In January, New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co., Ltd. was established. International Pro Wrestling was the first Japanese promotion to link into European circuits. [2] Following his death, professional wrestling thrived, creating a variety of personalities, promotions and styles. Riho is the inaugural AEW Women's World Champion. American Stan Hansen, Indian Tiger Jeet Singh, Canadian Abdullah the Butcher, and British wrestler Dynamite Kid were among those cited as top foreign grapplers in a poll of Japanese fans: All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, as well as others, have also sent wrestlers to compete in the likes of the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Puerto Rico and so on. Some of the more famous examples of these exchanges are Hakushi in WWF, Masahiro Chono, The Great Muta and Jyushin Thunder Liger in WCW, as well as ECW which featured talent such as Hayabusa from Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and The Great Sasuke of Michinoku Pro Wrestling. [4] Throughout the years, a number of promotions have opened and closed, but a few have persisted to remain the most popular and thriving companies: New Japan Pro-Wrestling is currently considered by many as the top promotion. Gaea Japan once had a working agreement with World Championship Wrestling in the mid-1990s, when the latter brought in wrestlers from Gaea to bolster the ranks of their then-fledgling women's division, with Akira Hokuto becoming the first and only WCW Women's Champion, and a WCW Women's Cruiserweight Championship was even introduced and defended in Gaea shows. It operated from 1953 to 1973. Japanese pro wrestling … Since 2014, various New Japan Pro-Wrestling live specials have been broadcast on AXS TV in the United States. In March, a New Japan Pro-Wrestling battle event was held at the Ota Ward gymnasium. List of notable promotions. Other stars like Satoshi Kojima, Kenta Kobashi, and DoFIXER with MLW for the former, and Ring of Honor for the latter two. These two companies are the big dogs in Japan until well into the 1990s with … Turnbuckles holding the ropes in the corners can be covered either individually (each turnbuckle has its own padding) or collectively (a single padding covering all turnbuckles). These promotions held notable shows in 2020. Even in joshi puroresu, a few notable foreigns have found success wrestling for joshi promotions, such as Monster Ripper, Madusa, and Amazing Kong. Wrestlers often run into the ropes by themselves or throw the opponents against them, employing the ropes' elasticity for his next attack. "The guy who made the masked wrestlers popular in Japan was The Destroyer," said Suda, who's been known to don a wrestling mask himself and used to work on the Super Fire Pro Wrestling … Let me briefly discuss the past and present of puroresu, with emphasis on major promotions and famous fighters. Rikidōzan brought the sport to tremendous popularity with his Japanese Wrestling Associat… Originally founded in 1972 by retired professional wrestler and martial artist, now politician and wrestling promoter A ring may have barbed wires instead of ropes, have six sides of ropes instead of four, or may have explosives set on the boundaries, just to name a few. Japanese wrestlers sent to Mexico, where the wrestling mask was the rule, adopted mask-based personae; examples were Osamu Matsuda becoming El Samurai, Yoshihiro Asai becoming Último Dragón, and Masanori Murakawa becoming Great Sasuke. Since its beginning, Japanese professional wrestling depended on television to reach a wide audience. This arrangement continued after the JWA split into today's major promotions, New Japan and All Japan, led by Inoki and Baba respectively. Jay White. [6] It is treated as a legitimate fight, with fewer theatrics; the stories told in Japanese matches are about a fighter's spirit and perseverance.[6]. WOWOW had a working agreement with Akira Maeda that paid millions to RINGS when he was featured, but eventually was scrapped with Maeda's retirement and the subsequent RINGS collapse. From 2015 to 2019 AXS TV ran edited versions of older New Japan events […] The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun". All Japan Pro Wrestling: Yokohama: Jun Akiyama: 1972– Affiliated with National Wrestling … Rikidōzan's JWA and its successor promotions All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling were members of the American-based National Wrestling Alliance at various points, and used these connections to bring North American stars. Japanese pro wrestling is distinct in its psychology and presentation of the sport. The word puroresu was made