The Triple Crown Championship is the top prize for All Japan Pro Wrestling. In this article, we will be taking a look at all the wrestlers that have held it since the belt's inception. Written by: Super Mastodon (@SuperMastodon) Since 1989 the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship has been the premier World Title for one of the most historic wrestling promotions in the world: All Japan Pro Wrestling. AJPW was founded on October 21, 1972 by Shohei "Giant" Baba, a student of the late great Rikidozan. He would build his own wrestling promotion with the closure of his master's own: the Japanese Wrestling Association (JWA) shortly after Rikidozan's death. Along with Antonio Inoki, another student of Rikidozan who would go on to create New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), the Puroresu scene grew even bigger with these companies and to this day their impacts are still felt in the industry. Before the Triple Crown became the top prize for AJPW, they used to have the Pacific Wrestling Federation (PWF) World Heavyweight Championship which has been held by a lot of legendary names, most notably Giant Baba for four times with a record combined days of 3,847. Two other belts that are notable in the history of the Triple Crown were the NWA International Heavyweight Championship which in itself had huge implications in the history of Puroresu as it was the belt Rikidozan won over Lou Thesz in their legendary sold out match. Lastly the NWA United National Championship which originally existed in US territories but got brought over to Japan in 1972 and its lineage of champions is filled with some of the most notable in-ring legends as well such as Antonio Inoki, Seiji Sakaguchi, The Sheik, Abdullah the Butcher, and many more. On April 18, 1989 Jumbo Tsuruta would go on to become the inaugural Triple Crown Champion by being the reigning PWF and NWA International Heavyweight Champion and beating the NWA United National Champion Stan Hansen and combining all three belts into one, forming what we now know today as the prestigious Triple Crown. For the longest time when the belts were unified, the champion would still hold all three of the separate belts, however in 2013 the original championships were returned to Giant Baba's widow and since then there has been a singular concrete belt that symbolized the initial three, which is what they have been using to this day. Today we are going to take a look at all the wrestlers that have held the Triple Crown Championship since its inception in 1989 up until the present day (as of the writing of this article anyway.) There have been a total of 28 individuals that have been crowned so we're going to examine their careers, how they fared during their time as champions, and other important details that may surround their reigns. I have always been fascinated with wrestling history and All Japan has such an interesting one so hopefully you'll enjoy along the ride that we're about to take as without further ado, let's get straight into the action and meet the Champions of the Triple Crown! 1.) Jumbo Tsuruta Times Held: 3 Total Combined Days: 659 Giant Baba may have been the one who founded All Japan Pro Wrestling but it was Jumbo Tsuruta who continued what was started and brought AJPW to new heights and blazed the trail for what would become a trademark of the company which were high quality technical matches. Jumbo was personally recruited by Baba himself, he would be sent to the Amarillo, Texas territory for his excursion as AJPW and The Funks had a good working relationship with Terry and Dory having successful careers in the promotion whenever they compete there. Unlike most Japanese wrestlers that go to America, Jumbo was not portrayed as a heel but rather fans actually supported him due to his work ethic and his in-ring style was just too good to be boo'd. Even then it was already being foreshadowed that the people want to get behind him, fitting for the position of Ace of the company which he would become later for AJPW. He actually got the name "Jumbo" during his time in the US which he would keep for the rest of his career. On February 22, 1984 a young Jumbo Tsuruta became the first Japanese wrestler to become AWA World Heavyweight Champion by defeating Nick Bockwinkel in Tokyo, Japan. He would hold the belt for 81 days before dropping it to Rick Martel in the US. Throughout the rest of the late 80's Jumbo would slowly rise to the top as the main event babyface of AJPW. Winning a plethora of championships in the process as well both on the singles and tag-team competition. As I've mentioned in the introduction, on April 18, 1989 he became the first Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion by beating Stan Hansen for the NWA United National Championship while also retaining the PWF World and NWA International Heavyweight Championships, unifying all three belts and since then the Triple Crown became the premier prize for AJPW. Jumbo's initial run lasted for a short 48 days losing it to rival Genichiro Tenryu but regain it back from him months later. His second run he'd have a much lengthier 237 days successfully beating Barry Windham and Tenryu before losing it to Terry Gordy. Then finally his third and last run which was his longest for a year when he defeated Stan Hansen on January 19, 1991, defended the belt successfully three times but would drop it back to Hansen after 374 days. Jumbo's career pretty much peaked during the early 90's as around 1992 he would have evident health problems and his career would begin to slow down and take on a lesser role in the card. Around that point though he was already able to pass the torch towards the next generation, particularly his match against Mitsuharu Misawa on June 8, 1990 where the latter won the match and solidified his status as the next top Ace of AJPW. In his 26 year career, Jumbo wrestled a total of 3,329 matches primarily for All Japan Pro Wrestling. He carried the banner of the promotion for most of his prime and was the perfect face of the company due to his infectious charisma that the fans adored him and also his undeniable talents in the ring. I feel like because he has already passed away sadly, modern day fans at least in the West have mostly forgotten about Jumbo and don't consider him when talking about some of the greatest workers in wrestling history. A lot of his peers that wrestled him over the years still put him in a high regard though particularly guys like Ric Flair and Terry Funk. 2.) Genichiro Tenryu Times Held: 3 Total Combined Days: 548 Looking back in his career overall, Genichiro Tenryu certainly had an interesting one. He had somewhat of a similar start to Jumbo, but unlike his rival who's background was amateur wrestling, Tenryu was a former sumo before being recruited by Giant Baba. He was also sent to the Funks' territory for his excursion. Tenryu's rise to the top wasn't a fast one though, he had to work for it before he could establish himself as a main event level star. In 1984 he won his first major title by actually teaming up with his future rival, Jumbo Tsuruta and together they became the NWA International Tag-Team Champions and hold on to the belts for an amazing 733 days straight. In 1988 he would have two runs with the PWF World Heavyweight Championship, but his peak would come a year later in 1989 when the Triple Crown was finally established. By this point, Jumbo and Tenryu became rivals. They were 1A and 1B to each other in terms of being the top guy of AJPW. Jumbo was more of the fan favorite between the two however while Tenryu mainly played the heel. He became the second ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion winning the belt on June 5, 1989 and had a reign of 128 days, defended the belt successfully twice against Yoshiaki Yatsu (Jumbo's frequent tag partner) and Terry Gordy before dropping it right back to him. That would be the last time Tenryu would hold the belt in a long time. A year later in 1990, Tenryu held the first exodus in AJPW way before Misawa did it a decade later. It wasn't the same level as Tenryu only had a few wrestlers to accompany him leaving All Japan but this left a bad taste in Giant Baba's mouth and he felt betrayed by Tenryu's actions. He swore that Genichiro Tenryu would never be allowed in an All Japan ring ever again. This stayed true up until Baba's death in 1999. Throughout the rest of the 90's Tenryu primarily wrestled as a freelancer, he even competed in the WWF appearing both in the 1993 and 1994 Royal Rumble. Also in 1999 he became the IWGP Heavyweight Champion in his brief time with NJPW. Ironically enough it was another exodus that would be the reason for Tenryu's return to the company, Misawa took almost the entire roster of AJPW leaving them with just four wrestlers in total to go on and create Pro Wrestling NOAH. Out of desperation to keep the company afloat and having some semblance of star power, Motoko Baba swallowed her pride and allowed Tenryu to return in AJPW despite her late husband wouldn't have approved of such decision. Ultimately it would work as Tenryu, now a solid veteran helped in keeping AJPW alive and feuding with the remaining top star of the company Toshiaki Kawada as well as former NJPW superstar Keiji Mutoh. On October 28, 2000, 11 years after his initial run with the belt, Tenryu became Triple Crown Champion once again defeating Kawada for the vacant belt in the finals of a tournament. He would beat Taiyo Kea in his first defense before dropping it to Keiji Mutoh at Budokan. His second run lasted for 223 days, the third and final run came about a year later on April 13, 2002 Tenryu once again won the vacant belt, for 197 days he defeated Satoshi Kojima and loss the belt to Mutoh once more. Tenryu would wrestle his final match in AJPW on 2004 before proceeding to wrestle as a freelance again for the rest of his career, he officially retired on November 15, 2015 in his last match he fought Kazuchika Okada. Tenryu is treated as a living legend in Japan. As Dave Meltzer has stated he is one of the most popular native wrestlers in the entire country, having the nickname "Mr. Pro Wrestling" does put him in such a high esteem. He was a stiff worker, known for his chops and other deadly maneuvers. As I've said before he was Murder Grandpa way before Minoru Suzuki. Due to his longevity, many fans of different ages were able to appreciate his work and his legacy remains intact today. He may have had a controversial run in AJPW but the fact remains that he is one of the biggest stars in the history of the company. 