The Rise And Fall Of All Japan Pro Wrestling

While New Japan Pro-Wrestling is the undisputed top promotion in Japan today, that wasn't always the case and for the later part of the 20th century they enjoyed a friendly but serious rivalry for supremacy with All Japan Pro Wrestling. 

All Japan was the bigger of the two promotions from day one, and would battle NJPW for the top spot for the better part of 30 years.

From the Baba vs. the world years, through to the Tsuruta/Tenryu dynasties, to the hallowed Four Pillars of Heaven, All Japan became a by-word for incredible wrestling, fighting spirit, and the awesome but highly dangerous ‘King’s Road’ style.

That changed in the 21st century, however, and while AJPW once ran sold out shows at the Nippon Budokan and Tokyo Dome, they find themselves in the 2020s battling for relevancy in a crowded pro wrestling landscape. 

The JWA

Pro wrestling’s success in Japan can be credited to Rikidozan. A Korean-Japanese sumo competitor, Rikidozan made the switch to pro wrestling in the early 1950s and quickly became a phenomenon.

The former sumo wrestler established the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance in 1953 and, alongside wrestling and promoting, he trained the next generation of pro wrestlers at the JWA dojo with the legendary Karl Gotch, with the most notable class being in 1960 which featured Rikidozan’s iconic proteges in Antonio Inoki and the 6’10” former professional baseball pitcher Shohei ‘Giant’ Baba.

After Rikidozan was murdered in 1963, Baba became the undisputed star of JWA, with Inoki firmly in his shadow. Inoki would promptly go on excursion to the USA, then he would join Tokyo Pro Wrestling in order to forge his own path, until returning to the JWA in 1967 after Tokyo Pro went out of business.

With Baba and Inoki as the two biggest homegrown draws in the country - especially when teaming together as ‘B-I Cannon’ - business was good for the JWA. Inoki wanted more, though, and he attempted a hostile takeover of the promotion in 1971, and was promptly sacked when the takeover failed. Undeterred, Inoki quit the JWA and formed New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1972. 

Leaving the JWA soon after was Giant Baba when he decided not to renew his contract and split off from the promotion to form All Japan Pro Wrestling with Rikidozan’s sons in October 1972. Without the two biggest stars in the country under their wing, the JWA folded in 1973.

All Japan Takes Off

In the wake of Baba and Inoki leaving JWA, there was a mass exodus of talent, with many joining All Japan due to Baba’s immense popularity at the time and All Japan inking a TV deal with Nippon TV.

Baba established the Pacific Wrestling Federation as All Japan’s governing body. After beating the likes of Bruno Sammartino, Bobo Brazil, and others, Baba was installed as the first ever PWF World Champion, and held the belt for over five years.

Despite the PWF Title sitting as All Japan’s main championship for 15 years, it vied for attention with a number of National Wrestling Alliance titles due to a firm partnership between AJPW and the NWA - mirroring the relationship Rikidozan’s JWA enjoyed with the American governing body.

This partnership paved a road into Japan for many top American stars, with the likes of The Funks, Bruiser Brody, and Stan Hansen reaching megastar status due to their work in All Japan, as the promotion followed the Rikidozan booking philosophy of Japan vs. The World. 

The partnership between AJPW and the NWA went two ways, with Baba himself ending Jack Brisco’s year-long NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title reign. Baba would go on to have three reigns with the 10lbs of Gold, and even though Baba would reign for a couple of weeks across all three reigns, it all helped to further build the legend of Baba as an all conquering Japanese hero.

As All Japan entered the 1980s, Baba was still riding high as the promotion’s unchallenged top star, but he had an eye on the future, pushing his students Jumbo Tsuruta, Genichiro Tenryu, and his protege, All Japan’s junior heavyweight ace Atsushi Onita, with the three wrestlers having successful excursions in the United States before returning to take All Japan into a new era.

Whilst Onita would eventually retire due to multiple injuries before being reborn as a hardcore wrestler with a penchant for exploding barbed wire deathmatches, Tenryu and Jumbo slowly rose the ranks to the main event, whilst an ageing Baba stepped down the card in order to focus more on the business of All Japan.

The Rise of the King’s Road

Throughout the 1980s, All Japan remained in contention to be the top promotion in Japan. Whilst NJPW had bigger gates and the groundbreaking junior heavyweight division, All Japan still boasted some of the biggest stars in the country. Along with top foreigners like The Road Warriors and Stan Hansen, All Japan attracted some of the best stars from New Japan, including Riki Choshu and Hiro Saito, all while Giant Baba oversaw the development of his greatest students. 

