fans some of the best matches ever at the height of joshi's popularity. On August 25, 1988 Chigusa Nagayo was forced to vacate the WWWA World Singles Championship after a 310 day reign due to injury and the title was awarded to Asuka but she refused to hold it and vacated the title as well, awaited the return of her former partner turned rival to properly have a title match. A year later, the feud finally culminated in Tokyo where Asuka finally got the better of her opponent, gaining at the time, the biggest prize in women's wrestling due to its prestigious background dating all the way back to the 1930's with women's wrestling legend Mildred Burke. Asuka would continue to hold the belt for 171 days but finally vacated it after announcing her first retirement on July 19, 1989. A couple of years later though she'd make her comeback in the ring, now competing for new joshi promotions: JDStar and Arsion. Then in 1998 went to GAEA Japan, the promotion founded by Chigusa Nagayo. In GAEA, the two would rekindle their rivalry and their matches were some of the biggest draws in company history. However a new opponent has emerged, Mayumi Ozaki and her faction Nostradamus, so the Crush Gals were reformed for one last time, now known as CRUSH 2000 which broke headlines all over the country, it's like when Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi teamed up to fight a common foe in Jay White and the Bullet Club, only this one is a much bigger deal given the implications and the involvement of two massive legends forming up their legendary status as a team. In 2002 she participated in her first and only match in New Japan Pro Wrestling, involved in a 10 man tag-team match at Korauken Hall, the same event headlined by Yuji Nagata vs. Kensuke Sasaki for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Two years later, Asuka would announce her second retirement, due to neck injuries she is forced to end her career. She wrestled her final match at GAEA, teaming up with Nagayo one last time as CRUSH 2000 defeated the team of Chikayo Nagashima and Sugar Sato. In 2013 she had a one off match against Kyoko Inoue at World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana, but has remained entirely retired for the most part. Although Chigusa Nagayo is mainly seen by many as the bigger star than the two when they broke off, a part of it is probably because of the longevity of her career, however Lioness Asuka should never be understated. In her prime, only few could match to her in-ring talent and the overall success she has achieved both as a singles and tag-team act rivals even that of many top male athletes. She has influenced many women's wrestlers that followed as well, most notably Kanako Urai aka Kana or now WWE's Asuka, who uses her current ring name in tribute to her idol Lioness Asuka. 34.) Hayabusa Debut: May 5, 1991 Last Match: October 22, 2001 In-Ring Career: 10 Years In comparison to everyone else in this list, Hayabusa has the shortest career out of them all but within that time span, he was able to become one of the greatest performers in Puroresu and had an impactful career that inspired generations of wrestlers to follow. Eiji Ezaki initally had a rough start in his career after being trained at the FMW Dojo. During those early years he was primarily on the losing end until going to North America for an excursion. It was in Mexico where he created the "Hayabusa" character. Hayabusa is the Japanese translation for falcon, which is a bird related to that of the mythical figure: phoenix. He learned the lucha libre style and adapted it into his wrestling skills after learning the ropes from Rey Mysterio Sr. (Rey Jr's uncle.) Throughout the rest of the early 90's he would primarily compete in various Mexican promotions: CMLL, AAA, and WWA. Hayabsua debuted for the first time in Japan by participating in NJPW's Super J-Cup Tournament in 1994 where he lost to the first round to Jushin "Thunder" Liger. The crowd reacted well to his new persona and he kept on with it for the rest of his career. The late 90's is where Hayabusa truly prospered as the new ace of FMW, surpassing Atsushi Onita. He led the company as its top face from 1997 to early 1999 having some of the greatest matches in company history, especially for their trademark explosion death matches. Hayabusa was a five time World Champion in FMW, winning the Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship three times, and won the Independent Heavyweight and WEW Heavyweight Championships once. Also won multiple belts in tag-team competition. Dare I say if his career continued, he would have won one of the major big three belts of Puro down the line due to how great he was. In 1999 Hayabusa went through a character changed and lost his mask, going on another different persona as "H." Just a year later however he'd revive Hayabusa once more and continued competing for FMW until the end of his career. In fact he was even attempted to be recruited by the WWF before but stayed loyal with FMW. Sadly the end to his in-ring career was far from a fairy tale story. In a match against Mammoth Sasaki in 2001, Hayabusa attempted a lionsault but landed on top of his head instead which paralyzed him for the rest of his life. He never competed in a wrestling ring again but still remained an active part of the business, he ran his own promotion: Wrestling Marvelous Future but was short lived. He was also involved working with Dragon Gate and later on in 2015 with the revival of FMW as a producer. Sadly in 2016 the phoenix has risen once more, Hayabusa passed away. The man sacrificed his body for the entertainment of the fans and loyalty to the promotion that made him a star. Who knows what else he could have done had his career not ended the way it did but all of that remains as just thoughts. Hayabusa still left a legacy full of exciting and intense matches that only he can deliver in his own special way. 33.) Jun Akiyama Debut: September 17, 1992 In-Ring Career: 27 Years (ongoing) During the 1990's All Japan Pro Wrestling was pretty much on top of the world in terms of high quality matches, mainly because of The Four Heavenly Pillars (Misawa, Kawada, Kobashi, and Taue) leading the way as the main eventers. But just like with The Beatles, there is always someone considered as the honorary "fifth member" who is just as good as the rest of the crew, the fifth pillar I'm pertaining to is Jun Akiyama. When he was in senior high school, Akiyama dabbled in amateur wrestling and his path to becoming a pro was pretty much destined from there. At college he joined a team known for producing some of the best wrestlers in the country: Riki Choshu, Hiroshi Hase, and Manabu Nakanishi were their notable alumni, of course Akiyama would soon follow. In 1992 he went to AJPW and had his first ever match against Kenta Kobashi. He would slowly make his way to the top of the ranks but around these years he was still primarily booked on tag-team competition. The first ever belt he won was in 1996 the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships along with Mitsuharu Misawa, he would go on to hold the belts six more times and has been a successful tag-team expert throughout the rest of his career. He did have his chances for the Triple Crown Championship earlier on, he challenged for the belt total of four times from 1997 to 2000 against Misawa twice, Kobashi, and Vader but failed in all of his attempts in capturing the belt. As we all know when Misawa left AJPW, he took a lot of wrestlers from the roster and one of them was Jun Akiyama to Pro Wrestling NOAH. In his time with NOAH, everyone saw Akiyama as the next big star, he would finally have his crowning moment and be the Ace of a company. Akiyama became the second ever GHC Heavyweight Champion, the grand prize for NOAH, beating Misawa in 2001. For 254 days he had three successful defenses against Tamon Honda, Vader, and even Yuji Nagata in NJPW but he'd soon drop the belt to Yoshinari Ogawa. He'd win the belt two more times later in his career as well as the GHC Tag-Team Championships three times. He was also the inaugural GHC Hardcore Openweight Championship during that forgettable belt's existence but otherwise it isn't really in the same league in terms of prestige in NOAH. In 2011 Akiyama finally won the Triple Crown Championship for the first time in his career, ending Suwama's 420 day reign with the belt. He had four successful defenses, once in NOAH against Taiyo Kea before losing it to Masakatsu Funaki. In 2012 he officially left NOAH and returned to AJPW, at this point Akiyama is already a respected veteran while still being one of the best workers in the entire roster. He would have another run with the Triple Crown in 2015 but only for a brief period of time, beating Akebono and losing in his first defense to Suwama in just 62 days. As of now, Jun Akiyama is still an active part of AJPW and is also freelancing for other promotions as well but it is with All Japan where his loyalty lies. The thing about Akiyama is that in his prime, he really is one of the greatest wrestlers in the entire country, possibly in the world too, especially in terms of just in-ring talent alone. But it could have been he was at the wrong time to truly become the number one guy as the likes of the Four Pillars were still at the prime of their careers in AJPW, Akiyama never reached the potential he had even at NOAH, he was still overshadowed by his seniors. He had all the tools to become the face of the promotion but never quite got there, couldn't really blame it all on him though as booking plays a major factor in that as well. Nevertheless, no one can take away the fact of his greatness and to this day despite the aging, he is still one of the best workers in All Japan, putting over the young and future talent. He is an innovator of some of the most memorable maneuvers in wrestling, the Blue Thunder Bomb and different variations of the exploder. When all is said and done, Uncle Jun will be remembered as one of the most decorated wrestlers ever and someone who truly personified Puroresu. 32.) Kensuke Sasaki Debut: February 16, 1986 Retired: February 11, 2014 In-Ring Career: 27 Years If you were to look up the word "manliness" in the dictionary, chances are you'd have a photo of Kensuke Sasaki to come along with it. Started his career in Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1986, the promotion of his master Riki Choshu, Sasaki would then proceed to go on an international excursion just a year later. He literally was a journeyman competing in Carlos Colon's WWC in Puerto Rico, two Canadian promotions, Stampede Wrestling of Stu Hart and Canadian National Wrestling Alliance (CNWA) and for Otto Wanz's CWA promotion touring Austria and Germany all in the span of a year. After honing his craft in different countries, Sasaki returned to NJPW in March 1990. Before making his way to the main event he first had a successful run as a tag-team wrestler, he won the IWGP Tag-Team Championships four times from 1990 to 1994, twice with Hiroshi Hase and the other two reigns as "The Power Warrior" being the tag-team partner of Road Warrior Hawk, replacing an injured Animal during their tour in Japan. Also throughout the 90's, Sasaki competed in WCW due to the two promotion's partnership, there he won the WCW United States Championship defeating Sting but only held it for 44 days. In 1997 he finally won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time, defeating Shinya Hashimoto at a sold out Yokohama crowd. In total he is a 5x IWGP Heavyweight Champion and 7x IWGP Tag-Team Champion making him one of the most accomplished heavyweights in NJPW history. Around the 2000's Sasaki began to compete as a freelancer. He wrestled for both NOAH and AJPW primarily, capturing the World Titles of both promotions, in fact he is the first wrestler to hold the "big three belts" of Puroresu, The IWGP Heavyweight Championship of NJPW, Triple Crown Championship of AJPW, and GHC Heavyweight Championship of NOAH. One of the most memorable matches that I have ever seen was Kobashi vs. Sasaki in the Tokyo Dome for NOAH Destiny 2005. Without a doubt the greatest chop fight you'll ever see in your lives, plus the whole match itself is just wonderful and encapsulates my passion for Puroresu. Sasaki continued competing until in 2014 having his final match against his student Katsuhiko Nakajima in his own promotion Diamond Ring, after the bout he announced his retirement as an active competitor. Admittedly Kensuke Sasaki's way of wrestling is an acquired taste. Some may prefer it while some won't be too keen on it. But if you just like a straight up hoss fight then he will surely deliver that to you. In his early years he wasn't the most polished wrestler but through time he became a much better performer, ironically as he aged I think he was more captivating to watch and his charisma and connection towards the crowd evolved as well. Similar to Akiyama, he was never seen as the "top star" so to speak because The Three Musketeers were at the peak of their popularity in the 90's and Sasaki was overshadowed by them as well, I feel even within the wrestling community he is somewhat treated as underrated but he would end up having a decorated career still and will always have the distinction of being the first to become the Triple Crown of the three biggest promotions in Japan, that is something literally not many can do. 31.) Jaguar Yokota Debut: June 28, 1977 In-Ring Career: 42 Years (ongoing) The WWE may keep on patting themselves in the back for starting this "Women's Revolution" craze over the past decade but before all of that stuff was even a thought in their minds, there was already someone revolutionizing the business in the 1980's and that is Jaguar Yokota. Simply put if it wasn't for Jaguar, there wouldn't be the likes of Manami Toyota, Aja Kong, Bull Nakano, The Crush Gals, Dump Matsumoto, and everyone else that followed. At the young age of 15 she already made her wrestling debut after training in the AJW dojo. In 1980 she became the inaugural AJW Junior Champion, proceeding that with a WWWA Tag-Team Championship win with Ayumi Hori and also becoming the first ever AJW Champion with a victory over Nancy Kumi all within the span of a year. When she was just 19 years old Yokota defeated her long time idol and inspiration to become a professional wrestler, Jackie Sato on February 25, 1981 winning the WWWA World Single Championship which at the time was the most prestigious belt in women's wrestling. Around 1983 she started competing as "Jaguar Yokota" and the same year loss her first World Title reign to La Galactica in a "mask vs. hair" match after an astounding 801 day reign! A month later she'd gain the belt right back having feuds this time with the likes of Devil Masami and Lioness Asuka, also in 1984 she won the Mexican promotion's UWA Women's Title with a 209 day reign. Just like many wrestlers from here on out, Yokota would have an on and off relationship with retirement. At the young age of 24 she retired for the first time due to injuries, she was the reigning champion at the time but was forced to vacate the belt because of the aforementioned reason. When her career ended initially, she became the head trainer of the AJW Dojo and produced many great students most notably Manami Toyota. On November 20, 1994 she wrestled at the Big Egg Wrestling Universe event hosted by AJW where she teamed up with Bison Kimura to take on the team of Lioness Asuka and Yumi Ogura in a time limit draw and according to her, this is the match that inspired her to return to the ring. She did the following year, creating her own promotion: JDStar which she was the top star in that ran from 1995 to 1998. After that she would retire from wrestling again this time much more personal reasons as she wanted to start a family. In 2004 though her passion for performing was just too much and has since then returned full time as a freelancer, competing for various promotions but mainly for World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana owned by one of her former students Kyoko Inoue. Nearing the age of 60, Jaguar Yokota is still an active wrestler but during her prime in the 80's she was claimed to be as one of the greatest professional wrestlers in the entire world, irrespective of gender. That's how much of a world class level athlete she was and even now, though she may have slowed down immensely, still performs at a pace where it isn't "embarrassing" and maintains her aura as a living legend. While there were already Japanese women's wrestlers before her, Jaguar Yokota is truly the first joshi superstar which catapulted the movement at its highest point later on that inspired a generation of wrestlers that followed. 