3.) Terry Gordy Times Held: 2 Total Combined Days: 13 Perhaps most fans best remember Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy in the US as 1/3 of the original Fabulous Freebirds. But he also had a successful career in Japan particularly being one of the top heel gaijins (foreigners) of AJPW. Gordy had a lot of success in the tag-team division, being a 7x AJPW World Tag-Team Champion, held the belts twice with Stan Hansen and later on forming a dominant duo with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams as the Miracle Violence Connection holding the tag belts five times. Gordy didn't only find gold in the tag division as he held the Triple Crown twice in 1990 although his reigns only combined for a mere 13 days. In his first run he defeated Jumbo Tsuruta on June 5, he would lose the belt to Stan Hansen just three days in, re-gaining it weeks later before being forced to vacate the belt as he was hospitalized during his second run. He would continue to actively compete for AJPW until 1994 while also wrestling in the States. Around the late 90's Gordy's career would go on the decline, he'd compete in the WWF as The Executioner and had his final match in 1999. Unfortunately in 2001 he died of a heart attack at the age of 40. His son Ray Gordy would follow in his footsteps and even wrestled for the WWE during the 2000's, some fans might recall him as "Jesse" or "Slam Master J." Terry Gordy is far from being one of the best to hold the Triple Crown due to how short his reigns were but he still holds the distinction of being the first gaijin to win the belt in its lineage, his time in AJPW is often overshadowed by his work as The Freebirds but it is just as good if not better especially in terms of quality in-ring work. An underrated legend who was gone too soon. 4.) Stan Hansen Times Held: 4 Total Combined Days: 505 In the rich history of Puroresu there have been so many legendary gaijin wrestlers that transcended the industry and became superstars of their own in a foreign land, one of the few that was able to do that is Stan "The Lariat" Hansen. While he did have success in the US, holding the AWA World Heavyweight Championship at one point, it is in Japan where Hansen shined as a performer and gave a lot of his best work whether as a singles or tag-team competitor. Even if he was a babyface or a heel, it seemed like the Japanese fans naturally gravitated towards him because of his charisma. Once Stan enters the ring, the whole audience erupts as they cannot wait to witness what kind of ass whooping he'll serve this time around. Starting from the 80's up until his retirement in 2000, Hansen has consistently wrestled in AJPW and because of this he has become one of the most accomplished wrestlers in the company's history. I've mentioned it already on Terry Gordy's entry, Hansen held the Triple Crown for the first time on June 8, 1990 beating Gordy who was just 3 days in to his initial run. He'd lose it weeks later, when the belt was vacated due to Gordy's hospitalization, Hansen defeated Mitsuharu Misawa to earn it for the second time. For 176 days he defended it successfully once against Dr. Death then lost it to Jumbo. His third run lasted for a much longer 207 days beating the next gen talents; Misawa, Kawada, and Taue. Finally his fourth run for 83 days, losing in his first defense. With the rising star that was Mitsuharu Misawa, him and Hansen often fought one another for the belt. Being a veteran of the ring by that point, it was Stan Hansen who played the role of a "gatekeeper" against the new generation wrestlers that were being groomed for a main event level push. He has remained loyal to AJPW up until the end of his career, it is where he truly made a name for himself. Became so over because of his stiff style, the lariats that were always surefire knockouts with the way he delivers them towards his opponents. Also well known for his great tag-team runs particularly with Bruiser Brody, striking fear and excitement into the hearts to the Japanese audience. It cannot be understated how big of a star Stan Hansen is in Japan. He is a part of their pop culture and still remains a legendary status to this day whenever he goes and visits the country, treated like a proper icon. In my opinion he is arguably the greatest gaijin in Puroresu history, the only other two that can even reach the levels of fame Hansen did in Japan were Abdullah the Butcher and The Destroyer. While he didn't really have a "memorable run" with the Triple Crown title so to speak, Hansen was booked right as he acted like a final boss for the Japanese superstars to beat in order for the fans to rally behind them, because he never was an easy opponent to beat. He had his final match on October 28, 2000 in AJPW before retiring from the ring. 5.) Mitsuharu Misawa Times Held: 5 Total Combined Days: 1,799 It's only fitting that statistically the greatest Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion of all time is coincidentally who I also consider the greatest Japanese wrestler of all time. For a lot of wrestling fans in the West, Misawa was their gateway to Puroresu because of these legendary matches that have been passed along to the community, but the thing is he wasn't just hyped, he surpassed all types of expectations and consistently delivered quality match one after another, especially during his times as the reigning champion. Misawa was a product of the AJPW Dojo, in his debut match he loss against Shiro Koshinaka. Then from the mid 80's up until 1990 he wrestled as a junior heavyweight portraying Tiger Mask, he was the second wrestler to don the anime inspired gimmick after Satoru Sayama when AJPW got the rights to the character. It wouldn't be until he unmasked where Misawa truly catapulted as a superstar and began to feud with veteran ace Jumbo Tsuruta and one day claim the top spot of the promotion, which of course he did. Fans would gradually show their support to Misawa and he'd go on to become the top merchandise seller of the promotion, because of this Giant Baba has decided that it was Misawa's time to shine and he would go on to surpass Jumbo as the next face of All Japan. On August 22, 1992 Misawa defeated Stan Hansen to become the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion for the first time. He would then proceed to have the record for the single longest reign for the title at 705 days and defended the belt eight times. Throughout the early 90's Misawa ruled AJPW and cemented his status as the ace for good. Of course his adversaries would rise up among the ranks of their own and we'll talk about them extensively later but his most famous rival would of course be Toshiaki Kawada. For the unaware, Misawa and Kawada were basically The Rock and Stone Cold of AJPW, they were two of the top names of the company and while Misawa was still a slightly bigger name in terms of star power, they were treated as equals and bitter rivals. It was a huge draw as well, truly the peak of AJPW especially in terms of high quality matches which they would become known for primarily thanks to the work of the Four Heavenly Pillars. Misawa would hold the belt four more times from 1994 to 1999 with all of his reigns except for one lasting in triple digits amount of days. Even when he dropped the belt it was only for a short amount of time because he was still the top draw of the company, that's how much of a draw he became. In 2000 Misawa would leave AJPW and brought along almost the entire roster and trainees with him to create his own promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH. His final match for the company was on July 20, 2000 where him and Yoshinari Ogawa won a tag match against Akira Taue and Masao Inoue. He would have two sporadic return matches for the company in 2004 but other than that never returned to his original home promotion ever again until his unfortunate passing in the ring in 2009. Misawa's death was a sad tragedy but also a precautionary tale for every wrestler that goes in the ring. However his legacy shouldn't be just that. He was a man dedicated to his craft until the end, carried All Japan Pro Wrestling and reached even higher limits going way beyond to where Jumbo Tsuruta brought it. Misawa was someone who truly had the heart of a champion, a fierce warrior who never backed down from any challenge, not only the best wrestler in his country, but one of the all time greats in the whole world. 6.) "Dr. Death" Steve Williams Times Held: 1 Total Days: 86 While never receiving mainstream success in the US, Dr. Death still had a solid career of his own. In fact in his first ten years as a professional wrestler he was undefeated in North America. He properly received the same treatment as he went to Japan as well, for AJPW being one of the most dominant gaijins in the history of the company. He started competing for AJPW in 1990 and since then went on a path of destruction especially in their tag-team division. Dr. Death is an 8x AJPW World Tag-Team Champion, five of those reigns he held as 1/2 of The Miracle Violence Connection with Terry Gordy. His other tag-team partners were Gary Albright, Vader, and Johnny Ace respectively. Dr. Death's dominance in the States translated well in Japan as he got booked as this strong force for the Four Pillars to overcome. Baba booked him in such a way wherein his prospects would win over the support of the fans while also maintaining the integrity of Dr. Death as a competitor. It's a tried and tested formula but if done properly, all parties involved will benefit. His only run with the Triple Crown came on July 28, 1994 ending the record 705 day reign of Mitsuharu Misawa. Dr. Death's run would only last for a couple of months, having one successful defense against Kenta Kobashi before losing to Toshiaki Kawada after 86 days. He continued wrestling up until the mid 2000's when he had to retire for good due to complications with cancer, sadly Dr. Death passed away on December 29, 2009. When people in the business often talk about legit tough guys of pro wrestling, his name always comes up. Due to his success in the amateur scene, Steve Williams was able to carve out a solid pro wrestling career as one of its strongest performers at his peak. 7.) Toshiaki Kawada Times Held: 5 Total Combined Days: 743 Based on loyalty