Choshu’s arrival in particular helped change All Japan’s style, as his no-nonsense approach to Inoki’s shoot-fight inspired ‘Strong Style’ blended with Baba’s emphasis on traditional NWA style in-ring storytelling, forming the foundation for the spectacular yet dangerous ‘King’s Road’ style that took All Japan to new heights.

Business remained strong, but as the NWA slowly fell apart in the United States, Baba split from the organisation in 1990. This split meant that Baba would have to focus more on homegrown talent, but could still rely on foreign freelancers like Hansen and Terry Gordy. Baba took All Japan’s new isolation to another level, though, effectively cutting the promotion off from the rest of the wrestling world so they could focus solely on themselves.

Also as part of the split from the NWA, All Japan unveiled a new main prize: The Triple Crown. Comprised of the PWF, NWA International Heavyweight, and NWA United National championships, All Japan’s ace Jumbo Tsuruta would be the first man to hold all three, unifying the titles after beating Stan Hansen in 1989.

Now positioned as the top stars of the organisation, Jumbo and Tenryu would trade the Triple Crown before Tenryu would butt heads with Baba, eventually leading an exodus from All Japan in order to form the short-lived Super World of Sports promotion with a glasses company of all things, with the super rich new promotion partnering with the WWF, amongst others.

Tenryu’s exit would anger Baba so much that he decreed that Tenryu would not be allowed to step foot in an All Japan ring for as long as Baba was alive and in control of the organisation. He was the chosen one, and to that point the only Japanese wrestler to have ever pinned Baba in AJPW, a feat that would be accomplished by only one other man.

The timing of Tenryu’s exit could not have been worse either, as despite his position as All Japan’s Ace, Jumbo Tsuruta would also begin to move down the card, due to failing health. Luckily for All Japan, there was a boom period on the horizon due to the four aces they had up their sleeve in The Four Pillars of Heaven.

The Four Pillars of Heaven

The Four Pillars would come to exemplify Baba’s booking philosophy, and would pave the ‘King’s Road’ with blood, sweat, and many broken bones. They were Toshiaki Kawada, Akira Taue, Kenta Kobashi, and Mitsuharu Misawa and all could campaign to be recognised as the greatest pro wrestler of all time.

Misawa had spent the latter part of the 1980s wrestling as the highly influential Tiger Mask II, and his popularity exploded when he unmasked mid-match in May 1990 to dish out elbows left right and centre.

Baba noticed the massive support Misawa was gaining from the audience, and booked the former Tiger Mask to face Jumbo Tsuruta in singles competition, deciding at the last minute that the emerald sensation would go over the former Triple Crown Champion due to the crowd chants in support of the rising star. Jumbo wasn’t sure if losing was the right move, and allegedly sent a message asking if he could lose by DQ, to which Baba succinctly replied, 'No.'

It was a wise move by Baba. With the Four Pillars leading the way, All Japan reached their highest heights commercially and critically, with singles and tag matches involving the Four Pillars of Heaven heralded as some of the greatest matches of all time, notably the tag team of Misawa and Kobashi against the Holy Demon Army of Kawada and Taue. 

Soon, storylines became secondary, and even though NJPW was at this point the clear number one promotion in Japan, All Japan was the critical darling, known for putting on the undisputed best matches in the world. 

The ‘King’s Road’ style enthralled and influenced many, but as the matches went longer and longer, and audience fervour increased, the style became increasingly more dangerous, with wrestlers regularly landing on their head, whether it be from Kawada’s Ganso Bomb, Misawa’s Tiger Driver 91, or Kobashi’s awe inspiring Burning Hammer.

Outside of the Four Pillars, the All Japan roster remained stacked with gaijin stars like Steve Williams, Johnny Ace, and Gary Albright, whilst stars of the past in Giant Baba and Jumbo Tsuruta still laced up their boots to compete in multi-man matches lower down the card as the 1990s progressed. 

Business was so good at this time that All Japan sold out over 250 consecutive shows in Tokyo alone, with AJPW running the Budokan multiple times a year, selling out the next show whilst the current event was taking place. Despite his love of running the Budokan and Korakuen Hall, Baba eventually relented and ran a rare Tokyo Dome show in 1998 headlined by Misawa vs. Kawada, drawing over 58,000 fans despite the wrestling scene cooling off somewhat due to the economic downturn in Japan. 