popular by Hisaharu Tanabe among the English speaking fans in the early 1990s through Usenet and online services. Fōru occurs when the wrestler holds both of his opponent's shoulders against the mat for a count of three. It was New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) presenting the Best of the Super Juniors (BOSJ). THE 33rd CHAMPION. Strong Style. NJPW is Japan’s biggest pro-wrestling promotion and is known for its hard-hitting style known as Strong Style. Eventually TV Asahi also gained the right to broadcast JWA, but eventually the two major broadcasters agreed to split the talent, centering about Rikidōzan's top two students: NTV for Giant Baba and his group, and Asahi for Antonio Inoki and his group. Professional wrestling in Japan has existed for many years. This arrangement continued after the JWA split into today's major promotions, New Japan and All Japan, led by Inoki and Baba respectively. Subsequent attempts before and after World War II failed to get off the ground initially, until Japan saw the advent of its first big star, Rikidozan, who made the sport popular beginning in 1951. It is during the 1990s that joshi puroresu has attracted much critical acclaim internationally, and several classic matches during these era competed by select joshi wrestlers were awarded 5-stars by the American wrestling publication Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The most popular Mexican wrestler to compete in Japan is Mil Máscaras, who is credited with introducing the high-flying moves of lucha libre to Japanese audiences, which then led to the style called lucha-resu. Rikidozan's JWA and its successor promotions All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling were If you would like to donate to Big […] (Omega has since become more recognized in both his homeland of Canada and the US through his involvement with the newly launched All Elite Wrestling.) Then as the 1970s progressed one of the largest pro wrestling companies in Japan, All Japan Pro Wrestling, changed their show format to a much more realist style of … The promotion co-promoted with All Japan Pro Wrestling … The advent of cable television and pay per view also enabled independents such as RINGS to rise. Nowadays, however, mirroring the decline that professional wrestling in the U.S. had in the 1970s and early 1980s, NOAH's Power Hour and New Japan's World Pro Wrestling have been largely relegated to the midnight hours by their broadcasters. As a result of the introduction of lucha libre into Japan, major Mexican stars also compete in Japan. [5][6] Growing out of origins in the traditional US style of wrestling, it has become an entity in itself. El Desperado. They lost to Elix Skipper, Sonjay Dutt and Chris Sabin. Puroresu done by female wrestlers is called joshi puroresu (女子プロレス). It’s a full combat sport that is as popular as sumo and baseball. One company in trouble is Big Japan Pro Wrestling, which is asking fans for help with a crowdfunding campaign. [citation needed]. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit a lot of wrestling promotions hard all over the world. Stan Hansen is one of the most successful foreign wrestler in Japan. The first president was Kanji Inoki. Professional wrestling in Japan is commonly referred to as puroresu in Japanese, short for "professional wrestling" ("purofesshonaru resuringu"). American Style Pro Wrestling and Japanese wrestling were nearly identical up until the early 1970s. Notable joshi wrestlers of the 1990s include Manami Toyota, Kyoko Inoue, Bull Nakano, Dynamite Kansai, Akira Hokuto, Aja Kong, Cuty Suzuki, Mayumi Ozaki, Mariko Yoshida and Takako Inoue. Unlike wrestling in North America, a 20 count is used in Japan when a wrestler leaves the ring instead of a 10 count. A match can be won by fōru (fall; equivalent to pin fall), nokkauto (knockout; failing to answer a ten count), ringu auto (ring out; equivalent to count out), or gibappu (give up; equivalent to submission). Usually, these talent exchanges are chances at puroresu stars to learn other style to add to their own strengths. That decade would later see the rise of Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka, known as The Crush Gals, who as a tag team achieved a level of unprecedented mainstream success in Japan, unheard of by any female wrestler in the history of professional wrestling all over the world. The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's activities in the online Usenet community. Puroresu is the predominant style of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. Examples of these are Koki Kitahara's Capture International (shoot style) and Mr. Pogo's