alone, out of the Four Pillars Toshiaki Kawada is the greatest wrestler in AJPW history. Started out as an amateur wrestler as well, Kawada was actually in the same class with Keiichi Yamada who would go on to become Jushin "Thunder" Liger. Initially Kawada wanted to go to NJPW but got convinced by his former schoolmate and future eternal rival Mitsuharu Misawa to join AJPW and as they say the rest is history. Kawada and Misawa would become intertwined throughout their whole careers in AJPW together, whether it was being tag-team partners or the biggest rivalry ever in the company. From the late 80's up until some parts of the early 90's Kawada found tremendous amount of success in the tag-team division, holding both the All Asia and AJPW World Tag-Team Championships. Then in 1994 he solidified his status as a main eventer defeating Dr. Death on October 22 gaining the Triple Crown Championship for the first time. In his 133 day reign however, he only had one successful defense against Kobashi then dropped the belt to Stan Hansen. It wouldn't be until four years later on May 1, 1998 that Kawada would become Triple Crown Champion for the second time defeating Misawa in what is considered by many as the greatest match of their rivalry. The height of the feud couldn't be any more higher at this point, both of them have built up years of tension and competition, it will come at a heated conclusion in the Tokyo Dome. Kawada finally had his first decisive win over Misawa, a great moment of victory for Dangerous K and it would've pinpointed the start of his run as the official Ace of All Japan. It wasn't for long though, 42 days in he dropped the belt to Kobashi, in his third run he beat Misawa once again in 1999 but just a week later was forced to vacate the belt after suffering an injury. Entering the new decade it was a whole different landscape for All Japan. Misawa, Kobashi, Taue, and a plethora of other wrestlers left the company to create NOAH. But through it all, one man stayed loyal to the end and kept AJPW afloat in these trying times, that man is Toshiaki Kawada. Being the only member of the original Four Pillars left, Kawada finally became the Ace of the promotion but it wasn't an easy task for him as more challenges are up ahead with new incoming competitors aiming to dethrone him at the top of the promotion. On February 24, 2002, almost four years since his last Triple Crown reign he earned the belt once more defeating Keiji Mutoh. Again though, luck was not on Kawada's side, he did not even get to defend the belt as he suffered another injury this time to the knee vacating the belt 32 days in. A year later on September 6, 2003 he defeated Shinjiro Otani in a tournament finals for the vacant Triple Crown and got his long awaited run with the belt, from mid 2003 to early 2005 Toshiaki Kawada became the undisputed top star of AJPW being the Triple Crown Champion for an astounding 529 days which is still the second longest individual reign in the belt's history, beating a who's who of challengers from all over the world. He successfully defeated gaijins like Don Frye, Mick Foley, Jamal aka Umaga as well as NJPW wrestlers such as Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Kensuke Sasaki when the two promotions briefly worked with one another during that time period. Kawada's defenses at that time were all unique and great in their own ways, proving that he could work against anybody. All good things must come to an end though as on February 16, 2005 Satoshi Kojima defeated Kawada for the Triple Crown. Months later July 17, 2005 him and Mitsuharu Misawa battled for the final time in their careers at the Tokyo Dome in the main event of Pro Wrestling NOAH's anniversary show: Destiny. Since losing the title, Kawada opted to become a free agent and was able to compete for many other promotions in Japan. Unfortunately after the passing of Misawa, a year later he quietly retired from pro wrestling stating that losing his eternal rival, in the process he lost his motivation to continue to work as well. Misawa's death probably also acted as a wakeup call to his peers so they could finally hang it up as they got nothing left to prove, it wouldn't be long before Kobashi and Taue would follow suit in retirement as well after that. He earned the nickname Dangerous K for incorporating a lot of stiff strikes and martial arts into his arsenal of moves, there has never been a better man to deliver kicks in wrestling than Kawada. Also he kept his promise to Giant Baba by keeping AJPW alive, even though he could have left the company that was honestly at the brink of death, he pulled through and remained loyal, paying off in the process with him becoming the main man and slowly re-build All Japan from the ground up. As I've mentioned in the past the term "legend" easily gets thrown around a lot nowadays but it is only appropriate for a select few, Toshiaki Kawada is one of those people, a legend in every sense of the word. 8.) Akira Taue Times Held: 1 Total Days: 61 From one Heavenly Pillar to another, after Dangerous K there is Dynamic T, Akira Taue. Personally trained by Giant Baba himself at the dojo, standing at 6'4'' and weighing in at 265 lbs. in his prime, Taue was the biggest among members of the Pillars. He was the closest successor to Baba not only in terms of the way he presented himself but their styles of wrestling were similar as well, Taue having an edge on the athletic department though being not as tall as Baba. Taue's best remembered for his accolades in the tag-team division. He is a 7x AJPW World Tag-Team Champion, once with Jumbo Tsuruta and the rest of his reigns came along with Toshiaki Kawada together as the "Holy Demon Army" often considered as the greatest tag-team in the history of the company, in their six reigns they held the belts for a total combined 912 days which is a record that will likely go unbroken in a long time. He has challenged for the Triple Crown Championship numerous times in his career but often failed at capturing the belt. This all changed though as on May 24, 1996 Akira Taue defeated Mitsuharu Misawa for his first and only run with the World Title, ending Misawa's 364 day reign and this match is often considered by many as Taue's best singles match of his career. His run wouldn't be lengthy though, just 61 days, having a single successful defense against old partner and rival Toshiaki Kawada then dropped it to Kenta Kobashi. Taue remained with All Japan until in 2000 when he joined the mass exodus led by Misawa to form Pro Wrestling NOAH, there he became the GHC Heavyweight Champion, NOAH's top belt but similar to his Triple Crown reign it did not last long either. He retired from the ring in 2013. Because he is often connected with the other members of the Four Pillars that Taue's legacy is somewhat undermined by some critics and fans. The common opinion of many is that he was the "weakest" out of the four but it's all subjective at the end of the day really. Plus being the worst out of the bunch is actually not even an insult as all of the Pillars were excellent top notch wrestlers, they have always been highly regarded as the best in Puroresu history and were proven top draws. However for Taue he never got a proper run to prove himself as a solid main eventer, having only two World Title reigns in his career only combining for 139 days in total. In my opinion, while he was charismatic as evident in his two World Title victories where the crowd erupted to finally see him win the gold, he did not have enough of the "it factor" or star power as his peers had which what could have limited him from reaching his true potential. Nevertheless, Akira Taue may not go down as the best Triple Crown Champion but will remain as one of the best big men ever in Puroresu and the owner of the best chokeslam in wrestling! 9.) Kenta Kobashi Times Held: 3 Total Combined Days: 431 The final member of the Four Heavenly Pillars and my personal favorite of them all, Mr. Pro Wrestling himself, Kenta Kobashi. An alumni of the AJPW Dojo as well, it is tradition for upstart Japanese wrestlers to lose a majority of their matches early on in their careers so they become humbled and eventually work their way to the top. This is a training model that is still being followed to the present day as it is proven to be effective and has produced a lot of legendary names over the years. However things were a little different for Kenta Kobashi, Giant Baba has observed that Kobashi can be an effective gutsy underdog so he would lose all of his singles matches at the start of his career, building up to the superstar who while in defeat still looks good and never planned on giving up, earning the support and cheers of the fans gradually. Baba's plan worked, Kobashi's first 63 singles matches were all losses but the crowd would slowly get behind him and were eager to see him get that elusive victory at some point. On May 1989 he finally got his first singles victory over an NWA jobber Mitch Snow. With the 90's rolling around Kobashi was still viewed as a lower part of the totem pole. He would finally get some gold though from 1990 to 1993 he would become All Asia Tag-Team Champion four times with different partners; Tiger Mask II (Misawa), Johnny Ace twice, and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi whom he mentored under his wing. In 1993 and 1994 Kobashi held the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships twice this time with Misawa now unmasked. They proved to be a successful team together and their tag matches against Kawada and Taue are the stuff of legends. Often considered as some of the greatest tag-team matches not only in Japan but in all of wrestling. The underdog finally got his big moment for the first time on July 24, 1996 when Kenta Kobashi defeated Akira Taue and for the first time became the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. Finally, after years of losing and feeling like the lowest member of the Four Pillars, he earned it and reached the top! For 180 days Kobashi defended the belt successfully from Hansen and Kawada, but would drop it to Mitsuharu Misawa whom he could never defeat in singles competition throughout their time in AJPW. Kobashi held the belt again two years later this time taking it from the other member of the Holy Demon Army, Toshiaki Kawada. It went the same way with two defense wins but once more he could not overcome the biggest challenge of