Written by: Super Mastodon (@SuperMastodon)
Originally posted on: Mastodon Wrestling Blog
After years worth of consuming matches, documentaries, articles, and podcasts, I thought of doing something on my own and hopefully everyone whether a long time fan or even better, new fans who are just beginning their journey into the world of Puro, hopefully you’ll learn something here such as different contexts of stories, moves, monumental moments, promotions, and of course the wrestlers themselves and their careers.
Professional wrestling in Japan or simply Puroresu has been a long standing tradition in the country for decades. We can trace its roots with their national sport: sumo in which it has taken a lot of inspiration from. Through the years Puroresu itself has evolved into different types of presentation thanks to the continuously innovative wrestlers that have shared their talents in the craft.
For this article I am going to discuss and showcase the history of Puroresu but through its major stars. All the way from Rikidozan to the 21st century superstars such as Kazuchika Okada and Kento Miyahara. Who were some of the wrestlers (native & foreign) that have immense and notable contributions, became national icons, who were at the peak of their popularity in certain decades, and all other related criteria. This is not a ranking list of the best, far from it and I have already made a separate article about that. What this is more of a historical piece of Puroresu in chronological order of its wrestlers and documenting their significance around that timeframe.
What I like the most about Puroresu is there is a wide variety of styles, so whatever type of pro wrestling you fancy there is something for you. Traditional grappling, competitive strong style, mixed martial arts, Joshi/women’s wrestling, hardcore/death matches, high-flying lucha libre style, comedy matches, and everything in between. We will be covering all of that in here too.
So buckle up and grab your snacks for reading as this will be quite a ride. Without further ado, let’s get straight into the action and see the history of Puroresu by the stars!
The First Japanese Pro Wrestler
Matsuda Sorakichi is recognized by many as the first Japanese professional wrestler. A former sumo wrestler, Sorakichi wrestled mainly in the US where he truly learned the ropes and was able to face a variety of well known American and European grapplers of the 19th century. In the year 1887 Sorakichi along with his friend Hamada Shokichi, another former sumo brought the Western style presentation of professional wrestling in Tokyo’s Ginza district however the event was a failure in attracting crowds. It may have failed in terms of drawing, but this was crucial for Puroresu as it marked the beginning of professional wrestling in the country of Japan.
The Father of Puroresu
Professional wrestling in Japan wouldn’t reached its peak popularity until many decades later when Mitsuhiro Momota aka Rikidozan entered the scene. Post World War II, the Japanese are in dire need of a hero that represents their country against their enemies. Television is still growing around these times and they have found exactly the symbol of heroism in the form of Rikidozan. Ironically who was actually of Korean descent as revealed after his death, but did live in Japan for many years when he entered sumo and had to hide his true identity due to racial tensions. We have to remember, at this point in time the Japanese people are still experiencing the loss against the US from the war, it is still fresh in their memories and they’d do anything to see any form of representation of their countrymen get some victory to boost their morale. Rikidozan was in the right place at the right time, he would not only draw huge crowds thanks to these sentiments from the fans but also historic TV ratings. As his popularity grew, Rikidozan would battle gaijin wrestlers (foreigners) and defeat them to gain the respect and adoration of the crowds. This would continue until he becomes such a huge national star and with it, comes the rise of professional wrestling in the country. He single-handedly made wrestling famous in the entire country and became synonymous with the sport all throughout his career. On July 30, 1953 Rikidozan founded the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JWA), the first ever Japanese professional wrestling promotion and was partnered with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in the US which allowed both companies to share talents. Many of Rikidozan’s fellow former sumo compatriots joined in on the promotion as well and became established stars of their own, most notably Toyonobori who was 4x All Asia Tag-Team Champion with Rikidozan and ruled the tag-team division throughout their run. Speaking of championships, Rikidozan has plenty of gold in his career. He was the sole holder of the Japanese Heavyweight Championship from 1953 up until his death, an astounding 1,344 days undefeated streak.
A hero would not be complete without his rivals to overcome. Rikidozan had plenty and obviously they were foreign wrestlers that competed whether in the JWA or in the States. The first major rival was “Classy” Freddie Blassie. They mainly feuded over the WWA World Heavyweight Championship. Long before he became one of the most recognizable managers in the WWF, Blassie was a notorious heel who could draw riots from the crowds. He was a menacing character and a perfect fit to battle against the national hero in Rikidozan. Their fights were so heated that according to Blassie, at one point during their matches when he made Rikidozan bleed, many Japanese audience members watching in their televisions got heart attacks at the sight of seeing their favorite being busted open, some even resulted in death. In hindsight, this was all seemingly hyperbole and an exaggerated anecdote, but you cannot also fault him for it as that was the level of intensity kayfabe was kept around those years. Other big time gaijins that wrestled Rikidozan over the years and paved the way for American wrestlers to find success in Japan were the likes of “The Destroyer” Dick Beyer and Bobo Brazil. The Destroyer in particular, despite being a heel for most of his career, would later on become a well respected athlete by the country after his decades of work for both the JWA and later on AJPW.