30.) The Great Kabuki Debut: October 31, 1964 Retired: December 22, 2017 In-Ring Career: 53 Years Characters have always been a part of the presentation in professional wrestling. Through the years we have seen some of the most iconic mythical figures with the likes of The Undertaker and The Great Muta. These wrestlers are somewhat different from the usual athletes as they attempt to maintain the integrity of their characters and go by the mantra "live by the gimmick." In Puroresu, one of the men to really embody this characterization is Akihisa Mera or better known to many as The Great Kabuki. A career that dated all the way back in 1964, he first competed for the Japanese Wrestling Association (JWA) ran by Rikidozan at the age of 16. Then in the 70's he went out of his way to compete primarily in the United States for various territories of the NWA and also for AJPW. Everything changed for him though as in 1981, The Great Kabuki was born created by Gary Hart, known to many as one of the best minds of the wrestling business, The Great Kabuki character was actually inspired from an old gimmick of Filipino wrestler: Rey Urbano. Kabuki mainly wrestled for Fritz Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in Dallas, Texas and was one of the top heels in the promotion at the time. As the rest of the 90's rolled around Kabuki wrestled all over Japan mainly for AJPW and NJPW. Later on Keiji Mutoh's alter ego The Great Muta would be born heavily inspired from The Great Kabuki, in fact he was initially billed as Kabuki's son due to how similar their styles were but obviously that was all just kayfabe speak. Kabuki is also an innovator, having been the first wrestler to ever use "Asian mists" against his opponents, adding to the already heated villainous character that he was. Nowadays there are many variations of the Asian mist with different colors symbolizing the level of pain and damage that it causes, it's an interesting part of wrestling lore that will stay for ages and it all started with him. Kabuki's only match in WWE was entering in the 1994 Royal Rumble due to the company having a partnership with Genichiro Tenryu's WAR promotion which he frequently competed for at the time as well. Usually character-driven wrestlers, championships aren't really the focus of their careers but in his time, Kabuki has accumulated plenty of titles both in Japan and the US. Several of them are tag-team championships and territorial belts. The last title he won was in 1990, the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships with Jumbo Tsuruta. The Great Kabuki would go on to have a career that spanned for half a century, making him one of the longest tenured professional wrestlers of all time. He had his final match with Pro Wrestling NOAH on 2017 where he teamed up with fellow members of the Heisei Ishingun faction Shiro Koshinaka and Akitoshi Saito beating the team of Go Shiozaki, Yoshinari Ogawa, and Masao Inoue. At the time of his retirement match, Kabuki was 70 years old. The Great Kabuki shouldn't only be remembered as one of the greatest characters in wrestling but a dedicated individual in making the mystique relevant all these years later. He was also a key reason for Japanese wrestlers in finding success wrestling in the States too around his time. I don't often throw this around but I think it is fair to call him at this point a "living legend" in every sense of the term. 29.) Aja Kong Debut: September 17, 1986 In-Ring Career: 33 Years (ongoing) There have been plenty of physically intimidating women in professional wrestling through the years, in the US most notably there was Chyna in the WWF and then Awesome Kong dominated the indies. In the UK an underrated heel wrestler by the name of Klondyke Kate was a staple during the World of Sport days. As for Puroresu examples have already been mentioned in this very article with the likes of Bull Nakano and Dump Matsumoto, but in my opinion no one did the gimmick better than Aja Kong. Personally trained by Jaguar Yokota, Erika Shishido would wrestle in her first years under the AJW banner. She would become a part of Matsumoto's "Gokuaku Domei" stable along with her tag-team partner and dojo classmate: Nobuko Kimura. Four years after their debut they would be re-named Aja Kong and Bison Kimura respectively and their duo was called "Jungle Jack." They instantly found success together as two powerhouses, winning the AJW Tag-Team Championship and WWWA World Tag-Team Championships twice, the latter Aja held a total of four times throughout her career. As the 90's came around, Aja Kong became one of the top singles superstar of AJW and her legendary feud with Bull Nakano began. She was a frequent challenger to Nakano's WWWA World Single Championship and they'd have memorable matches one after another. On November 15, 1992, Aja finally captured the belt from her rival ending Bull Nakano's three year reign as champion. Then in 1994 the biggest event in women's wrestling history took place at the Tokyo Dome for the "Big Egg Wrestling Universe" show that hosted a total of 23 matches that lasted for ten hours featuring talent from various promotions and individually booked fighters. Aja Kong main evented against Akira Hokuto with the final of the V*TOP Five Star Tournament. In 1995 she joined the WWF and had her first appearance on American PPV by participating in that year's Survivor Series event wherein she led her team against WWF Women's Champion Alundra Blayze, Aja Kong would become the sole survivor of the match. She was supposed to have a long term feud with Blayze for the company's Women's Title but those plans got scrapped as WWF cancelled its entire women's division upon Blayze's departure for WCW. In 1997 she left AJW entirely and created her own joshi promotion: Hyper Visual Fighting Arsion (simply referred to as Arsion) and stayed with the company until 2001 before leaving and became a freelancer which she still is to this day. Since the 2000's she has been an active part of OZ Academy. 2004 she found herself tagging along with someone she mentored and that is the aforementioned Awesome Kong, who actually cites Aja as her inspiration. The two of them dominated the tag-team scene in joshi, particularly for GAEA where they also faced and defeated the reformed Crush Gals. In GAEA, she is a 3x AAAW Champion with a total combined day reign of 664 days and 3x AAAW Tag-Team Champion for 838 days combined along with a plethora of other championship belts she has accumulated throughout her ongoing three decade career. To me Aja Kong is one of the most memorable wrestlers to ever step in the ring. There is just a charisma about her that is different from her peers. It could be her badass persona that she backs up in the ring with her unique in-ring skills. At the height of joshi's popularity, her matches with the likes of Bull Nakano and Manami Toyota will always be considered instant classics. 28.) Hiroyoshi Tenzan Debut: January 11, 1991 In-Ring Career: 29 Years (ongoing) By far out of everyone in this list, the one with the greatest tag-team resume while having a great career as a singles act as well is Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Debuting in 1991, Hiroyoshi Yamamoto (his real name) would have his first match against Osamu Matsuda, who would later become better known as El Samurai. After winning the 1993 Young Lions Cup, he was sent to Otto Wanz's CWA promotion in Germany for excursion and became the inaugural World Junior Heavyweight Champion of said company earning his first belt as a wrestler while feuding with a young Lance Storm. In 1995 he returned to New Japan full time, now under the name "Hiroyoshi Tenzan" and success in tag-team competition would soon follow as in the next nine years he would have multiple reigns with the IWGP Tag-Team Championships whether with Masahiro Chono or Satoshi Kojima. Overall, Tenzan holds the record of total 12 reigns with the heavyweight tag belts, a record that will likely go unbroken for a long time in NJPW. His team with fellow dojo classmate Satoshi Kojima are successful everywhere, they are the only tag-team in Japan to win both the NJPW's G1 Tag League (now known as World Tag League) and AJPW's World's Strongest Tag Determination League (aka Real World Tag League.) Like I said he wasn't just successful as a tag-team act although it is what he's best known for. Around the late 90's to 2000's, Tenzan would become one of the top main eventers of NJPW along with Yuji Nagata. From 2003 to 2005, he would become a 4x IWGP Heavyweight Champion and carried the company throughout its dark years under the infamous Inokism regime where MMA talents were given priority over the traditional pro wrestlers like him and Nagata. However due to his natural charisma and connection with the crowd, Tenzan would grow on to become one of the fan favorites in the roster and in his prime, he could give you an excellent match as well. Maybe not nearly to the level of Nagata in terms of technical prowess but he was still a great wrestler nonetheless with his unique move set such as innovating the Anaconda Vice submission hold and his signature Mongolian Chops. He is a shadow of his own self nowadays the way he performs but check out some of Tenzan's old matches and you'd be impressed and see how totally different he is from then to now. It's not only in NJPW and AJPW where he found success as Tenzan has pretty much wrestled in every other major independent promotion in Japan such as NOAH, ZERO1, DDT, and WRESTLE-1. During the 90's he was also an active part of WCW as a member of the nWo and was one of the top stars of the Japanese version of said stable. In 2015 he became NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the belt for 196 days. Nowadays Tenzan is placed on the lower cards as one of the veterans mainly putting over the young talents. He has nothing to prove anymore as despite wrestling in various places, it is with New Japan where he started everything and his loyalty lies in. 27.) The Great Sasuke Debut: March 1, 1990 In-Ring Career: 29 Years (ongoing) An insane wrestler with insane talent, I think that sentence alone can pretty much sums up The Great Sasuke's career. Trained by Kotetsu Yamamoto and Gran Hamada, he would wrestle in his mentor's promotion of Universal Lucha Libre in his first three years under various gimmicks. It wasn't until he toured Mexico, particularly UWA, where he would gain a "ninja" gimmick that combined martial arts and lucha libre and as he returned to Japan, The Great Sasuke character was born. In 1993 he formed Michinoku Pro Wrestling, the first independent professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo. Him and Super Delfin would have the most well known and long lasting rivalry throughout MPW. The following year in 1994 he participated in New Japan's Super J Cup representing MPW, throughout the tournament he has defeated favorites like Jushin "Thunder" Liger and El Samurai, both of whom will become his rivals someday and reached the finals but loss to Pegasus Kid (aka Chris Benoit.) With being in a much bigger stage, Sasuke was able to showcase his talents and help his own promotion gain some recognition in the process, instantly becoming one of the most popular junior heavyweights in all of Japan. April 1996 he defeated Jushin "Thunder" Liger for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship, soon thereafter he would also gain various junior heavyweight titles such as the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, and WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship which would lead to the creation of the J-Crown, a collection of eight junior heavyweight championships from different promotions held simultaneously. Sasuke was the inaugural champion by defeating Ultimo Dragon in WAR and at one point would become the most decorated wrestler in the entire world. Throughout the rest of the 90's until to this very day he has wrestled pretty much everywhere in Japan and also made appearances in the US. In 1997 he notably competed for ECW and WWF but his loyalty remains with Michinoku Pro which has produced a lot of great talents of its own as well. Sasuke is a special wrestler. He is best known for his endurance, having endured multiple sets of injuries in his career. Not even cracked skulls can stop this man from competing and at the age of 50 nothing is going to prevent him from still pulling off crazy highflying maneuvers. In his prime, despite what you may think of his crazy antics, he was one of the best talents in all of pro wrestling regardless of weight class. His matches with the likes of Liger and Ultimo Dragon will go down as historic and classics. 26.) Shinsuke Nakamura Debut: August 29, 2002 In-Ring Career: 17 Years (ongoing) If you're only familiar of Shinsuke Nakamura in his time with the WWE then you're doing yourself a disservice of witnessing this man in his prime. There were debates at some point about him being the best wrestler in all of Japan and that's saying something considering how the country was filled with great talent throughout the 2000's despite it being the twilight years of NJPW. Nakamura was so good from the get-go that Inoki decided for him pass through the traditional young lion procedures of losing a majority of his matches and going to an international excursion, instead he was quickly dubbed as the "Super Rookie" early on in his career. His dojo class was seen with lots of potential and they were dubbed as the new "Three Musketeers" along with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata, I'd say with how all their careers turned out, they definitely lived up to the hype. While Tana would go on to become the future Ace and Shibata being an extraordinary fighter in various promotions, it was Nakamura who was initially the treated as the top guy first as just a year later into his career he held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship defeating Hiroyoshi Tenzan. He would then proceed with a feud against Yoshihiro Takayama for both the IWGP and revived NWF Heavyweight Championship, in 2004 he won both and was the only wrestler to do so going on to unify the belts. For those who don't know, the NWF Heavyweight Championship was the original top prize of NJPW during its early years in the 1970s before transitioning into the IWGP Heavyweight Title a decade later. Anyway Nakamura continued this wave of success and throughout his career he'd become a 3x IWGP Heavyweight Champion. But it wasn't all rainbows and butterflies as they say, during those years Inokism was at its most rampant state, MMA fighters were dominating the pro wrestlers, Nakamura was pitted into legit MMA bouts too and while he did have some wins here and there, overall it didn't helped his trajectory as the next big star. He would also be involved in the controversial reign of Brock Lesnar as IWGP Heavyweight Champion wherein Lesnar kept the belt hostage and Nakamura acted as the temporary champion before unifying the two belts altogether when he defeated Kurt Angle at an IGF event. By the time Inoki left the company, Nakamura was able to see the company he stayed loyal for prosper and slowly become an internationally renowned promotion and a part of the reason is him being a talented wrestler. In 2009 he formed the now famous stable group of CHAOS, disbanding themselves from Togi Makabe's Great Bash Heel (GBH.) Then with the creation of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, Nakamura brought prestige to the belt, being a 5x champion and a record of 901 total combined days. Usually the IC Title was seen as a step down lower than the main title but Nakamura treated it like a prize worth fighting for and I think it is fair to say the belt is more synonymous to him than the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The thing about Nakamura is that he wasn't always the charismatic figure that we know him as when he became The King of Strong Style, in those early years he had a generic fighter gimmick but due to his natural skills whether as a brawler or technical wrestler, he was able to overcome the odds and later on became one of the most iconic figures in New Japan history. Shinsuke Nakamura dedicated a majority of his life and career for New Japan Pro Wrestling, him and Tanahashi persevered through bad booking, poor attendance, and mistreatment of traditional pro wrestlers and see the company finally blossom once more into being the number one wrestling promotion in the entire country. Which would lead him to being one of the top current stars of the WWE since 2016. 25.) Manami Toyota Debut: August 5, 1987 Retired: November 3, 2017 In-Ring Career: 30 Years My opinion still hasn't changed, Manami Toyota is still the greatest women's wrestler in history and a lot of other fans likely share the same opinion as well. At the age of 16 she began competing in the ring as the protege of Jaguar Yokota. It was in her second year where she broke out into a superstar level where she competed at the Wrestlemarinpiad show at the Yokohama Arena. Toyota teamed up with Mima Shimoda as the Tokyo Sweethearts to take on the team of Etsuko Mita and Toshiyo Yamada, the match surpassed everything else in the card that included veterans and Toyota in particular has caught everyone's attention due to her flashy move set and fast-paced action in a level that was unheard of at the time. In 1989 she became AJW Champion, the first of many championships she would accumulate in her career that spanned for three decades. Notably as well being a 4x WWWA World Champion with a total combined reign of 852 days and 3x WWWA Tag-Team Champion for 906 days. At her peak in AJW, Toyota had many memorable matches and rivalries. My personal favorite is her bout against Aja Kong in the Tokyo Dome, being the underdog in the match, Toyota played the role perfectly against the much bigger and intimidating opponent. She took a lot of crazy bumps throughout the match but with her fighting spirit not being wavered, she was able to overcome the dominant champion. She would have memorable matches with Toshiyo Yamada as well whether as a tag-team or feuding with one another. Other notable rivals also include Kyoko Inoue and Dynamite Kansai just to name a few. After AJW folded, Toyota continued to become one of the top stars in all of joshi most notably for GAEA, NEO, and OZ Academy. Post AJW-run my personal favorite match of her was against Chigusa Nagayo in a "battle of the legends" in GAEA. 2010 is when she had her first match in America under the CHIKARA promotion. One can argue that Manami Toyota is the most accomplished women's wrestler in history, she has the most 5 star rated matches out of any women by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, has held every major joshi championship imaginable in her prime, and will go down in the Mt. Rushmore of Women's Wrestling. 