his life which is getting a victory over Misawa, losing the belt to him after 141 days. Kenta Kobashi served as the final champion of the old era of All Japan defeating Vader on February 27, 2000 for the Triple Crown. With only one defense against Yoshihiro Takayama, after 110 days the belt was vacated due to Kobashi joining ship into the mass exodus from AJPW to NOAH. It symbolized the end of Giant Baba's AJPW as starting then, the company would experience its twilight years losing a majority of its superstars and other important wrestlers, even many of its trainees were recruited by Misawa. It was finally in NOAH though where Kobashi got the win over his nemesis and former partner Misawa, becoming the GHC Heavyweight Champion in 2003 and kick started arguably the greatest World Title run in Puroresu history with his record 735 day reign. After several years, the pain took its toll on Kobashi as he has suffered a number of injuries and even battled cancer in the mid 2000's but luckily was able to recover and made his comeback in the ring. In 2013, he had one of the most beautiful retirement ceremonies for a wrestler. Out of the Four Pillars, Kobashi is the one that resonated with me the most. He just seemed like a fantastic person you could relate to, unlike Misawa, Kawada, and Taue whom for the most part were stoic fighters but could show emotion from time to time, Kobashi was always expressive and it's that simple connection to the fans that made him such a great worker, being able to gain sympathy from the crowd while showing that he will always push through, giving up is not an option and he has proved that all the time. Beating all odds that are stacked against him. Being good in the ring, especially with his iconic chops was just an added bonus. He wasn't one of the best Triple Crown Champions or anything like that, but every Kobashi victory is always a feel-good moment and sometimes in wrestling, it is those moments that will stick with you forever and make us proud as wrestling fans. 10.) Vader Times Held: 2 Total Combined Days: 177 Another legendary gaijin in the history of Puroresu was the late great Leon White aka Big Van Vader. Just how legendary was Vader? Well in his first match in Japan he challenged Antonio Inoki who just finished a match of his own against Riki Choshu but was immediately challenged by Vader. He obliged but it only took minutes for Vader to beat Inoki, causing a massive riot from the crowd! For a while NJPW were banned from setting up events in the Sumo Hall because of the damages that were caused by the riot. Inoki is the biggest name in Japanese pro wrestling at the time, equal to that of Hulk Hogan's popularity in the US, so for someone like a heel foreigner to defeat him in such a short span of time, essentially squashing him, the fans revolted in seeing their hero get taken down so easily. That is how real wrestling was back then, but it made Vader into what he was, a detestable big bad heel. Throughout the majority of the 90's Vader worked for both the US and Japan, then in 1998 returned full time to AJPW after things didn't work out well in his run with the WWF. Vader got reunited with a lot of common enemies around this time, particularly Stan Hansen whom he had that infamous match years prior wherein Vader's eyeball literally popped out of his socket but still worked till the finish regardless. However this was also around the tail end of an era for AJPW with only just two years later the entire landscape of the company would change due to the mass exodus. Anyway, Vader won the Triple Crown Championship for the first time on March 6, 1999. Toshiaki Kawada vacated the belt due to injury, he defeated Akira Taue to take the belt but it didn't last long only for 57 days before losing the belt to Mitsuharu Misawa. It didn't take long when Vader got the belt again, beating Misawa and had a 120 day run winning over Jun Akiyama then dropping it to Kenta Kobashi. In 2000 Vader would leave AJPW, his age was catching up to him but still remained active in the independents both in Japan and US. In 2004 he had a one-off match in the company again vs. Suwama, then in 2012 toured for three matches. He had his final match in 2017 before sadly passing away a year later. While many share the sentiment that Vader had a better career in Japan than in the US, its true to some extent but it was the way they treated him that was really better. He was a 3x WCW World Heavyweight Champion and was booked like a monster everywhere else except the WWF, which wasn't his fault as backstage politics were all the reasoning for that. I still maintain the opinion that Stan Hansen is the best gaijin in Puroresu, Vader isn't so far behind. He isn't as iconic as Stan nor Abdullah, but still widely respected among the community for the legitimacy he brought in the ring and the field of competition he had to plow through, facing many other greats Japan had to offer in his prime. 11.) Keiji Mutoh/The Great Muta Times Held: 3 Total Combined Days: 547 When Keiji Mutoh surprised the entire Puroresu scene by leaving NJPW and going to AJPW, it marked the end of an era for Giant Baba's company and started a new one which would both be tumultuous and successful for All Japan. Just to put into context the magnitude of Mutoh going to AJPW, it's as if a major WWF superstar like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin leaving the company only to go to WCW but in its dying days. As a last resort to keep the company afloat, Mutoh defected the promotion he worked for three decades and made a name for himself and became a part for the longest time what was considered as the rival company. Mutoh wasn't alone in his endeavors as he also brought along Satoshi Kojima and Kendo Kashin to AJPW. He was booked strong, rarely losing in any match. While Kawada was the ace at this point, Mutoh was a top star as well but always felt like an outsider due to his previous long background with New Japan. June 8, 2001 at the main event of the Super Power Series in Tokyo, he defeated formerly blacklisted wrestler Genichiro Tenryu for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. As a way to gain more star power for the company, Mutoh partnered up with NJPW, this was huge at the time because the two promotions barely worked with each other in the past other than the rare collaboration events with American promotions like the WWF. Because of this Mutoh was also able to defend the Triple Crown in an NJPW ring, in his initial run that lasted for 261 days he successfully defended against the likes of Dr. Death, Scott Hall, Masahiro Chono, and Tatsumi Fujinami before losing to Toshiaki Kawada on February 24, 2002. It wasn't only Keiji Mutoh that came to All Japan, The Great Muta entered the fray as well becoming Triple Crown Champion on October 27, 2002 defeating Tenryu once again. The mist-spitting persona held the title for 119 days, having one successful defense against The Gladiator aka Mike Awesome then proceeding to lose against a familiar opponent in Shinya Hashimoto. It would take six years before The Great Muta captured gold once again, defeating Mutoh's apprentice Suwama getting the Triple Crown for the third and final time on September 28, 2008, lasted for 167 days. This was also around the same time when Mutoh became IWGP Heavyweight Champion for the fourth time in his career, making him one of only two wrestlers to hold the IWGP and Triple Crown Championships simultaneously. It's an interesting concept as Muta was the champion for All Japan and Mutoh for New Japan, there was really no bigger name in Puro at the time than Keiji Mutoh. His Triple Crown run would end on March 14, 2009 to Yoshihiro Takayama. Mutoh remained with AJPW until in 2013 when he had an exodus of his own and creating his own promotion: WRESTLE-1. Looking back on it, Keiji Mutoh's time in AJPW can be polarizing. Purists, especially those who have been long time fans of the promotion don't look back on those times fondly because they thought it wasn't the same company anymore and it did not match what AJPW's philosophy and brand of wrestling was. At the same time you cannot really fault Mutoh for this as it was AJPW's management that did this to themselves, Misawa was treated unfairly causing him and a large amount of wrestlers to leave and fend off on their own, leaving them with scraps on the roster. All Japan were desperate to survive so having a wrestler with the name value of Mutoh was direly needed if they wanted to continue business, which in fairness it worked as they were able to find a draw that will sustain enough for the company to keep going. Plus it served as fresh new matchups for Kawada, along with the entries of many more wrestlers that would come around this timeframe. Mutoh is a household name in Japan, he is one of the most accomplished wrestlers ever and his body of work cannot be denied for his greatness. 12.) Shinya Hashimoto Times Held: 1 Total Days: 171 Like Keiji Mutoh, Shinya Hashimoto was another prominent NJPW wrestler and became the ace of the company throughout the mid 90's, at the time he was the longest reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion. A part of the iconic "Three Musketeers" with the aforementioned Keiji Mutoh and Masahiro Chono. Hashimoto worked for New Japan and made his name there for 12 years before leaving the company in 2001 and starting his own promotion: ZERO1 which still runs to this day. Because he now runs his own promotion, Hashimoto still continued to wrestle and was able to become a freelancer and take bookings from other companies too, notably for NOAH where he had his dream match against Mitsuharu Misawa in a tag match, in the States too where he became a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion. But it is in AJPW where Hashimoto had his "final run" if you will as a strong contender. February 23, 2003 he defeated an old nemesis The Great Muta to capture the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the first and only time of his career. For 143 days he had two successful defenses against Arashi and Satoshi Kojima but was forced to vacate it after dislocating his shoulder. It would have been interesting to see where Hashimoto could have gone as the champion but alas it wasn't mean for long. Hashimoto had his final match in AJPW on February 22, 2004 losing in a singles bout against ace Toshiaki Kawada. Sadly a year later July 11, 2005 the world loss one of the all time greats to ever lace a pair of wrestling boots. Unexpectedly passed away at the age of 40, Shinya Hashimoto was taken way too soon. He may be gone but will never be forgotten, one can argue the greatest wrestler in NJPW history and had a solid but brief run in AJPW as well, not many can say they had prolific careers in two of those companies. 