Baba would still wrestle into his 60s, but his health was deteriorating, and on January 31, 1999, Shoehei Baba died of liver failure from complications of colon cancer at just 61 years of age. His popularity in Japan was comparable to that of Hulk Hogan in 1980s America, and there was considerable public mourning in the wake of Baba’s death, with over 28,000 attending a memorial service in his honour in April 1999.

With Baba’s death, Misawa was promoted to All Japan president after earlier being made head booker, but things would soon turn sour.

The Exodus To Create Pro Wrestling NOAH

Giant Baba’s widow Motoko Baba wanted Mitsuo Momota to become president of AJPW, but All Japan board member Jumbo Tsuruta used his considerable influence to get Misawa in the seat, before Jumbo himself was forced out of the company with no severance package.

Misawa and Motoko Baba clashed frequently in a ‘quiet power struggle’, with the pair having never seen eye-to-eye. Motoko allegedly disagreed with Giant Baba making Misawa the ace of the company in the 1990s, and despite Motoko being the majority shareholder of AJPW with an 85% controlling stake, most of the company privately sided with Misawa.

The two would only clash with more frequency as 1999 continued, with Misawa wanting to change AJPW’s direction and push younger talents like Jun Akiyama, whilst Motoko wanted to honour Giant Baba’s legacy and adopt a conservative approach to AJPW’s future, realising that the company was currently on a downswing.

As their conflicting philosophies continued to clash, Misawa approached Nippon TV at some point in 1999 and informed them that he would be leaving All Japan and was confident that the locker room would follow him. Nippon TV - who owned the remaining 15% of All Japan - sided with Misawa, but they wanted to keep everything quiet for a year so there was enough distance from Giant Baba’s death before a split.

Despite the behind-the-scenes turmoil, in the ring, it was business as usual, with Vader entering the Triple Crown Title picture after his WWF exit and he, of course, only contributed to the hard-hitting style AJPW were known for. 

Behind the scenes, though, the situation was becoming more fraught with each passing day, with box office business starting to drop. After Misawa was unable to make proposed reforms to All Japan contracts in order to provide health cover and injury pay, as well as stock options, for contracted wrestlers, he was removed from his position as president by the All Japan executive board in May 2000.

Misawa allegedly tried a peaceful transition and wanted Motoko to give a public blessing for Misawa to leave and start a new company, due to his respect for Giant Baba, and due to the recent death of Jumbo Tsuruta. Motoko did not give a public blessing to Misawa’s exit, however, and later said that Misawa "took no responsibility and abandoned his duty" in a written press release.

Misawa’s ousting was revealed by the press on June 12, and on June 13 an emergency meeting was held by the All Japan non-executive board, with Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue, Mitsuo Momota, Yoshihiro Momota - the oldest son of Rikidozan - and Kenichi Oyagi - the managing director of All Japan - all formally resigning from their positions.

The fallout was, quite simply, catastrophic. Toshiaki Kawada and Masa Fuchi stayed loyal to All Japan, but the rest of the contracted locker room and the majority of the front office sided with Misawa and departed the company, with Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi forfeiting the title as a result.

Misawa soon held a press conference to announce the creation of Pro Wrestling NOAH, a new promotion that would allow wrestlers to move forward with a more modern style, one which evolved the 'King’s Road' but also maintained many of its traits, including the dangerous nature of the in-ring action which it had become synonymous with. 

Nippon TV cancelled All Japan’s time slot which it had held for 27 years, and announced they would be airing NOAH instead. As the station still had that 15% stake in All Japan, they had the veto power to keep AJPW from ever being on a new network.

Puroresu Love

Pro Wrestling NOAH’s start was rocky but they eventually found their groove, with Misawa, Kobashi, Taue, Yoshihiro Takayama, and Jun Akiyama putting on pro wrestling clinics, whilst junior heavyweight stars KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji blazed their own paths.

As for All Japan, after the NOAH crew wrestled their final contracted shows and officially departed, and after Stan Hansen retired from in-ring competition, the promotion began to rebuild, and they did so by doing the unthinkable. Motoko Baba shockingly announced in 2000 that Genichiro Tenryu would be returning to All Japan for the first time in 10 years, despite her late husband saying Tenryu would never step foot in an AJPW ring again after his 1990 defection. 

Even more unthinkable was that All Japan entered into a full-on cross promotional partnership with New Japan where new ace Toshiaki Kawada would defeat IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki in non-title action in front of a sold-out Tokyo Dome. The relationship between the two companies would last until 2002, with New Japan icon Keiji Muto shockingly defecting to All Japan after the January 4 Tokyo Dome show, with Satoshi Kojima and Kendo Kashin following suit.