24.) Satoshi Kojima Debut: July 16, 1991 In-Ring Career: 28 Years (ongoing) Before becoming the well renowned leader of Bread Club, Satoshi Kojima first had one of the most decorated careers in all of professional wrestling. Debuting in 1991 after being trained in the NJPW Dojo and also mentored by Stan Hansen (hence his frequent use of the Lariat) Satoshi Kojima would have his first match ever against Hiroyoshi Tenzan, right from the beginning the two of them were already connected. In 1994 he won the Young Lions Cup tournament beating Manabu Nakanishi in the finals before going on an excursion in Europe. Upon his return to New Japan he formed the Bulls Power tag-team with Nakanishi and they were successful as IWGP Tag-Team Champions in 1997, it was a short lived tag-team however as two years later Kojima would join nWo Japan under Keiji Mutoh's leadership and there he tagged with Tenzan, together as TenCozy they hold the record for most reigns as IWGP Tag-Team Champions at six. In 2002 Kojima left NJPW due to Inoki focusing his priorities on MMA fighters rather than pro wrestlers, he first had a short but successful run at the early years of Major League Wrestling (MLW) becoming the inaugural World Champion of the promotion in the same year, defended the belt both in the US and Japan. After his departure from NJPW, he would go on to have a lengthy career in AJPW that lasted for nine years being successful in both the singles and tag-team division. Perhaps the highest point of his career was in 2005 as the reigning Triple Crown Champion of All Japan he fought his former partner, then reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroyoshi Tenzan for both belts which Kojima ended up winning making him the first wrestler to hold both of the prestigious championships simultaneously. In 2010 he returned full time in NJPW, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship that year for the second time in his career, becoming the oldest wrestler to win said belt. Only at 85 days though, he would drop it to Hiroshi Tanahashi in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 5. Kojima is still an active wrestler and for his age, is an excellent worker among the field of talented workers in New Japan. A wrestler who's style is both hard hitting and memorable with his strikes and maneuvers, Kojima has transitioned well from being one of the top main eventers in Puroresu to a respected veteran of the industry. 23.) Ultimo Dragon Debut: May 13, 1987 In-Ring Career: 32 Years (ongoing) You may be cool, but you'll never be Ultimo Dragon holding 10 championship belts all at once cool. Yoshihiro Asai was mentored by Gran Hamada and graduated from the New Japan dojo before leaving and competing full time in Mexico where he truly made a name for himself. Initially competing for UWA and UWF, then later on for Universal Lucha Libre (Hamada's promotion) it is in CMLL where he became a superstar by taking on the persona of "Ultimo Dragon." The original gimmick was that he was claimed to be the final student of famous martial artist Bruce Lee but as time went by the schtick was dropped but the name remained for the rest of his career. After finding success in Mexico, Dragon returned to Japan and won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship in 1992 beating El Samurai and had one successful defense in WAR before dropping the belt to one of his well known rivals Jushin "Thunder" Liger just 49 days in. I think that Ultimo Dragon is best known to many though is being the single most decorated champion in wrestling history by holding 10 title belts at once! He won the J-Crown from Great Sasuke in 1996 which as previously mentioned consisted of 8 different junior heavyweight titles but at the time, Dragon was also the reigning NWA World Middleweight Champion and WCW Cruiserweight Champion, simply adding those belts to his collection. Seeing wrestlers with multiple belts is always cool but Ultimo Dragon's photo is one of the most iconic ever in history. Speaking of WCW, he was a memorable part of their acclaimed cruiserweight division in the 90's having a lot of great bouts against the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, and so much more. In 1997 he formed Toryumon which would later become a key reason in the creation of Dragon Gate. From 2003 to 2004 he had a brief stint with the WWF but his run there was forgettable but he did get to achieve his dream of having a match at WrestleMania which was Mania 20. After that Ultimo Dragon has continued competing everywhere else whether it's in Japan, Mexico, or even the US. He is a well travelled veteran and gained popularity thanks to his innovative style of highflying wrestling, creating the famous Asai Moonsault maneuver. One of my personal favorite masked wrestlers of all time, he still primarily competes for AJPW and Toryumon these days and has an ongoing reign of the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship at 3,400+ days. One of the most incredible performers to ever step in the ring who has a stacked resume of accolades, worthy of being The Last Dragon. 22.) Yuji Nagata Debut: September 14, 1992 In-Ring Career: 27 Years (ongoing) Everyone can agree with me that Yuji Nagata is simply put one of the greatest heavyweights in Puroresu ever. Not only is he an excellent performer to this very day but has accomplished so much in his nearly three decade career. After a successful amateur wrestling career, Nagata trained at the NJPW Dojo alongside the likes of Kojima, Tenzan, and Nakanishi and they were dubbed together as "The Third Generation." Their class would prove to be successful as all four men would become World Champions later on in their careers. Nagata was quickly pitted among the fray of UWFI wrestlers invading NJPW and defended his home promotion. One of the wrestlers involved was Kazuo Yamazaki to whom Nagata would learn his stiff shoot style of wrestling. In the late 90's he competed for WCW where he feuded with Ultimo Dragon and also had a tag-team run with Kensuke Sasaki before returning to NJPW full time. It wasn't until in 1999 where Nagata won the first championship of his career by becoming IWGP Tag-Team Champions with Manabu Nakanishi. From 2002 to 2003 he would carry New Japan amidst its terror of leadership under Inoki by becoming IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the fifth longest reign at 392 days. He had 11 total defenses for the belt against a mixture of opponents from pro wrestlers to well known MMA fighters such as Josh Barnett in the main event of Wrestling World 2003 (the predecessor to what we now know today as Wrestle Kingdom.) Despite not having enough training, Nagata was also booked on legitimate MMA fights by Inoki as he thought his World Champion would gain more credibility this way but he suffered embarrassing losses to MMA legends Mirko Cro Cop and Fedor Emelianenko. But what's great about Nagata is that he didn't quit NJPW and remained loyal to the company while being its Ace during a time where the company was totally down and a far cry from its glory years, because of this perseverance along with other New Japan talents shining through most notably Tanahashi and Nakamura, NJPW has bounced back and become the biggest promotion in Japan once more. Nagata did not only find success in NJPW as he also competed for other promotions and capturing World Titles particularly in ZERO1 and NOAH. He is also the only wrestler in history to win the three most prestigious tournaments of Puroresu: NJPW's G1 Climax (2001), AJPW's Champion Carnival (2011), and NOAH's Global League (2013.) By the late 2010's Nagata has already transitioned into a veteran role, in 2016 he feuded against a returning Katsuyori Shibata for the NEVER Openweight Championship and 2018 had a tag-team run winning the All Asia Tag-Team Championships in AJPW along with Jun Akiyama. Already at 51 years old, Nagata still performs at a top level, in fact his last G1 run has some of the most memorable matches in his entire career. He has suffered a lot of downs throughout his career but he did not give up and pushed through to carve out a respectable legacy and that is simply Justice! 21.) Nobuhiko Takada Debut: May 9, 1981 Retired: July 26, 2009 In-Ring Career: 28 Years When the term "shoot style" comes to mind usually we turn to wrestlers like Minoru Suzuki and Kazushi Sakuraba as best examples. Another man that has garnered success in both the world of pro wrestling and MMA as a junior and heavyweight is Nobuhiko Takada. After his training in the NJPW dojo particularly mentored by Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Takada had his first match against Norio Hanaga, as a rookie his match against Kazuo Yamazaki impressed the fans so much and drew a high rating for TV Asahi. Because of the early recognition he gained at such a young age, he would become an assistant to Antonio Inoki. In 1985 he would be a part of the short lived but important promotion of Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) as founded by his mentor Fujiwara and Akira Maeda, which Takada would have notable matches against in the promotion as well as major foreign talents that entered the promotion but when they went defunct just a year later, they returned to New Japan as an invading stable. 1986 he won his first championship by becoming the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion beating Shiro Koshinaka. A successful 119 day reign wherein he defeated six challengers before dropping the belt back to Koshinaka. A year later he would move up to the heavyweights and teamed up with Akira Maeda to win the IWGP Tag-Team Championships. As the 90's rolled around, Takada would once again become a part of this time a much successful reincarnation of the UWF with Union of Wrestling Forces International (UWFI.) The promotion was well known for its kayfabe shoot-based wrestling matches that treated them as legitimate fights. It is where Takada truly prospered as a major talent, being the face of the company throughout its existence from 1991 to 1996 becoming a 2x Pro-Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion, the company's top prize and his first reign lasted for a record 696 days. The only other champion of the belt was Vader at 245 days. Takada had a lot of memorable bouts in UWFI, he even fought boxer Trevor Berbick in what was a fight reminiscent of his mentor Antonio Inoki vs. Muhammad Ali. He also feuded with Gary Albright and Koji Kitao. What made his matches interesting is that you're unsure as a viewer whether they really were legitimate fights or purely kayfabed, it could have very well been a combination of the two due to how they were worked which is somewhat of a lost art in wrestling today. The pinnacle of Takada's career came in 1996 when he defeated Keiji Mutoh for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in one of the greatest matches ever in the history of the Tokyo Dome. At this time the height of NJPW vs. UWFI rivalry was at its peak. He only had a short run with the belt, a successful title defense against former rival Koshinaka in UWFI before dropping it to Shinya Hashimoto. After the closure of UWFI he went on to focus on a career in MMA particularly for PRIDE FC. In 2004 he created another promotion: HUSTLE which leaned more into the "entertainment" side of sports entertainment, it lasted until 2009 where he had his final match. In 2015 he formed the MMA promotion RIZIN' which still runs today. In his prime, there really isn't really a wrestler quite like Nobuhiko Takada. Even though there have been many who wrestled in the "shoot style" nobody embodied it like him. His delivery of moves whether it's kicks or strikes, were flawlessly executed which is why he had a long tenured career and for someone who is as legit as him, he wasn't afraid to dabble into comedy too as evident in his time with HUSTLE. Overall, one of the greatest wrestlers in Japan but I feel is also massively underrated by many modern day fans due to his lack of success in the West. 20.) Akira Taue Debut: January 2, 1988 Retired: December 7, 2013 In-Ring Career: 25 Years The Four Heavenly Pillars of AJPW in the 90's changed not only tag-team wrestling but professional wrestling as a whole in standardizing the quality of matches in the industry, one of the men in that legendary group who I feel is the most underrated out of them is Akira Taue. After a career in sumo, he would go on to train to become a professional wrestler under the Tokyo Pro Wrestling but when they disbanded, he transferred to the AJPW Dojo and got personally mentored by Giant Baba. Taue would go on to become one of the top stars in AJPW, especially in its tag-team division. He won his first title in 1990 winning the All Asia Tag-Team Championships with Shinichi Nakano, then two years later he'd get the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships with Jumbo Tsuruta. But his most well known partner is Toshiaki Kawada, together as the "Holy Demon Army" they'd become 6x AJPW World Tag-Team Champions with a record of 912 total combined days. The Holy Demon Army were arguably the best tag-team in all of wrestling at the time especially in terms of chemistry and in-ring skills, their frequent rivals were the team of Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi, together all of them were called as "The Four Heavenly Pillars" replacing the old guard of AJPW and becoming the focal point of the company throughout the 90's, the new generation of superstars that would lead them to success in the decade. In 1996 Taue defeated long time rival Mitsuharu Misawa for the Triple Crown Championship, his first and only run with the belt that lasted for 61 days with one successful defense against his partner/rival Toshiaki Kawada then dropping it to Kobashi. When Misawa went on to create Pro Wrestling NOAH in 2000, Taue was a part of the mass exodus of roster members, he would have a strong veteran presence throughout his time in NOAH and still had a lot of memorable bouts both in singles and tag-team competition. The highest point of his run in the company came in November 5, 2005 when he ended Takeshi Rikio's run as GHC Heavyweight Champion which was one of the biggest victory celebrations in NOAH history as Taue while being a respected veteran, always had the "underdog" vibe going for him and was a massive fan favorite. However just like his Triple Crown reign, it wasn't meant for a long run as he only defended the belt once against Takeshi Morishima before losing it to Jun Akiyama. Taue would continue to compete for NOAH until in 2013 when he had his final match. If you watch basketball I think you'll get this comparison of mine, to me Akira Taue is like the Tim Duncan of professional wrestling. Both athletes are talented in their respective fields, in fact some could argue they were the best, but what they lacked was a "personality" so to speak and were always quiet and because of the concentration in doing what they do best, plus always reliable when it comes to higher stakes situations like Taue when it comes to championship matches. Taue has mastered the fundamentals of his style, out of the Pillars he is the closest to Giant Baba in terms of his way of wrestling with the palm strikes and choke slams. He often gets overshadowed by his peers but Taue wouldn't be billed on the same level as them if he wasn't great to begin with, he may not have been the "ace" of a company but he was an important cornerstone in his time in AJPW and NOAH. 19.) Masahiro Chono Debut: October 5, 1984 Last Match: April 13, 2014 In-Ring Career: 35 Years (inactive) There are charismatic wrestlers and then there's Masahiro Chono. While there have been wrestlers who were much more successful and popular than Chono, nobody else had that "superstar" feel that he had especially once he adapted his famous yakuza gimmick. Before that however, Chono was one of the top prospects in his dojo class that also had Keiji Mutoh, Shinya Hashimoto, Minoru Suzuki, and Jushin "Thunder" Liger just to name a few. In his debut match he fought his eternal rival/friend Mutoh then going on to win the Young Lions Cup in 1987 beating Hashimoto in the finals then went on to have his excursion in Europe, US, and Puerto Rico. It is in the latter where him, Mutoh, and Hashimoto formed "The Three Musketeers." While AJPW had their Four Pillars, it was their trio that became the center point for New Japan all throughout the 90's. At this point, Chono was still wrestling as the blue chipper babyface. The biggest match of his career at the time was on February 10, 1990 at the main event in the Tokyo Dome where he teamed up with Hashimoto to take on the team of Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi, two months later he'd become IWGP Tag-Team Champion for the first time with Mutoh. Then the following year he solidified his status as a main eventer by winning the finals of his first G1 Climax beating the aforementioned Mutoh. The G1 Climax and Masahiro Chono are pretty much synonymous with one another. He didn't gain the nickname "Mr. G1" for no reason as he still holds the record for most wins in the entire tournament's history with 5. In 1992 he held his first World Title by becoming NWA World Heavyweight Champion, winning the vacant belt in a tournament. On September 1992 he had the infamous match against Steve Austin defending the NWA World Title but he would suffer a neck injury due to a botched sit down piledriver. Chono would lose the NWA belt against IWGP Heavyweight Champion The Great Muta in 1993 in a title vs. title match. The previously mentioned neck injury was so serious that Chono would limit his wrestling going forward but in a way it was a blessing in disguise as in 1994 he totally transformed his character and had a change in attitude, becoming