The match that legitimized Rikidozan as a competitor from a worldwide stand point though was on August 27, 1958 against Lou Thesz for the NWA International Heavyweight Championship. This match drew an 87.0 rating in Japanese television which is still a record that will likely go unbroken for eternity especially in terms of professional wrestling. To put into perspective, almost the entire country were watching in their TV’s for this historic bout between two of the all time greats. Rikidozan would end up winning the bout and this was a big deal as Thesz didn’t just easily give up loses from anyone, if you had a victory over Lou Thesz in his prime, that truly meant you were a made man, it was just as big as winning the World Title.
Because of the JWA, Rikidozan was also able to train other wrestlers that would soon become superstars of their own. Two of his best prospects were Kanji Inoki and Shohei Baba, both of which were personally recruited by Rikidozan himself. It wouldn’t be the last time you’d be seeing those two in this article that’s for sure as they contributed a large part in shaping Puroresu as well. At the height of his fame, there was no one bigger in Japan than Rikidozan. He was to Japan, what El Santo is to Mexico and Dara Singh to India. Transcended being famous wrestlers to just being household names of their respective countries. However, with fame comes its detractors. He lived an unhealthy lifestyle outside of the ring, a contrast to his friendly and brave fighter persona when going up against his opponents, which ultimately led to his demise. On December 8, 1963 while partying at a club, Rikidozan was stabbed numerous times with a knife and a week later unfortunately passed away at the age of 39. Many rumors and theories have circulated his death. Allegedly it was because of yakuza-related incidents, which was frequent especially around those times. Upon his death, the state of Puroresu became from a national phenomenon to for awhile almost bleak. Even though there were other wrestlers at the time, no one could compare to the popularity of Rikidozan and he left a huge hole in the sport that he laid a strong foundation for in the country, it wasn’t until years later when it started to rise up again thanks to his former co-workers and students.
Not a lot of wrestlers have the same level of legacy as Rikidozan, or any athlete from any sport for that matter. He took professional wrestling on the same level as sumo and baseball in Japan and became a proven draw in both live and TV audiences. He was also an innovative wrestler, incorporating traditional martial arts moves into his wrestling arsenal, which would become influential to many of those that he mentored. He may be gone physically, but as long as Puroresu is around, Rikidozan’s spirit is alive and well.
IWE – The Forgotten Promotion
After the death of Rikidozan, JWA still remained but a lot of their other stars left the promotion and ran their own. One of the main wrestlers though that stayed with JWA until its closure was Giant Baba who was now the top star of the company after his master’s death. Meanwhile for Rikidozan’s former tag-team partner, Toyonobori he brought along some JWA wrestlers with him in creating the original Tokyo Pro Wrestling (TPW) promotion. Some of the notable guys that joined him were Katsuhisa Shibata (father of Katsuyori Shibata), Rusher Kimura, and Antonio Inoki. This is where Inoki truly rose to fame and started to grow as a performer of his own, especially in his series of matches against Johnny Valentine (father of Greg Valentine) who was known for being a tough grappler in the ring. Inoki was able to stand his own ground against the foreign wrestler and gain the respect of the fans. However, TPW was only short lived and ran for two years, in the middle of its run one of the business partners of the promotion would leave which ultimately led to its demise. That aforementioned business partner was Isao Yoshiwara who would then create a promotion of his own: International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE.)