13.) Satoshi Kojima Times Held: 2 Total Combined Days: 678 If you're just a recent fan of Puroresu and haven't really dive in yet to the rich history of the sport, then you might only be familiar with Satoshi Kojima as a lower card act nowadays in New Japan along with his peers Yuji Nagata and Hiroyoshi Tenzan. But there was a point in time where Kojima was one of the biggest names in all of wrestling, he did have a good career in NJPW but it is in All Japan where he truly blossomed as a top notch performer. Being a graduate of the New Japan Dojo, Kojima wrestled the first ten years of his career for the promotion. It wasn't until in 2002 when he joined Keiji Mutoh in leaving NJPW and became a part of AJPW. Around that time, NJPW was also giving focus to wrestlers with MMA background and "Inokism" was starting to become rampant, traditional pro wrestlers like Kojima were being left off in the background for these legit fighters, which is why Nagata and Tenzan while still became well respected wrestlers, felt like they did not reach their full potential by remaining with the company at the time. It was a different story for Kojima though as it would not take long before AJPW treated him as one of its main eventers as they were also desperately in need of any semblance of star power. Luckily for them Kojima is not only a charismatic worker but an excellent performer too. During his first few years there he had a lot of success in the tag-team division, in fact Kojima is one of the most accomplished tag wrestler in Japan altogether. 7x IWGP Tag-Team Champion, 3x AJPW World Tag-Team Champion, and 1x All Asia Tag-Team Champion, add in his reign as NWA World Tag-Team Champion in the States totaling to 12 World Tag-Team Championships. That is impressive of its own. Anyway on February 16, 2005 Kojima ended Kawada's 529 day run as Triple Crown Champion and four days later faced IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroyoshi Tenzan, his former tag-team partner, wherein both belts were on the line. It had a 60 minute time limit, both companies agreed that Kojima will win however neither by pinfall nor submission, so what they did is that mere seconds before it could become a time limit draw, Tenzan who was known for his history of back injuries gave up and declared Kojima as the winner of both belts, making him the first wrestler to hold the IWGP and Triple Crown Championships simultaneously! The only other wrestler to do it is Keiji Mutoh. A pretty exclusive club. AJPW and NJPW had a partnership in the mid 2000's which is why that match took place, three months later Tenzan won back the IWGP Title from Kojima, but the latter continued on with his run with the Triple Crown and at the time had the third longest reign ever for the belt that lasted for 502 days. This was recently beaten by Kento Miyahara with his fourth reign that lasted for 519 days. Within that timeframe, Kojima had eight successful title defenses in total, I've already mentioned about Tenzan he also beat names such as both Mutoh and Muta, Jamal, Giant Bernard, Kensuke Sasaki, TARU, and Suwama who was on the rise at this point. It was one of the most impressive reigns with the belt, solidified Kojima's status not only in All Japan but in all of Puro as an elite talent. On September 26, 2009 he held the Triple Crown for the second and final time, beating Yoshihiro Takayama, a run that lasted for 176 days beating Joe Doering then losing it to Ryota Hama. Obviously not as impressive as his first one, a year later Kojima left AJPW and re-joined NJPW. The same year he made his comeback he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship again and holds the record for the oldest wrestler to ever win it. Kojima still remains as an active part of New Japan, putting over and training the young talents. Sometimes leaving your home promotion and going elsewhere isn't such a bad decision. Satoshi Kojima is the perfect example of that, had he stayed in New Japan during the 2000's who knows what it could've done to his career, he would have probably been fed to guys like Kazuyuki Fujita and Bob Sapp as well. He went to a floundering All Japan and helped the company boost itself up once more and became a main eventer throughout his whole run there. With his machine gun chops, cozy lariats, and elbow drops he is one of the most entertaining performers in Puroresu and an overall universally respected veteran of the sport. 14.) Taiyo Kea Times Held: 1 Total Days: 62 Maunakea Mossman or better known later on as Taiyo Kea, is originally from Honolulu, Hawaii. When he became a state champion in amateur wrestling, former pro wrestler and manager King Curtis Iaukea suggested to Mossman that he should send an application to AJPW so that he did, received by Lord James Blears (who was a member of the All Japan committee at the time) who would then send it to Giant Baba himself. He was personally scouted by Baba in Hawaii and was accepted as a trainee. He initially started as a junior heavyweight, just four years after his debut, Mossman held the AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship in 1997 when he defeated Yoshinari Ogawa. A year later he moved up to the heavyweights and vacated the belt, to test him out in his endeavors on reaching the top, he was booked against seven competitors for him to beat dubbed as the Mossman Trial Series. He defeated the likes of Johnny Smith, Wolf Hawkfield (aka Jim Steele), and Giant Kimala but loss all of his matches against the Four Heavenly Pillars. Starting in 2000 to make himself more marketable to the Japanese audience he changed his ring name to "Taiyo Kea" which he has always used ever since. For most of his career, Kea was mainly a tag-team and midcard act at best. When the mass exodus led by Mitsuharu Misawa happened, he was one of only four wrestlers that remained with AJPW, the other three being Kawada, Hansen, and Masanobu Fuchi. From 2001 to 2005 he held the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships four times all with different partners; Johnny Smith, Keiji Mutoh, Satoshi Kojima, and Jamal respectively. His run with Mutoh also coincided with their reigns as the IWGP Tag-Team Champions of NJPW. July 3, 2006 is the biggest highlight of Taiyo Kea's career, putting an end to the 502 day reign of Satoshi Kojima and becoming the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. It was the first and only time he held the belt, after one successful defense against Kawada he would lose it to Minoru Suzuki 62 days in. He'd win the tag titles three more times afterward. On January 4, 2007 at the first ever Wrestle Kingdom (when it was still a collaborative event between NJPW and AJPW) he loss to Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. In 2012 he wrestled for the Triple Crown Championship for the last time in an attempt to capture the belt once more however he would lose to Jun Akiyama. Starting in 2013 he had a hiatus from wrestling and attended business in Hawaii. The following year, Kea returned as a freelancer in Japan, competing for Keiji Mutoh's WRESTLE-1. This might sound harsh but Taiyo Kea can pretty much be described into one word and that is average. He's not the best worker in the world, but far from the worst either. It reflected in his brief run with the Triple Crown that lasted for an uninspiring three months. Still a capable worker though especially in tag-team bouts where he truly strived as a performer. 15.) Minoru Suzuki Times Held: 2 Total Combined Days: 476 Similar to Kojima, if you just got into Puroresu recently then you're well familiar of Minoru Suzuki for his current work in NJPW. Being the crazy sadistic leader of his own stable, Suzuki has one of the most interesting careers in wrestling and wouldn't get to where is now without it. He began his career in the New Japan Dojo being the disciple of his idol Antonio Inoki, Suzuki was also trained there by Yoshiaki Fujiwara who would become the biggest influence of his career, inspired by the martial arts and submission style of wrestling that Fujiwara innovated in turn eventually create what we now know today as Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) which Suzuki is one of the godfathers of the combat sport in Japan. In 1993 he left NJPW to form Pancrase along with Masakatsu Funaki. Pancrase is a pro wrestling and MMA hybrid promotion and paved the way for so many MMA promotions down the line such as PRIDE and the UFC. It is where Suzuki spent his prime years as an athlete competing for the promotion 11 years and had a legendary feud against Ken Shamrock where both men elevated their status as legitimate competitors in the ring. Then in 2003 Suzuki moved out of Pancrase and began his pro wrestling career as a freelancer, being able to wrestle anywhere. Three years later he would go to AJPW and started a feud with top star Satoshi Kojima. September 3, 2006 in Sapporo Suzuki defeated Taiyo Kea to become Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, his first major World Title win in his wrestling career. He had a stellar run with the belt reigning for 357 days with six successful defenses, one of which was against Yuji Nagata on the first ever Wrestle Kingdom, January 4, 2007. Suzuki solidified his status as a top heel champion and wrecked havoc amongst All Japan in his entire reign. He almost held the gold for an entire year but that got ended by Kensuke Sasaki on August 26, 2007. It would take three years before Suzuki would have another crack at the Triple Crown, on May 2, 2010 he defeated Ryota Hama for his second and final run that lasted for 119 days. A single successful defense against Masayuki Kono was all he could do before losing the belt to the new All Japan Ace: Suwama. The same year Suzuki would leave AJPW and returned to New Japan to form Suzuki-Gun, he would then invade NOAH as well and become GHC Heavyweight Champion. All he is missing at this point in his career is capturing the title that has eluded him his entire career that is the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to complete the "Big Three Belts" of Japan. He has challenged for it multiple times before but never quite got the job done. Minoru Suzuki is one of the best versatile workers still active today. Already in his 50's, his longevity helped in creating the legacy he has now. While in his time with AJPW is somewhat already forgotten because it was during the time when business was down, he became one of the best heels to hold the belt. What's great about Suzuki is that his intimidation is not just a character, he could truly put you to sleep with his choke holds and dare I say that the Gotch-Style Piledriver is the best protected finisher in all of wrestling. 