the yakuza boss gimmick we know him for today. Chono would go on to form "Team Wolf" with Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Hiro Saito which would lay the foundation for nWo Japan and later on Eric Bischoff would see the genius behind the concept and formed the nWo in WCW which would become one of the biggest entities in professional wrestling history and started the flames of the Monday Night Wars between WCW and WWF. Throughout the 90's until early 2000's Chono would wrestle in both NJPW and WCW, as nWo Japan grew in numbers he would also create another stable in 1999 known as "Team 2000" with notable members such as Scott Norton, Tenzan, Kojima, and MMA legend Don Frye just to name a few. At this point of his career, Chono was one of the biggest names in New Japan, although he was a heel he was still a favorite among fans, which is a common trope nowadays in wrestling having the "cool heel" but Chono truly was that. From 1995 to 2006 he would have a successful tag-team run with Hiroyoshi Tenzan as ChoTen becoming 5x IWGP Tag-Team Champions for a total combined run of 1,012 days. In 1998 he captured for the first and only time the IWGP Heavyweight Championship beating Tatsumi Fujinami but only held it for a month as he vacated it due to neck injury. After spending the majority of his career in NJPW, he would leave in 2010 and competed as a freelancer. As of the writing of this article he had his last match in 2014 losing a six man tag for Dotonbori Pro-Wrestling although he still hasn't officially declared retirement yet, I think it is safe to say that he will be out from the ring as an active competitor anytime soon, but just like any other veteran we never truly know. Out of the Three Musketeers, Masahiro Chono isn't really seen as the "best worker" in terms of his in-ring skills, even though he was capable of being a technical wizard pre-neck injury, he used the situation to his advantage, changing his pace and becoming a character-focused wrestler rather than going all out every match. His charisma was undeniable especially when he turned into the yakuza boss, in a way that is what made him a great worker capturing the attention of the fans and had a different aura in him that he was able to differentiate from Mutoh and Hashimoto. In terms of international success, Masahiro Chono earned his superstar status and was a key reason in the growth of the nWo. 18.) Atsushi Onita Debut: April 14, 1974 In-Ring Career: 45 Years (ongoing) Blood and gore has always been a part of professional wrestling going back to the days of "Wild" Bull Curry in the 1950's but one man took it to even further heights beyond human imagination that is Atsushi Onita, the king of the death match. Before he became the insane innovator of explosive matches, Onita initially started out in AJPW dojo and was classmates with Masanobu Fuchi and Jumbo Tsuruta. Mentored by Baba himself, he would become the inaugural ace of AJPW's early junior heavyweight division feuding with Chavo Guerrero Sr. (aka Chavo Classic) for the NWA International Jr. Heavyweight Championship, their rivalry did not only settle in AJPW as they also had matches in the US for Jim Crockett Promotions and Mexico for EMLL (now CMLL.) However in 1985 his run within the division would come to an end after suffering injuries that forced him into retirement but this wouldn't be the last time Onita would defy retirement for the rest of his career as he would turn into the Japanese version of Terry Funk. In 1989 his entire career would change by forming Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) a wrestling promotion centered around martial arts and death matches, but would be best known for the latter as he was inspired from the classic brawl matches he witnessed in Memphis during his excursion in the States as a rookie. Onita though would take the simple concept of hardcore wrestling to extreme levels by adding on a lot of other intricacies into them such as barbed wire and explosions, a combination of both and other crazy ideas that only an insane genius like him would be capable of thinking. At its peak, FMW would become a huge hit throughout the country and became one of the most popular wrestling promotions rivaling even the established staples such as NJPW and AJPW. Many promotions have attempted to reach the same level of success of the traditional companies but what set FMW apart is by not being traditional. Producing at the time a lot of unique matches that were never before seen in the eyes of many audiences. Death matches nowadays are common in the landscape of pro wrestling but in the 90's Onita showed to the Japanese fans an alternative and brand new form of competition in pro wrestling. He would become a massive draw and the ace of the company in its early years, headlining the first six premier events of FMW: the Anniversary Shows from 1989 to 1995. Due to his new found charisma, Onita became a beloved underdog to the fans. Because of his rather small size in comparison to the average wrestler, he seemed like the "common man" which is why a lot of the fans gravitated towards him, cheering on towards his battles against menacing foes like Sabu, Mr. Pogo, and Mr. Gannosuke. My personal favorite death matches of his though were against Terry Funk, his mentor and idol, and against future FMW ace Hayabusa. He is a record 7x FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion, the top prize of the promotion as well as a plethora of other titles he won in the company. In the mid 90's he had another retirement and attempted at a career in acting but when that developed to nothing, he returned to pro wrestling. In 1998 he had his first and only match in ECW losing in a six man tag with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman against The Dudley Boyz. After leaving FMW, he ran another promotion of his own: Onita Pro. Around the same time he also had a short stint competing for NJPW wherein he faced established stars like Masahiro Chono and The Great Muta in death matches. Since 2006 Onita would compete as a freelancer for various promotions while continuously having retirement matches in between. In 2015 he revived the FMW brand and formed Cho Sento Puroresu FMW which still runs to this day. Whether you like his style or not, no one can deny the fact that Atsushi Onita milked the concept of death matches in all of its worth and became one of the most popular acts in all of wrestling. His innovation of the style would lead to the creation of many other promotions and wrestlers that followed. I respect Mick Foley with all my heart but Atsushi Onita was on another level in terms of hardcore wrestling, the personification of the style itself that brought a lot of flashiness to the traditional art of Puroresu. 17.) Chigusa Nagayo Debut: August 8, 1980 In-Ring Career: 32 Years (ongoing) Even though I view Manami Toyota as the greatest women's wrestler of all time, I do feel that the greatest woman in Puroresu by far not only in terms of in-ring talent but overall impact to the business is without a doubt Chigusa Nagayo. So I've already talk about The Crush Gals extensively on Lioness Asuka's entry so I'll primarily focus on Chigusa Nagayo's run as a singles superstar which is just as impressive as her legendary run in the tag division. Blazing the trails of her success as 1/2 of the most popular tag-team in the country, Nagayo would instantly become the top star of AJW due to her talents as an in-ring worker and charismatic personality. She would go on to have lengthy feuds with other stars of AJW such as Yukari Omori and Dump Matsumoto, as well as her former partner Lioness Asuka. On October 20, 1987 she captured the WWWA World Championship for the first time winning against Omori and also unifying it with the All Pacific Championship. Nagayo would proceed to have an impressive 310 day reign with the belt solidifying her position as the ace of joshi. She would end up vacating the belt however due to injury but when she returned fought for the title once more against Lioness Asuka in which Asuka finally got the better of her long time partner/rival, having her "crowning moment" if you will as the next face of AJW. As of the late 80's Nagayo has wrestled in various retirements of her rivals such as Matsumoto, Omori, and Devil Masami. She also wrestled outside of Japan for the first time touring in North America particularly for the AWA, WCCW, CWA (Memphis promotion not the European), EMLL, and Stampede Wrestling. In 1989 she had her first retirement which was a massive event, it saw the reunion of Crush Gals where they teamed up on to face the Jumping Bomb Angels one last time, they also fought the team of Mitsuko Nishiwaki and Akira Hokuto, and to cap it off a final match between Nagayo and Asuka. It was a beautiful way of having everything go full circle but this is pro wrestling and retirements aren't for long, so Nagayo returned to the ring four years later for AJW losing to Devil Masami in her comeback match while also participating in the Big Egg Wrestling Universe event in the Tokyo Dome. In 1995 she created her own joshi promotion: GAEA Japan which would become one of the leading women's wrestling promotions in the world, with Chigusa Nagayo naturally being the top star. She held the top prize of the promotion twice, the AAW Championship with a total combined reign of 588 days. One of my personal favorite matches in the entire history of GAEA was her first time bout against Manami Toyota in what was billed as a "legend vs. legend" match as the two were the biggest names in all of joshi at the time. Nagayo would also reignite her feud with Lioness Asuka in the promotion and later on finding themselves back on each other's side again, teaming up this time as CRUSH 2000. In 1996 she had two matches in WCW where she participated for the Women's Title tournament, competing as "Zero" a face painted wrestler. Winning her first round match against Malia Hosaka but losing the following match to Madusa. Her last match in GAEA she got defeated by future joshi superstar Meiko Satomura in 2005, she had another retirement after that but would return to the ring full time once more in 2014 and still wrestles on independent events to this day. For me, Manami Toyota is the greatest women's wrestler ever but in terms of overall success and impact to the joshi scene and the whole country of Japan, Chigusa Nagayo's legacy cannot be outdone. At one point she even got called "the most popular women's wrestler of all time" and it's not an exaggeration either as in their peak, The Crush Gals were comparable to the popularity other famous musicians and actors of the country, they transcended the barriers of professional wrestling and became pop culture icons. Nagayo in particular would carve out a legendary wrestling career of her own, gaining the respect of many and being a massive influence for a lot of wrestlers that followed after her. 16.) Shinya Hashimoto Debut: September 1, 1984 Retired: August 31, 2004 In-Ring Career: 19 Years To me when I think of New Japan and who perfectly embodied what the promotion stands for which is the art of strong style, the fighting spirit and competitive nature of the sport in general, one man has embodied that perfectly unlike any other and that man was Shinya Hashimoto. Due to his background in both judo and karate, Hashimoto was able to transition well into pro wrestling in 1984 after being trained in the New Japan dojo. At the age of 19 he had his first match against Tatsutoshi Goto, over the next few years he'd go to an excursion in different territories such as CWA in the US, Stampede Wrestling in Canada, and WWC in Puerto Rico. In 1988 he returned to NJPW with a martial artist gimmick that he is best known for, incorporating his prior background to his wrestling style which would prove to be successful for him. A year later he'd capture his first title by winning the IWGP Tag-Team Championships with veteran Masa Saito and they reigned for 219 days before dropping them to his dojo classmates Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh. Three years later he'd capture the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time defeating one of his rivals The Great Muta a run that lasted for 196 days, he would soon follow with another IWGP Title victory, this time solidifying his spot as the next main eventer of New Japan by defeating former champion himself Tatsumi Fujinami, Hashimoto would go on to hold the belt for an entire year beating numerous challengers. He won the belt in Fukuoka but would lose it on the same place against Mutoh. Another tag-team title run with Junji Harata this time before having his most successful run as IWGP Heavyweight Champion in 1996 and at this point Hashimoto was the clear ace of New Japan, being the company's top draw and selling out numerous arenas with his matches. For the longest time, Hashimoto's third and final run with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship held the record for longest individual reign with the belt at 489 days. His match against Nobuhiko Takada when he won the belt was a sight to behold, if you want to witness just how over Hashimoto was with the fans then I highly recommend that match, not only was it good in itself but the crowd definitely helped with their constant reactions and cheers for every move Hashimoto executed no matter how simple or complicated it may have been. After seven successful defenses, he'd drop the belt to Kensuke Sasaki. In the late 90's Hashimoto would be involved in a controversial rivalry against world class judoka Naoya Ogawa that involved real life fighting between their matches. He had his final run with the company on 2000 as he promised that if he loss to Ogawa again he'd retire out of New Japan which he did upon the defeat he suffered. After leaving NJPW, he would go on to create Pro Wrestling ZERO-1. On December 2001 Hashimoto won the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a three way match against Steve Corino and Gary Steele. He would hold the belt for 84 days before losing it to Dan Severn. Afterwards he would have a tag-team run with former rival Naoya Ogawa as the NWA International Tag-Team Champions twice, then later on winning it once more with Yoshiaki Fujiwara in 2003. He held his final World Title with AJPW by becoming the Triple Crown Champion defeating an old foe in The Great Muta, in his 143 day reign he only had one successful defense against Arashi and loss the belt to Satoshi Kojima. I would also like to point out that in 2001 the dream match between Hashimoto and Mitsuharu Misawa took place in NOAH wherein they also had their tag-team partners from the respective promotions they owned, it was the only match between the two legends. In 2005 Hashimoto left ZERO1 due to personal reasons and had Shinjiro Otani operate the company. Unfortunately as he was just seemingly reaching the status of a living legend, Shinya Hashimoto would sadly passed away on July 11, 2005 due to a brain aneurism. The wrestling world mourned the loss of a superstar, the main event of the first ever Wrestle Kingdom in the Tokyo Dome was dedicated to him as a tribute by his fellow musketeers: Chono and Mutoh when they defeated TenCozy. Shinya Hashimoto was a one of a kind talent, he could wrestle any style whether as a menacing brutal fighter or a technical wizard. Always had a strong presence that surrounded him throughout his career which legitimize his position as a legit main eventer. It sucks that we didn't get to see him go at it with other younger talents that went after him but he did leave a great legacy especially as one of the greatest ever in NJPW history. 