During All Japan’s 30th anniversary party in September 2002, Motoko Baba instated Muto as the new president and transferred all Baba family stock to him, allegedly angering Tenryu who felt he should have taken over rather than New Japan’s fabled Musketeer.

The period under Muto was known as the ‘Puroresu Love’ era, with Muto aggressively hunting down merchandising opportunities and forging cross promotional relationships in order to repair All Japan’s financial state, and remind the Japanese audience that All Japan were still a force to be reckoned with. 

The working agreement with New Japan was restored, and there was finally a Champion vs. Champion dream match, where Triple Crown Champion Satoshi Kojima defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in February 2005. 

This partnership would also foster the cross promotional Wrestle Kingdom 1 in 2007, taking place on the traditional January 4 NJPW Tokyo Dome show, while All Japan would also partner with the red hot TNA in the USA.

Surprisingly, All Japan would even work with Pro Wrestling NOAH, with Muto wrestling in the famed green ring, whilst Misawa would return for several AJPW matches in 2004. This partnership would eventually see Kawada and Misawa have one last high profile clash in 2005, in a NOAH ring inside the Tokyo Dome.

Despite Muto negotiating a new TV deal, pushing the likes of Suwama and Joe Doering, and even battling for the number one spot with an ever growing NOAH and a battered post-Inoki-ism New Japan, All Japan was simply no longer the force it once was.

Muto’s work was admirable, but he would step down as president in 2011, taking full responsibility for a backstage fight between Yoshikazu Taru and Nobukazu Hirai which caused Hirai to suffer a stroke.

Muto would sell the promotion in 2012 for ¥200 million - about $1.7 million when adjusted for inflation - before leaving altogether in 2013 following disagreements with the new owners, Speed Partners corporation, after they removed Muto’s long-time right-hand man Masayuki Uchida from his position as All Japan president, with Speed Partners’ Nobuo Shiraishi installing himself as president - despite no pro wrestling background.

Muto allegedly tried to buy back the company, but when that failed, he led an exodus of talent to form Wrestle-1, and All Japan were once again in crisis, with fans tuning out in droves. Wrestling simply wasn’t as big as it was in the 1980s and 1990s.

With the tragic death of Misawa in 2009 due to too many years wrestling the ‘King’s Road’ style, and the Yakuza scandal that rocked NOAH like it had FMW before it, outside of the die-hards, wrestling was on life support in Japan, and would remain that way until New Japan’s resurgence with Hiroshi Tanahashi and co.

All Japan Today

All Japan’s ownership became a confusing hot potato after the Muto scandal. First in 2013, all AJPW shares were moved from Speed Partners to Shiraishi's Red Wall Japan corporation, with the company name changing to Zen Nihon Puroresu Systems. Shiraishi then stepped down as president but would remain owner of All Japan.

Then, a year later, Shiraishi changed his mind and wanted out. The unofficial Fifth Pillar of Heaven Jun Akiyama took over as president after returning from NOAH a year earlier, then shortly after this, the company changed names again to All Japan Pro Wrestling Kabushiki Gaisha and relocated from Tokyo to Yokohama. 

Technically, Akiyama formed a new company, with the original All Japan founded by Baba in 1972 legally and technically dead after Shiraishi’s bungled ownership. Akiyama had the IPs, belts, and everything else, but officially this was a whole new company, still called All Japan. 

Under Akiyama, All Japan started to yo-yo dramatically, with big stars joining, big stars leaving, and Motoko Baba returning to inject some money into the promotion before leaving after clashing with Akiyama as she once did Misawa. Akiyama eventually settled the ship, with All Japan eventually became a steady, good-if-not-unspectacular promotion, inking new TV deals and launching a streaming service.

This new All Japan is under no illusions as to where they stand in the current pro wrestling landscape, cementing itself as a Japanese super-indie, rather than try a 2010 TNA and go headfirst into a ‘war’ with NJPW. Akiyama’s goal as president was simply to keep the company alive, and he achieved that handily before stepping down from the position in 2019. He ultimately left All Japan for DDT Pro in 2021. 

While the promotion is nowhere close to their height in 2025, they have carved out a spot for themselves in today’s pro wrestling landscape. They have built several stars, most notably current company ace Kento Miyahara, while the likes of Yuma Anzai, Davey Boy Smith Jr., and the Saito Brothers prop up a main event scene that could rival any promotion in Japan.

The promotion also continues to utilise its rich tradition of foreigners, with the likes of Xyon and Odyssey Jones currently performing in AJPW along with the aforementioned Davey Boy Smith Jr.