16.) Kensuke Sasaki Times Held: 1 Total Combined Days: 247 I have mentioned in Minoru Suzuki's entry about the "Big Three Belts" of Japan. The IWGP Heavyweight Championship of NJPW, Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship of AJPW, and GHC Heavyweight Championship of NOAH. The three prestigious heavyweight belts of the top wrestling promotions in the country. Only two men have accomplished the impressive feat of winning all of those titles at some points of their careers, one of those men is Kensuke Sasaki. Mentored earlier on by Riki Choshu, Sasaki actually started out as a trainee for AJPW when Choshu was still working there but both of them would go to NJPW later on. Sasaki is one of the most accomplished wrestlers in NJPW, being a 5x IWGP Heavyweight Champion and 7x IWGP Tag-Team Champion. In 2004 he began wrestling as a free agent under his own brand Diamond Ring (aka Kensuke Office) and was able to compete in any promotion throughout the country. This worked well for Sasaki's legacy as he was able to carve out great careers in the three top promotions including AJPW. From 2005 to 2008 he primarily competed there and was consistently one of the company's top stars. On August 26, 2007 Sasaki became the Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion by defeating Minoru Suzuki. He defended the belt twice successfully against other main eventers Toshiaki Kawada and Satoshi Kojima during his respectable 247 day reign. He would lose the belt though to the new rising star at the time for All Japan: Suwama on April 29, 2008. Sasaki wrestled his final match on AJPW on June 29, 2008. He would return to the company sporadically starting in 2010 but never competed for them full time again. Kensuke Sasaki wrestled his supposed final match on February 11, 2004, just days before his wrestling debut anniversary. He would put over his long time student and future GHC Heavyweight Champion Katsuhiko Nakajima in Diamond Ring. However a year later in 2015 he had a one off tag match in DDT, since then though Sasaki has remained retired from the ring. I wouldn't go out of my way and say he is one of the best to hold the belt but Kensuke is another huge name in Japan at the time, massively over with the fans due to his natural charisma and high energy offense he uses in the ring. He also had success in the States being a former WCW United States Champion and was a constant partner for the Road Warriors whenever they came to Japan in the 90's. He is one of those cases like 2 Cold Scorpio where they got better and more over with age, Kensuke is a great brawler and has deadly chops of his own in the same vein as Kobashi. Their match on NOAH Destiny 2005 is still my personal favorite Puro match and the reason why I'm a huge fan of Japanese wrestling to begin with. 17.) Suwama Times Held: 7 Total Combined Days: 824 (ongoing) When Toshiaki Kawada was beginning to get up with age and other major stars of All Japan were either getting old as well or not wrestling full time for them, they needed a new Ace that will become the top face of the company for a long time. It took a while for him to shine but eventually he did and that man is Kohei Suwama. Personally recruited by Hiroshi Hase and trained in the dojo by Kaz Hayashi, right from the beginning All Japan saw a lot of potential in Suwama defeating a majority of the veterans in the roster, including Keiji Mutoh in 2005 just a year since his debut. From 2006 to 2008 Suwama was a part of the famous Voodoo Murders heel stable in AJPW, he would slowly rise among the ranks of the group and started challenging for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. Eventually Suwama would leave Voodoo Murders and aligned himself back to All Japan and Mutoh, signaling the start of his run as the new top babyface of the promotion. Everything was solidified on April 29, 2008 when Suwama defeated Kensuke Sasaki to become Triple Crown Champion for the first time in his career. Since then Suwama shouldered the entire All Japan and carried the promotion behind his back for the next several years. His first run lasted for 152 days but it wouldn't be his last, far from it. Suwama would set the record for most reigns with the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship at seven and right now as of the writing of this article, is the reigning champion. If NJPW had Hiroshi Tanahashi then AJPW had Suwama. They weren't exactly on the same level as performers as most fans preferred Tanahashi and he was evidently the bigger draw, but Suwama held his own and became a respectable worker. Often performed in a stiff striking style, I feel he is underrated among a lot of fans outside of Japan. While he has a definitive way of wrestling, he could work against any opponent and adjust his ways to compliment the strengths of others. After all he wouldn't be the Ace if he didn't have that ability. No one is more synonymous with the Triple Crown from the late 2000's up until the 2010's than Suwama, he defined that belt with all his might and carried himself like a true champion. His second reign that started on August 29, 2010 is what cemented his status as the new eternal ace of the promotion by having his longest title run thus far at 420 days with six successful defenses against some notable names such as Masakatsu Funaki, Taiyo Kea, KENSO (aka Kenzo Suzuki of the WWE), Yuji Nagata, and a young Seiya Sanada who is now a part of NJPW. Suwama lost the belt to Jun Akiyama on October 23, 2011. Besides the World Title, Suwama is also accomplished in the tag-team division being a 5x AJPW World Tag-Team Champion with a total combined reign of 734 days. I'm not gonna go out and say I'm a huge fan of Suwama but I get his appeal towards the fans and before Kento Miyahara rose to superstardom, there is no other wrestler that embodied All Japan Pro Wrestling than Suwama. He will go down in history as one of the legends of the company forever and has his place at the top of the greatest Triple Crown Champions of all time. 18.) Yoshihiro Takayama Times Held: 1 Total Days: 196 I see a lot of similarities with Yoshihiro Takayama and Kensuke Sasaki in terms of how they went into their careers. Takayama was a part of the UWF-I ran by Nobuhiko Takada but after the closure of the company he went to AJPW and wrestled there from 1997 to 2000 when he left and joined Misawa's mass exodus to NOAH. Takayama wouldn't wrestle full time in NOAH though as beginning in 2001 he declared to be a free agent and was able to wrestle anywhere. This made wonders for his career, now that Takayama can compete any place he wants to and conquered all of the promotions he went. He is the other man to hold all of the "Big Three Belts" other than Sasaki, in 2002 he became the GHC Heavyweight Champion but only for 16 days before dropping it to Mitsuharu Misawa, then the following year 2003 he held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship while also reviving the NWF Heavyweight Championship in his feud against Shinsuke Nakamura. Starting in 2006 he made his return to AJPW and in 2009 was victorious against The Great Muta for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. Takayama's run lasted for 196 days, his longest World Title reign. He successfully defended it against age old rival and partner Minoru Suzuki as well as Suwama before losing it to Satoshi Kojima. Takayama was never going to have long runs with any belts. He fits the description of a transitional champion and worked perfectly in that role. Due to his massive size, standing at 6'5'' and weighing in at 276 lbs. in his prime he was one of the most physically imposing men in Japanese professional wrestling. He did not only look tough but was a legitimate threat in the ring, perhaps best remembered for his all out MMA brawl against Don Frye on PRIDE where both men decided to brush away tactics and go for a good old fashion beatdown. Unfortunately this very brutal style would eventually spell the end for Takayama's career as years of damages in his body would take its toll and he would get paralyzed from the neck down in his final match in 2017. Quite the tragic end to the career of a legendary figure. 19.) Ryota Hama Times Held: 1 Total Days: 42 Every prestigious championship belt not only in pro wrestling but any combat sport for that matter will have its fair share of odd balls. Quite literally the man fit for that is Ryota Hama. Obviously just by looking at him, Hama is a former sumo wrestler and was actually quite good at it. When he went on to become a pro wrestler in 2008 former yokozuna and one of the greatest sumos that ever lived, Akebono took him under his wing. Now to be fair for someone his massive size, I'll give credit when its due Hama is actually a decent worker. Especially in a tag-team, he can do well, him and Akebono were actually fun to watch together and they held the All Asia Tag-Team Championships twice. He also has tons of personality and charisma so the fans can easily connect towards him. On paper it does seem weird in hindsight how Ryota Hama became Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion after all he just seemed like a perennial midcarder. If he should have won the belt in the first place is a debatable argument. However looking back on it, his title victory over Satoshi Kojima on March 21, 2010 is such a feel good moment. His run only lasted for three months, losing in his first defense against Minoru Suzuki. But it's a good display of showcasing that sometimes you don't need to have complicated and lengthy championship reigns to solidify your spot as a memorable wrestler, all you need is that one moment for the fans to remember you for a long time and however his career ends up, his name will forever be etched in the history books as a former Triple Crown Champion. 