15.) Kazuchika Okada Debut: August 29, 2004 In-Ring Career: 15 Years (ongoing) To some this may come off as a surprise but for those of you who have followed Kazuchika Okada ever since he truly became the top star of NJPW, I think it is without a doubt that he is well deserved of his spot as among the best in Puroresu history. In his first four years in wrestling, Okada has competed in the independent scene of Japan particularly in his mentor Ultimo Dragon's promotion: Toryumon before making his way to the NJPW Dojo in 2007. Just like with any other trainee he went through the young lion phase and in 2010 was sent on an excursion in TNA in the US. What's interesting about Okada is even from his young lion days, he was treated as a top prospect already. He had faced main event level talents like Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto, and Tajiri during those years and while he loss to them, he was gaining the support of the fans. As for his one year excursion in TNA though, well it was controversial to say the least, saddling Okada with silly gimmicks and never using him properly the way NJPW envisioned their pet project to be which would eventually sour the relationship between the two promotions, this wasn't the only reason but was one of the major ones. But according to Okada himself, going through that treatment in TNA was essential for his improvement as a performer as it allowed him to find who he truly is and become the superstar that he is today, after all a lot of the wrestlers we know that had Hall of Fame careers started out with uninspiring or downright corny characters/gimmicks. Okada's first match back in New Japan was in 2011 at Wrestle Kingdom 5 in the Tokyo Dome where he loss in a tag-team match with Hirooki Goto against the team of Takashi Sugiura and Yoshihiro Takayama. He'd go back to TNA for awhile once more before returning full time at Wrestle Kingdom 6 with the "Rainmaker" character against YOSHI-HASHI at the Tokyo Dome in 2012, the latter also had just returned from excursion in CMLL and was supposed to be a showcase of the two young prospects but it didn't turn out to be that highly acclaimed of a match as it was short and just not memorable at all. However it would reignite the start of the legendary rivalry between Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi, the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion and ace of New Japan. The Okada vs. Tanahashi feud is without a doubt the greatest storyline in NJPW over the past decade. It would solidify the legacies of both men as Tanahashi was able to put out some of the greatest matches of his entire career against Okada and certify his position as a living legend of the company, while Okada would slowly surpass Tanahashi and become the ace himself, earning his spot in the main event scene. As for accomplishments well there's only one prized possession for Kazuchika Okada and it is pretty much synonymous with his name at this point: the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He first won it at New Beginning in 2012 beating Tanahashi and would win the belt four more times later on. I personally am a witness of his historic fourth reign as champion at an impressive 720 days, he would beat Shinya Hashimoto's record of longest reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion setting another record of 13 successful title defenses as well! Between 2016 and 2018, Okada was able to pull off some of the greatest matches in the entire decade starting with Naomichi Marufuji, Kenny Omega, Katsuyori Shibata, Tetsuya Naito, and many more. Okada's rise to superstardom was at the right time as well as it he was able to see the growth of New Japan to an international level promotion as well with the influx of great gaijin talents entering the company through the years as well as the home grown talents like himself performing at a fantastic level which garnered the support of fans all over the world. His set of singles matches with Omega in particular would help in them gaining a lot of viewers from the West. Out of the 15 main events in Wrestle Kingdom, Okada has been on six of them. He is a proven box office draw at this point not only in Japan but wherever he wrestles. What's crazy about Okada is that he is still at the prime of his career and has so much more to offer being only at 32 years old. When all is said and done, he could very well make it to the Top 10 or even the Top 5, some may dare and say he's the GOAT too. Well certainly the greatest IWGP Heavyweight Champion with his five title reigns totaling at an impressive 1,790 days surpassing and leading above everyone else in the record sheets. We've already seen the best from him and more is yet to come! 14.) Genichiro Tenryu Debut: November 13, 1976 Retired: November 15, 2015 In-Ring Career: 39 Years Before Minoru Suzuki, there was first Genichiro Tenryu, the original "Murder Grandpa" of Puroresu. After a 13 year career in sumo, Tenryu was personally recruited by Giant Baba to join AJPW. He was first sent to the Amarillo, Texas territory of The Funks to furnish his wrestling skills and had his debut match against Ted DiBiase, who would have a good run in AJPW himself before he became the Million Dollar Man in the WWF. Anyway around the early 80's Tenryu went back to AJPW and began a feud with his greatest rival, Jumbo Tsuruta. The two of them would become the successors of Giant Baba and dominated the main event scene of AJPW throughout the decade. Tenryu and Jumbo would have classic matches against one another and their rivalry helped in the growth of All Japan as one of the top wrestling promotions in the country. In 1988 he held his first World Title by becoming the PWF Heavyweight Champion defeating Stan Hansen. The following year would be Tenryu's peak at his run with AJPW when he defeated long time rival Jumbo Tsuruta for the Triple Crown Championship and held the belt for 128 days successfully defending against Yoshiaki Yatsu and Terry Gordy before dropping it back to Jumbo. As the 90's came along, Tenryu left AJPW and was the first to have an exodus along with members of the roster before Misawa did years later with NOAH. He formed Super World of Sports but it was short lived and would try out with another promotion of his own: Wrestling and Romance (WAR) which saw him be the focal point of the main event scene. WAR was a success in comparison to SWS as it enabled Tenryu to have a partnership with other promotions such as NJPW and WCW, having other big names such as Onita, Muta, Hashimoto, Chono, Takada, and Fujinami wrestle in his events. Also it was in WAR where he fought and won over Antonio Inoki making him the only wrestler ever in history to have pin fall victories both on Inoki and Baba. WAR was also instrumental in bringing in foreign talents like Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, and Bam Bam Bigelow to Japan. After eight years, WAR would close shop as well then Tenryu would join NJPW for a brief stint, on December 10, 1999 he defeated Keiji Mutoh to become IWGP Heavyweight Champion but would lose it right back in the Tokyo Dome the following month. However with this victory, Tenryu made another historic feat by being the first Japanese wrestler to win both the IWGP and Triple Crown belts, but the first wrestler overall to do it was Vader. Tenryu would return to All Japan but it was far from the state it once was, he used to be banned from the promotion as well as Baba did not appreciate him leaving with other wrestlers back then but now that he has passed away, Motoko (Baba's widow) had no choice but to welcome back the former champion back to their floundering promotion. Tenryu would have a rivalry against Toshiaki Kawada for the Triple Crown Championship which he would hold two more times during this run. Since 2004 he has wrestled as a freelancer, but around the 2000's mainly competed in NOAH, he even fought a former student of his Yoshinari Ogawa at their biggest show in the Tokyo Dome. Tenryu Project was created in 2010 which ran until his retirement in 2015 in his final match against Kazuchika Okada. In his prime, Genichiro Tenryu was a fantastic worker. He wasn't flashy by any means but would work great as a stiff fighter, which would be given more emphasis later on as he got older, and also an underrated technician. Ric Flair often cites his matches against Tenryu as some of his best in Japan, and other legends sing his praises as well. After all he wouldn't gain the nickname "Mr. Pro Wrestling" for nothing. I feel like whenever we look back on the history of All Japan, The Four Pillars are always highlighted for bringing AJPW at its highest point in terms of popularity, but Tenryu was one of the key reasons in laying the foundation for them in succeeding with his matches against Jumbo Tsuruta setting the bar for what good pro wrestling is all about. 13.) Tatsumi Fujinami Debut: May 9, 1971 In-Ring Career: 48 Years (ongoing) Bret Hart once said "I always wanted to be the great wrestler that Tatsumi Fujinami was." That pretty much speaks volumes in itself for how legendary Tatsumi Fujinami is, with one of the all time great workers put him over in such a complimentary way. A career that dates all the way back when he was 17 years old, mentored by Antonio Inoki in Japanese Wrestling Association (JWA), when Inoki was fired he would go on to create New Japan Pro Wrestling with Fujinami, Osamu Kido, and Kotetsu Yamamoto, the four of them are recognized as the founding fathers of NJPW. In the early years of NJPW, Fujinami was the gatekeeper for rookies, some of the notable ones he fought who would go on and have a strong career for themselves were Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Gran Hamada, and Mr. Pogo. In the late 70's he was sent on an excursion to North America first competing in Mexico for UWA then went to the US for the WWWF (now the WWE.) Fujinami won his first title with the company by becoming the WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion on January 23, 1978 defeating Jose Estrada. He brought the title back to Japan and became the premier junior heavyweight belt throughout the country, when Satoru Sayama aka Tiger Mask came along, Fujinami would move up to the heavyweights and make room for the new ace of the junior division. Around the early to mid 80's he would also win the WWF International Heavyweight Championship twice, then having a run with the tag-team division of NJPW becoming the inaugural IWGP Tag-Team Champions with Kengo Kimura. In 1988 Fujinami solidified his status as one of the main eventers of NJPW by defeating Vader for the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Championship but just 19 days in he would drop the belt back to Riki Choshu. The two of them would lead the company throughout the rest of the late 80's until early 90's, slowly replacing Antonio Inoki as the top stars of the promotion. Throughout his career, Fujinami would hold the prestigious IWGP Heavyweight Championship six times with a total combined reign of 785 days, making him one of the best champions in the history of the belt. One of the biggest highlights of Fujinami's career came on April 23, 1991 when he defeated Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship while also being the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion at the Tokyo Dome in a collaborative event between WCW and NJPW. Fujinami is the first and only wrestler to hold the two aforementioned World Titles simultaneously. In 2006 after nearly 35 years with the company, he left and went on to create his own promotion/brand: Muga World Pro-Wrestling which would later become Dradition while also freelancing for other companies. In 2007 he was involved in a dream match at Pro Wrestling NOAH when he tagged with Osamu Nishimura to take on Mitsuharu Misawa and Go Shiozaki, the first and only time Fujinami and Misawa shared a ring against one another. Even though he is already at his 60's, Fujinami is still competing and is in great shape for someone his age. In 2015 he was inducted into the WWE's Hall of Fame. The Dragon is one of the greatest performers to ever step foot in a wrestling ring, he has been idolized by so many other wrestlers not only in Japan but around the world. He has innovated many moves that we know today such as the Dragon Suplex and the Dragon Sleeper Hold. One of the all time greats in the history of NJPW and in the entire wrestling industry as a whole. 12.) Satoru Sayama/Tiger Mask I Debut: May 28, 1976 Last Match: June 23, 2016 In-Ring Career: 43 Years (inactive) Some of you might be surprised to see Satoru Sayama very high on this list, well if we're basing just on influence alone, his contributions to the junior heavyweight division of Puroresu easily earns him a spot in the Top 5. There would be no Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Great Sasuke, Ultimo Dragon, or any other legendary junior heavyweights that would follow if it wasn't for the success of Sayama. Being personally mentored by Inoki himself in the New Japan dojo and also received training from Karl Gotch, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, and Kotetsu Yamamoto, he has definitely learned from the greats. Sayama would debut in NJPW in 1976 against Shoji Kai, a jobber famous for putting over many future stars in Puroresu. During those early years, the junior heavyweight division was still non-existent and with his low frame, Sayama could barely make the cards so he was sent to England and Mexico to not only improve as a worker but gain some bulk as well which he eventually did. He captured his first title in 1979 under his excursion for EMLL by winning the NWA World Middleweight Championship, defeating Ringo Mendoza which lasted for 201 days then dropped it to El Satanico. In 1981 Sayama returned to New Japan and the company at the time were thinking ways of attracting more audience, they would then create a true to life wrestling character of the popular anime and manga series called "Tiger Mask" with its plot circled around professional wrestling with the protagonist and other characters being wrestlers. The one chosen to portray the role was Sayama, initially the fans weren't so fond of the gimmick as they thought he wasn't a "legit wrestler" because back then colorful gimmicks were a rarity especially in traditional Puroresu, with the exception of touring luchadors like Mil Mascaras. But as time went by, Satoru Sayama would impress the crowds with his skills as a wrestler, incorporating styles of highflying and martial arts. Plus his victory over Dynamite Kid helped in legitimizing him as a real competitor rather than just a promotional figure for the source material. Speaking of Dynamite Kid, him and Sayama would pretty much pave the way for the entire junior heavyweight division of NJPW. Their matches together weren't only great but influential as well as it gave a proper platform for the junior heavyweights and seeing them as not only side attractions but could produce matches just as good if not even better than the heavyweights. The match between Tiger Mask and Dynamite at Sumo Hall in 1983 would be the first ever 5 star match rated by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Sayama would find massive success as Tiger Mask not only in Japan but in the United States as well particularly for the WWF. He is the only wrestler to hold the junior heavyweight championships of both the WWF and NWA simultaneously and before the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship came to existence, Sayama made those the premier belts of the division at the time. In 1983 Tiger Mask surprised the entire wrestling world by announcing his retirement as he was still at the prime of his career. However the true reasons behind it was that he was allegedly not happy with the backstage politics in NJPW so he left. Upon his departure he founded Tiger Gym and trained many wrestlers and martial artists. A year later he'd return to the ring with the shoot-based wrestling promotion UWF but at this point AJPW already owned the rights to the Tiger Mask character so he was forced to use other names such as The Tiger and Super Tiger. But his comeback wouldn't last long as he would have disputes against UWF founder Akira Maeda on the way wrestling must be presented within the promotion, after a real life fight that happened in their match up, Sayama left the company and had a long hiatus from active competition, focusing himself on training others in his gym. Since 1994 though Sayama has returned to wrestling, competing in various promotions throughout the country. He was particularly offered to come back by his old mentor Inoki and would go on to pass on the Tiger Mask to its current wearer actually, Yoshihiro Yamazaki aka Tiger Mask IV whom he personally trained himself. In 2005 he created his own promotion: Real Japan Pro Wrestling (RJPW) which still runs today. As of the writing of this article, Sayama's last match took place in 2016 so I think it is safe to say that he is retired from active competition now at the age of 62. There have been many variations of the "Tiger Mask" persona over the years. The lineage of the original gimmick itself has some great wrestlers in it with the second Tiger Mask being Mitsuharu Misawa, the third Koji Kanemoto, and the fourth one is still doing great in NJPW. But nobody could ever beat the original Tiger Mask. He was not only influential in the success of the junior heavyweights but instrumental in drawing audiences towards the "shoot-style" of wrestling as well, heavily incorporating martial arts in offensive move sets which led to the creation of different promotions such as the aforementioned UWF and then later on with MMA becoming a sport in itself. Satoru Sayama is a man ahead of his time and a true living legend of the sport. 