WWS. WOWOW had a working agreement with Akira Maeda that paid millions to RINGS when he was featured, but eventually was scrapped with Maeda's retirement and the subsequent RINGS collapse. Since its beginning, Japanese professional wrestling depended on television to reach a wide audience. According to a new report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there are “significant talks” between the two sides about New Japan programming returning to the network. Growing out of origins in the traditional US style of wrestling, it has become an entity in itself. Stardom became popular quickly after it was founded. Some of the more famous examples of Japaneses exchanges are Masahiro Chono, The Great Muta, Jushin Liger in WCW. Usually, these talent exchanges are chances for puroresu stars to learn other styles to add to their own strengths, a tradition that started with Rikidozan himself between 1951 and 1953. Starting in the 1950s, professional wrestling, or puroresu, enjoyed popularity on a par with Japan’s other top sports of baseball and sumō. The first Japanese to involve himself in catch wrestling, the basis of traditional professional wrestling, was former sumo wrestler Sorakichi Matsuda. Japanese wrestlers who appear in other American circuits such as Impact Wrestling (originally Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, or TNA) and Ring of Honor rarely change their names. Puroresu is the predominant style of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. AJPW and NJPW as well as others, have also sent wrestlers to compete in America. The early 1980s saw the fame of Jaguar Yokota and Devil Masami. [1] There were subsequent attempts before and after World War II to popularize the sport in Japan, but these generally failed until the advent of its first big star, Rikidōzan, in 1951, who became known as the "father" of the sport. The first Japanese to involve himself in catch wrestling, the basis of traditional professional wrestling, was former sumo wrestler Sorakichi Matsuda. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (新日本プロレス, Shin Nihon Puroresu) (NJPW), is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo.NJPW personnel consists of professional wrestlers, commentators, color commentators, ring announcers, referees, trainers, producers, bookers, and various other positions. Eventually TV Asahi also gained the right to broadcast JWA, but eventually the two major broadcasters agreed to split the talent, centering about Rikidozan's top two students: NTV for Giant Baba and his group, and Asahi for Antonio Inoki and his group. I was thinking of dedicating my channel to making many parodies of this video. Nowadays, however, mirroring the decline that professional wrestling in the U.S. had in the 1970s and early 1980s, NOAH's Power Hour and New Japan's World Pro Wrestling have been largely relegated to the midnight hours by their broadcasters. Rikidōzan brought the sport to tremendous popularity with his Japanese Wrestling Association (JWA) until his murder in 1963. 1973 In April, the “World Wrestling” broadcast was started by the NET TV (now: Asahi TV) 1987 In June, the IWGP Heavyweight Title was established. [3] It has also created a mass of other cultural icons in Japan including: Antonio Inoki, Giant Baba, Jyushin "Thunder" Liger, Tiger Mask, Keiji Mutoh/The Great Muta, Mitsuharu Misawa, and Kenta Kobashi among others. The first Japanese to become a professional wrestler in the Western style was former sumo wrestler Sorakichi Matsuda, who went to the United States in the 1880s and was somewhat successful. Despite the advent of cable television and the Internet, some Japanese wrestlers still adopt all-new ring names, particularly when they join WWE, which trademarks ring names frequently. The advent of cable television and pay per view also enabled independents such as RINGS to rise. I have plenty of ideas, let me know if you're interested Country: Japan … Throughout the 1990s, three individual styles -- shoot style, lucha libre, and "garbage"—were the main divisions of independent promotions, but as a result of the "borderless" trend of the 2000s to have interpromotional matches, the line between rules among major-league promotions and independents has for the most part been blurred to standardization. New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) is the largest professional wrestling promotion in Japan and the second largest promotion in the world. Stardom was founded in 2010, five years after the All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling came to a close after the president became ill. 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