20.) Jun Akiyama Times Held: 2 Total Combined Days: 370 It's a weird fact that one of the men heavily synonymous with All Japan Pro Wrestling took 20 years before he finally became Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion but here we are, let's see why it took so long for Jun Akiyama to get crowned himself. Arguably Akiyama's initial run can either be seen as good or bad depending on how you look at it. Debuting in 1992, while he was a capable worker of his own and one of the best in the roster, rising among the ranks fast because of his amateur wrestling background and overall great natural talents that he possesses, it was around this time that AJPW was transitioning from Jumbo Tsuruta towards The Four Heavenly Pillars who would go on to dominate the rest of the decade for the company. In terms of accolades he did well in the tag-team division being a 3x AJPW World Tag-Team Champion with Misawa and Kobashi (twice) and also had a run with the All Asia Tag-Team Championships along with Takao Omori. But Akiyama never blossomed into becoming a top singles star because he was overshadowed by the Pillars whom at this point were already massive fan favorites and established superstars. Just like The Beatles, you have the core four members that everyone always will remember and then someone is always coined as the honorary "5th Beatle" for being good but not quite on that level, Akiyama was considered by many as the 5th Pillar because he is just as talented as them, just didn't quite reach the same pedestal. He has challenged for the Triple Crown many times but never captured it. Then in 2000 he would leave AJPW and another one of the men who Misawa took and joined for Pro Wrestling NOAH. It is where Akiyama finally got to win a proper World Title by becoming the second ever GHC Heavyweight Champion, a title he would hold three times over the course of his run in NOAH. On paper it seemed like Akiyama will finally become the face of the promotion and NOAH would be built around him as their new top star but the booking did him no favors and once again he was still overshadowed by Misawa, Kobashi, and even Taue as despite going up in age, they were still beloved by the fans and were much bigger draws than Akiyama. For 12 years Akiyama competed for NOAH. After the unexpected death of Misawa in 2009 though, the landscape of the promotion changed entirely for the worse. On October 23, 2011 he defeated Suwama to finally capture the belt that eluded him in his entire initial eight year run with AJPW and got the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship! He held it for a respectable 308 days, having four successful title defenses over the likes of Taiyo Kea (twice), Keiji Mutoh, and Takao Omori then dropped the belt to Masakatsu Funaki on August 26, 2012. Akiyama did not re-sign his contract with NOAH in 2013 and left the promotion for good and returned to AJPW along with some members of the roster that decided to follow him. On June 4 of that year it was also officially announced that he was the president of the company. At this point Akiyama is now an established veteran. He changed his look by shaving his head bald and sporting a bandana during his wrestling entrances. Akiyama provided a strong and legitimate presence in the roster, as well as the historical background with the company that AJPW was heavily missing at the time. Despite his age, he could still go in the ring and had another run with the Triple Crown on November 1, 2015 when he defeated Akebono, 62 days later though he dropped it on his first defense against Suwama. As time passes by Akiyama would slowly go down from a main eventer to a midcard act to give highlight to the younger stars of the roster and the ones who have potential. In 2018 Akiyama wrestled in his final Champion Carnival (AJPW's version of the G1 Climax) and focuses more on a mentor role to this day. It's a shame that Jun Akiyama never properly got the time to shine. While he was a multi-time World Champion, it never felt like he was really the main guy in all of those reigns as he was constantly overshadowed by those that have bigger star power than him. Nevertheless, he is still a widely respected wrestler and deserves to be for innovating a lot of moves, not afraid of putting over so many talents, and just being a great man in and out of the ring. 21.) Masakatsu Funaki Times Held: 1 Total Days: 203 Don't let the simple look fool you, Masakatsu Funaki is legitimately one of the toughest fighters in all of Japan, dare I say even tougher than Minoru Suzuki and that says a lot! Early in his career Funaki and Suzuki were a part of the same New Japan Dojo class but would leave the company to start their own which is Pancrase. This is where Funaki made a name for himself and became the most successful and greatest competitor in Pancrase history by scoring victories over numerous MMA legends. To this day he is the only MMA fighter to beat both the Shamrock Brothers (Ken and Frank) and Bas Rutten. He is also the first fighter to win the King of Pancrase title twice. One can argue that Funaki is the greatest Japanese mixed martial artist of all time, other than Kazushi Sakuraba who has a strong case as well. While being an active MMA fighter, Funaki never left his original passion which was pro wrestling. He worked as a freelancer but primarily competed in AJPW. In 2010 he won the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships with Keiji Mutoh, then two years later defeated Jun Akiyama for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, Funaki's first and only major World Title win in his wrestling career. He had an impressive reign for 203 days with five successful defenses against Suwama, Takao Omori, Manabu Soya, and Akebono. To this day Funaki is still an active freelance act for All Japan but has never held another belt since. Having Masakatsu Funaki in the lineage of the Triple Crown adds to the title's legitimacy feel. He is a pioneer for shoot style wrestling in Japan and a huge reason for the eventual MMA boom not only in the country but the rest of the world. 22.) Akebono Times Held: 2 Total Combined Days: 379 Professional and Sumo wrestling have always been intertwined with one another. The first major Japanese wrestling superstar, Rikidozan is in fact a former sumo himself as well as many other wrestlers have backgrounds in sumo. But perhaps no one is bigger both literally and figuratively than them all in Akebono. I'm not going to say I'm a sumo expert or anything but just based on all of the things I've read over the years, Akebono is the most accomplished modern day sumo in Japanese history. He is also the first foreigner (a Hawaiian native) to ever become yokozuna, which is the highest ranking in sumo. Because of his massive success, Akebono became a household name in the country and the growth of his popularity cannot be denied. After his retirement in sumo he would go on to try multiple combat sports such as kickboxing, MMA, and of course pro wrestling. Whether he was actually skilled in those sports can be argued, but one thing is for sure, Akebono kept on getting bookings due to his drawing power. As mentioned, his name alone can sell out tickets in the country, Japan always loved their big men and freak shows so he was often billed against other giants such as Bob Sapp and Giant Silva. They weren't masterful technical martial arts bouts or anything like that but good enough to satisfy the entertainment of the crowds. He was also a part of the infamous sumo wrestling match against Big Show on WrestleMania 21 in 2005. The same year Akebono became a freelance pro wrestler and made his debut for AJPW while also being able to compete for other promotions such as NJPW. He even challenged for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Brock Lesnar. Before becoming World Champion, Akebono had some success in tag-teams. Him and Keiji Mutoh formed a noteworthy alliance in the 2000's. In 2009 him and Ryota Hama won the All Asia Tag-Team Championships, a year later he'd win the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships with Taiyo Kea. Finally on October 27, 2013 Akebono defeated Suwama and captured the Triple Crown Championship for the first time, he defeated Joe Doering twice in a row, Takao Omori, Go Shiozaki, and Kento Miyahara during his first run but was forced to relinquish the belt after suffering some health issues. Two years later Akebono won the belt once again this time beating Go Shiozaki on May 21, 2015 that lasted for 164 days with two successful defenses then lost it to Jun Akiyama. December 15, 2015 Akebono wrestled his final match on AJPW, the next two years he'd compete all over the independents but his health issues would become much more apparent as the years go by which forced him to stop wrestling altogether. It has been reported last year that he suffered a heart attack but is in a stable condition now. No matter what you think of him as a performer, no one deserves to be in poor health. Weighing in at 545 lbs. in his prime, Akebono is the heaviest Triple Crown Champion. Truly put emphasis on the term "Heavyweight." But due to his size, it's obvious that he is limited to what he can do in the ring, dare I say because Hama is much smaller in stature he could do more than what Akebono was capable of. Hama was doing shining wizards in his younger years for crying out loud! Still though, Akebono was a big attraction in Japan, you can't blame AJPW who always needed enough star power to keep them going in putting the belt on him. No fault in trying to make money the way they did. 23.) Takao Omori Times Held: 1 Total Days: 14 Takao Omori's title win for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship happened just six years ago but I think it's safe to say at this point that it is the most forgotten run of the belt's history. For his entire career, Omori always has been a midcard act and found more success in tag-team rather than singles competition. He started out in AJPW in the early 90's and had a solid run with Yoshihiro Takayama as NO FEAR. Him and Takayama would join NOAH as a part of the mass exodus but his stint in the company didn't last long due to some backstage issues with Misawa. Omori would then compete in the indies, primarily for ZERO1 and the short lived Fighting World of Japan Pro-Wrestling ran by Riki Choshu. In 2009 he had a one year run in NJPW but never really went far again in the card, then in 2011 returned full time for All