11.) Toshiaki Kawada Debut: October 4, 1982 Retired: August 15, 2010 In-Ring Career: 27 Years Another member of the Four Heaven Pillars, Mitsuharu Misawa was arguably the biggest star of them all, Kenta Kobashi is my personal favorite, Akira Taue is the most underrated, and then there is Toshiaki Kawada. The one who pledged loyalty to Giant Baba and went through with his promise, becoming one of the greatest wrestlers in AJPW history and also carried the promotion in his back during its roughest of years after the departure of his colleagues. Before he became a pro, Kawada already had experience being an amateur wrestler in his high school years, in fact in his senior year he defeated Keiichi Yamada, the man who would go on to become Jushin Liger. It was also during these years where his history between Mitsuharu Misawa started as Misawa was one year ahead of him in school but would always interact with one another due to their common interest in wrestling. When Kawada finally pursued to become a pro wrestler, he initially wanted to go to NJPW but Misawa convinced him to try out for AJPW and as they say the rest is history. But imagine the scenario there, a huge "what if?" had Kawada went on to continue for New Japan. How different things might be. But anyway after being mentored by Baba and Tenryu, he would find instant success in the tag-team division after his excursion from the states winning the All Asia Tag-Team Championships three straight times from 1988 to 1990 with Samson Fuyuki. Then in 1990 when Tenryu left All Japan, Kawada joined Mitsuharu Misawa's group in fighting against Jumbo Tsuruta and his squad, this would lead to Kawada and Misawa teaming up before their famous rivalry and they ended up winning the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships in 1991 and once more the following year before breaking up. Kawada and Taue were also initially heated rivals before becoming a successful team together, a record 6x AJPW World Tag-Team Champions and Kawada himself had nine individual reigns with the belts. Around the late 90's came along though, his push as a singles star also followed suit. As Jumbo Tsuruta's time is beginning to wane down and Tenryu being gone from the company, AJPW relied on the Four Heavenly Pillars as its next main event stars. On June 1, 1993 the first match between Kawada & Taue vs. Misawa & Kobashi took place which Giant Baba himself commented as "the greatest match he has ever seen" and later on the same pair of teams would face off each other eight more times and set the bar for quality tag-team wrestling. On June 3, 1994 Kawada and Misawa put on a match that was seen by many as the "Singles Match of the Decade" showcasing the King's Road style at its very best. Also in the same year, Kawada would hold the Triple Crown Championship for the first time defeating "Dr. Death" Steve Williams then proceeding to have an instant classic one hour draw defense against Kenta Kobashi before dropping it to Stan Hansen. In his entire career, Kawada held the Triple Crown a total of five times with a total combined reign of 736 days. As of 1996 Kawada solidified his spot as the ace of All Japan. Unfortunately when Giant Baba passed away in 1999, a year later Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue, and other key pieces to the AJPW roster would leave and form Pro Wrestling NOAH. Toshiaki Kawada would be one of only four wrestlers who stayed with the company along with Masanobu Fuchi, Stan Hansen, and Maunakea Mossman (aka Taiyo Kea.) Kawada stayed loyal to the promotion and carried the entire AJPW company behind his back all throughout the 2000's, being its only last main eventer left. Because of their poor state, Genichiro Tenryu who was formerly banished from All Japan returned as well as the company forming up a relationship with long time rival company NJPW which saw Triple Crown Champion Kawada defend his belt against some notable New Japan talents, in fact his 5th reign with the belt was historic, lasted for 529 days and he beat Misawa's record of most successful title defenses with 10 beating a variety of stars like Don Frye, Shinya Hashimoto, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and even Mick Foley in HUSTLE. Around 2005 he started to become a freelancer and competed for various promotions including main eventing the Tokyo Dome once more and reigniting his feud against Misawa in NOAH at their biggest show Destiny 2005. It was the final bout between the two legendary rivals. Kawada held his final title in 2009 becoming ZERO1 World Heavyweight Champion when he defeated Masato Tanaka, with only three successful defenses in 169 days he dropped the belt to Kohei Sato. When Mitsuharu Misawa unfortunately passed away, Kawada felt like his time was over in wrestling as well. He said he lost the motivation to compete now that the greatest competition of his life was gone, he quietly retired from professional wrestling with his last match on August 15, 2010. Apart from his iconic kicks and legendary 5 star matches against Misawa, Kobashi, Taue, and many others, the greatest legacy of Toshiaki Kawada is carrying out All Japan from the ashes and helped out in the survival of the promotion his mentor built. He could have easily jumped ship and go where the money is in NOAH but he chose to remain loyal with AJPW and the last wishes of Giant Baba is to keep the promotion going, and thanks to Kawada's perseverance the company is still very much active today and is on the verge of a resurgence with Kento Miyahara leading the way for the future. 10.) Jumbo Tsuruta Debut: March 24, 1973 Retired: September 11, 1998 In-Ring Career: 25 Years Before The Four Heavenly Pillars dominated the main event scene of AJPW, there was first Jumbo Tsuruta, the original Ace of All Japan. After his amateur wrestling career, even competing in the 1972 Summer Olympics, Tsuruta was personally recruited by Giant Baba to join AJPW. He was then sent to the Amarillo, Texas territory of The Funks for his excursion. Unlike most Japanese wrestlers who compete in the States as the typical evil foreigner, Tsuruta was actually cheered by the American fans thanks to his in-ring skills and personality that shined through his matches. Before becoming the top main eventer of AJPW, he started out as a long time tag-team partner to Giant Baba becoming 6x NWA International Tag-Team Champions, he would also win those belts with Genichiro Tenryu and Yoshiaki Yatsu. Upon his return to Japan, he was given the name "Jumbo" by the fans. He was also a 6x NWA United National Champion, 3x NWA International Champion, and 1x PWF Heavyweight Champion. He was also the first Japanese wrestler to become AWA World Heavyweight Champion. Throughout the 80's, Jumbo Tsuruta would become the main star of All Japan and had a lot of memorable bouts and feuds against foreign legends like Abdullah the Butcher, Stan Hansen, Bruiser Brody, Nick Bockwinkel, Harley Race, The Funks, The Destroyer, and Ric Flair just to name a few. He would also have a long lasting rivalry against Genichiro Tenryu and the two of them pretty much set the bar for high quality matches in AJPW and led the company as its main event stars the entire decade. He also wrestled some matches in IWE and mainly fought against another legendary rival in Rusher Kimura which would transcend in AJPW. On April 18, 1989 Jumbo Tsuruta made history by becoming the inaugural Triple Crown Champion defeating Stan Hansen and unified the PWF, NWA United National, and the NWA International Heavyweight titles all into one. Since then the Triple Crown would become the top prize of the company and to this day while the belt itself is represented as an individual title, there are plates that symbolized the original three which were initially carried out by the champion. Tsuruta would hold the belts two more times with a total combined reign of 659 days. He would also unify the NWA International Tag-Team and PWF Tag-Team Championships with Yoshiaki Yatsu which would become the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships that he held seven times. As the 90's came along, the star power of the Pillars were starting to grow, particularly for Mitsuharu Misawa. On June 8, 1990 in their singles match, that Tsuruta was originally going to win, Baba changed his decision on the last minute and give the victory to Misawa to whom by this point was becoming a beloved superstar by the fans. Misawa's win against Jumbo would symbolize a new era for All Japan and acted as a way of "passing the torch" to the next generation of talents. Two years later Tsuruta was unfortunately diagnosed with hepatitis B. He was still able to wrestle but by doctor's orders, he couldn't be as active as he was before so his position in the card was drastically relegated into opening tag acts with former rivals Rusher Kimura, Haruka Eigen, and Mitsuo Momota. But it wasn't a problem in terms of the main event scene of AJPW as by that point many of their future stars were already established. Jumbo Tsuruta wrestled his final match on September 11, 1998 when he teamed up with Giant Baba and Rusher Kimura to defeat the team of Haruka Eigen, Masanobu Fuchi, and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi. After Baba's passing in 1999, he announced his retirement from active competition. Unfortunately a year later the wrestling world suffered the loss of a great legend after complications from an operation would take away the life of Jumbo Tsuruta. As they say for many people, he is gone but never forgotten. His contributions for AJPW will always get recognized, putting the promotion in the map and delivering many of the greatest matches in the company's history at his prime. He paved the way for those who followed after him and wasn't afraid in putting his ego aside for future superstars. A legend in every sense of the word. 9.) Jushin "Thunder" Liger Debut: March 3, 1984 Retired: January 5, 2020 In-Ring Career: 35 Years The greatest junior heavyweight of all time. No one else even comes close. I've briefly mentioned Keiichi Yamada on Toshiaki Kawada's entry wherein they fought in senior high school as amateur wrestlers. After his graduation, Yamada would apply for the New Japan Dojo but due to his size, he was not accepted immediately so he went on to train and grow in Mexico by his own account which nearly left him homeless. But the sacrifice was worth it as he would eventually enter along the same class with the likes of Mutoh, Hashimoto, Chono, and Suzuki. Around the late 80's he was sent to excursion in England and Canada, everything would change though in 1989 when Keiichi Yamada was chosen to be the one to portray the character of Jushin "Thunder" Liger, the protagonist of an anime/manga of the same name. Similar concept with Tiger Mask, NJPW were looking for the next successful marketable figure in their roster and well it turned out pretty good all things considered. On April 24, 1989 Keiichi Yamada was no more and out came Jushin "Thunder" Liger for the first time in the Tokyo Dome against Kuniaki Kobayashi. From '89 to 2000, Liger ruled the junior heavyweight division and became its biggest star. Within that timeframe Liger made history by becoming a record 11x IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion with a total combined reign of 2,245 days. If that isn't enough to solidify his spot as the GOAT of the juniors then I don't know what will. Besides the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title, in his three decade career he has accumulated a total of 18 other championships not only in Japan but all over the world! His matches against Naoki Sano during the early years is what really got him rolling and legitimized both men as top stars of the division. Later on as time went by Liger would face a multitude of other great talents such as Great Sasuke, Ultimo Dragon, Shinjiro Otani, and Norio Honaga in NJPW. He is also the only wrestler to have matches with all versions of the Tiger Mask and Black Tiger gimmicks. Think of any promotion or wrestler over the past 30 years and chances are Liger has wrestled them or for that company one way or another. Found success in the US particularly for WCW having memorable matches against Brian Pillman, Eddie Guerrero, and Rey Mysterio and of course in Mexico where he embraced the lucha libre style. He is an innovator as well, being credited for the creation of the Shooting Star Press maneuver, first used it in 1988 in a match against Masakatsu Funaki. Around 1996 Liger would lessen the highflying moves and focus on his groundwork and technical style of wrestling, this is due to surviving a brain tumor surgery. What's great about Liger too is that his gimmick did not go stale and managed to add different details and transform his character, adapting it to various storylines and situations. Perhaps his most well known other version is Kishin Liger, the darker side of Jushin Liger which when pushed to his very limits would appear and terrorize his opponents. Over the course of his entire career, Kishin Liger only appeared four times against The Great Muta (1996), Bad Boy Hido (2006), Taichi (2012), and Minoru Suzuki (2019.) He also had "Battle Liger" in which he takes off most of his costumes and wrestles in a traditional gear and removed the horns of his mask, this is usually seen whenever he fights heavyweights like Shinya Hashimoto and Minoru Suzuki. Even the standard Liger gear itself has seen an evolution throughout the decades. As of 2001 Jushin "Thunder" Liger has moved into a veteran role of the junior heavyweights, primarily putting over the upcoming stars which he was never afraid of doing even in his final years as a performer. The man has built such a strong presence and legacy that winning over him meant a big deal. 4,205 recorded matches in 70 promotions across four continents in 35 years of active competition. That is the career of Jushin "Thunder" Liger. The numbers aren't the only ones that speak for themselves but his entire body of work, from his debut until his very last match, Liger was always a great wrestler. He has never failed to entertain the fans no matter how big or small the audience is, he did not only make himself better but made professional wrestling a whole lot better with his presence. There will never be another one like him ever again. 8.) Riki Choshu Debut: August 8, 1974 Retired: June 26, 2019 In-Ring Career: 44 Years "The Revolution Warrior" Riki Choshu is a man that lives up to his epithet as being one of the most influential figures in Puroresu especially for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Started out a career as an amateur wrestler, the Korean-Japanese wrestler would then join the NJPW Dojo in the early 70's, personally scouted by Antonio Inoki then got mentored by Masa Saito. In his debut match he defeated El Greco with the Sasori Gatame which he invented, in English its better known as the Scorpion Deathlock or Sharpshooter as popularized by Sting and Bret Hart respectively. He initially started out wrestling under his real name Mitsuo Yoshida but in 1977 began competing as Riki Choshu. In his early years, he was sent to North America for excursion winning his first title in 1979 as 1/2 of the NWA North American Tag-Team Champions with Seiji Sakaguchi, followed by the UWA World Heavyweight Championship in Mexico and the WWF International Heavyweight Championship. Upon Choshu's return from Mexico, he would team up with Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami in a six man tag against Abdullah the Butcher, Bad News Allen, and SD Jones. But due to his growing frustration of being left behind the shadows of Fujinami, Choshu would end up arguing with his future rival in the match and thus a long-time feud between the two was born that day. In 1982 Riki Choshu formed his famous stable the Revolutionary Army or better known as Ishin Gundan that compromised many of the top stars of Puroresu at the time who would all become legends of their own. Masa Saito, Killer Khan, Animal Hamaguchi, Yoshiaki Yatsu, Isamu Teranishi, Kuniaki Kobayashi, and Tiger Toguchi. That's a pretty stacked lineup if I've ever seen one. From '82 to '87 Ishin Gundan would cause havoc in both NJPW and AJPW as in 1984 he would also compete for the rival company as a part of Japan Pro-Wrestling, a subsidiary promotion of All Japan. In his time there, Choshu had matches against the likes of Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu, as well as learning the foreign style of wrestling having faced many gaijin legends like Ric Flair, Bruiser Brody, Harley Race, and Vader just to name a few. By this point Riki Choshu is already one of the top heavyweights throughout the country and has established a solid career for himself in both the leading promotions in Japan, not many can say that they wrestled at the prime of their careers in both NJPW and AJPW whilst also finding success in the process. 1989 Choshu returned full time for NJPW, the same year he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship defeating Salman Hashimikov but just weeks later would drop the belt to Vader. It wasn't until in the early 90's with his two other reigns with the belt where he had a proper run, primarily fought against an old foe in Tatsumi Fujinami. Their highly acclaimed matches together are some of the best in NJPW history. Also around this time he would put over future stars such as Shinya Hashimoto, Masahiro Chono, and Keiji Mutoh as well. While still wrestling, Choshu would also become the head booker eventually and under his leadership, NJPW became the de facto biggest promotion in the country, selling out the Tokyo Dome multiple times and earning the company millions in revenue. In 1998 Choshu decided to retire for the first time, in what was supposedly his final event, he wrestled in five singles matches in one night. He won four of the five matches defeating Jushin Liger, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Kazuyuki Fujita, Yutaka Yoshie while losing to Takashi Iizuka. His retirement would only last for a year, as Choshu would come back in 2000 for NJPW after being challenged by Atsushi Onita in a barbed wire death match. He continued working for New Japan on and off, in 2003 he created Fighting World of Japan Pro-Wrestling but was a short lived promotion then two years later formed another brand in Riki Pro. Choshu's last match in NJPW was in 2012 where he wrestled in a multi-men tag for the 40th Anniversary Event. After four decades, he officially retired in 2019 wrestling his final match at the age of 68 teaming up with Shiro Koshinaka and one of his students Tomohiro Ishii against old rivals Keiji Mutoh, Tatsumi Fujinami, and another student in Togi Makabe. In his prime only few could square up as great as Riki Choshu, he had a lot of memorable and legendary matches over the years whether against fellow national talents or foreigners. His influence in the industry is underrated, especially to most fans in the West but he will always be remembered as one of the greatest ever to step in the ring. 7.) Kenta Kobashi Debut: February 26, 1988 Retired: May 11, 2013 In-Ring Career: 25 Years When Grand Sword by Osamu Suzuki starts to play and the thousands of people begin to chant "KOBASHI!" simultaneously, it never fails to send me chills every time. Before his debut Kobashi applied to the AJPW Dojo and was trained there by a list of legends: obviously there was Giant Baba but also Dory Funk Jr., Masanobu Fuchi, and Kazuharu Sonoda. In his first 63 matches in AJPW, Kobashi loss all of them as it was perfectly booked by Giant Baba with Kobashi playing the gutsy never-say-die underdog which he inherited for the rest of his career. On May 1989 he finally scored his first victory against Mitch Snow. From 1990 to 1994 Kobashi had a successful run as a tag-team wrestler, he is a 4x All Asia Tag-Team Champion with Tiger Mask II (Misawa), Johnny Ace twice, and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, then