International Wrestling Enterprise (国際プロレス興行;, ''Kokusai Puroresu Kogyō'') was a

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from 1966 to 1981. Founded by Isao Yoshihara, it was affiliated with the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

in the United States and also had tie-ins with promotions in Canada and Europe. In 1972, it became the first Japanese promotion to bring European wrestler André the Giant to the country. The promotion cooperated with All Japan Pro Wrestling and later, New Japan Pro-Wrestling; the three promotions later came together for an interpromotional event, organized by '' Tokyo Sports'', held at Budokan Hall on August 26, 1979. When IWE closed its doors in 1981, Inoue, Hara, Tsurumi, and Fuyuki joined All Japan Pro Wrestling, while Kimura, Hamaguchi and Teranishi joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

that formed the first "invasion" angle in history, later copied by the

Japanese UWF The original Japanese-based Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion from 1984 to 1986, formed by wrestlers who had left New Japan Pro-Wrestling. It was a pioneer in shoot-style wrestling, which emph ...

, Japan Pro-Wrestling, and the nWo in WCW in America. The promotion is also credited for making Rusher Kimura a major star in Japanese Puroresu and holding Japan's first steel cage match. Isao Yoshihara eventually became a booker in New Japan, until his death in 1985.

Roster

*Japanese talent: Toyonobori, Strong Kobayashi, Rusher Kimura, Hiro Matsuda, Thunder Sugiyama,

Great Kusatsu Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great ( ...

, Mighty Inoue, Animal Hamaguchi, Ashura Hara, Isamu Teranishi, Goro Tsurumi, Hiromichi Fuyuki, Ryuma Go, K.Y. Wakamatsu, Mach Hayato, Kintaro Ohki,

Kim Duk or Kim Duk ( ko, 김 덕/金徳) (born February 7, 1948) is a retired Koreans in Japan, Zainichi-Korean Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known under his ring name . He was also known by the name Tiger Chung Lee in the World ...

Mr. Hito (April 25, 1942 – April 21, 2010), better known as Mr. Hito, was a Japanese professional wrestler who competed in North American and Japanese regional promotions from the 1950s until the mid-1980s. Most notably, he was the tag team partne ...

, Umanosuke Ueda, Masa Saito, Mr. Seki *Foreign talent: Bill Robinson, Verne Gagne, André the Giant, George Gordienko, Lou Thesz, Karl Gotch, Danny Hodge, Don Leo Jonathan, Bill Miller, Dick the Bruiser,

Crusher Lisowski Reginald Lisowski (July 11, 1926 – October 22, 2005) was an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The Crusher (sometimes Crusher Lisowski to distinguish him from other Crushers, such as Jerry Bla ...

, Mad Dog Vachon, Nick Bockwinkel, Ray Stevens, Baron Von Raschke,

Horst Hoffman Horst Hoffman (29 September 1935), is a former German professional wrestler. Hoffman worked in Germany, Europe, Japan and American Wrestling Association in the United States during his 20 year career. Professional wrestling career Hoffman st ...

, Édouard Carpentier, Peter Maivia,

John da Silva John Walter da Silva (11 June 1934 – 8 April 2021) was a New Zealand wrestler and boxer. Biography Da Silva was born on 11 June 1934. He represented New Zealand in wrestling at the 1956 Olympics and at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwe ...

, Ivan Koloff, Tarzan Tyler, Larry Hennig, Bobby Heenan, Blackjack Lanza, Blackjack Mulligan, Superstar Billy Graham, Wahoo McDaniel, Red Bastien, The Minnesota Wrecking Crew, Bill Watts, Dusty Rhodes, Dick Murdoch,

Buddy Wolfe Les Wolff (April 11, 1941 – July 11, 2017) was an American football player and professional wrestler, known by his ring name "Beautiful" Buddy Wolfe, who competed in North American regional promotions including the American Wrestling Associati ...

, Ox Baker, Wild Angus, Killer Tor Kamata, Gypsy Joe, Alexis Smirnoff,

The Mongolian Stomper Archibald Edward Gouldie (November 22, 1936 – January 23, 2016) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He wrestled for Stampede Wrestling for decades as Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie, with the nickname coming from the wrestler's reputation of ...

, The Cuban Assassin,

Killer Brooks Timothy Paul Brooks (December 4, 1947 – June 30, 2020), better known by his ring name Killer Tim Brooks, was an American professional wrestler. He competed in North American regional promotions, including the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), ...

, Jos LeDuc, Sailor White, Big John Quinn, Kurt Von Hess, Professor Tanaka, Dean Ho, The Wild Samoans, Gil Hayes, Pierre Martin, Michel Martel, Ricky Martel, Jake Roberts, Big Daddy Ritter, David Schultz, Dynamite Kid, Mike George, Bob Sweetan, Johnny Powers, Killer Karl Krupp,

Ron Bass Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

, Randy Rose, Norvell Austin, The Invader, Luke Graham, Ray Candy, Paul Ellering, Steve Olsonoski, Percy Pringle III,

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

, The Sheepherders.

Championships recognized by IWE

IWE's governing body was called the International Wrestling Alliance and administered the following titles: * IWA World Heavyweight Championship * IWA World Mid-Heavyweight Championship * IWA World Tag Team Championship Near the end of IWE's existence, it billed a World Wrestling Union title, supposedly based in Germany, to give a

push Push may refer to: Music * Mike Dierickx (born 1973), a Belgian producer also known as Push Albums * ''Push'' (Bros album), 1988 * ''Push'' (Gruntruck album), 1992 * ''Push'' (Jacky Terrasson album), 2010 Songs * "Push" (Enrique Iglesias s ...

to wrestler Ashura Hara: * WWU World Junior Heavyweight Championship Before the IWA system was created, IWE recognized the Trans-World Wrestling Alliance titles: * TWWA World Heavyweight Championship * TWWA World Tag Team Championship ''See also

for the AWA World titles.''

International Wrestling Promotion (revival)

In 1994, Goro Tsurumi formed a promotion called IWA Kakutō Shijuku (IWA格闘志塾, ''International Wrestling Alliance Fighting Hope Training School''), but in 1997 he renamed the promotion International Wrestling Promotion (国際プロレス・プロモーション ''Kokusai puroresu promotion''). The only recognizable name in the promotion is Tsurumi himself; the rest of the roster uses masked identities. Wrestlers from other independents have been invited to participate, including

Shoji Nakamaki A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaque ''fusuma'' is used (oshiire/ ...

and Yukihide Ueno.

Championships recognized by IWP

* IWA World Heavyweight Championship — Goro Tsurumi * IWA World Mid-Heavyweight Championship — J.R.F. Lion * IWA World Middleweight Championship — Phantom Funagoshi * IWA World Tag Team Championship (International Pro Wrestling) — Super Iron Hercules and Iron Hercules I * IWA World Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship — Tomoya and Macho Bump

References

External links

International Wrestling Enterprise at Puroresu.comInternational Wrestling Enterprise at Wrestlingdata.com
{{Professional wrestling in Japan Japanese professional wrestling promotions 1966 establishments in Japan 1981 disestablishments in Japan