When talking about the premier wrestling promotions in Japan obviously NJPW and AJPW first comes to mind but we will talk about them extensively later on. What is often overlooked though nowadays was IWE and it actually already existed way before New Japan and All Japan. Founded in the year 1966, this is where a majority of former JWA wrestlers would find themselves in and become stars in their own right as well as other major contributions to the business such as allowing major foreign names at the time to compete in their company. When TPW officially folded, Toyonobori initially became one of the recognizable names in the IWE roster, then an influx of other wrestlers have slowly risen in the ranks now that they are able to showcase their talents more. Names such as Rusher Kimura, Hiro Matsuda, Mighty Inoue, Strong Kobayashi, Masa Saito, and Umanosuke Ueda. Korean legends such as Kintaro Ohki and Kim Duk (aka Tiger Chung Lee) were also a part of the IWE roster for a long time. IWE did not only feature native talents but they were also the first promotion to bring in the legendary figure that was Andre The Giant into Japan. Because of their partnership with the American Wrestling Association (AWA) they were able to book in other major foreign talents that would hold their World Championship too. It was definitely a great promotion of its own filled with underrated workers that is sadly forgotten because of time. IWE ran for nearly three decades, officially closing on September 30, 1981. At one point they were bigger than both NJPW and AJPW when those two promotions were just getting started but eventually they were not able to maintain their standing in the ever growing competition of the Puroresu scene.
Karl Gotch – The God of Wrestling
Arguably the most influential gaijin wrestler in Puroresu was the late great Karl Gotch. A very successful wrestler wherever he went; US, Europe, Australia, and of course Japan where he was so good he earned the nickname “Kamisama” which translates to “God.” What sets Gotch apart from most foreign wrestlers was his impact for the growth of the Puroresu scene. Rikidozan was not the only mentor of Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba but they learned a lot from Gotch as well whenever he toured in the country. Learning under his wing, both men would emulate their styles of wrestling around Gotch which would later on give birth to two of the most prominent promotions in Japan and all of wrestling in general: New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling respectively. In terms of his own career, Gotch didn’t earn much belts but his matches were always highly acclaimed. His way of performing in the ring set the standard for how Puroresu presents itself, especially in the bigger promotions. It wasn’t only those two that he mentored as many other wrestlers such as Minoru Suzuki, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Satoru Sayama, Hiro Matsuda, and Hideki Suzuki just to name a few all had a hand in training with the great Karl Gotch. Making his wrestling debut in the 1950’s and having his final match in 1982, even now that he is long gone, Karl Gotch’s legacy in pro wrestling especially in Japan will remain intact for eternity.
Rise of the Disciples
Upon the death of Rikidozan, the state of Puroresu became stagnant. The sport just loss its biggest draw and without him, they struggled for a few years despite the creations of some new promotions such as the short lived Tokyo Pro Wrestling by Toyonobori and International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE.) However, two men in particular would change the landscape of the business for good and help Puroresu rise back from the ashes and build up once more the legacy of their great master. These two men were Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba, Rikidozan’s greatest prodigies.
Originally named Kanji Inoki, at 14 years old his family fell on hard times due to the ongoing war and they moved to Brazil. This is where Inoki was able to hone his craft in various sports and learning the martial arts which would become essential in his career as a pro wrestler later on. At the age of 17 he went back to Japan and met Rikidozan and was recruited to become a trainee in the JWA. They saw a lot of potential in Inoki and was groomed as one of the close disciples of the icon and one day be the next big draw of the promotion. But he wasn’t alone in that distinction. A baseball player standing at 6’10” by the name of Shohei Baba would attract the attention of Rikidozan and later on recommended him in joining pro wrestling as an alternative career and told him personally that he’d do well in it. When his baseball career wasn’t going anywhere, Baba took him up on his offer and also began training in the JWA with Inoki, the two of them would be seen as the ones with most potential in the aspects of superstar appeal and in-ring talents. They were head and shoulders above everyone else on their class and wouldn’t you know, it turned out to be true as to this day they are still regarded as two of the greatest wrestlers of all time especially in their primes.
Inoki and Baba were first a successful tag-team. They did not only compete in Japan but thanks to the JWA’s ties with the NWA, they also toured the US multiple times in their early years and gained a lot more experience competing in foreign soil. The concept of “excursion” for dojo trainees is still prevalent to a lot of Japanese promotions today, especially to the wrestlers they view with a lot of potential so they grow as performers and be humbled in a way, in theory will not have huge egos, losing to veterans in the ring. From 1967 to 1971, Baba and Inoki tagged together and were known as “B-I Cannon.” They held the NWA International Tag-Team Championships four times with a total combined reign of 1,444 days. It’s safe to say they are one of the most dominant tag-teams in Japanese wrestling history and looking back on it, it really was the equivalent of “The Mega Powers” in the US but dare I say even bigger than that as both Inoki and Baba would become national icons of their own as they build their singles careers. Even after the tragic passing of Rikidozan, the JWA continued for a couple of years but due to its struggles the company would soon close, then Baba and Inoki ended their run as a team and agreed to go their separate ways and carve out their own legacies, since then a whole New era for All of Puroresu was born.
Mersi de sfat!!!