capturing the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships with Misawa on two occasions. He is another member of the Four Heavenly Pillars that dominated the main event scene of AJPW throughout the 90's with their high quality and memorable matches, particularly his tag-team matches with Misawa against the team of Kawada and Taue. While he has challenged for the belt beforehand, it wasn't until in 1996 when Kobashi captured his first World Title by defeating Akira Taue for the Triple Crown Championship, which he would hold two more times later on in his career. Later on he would win the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships again with Johnny Ace and Jun Akiyama, making him a total 6x champion of the belts. When Mitsuharu Misawa left AJPW in 2000 and went on to create NOAH, Kobashi would join him aboard and instantly became one of the top draws in the entire promotion second only to Misawa himself. On March 1, 2003 Kenta Kobashi defeated Mitsuharu Misawa for the GHC Heavyweight Championship in what is considered by many as one of, if not the greatest match in the history of professional wrestling. What then started was for the longest time considered as the greatest World Title run in Puroresu history as Kobashi reigned as GHC Champion for 735 days with 14 successful title defenses. What made this reign even greater than it already is all of his championship matches are great and unique in their own ways, if you got like 7 hours to spare I recommend watching his entire title run documented in one single video. It is safe to say that he is the greatest champion of the belt's history and really cemented its status as a prestigious title among the IWGP Heavyweight and Triple Crown Championships that were already established in Puro. Then in the Tokyo Dome he would have his iconic match against Kensuke Sasaki where they exchanged chop after chop, in a first time dream match between the two warriors. After his historic run with the title, Kobashi would proceed to have a tag-team run with long time friend Tamon Honda and they captured the GHC Tag-Team Championships. However their run was cut short as Kobashi would leave the sport temporarily due to getting diagnosed with cancer. A year later in 2007 we got one of the most emotional moments in professional wrestling when Kenta Kobashi successfully won his battle against cancer and returned to the ring in a tag-team match where he teamed up with Yoshihiro Takayama to take on the team of Jun Akiyama and his longtime rival Mitsuharu Misawa. The crowd erupted in cheers when Kobashi entered the arena. You can feel the love and support everyone has for him in that moment alone. He would continue to compete for NOAH until in 2013 when he retired, his last match he was booked in an 8 man tag-team match as he was partnered with his friends Keiji Mutoh, Jun Akiyama, and Kensuke Sasaki when they took on the young talents of NOAH, KENTA, Go Shiozaki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Maybach Taniguchi all of whom were mentored by Kobashi one way or another. To me Kenta Kobashi is the quintessential professional wrestler. He had it all: a memorable move set to go along with his impressive in-ring skills, the charisma that is able to connect with the crowd all the time which fit perfectly with his underdog attitude, and the overall presence of a fighting champion. Kobashi is the personification of a warrior, despite all the setback including a stack of injuries and even a possible fatal disease, he was able to overcome it all and triumph in the end, flashing his infectious smile as a sign of victory. Out of the Four Pillars he is the one I connected towards the most, he had that "one with the masses" aura which is why so many fans gravitated to him easily, plus Kobashi is just overall one of my all time favorite wrestlers, I'm glad he was able to close off his legendary career in his own way, cementing his status as a living legend. The Hammer will keep on Burning forever! 6.) Hiroshi Tanahashi Debut: October 10, 1999 In-Ring Career: 20 Years (ongoing) There have been many that were called "Ace", the one at the very top of the promotion, but only one can be the true Ace of the Universe and that is Hiroshi Tanahashi. Before he got his current status as a superstar though Tanahashi had an interesting early few years in wrestling. As I've mentioned in Shinsuke Nakamura's entry, they were a part of the same dojo class along with Katsuyori Shibata dubbed as the "New Three Musketeers." Tana's first match was a victory against Shinya Makabe, who is now better known as Togi Makabe. He was viewed as a top prospect from the get-go, earning huge victories over wrestling legends such as Negro Casas and Scott Hall. In the 2002 G1 Climax, Tanahashi pinned former champion Kensuke Sasaki in under two minutes and then formed a tag-team with Kenzo Suzuki as King of the Hills, but they didn't last long because of the infamous incident that took place on November 2002 when Tanahashi's then girlfriend Hitomi Hara a TV reporter stabbed him and even attempted to murder him, resulting in Tana getting injured and was on the shelf for awhile during his recovery. Oddly enough this very incident would be a blessing in disguise for the career of Tanahashi as it would gain massive publicity and was covered throughout the whole country which garnered the attention of many people. This was proven as on February 16, 2003 in Tanahashi's first match back since the incident, it was a total sellout in Tokyo against Manabu Nakanishi. Add in his impressive talents in the ring and natural charisma, New Japan found their next big superstar. But it wasn't such an easy road for Tana as his superstardom came along the tyrannical reign of Inokism upon NJPW. Antonio Inoki's fascination with MMA went overboard by prioritizing wrestlers with martial arts background or straight up MMA fighters, overshadowing the traditional pro wrestlers even the ones that graduated from the dojo, including Tanahashi himself. The fans weren't so keen with the product and seeing their favorite wrestlers lose to MMA fighters they could care less about. This would lead to poor attendance and TV ratings, causing the largest downfall of NJPW in the history of the company, they didn't call it the twilight years for nothing as the New Japan was on the brink of death at one point. Although some athletes like Kazuyuki Fujita and Bob Sapp had their star power, it wasn't enough for the fans to be attached to them as faces of the company, especially not someone like Tadao Yasuda who was already a notoriously poor performer to begin with as a wrestler then getting a fluke MMA win which garnered him an IWGP Title victory. Then they really were at their lowest with the infamous Brock Lesnar and his controversial run in the company. That is what Tanahashi went through. But despite this, unlike his classmate Katsuyori Shibata who left the company and wrestle for other promotions, Tana stayed loyal to New Japan even through its darkest of times. When there were barely any audience in the crowd, he kept on performing, believed in himself and the rest of the other wrestlers like Nakamura, Nagata, and Tenzan to stick together and see the company shine once more. Well it all came true eventually, as Antonio Inoki left NJPW and New Japan was bought by Yukes, a video game company. On July 17, 2006 it signaled the new era for NJPW when Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Giant Albert for the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Finally, after all the undeserving champions and transitional runs, Tanahashi has officially become The Ace. Carrying the company from the brink of death to slowly push them to newer and better heights, with him leading the charge. For the next several years, Hiroshi Tanahashi would become a record 8x IWGP Heavyweight Champion with a total combined reign of 1,396 days. He would also win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and IWGP Tag-Team Championships twice respectively among many other belts along the way. Not only did he have a decorated career but has a stacked resume of great matches against other talented opponents in his time as the ace. From veterans like Nagata and Tenzan, to an old rival in Nakamura, gaijin talents like AJ Styles, Kenny Omega, and Chris Jericho. Now with modern day members of the roster: Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi, and Jay White. Obviously his rivalry with Kazuchika Okada is one for the ages, which catapulted both men as global superstars and brought in a large international audience with the continuous growth of NJPW all over the world. Tanahashi is more than just a champion or a great wrestler. He has become synonymous not only with the IWGP Title but with NJPW in general. From being seen as a top prospect in his dojo class, Tanahashi surpassed all expectations and became a hero the fans adored, he transcended professional wrestling and is a household name in Japan. That ladies and gentlemen, truly is a Once in a Century Talent. GO ACE! 5.) Mitsuharu Misawa Debut: August 2, 1981 Last Match: June 13, 2009 In-Ring Career: 27 Years Factoring solely the skills of a professional wrestler in the ring, Mitsuharu Misawa is in my opinion the greatest of all time. Not just in Japan but in the entire world. That was the level of talent he had. Just like many others in this list, Misawa started out as an amateur wrestler but only saw it as a stepping stone because professional wrestling was still the bigger picture for him since he was young. He entered the AJPW Dojo in 1981 would get trained by some of the most legendary figures in wrestling: Giant Baba, The Destroyer, Dory Funk Jr., and even Lou Thesz! In his rookie years Misawa was already showcasing a lot of his greatness and was one of the most talented wrestlers in the entire roster. He would be sent on an excursion in Mexico where he learned more about the highflying style, particularly from La Fiera in EMLL. In 1984 he made his return to AJPW but this time went on a character change by becoming the second incarnation of Tiger Mask as All Japan were able to secure the rights of the anime-inspired gimmick. He would wrestle as Tiger Mask II for seven years, initially working the junior heavyweight division. On August 31, 1985 he won his first title by becoming NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion defeating Kuniaki Kobayashi. He would also win the PWF Tag-Team Championships with Jumbo Tsuruta and the All Asia Tag-Team Championships with Kenta Kobashi as Tiger Mask. Around the mid 80's Tiger Mask II was a frequent tag-team partner with Giant Baba and also had a lot of interesting match ups in this timeframe such as having his only match against then reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair in a non-title match. In 1988 he fought Curt Hennig for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, actually won the match by count out but the belt did not changed hands. A year later he would have another shot at a prestigious World Title when he fought Ricky Steamboat for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship but was unsuccessful. After an injury that sidelined him for awhile, Misawa returned in 1990 and would wrestle in the Tokyo Dome for the first time in a collaboration event with NJPW. The president of New Japan at the time, Seiji Sakaguchi offered Giant Baba the deal as WCW wasn't able to participate in the aforementioned event, the latter agreed as long as none of his All Japan wrestlers would lose or looked weak. So the event was set on February 10, 1990 at the "NJPW Super Fight in Tokyo Dome" wherein Tiger Mask II and Genichiro Tenryu teamed up to take the count out victory over NJPW's George Takano and Riki Choshu. Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas in the same arena the day before drew 30,000 but this event outdrew them by a wide margin with the attendance at 53,000. Another notable match of Misawa under the Tiger Mask was in a time limit draw against Bret Hart four days later in a WWF/NJPW/AJPW collaboration event. When Genichiro Tenryu left AJPW in 1990 to form Super World of Sports, Jumbo Tsuruta was the only one left as a main event level talent, so it wouldn't take long before they found a new superstar in Mitsuharu Misawa. He was always seen as a top prospect someday but now with the circumstances in his favor, the desired push is finally here awaiting for him. On May 14, 1990 one of the most historic moments in pro wrestling history, in the middle of their tag-team match against Yoshiaki Yatsu and Samson Fuyuki, Toshiaki Kawada was commanded to unmasked Tiger Mask II, unveiling Mitsuharu Misawa to the world. This would be the turning point for the career of Misawa as the next Ace of All Japan and his rise to the upper echelon of professional wrestling as a whole. His victory over Jumbo Tsuruta the same year would truly put him over and the torch was officially passed after their historic bout. August 22, 1992 Misawa captured the Triple Crown Championship for the first time defeating Stan Hansen. He would go on to have the longest run in the belt's history at 705 days, proving himself as a massive draw with eight successful defenses, most notably against Toshiaki Kawada who would be his best rival having some of the greatest matches in history with each other. Misawa would hold the Triple Crown four more times later on with a total combined reign of 1,799 days which is still the record by a large margin. For two decades, Mitsuharu Misawa has wrestled strictly for All Japan Pro Wrestling but after the passing of his two mentors Jumbo Tsuruta and Giant Baba and unable to fully control the company as its president due to misunderstandings with Motoko (Baba's widow) he led the mass exodus of roster and went on to create Pro Wrestling NOAH. There was a point in time where NOAH was the biggest promotion in Japan, with NJPW suffering with poor attendance and AJPW floundering after a majority of their top talents left, NOAH became the must-watch wrestling as it delivered some of the best matches throughout the early 2000's with Misawa, Kobashi, Taue, Akiyama, and their junior heavyweight and young prospects all showcasing their talents. Their most successful show was Destiny 2005 selling out the Tokyo Dome with Misawa headlining against a familiar opponent in Toshiaki Kawada, a match that culminated their rivalry going way back in their days as high school students. In NOAH, Misawa was a 3x GHC Heavyweight Champion and 2x GHC Tag-Team Champion. However with all the accolades and five star matches came along its consequences. Due to the physical demands and injuries he has put himself through over the years, Misawa's body was no longer able to take it in. Instead of taking rests, due to NOAH itself unable to established a proper new star, Misawa was forced to wrestle way past his prime. His final run with GHC Title his body could barely get through the pain anymore but he was forced to lead the promotion otherwise they would go defunct. On January 4, 2009 at Wrestle Kingdom 3 he wrestled his first and only match in a New Japan ring where him and Takashi Sugiura represented NOAH in a losing effort against Shinsuke Nakamura and Hirooki Goto. Unfortunately five months later, the biggest tragedy in Puroresu since the stabbing of Rikidozan took place, Mitsuharu Misawa died in the ring. A painful end to the career of a legendary figure. I don't want to end this on a sad note though, we should all remember Misawa for the great talent that he was. Like I said, if we're simply talking about in-ring skills there was nobody else better than him. He has perfected a psychology in wrestling wherein he always felt like a "final boss" as they say. Misawa didn't have the charisma like Kobashi nor the intensity of Kawada, but he didn't need to. The emotionless, stoic fighter of a man who could endure punishment, that is what he embodied throughout his career and just like his contemporaries, had the heart of a champion. Truly the King of the King's Road. 4.) Keiji Mutoh/The Great Muta Debut: October 5, 1984 In-Ring Career: 35 Years (ongoing) To most fans The Great Muta is the most recognizable Japanese wrestler of all time and the gateway for many in the world of Puroresu. But he wasn't all just about the mists and mystique, the man behind the character is just as legendary and that is Keiji Mutoh. A black belt in judo, Mutoh would enter the dojo in 1984 and was trained by Hiro Matsuda, who was one of the most legendary trainers in wrestling having produced students in the States most notably Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, and Ron Simmons. Anyway in his first excursion, Mutoh was sent to the US where he went under the gimmick "The White Ninja" and had a brief run with the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship. In 1987 he returned in NJPW at the time the company was feuding with a rival promotion: UWF. He won the IWGP Tag-Team Championships with Shiro Koshinaka but just 6 days in would drop them to Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada. He'd have another excursion this time in Puerto Rico, there he formed the Three Musketeers with Chono and Hashimoto but it wasn't until in his time with the NWA in March 18, 1989 where "The Great Muto" persona was born, however commentator Jim Ross mispronounced it as "Muta" and that name would stick ever since. The character was inspired by his predecessor The Great Kabuki, Muta would also use mists and was covered in face paint, later on as years progress he'd add a lot more details to the character such as extravagant costumes and gear during entrances. During the early years of The Great Muta he had memorable matches against the likes of Ric Flair, Sting, Arn Anderson, and The Von Erichs. The 90's ushered in a new era for New Japan with its rising stars Hashimoto, Mutoh, and Chono leading the way, going over established main eventers like Riki Choshu and Tatsumi Fujinami. On August 16, 1992 The Great Muta became the IWGP Heavyweight Champion then defeated Masahiro Chono for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, becoming the second only wrestler to hold both belts simultaneously. It was his only IWGP Title run as The Great Muta, as his three other title reigns he'd win as himself: Keiji Mutoh. Over the course of time he would exchange in between his two personas depending on the matches and storylines he's involved in. Around the late 90's, the nWo craze would take over the world and along with Masahiro Chono would become the standard bearers of the faction in Japan while also being core members in the WCW subsidiary in the US. On 2002 after several years of being a top star for New Japan, Mutoh surprised the wrestling world by defecting to AJPW who were in dire need of another massive name to keep their company afloat. He has already held the Triple Crown Championship beforehand when both rival promotions had a partnership a year prior. He would win the belt again two more times as The Great Muta. From 2008 to 2009 he became a dual World Champion by being the second wrestler to hold the IWGP and Triple Crown Heavyweight Championships simultaneously, having the iconic image of him with all the belts. In 2013 Mutoh left AJPW entirely and created a promotion of his own: WRESTLE-1. To this day Mutoh is still an active competitor despite his age, he has wrestled for a plethora of independent promotions throughout Japan and the US. Still pulling off Shining Wizards and spitting mists in people's faces. On March 14, 2018 he hit his final Moonsault Press retiring the move altogether, yes folks they had an entire retirement ceremony just for one of his signature moves, that's how revered this man is. Mutoh is one of the most decorated wrestlers ever in Puroresu being an 8x World Champion and 11x World Tag-Team Champion across NJPW, AJPW, and WRESTLE-1. I'm not usually one to compare wrestlers often but he is a lot similar to The Undertaker, both of them have their mythical figures and normal selves throughout their wrestling careers. Becoming respected veterans of their craft whilst accomplishing a lot in the process and delivered a lot of iconic and memorable matches. The Great Muta is the greatest character in Puroresu while Keiji Mutoh is one of the all time great personalities ever, both played a huge role in the growth of the sport in an international level. A genuine Pro-Wrestling Master. 