Japan. Omori served for the most part a veteran presence in the roster and experienced more tag-team gold. No one thought he'd win the Triple Crown at this point of his career but he defied the odds on June 15, 2014 he won the vacant belt with a victory over Jun Akiyama. But his reign is one of the shortest in the belt's history as 14 days later he would lose to Suwama. To me it felt like Omori's title reign was more of a consolation prize for sticking with the company. A harmless feel good moment for a long-time veteran, nothing more nothing less. 24.) Joe Doering Times Held: 2 Total Combined Days: 315 Joe Doering is a modern day Stan Hansen. A loud and stiff cowboy gaijin whom the crowd goes wild for. Obviously he doesn't got the same star power as Hansen but it's a way too obvious comparison to pass up on. After competing in multiple independents in the US and other companies such as TNA and WWC in Puerto Rico, Doering became an active part of the AJPW roster since 2007. From 2008 to 2014 he held the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships four times with partners such as Keiji Mutoh, Masayuki Kono, Seiya Sanada, and Suwama. July 27, 2014 he captured the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship for the first time defeating Suwama and had a reign of 160 days beating Akebono and Go Shiozaki, and even defended the belt on Ontario, Canada for Border City Wrestling (BCW) against Rhino which is the first time the belt has ever been defended outside of Japan. He would eventually lose it to Shiozaki on January 3, 2015. Two years later Doering captured the belt again from Suwama on October 21, 2017 this time for 155 days beating the likes of Yoshi Tatsu, Zeus, and KAI before dropping the belt to Kento Miyahara on March 25, 2018. While he hasn't returned to AJPW yet I don't think we have seen the last of Joe Doering in Japan. Not counting Taiyo Kea or Akebono, Doering is the first gaijin to hold the belt since Vader in 1999. He is perfect for the role he is in the company and massive props for still performing at a high level after surviving a brain tumor cancer surgery in 2016. A great comeback story to one of Puro's best foreign heels today. 25.) Go Shiozaki Times Held: 1 Total Days: 138 Some of you might find it shocking to see him in this list as Go Shiozaki has been so heavily synonymous with Pro Wrestling NOAH that it is hard to imagine for him to wrestle elsewhere but that was indeed the case at one point. Shiozaki was mentored by Kenta Kobashi in NOAH and heavily mirrored the early career of his master by losing all of his matches to have the similar underdog persona. Going as far as to having the same moveset and everything. It worked to some degree but obviously no one will ever have the same charisma as Kobashi has. Shiozaki would slowly move up the ranks in NOAH capturing the GHC Heavyweight Championship for the first time in 2009. In 2013 when Jun Akiyama decided to leave NOAH and go back to All Japan he brought along some NOAH wrestlers with him such as Atsushi Aoki, Kotaro Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and Go Shiozaki. Two years since joining AJPW, Shiozaki won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship by beating Joe Doering on January 3, 2015. In his 138 day reign he defeated Kento and Zeus then dropped the belt to Akebono. An average run for an average worker at the time, the same year he went back to NOAH and has wrestled there full time since and is the reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion again as of the writing of this article, being the successor to the past generation Misawa and Kobashi while feuding with current ace and future superstar Kaito Kiyomiya. While Shiozaki has gained more charisma now, at the time he just seemed like a good worker but with not much else going for him. His talents served him well though in gaining as much accolades as he did for lacking in the personality department. While he did have a decent enough length for a reign, there wasn't anything special about it and will likely be forgotten by most. 26.) Kento Miyahara Times Held: 4 Total Combined Days: 1,152 Arguably a Top 5 wrestler in the whole world today and some even go as far as to say Kento Miyahara is the greatest wrestler alive. I think that's just shows you how highly regarded he is. The current Ace of All Japan, Kento Miyahara began his wrestling career under the wing of Kensuke Sasaki in 2008 bouncing around from promotion to promotion wherever his mentor went. In 2013 he started to compete full time for AJPW and had a lot of initial success in their tag-team division winning the All Asia Tag-Team Championships with Kotaro Suzuki as Xceed then the AJPW World Tag-Team Championships with Go Shiozaki. Kento was no stranger to them as he competed earlier on a lot of matches in NOAH. On February 12, 2016 Miyahara solidified his status as the new face of All Japan by winning the vacant Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against Zeus and would go on to have a strong 464 day reign with the belt. He had nine successful defenses beating the likes of Takao Omori (twice), Daisuke Sekimoto, Kengo Mashimo, Jun Akiyama (the final time he challenged for the belt), Ryouji Sai, Suwama, and The Bodyguard. The reign would come to an end at the hands of Shuji Ishikawa on May 21, 2017. Kento's next two reigns were underwhelming at just 42 and 126 days respectively. His latest run however exceeded all types of expectations and proved once again to the world why he is the Ace of All Japan. Kento's latest run with the belt broke all kinds of records, it is the third longest individual reign of the belt at 519 days behind Kawada's 529 and Misawa's 705. He beat his own record by having the most title defenses at 10, a lot of which are highly acclaimed matches too. Starting on October 21, 2018 to March 23, 2020 Kento Miyahara dominated the entire AJPW roster and defeated challenger after challenger. No question, the most dominant modern day champion of the belt even more so than Suwama. My only criticism of Kento's present run as the Ace is that the roster is not big enough. Unlike in NJPW where they have tons of talent to rotate and build upon, with AJPW still far from its glory days, they are in dire need of fresh new challengers for Kento otherwise he'll just be facing the same wrestlers over and over again. I already see some sentiments online that his matches tend to be formulaic and repetitive. Despite this though, I have actually witnessed his growth as a performer, from just your typical wrestler who can perform well to an actual charisma machine, Kento Miyahara deserves his spot at the top of the wrestling world today and for being the de facto number one superstar of AJPW today. 27.) Shuji Ishikawa Times Held: 1 Total Days: 98 Shuji Ishikawa is a big man who hits hard. It's a simple yet effective explanation. Beginning his career in 2003, Ishikawa has wrestled in the indies for a long time particularly making a name for himself in both DDT and Big Japan. He has accomplished plenty in those promotions, being one of their biggest stars, Ishikawa is a 4x KO-D Openweight Champion and a World Champion in BJW both in their Strong and Death Match divisions. In 2015 he began competing in AJPW. 2017 would be his banner year for the company so far by winning the Champion Carnival Tournament and going on to win the Triple Crown Championship from Kento Miyahara, ending his 464 day run. As of today it is Ishikawa's only run with the belt that lasted for 98 days beating Jake Lee and Suwama before losing it right back to Kento on August 27. Since his loss of the World Title, Ishikawa has formed The Violent Giants tag-team with Suwama and they have been successful being 4x AJPW World Tag-Team Champions. 28.) Zeus Times Held: 1 Total Days: 84 Last but not the least so far in the list is Kensho Obayashi or better known to many as Zeus. Beginning his wrestling career in 2006, Zeus wrestled in his hometown promotion of Osaka Pro Wrestling from 2006 to 2013. In the middle of his career there, he had a brief run in HUSTLE and even had a match against Toshiaki Kawada. It is also in Osaka Pro where he formed a tag-team with The Bodyguard (who is pretty much the Japanese Scott Steiner) as Big Guns. Just two jacked up dudes who can beat the crap out of you, what's not to love?! In 2014 after wrestling for ZERO1 and DDT, Zeus made his way to All Japan along with The Bodyguard. They were immediately successful by dominating the promotion's tag-team division and becoming 4x AJPW World Tag-Team Champions. On July 29, 2018 Zeus had the biggest win of his wrestling career yet by becoming Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion defeating Kento Miyahara in what many considered a shock victory. It was unexpected at the time as no one saw it coming, Kento being the strong ace that he is, but Zeus' win proved that the rest of the roster has what it takes to take down the ace as well. His reign was only a transitional one though. 84 days in with one successful defense against Shuji Ishikawa, Zeus lost the belt back to Kento would go on to have his historic 519 day run. I like to think that isn't the last time we'll get to see the powerhouse win the Triple Crown in his career. So there you have it, every single Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion as of the writing of this article has been covered. If you would like to learn more about the history of All Japan because they don't own any of their earlier television stuff you can view a lot of them on YouTube and DailyMotion especially the historic and title matches. I also want to give a special shoutout to Joseph Montecillo who creates wonderful video essays about the history of AJPW during the peak of the King's Road era. Each champion has contributed to the prestigious history of the belt and will forever have their names linked towards such a historic piece of metal. Who was your favorite among them all? Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas. Source for stats and other info: CAGEMATCH.net Subscribe to AJPW TV for official latest content on the company. All images used in this article belong to their rightful owners/copyright. Thanks for reading and stay safe! |
AuthorSuper Mastodon. Spent countless of hours throughout my life watching professional wrestling. Now I write about it, because I like that too. Archives
March 2021
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