3.) Giant Baba Debut: September 30, 1960 Retired: December 5, 1998 In-Ring Career: 38 Years Before Andre the Giant went on to become a household name in professional wrestling, Japan already had its beloved gigantic figure with Shohei "Giant" Baba. During his younger years, Baba played baseball and even went pro throughout the 50's. After a hand injury though he would leave the sport and went on to become a professional wrestler and trained under Rikidozan who he has already met prior during his baseball run and convinced him to become a wrestler. Along with Kanji Inoki (later on Antonio Inoki) they would be on the same dojo class of the JWA, under the tutelage of Rikidozan and they would eventually debut on the same show. In 1961 Rikidozan gave Baba the opportunity to wrestle in the States, on some territories he was a beloved giant wrestling as "Big" Shohei Baba while on some he was a hated villain as Baba the Giant. He wrestled a lot of American legends at the time The Destroyer and Buddy Rogers, in 1964 he even had a WWWF World Championship match against Bruno Sammartino in Madison Square Garden. From 1964 to 1967 he would have successful tag-team runs with Toyonobori and Michiaki Yoshimura winning the All Asia Tag-Team Championships and NWA International Tag-Team Championships. However after the death of Rikidozan, Baba would be the main attraction of JWA then later on finding success with Inoki as B-I Cannon winning the NWA International Tag-Team Championships four times. Overall Baba held those belts a record 12 times throughout his career. When both of them went their separate ways, it wouldn't take long before JWA would close shop and history was made as soon thereafter we would see the creations of two of the most influential promotions in the history of wrestling. In 1972 Giant Baba founded All Japan Pro Wrestling along with Mitsuo and Yoshihiro Momota, Rikidozan's sons who were also wrestlers. For the first ten years of the company, Giant Baba would be the focal point and its biggest draw. Headlining multiple events against notable talents both national and international. Baba would become a 4x PWF Heavyweight Champion, 3x NWA International Heavyweight Champion, and 3x NWA World Heavyweight Champion while also being All Asia Heavyweight Champion for 1,262 days straight in his time as the Ace of All Japan. Some of his noteworthy adversaries at this time were mainly Abdullah the Butcher, Stan Hansen, Dory Funk Jr., The Destroyer, and Bruiser Brody. As the 80's rolled around though he would relegate his time as an undercard performer, making way for future stars like Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu, then in the 90's with the Four Heavenly Pillars. Since the creation of AJPW in 1972 until his death in 1999 Giant Baba served not only as their biggest name but also the promoter, booker, head trainer, and president which all of whom he was highly praised for. Usually wrestling promoters have the stereotype of being sleazy and shady, but Baba was different, everyone seemed to loved working for him and had a fair outlook towards everybody which would lead to the success of his company under his leadership. For those who would knack on Giant Baba's lack of in-ring talent, well obviously with his size comes its fair share of limitations but in his prime, he was actually an athletic worker for someone his stature. Just look up his old school matches before he started slowing down due to age as well and you will see why the Japanese people bought in to the hype because he actually could deliver back in his heyday. His dedication to pro wrestling cannot be understated, competing until he was 60. Giant Baba wasn't just a popular wrestler, he was a pop culture figure in the country. He ranked 92nd in the 2006 survey of The 100 Greatest Historical Persons in Japan as voted by the public. Giant Baba and All Japan Pro Wrestling have played an important part in the history of professional wrestling. They made the careers of many Japanese wrestlers who would become legends of their own and gave foreign wrestlers a platform and opportunity to compete for the country. 2.) Antonio Inoki Debut: September 30, 1960 Retired: April 4, 1998 In-Ring Career: 37 Years One of the most revered while at the same time polarizing figures in all of professional wrestling, a very unique man to say the least who's mindset led to a lot of historical events that took place over the course of nearly four decade career, its Antonio Inoki. Becoming a disciple of Rikidozan in 1960 and also received training from Karl Gotch, just like his classmate Baba they would compete for the JWA in their early years . After the death of Rikidozan though, Inoki left the promotion and wrestled on the original Tokyo Pro Wrestling ran by Toyonobori in 1966 before leaving to the US for an excursion. The following year he'd wrestle for the new TPW this time ran by Takashi Ishikawa before returning to JWA full time and formed a successful tag-team with Giant Baba as "B-I Cannon." After the closure of JWA, Inoki would go on to create what would turn out to be the biggest wrestling promotion in the country: New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1972, the first ever match of the company was between him and his mentor Karl Gotch. Just like with Baba in All Japan, Inoki would become the biggest star in New Japan and led the company as its Ace throughout the 70's and well within the 80's still as one of its top draws. While AJPW was strictly all about professional wrestling, Inoki had other ideas for NJPW. Their tagline to this day is "King of Sport" and Inoki wanted professional wrestling to not only be a form of entertainment but become the leading form of martial arts and competitive fighting in the whole world. Which is why in the early years he would have matches not only against wrestlers but other athletes like boxer Leon Spinks and judoka Willem Ruska. Inoki's fame is comparable to that of Hulk Hogan in the US, he was one of the most popular public figures throughout the country and in his prime was a massive draw, making NJPW a success because of his star power. Before the IWGP Heavyweight Championship became the staple prize for New Japan, there was first the NWF World Heavyweight Championship which originally belonged to the National Wrestling Federation in Cleveland, Ohio but would be brought to Japan and Inoki made it the top prize for the promotion. He held it on four different occasions with a total combined reign of 2,496 days with his second being the longest of the belt at 1,688 days. In 1976 he had that historical fight against Muhammad Ali in a "boxer vs. wrestler" match in many ways making it the first ever MMA bout ever. The fight itself was controversial and forgettable due to Inoki being restricted only to kicks as he was unable to do anything else because of some rule changes but in itself, that was a massive cultural event at the time with two of the biggest sports icons in their respective countries going head-to-head, obviously Ali was more popular in terms of worldwide prominence, but Inoki was on the same level in Japan. Three years later on November 30, 1979 he defeated Bob Backlund to become the first Japanese wrestler to hold the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship but only held it for a week before dropping back to Backlund, however this reign is not officially recognized by the WWE themselves so he is not counted in the lineage of the belt. NJPW would continue to grow gaining other international stars like Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant compete against Inoki and other local talents. June 12, 1987 Antonio Inoki became the inaugural IWGP Heavyweight Champion, the belt was originally only contested in the International Wrestling Grand Prix Tournament (predecessor of the G1 Climax) but would soon become the top prize for the promotion which it still is to this day. In 1998 Inoki wrestled in his final match in NJPW when he defeated Don Frye in the main event of the Final Inoki Tournament show. After his retirement he would focus his duties as a promoter but his infamous leadership throughout the 2000's has been heavily documented already so I wouldn't into it much anymore other than, sadly it almost killed the very company he created. In 2010 he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. As for us fans though, we should not remember Antonio Inoki for his final years in New Japan. Yes he made a lot of crucial mistakes but they would become lessons for NJPW and many other promotions afterwards, as they say if that didn't take place then we wouldn't have the resurgence the company is experiencing now. When his mentor Rikidozan passed away, Inoki along with Baba filled in the void of what their master left behind. Antonio Inoki in particular would become a legend of his own and reach the top of the Puroresu industry becoming a cultural icon in the country. Whether you like him or not, agreed with his ideologies or differed with them, no one can ever deny his contributions to the business that changed pro wrestling forever. 1.) Rikidozan Debut: October 28, 1951 Last Match: December 7, 1963 In-Ring Career: 12 Years The Godfather of Puroresu. Forever will be the greatest of all time in his country. Nobody has and will ever reach the level of Rikidozan, not even his aforementioned two most successful pupils. Started out as a sumo wrestler, he would leave the sport in 1951 and went on to become a pro wrestler after he received training from Harold Sakata, who was best known for his role in the James Bond film in 1964. World War II has just recently concluded, the Japanese people are looking for a new hero that could represent them in their battles against the Americans. Enter Mitsuhiro Momota or better known as Rikidozan. He would quickly rise to fame by defeating American wrestlers one after another, becoming a massive fan favorite by the citizens. In 1953 he created Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance which would later become Japan Wrestling Association (JWA) the first official wrestling promotion in the country. Throughout his time there, Rikidozan became the sole bearer of the Japanese Heavyweight Championship from 1953 to 1958, a total of 1,344 days straight. In 1955 he would also become the inaugural All Asia Heavyweight Champion and had an uninterrupted 2,945 days of reign. Needless to say, Rikidozan was the face of professional wrestling in the entire country, nobody else could even come close towards his level of fame at the time. August 27, 1958 would be the biggest match of his entire career when he defeated Lou Thesz for the NWA International Heavyweight Championship, which he held for 2,302 days and was only vacated after his death. Because of this match, Rikidozan would gain notoriety outside of Japan as well and held other NWA territorial belts. Even in his time, martial arts was already incorporated into professional wrestling as he was widely versed in karate, his karate chops were a huge part of his signature offense. When the 1960's entered he would have some of his most well known feuds against Freddie Blassie and The Destroyer. It is noted that two of Rikidozan's matches are rated in the top programs of all time in Japanese television history, with his NWA World Heavyweight Championship match against Lou Thesz drew an 87.0 rating while his 1963 two out of three falls match against The Destroyer drew 67.0 rating. Those numbers are unheard of in this day and age. Rumor has it that during Rikidozan's match against Blassie, it turned out to be so bloody that 100 fans suffered heart attacks after seeing their hero all messed up, but this has been debunked through the years as an exaggeration story on behalf of Freddie Blassie but as they say the truth lies somewhere in between and with the level of Rikidozan's fame at the time, an absurd scenario like that isn't so impossible from happening. Another one of his notable opponents was judoka Masahiko Kimura, whom he had that infamous match that turned into a shoot fight in 1954. With success and fame comes its consequences too, still at the prime of his career, Rikidozan was stabbed by a member of the yakuza which would eventually lead to his unfortunate passing. At the young age of 39 years old, Rikidozan died. For a while, Japanese wrestling went stale, they just loss the biggest superstar of their sport, it wasn't until the creation of NJPW and AJPW by his two students would it gain momentum again. Rikidozan transcended the barriers of being a great wrestler, just like El Santo in Mexico and Dara Singh in India, he was a part of a cultural movement. For Santo it was Lucha Libre, Rikidozan it was Puroresu. What's more impressive is that he was able to accomplish all of these in just 12 years, in comparison to everyone else in this list he had a short career. Literally none of the wrestlers ranked before him would even be around if it wasn't for Rikidozan, or even pro wrestling reaching the same heights as it did in the country. An entire nation saw themselves in an individual who started out fighting with the remnants left by the war to becoming a legend and an icon that drew millions. To this very day and for many more centuries, as long as professional wrestling is alive in Japan, Rikidozan's legacy will never die. After lots of work including the writing itself, research, editing, and drafting, my single biggest project is finally out and done. It is an article that I'm very proud of and I was finally able to use my knowledge of Puroresu after all the hours I've spent watching it through the years in different promotions.
Puroresu is so great and diverse that anyone within the Top 10 or even in the Top 20 could be argued as the GOAT. I wouldn't take it against you. But to me the Top 3 will always remain, they have permanently etched themselves into those positions, the Mt. Rushmore of Japanese professional wrestling, the only real argument is who the fourth head would be? I went with Mutoh but you could literally put anyone else in there that made this list and it would still be fine. I haven't posted here in a long time and decided to come back with something special so I hope you all enjoyed reading that and it would be a bonus if you learned at least something new. Most of last year I spent writing on the Pro Wrestling Journal website covering primarily New Japan Pro Wrestling. Make sure to check them out as they do reviews, editorials, previews, and everything else in between across all forms of professional wrestling today! Like I said feel free to leave your own thoughts and lists down below if you want to. It is interesting to see the viewpoints and insights of others as well, as long as they are articulated in a respectful manner of course. Sources used for this article were Puroresu Wiki and Wikipedia for the biographical information of the wrestlers and cagematch.net for the statistical data. All images used belong to their rightful owners. Thank you so much for reading and hopefully more content to come soon, stay tuned. |
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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